Loose Threads 148

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Loose Threads

One Hundred Forty Eight

 

            Niamh looked at the Dikon and tucked it into her pouch. “I have heard of magic that can duplicate this but it’s not very common and I wouldn’t know how to make it. This is an outstanding gift and I am grateful to receive it.” She bowed to Ava. “Thank you for everything you have done during my visit.”

            Ava hugged her. The dragoness stiffened in surprise before relaxing into the hug and finally returning it. “You are very welcome, Niamh. Return when you can, but remember that Eilistraee walks with you always, no matter where you go. If you have questions, you can write me letters or record a video that Iain will deliver.” She smiled. “And never forget that he is a priestess too and might be able to answer your questions without you having to wait to speak to me.”

            “What if his answer disagrees with the one you give me?”

            “Then I’m right, of course.”

            Niamh grinned. “Of course. I will write you regularly to tell you of what happens.”

            “Good.”

            Iain opened the gate. “It’s time, ladies.”

            Ninhursag bowed to Niamh. “Be well, Niamh.”

            Niamh bowed back. “Be well, Ninhursag.” She turned and headed through the gate.

            Mielikki appeared beside the gate. “Iain, nobody but you can see or hear me. Step through the gate as if you were leaving. The gate will not work for you, but they will see you go.”

            Iain quickly kissed Ava and Ninhursag. “Be back in a few, ladies. I plan to return to the Danger Room as normal since Thirty hasn’t been cleared yet by Daya.”

            Ninhursag frowned. “That number has jumped again. We’ll have to discuss the ones I don’t know about yet.”

            Iain nodded. “When I come back and when we’re in private. I love you both.” He stepped through the gate, stepping through the portal and out the other side like the gate wasn’t there. He felt very odd for a moment as energies played around him. He paid close attention to them, figuring that they were from the gate trying to do its job and send him to his destination. The interference patterns were very interesting and he took careful note for later study.

            Mielikki took his hand. An instant later they were standing somewhere else as the gate closed back where they’d been. “Iain Grey, you are my Chosen. You are my premier warrior and the defender of my faith. Remember that everything you do next is by my order and in doing my order you are doing my will.”

            “I love you,” he replied simply. “My will is my own but I will do what you order in whatever this is without comment or question.”

            Her blue eyes searched his for several seconds before she smiled. “I must find a way to reward Golden Cloud for having the wisdom and perseverance to chase you down and bring you to me.”

            “I think you should reward me for having the wisdom to allow her to convince me to bring the herd, the forest and you to the clan.”

            Her smile warmed. “You are right and I am going to reward you for what you did. It’s just that I already know what you’re getting as your reward for that. It’s a surprise.” Her smile vanished. “And now into the fire.”

            The scene around them changed. Iain recognized where they were on Konevets again. In front of him was the gaunt Mielikki from One. She was standing in front of and closely watching the older Danu, who was encased in a glowing field of white energy and lying on a stone altar.

            “She chose to stalk and attack my avatar from One. It is time to deal with her.” Mielikki Grey released Iain’s hand. “You are not to step between either of me and Danu lest she harm you in her attempts to become free. You will copy all of Danu’s memories and use them to create the Danu database. Then you will pull her memories from the last two months and give them to both of me.”

            “Yes, Lady.” Iain stepped around to the other side of the altar and looked down at Danu, who glared up at him. He placed his hand on her forehead and pulled a blue globe from her head. He made a fist and the globe disappeared into his wrist. Then he touched Danu’s head with his right index finger and pulled a second blue globe from the goddess. This one he touched with his other index finger and divided before walking around the altar and stopping in front of Mielikki Grey. He held out the globe and she took it and pressed it into her temple. Then he repeated the process with the Mielikki from One.

            Mielikki pointed to a spot a few meters from the altar. “Stand there.” Iain went over there and watched as Mielikki Grey moved to where he’d been standing. Both Mielikki placed their hands on Danu. Seconds later, Danu dissolved into energy and was sucked into the two goddess’ hands. The cocoon Danu had been in faded and disappeared.

            The Mielikki from One looked at him. “The memories you have given me will allow me to circumvent the defenses Danu has put into place against attack. You can move around now but remain here while I deal with the other Danu. One of me will return to get you.”

            “I understand and obey, Lady.”

            Both Mielikki vanished. Iain knelt and began examining the altar, only to growl in frustration when it dissolved into smoke under his hands. “Fine,” he muttered. “Keep your bloody secrets for now.” He stood and cleared his mind as he waited.

            Seventeen minutes and nine seconds, his twee whispered as Mielikki from One appeared. Iain hesitated at the anguish that was stamped across her face and the tears that streamed down her cheeks. A thousand questions burned in his mind but he remembered his words and bit his tongue to keep from blurting any of them out. “Lady,” he said quietly.

            She took his hand. An instant later they were standing in a cave. Mielikki Grey stood vigil over a cocooned bound teenage Danu. The fey goddess floated upright, her furious eyes tracking Iain. Mielikki’s face was dry, but her eyes were filled with grief. “The next chamber,” she said heavily. “You’ll understand then. Look, remember and return.”

            Iain headed through the entrance and stopped. The large room was filled with sleeping mats and colorful toys that looked like they’d been scavenged from towns. The fey children that his clan had cloned for them were lying limply around the room. Iain did a quick count and realized that all of the children they’d given to the Danu goddesses were present. He turned and went back to the first chamber.

            “When we attacked her,” the Mielikki from One said quietly, “she drained their lives to try to add enough to her power with their sacrifice to escape. How could she do that to children?”

            “Danu has always been more nature oriented than you’re used to,” Iain replied in soothing tones. “She was never human and is more primal and wilder than goddesses that humans worshipped ever were. Humanity influences you in ways that are complex and hard to understand, even as you influence your worshippers. Animal mothers will abandon or kill their young if necessary because their survival means that they can have more children later. If they die, there will be no more children and, honestly, any already living children will die soon afterward without the care that their mother can provide. While decent humans would find using the children’s lives to try to survive as reprehensible, it makes sense if you look at things the way the fey do.”

            Mielikki Grey smiled grimly. “Well, this wild goddess won’t ever get to murder her children again. Iain, copy her memories for your database. I doubt there will be many differences between their memories, but there will be small ones.”

            Iain touched Danu on the forehead and pulled the memory globe from her head. He looked back at the two goddesses as he tucked it away in his arm. “I suspect the database will show that they’ve never merged. They don’t trust each other that much. It probably helped in conquering them.”

            “But you share power when you amalgamate,” Mielikki from One said. “And you don’t have to merge personalities when you do.”

            “It’s like when you merged with her,” Iain jerked his head towards Mielikki Grey. “You were worried she’d eat you. They don’t have anyone like me to be an intermediary to protect them from being absorbed.”

            “It won’t be a problem for this Danu ever again,” Mielikki Grey said harshly. “It’s time for her to die. I will be the goddess of the fey on One from this moment forward. And I can manifest as Danu if I must if it becomes necessary for Queen Ygerna.”

            “Fey goddesses changed their appearances and names over time. Queen Ygerna will accept that,” Mielikki from One said. “I wonder if Danu killed Cernunnos. He was a god of the fey, but also one of humans. He and I were on good relations and he disappeared one day to never be seen again.” She looked at Iain. “What can you tell from their memories?”

            “I haven’t absorbed them,” Iain said. “I don’t want their memories in me. My grip on my humanity is tenuous enough as it is. I’ll instead give them to Theodora through a blank brain I have set up as an interface and I’ll let you know what I discover.” He stepped back. “She’s all yours.”

            Both Mielikki laid their hands on Danu. She struggled for a few seconds before transforming and being absorbed.

            Then the two Mielikki joined hands and merged once more. This time, when they separated, they looked identical. One winked at him and vanished as the other took his hand. “You have done well, my Chosen.” She looked into his eyes. “The dead children do not bother you like they do me.”

            “No, they do not. They weren’t inside my bubble. They do, however, present a tactical problem since their existence was part of what kept Queen Ygerna from going after Ciaran’s family. I don’t think explaining that Danu killed them will make her less likely to decide she has no reason to keep to our informal agreement. I’ll probably clone more of them and foster them out to the clan to raise. Hopefully that will keep me from having to kill Queen Ygerna.”

            “That would be preferable,” Mielikki said. “If only because she will obey me now if I demand it.” She squeezed his hand and they were standing at the Barton Springs House. “Go deposit those memories and then continue your mission for your dragonesses.” She let him go. “Be careful, Iain.”

            “This is where I belong,” Iain replied. “I’ll be as careful as I can.”

            “Good.” Mielikki vanished.

            I have explained to Theodora why she didn’t see you not leave, his twee told him. She’s not happy about it but is willing to forgive you for the creation of the Danu database.

            Ian stepped into the house and headed downstairs. “Theodora, go ahead and combine all the databases into one that only you, Daya and I can access. That way I don’t have to try to keep all the different ones straight anymore.”

            “You still want me to maintain the individual ones for the other clanswomen, yes?”

            “Yes. We’re the only people with unlimited access to everything, at least for the moment.” He headed through the doorway and into the vestibule on the Danger Room. “The clan is growing. Should I upgrade you and Daya to mother status now?”

            There was a startled silence for several seconds before Theodora and Daya appeared in front of him, making him halt. “Not yet,” Daya said. “There is not yet so much to do in so many different places that we two cannot easily cover them all. Another one of us would have very little to do.” She smiled. “But thank you for thinking about letting us have a child. When the clan can benefit from another one of us, we will tell you.”

            Iain nodded. “Then let me get these memories uploaded so you can make the Danu database.”

            Theodora’s and Daya’s images vanished as he started walking. Theodora’s voice sounded in his ear. “Are you happy that they’re dead?”

            “No, I’m not. Danu was an obstacle. I don’t celebrate the removal of an obstacle. I’m just pleased that it’s been removed. You didn’t know this yet, but she ate all of the children to try to use their power to protect herself from the attack.”

            “I don’t find that hard to believe at all,” Theodora’s voice was heavy with suppressed fury. “Danu was never human and acted like anyone who wasn’t her equal was just a tool to be used. And nobody was her equal, at least not in her mind.”

