Page 12 of Consorting with Dragons

“But that can’t be right. My father bought it from the king of Thalios, King Travon. He brought it as far as Lycanus 3 for us to pick up.”

“And Travon is a thief. As was his father before him.”

“You must turn this ship around then and go back to Lycanus 3. I demand that you take me out of this cell and return me so we can get this straightened out with my father. It’s all a terrible misunderstanding.”

“You’re not in a cell—this is just a room below decks. I had no place else to put you, as this ship has no guest quarters.”

“Oh. Well, I still demand that…”

“We turn this ship around and take you back?”

“Yes!”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible. First of all, I have only your word for all this as you have no receipt or paperwork or proof of any kind.”

“I did have it! But you knocked it from my hand!”

“Secondly, and more importantly, the vetami egg seems to be about to hatch. When it does, it has to be paired with a rider immediately, because if it’s not done right away, the hatchling could and probably would grow up to be a dangerous beast. They have to be handled with strength and kindness from the moment they hatch, or else they can become untrainable. We would have no recourse but to send the hatchling to our breeding grounds and clip its wings so it couldn’t fly away and go back into the wild. No one wants to do that.”

“That’s not my problem!”

“You made it your problem when you pulled out that disruptor and tried to shoot me.”

“Well, isn’t that convenient?”

“It’s not convenient at all. But if you’re implying that I’m lying about the egg hatching, I can assure you, I’m not. I can’t rush you back to Lycanus 3 because you lost your temper andtried to kill me, causing yourself to be arrested and thereby putting the vetami’s life in danger too.”

He blushed again, and I felt bad for not telling him the whole truth of the matter—but I couldn’t have left him behind, and I didn’t think he was ready to learn yet why I’d had to take him with me. It was bound to upset him, and despite his brash attitude and bravado, I thought he was frightened, and I knew he wanted to go home. I needed time to try and win him over. I wanted to tell him about the mate bond, but maybe I could put it off for a little while yet. I had to stall for time, if I could.

“Where is this place you’re taking me to? And how will I get back once you find out the truth?”

“It’s Horvath, a moon of Lycanus 3. But try not to worry about that now. We have a day or so yet until we get there.”

“But why amIgoing there?”

I sighed. “How many times are we going to go over this?”

“But I don’t want to go to your moon.”

“Nevertheless.”

“Look, perhaps if I explain it to you calmly…my omak, who is my bearer…”

“Is he Tygerian? I’m familiar with Tygerian omaks.”

“Yes, he is. Anyway, he did some training on Lycanus after the war ended. He’s spoken of the vetami and how much he liked to ride them, so my father was going to buy one for him as a surprise gift. He had no idea this egg was stolen—if indeed, it really was.”

“It definitely was. They’re an endemic species to Horvath.”

More specifically, they were unique to a vast region in the northern mountains, where they made their nests high in the rocky terrain. We’d called them “dragons” affectionately, like the Alliance soldiers stationed on Horvath had done during the war, and the name seemed to stick, even after they left and the Tygerians came. Even though the vetami weren’t quite as largeas those mythical creatures were supposed to be, nor did they resemble serpents. They did have definite dragon-like qualities, however. The vetami were beautiful and intelligent creatures. We’d managed to build their numbers back up, but we still consider them to be endangered.

I explained that last part to him and he sighed. “I’m sorry for our part in it then. Though I think there was no need for you to get so excited about it.”

“The excitement came when you tried to shoot me.”

He pressed his lips together in a prim little line. “I’ve explained about that. When can I go home?”

I was saved from answering by a sudden loud and strident alarm going off. Rylan jumped to his feet. “What is that?”

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