Reasons

 

Tenma woke enough to register brightness against his eyelids. Morning already? Where …?

Flexing his hands, he met fur instead of bedsheets, a helpful clue. The events of last night filtered back with increasing clarity—his Nightspangle rescuers, Lapis’ trust, Argent’s arrival, and the urgent command to decamp.

This was the Starmark compound.

Sometime in the darkest hours of the night, he’d been put to bed between two toddlers by Quen’s white-haired uncle. Tenma could even remember waking twice. The first time to find Eloquence there, stroking his hair.

“I hear you had an adventurous night.”

Taking in his classmate’s elaborate costume, Tenma had asked, “Where’ve you been?”

“With my brothers.” Plucking at his embroidered finery, he’d huffed. “Oh, and I’m betrothed.”

“You’re getting married?”

“The Amaranthine equivalent.”

Tenma had almost asked about the fiancée, but he didn’t really know any other dogs. Quen was the only one in 3-C. Knowing Isla would wheedle all the details out of their partner, he just murmured, “Congratulations.”

The second time Tenma woke, a green-haired stranger was shaking his shoulder. “Touch my nose,” he’d said.

Odd request. Maybe he was drunk? But then Tenma realized what sort of Amaranthine he was dealing with. Patting the space at his side, he’d mumbled, “Room here if you’re cold, dragon-san.” And he’d rolled over, pulling his blankets over his head, wishing that dens were quieter, but grateful they weren’t ever lonely.

Now, it was hushed, and Tenma knew he was alone. But then the door slid open, and food smells wafted thought. Turning to check, he rolled right into a tackling hug and gladly returned Inti’s frantic embrace. “I was so worried about you!”

“Inti is safe.”

“That’s what the wolves said, but knowing firsthand is better.”

“Tenma is wise.”

He grumbled, “Tenma is tired.”

Inti poked his cheek. “Tenma is awake.”

“Not yet.”

“When?”

Tenma repeated, “Not yet.”

Inti quietly fussed with Tenma’s hair.

He went limp and let his mind drift back toward sleep, but his stomach growled.

Inti snickered. “Time to get up, Tenma.”

And he opened his eyes, mostly because that had sounded like lucid Inti. So that part of the night hadn’t been a fear-drenched figment of his imagination?

Sitting up, Tenma surveyed the otherwise empty room while Inti sprang lightly to the door. The crosser swept up the waiting tray and sprang back without rattling so much as a spoon. Tenma uncovered the dishes and started in. Inti joined him, eating with his fingers in the absence of a second pair of chopsticks.

“Did they catch her?” Tenma asked.

“Her?”

“The fox who was chasing us. Well, she was after you.”

Inti was back to playing dumb. “Why would a fox want a monkey?”

A bland voice came from the direction of the door. “Because he is very clever and very sly. Yet also quite trustworthy.”

Tenma gulped and coughed, then wheezed, “Lord Mettlebright.”

“I understand you have been a friend to Inti.”

“And he’s been a friend to me.”

“Such fast friends, you went so far as to invite him to live with you.”

Was there a problem he was missing? All Tenma could do was confirm, “Yes, we’re roommates.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Lord Mettlebright held up a finger. “If you were the usual sort of student, with the perception of pavement, I might accept your answer. But you are an unregistered oddity who reduced a dragon lord to a quivering mess of tears and reckless vows. So I ask again … why Inti?”

Tenma fidgeted. “Is Lapis all right?”

“On a first name basis, are you?”

He blushed and backtracked. “Is Lord Mossberne all right?”

“He is surprisingly well, a state he attributes entirely to you. The mares and Michael are cautiously optimistic.” Argent came closer and dropped into a crouch. “And beginning to suspect that Lapis is correct.”

“He often is.”

Argent’s gaze was cool. “I will ask it again, Tenma Subaru. Why did you choose this irascible and incorrigible ingrate?”