            “We don’t know that for certain,” Daya’s said sadly. Her voice strengthened. “But we will as soon as Iain uploads those memories.”

            “I’m headed there now.”

            “Walk faster.”

            “No.”

***

            “I really think I can open a gate they wouldn’t notice,” Iain grumbled. “Caintigern had the right idea of a gate that is ignored, it’s just that her execution needed some work.”

            “There are those that search for the magic of an incoming gate,” Nightraven replied. She seemed amused, which annoyed Iain, although he was careful not to let it show. “The Royal bloodline was aware that those who were not People could sometimes travel the universes and watched for them both out of curiosity and concern. History never recorded any alien arrivals, but they searched nonetheless.” Her eyes peered into his for a moment. “You mentioned that you would survive this unharmed, which is why we explored you doing it.”

            “Me and my mouth,” he muttered as he stopped in front of the airlock. His twee activated it and the door opened. The other end of the airlock had a thirty five centimeter hatch built into the wall instead of a regular exit. In the center of the room was a thirty centimeter ball made of what looked like hard rubber or plastic.  It was open in two halves and was threaded so it could be sealed. “I will survive this; it just might sting a little.”

            “You said you would be unharmed,” Nightraven repeated.

            “No, I said I could heal any damage. That’s not the same as unharmed.” He stepped into the airlock. “And I’m doing it.”

            “It means you will be unharmed when it is over,” Nightraven said. “Be careful.”

            “I’m not complaining, but this level of consideration for my health is new.”

            She nodded. “It is. First of all, your training with me is almost over and you will be taking your place at my side.”

            Iain couldn’t help himself. “It does end?”

            She smiled slightly. “Yes, eventually, but not just yet.” Her smile faded. “Caintigern and I have been discussing this, as well as with,” her mouth twisted unhappily, “Niamh.”

            “What is your problem with her? You have been looking for her for a very long time.”

            “I was looking for Winter’s Dream,” Nightraven corrected him. “I was not looking for Winter’s Dream who took a human name and adopted human behaviors and began worshipping a power that is foreign to the People. She is one of the People and has always been socially experimental, but this is too much.” She fixed him with a mild glare. “You did this to her.”

            “Have you found any signs of magical coercion around her?”

            “I don’t have to. She is young and impressionable.”

            Iain shrugged. “I don’t think she’s that young or that easily swayed. More importantly, I refuse to take the blame for a decision that someone else makes freely and of her own will. I was even more surprised than you were when I found out she’d become a priestess of Eilistraee. I have kept my prayers carefully away from all of you up to this point.”

            Nightraven eyed him for a moment before dropping the subject, at least for now. “As I said, we three have been discussing the situation. We agree that you are correct in that you have been working as hard as any of us, perhaps hardest of all. You knew that we would have allowed you to shirk most of this work since you are a drake and it is what we are accustomed to allowing drakes to do, but you did not once try to use that to lighten your load.”

            “I see no reason to do a half assed job.”

            Nightraven ignored his comment. “You are right that you are not a drake of the People. And I am very fortunate that is so, for otherwise you would not have been as obsessively driven as you have been. I have known few dragonesses who were as driven as you are.” Her head tilted slightly in a very draconic manner. “And without you, I would still be planning my revenge on the already murdered dragonesses who murdered my mother, unaware that all of the People had become extinct. And I would be doing it without Caintigern or Niamh, for you brought them both to me.” She gestured past him at the outer airlock and what lay beyond it. “Thanks to you, the People still live, Malikar XXXIV, the much younger Caintigern, is still Queen, my mother is still alive and Princess Stillwater breathes. So does Tharilat, nicknamed Blacktooth, but our plans will deal with her as well.”

            “She hasn’t broken any of the People’s laws yet,” Iain pointed out quietly.

            “She plans to or will start planning to soon,” Nightraven hissed. She forced herself to relax. “I do not have to kill her personally, but I will see her corpse before I die.”

            “Niamh says your past self analog is still here too.”

            “I am,” Nightraven said quietly. “I am still a student in the magical academy where I first honed my skills as a wizard. I will not leave for another century at the earliest. Be careful. I have too much time and effort invested in you. You are my mate and I want you to remain healthy.” She pressed a button on the wall and the airlock door closed, leaving Iain alone in the airlock.

            He shifted to his small dragon form and climbed into the black ball of rubbery material that would hold him snugly when sealed. He quickly pulled the halves together and spun the top one to tightly shut the ball, leaving him in darkness as he slowed his metabolism until he took one shallow breath every ten minutes. Ready.

            With his perception he watched as a tractor beam lifted his ball and loaded it into the small hatch. It closed and Iain caught himself tensing. He forced himself to relax. Orienting, his twee announced. Target locked. Pressurizing launch tube. The number thirty appeared in the corner of his vision and began to spin down one number each second.

            At zero, there was a violent bang and Iain was slammed around inside the ball for a few seconds before the noise stopped. He was in microgravity now and a check with his perception showed his ball was shooting away from the invisible station orbiting First World and heading towards the planet below. Reentry path looks good and we will be inside the atmosphere by the time the capsule finishes ablating.

            After a time, Iain felt a shuddering from his capsule and the first faint sounds of air rushing by. He had been careful to enter First World’s gravity field with only a little velocity. That made gravity the primary method of acceleration as he dropped so he didn’t have to do multiple orbits of the planet to decelerate. As it fell, the capsule began to spin.

            When the spinning became too annoying, Iain ripped his way free of the capsule. It was either headed towards night or sunrise since Iain could see the line where sunlight and darkness fought. He extended his wings and twisted around until his feet were pointed at the planet below and waited for the air density to increase enough for some control. Then he dove to bring his speed back up before cutting into a shallow arc to slow his descent and begin hunting for the closest thermals. Once he was on the ground he’d figure out where he was and where he needed to go for the next stage of his mission.

***

            Iain shifted his attention from the sunrise to watch the drake land and furl his wings before lifting his head as he glared at Iain. “Leave now.”

            Iain eyed the intruder. He was close to Iain’s length but wasn’t as bulky with muscle as Iain was. Not that it mattered to Iain. “With all due respect, I don’t take orders from you.”

            The drake dropped his head and growled. “The Queen watches the sunrise here. She will be along soon and you will not be here when she arrives. Flee from me while you still can.”

            Iain made a show of looking around the area. “Nothing has changed. I still don’t take orders from you.”

            The drake growled louder. “The Queen is my dragoness and you will not be here when she arrives. I order you to leave immediately.”

            “Nowhere in any of my travels on the worlds of the People have I found a place where a dragoness belongs to a drake. A drake can belong to a dragoness if she chooses to claim him. Usually they don’t bother to stake a claim unless it’s to protect their potential breeding rights from another dragoness they don’t want to share with. So you might be the Queen’s drake and any authority you think you have is hers and she might let you use it. Still, it gives you no authority over me.”

            A dragoness landed to the side and roughly halfway between Iain and the drake. She looked at the drake. “He’s right.” His nose said it was Caintigern but she was way too young and a third smaller than the Caintigern he knew. The voice, however, was hers. “You are my drake. I belong to no one.”

            The drake dropped his head submissively. “Forgive me, My Queen.”

            Her head swung to look at Iain. “I am the Queen. This is where I come when I want to watch the sunrise.”

            “Queen Malikar,” Iain rose and bowed to her. “This was not marked as royal land,” Iain pointed out. “Do you prefer the place where I am resting? If so, I will move.”

            “The Queen told you to leave,” the drake snarled.

            “No, she did not. As a point of fact, she didn’t tell or ask me to do anything.”

            The drake hissed. “The Queen prefers to watch the sunrise alone.”

            “So why are you here?” Iain chuckled softly. “Or do you not count as a person?”

            The dragon growled loudly. “I am Sagroshahar and I am Champion of the Five Struggles.”

            Iain looked curiously at Queen Malikar. “Your Majesty, he sounds like I should think his accomplishment is impressive. Is it impressive?”

            She looked surprised for a second and then thoughtful for a moment. “It is a contest that takes place over several years and is comprised of drakes who seek to interest me and become my drake. The winner of the contests is presented to me as a prospective mate.”

            “So Sagroshahar here is arguably the best of the drakes who want to add their blood to the Royal bloodline through the Queen. Do you always choose the victor as your breeding partner?”

            Malikar shook her head. “The final decision is mine. Sometimes I refuse the Champion. How is it that you are not aware of the Five Struggles? The first stages of the competition are held in every province on all four worlds of the People.”

            Iain had read about the competition in his research. “I am aware of the contest, Your Majesty. I am also aware that not every drake competes, so the winner is the best of the ambitious drakes and not the best of all the drakes.”

            “You obviously weren’t successful enough to advance very far,” Sagroshahar snapped. “This is your way to try to bypass the fact that you aren’t the Champion and try to catch the Queen’s eye.”

            Iain looked at Queen Malikar. “I take it none of the Five Struggles involves an intelligence test because he just made a huge assumption that is completely incorrect. You might want to tell whoever organizes the Five Struggles to address that failing the next time the competition is held. Maybe there needs to be a Sixth Struggle.”

            Malikar laughed even as Sagroshahar’s snarl made the air vibrate. “I will break you,” he snarled as he took a half step forward.

            Malikar’s laughter stopped abruptly as Iain’s body posture shifted slightly when he focused completely on the drake. In direct contrast to his alert body language his voice was calm and even. “Sagroshahar, I refuse to allow you to assert any authority over me. You started out rude to me and I eventually responded in kind. You’re an outlander and I should not have done that. I apologize for meeting rudeness with rudeness since I knew it would probably antagonize you. I must also warn you that attacking me would be a mistake.” He paused for a second. “Your Majesty, if you’d like him to remain unharmed, you might want to tell him to back off.”

            “I will not,” Queen Malikar said amusedly. “Fight him.” She froze as Iain instantly moved in a blur, racing forward. Sagroshahar’s growl broke off and he backpedaled but Iain was already on him. She watched in shock as Iain partially shifted to give himself draconic hands, arms and bipedal shoulders as he swung up behind and on top of Sagroshahar, locking an elbow around the drake’s throat to hold himself in place as he swung a fist which suddenly sprouted a meter long steel blade down and drove it into the top of Sagroshahar’s head. Sagroshahar went limp.

