Chapter Twenty-Two
The very next day, I sent eight members of my team down the coast with the Reprisal to the coastal town of Weiha.
Two of the people I sent were Raltven. I kept Cesha, the third Raltven and the only woman on my crew.
She was the best at security, and I wanted her to set up warning and defense measures around the estate.
Including her, that left six of my crew to handle the construction I wanted done around the manor house.
Leaning back in my chair, I stared through the window of my new office, watching Cesha move from shadow to shadow on the property, finding the darkest spots despite it being midday.
The office was just off the entry hall and had a great view of the front lawn and gate.
If I hadn't known to look for her, I wouldn't have noticed her at all.
As it was, she was a darker form within the darkness of the gate's stone supports.
A horse cart and driver pulled up outside the gate, but Cesha wasn't startled.
It was the opposite. She frightened the driver when she stepped into the sunlight, her body clothed in black, her long hair in a braid, and her hands in gloves.
Gods knew what the driver thought of her.
They spoke for a bit, and then Cesha opened the gate for him.
“Netrax!” I called.
Footsteps descended the stairs, and then Netrax stepped into my office, his fur disheveled. “Yes, boss?”
“The delivery is here.” I kept my eyes on the cart full of lumber and crates.
“Good.” He didn't need further instruction, just went back into the entry hall and shouted, “The supplies are here!”
I continued to watch through my window as Netrax went outside and down the main stairs to the roundabout drive to meet the driver.
As he spoke to the man, more of my crew strode outside to help unload the cart.
It was the first of many deliveries we expected.
A group like ours had special requirements.
We needed an armory, an infirmary, and multiple training areas, both inside and outside, for us to hone our skills.
The renovations had already begun with room clearing and a few minor removals. We were ready to proceed.
I sighed as the men brought in lumber, boxes of nails, metal brackets, and other items I had no interest in. I left all of that to them. Construction was not where my talents lay.
“What in all the names of the Gods is going on in here?”
I spun in my seat toward the sound of Vasren's voice. “I'm renovating.”
“Renovating?” Vas strode in, looking resplendent in blue and gold.
“We have needs.”
His expression turned wicked. “I'm eagerly waiting for you to allow me to see to yours.”
Chuckling, I asked, “What are you doing here?”
“As if I'm going to waste a single day with you?” Vas motioned at me. “Come on now. Out of that chair.”
He didn't wait for me, just headed outside. Shaking my head, I followed him.
As I descended the front steps, I paused to say to Netrax, “I'll probably be gone a few hours. Do you have any questions about the construction before I leave?”
“No, go on, boss. I can oversee this.”
“Thank you.”
Vasren's carriage was leaving along with the delivery cart by the time I reached the bottom step. Vas stood in the space they had occupied with a leather satchel in hand.
I looked from him to the departing carriage. “I thought we were going somewhere?”
“We are.” Vas handed me the satchel and took off his shirt. “It's too far to travel by carriage.” He shoved the shirt in the satchel and then removed the rest of his clothing.
“We're flying?” I perked up. I hadn't been able to enjoy my first flight with him, and I asking him to fly me around the city just for pleasure felt silly.
“Yes.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek as he stuffed the rest of his clothing in the satchel.
Glorious in his nudity, Vas stepped into the center of the roundabout where an open patch of grass had once held an Eljaffna statue.
I, of course, had that thing removed upon my arrival, and it was fortunate I had.
Vas needed all the space available to shift into a shimmering dragon the color of the sky.
I watched in awe as his body grew and lengthened until the dragon lifted his head and stretched.
Fully transformed, Vas brought his head to my level.
“Hello, my beautiful monster.” I slid a hand along his cheek and kissed him on his glossy scales.
“Beautiful monster, am I?” Vas bared his teeth. “I like that.”
Sounds of awe came from the steps, and I glanced over to see Cesha and the men standing there, their eyes wide and focused on Vasren.
Vas noted the appreciation and spread his wings to garner more of it.
But then he saw my smirk and folded his wings along his back.
Just as it was in his man-body, Vas and the beast coexisted, but there was more beast to him in this form, and one huge, glittering eye focused on me with ferocious possessiveness as he picked me up.
