Chapter 10
~ Daron ~
Pulling at his collar, Daron stood with Cassidy at his side before the massive three thrones of the Sylon home world. Safely ensconced in each throne was a warrior and behind each warrior stood his lady.
It was the beginning of equality for the clanless and he’d never been more anxious a day in his long life. A small hand slipped into his. Looking down at their joined hands, he thought of all the moments they’d had together. They’d shared laughter, heartache, and danger together. Now they were poised to step into their shared future together.
As Korban stood, looking over the huge assortment of assembled clanless males, he spoke, “Yielding upon great duress from the females of Earth, the ruling council has decided to address the inequalities of the clan system with a two-pronged strategy. First, we encourage each clan on our world to open their hearts and homes to a clanless male, in recognition of the fact that many were made clanless through no particular fault of their own. Secondly, we hereby create The House of Darolon and task its clan leader with filing the clan with worthy warriors from among the ranks of the clanless.”
There was a spontaneous round of warriors beating the hilt of their sword against their armor chest plates. Daron knew most warriors would view this move as providing a measure of protection in case they were cast from their clans for egregious reasons.
“Daron, step forward.”
Forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other, he complied. The prince turned to his assistant, pulled a long clan sword from its scabbard, and held it aloft for all to see. “Behold the new clan sword for the House of Darolon. The design is a mixture of Krylon and Earth symbols, meant to represent the merging of our people.” Stepping forward, the prince laid it across his hands.
The weight felt familiar, and the design was almost too beautiful to consider lethal. The edge was razor sharp and harbored no doubts about the sword’s ability to cleave a man in half. As the prince’s assistant fitted the scabbard to his back, Daron glanced at his lovely mate. The woman had advocated for him and his people when no one had given their plight a second thought. That made her dearer to him than he ever thought a female could be. Sliding the massive sword back and into the scabbard, he held out a hand to her.
“Prince Korban, Prince Koal, and Prince Jalon, my mate and I thank you on behalf of all clanless males who have lost their standing without cause or due process.”
“Once word gets out, I have no doubt you’ll be inundated with requests to join your clan. Though there are very few clanless, this will be their quickest route to inclusion back into society.”
“Thank you for taking just measures to rectify the unfairness of our situation.”
“I hope you spread the word that this situation has been justly settled.”
“I’ll see it done, my prince.”
“We were unable to accommodate the numbers requesting to wish you well on your new clanship indoors. Instead, we’ve prepared what the women call bonfires.”
The short stroll outdoors revealed that it had been decorated with garlands of spring flowers. Tables of food had been set up, and there were huge receptacles of intoxicating beverages. Huge fire pits were positioned at intervals along a winding path.
“Everything is so beautiful.”
Selene murmured, “I’m glad you approve. Mix and mingle as you like. Everyone is dying to meet the two of you. We have dragon rides at the end of the path.”
Daron shook his head. “It’s difficult to believe this is all really happening.”
Cassidy pulled his hand. “I want to see the dragons.”
Selene rushed to a table and brought back something in a small, colorful, paper bag. “Seasoned wood chips. Dragons love these, especially the baby dragons.”
“There are really baby dragons here?”
“Just like out of an Earth fairytale. They don’t really breathe fire unless they get emotional, so go easy on them.”
Grabbing her other hand, Daron pulled her down the path. “You act like you’ve never seen a dragon before.”
“Are you kidding? No one on Earth has seen one. They’re part of Earth myth.”
“Though they originated on the Krylon home world, they’ve been transplanted to just about every world spinning. Krylon warriors love their dragons. It’s the one real drawback to space travel; we can’t have the creatures lumbering around our ships.”
Laughing, she suddenly stopped. Staring up at the sky, she whispered, “They’re flying.”
“They tend to do that. Why else would they have such massive wings, if not flying?”
“I just thought they would be giant lizards or something.”
“What are lizards?”
Approaching the launching station, she replied, “They look much like dragons, only smaller and with no fire or wings. Some of them change color to camouflage themselves.”
Their conversation was cut short by a tween with an attitude. “That is my dragon and I can ride him all by myself.”
“Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Read the sign.”
“I ride by myself all the time.”
“I cannot risk a female falling from a dragon’s back. You wouldn’t survive the impact.”
Propping one hand on her hip, she chicken-necked her next statement, “If I fall, Christopher will catch me. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again.”
Something moved near the dragon and Cassidy realized it was one of the insectoids. He blended in like a chameleon and it gave her the creeps.
Prince Koal walked up. “Let her go. She’s had almost three hundred hours in the sky.” Turning to the girl, he stipulated, “You don’t have my permission to fly without Christopher.”
Shrugging, the little girl asked, “Why would I ever want to be without Christopher? He’s just a brother to me.”
“This I have noticed, daughter. Be careful and strap the safety harness.”
His mate approached, carrying a small child. “Remind me to thank Shar for getting her hooked on dragons.”
The girl responded pleasantly, “I already thanked him for Sharkey. Dragons aren’t insects, but I love them anyway.” Skipping off, she climbed onto the huge creature with help from her friend.
Turning to him, Cassidy said excitedly, “I definitely want to ride. But unlike the teen, I want to ride with you.”
“Let’s walk and see which one calls to us.”
“What does that mean?”
“The dragon chooses the rider it wishes to bear. That is the way of it. If we don’t get chosen, we don’t ride tonight.”
“I can live with that. Good thing I brought dragon treats.”