            Iain slid off of Sagroshahar’s back, leaving the dragon sized dagger in place. He shifted back to full quadruped and looked at the drake for a second before shaking his head.

            Queen Malikar found her voice. “Did you have to kill him?”

            “I fight to win, Your Majesty, and there are no half measures when fighting a determined drake.” Iain loped back to his previous spot and settled back down. “As the victor of the Five Struggles tournament, he must be used to killing.”

            “The Five Struggles has rules,” Queen Malikar said grumpily. “Very few drakes lose their lives during the competitions. Sagroshahar had only killed one drake during his journey to victory.”

            Iain shrugged. “I took what he said as a declaration that he was going to kill me if I didn’t kill him first. I was defending myself and I train to kill my opponents.”

            Queen Malikar cocked her head. “And where does a drake train to kill?” Her voice rose. “Who in my realm is teaching drakes how to easily commit murder?”

            “That’s complicated, Your Majesty.”

            “I want a name! I am your Queen and I order you to tell me.”

            Iain lifted his head and met her gaze. “Queen Malikar XXXIV, you taught me all of this in my past and what will hopefully no longer be your future. You taught me the basics of how to kill others of the People and you taught me the secrets of survival as practiced by the immediate female members of the Royal bloodline.”

            Malikar dropped her head and hissed angrily. “I would never teach survival to any drake, ever. And I don’t know how to kill as casually as you did so there is no way that I taught you what you just did!” Her head came back up. “Did you say in my future?” She paused. “No, you said it was in your past and what will hopefully no longer be my future. What does that mean?” Her head shifted. “Who are you? We have never met before today.”

            “My name is Iain and I want you to remember when I said it was complicated, Your Majesty.”

            “I remember. Complications can be explained. Explain this one.”

            “Well, first, Your Majesty, I need to ask if you’re going to have me punished for defending myself against Sagroshahar. Are you?”

            She looked slightly amused. “And if I am, you will stop talking, won’t you?”

            “I will. I have learned, Your Majesty, that if I leave a female with more questions than answers, she will welcome me back in the hopes of getting more answers. She might even seek me out or not condemn me to death.”

            Malikar laughed. “You are very full of yourself, Iain. While Sagroshahar didn’t attack you, it is only because you are much faster than he was and he didn’t get the chance. He was going to and you were merely defending yourself, even if normally you should have disabled him.”

            “Your Majesty, he is a wizard of unknown capability, just as we all are. A drake who hopes to live a long time never leaves that kind of enemy alive to ambush him when he least expects it. And he would have felt he had to ambush me, if only to try and get you to claim him once more since he saw what was going on as me challenging him to take his place.”

            “I am normally addressed as My Queen,” Malikar said. “Your Majesty is very formal and I do not like it.”

            “The problem, Your Majesty, is that My Queen implies that I am yours to command.”

            “The oath of allegiance is administered by me or by my representative,” Malikar said. “It is renewed on the longest day of the year, every year. All are mine to command.”

            “I know what your plans are, Your Majesty.” Iain watched as she visibly tensed. “About you, the throne and Princess Stillwater. In one reality, you did exactly that and eventually met me, a drake of the People who has never been among the People and who has never taken an oath of obedience to any Queen of the People. A situation arose and the one who was once Malikar who I met trained me in survival and in the general basics of combat among the People. I have done a lot of killing over the years and applied that knowledge to fighting the People since we might be fighting a lot of the People once we arrived, depending on what situation existed at the time we got involved.”

            “What does ‘in one reality’ mean?”

            “Your Majesty, universes touch each other like the pages of a book do. There are universes very close to this one that contain copies of this reality that holds copies of everyone here who are doing almost exactly the same things the people here are doing. As you get farther away from this universe, these things become less like what people are doing here and, eventually, even the people doing these things begin to look unlike us. Right next to us at this moment, in many of these realities, a version of me is talking with a version of you about the realities.”

            “I wish you could prove this to me.” She looked thoughtful. “I do not want you to call me Your Majesty,” she said as she shifted to human. She looked almost exactly like Caintigern.

            Iain shifted to his elf form. “I can show it to you later and, as for dealing with you, I could use your name.”

            Her eyes narrowed. “I do not know if I want you to be that familiar with me.”

            “I could use your name before you took the throne. Dawn Light is kind of pretty.”

            “I will consider what you should call me. Why are your ears pointed?”

            “I learned to take this form while I was living among a race of people who had pointed ears.”

            “I have been told that there are other races besides the People. I have always found such an idea hard to believe. What do you call this other Malikar? Is she known again as Dawn Light?”

            “I would not try to address you with the name of another dragoness,” Iain said quietly. Malikar looked pleased as he continued. “She uses the name Caintigern, which is what I call her.”

            “She did what I want to do?”

            “She did. She placed Princess Stillwater on the throne and left, making the Princess into the Queen. She then began traveling to explore the universes she had no knowledge of. She was looking for a place to study magic.”

            Malikar nodded. “That is what I intend to do.”

            “I am here to explain that the idea needs some work and had some repercussions that she and you did not anticipate. She and two others would like to help explain it but I was sent in advance to get you used to the idea.”

            “Why are you telling me all of this?”

            “You hate liars. Deceit is anathema to you. Honesty is therefore the best path to try to make you willing to listen to me with an open mind so as to try to avoid disaster, even if the truth is hard to accept as being truth. It’s even better since I try to avoid lying to people when I can.”

            “You mentioned Caintigern and two others. Are they also dragonesses?”

            “They are.”

            “Which of them has claimed you as her drake?” Iain hesitated. “Remember that I do not like lies,” she added.

            “I wasn’t considering lying to you. Before I answer that question, I’d like you to think about the fact that sometimes the truth is unpalatable too and I don’t want you to try to punish me for seeming to have an attitude you don’t like.”

            Malikar smiled amusedly. “You accosted me at my sunrise viewing place, you killed my chosen drake and you somehow know things that it should be impossible for you know as I have spoken of them with no one, not my closest advisors or even my daughter. And you are concerned that I will find your attitude distasteful and seek to punish you for it?”

            “You don’t seem that upset about Sagroshahar, I haven’t tried to use what I know about your plans to do anything other than get your attention and I asked if you wanted me to move.”

            Malikar frowned. “That was well done. You almost distracted me from the fact that you never answered my question.”

            Iain chuckled. “I was hoping you’d forget about it. I am as free as any dragoness and I refuse to be claimed by anyone. However, all three dragonesses and I are mates.” He gestured towards the horizon. “The sun will be rising in a little while. Should I dispose of Sagroshahar’s body and leave?”

            Malikar nodded towards the corpse and it burst into flames. “You will come with me to the palace. I have more questions for you and you will wait until I can come ask them.”

            “With all due respect, Your Majesty, I politely decline your order.” He continued as she gave him an angry frown and opened her mouth. “I’d also like to politely remind you that you are not my queen before you demand I obey you because you are.”

            Her mouth snapped shut and she glared. “Why does this other version of me tolerate your behavior?”

            “She’s asked that question too,” Iain noted while fighting not to smile.

            “What was your answer to her?”

            He grimaced. “One of the reasons that I am here is because one of the direct results of her putting her daughter, Princess Stillwater, on the throne and abdicating her position the way she did was the extinction of the People as a race.” Malikar’s eyes went wide. “Three of the People survived the extinction event, those being me, who wasn’t born among the People and knew nothing of their culture, and two of the three dragonesses that are with me. Because of that, my response to her was to quietly point out that I was the only drake of the People that she knew.” He smiled at her. “One of the reasons we are here is to try to prevent that extinction from happening.”

            “How did it happen?”

            “We don’t know, Your Majesty. From what we can tell, the extinction happened all at once and killed every one of the People living on all the inhabited worlds of the People.”

            “If you do not know what happened, how do you intend to prevent it?”

            “Because your abdication is what started the events that led to the extinction, Your Majesty. We realize that you are sick and tired of being Queen and will abdicate no matter what we suggest, but before you do there are some things that could be done that we believe will prevent what happened from happening again.”

            “This Caintigern is not a different version of me,” Malikar said shrewdly. “She is me in the future, isn’t she?”

            “She was. That’s why I mentioned that I’d met you in a future you haven’t experienced. My coming here created a branch in the timeline since she never met me here. You won’t experience what she did, at least not the way Caintigern’s future unfolded for her. I believe that’s actually the thing best for you. No one should have to go through what she did.”

            She cocked her head. “You are like no drake I have ever met.”

            “Drakes among the People are raised in such a way that they could never be like me, especially not to a dragoness. They’d probably be killed or have their behavior modified through negative reinforcement such that they’d never show any behavior like mine. Any who might be able to avoid that retraining would find a way to disappear.”

            “And yet you act this way around me,” Malikar pointed out.

            “Caintigern, except when she was annoyed by me, was intrigued by how different I am. I was hoping you’d be the same way. One of my primary goals is to meet you, after all, and suddenly finding out I was much smarter and self assured than you’d seen so far, after we’d met, could easily be something that you’d decide was deception and a lie and therefore infuriate you.” He shrugged. “I am not sure I could survive that fury and my not dying is incredibly important to me for some strange reason.”

            Malikar gave a quiet laugh. “I would think that you were being deceitful and that would indeed make me angry with you. Who are these other two dragonesses?”

            “One is named Nightraven and is your grandniece. The other has recently changed her name but was known among the People as Winter’s Dream.” He looked up. “I’m afraid you missed the sunrise.”

            “If you are truly here to try to prevent the end of the People and you succeed, there will be other sunrises that I can watch.” Her eyes searched his for several seconds. “It would be easier to convince me to do what you want if you come to the palace with me.”

            “Am I going to spend hours waiting for you to get done doing various things?” Iain grinned. “I am a drake and there are lots of dragonesses there who might find me interesting if I’m just standing around looking bored.”