His left front talon curled around me to form a cage of claws.
“Brace yourself, Mate.” Vas jumped into the air, shooting upward at least fifty feet before he spread his wings and brought them down with a thunderous sound.
The world fell away, my crew staring up at me as they got smaller.
The estate spread out below me, giving me a view of the manor's roof and the back garden.
A cream-colored shell path ran through the grid of flowerbeds and trees, the pattern easier to see from the sky.
And around my estate were other magnificent homes with more gardens and gates and domed roofs.
So much wealth in one place. It was a far cry from the farm I'd been raised on.
Once Vas reached the height he was after, he set us on a course inland. I spread out across the hard, uneven floor of my traveling compartment, trying to find a comfortable way to lounge on claws, and then propped my head on my arm to stare out through the space between the glossy bars.
We quickly left the city behind and crossed over farmland and then forest. It wasn't long before we neared the Nuving Mountains, the foothills of which separated Weisha from Sunsho, forming an L shape with the range. Vas headed to the middle peak and then circled down to land at its base.
Along the flight down, I saw terraced pools jutting out of the mountainside, the basins formed of pale marble with platforms and walkways between carved from the mountain itself.
Above the pools, on the highest tier, a building of carved teak stood, its roof adorned with upward points at the bottom corners.
No domes, just the sharply angled panels—architecture that was even more traditional than that found in Sunsho.
We landed before a similar construction with its front doors cast open. I could see a few people inside, but most strolled about the garden in front of the wide veranda. Vas shifted back to his man-form, and I handed over his clothing.
“A bathhouse?” I asked.
“A special bathhouse.” Vas nodded up the mountainside as he pulled on his pants. “The water is pumped up from hot springs deep within the mountain. It overflows the pools, flows down the mountain, and returns to the springs back there.” He motioned to the building.
After getting his boots on, Vas took my hand and led me toward the building.
As we headed over, a crystal lifter on silver chains rose along the mountainside, full of people.
It was more like a gazebo, open to the air, with a waist-high railing.
The occupants peered over the railing as they rose.
I was so distracted by the delicate conveyance that I didn't notice the Ricarri man who approached us.
“Sir Vasren!” the Ricarri said in a deep voice.
I jumped and looked at him.
“My apologies.” He nodded to me.
“Ulfrin.” Vasren shook the man's hand. “This is my mate, Katai. It's his first time here.”
“Congratulations on your mating!” Ulfrin slapped Vasren's shoulder. “May you have a happy life together.”
“Thank you.” Vas took the satchel from me and slung it over his shoulder before removing his money purse and handing a few silver coins over to Ulfrin.
I lifted my eyebrows at the cost. These better be some fantastic pools. I could have fed my crew for a month with those coins.
“Your usual pool?” Ulfrin asked.
Vas tucked his pouch away. “Yes, that would be perfect.”
“Wonderful! And it's nice to meet you, Katai.” Ulfrin inclined his head to me. “I'd shake your hand if I weren't afraid your mate might bite it off.” He winked at me and grinned as if it were romantic.
I smiled politely. Ricarri and Dragons had similar natures. In some instances, this meant they got along well. In others, it was the opposite. But either way, they understood each other.
Ulfrin led us past lines of people waiting for the lifter and took us into the building.
Inside was a reception area where people were checking in and paying.
We turned right and went through a corridor.
Then we left the building through the back.
Outside was an open grassy area with another crystal lifter.
Ulfrin opened a silver gate in its railing and stepped in. Vas and I followed him.
Ulfrin pulled a silver lever in the back of the lifter, and we started to rise.
My stomach fluttered as we surged up the side of the mountain faster than I'd expected.
Odd. I had just flown much higher and faster than this and been utterly comfortable.
I suppose I trusted Vasren more than a crystal gazebo on chains.
Still, the view was incredible with the Rushaoian countryside spread out before us. It grew colder the higher we went, but then the lifter entered a building, rising up through the floor, and a humid warmth enveloped us.
Once more, Ulfrin opened the gate and then led us through the room, out into a corridor. “I assume one changing room is enough?”
“Yes, of course,” Vasren said.