Chapter Seven

 

 

“So, tell me why you have really made me your first stop.” Apraxa walked slowly with her through the sample market and smiled at a few of the vendors.

“I need to know what you know about dragon societies, and I need some help picking out stoneware for the new shop. We are starting a line of reusable mugs.”

“Nice. I think I know just the shop. Now, why do you need to know about dragons?”

“I have started seeing one, but he isn’t going to make a move because their women have to do it first, and I am not comfortable with that scenario.” It was close to the truth. Apraxa was excellent at knowing things that you weren’t planning on telling her.

“Wow. I thought you were going to remain single or, at least, give Pollux another chance.”

“Well, I saw him, and something inside said that he was the one.” Her tone was wry. It was also a truth.

“Huh. Well, yeah, the females have to make the first move, usually at a public event. If the male is a single dragon, or at least single, he really doesn’t have a choice. My birth mom chose my father at a trade meeting and didn’t realize he was newly married. He and his mate hadn’t bonded yet. Well, that and sharks don’t have breeding restrictions like the dragons do. Fidelity is not their strong suit.”

“So, I have heard.” Trin really wanted to ask her friend for details, but she couldn’t delve into something so personal.

“I only know a bit about dragons because of my mother’s family. They swam out every three months and taught me about my family and culture.”

“Ah, right. Sea dragons.”

“Yup. They are more laid back about social disasters than the dragons at the capital.”

Trin chuckled and followed Apraxa into one of the stalls. She looked at the items on display and asked a few questions. There was a set of long-handled mugs that depicted the seasons, and they were perfect for her purposes. She requested that the colours be brighter and all of the pigments used to be safe. If she tested them and one of them was contaminated, she would return and destroy the shop. The seller was pleasant, a little nervous, but earnest. They had a deal.

With one order made, she smiled at Apraxa. “Well, one done, now we need some more delicate stuff.”

“Excellent. So, I have some actual artisans that you can see. They can make what you want in a custom order.”

“Right in town?”

“Right in town.” They left the shop, and Apraxa casually asked, “So, why did you choose a dragon?”

Trin thought about it. “I don’t know. He just feels right in every way that matters.”

“Except he is a dragon and that isn’t a great situation for humans.”

“Yeah, well, there is some flexibility there.”

Apraxa nodded. “There is something different and yet the same about you. It is more than just the hair. What do you know about the new crystal dragon in the capital?”

“Not much. I have never seen her.” That was the truth as well.

“Huh. I thought she had cruised over the city a few times.”

“I work indoors. No time for looking up.” Trin smiled and kept pace as they meandered out of the market and toward the streets of artisans.

“Are you keeping something from me?” Apraxa asked it directly.

“I am. I can tell you in private but not walking the streets.”

Apraxa nodded and then her demeanour changed. “Hang back. One of the gangs is roaming.”

“Which one?”

“The Haj. Swedish bastards should never have been allowed to make their way here. They still try to pretend to be Norse, and raiding is their favourite thing.”

Shouts and panicked cries emerged from one of the shops. Apraxa growled and strode forward, heading to stop the shakedown.

As silently as she had been trained to move, Trin followed. No one let a friend go into danger alone.

 

The shop was a teashop, which appalled Trin, but the sight of the blonde thug holding Apraxa by her neck was enough to set Trin’s blood boiling.

“That is simply rude. No one should treat a lady that way.”

They took in her leathers and the straps she had around her hips and thighs. One of the men laughed, “She has brought a pet human to sacrifice for the shop. How thoughtful.”

The three blonde guys wearing matching clothing were too tempting. It didn’t matter that they were huge. They were endangering her friend and the folk huddled in the corners. That couldn’t stand.

In what felt like slow motion, she turned and kicked out at the man nearest her, sending his knee into the wrong direction. He went down, and she kept moving forward, blocking, kicking, and using pressure points until the next one was flat on his back. Now, the man holding her friend was the only one left.

“If you come closer, I break her neck. I am not joking.”

She didn’t comment but pulled a short blade and threw it at him, pinning his arm to the wall and forcing him to drop Apraxa.

Her friend landed on her butt and rubbed her neck as the three thugs hopped out and went to seek some medical attention.

Apraxa coughed, and the shopkeeper filled a cup and brought it over. “Thank you, Miss Tiburon, and thanks to your friend.”

Trin looked around and realized that the idiot had run off with her blade in him. She would need a replacement.