            Malikar’s eyes narrowed for an instant before she smiled amusedly. “That attempt to make me possessive was well done. I want to discharge my daily duties before I spend more time with you. It will allow me to free up the rest of my day so that we will be disturbed as little as possible while you work to convince me to do what it is you wish to convince me to do. Allowing another dragoness to distract you would interfere with your mission and result in the extinction of the People.”

            Iain’s grin widened. “Now that was well done. No, I will not let the mission be compromised. Besides, like I said, I am free and I will allow no dragoness to take that freedom from me.”

            “They could kill you,” Malikar pointed out.

            “Everyone dies. I refuse to let anyone break me and I will not just sit there and let someone beat on me.”

            Malikar looked at the corpse of Shagroshahar, which was now fully engulfed. “You’d kill as many of them as you could before you died, wouldn’t you?”

            “I suspect I could escape before it came to that,” Iain said. “If I start killing in job lots it will compromise my mission so I would avoid that if at all possible. I didn’t come here intending to kill your chosen drake, but when you gave him permission to kill me that severely limited my options since running away would not have made you want to talk to me.”

            Malikar looked surprised. “I did not give him permission to kill you.”

            “I was trying to talk him down and asked for your help in that. You instead decided that watching us do our best to kill each other would be entertaining and told us to fight.”

            Malikar opened her mouth and froze. “I did,” she said quietly. “Did I kill him?”

            “No,” Iain replied. “I killed him. He was going to attack me and I fight to win. Waiting to let him decide how he was going to attack me or until you decided that you were going to change your mind and stop the fight was a losing proposition so I acted before he could.”

            Malikar looked at the burning corpse for several seconds before shaking her head slowly. “He would have stopped if I had ordered him to. I not only allowed his death to happen, I encouraged it. I created the circumstances that resulted in the death of a drake and one of my subjects. I will remember this and hopefully not make that mistake again.” She looked at Iain. “Come with me to the palace. I want to talk to you more.”

            “I will.”

            Malikar looked surprised. “You said before that you would not.”

            “I want you to talk to me. If I must wait a while to do so, the palace is just as unsafe as anywhere else on this world. More importantly, it’s where you are so we can hopefully talk soon.”

            She shifted to her draconic form, chuckling as she did so. “What about these dragonesses who might be interested in you while I am away?”

            “That’s a problem that will be an issue wherever I go that there are others of the People. I’m sure I can politely dissuade them.” He shifted. “If politeness doesn’t work, there are other options I can use.”

            “Don’t kill anyone unless you are attacked,” Malikar warned as she took to the air. Iain followed. “And do not kill a dragoness.”

            “I understand. I’ll do my best.”

***

            “I thought I knew everyone in the palace but I have never seen you before.” The female voice pulled Iain’s attention away from his book. She looked like most of the People, with black hair shot through with silver threads. “Who are you?”

            Iain only recognized her because of the memories that Caintigern had given him. “Good morning, Your Highness. I am Iain and I am visiting the palace at your mother’s invitation.”

            “How do you know who I am?”

            Iain smiled as he closed his truewizard tome and it vanished back onto his arm. “Princess Stillwater, we have never been face to face before but I am well aware of who you are.”

            She regarded him thoughtfully before her expression turned unhappy. “I am looking for Sagroshahar.”

            “He’s not here, Your Highness.”

            “You know who he is?”

            “I do. He’s the Champion of the Five Struggles.”

            She smiled warmly. “Yes, he is. He was magnificent in the contests.” Her smile faded. “But he was supposed to come see me after he returned and he has not.” Her eyes met his. “Do you know where he is?”

            Iain frowned slightly. “I don’t believe he will be returning, Your Highness. There was an incident and I’m sorry to have to inform you that he was killed during it.”

            The blood drained from her face. “That’s impossible,” she said quietly. “He was a Champion and undefeated in hundreds of combats. He can’t die.”

            “Nobody can remain undefeated forever,” Iain said gently.

            Princess Stillwater shook her head. “He cannot be dead. He promised me to,” she broke off. “He can’t be dead.” She jumped when Queen Malikar’s voice came from the doorway.

            “What did he promise you, my daughter?”

            Princess Stillwater spun to face Malikar. “This drake is telling lies about Sagroshahar. I want him punished!”

            The Queen stopped in front of her daughter. “I asked you a question,” she said pleasantly. “What did my drake promise you?”

            Stillwater swallowed hard but stood her ground. “You didn’t favor him, Mother. He was only your drake in name. He told me the truth about the two of you.”

            Malikar’s eyes narrowed. “While Iain was telling the truth, I see that some drake was telling lies. Sagroshahar was my drake and he sired the child I now carry. We bred regularly until then and he knew he’d bred me successfully.” She looked past Stillwater as Iain’s face suddenly went blank. “What is it?”

            “I’d rather not say,” Iain said quietly.

            “I think I want you to answer,” Malikar said firmly. “I believe you wanted me to ask questions, so let me start with that one.”

            “With all due respect, I’m not sure that the Princess should be here for this discussion, Your Majesty.”

            “She is going to find out my plans eventually,” Malikar disagreed. “Now is acceptable to me.”

            “Your Majesty, do you remember that I said that there were repercussions that you didn’t anticipate? This is not the place to have that discussion.”

            “Where is this place?”

            “Do you remember when I told you about other dimensions and you said you’d like me to show you that they’re real? It looks like I’ll get to show you. I would like to open a gate to someplace else and I would like us to go there. That place can’t be monitored by anyone here and I can speak freely there.” He reached out with his twee to the station overhead where Nightraven waited with Caintigern and Niamh. If we leave, we’ll be going to the Island where we planned this mission. We can’t be monitored there. You can go to the Cragg Island base and continue to watch over me.

            Inform us when you open the gate, Nightraven told him. I already have a gate open to the Red Obelisk but we won’t go through until you do. Be careful.

            “You can prove that this gate will go someplace I have never been and not just someplace remote on one of the worlds of the People,” Malikar said. “How?”

            “There are prey animals there that you will never have seen before. Some of them are as large as we are and unafraid of us to the point of considering us as potential food. We will arrive on a wide column of stone that overlooks a waterfall. Please stay on the column until I can show you around.”

            “Open your gate,” Malikar said. “And the Princess will come with us. I am not done with her yet.”

            Do as she wants, Caintigern said in his head.

            Iain opened a gate. “Ladies, please step through.”

            “Mother, I do not want to do this,” Stillwater protested.

            “You either come with us or you renounce your status as Princess,” Malikar said. “Go through the gate.”

            Stillwater glared at Iain. “This is your fault, drake. If your behavior does not improve I will punish you personally.”

            Iain kept his face blank as he bowed and motioned to the gate. “The Queen has spoken, Your Highness. Please step through the portal.” Her glare followed him until she vanished into the portal. “Now you, Your Majesty.”

            “I still do not like you calling me that.”

            “I understand. Should I call you Malikar or Dawn Light?”

            “No one has called me Dawn Light since I took the throne,” Malikar said.

            “With all due respect, that doesn’t answer my question.”

            She eyed him. “I have not yet decided what I will allow you to call me.”

            “Very well. Please step through the portal. I’ll follow you through.” Iain watched her step into the gate. Going through, he sent as he entered the portal.

***

            When he exited, they were standing on a large smooth walled cylinder of natural stone. There was enough soil on top of the column to support a thick clump of bright blue flowers. Princess Stillwater and Malikar were watching as a Rex killed and devoured a group of sabertoothed tigers. To their right, water cascaded down a waterfall into a river that ran across their view and disappeared into a tropical forest to their right. “Ladies, I see you’ve met one of the local predators. Be careful if you ever hunt one as its teeth can punch holes in our scales.” He turned to Malikar as the gate closed. “We can talk here without anyone at the residence eavesdropping on our conversation. I’d like to start by asking that you don’t punish the princess for what you’re going to learn.”

            Stillwater frowned. “Why would she punish me?”

            “Is this something else that’s complicated,” Malikar asked.

            “Not really. Your daughter is pregnant. I can smell it just as I could smell that you were pregnant when we met. During this time period, the Princess Stillwater turned up pregnant and it was a minor mystery as to who the sire was because she refused to reveal his name. From her behavior a few minutes ago, I suspect it was Sagroshahar.”

            Malikar’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Stillwater suspiciously. “Is this true?”

            Princess Stillwater was staring at Iain. “How could you know that?”

            “I’m from the future that was and hopefully will not be again. I know the events of this time period because I and my associates decided to try to change the flow of time here and prevent disaster. Because of that I studied this time period extensively. I’m also very good at deductive reasoning.”

            Stillwater was frowning. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

            “That’s because the People never explored time travel. Your greatest dragonesses understood just how dangerous it was and stopped anyone who began experimenting.” He turned to Malikar. “You wanted an explanation. Before I begin, I want you to know that Caintigern, Nightraven and Winter’s Dream are nearby and observing. They could explain this if you’d rather hear this from a dragoness instead of a drake.”

            “Why didn’t they come to me instead of sending you?”

            “Two reasons. The first reason is that someone who turned up claiming to be you or your grandniece from the future would be dismissed out of hand as being insane.” Malikar nodded unconsciously. “The second reason is that we came here from rather far in the future and they have been training and studying magic the whole time.”

            When he paused, Malikar frowned. “Why is that impor,” she broke off. “They are or believe that they are much more powerful than I am. Their arrival could easily be misconstrued as an arrival of one of the Royal bloodline to challenge for the throne. Princesses have hidden their existence while they trained for the attempt before and journeyed with little fanfare.”

            Iain nodded. “Considering that one of them is you several thousand years later, that was exactly the concern. They feel that appearing unannounced as they are, and being members of the Royal bloodline, could precipitate an immediate battle between you and them. A drake cannot challenge for the throne and could not pose that kind of a threat.”

            “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Princess Stillwater said. “Explain.”

            “Ok, a quick recap is that I am from the future, one that hopefully will never be here. In that future, the People are almost completely extinct. The only People known to be alive are three individuals, one drake and two dragonesses. I am the drake. The three of us have joined forces and are aided by one of the People from this time and location. We hope to try and change the flow of time so that what started the spiral of destruction that resulted in that extinction will never take place. To that end, I am here and now and speaking with you and your mother, Queen Malikar XXXIV.”

