Chapter Eleven

 

 

Meadra was staring at Brommin with fascination, and Trin let it go on for three minutes before she snapped her fingers between them. “Knock it off, Meadra, or my dragon will express her displeasure. He is hers.”

Brommin sat on the couch next to Trin. “I don’t mind being stared at.”

Trin tapped him on the hand. “You are the first proper dragon that she has seen. I don’t want her imprinting on you.”

Meadra chuckled. “Not true. I saw you, and I have definitely memorized every part of you.”

Trin grinned. “Right. Brommin, what do you know about diamond dragons?”

He picked up her hand and kissed the back of her wrist. “I know I am holding onto the only one I—or anyone else in the capital—have ever seen. The alchemist finished her tests. It was the reason I was frantic to keep you from being captured.”

“Oh. That would explain it. So, what can you tell me about... well... me?” She turned her hand and cupped his cheek.

“The last recorded diamond was over two thousand five hundred years ago. She ruled a small kingdom on the African continent. When she chose to die, she shattered into pieces that seeded themselves in the ground with the curse of chaos lying with them.”

Trin blinked. “Wow. I don’t know if I like the exploding idea.”

“We have traced mentions of diamond dragons around the world. Where you find diamonds, you find the resting place of one of the rarest dragons we have ever heard of.”

She stroked his slightly stubbled cheek with her thumb and pulled her hand down to her lap. “Delightful.”

“Some folks associate diamonds with love and eternity. I suppose that it is because, throughout history, the diamonds have only ever given up life when they have no mate.”

Trin looked at him, and her dragon showed her a flash of their future together and her life after that with their children and their children. Life alone stretched on until it was time to let it go.

Brommin was holding her, and she focused on his features.

“Trin, what just happened?”

“I know why they would shatter.” She let the slow tears of loneliness fall down her cheeks.

He pulled her onto his lap and simply held her while the other two looked on.

Feeling hundreds of years in a moment took a lot out of her. She leaned her head against Brommin’s shoulder, and she sighed. “Apologies for that. Sometimes my dragon shows me things that I am not ready for.”

Meadra stared. “It is a separate entity?”

Brommin answered. “Yes. The gemstone dragons have so much power that we require a secondary processing device. To control a shape so large would be impossible without more controlling power.”

Apraxa grinned. “Try swimming. Your body is going in half a dozen directions at the same time.”

Brommin looked surprised, and Trin realized she hadn’t made the proper introductions.

“Master archivist and retrieval team leader, Brommin Lefarge, this is my friend, Apraxa Tiburon, and my—uh—aunt, Meadra Anders.”

“Ladies, I would stand, but I am weighed down.” Brommin inclined his head.

Apraxa coughed. “Lefarge? As in Senator Lefarge?”

Brommin inclined his head again. “Just so.”

She looked to Trin. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It didn’t come up.” She yawned. “Thanks for finding a shipment going to Delarm, by the way. I might have gotten in, but it would have looked a lot less spontaneous.”

Meadra blinked. “You knew what you would find?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not exactly. I have the updated autopsy file. I know how old she was and what physical condition she was in when she died. I also know that neither she, nor anyone else from the Delarm Valley, appears on a census. There is no record, and that means they are hiding something.”

Meadra nodded, and then, she swayed.

Apraxa smacked herself in the forehead. “I am such a bad host. Come on, Meadra. I will put you in the room next to Trin.”

Meadra nodded and followed Apraxa with soft good nights to Trin and Brommin.

Trin tried to move off her intended’s lap, and he wrapped his arm around her.

“Tell me how many and what kind of dragons you saw today.”

She wrinkled her nose and told him how many, what colours, and where they were located. “Oh, and the one road in is wired to electrocute something your dragon’s size. There was no way I was getting across it with my velo.”

“So, they don’t want folk escaping.”

“I am guessing that is the case. It is why Meadra needed help.”

Brommin nodded. “Is it weird that she is the precise image of your mother? Not close. It is exact.”

“I know. She said she was a clone, but I thought you needed a high-tech facility for that.”

His posture was suddenly rigid. “What do they grow in the valley? Trees, bushes? Are there a lot of hills?”

“No. It is very flat with only a small ridge of hills around the edge of the farmland.”

“What grows on the ridges?”

She thought about it. “Close-cropped grass.”

“Their facility is underground. I need to leave.”

Trin sighed and got to her feet. “Fine. Just one thing before you go—mmf!”

His kiss was quick, fiery, and promised the future that she had just seen. He murmured, “The senate needs to know.”

“I know. Go. I will stay in Breaker City until the ball. Visit if you can.” She stroked his cheek and watched him sprint up the steps for a jumping takeoff from the roof.

She heard him leave and felt it as well. When Apraxa returned, she was rather surprised to find him gone.

“What the hell? Did you tell him you weren’t going to put out?”

Trin was staring at the bookshelf. “No, he just saw that I haven’t shaved my legs in a decade and ran for it.”

“Funny. Where did he go?”

“He has to make a report to the senate and probably the more clandestine parts of the dragon council. They have to find out what is going on there.”

“At the valley?”

“Yes.”