When Apraxa could speak, she sat on one of the floor cushions, and she rasped. “So, what was that?”

“Training. My fella is teaching me.” Trin offered her hand to her friend. Apraxa took the hand and hauled herself to a standing position.

“He appears to be a fella with some training.”

“It would seem so.” She smiled politely.

The family was bowing and offering their thanks. Apraxa shook her head and smiled. “My friend here is a tea merchant in the capital. I thought of you the moment that she said she was looking for new ceramics.”

The woman’s eyes widened, and she smiled. “Please, miss. Come with me and describe what you would like to have. I can show you previous pieces in our gallery, and you can let your imagination run.”

Trin held up her hands. “If you are upset by the events, we can come back later.”

She was grabbed by the arm and pulled along. “Nonsense. Any friend of Miss Tiburon is more than welcome, notwithstanding the assistance you gave her. That was amazing.”

Trin let herself be hauled off while Apraxa spoke softly with the man and teen who had also been threatened by the thugs.

“They were shaking you down for protection money?”

The woman paused and then nodded. “It is what happens in this city. You get the trade, you get the light, and you get the sea, but you get the organizations who feel that they should get a piece of your income.”

Trin decided to change the topic. “Apraxa said you are a teashop?”

“Oh, we import a few tons every year. Would you like to sample some after you look at our hardware?”

“Please.” Trin smiled brightly.

They went through a door, and the scent of clay was lightly in the air. Two potters were sitting at wheels and working on teapots.

“Those are lovely, but I would like whatever design I choose to be set for mass production.”

“That is easy enough. Do you have anything in mind?”

Trin nodded as they approached the display cabinet. “I am looking for something subtle and making reference to the seasons.”

“Excellent.”

Looking at the display, she selected a few pieces to look at, and when she had solidified an idea in her mind, she started to smile. “I think I have it.”

The shopkeeper blinked. “Just like that?”

“Yes. I am fairly good at making decisions. It is part of my charm.” She smiled brightly.

“Would you like to meet the artisans?”

“Please.”

The next ten minutes of meeting the shopkeeper’s children and their spouses took up most of her visit time. When she had introduced herself and shaken hands covered with clay and dust, she had won them over.

She was escorted to the sink where they cleaned up, and she scrubbed her hands, drying them on a towel that the potter’s fifteen-year-old son had offered her. Trin knew by the look in his eyes that she had a fan.

When her host finally brought her out into the teashop, Apraxa was sitting casually on the floor next to a low table, and she was telling a very off-colour joke about a shark getting its claspers bitten off.

The weak laughter was just what she needed. “Well, Apraxa, I have made my choice. I was just about to put in the order.”

The shop owner got a sketchbook and sat with her pencil poised. “Whenever you are ready, Miss.”

With a smile to the man who brought her a cup of tea, Trin got down into the details of what she was looking for. The woman got more excited, as did the folk in the shop.

Apraxa spoke softly to the men, and they immediately sprang into action, preparing a series of trays with an array of herbs and powders. They were drawing kettles of water, and Trin almost rubbed her hands together. Tea tasting was one of her favourite pastimes.

When she finished her description of what she wanted, the woman rose to her feet and left. “Huh, was it something I said?”

“No. She is going to work on the designs. Tomyo will assist us, along with Master Gwin.”

The trays of tea were being set out, the small tasting cups had the precise amount of the leaves required to bring the taste out. The master of the shop knelt across from her, and he smiled. “Thank you for coming to our shop today.”

She sat up straight and inclined her head. “Thank you for receiving me.”

“It is our pleasure. You are very quick.”

She chuckled. “It is practice. I do not like it when folks dangle my friends.”

Apraxa smiled. “I thank you for your reflexes. Did you get that dagger back?”

“My knife? No. He wore it out.”

“I will get you a new one.”

Trin nodded. “Thank you. Oh, any ideas where I should book a hotel while I am here?”

“You can stay with me. I have put a house in the back of the warehouse. It is comfy, and I have a rooftop garden. Oh, and several guestrooms for the brothers when they stop by.”

The tea master took the hot kettle from the younger man, and he poured water into every other cup before going back and covering the tea with a lid while it steeped.

“I would love to stay over. Now, I need to concentrate.”

Apraxa held her hands up in surrender, and Trin got to work. It was time to choose some new product to keep her small empire growing.

Baby gifts and then a nap were next on the list.