            “How did the People become extinct,” Malikar asked.

            Iain glanced at the Princess. “You want her to hear this from me?”

            “It is part of your story about how the people became extinct, is it not?”

            “It is. It may also be hard to believe when I tell you what happened. Just understand that I don’t get any sort of immediate reward from you learning what I’m going to tell you. I have no motive to lie to you and I will not be lying to you.”

            “Tell me,” Malikar commanded.

            “Your Majesty, Your Highness.” Iain bobbed his head in a bow. “Your Majesty has been tired of being Queen for some time now. As we all know, succession is when a Princess kills her Queen in combat and takes the throne through force of arms. It’s part of the society of the People and has been part of it since before the People began to record their history. There are two problems, however. First, while you’re unhappy at being Queen, you are not ready to die. This presents a situation that is unique in your memory. Secondly, without meaning to insult Her Highness, even if you were ready to die, you don’t believe that Princess Stillwater can defeat you in combat.” He glanced at the princess.

            She smiled slightly. “I am not yet strong enough to best my mother and take the throne. The truth does not insult me,” her smile vanished, “even if I do not like that truth.”

            “That’s a promising sign for your ability to rule well, Your Highness,” Iain said. “The fact that she did not want to be Queen any longer and the fact that she did not want to yet end her life presented her with a conundrum. In the end, she decided that she would give the throne to her Princess and leave the lands of the People so that she could continue the research into magic that she had been doing as a Princess and during her early years as Queen.”

            Stillwater looked at her mother. “Is this true?”

            “It is,” Malikar replied somberly. “I intended and still intend to wait until you are older and more powerful before giving you the throne.”

            “And in my timeline,” Iain said, “that is exactly what Malikar XXXIV did. She abdicated the throne and Princess Stillwater became Queen Stillwater and Malikar XXXV. Then the former queen opened a dimensional gate and began a journey to find a nice dense old growth forest where she could go back to her studies.”

            Stillwater frowned. “Why a dense old growth forest?”

            “Your mother is rather partial to heavily overgrown old growth forests.”

            “I did not know that.”

            Iain nodded. “There are many things about your mother that you do not know. We can see what she’s willing to reveal. In the meantime, another member of the Royal bloodline, Nightraven, came of age and decided to seek out a philosopher and scientist by the name of Winter’s Dream. She wanted to become Winter’s Dream’s student. Winter’s Dream had vanished centuries before, which she recently did roughly a year and a half in the past in this timeline, and Nightraven’s investigation led her to believe that Winter’s Dream had gone traveling the universes to find the perfect place for a laboratory and her library. Nightraven took her library along with her and followed the dragoness she wanted to become her teacher into the unexplored universes around this one. In this timeline, she will not leave for another few centuries.”

            “I know Nightraven,” Princess Stillwater said. “She is a gifted mage and is a student at our greatest academy. Mother knows her too. She appointed Nightraven to that position.”

            “You said that Winter’s Dream left last year,” Malikar noted. “I remember her and have not seen or heard of her for several months. Where did she go? Did Nightraven find her?”

            “It turned out that Winter’s Dream had not left this universe and had instead made her way to Fourth World and then to Fifth World, where she’d intended to set up her base. This meant that Nightraven had gone in the wrong direction. Curiously enough, they did finally meet up about four months ago.”

            Malikar looked puzzled. “What is Fifth World?”

            “It’s the next world out from Fourth World,” Iain replied. “At certain parts of the year it can be seen from Fourth World by telescope and a small number of People have managed to teleport there to live. In a thousand years or so a member of the People will learn how to open a gate to Fifth World for exploration and eventually it will be colonized and become another of the worlds of the People.” He held up a hand, palm up, and created a hologram of the People’s solar system. Four worlds were highlighted in green, one in blue and one in red. “The four green worlds are the worlds currently inhabited by the People. The blue one is Fifth World, which is known but hasn’t been colonized yet.”

            “Your magic is very well developed,” Malikar observed. “What is the significance of the red world?”

            “That’s Sixth World. It will be colonized sometime in the future. It’s barely habitable and wasn’t heavily populated when the People became extinct.”

            “I have heard of a new world that looks green enough to be inhabitable,” Stillwater said. “There are rumors that some people have been trying to go there, but that kind of teleportation is very reckless and I discounted them completely.”

            Iain chuckled. “I think if you substitute the phrase absolutely desperate or somewhat insane for the word reckless you’d be closer to the truth about people who blind teleport to a world. Winter’s Dream almost died when she did it. I suspect that most of the People don’t survive the attempt.”

            “You know her, don’t you?”

            “She’s the third dragoness I mentioned before, the one who joined us here.” He looked at Malikar. “What went wrong and started the spiral that ended up with the People extinct was when the future you put the future Princess on the throne and left. Things were quiet for a few centuries, long enough for Nightraven to finish her schooling and leave this universe. Sometime after that is when calamity struck. An ambitious dragoness who was the head of her bloodline watched Malikar XXXIV place her Princess on the throne and decided that she could do the same thing. She assembled her bloodline and they plotted. When the time was right, they assassinated the Queen and placed this dragoness on the throne. While doing so, other members of the bloodline murdered every member of the Royal bloodline they could find. They also set up a warding spell to inform them if and where a member of the Royal bloodline existed. That included any of them arriving on the worlds of the People via a gate. It was because they were worried that Malikar XXXIV would return one day. This dragoness established a new Royal bloodline that most of the People meekly accepted. This bloodline kept the throne for a few generations before another ambitious dragoness wiped them out and replaced them with her bloodline. This cycle continued until, one day, without warning, the People became extinct.”

            Malikar looked thoughtfully at him. “What happened to Malikar XXXIV and Nightraven?”

            “Nightraven’s mother managed to get word to her daughter before she was killed, warning her of both the coup and the warding. Nightraven began planning to gather her strength to eventually return home to get revenge for what had been done to her family and bloodline. Malikar XXXIV was unaware of what had happened until a little more than a thousand years ago. She had retired to a forest for an existence of research and contemplation. She found out about what had happened when she met me. Later she was reunited with Nightraven and they’ve been planning to return ever since.”

            Malikar nodded. “You have explained how the former Queen and Nightraven came to be involved in this and you have even explained the presences of Winter’s Dream. What you haven’t explained is how you became involved. How did that happen?”

            “Nightraven knew she would have to find a worthy drake to help in this project. Before we’d discovered that the People were extinct, the plan was to raise her children to help her overcome the enemy bloodline. She needed a drake for that and took students to train and evaluate as potential mates. It was difficult to choose since she needed a drake who could be independent enough to operate without her direction but not so much of a drake that he’d abandon the project when surrounded by horny dragonesses. She’d been doing this for a long time and eventually decided I could be what she needed in a drake. I met Caintigern and reintroduced the two of them.”

            “You said that the three of you were the only survivors of this extinction,” Malikar observed. “How could Nightraven have other students of the People if there were no other People?”

            Iain took a deep breath and plunged straight in. “I specifically said that there were three known members of the People alive. Nightraven and Caintigern were the survivors of the betrayal. I am not. You see, I was not born one of the People. I was turned into one of the People. As far as Nightraven knew, she was the only survivor and she decided that she had to create one of the People from one of her students if she was to have children who were pure of blood. I’ve been one of the People for over a thousand years and I don’t think of myself as anything other than a dragon.”

            “So you are not one of the People,” Stillwater stated.

            Iain shrugged. “If I were to breed a dragoness of the People, the child would be one of the People and pure of blood. No, I wasn’t born one of the People and, because of that, I do not think like one of the People, although I have been taught their customs. I do realize that your opinion of my status is likely to be shared by many of the People. There’s not much I can do about that.”

            “You sound remarkably unconcerned that we will reject the idea that you are of the People,” Malikar noted amusedly.

            “Your Majesty, I am here because I agree that the People, as a race, have some redeeming characteristics that shouldn’t be expunged from the universe. Additionally, if I have children with one of the dragonesses who accepts me, those children will need the opportunity to meet and interact with others of their kind. As for me, I don’t expect to spend a lot of time among the People and their acceptance or rejection of me isn’t relevant to the mission.” He smiled. “If you were willing to accept me it would probably help, but I’m not going to cry myself to sleep at night if I don’t get your acceptance.”

            “You are a very arrogant drake,” Stillwater noted.

            “Your Highness, you have lived longer than I have, but I have lived more than you ever will. I have made fortunes and I have lost fortunes. I have gambled with fate and I have prevailed. I have buried women and children that I love and, in the next breath, crushed the enemies that took them from me. I have built an empire from nothing and I have done my damnedest to ensure it will last long past my death. I am cherished and respected by my friends and feared by the few enemies that I haven’t gotten around to destroying just yet. I am smart, strong willed, sometimes as stubborn as hell and loyal to a fault but I think I am going to have to repudiate your pronouncement that I am arrogant. I certainly don’t walk around expecting everyone to know I am the Champion of the Five Struggles and reminding them of that fact if they don’t seem to be remembering it fast enough.” He chuckled suddenly. “And I apologize for the rant. You didn’t deserve that.”

            “Iain,” Malikar said suddenly, “is the drake who killed Sagroshahar. Sagroshahar was defeated almost as soon as he started to attack Iain. I have never seen anything like that battle.” She glanced at Iain. “If he didn’t already have three mates then I would claim him for myself.”

            Stillwater flushed angrily. “You killed my drake!”

            Malikar stepped between them, facing Stillwater. “Princess Stillwater,” she said warningly, “Sagroshahar was my drake, not yours. I was not sharing him and reminding me that he was sneaking away and breeding my daughter at the same time he was breeding me is not wise.” Stillwater paled as her mother continued. “You knew I was not sharing him and yet you either allowed him to approach you or you approached him first. Right now, I do not wish to know which it was, but if you do not stop reminding me of what you and he were doing, I will decide that I want to find out and then I will have no choice but publicly deal with the situation. Right now, I will allow you to carry to term. You do not want me to rethink that decision.”

