Page 7 of Consorting with Dragons

Fortina whirled around to glare at me. “You’re admitting it then.”

“That’s an odd way to put it, but yes, I’m here for the egg! Pray tell me, what business is this of yours, sir?”

“Indeed, I’d like to know the answer to that myself,” King Travon said. “What’s the meaning of all this?” He had a haughty, bad-tempered look as he glared at the man in the red cape. “Who do you think you are to accost us like this?”

“Are you people hard of hearing? I just told you who I am.” He frowned at each of us in turn and settled on King Travon first. “Stealing something doesn’t convey ownership, sir, no matter how long ago it may have been.”

Travon made a huffing sound. “How dare you? I’ve stolen nothing! The egg came from my own herd of vetami back on Thalios.”

“The herd you’re speaking of was stolen by your father years ago when he left Horvath and migrated to Thalios. The creatures are an endangered species by order of Davos of Tygeria, the head of the Axis. I think you’re well aware of that fact.”

After he made that shocking pronouncement, he turned to me. “As for you, boy, you have made an illegal purchase. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The eggs are exclusively the property of the queen of Horvath. And mine, as her agent. I’m sure you know that vetami and their eggs are considered to be endangered and no one can own them except for a Horvathian.”

“This is outrageous!” Travon shouted at the man. “I am King Travon of Thalios, and we’ve had vetami on our planet for many years. I own one myself. This egg was purchased from its legal owner, namelyme. Where’s your proof that you’re who you say you are anyway? As to your claim that they’re an endangered species, they aren’t endangered on my planet!”

“Are you really so ignorant?” he asked in an unfriendly, insulting tone. “Is Thalios some backwater planet on the ass end of nowhere, where no one gets the news? Everyone knows vetamis are an endangered species in this entire galaxy and protected by intergalactic law. This egg is stolen. No one is allowed to own a vetami egg except for Horvathians. That makesyou either sadly misinformed, extremely stupid, or a fucking thief. Which one are you?”

For a moment Travon was speechless, and so was I. I was sure he’d never been spoken to in such a way and neither had I. He turned alarmingly red in the face and spluttered at the arrogance of the insulting little speech we’d both just been subjected to. All of my men began to murmur uneasily and draw closer to me. Kareb tried to take my arm, but I pulled away.

“How dare you speak to His Majesty in such a way?” I shouted at him. “Or me, for that matter. This egg was bought and paid for, damn you! I have the legal paperwork right here in my hand. So, I’d advise you to back off. And if you dare speak to either of us like that again, I’ll-I’ll knock you on your big ass.”

I have to admit I enjoyed the look on his face when that registered on him. Clearly, he had no idea who I was. I had a half-formed idea in my head that if he wanted to start some shit, then I’d certainly give him some. All I had to do was invoke King Davos’s name as my grandfather, and that should settle any difficulties pretty quickly. Still, I was a little hesitant about doing that. The Axis was not well-loved in all parts of the realm and especially on former Alliance planets like the Lycanus group. Some might even say they were heartily disliked. As Davos’s grandson, I had the full power of his name behind me, but what would he think if I bandied it around when I got myself in trouble? No, I didn’t need my father’s or my grandfather’s name. I would handle this myself. I threw back my hood and faced this general, feeling supremely confident that I could handle any situation that arose.

“I demand to see a Lycan official immediately. I’m going to demand your arrest.”

The soldiers who were with Fortina laughed at that, but he didn’t seem to think it was funny in the least. He glanced down at the receipt I’d been waving in his face contemptuously andthen he slapped it right out of my hand and to the floor. I have to say it shocked me. My hand was tingling, and no one had ever laid hands on me before or treated me with such disrespect.

“The vetami egg belongs to Horvath,” Fortina snarled at me. “We’re confiscating it as stolen goods and taking this egg in custody. I might just arrestyouas well and haul you back with us to face a judge. I’m getting tired of your smart mouth.”

“Arrest me? You can’t do that! You wouldn’t dare touch me!”

He glared down at me and lifted one side of his mouth in a sardonic smile.

“Watch me. Little boys shouldn’t make threats they can’t back up.”

“You bastard!” I shouted at him and then I shoved him on his chest as hard as I could. Looking back on it, I can see now that it was probably an unwise move. It was like shoving a brick wall, for one thing, and for another he hadn’t been exactly violent up to this point. Insulting as hell, yes, but not violent. That was all on my part. And not only did he not budge when I shoved him—all I did was hurt my hands on his hard chest.

He glared down at me contemptuously and then he literally leaned over and growled in my face. I reeled back and tried to punch him, but he stopped my fist with his hand and pulled me over to him to take me into custody. The moment he touched me, he suddenly stiffened, getting a shocked expression on his face.

“What is this? Tell me who you are!”he yelled down at me and then inexplicably pushed me violently away again.

I stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Suddenly I was the one on my ass, looking up at him. King Travon gave a shocked gasp at the sudden outbreak of violence, and he allowed his men to pull him away. I was vaguely aware of him fading into the shadows and my own men struggling to come to my aid but being blocked by the red-caped soldiers. There was yelling andfighting all around me, but all my focus turned to this general in front of me. He was staring down at me like I’d just suddenly grown another head.

Kareb broke free and grabbed my arm to pull me to safety, but the second he touched me, Fortina reached for me and yanked me back toward him.

“Take your hands off him. He’smine.” he said, in a low, menacing tone that frightened me more than his shouting had.

Kareb and I looked at each other in complete confusion, but his face suddenly turned a dull red. “I mean to say that he’s myprisoner.Now get back. He’s coming with me.”

But I was the son of a king and the grandson of Davos. I had been raised to think I was protected, sheltered, guarded at all times and downright bullet-proof as my omak-ahn Blake would say. Outraged, I immediately made a fist and tried to hit him in his face. And just as immediately, I regretted it.

He grabbed my wrist and held it in the air, glaring down at me. I felt like I was well and truly captured, and it was pretty clear I wasn’t getting away until he decided to let me go. In a sudden move, he twisted my arm around behind my back and pulled me against him, then turned and snarled an order to one of the people standing near him in uniform.

“Find one of the Lycan officials who work here. Get someone over here to arrest this bunch of thieves now. I’m taking this one with me.”

“No!” I squirmed and tried my best to get away, but he held on tightly so that I couldn’t budge.

“Let go of me, damn you! How dare you lay hands on me! Do you have any idea who I am?”

---