He led his new mate up to each dragon, enthralled by her fascination with something so common. Seeing the world through Cassidy’s innocent eyes made the ordinary seem charming and noteworthy.
For the first time in a very long time, Daron found himself just enjoying each moment in time as it came along. As a youngster, he’d anticipated getting out from under his family’s rules. After being de-clanned, the present offered no respite for his misery. Looking to the future and having hope of earning clanship again had given his life meaning. Living in the now made him feel alive.
After feeding several of the creatures, Cassidy got distracted by a small, odd-looking infant. Its wings were crooked, leading Daron to believe it might not take flight when the time came. His lovely mate seemed drawn to the silly creature. She fed it an inordinate number of wood chips before moving on. Finally, a large, grey dragon lowered his head for them.
“Come, we’ve been accepted.”
Climbing up, he quickly pulled her up and strapped them in. When nothing happened, Cassidy asked, “What’s wrong?”
Turning over his shoulder, he replied casually, “They fly when they’re ready, not when we say. Dragons are accommodating only to their true masters. We’re merely guests.”
“That’s fine. I love it up here. Even if he never takes off, it’s still really cool to be on the back of a dragon.”
“You’re easy to please.”
“You’re not, especially when we’re naked.”
“Cassidy! I can’t believe you said that aloud.”
Shrugging, she noted, “There’s just you and me here, big guy.”
“You’re forgetting the dragon.”
“They don’t understand us… wait a gosh dern minute. Do your people give the dragons the multi-language virus?”
“Don’t be absurd. Of course not. There’s no need, they understand us anyway.”
“Really?”
“I’m actually uncertain. It’s the most hotly debated topic related to dragons. Some swear they can understand us, and others say they are useless beasts of burden and nothing more.”
An ear-splitting roar and a shot of fire came out of nowhere.
Gripping onto his clothing, Cassidy commented quickly, “I’m going with the idea that they understand everything we say.”
With a toss of his majestic head, the creature took flight. It had been many years since Daron had flown. Something about the moment of taking off spoke to him as a warrior. Rider and beast almost become one when in flight. Feeling the wind rushing through his hair, he looked back to make sure Cassidy was okay.
“This is amazing. I know that I should probably be terrified, but I’m not.” Shouting to be heard over the wind, she held him tighter, lying her cheek against his shoulder. Feeling her warm breath on his skin brought back memories of their intimate time together. Nothing in life was sweeter than having a female of his own.
Enjoying the ride, he promised himself to buy them a dragon at his earliest possible convenience. The animal turned and soared back towards the gathering. It made sense to keep the rides short. There were many hoping for a chance to ride and many small pleasures to enjoy this evening. It simply wouldn’t do to spend it all in the air.
His hands moved to the safety straps as soon as the creature touched down. Feeding it a handful of wood chips from a nearby courtesy bag, he didn’t realize several people had approached Cassidy. Rushing over, he found the dragon master halfway through an explanation.
“Little thing didn’t stop until he saw you landing. I know he’s tiny for his age and not much to look at, but you should try to take him.”
“What happened?”
Cassidy held it close to her chest, stroking its head and ears. “He’s been choking on fire, and screaming since we took off.”
“You wish to keep him?”
“Of course, he’s absolutely adorable.”
“You’re probably the only female on his planet who enjoys collecting ugly strays.”
“Talk about my mate that way again, and you’ll get an earful of just how much I don’t like you making disparaging comments about yourself.”
Odar’s voice cut through the darkness. “I’ve told him that myself a thousand time.”
Turning towards his friend’s voice, he saw that the old man still had the older female with grey streaks in her hair at his side.
“Welcome, Odar. I see you’ve managed to hang onto the Earth female.”
“You gave her to me.”
“I never!” Saying such things aloud could get them exiled.
“Perhaps because I’m old, I’m not remembering correctly. But I think you said for me to stay with her and see no harm comes to her.”
“I did, but nothing in that should imply ownership.”
“To my mind, it does.”
The woman spoke up, smacking him playfully on the arm, “Stop tormenting your friend, Odie. He probably doesn’t know you’ve developed a sense of humor as of late.” Turning to him, she held out a hand. “My name is Eve. Your friend has tried to shake me a couple of times, but I make choices for myself.”
“You’ve chosen wisely. I have a mind to ask him to be my first.”
“Why would you want a beat-up old warrior like me for your second?”
“Because you’re my one true friend, and I’d have you at my back. Also, because our land has gemstone locked beneath the ground. You were once a miner, were you not?”
Rubbing his chin, Odar looked more than interested. “I used to supervise production of a mine. My skill set would be useful to a new clan leader.”
“It would also position you well to care for a fragile human mate.”
Cutting his eyes to Eve, Odar nodded. “That it would, sir. I accept.”
“Pass the word that we’re accepting applications for clanship. They can submit applications electronically, directly to you. Preference will be given to those with mining experience, builders, and medical professionals. We begin interviews tomorrow.”
“Consider it done. Anything else, my lord?”
Looking at Cassidy, he spoke quietly, “Strong preference will be given to clanless men with females to support. It’s the quickest way to build a robust and diversified clan, according to my new mate.”
“She is a smart woman. The clanless worship her already.”
“As do I, Odar. As do I.”
Holding out one hand to his sweet human, he watched her tuck the tiny dragon into the crook of her arm before sliding her other hand into his. Thrilled that she came so willingly to his side, he took her to get food.