            Stillwater looked down at the ground. “Please forgive my behavior, My Queen and mother.”

            “I will not,” Malikar said. Stillwater’s head jerked up and she stared at her mother with sudden fear in her eyes. “I will let this pass, however, if you do not remind me of it again. Never forget that I have had and can have other daughters.”

            “Yes, My Queen.”

            Malikar turned back to Iain. “There is one thing you have been careful not to reveal. Who is the traitor who would murder my daughter and my family?”

            “In the future I know, it was Tharilat the Black Tooth.”

            Malikar looked surprised and then outraged. “She is the Keeper of the North Forest and is one of my advisors.”

            “I know.”

            “I have treated her and rewarded her as if she was a Royal of noble lineage!”

            “I’m going to presume she’s loyal right now. I don’t know when or why she decided to listen to her ambitions, but she did.” He smiled suddenly. “I mean she will if you continue to follow the path as you did in my past. We realize that you do not want to be Queen for any longer, but we have some ideas that might help to keep events from unfolding as they did. At this point I’d like to bring in Caintigern, Nightraven and Niamh so you can meet them. We’ll probably then hunt for a while and then they can discuss with you what these ideas are.”

            Malikar smiled. “You have spoken for them up until this point. Why suddenly do you step aside to allow them to speak for themselves?”

            “It’s because of that very prejudice that they’ll take over this discussion,” Iain said bluntly. “Up until this point I have spoken for myself. Your assumption is that I’m speaking for them. They have been monitoring to make sure nobody tries to kill their mate for his arrogance and not so they can jump in if I suddenly go off script. I am more than capable of discussing political issues and their resolutions, but you don’t really believe that is true. You automatically presumed that I was merely repeating what my mates had told me to say. I am not insinuating that you couldn’t believe I can be coherent without their help, but your upbringing would make it an uphill battle and there is no reason for that battle when they can work with you while I listen.” He carefully didn’t smile at the sudden unhappy look in her eyes. “May I bring them here so that you five can meet?”

            “Drakes do not have a head for politics,” Stillwater announced. “They’re too busy breeding dragonesses to be otherwise.”

            “I’ve heard that too. That sounds like a good reason to bring them here now,” Iain said. “So, may I let them know to join us?”

            “Yes,” Stillwater said.

            Iain looked at Malikar. “Your Majesty?”

            She looked into his eyes. “Call me My Queen.”

            “Very well. My Queen, may they join us?”

            Malikar laughed. “For someone with no head for politics, that was a very politically astute surrender.”

            “The war is more important than any particular battle,” Iain replied softly. “And I will sacrifice my pride for ultimate victory in a heartbeat.”

            “They may join us,” Malikar smiled amusedly. “And I expect you to be just as quiet as you have been up to this point.”

            Iain chuckled. “To my credit, I’ll try to be quiet. They’ll be here in just a few minutes.” He turned and pointed towards the Blue Obelisk. “They’ll fly in from this direction instead of teleporting so as to keep from startling anyone.” He looked down where the Rex was now chasing an Equus. “I’ll lure him off the cliff and away where we can meet on the ground if we need the room. A Rex will attack anything, no matter how big it is, so it has to be dealt with.”

            “Why not kill it,” Stillwater asked.

            “Someone might want to kill it and this way it’s still around to be killed.” He shifted to his small dragon form. “I’ll be right back and then we can meet.” He took off, flew in a loop and zipped towards the Rex. He swooped in and landed on the Rex’s muzzle, digging in with all four sets of claws. He looked into the Rex’s eyes as they crossed while trying to focus on him. “Hi!”

            The Rex growled and shook its head violently. Iain jumped off at the end of one arc and flew away, leaving four bleeding wounds from his claws on the Rex’s muzzle. The Rex gave chase, intently focused on Iain’s darting form.

            Iain led it over the cliff next to the waterfall. As it plunged out of sight, it snagged the end of Iain’s tail in its teeth. He yelped as it dragged him with it.

            A few seconds later, Iain flew up and over the edge of the cliff. “Bad touch,” he said loudly as he landed next to Princess Stillwater. “I’m going to need a dragon dolly to show where he touched me.” He shifted to his elven form and nodded. “And here they come. They’re going to land on the ground and transform into their bipedal forms. Shall we join them?” A glowing platform appeared next to the pillar and Iain stepped onto it. “My Queen?”

            Malikar chuckled as she stepped onto the platform with him. “Who leads among them?” Stillwater joined them and the platform drifted towards the ground as Nightravens, Caintigern and Niamh landed and shifted to their human forms.

            “Nightraven speaks for the group,” Iain said. “We work together and, so far, haven’t needed a declared leader in the fashion that you fulfil as the Queen of the People.”

            “We are too few to need such a leader,” Nightraven said as the platform grounded and faded away. “Each of us works to her strengths. Your Majesty, Your Highness, I am Nightraven.” She gestured. “This is Caintigern, your older alternate. Another gesture. “And this is Niamh, who you knew as Winter’s Dream.” A table and six chairs appeared. On the table was a tea service. “Iain, would you serve?” He nodded and reached for the teapot as she continued. “I am keeping the animals from noticing our presence. They will avoid this area while we are here.”

            The women sat down as Iain poured tea. “Were you hurt when the Rex grabbed you,” Niamh asked.

            Iain blinked when he realized that all five women were looking curiously at him. “It dislocated my tail, which has already healed. The huge hole it tore out of my pride will take longer to recover from. I, of all people, should know just how much a single instant of carelessness can cause disaster when you’re here.”

            Caintigern chuckled. “As you are so fond of saying, perfection is a destination that you never reach.”

            Iain paused. “I don’t say it quite that way, but I might start.”

            Malikar was looking Nightraven over. “Your drake told me that you and my future self are probably much more powerful than I am. I do not sense that coming from either of you.”

            Nightraven picked up her cup. “We have learned to hide our true power so as not to attract attention. Considering that our original mission involved infiltrating the society of the People and destroying the ruling bloodline, appearing unprepossessing is a rather useful skill. Iain knew how to suppress his energy levels and we learned how to do the same from him.”

            “You came here to kill us?” Stillwater was looking at each of them in turn. “Your drake assured us that was not your intent.”

            “We are meeting with you in a spirit of peace,” Caintigern said. “Our original mission involved attacking one of the bloodlines that had replaced the Royal one. The plan of coming to this time and meeting with you and the Queen evolved out of that mission as we learned more about how the People would react to our intercession.”

            “Also, by interceding at this point in time,” Nightraven added, “instead of trying to reestablish the Royal bloodline, we can instead keep it from being exterminated in the first place. Princess Stillwater would not die by Tharilat’s teeth and the transfer of power to her will hopefully be successful.”

            “Dawn Light, does Tharilat know of your plans to abdicate the throne,” Niamh asked.

            Malikar frowned. “Why do you call me that?”

            “To reduce possible confusion since you are Malikar XXXIV, but so is Caintigern. I am certain that she still thinks of herself as such, even after not being Queen for as long as she has. I would also ask for an honest answer to my next question. Is Tharilat more powerful than Princess Stillwater?”

            “She is not,” Stillwater said. “She is powerful, I will admit, but she is not as powerful as I am.”

            Iain spoke in a quiet voice. “Does she know how powerful you are?”

            Stillwater frowned before shaking her head. “I do not believe she does. I do not remember her or her associates ever being around when I was training. I am careful about who is allowed around me when I train and I have never felt that Tharilat is as trustworthy as my mother does.”

            Dawn Light looked surprised. “Why is that?”

            “She is very careful to be completely obedient when you are around, but I do not think she feels that I will ever be Queen and she is much more open when you are not in attendance. She treats the servants as if they were hers and is condescending towards those that she feels are beneath her. Sometimes she includes me in that estimation.”

            “You have never spoken up about her before.”

            “Mother, you would not have believed me. And she is very careful not to give quite such offense that I could call her out or have her punished.” She smiled coldly. “Since I will never be Queen in her mind, she does not fear me. And since I am not Queen, I cannot merely order her killed. Yet.”

            “Her behavior fits my reasoning,” Niamh said.

            Nightraven cocked her head. “I believe I understand where Niamh is going with this. Your Highness, could Tharilat believe that she is more powerful than you are?”

            Stillwater looked thoughtful for a moment. “She could.”

            “Is she more powerful than the members of the Royal bloodline who might declare themselves Princess if you were Queen,” Nightraven asked.

            “You were the only real potential rival I had,” Stillwater said. “Even as young as you are now, you are incredibly powerful. The only thing you lacked in becoming a Princess was ambition. You have never had any desire for power over others. I sometimes worried that, once you finished your training, you’d have decided to become a Princess since you were already as powerful as I am. Finishing your training at the academy would have made you a better choice than me.”

            “So, with the exception of being a member of the Royal bloodline,” Niamh said quietly, “Tharilat met the requirements of claiming the title of Princess and beginning the process of lawfully taking the throne from Queen Stillwater. The fact that she felt you were less than she was would have only fueled her ambitions, probably from the moment she learned of Dawn Light’s plans. In her mind, she was a better choice to lead the People than you would ever be.”

            “And the fact that she used her relatives and their allies to swarm you under meant you could never truly be a threat to her,” Iain added.

            “She did not challenge me in the traditional manner?” Stillwater asked in a voice filled with outrage. “She has less honor than I thought she did and I never thought she had much.”

            “Legally she couldn’t challenge you,” Dawn Light noted. “She would be killed out of hand for such temerity.”

            Niamh nodded. “This brings me back to my original question. Your Majesty, does Tharilat know of your plans?”

            Dawn Light sipped at her tea and frowned. “I have not told her of them, but she could suspect my plans from things that I have said while she was present. She is one of my advisors because she is very smart. Eventually I would have told her my plans since she would be one of the ones that I would want to help my daughter with the transition from Princess to Queen.” She stared at her cup. “Banishing her from court would cost a great deal politically. She has many supporters.”

            “You won’t have to remove her,” Nightraven said. She turned to Iain. “We watched you kill Sagroshahar. He had no chance against you and was dead almost before he realized he was under attack. Can you teach me to kill that quickly without using magic?”