Apraxa chuckled. “You don’t really think that they are making a super dragon over there, do you?”

Trin stared at her and then pointed to herself.

“Oh. Right. Damn. I am so used to thinking of you as a tea and coffee merchant. Deadly dragon doesn’t seem to fit.”

“I know. I think that right until I see my hair in the mirror, and then, I remember, and she laughs at me.”

Trin tightened the sash of her robe. “It has been an adjustment.”

“I will put away the samples, and if you are happy with them, we can swing by the shop tomorrow.”

“That sounds delightful. Thank you for everything.” Trin gave her a hug and paused. “You don’t think they can find us here? I flew with invisibility, didn’t touch the seer, and never mentioned this city. Hopefully, they don’t make their way here.”

“They might split their forces and cover Breaker City and the capital. You are not going anywhere alone for the foreseeable future.”

Trin pinched the bridge of her nose. “I had a feeling someone was going to say that.”

 

Trin gave a few brushes and tugs to the clothing that Meadra was wearing and had to pronounce it a creepily good fit.

“You know, considering that this was tailored for me, it is an exceptionally good fit.” Trin straightened and cocked her head. “The purple looks better on you than on me.”

Meadra was touching the chaste but flashy expanse of her collarbone. “I have never worn anything like this. Is it new?”

“It was a few weeks ago.”

Meadra touched it as if was made of gold. “I haven’t ever had any clothing that hadn’t seen five wearers before me. This fabric is so thick!”

Trin watched her aunt spin slowly and revelling in the simple joy of a dress with leggings and boots.

“You can spin later. Apraxa has found us another seamstress, so I can order a wardrobe for you.”

Meadra stopped and looked at her with wide eyes. “I don’t want you to spend all your money on me.”

“You won’t even make a dent. I have quite the nest egg.” She wrinkled her nose. “So to speak.”

“If you are sure... I wouldn’t mind a few new corsets. This one fits like a dream. There are weird lumps in it, though.”

Trin grinned and went up to her aunt, lining up the invisible slits in the dress with the corset and removing the blades. “Sorry about that. I load the corsets after they have been cleaned.”

“You carry knives?”

Apraxa spoke from the doorway. “She does. Knows how to use them, too.”

Meadra cleared her throat. “Can I keep one?”

Trin blinked and nodded. “Sure. Hold still. It is harder to get them in when you are dressed. I don’t want to stick you.”

Meadra nodded, and Trin slid the easiest-to-access knife in place. Lower center front, next to the busk. The steel in it helped hold the knife motionless.

The next five minutes were spent showing Meadra how to withdraw the knife. They were a few minutes late heading out for brunch, but the diner had their table ready and waiting.

Apraxa’s brothers fawned over them and got Meadra anything she wanted. Trin was surprised by the effect she was having, but her dragon was accepting this as normal. It was only proper that someone with the genetics of Trin’s mother should be exhibiting the attraction characteristics of a dragoness reaching her first season.

Trin didn’t bother arguing that her mother hadn’t been a dragon, so it was doubtful that her aunt was. Explaining their relationship was difficult, so they had decided on introducing her as a cousin.

Apraxa sipped her tea and smiled. “It seems your cousin is very popular with my brothers. Does she know what a shark is?”

Trin shook her head. “I am fairly sure that she doesn’t. Damn. I should have thought of this.”

“What?”

Trin leaned forward and whispered, “I read my mom’s journal. Her fling wasn’t an accident or a whim of true love, she wanted out, and she thought that Lord Millet could take her away. She didn’t particularly want him, but she was willing to use sex to ensnare him.”

Apraxa whistled. “Wow. That is a tale as old as time.”

“When she confronted her father and mother, they ordered her to marry the seer anyway. They would simply dispose of the baby. They watched her day and night for the next seven months.”

Apraxa leaned forward and propped her chin on her hands. “Then what?”

Trin blinked and swallowed. “She didn’t run for herself, she didn’t run for Lord Millet, she ran for me. Every time I kicked, she knew I was bound to do things that she had never dreamed of.”

“How did she get out?”

Trin shrugged. “I don’t know. I only have the journal entry from the day before she ran. She went through a few plans, but I don’t know which one she actually carried out.”

“Of course. Did you meet your grandmother?”

The swish of skirts pulled up next to their table as Meadra rejoined them. “No. Her grandmother died having a baby at sixty-two years old.”

Apraxa blinked. “Why did she do that?”

Meadra arranged her skirts as she sat. “Because LeeHee was their obligation child. They had to have a daughter, so when she left, they had to have another. Maintaining the pattern was imperative. They would lose their standing in the community and in the project.”

Trin cocked her head. “Ah. That. I am pretty sure that that is going to require a chat with someone with high security clearance.”

“Right. I am just so excited to be able to speak in a regular conversation, I got carried away.”

Trin patted her hand. “Finish your breakfast and remember the fascinating methods of making coffee, and we will be out in the market where you can chat with anyone you want.”

Apraxa smirked. “I am going to be using your appeal to try and strike some bargains. Feel free to flirt at will.”

Meadra blinked, and then, she smiled slyly. “I will do what I can.”