“Hey.” Tenma didn’t like name-calling. “Should a member of the Five be bullying crossers?”

 The fox smirked. “Protective of him, are you?”

“He’s my friend.”

“So you keep saying.”

“Because it’s true.” Tenma knew he was glaring. “What’s it to you?”

Argent’s tone lost some of its prickle. “I can be protective, too. Which is why I would like to know the reason you are tangling with my apprentice.”

Tenma frowned. “Because monkeys tangle. How does it work for foxes? W-wait.” His gaze swiveled to Inti. “Apprentice?”

His roommate waved to Argent with both hands, as if making an introduction, and intoned, “Reasons.”
 

For the next several minutes, Tenma listened to a tale so clipped around the edges, he could tell Argent was abridging and censoring. But the basics were enough to communicate the urgency of the situation.

“A rogue dragon.” Tenma pushed at his glasses, then removed them to polish the lenses. He put them back and stared at his hands. “That’s why Sentinel and the battlers asked us to keep quiet about the kidnappings. Because people might panic if they found out your people aren’t all peaceful.”

“Might panic?” echoed the fox.

Tenma grimaced. “Yeah, they would. Not all of them, but enough to ruin it for the rest of us.”

“We are cooperating with criminal investigation teams worldwide. Many of their agents are here in Keishi, working alongside our trackers and the reavers. But the ongoing investigation has been kept from the public.”

“Why tell me?”

Argent indicated Inti, whose tail was a firm and familiar presence around Tenma’s middle. “We are conducting an independent investigation. One I expected to be an exercise in patience, but I did not account for you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“It is far too late for denial.” Argent frowned. “And thanks to Lapis, I cannot have everything my way.”

Tenma looked to Inti. “What did I do?”

“You looked. You listened. You like me.”

“We’re friends. Why is that so hard for people to imagine?”

Inti’s tail tightened. “Tenma, you knew there was a fox.”

“So did you.”

“That’s why we make such a good team.” Inti leaned his head against Tenma’s shoulder. “I wanted to keep you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Tenma hesitated, then amended, “That I know of. How come you’re not keeping me?”

“Different reasons.” Inti smiled up at him. “You fixed Lord Mossberne last night.”

Is that what Argent had meant?

Lord Mettlebright nodded once. “He is no longer one of the Broken.”

Tenma remembered the fear, the hope, and the tears. And holding Lapis together when the sobs threatened to shake him apart.

“He is grateful.” Argent’s eyebrows rose. “And I sincerely doubt you are prepared to deal with a grateful dragon. I recommend appointing a go-between.”

“You?”

“Alas, he named me as his go-between.” He sounded bored. “I cannot recommend Harmonious, who is too trusting. And Twineshaft is currently preoccupied by his responsibilities as Eloquence’s go-between.”

Tenma glanced at Inti, who quickly hid his eyes. “Not here. Not me.”

“Is there someone you trust?” asked the fox.

“Quen.”

“Someone not currently in the throes of romantic entanglement?”

“Why do I need a go-between?” Tenma asked. “Can’t I forgo their services and represent myself?”

“Ignorance is a poor ally.” Argent’s eyes glittered. “Unless you want to be added to Lord Mossberne’s harem as the East Bride.”

“Wh-what?”

“There are only so many ways a dragon can add an outsider to his household.”

Tenma held up both hands and shouted, “Isla! I want to be represented by Isla Ward!”

Argent pondered him for a moment, then nodded. “She would serve you well. If any complications arise, she has Twineshaft’s ear. And as an added bonus, my affection for her will curb any temptation to resort to … bullying.”

“You and Isla are both from Stately House.” Tenma nudged his roommate. “If you’re his apprentice, why didn’t Isla or Akira know you?”

“Never been. Never seen. Never knew.” More plainly, he added, “I came straight to New Saga.”

Tenma thought back. “From a temple?”

Inti’s expression closed.

Argent sighed. “It was more of a lab.”