            Stillwater gave him a hard glare. She realized that her mother was watching her and wiped the scowl from her face.

            Iain shrugged. “I can. However, this isn’t something that you learn overnight. To do it properly, you’d have to become my student with all that means. Even then, it would take years to master. And this is something that you don’t have to learn. She means nothing to me and I am already here. I can kill her for you.”

            Dawn Light blinked. “You would not be able to get her to fight you. You are a drake.”

            “I’m almost certain that after I punch her in the nose and call her a coward to her face that she’ll be willing to overlook the fact that I am not a dragoness.” He smiled. “And if it turns out to be necessary, I can become a dragoness.”

            “She murdered my mother and the rest of my family,” Nightraven replied with a hint of a snarl in her voice. “I will kill her.”

            “As a point of fact,” Iain said, “Tharilat hasn’t murdered anyone that we’re aware of. They’re all still alive right now, remember? You want to exact revenge on her for things she hasn’t done yet.”

            Nightraven’s snarl ripped the air. She glared at him. “You are an insufferable, annoying and frustrating drake.” Her glare softened. “And, in this case, you are correct. I hate her so much and now she has not done the things that I hate her for.”

            “Yeah, it’s one of the little joys of mucking about with time,” Iain said. “In the timeline where she did do these things, she is already dead, along with every member of her bloodline. Here and now, however, killing her without warning would make you a murderer under the law of the People.” He smiled thinly. “Now if we can prove that she’s currently plotting against the Queen or the Princess, Her Majesty can sentence her to death. Maybe she’ll let you be the executioner in that situation.”

            “While you cannot challenge her,” Nightraven said, “I am a dragoness and I can. Will you teach me to kill as you do? I am willing to become your student for this.”

            Iain looked into her eyes and stood as a gate opened to the side. “Come with me.” He looked at Caintigern. “It’ll be like when I went on Nightraven’s mission. We’ll be right back.”

            Caintigern nodded. “I understand. Later I will want this training too.”

            “Talk to Nightraven when we get back first. She might change your mind.”

            Nightraven got up and headed through the gate. Iain followed her and it closed behind them.

            “He said that you taught him how to survive as if he is a Princess or Queen of the Royal bloodline,” Malikar said to Caintigern. “Is that true?”

            Caintigern was watching the area where the gate had closed. “It is.”

            “It is forbidden to teach that to anyone,” Malikar said.

            Caintigern glanced at her. “As Niamh pointed out, I am still Queen in my mind. What is forbidden and what is not is mine to decide, just as it yours. I wanted my mate to be as hard to kill as possible. He is my mate and he is the only drake alive.”

            “That is no longer true,” Malikar noted. “The People are still alive and there are many drakes to choose from.”

            Caintigern nodded. “There are and yet none of them are for me anymore. I have become accustomed to having a mate who can think as quickly as I can, who knows things that it is forbidden to teach to drakes and who is more dangerous than any dragoness I have ever known. What he did to Sagroshahar was no accident and he would do it to anyone or anything that threatened his mates and children.” She smiled. “He would do it again.”

            “Drakes do not kill dragonesses,” Stillwater protested. “It is forbidden.”

            “I have learned that Iain does not care about what is forbidden and what is allowed, if the restriction or the permission is from someone that he doesn’t care about,” Caintigern said amusedly. “He does not like killing. He does not dislike it either. Nightraven sought to turn him into a weapon that she could use to destroy Blacktooth and her line, but the truth is that he was that weapon forged long before she took him as her student.” She smiled to herself. “If he were not my mate, I would have seriously considered trying to destroy him for the threat he presents to us, the People.”

            “What would have stopped you,” Stillwater asked curiously.

            “I am far older than either of you,” Caintigern replied. “I am still not ready to die. I am certain that I am more powerful than he is, but I still could not assure he would not kill me instead. He has proven incredibly hard to kill and very creative when challenged. Twice he has faced wizards of other races with powers like those of the People in mortal combat. Both times they were far more powerful than he was at that time. He killed one outright and the other,” she chuckled. “The other wants to be one of his mates and has joined his clan to stay close to him.”

            “If she wants to be his mate and is more powerful than he is, what is stopping her from taking him as hers,” Stillwater asked.

            “Iain refuses to allow himself to be controlled by others against his will. And before you ask what he could do if the dragoness is more powerful than he is and decides to claim him against his will, she will not know how angry he is. He will hide it and eventually she will let her guard down, at which point he will kill her.” Her eyes met Stillwater’s. “He has noted that the easiest time to kill a dragoness is when he is mounting her. She cannot see what he is doing and therefore she will be unlikely to provide an effective defense against what he does at that point.” Her head came around. “They are returning.”

            An instant later a gate formed and opened. Nightraven emerged from it, followed by Iain. Nightraven’s hair had been cut short to her shoulders and was loose. She was wearing lighter clothing made of linen. Iain’s clothes had changed, but he looked otherwise as he had before they’d left.

            Caintigern frowned. “You have shortened your hair.”

            Nightraven sat down and reached for her teacup. “I did so after he used it to strangle me into unconsciousness. You must do this too, although you will hate it in the beginning.”

            “Why will I hate it?”

            “It is something completely foreign to the way the People fight and it is harder than the training you underwent as a Princess to kill your Queen. You will have to unlearn many things that you are certain are absolutes and are not.” She smiled, the first true smile that Caintigern had ever seen from her. “But it will also give you fifteen years with him being himself. That time is very informative.”

            “I have had him as my student for far longer than that.”

            “I learned during this time that he is never truly himself when he is our student. We never let him forget that we are his mistress and he never does.” Her smile faded. “While I will still teach him, he is no longer my student. He is now my partner and mate.”

            “Can you kill Tharilat now,” Stillwater asked.

            “I could kill her before Iain taught me,” Nightraven replied. “I am more powerful than the current Queen. The only person I might not be more powerful than is Caintigern. However, yes, it will be much easier to dispatch Tharilat if it becomes necessary.”

            Niamh blinked. “If?”

            “We spent a great deal of time talking,” Nightraven said. “I came to several realizations. Tharilat is a bug. Sometimes bugs have their uses. If she moves against something I don’t want her to harm, I will destroy her. In the meantime she is useful in that she does a job that the current Queen wants her to perform and she is a conduit for seeking out her blood and allies so that if it becomes necessary, they can all be removed at once. That is the only true way to ensure that they do not move against the Princess when she takes the throne since they engaged in mob attacks the first time.”

            Caintigern looked at Iain. “You do not sit.”

            “You want me to train you now. That’s why I’m standing and why the gate is still open.”

            She stood. “You are right.”

            “The idea frightens me,” Niamh said.

            “And it should,” Iain replied. “You walk a different path. Your life was spent looking for something that you couldn’t identify and you have just finally found it. Be Eilistraee’s priestess and the scholar and philosopher that you are meant to be. You will kill to protect, as the Lady Dancer calls upon us to help those who have not heard her call. But you are not meant to learn this specific lesson.” He gestured towards the gate. “Caintigern?” They went through the gate and it closed behind them.

            Niamh turned to Nightraven. “Has he changed a great deal?”

            “No.”

            “Dawn Light was trying to interest us in other drakes besides Iain.”

            Nightraven snorted. “Of course she is. Ignore her.”

            Dawn Light frowned. “Of course I am?”

            “You want him. You might not be aware of this on a conscious level, but you want him. So does Stillwater. We have him and we are not inclined to share him further. You will not be able to lure him away from us, so trying to interest us in other drakes is your only method of possibly making him available for you that you can see. It won’t work, but you watched him kill a Champion of the Five Struggles in seconds, and without Sagroshahar being able to begin to defend himself. His action calls to the racial memory in each of us when drakes and dragonesses were a team and hunted and fought together against their enemies while raising their children. He has proven that he is a drake worthy of seeking to partner with.”

            “Drakes have no place in the proper upbringing of dragonesses,” Stillwater snapped.

            “That is what we, as a society, have decided to make part of our culture. The dragonesses decided it and the drakes have acquiesced with that decision since it took all responsibility away from them. We now punish drakes who try to reclaim that responsibility. Iain rejects that idea and will not have a relationship of any kind with any dragoness who accepts it. He believes that all the children should be raised together. He also believes that the drake should be involved the entire time.”

            “That is absurd,” Stillwater said. “What do you think of this, since you claim to be his mate?”

            “I am willing to wait and see how this idea works in practice,” Nightraven replied. “He has helped to raise children out of him who are not of the People and, although he is unaware of it, I have met several of them. If our children are like they are, I will consider his idea to have merit.”

            “You have spent too long away from the People,” Malikar said quietly. “You should spend time with us and refresh yourself as to what it means to be People.”

            “I will,” Nightraven said. “It won’t change my opinion of the worth of Iain’s ideas, but I am of the People and I will spend time among them on occasion.”

            “What about you, Niamh,” Stillwater asked abruptly. “You are a dragoness and lived here recently. What do you think about what your mate wants?”

            “I think,” Niamh began, “that they are returning,” she said as the gate opened.

            Caintigern looked unchanged as she stepped out of the gate, followed by Iain. She looked at Niamh. “Go with him. You will learn this.”

            “Iain said I shouldn’t,” Niamh protested.

            “We are not among friends,” Caintigern replied. “The Queen and the Princess are not our enemies, but there are many who will be. They will seek to separate us and destroy us individually. You must be able to protect yourself while we fight our way to your side.” She smiled “While failure is inevitable, do not let failure be the last thing you do.”

            Iain blinked. “Rule Seventy? Where did you hear that?”

            “I listen when you speak, my mate. You quoted it when I was ready to quit.”

            He frowned. “Damn, I did. I’d forgotten.”

            Caintigern looked at Niamh. “This is like when he taught you to hunt. Trust him and do what he tells you to.”

            Niamh stood. I am afraid, she said to him with her twee. But Caintigern is right. I must learn to fight so that you will not put yourself in unnecessary danger to protect me.

            Yeah, she convinced me too, he replied. He motioned towards the gate. “After you.”

 

***

            “I was born and grew up here,” Caintigern said quietly. “I killed my mother and became Queen here. I had children here and ruled here for thousands of years. I probably spent decades sitting in this very spot.” She gestured at the Queen’s residence behind the bench they were sitting on and looking out over a garden of plants that Iain itched to explore since he didn’t recognize any of the ones he could see. “So why does this place feel so foreign to me?”

            “When you leave a place and it no longer is your home, it’s almost impossible to go back and recapture that feeling,” Iain replied. “And you haven’t been Queen for more thousands of years than you were Queen.”

            “Does this happen to you?”

            “Yes and no. For me, home is where at least part of my family is. If my family isn’t with me, it isn’t home. If I go back to visit a place that was once home, well my family isn’t there and it cannot be home anymore. It’s different for you because the People don’t usually have long term relationships.”

            “Why is it different for us?”

            “That’s easy to see if you’re an outsider,” Iain said, “The drakes have been conditioned to spread their genes as far and as wide as they can and damn the consequences. The truth is that they usually don’t have any consequences. That neatly explains Sagroshahar breeding Queen and Princess at the same time even knowing it might get him in trouble. And dragonesses don’t usually stay with a particular drake for a long time unless they are very low ranked in society and don’t have many choices for breeding partners.” He shrugged. “But the truth is that even the low ranking dragonesses have many choices since the drakes have that conditioning. Even while breeding the Queen and the Princess, Sagroshahar would have fucked any of the servants or guards here because that’s what thousands of years of breeding and social conditioning tell him that he should do if she comes on to him. He might have done the same with a random dragoness he met somewhere else, too. It’s different for me.”

            “How is that so?”

            “I want to help raise my children so I want the women who might carry them to be strong and healthy. I will evaluate a potential mother of my child with that in mind and refuse her advances if I don’t feel she’ll give me genetically superior children.”

            “What if you love her and she is inferior?”

            “I won’t love an inferior potential mate,” Iain replied. “My checklist ensures they cannot be inferior.”

            “Do I meet your requirements?”

            He chuckled. “Yes, you do.”

            “Do you love me?”

            “For most of the time I have known you, you have been my teacher and you have treated me like you would treat a drake, which I didn’t like. Things have changed in your behavior and so things are changing in my feelings for you, but no, I don’t love you yet.” He shifted slightly in his seat. “Hello My Queen.”

            Malikar came around the path from behind the bench. “I have some questions for Caintigern.” She held up a hand when Iain started to rise. “I want to talk to her alone.”

            He settled back down as Caintigern stood.  She smiled down at him. “I will be safe, my mate. You are the one who should be careful.”

            He smiled back at her. “As long as I keep my mouth shut I’ll be fine.”

            “Which is why I urge caution,” Caintigern turned to Malikar. “Where are we going?”

            “This way.”

            Iain watched them head off before stretching out and making himself comfortable on the bench. He closed his eyes and pulled up one of his projects for work. To anyone watching, he looked asleep.

            It was an hour later when a well dressed dragoness came out of the residence and looked him over. “Your hair is too long.”

            Iain opened his eyes. “Good afternoon,” he said pleasantly.

            “Good afternoon,” she replied. “Your hair is too long.”

            “Very well.”

            “You will get it cut today.”

            “I think I will first consult with my mate and get her opinion on the matter before I do anything rash.”

            “You do not have a mate.”

            Iain favored her with a friendly smile. “Good afternoon,” he repeated. “I am Iain and I don’t believe we have met, which means I don’t know anything about you and you do not know anything about me. That includes my status regarding my having a mate or not.”

            The dragoness shook her head. “That isn’t true. I saw you with the Queen yesterday. I asked the Princess about you and she said you have no mate.”

            “The Princess is incorrect,” Nightraven said as she came out of the residence. “Iain is mine.”

            “She wants me to get my hair cut,” Iain said quietly.

            “It is her first step in exerting control over you,” Nightraven replied. “Considering she’s looking for a new drake, I wonder how many other dragonesses were being bred by Sagroshahar.”

            “He would probably mount every dragoness that would bend over or spread her legs for him,” Iain rose to stand next to Nightraven. “After all, it was his desire to breed the Queen that made him enter and win the Five Struggles. But after breeding the Queen why limit himself if there were other willing dragonesses around?”

            Nightraven eyed him amusedly. “You would limit yourself.”

            “I am not anything like the typical drake and we both know it.”

            “Who are you,” the strange dragoness demanded. “I do not recognize you.”

            “I am Nightraven.”

            The dragoness sneered slightly. “I have never heard of you.”

            “No, you wouldn’t have,” Nightraven said dismissively. The strange dragoness reddened as she continued. “Who are you?”

            The dragoness drew herself up. “I am Tharilat and I am the Keeper of the North Forest, a noble in the Queen’s court. You will treat me with the respect I am due.”

            Iain grabbed Nightraven’s wrist as she took a step towards Tharilat. “Mistress,” he said urgently, “do not do this.” She hasn’t murdered anyone important to you yet.

            Nightraven looked down at his hand. “Release me,” she said angrily. I am under control again. She will live another day.

            Iain released her. “Mistress,” he said with an apologetic note in his voice. Now we know why Stillwater told her I was unmated. It was to make sure the two of you met sooner rather than later. I hope this was her being helpful and not her trying to get you and Tharilat to kill each other.

            “You will remember that while you are my drake,” Nightraven announced, “you are not the only drake.” I will presume that she believes this is being helpful. If I determine that she is trying to get me killed, you know how I deal with those people, which is now the way you would deal with them.

            “Yes Mistress. Please forgive me for my trespass.” Remember the saying about keeping friends close and enemies closer. Befriend her.

            I do not know this saying. Why would I want to do that?

            If she trusts you, when you drive the dagger into the base of her skull and up into her midbrain, she won’t realize what has happened until she arrives at the Lands of the Dead and someone explains to her that she’s been killed.

            Nightraven smiled suddenly. It was a happy smile, but it would have had Iain backing up if it had been aimed at him. How do I do this? You are more cunning than I am in these things. Advise me how to lie to her.

            Don’t lie until you have no choice. Always tell as much of the truth as you can. If you tell her truths that she already knows, it will be easier to convince her that everything you tell her is the truth. Just don’t tell her the entire truth.

            “The Princess doesn’t like you very much,” Nightraven said to Tharilat. “She knows that Iain is my drake and yet she told you things about him to interest you and then told you he was unattached to set you after him.”

            Tharilat looked surprised and then annoyed. “Why would she do that?”

            “She was hoping that you and I would clash and that it would turn out to be fatal for you.”

            Tharilat’s eyebrows rose. “And who are you that she would think you had a chance of killing me?”

            “I remove problems,” Nightraven replied. “While I do not work for the Princess, she knows of what my responsibilities are and hopes I would remove you. She knows the power difference between the two of you and it concerns her.”

            Tharilat stared at her. “I had heard whispers of special agents in the Queen’s employ. I had dismissed them as just that.”

            “And that is what you are supposed to do,” Nightraven said. “I do not exist. The only Nightraven you might have heard of is a child.”

            “Why are you telling me this?”

            “The Princess does not like me either. She wouldn’t miss me if you won in a dispute between us.”

            “Why not?”

            “She is spoiled and weak and I tell her the truth. The fact that she may be Queen someday does not make her Queen now. Until she is Queen, I am not hers to command.”

            Tharilat shook her head. “It is only because I am not a Royal that I am not the Princess and she knows it.” She glanced at Nightraven as if waiting for a response.

            Nightraven shrugged. “I am a Royal and it has brought me nothing of value. I earn what rewards I receive. Nothing is given to me. The fact that the Princess is of my bloodline brings me no joy.”

            “I must go,” Tharilat said. She smiled broadly, revealing that one of her incisors was discolored and darker than the rest of her visible teeth. “We will speak more later. How do I contact you?”

            “I am not supposed to be found,” Nightraven said. She held up her hand and a ball of silver light appeared in it. “Take this and you may use this to send me letters. It would be nice to have a powerful patron who didn’t send me on so many potential suicide missions.”

            Tharilat smiled. “I am certain that it would be.” She touched the globe and it vanished. She looked interestedly at Iain. “Is he everything that the Princess said he was?”

            “I doubt any drake can be all of that,” Nightraven replied. “Still, he is more than adequate for my needs.”

            “Tell me when you tire of him.”

            “I will.” Nightraven watched Tharilat leave. “I enjoyed that.”

            “I thought you did,” Iain said quietly. “And the first steps in the dance have been taken. You gave her a little something, she gave you a little something in return and now she’s thinking about testing you before recruiting you.”

            “She was always ambitious, wasn’t she?”

            Iain glanced at her. “She’s a dragoness of the People. Isn’t a picture of a dragoness of the People what you find when you look up ambition in the dictionary?”

            “I was never ambitious,” Nightraven disagreed.

            “You never wanted to be Queen,” Iain replied. “Your ambitions did then and still involve you becoming the most powerful dragoness known who isn’t the Queen. Or it was simply in becoming the most powerful of all the People. Or in becoming the most powerful being that anyone has ever heard of, including the gods. That’s still incredibly ambitious.”

            “You are still a disobedient and annoying drake,” she said.

            “You forgot frustrating.”

            She smiled slightly. “You never let me forget how frustrating you are. Now we know that Tharilat has always wanted to be Queen. What do we do with that knowledge?” She nodded decisively. “We frustrate and stymie her. We must speak to Malikar. Come.”

            Iain trailed behind her as she headed into the residence. “She’s off with Caintigern having some private discussion that I am not welcome at.”

            “She wants to listen to you and she wants to believe you,” Nightraven said simply. “It makes sense that she doesn’t want you around when she is trying to make decisions that you might disagree with her over.”

            “I am not in a relationship with her.”

            “That is by your choice, not hers.”

            “Not every dragoness wants to have sex with me,” Iain muttered.

            Nightraven stopped and turned to face him. “Was Sagroshahar a particularly difficult kill?”

            Iain looked at her puzzledly. “No.”

            “I remember him from when I was growing up. The Five Struggles is a difficult competition. It is held every ten years and the most ambitious drakes compete in it. The finalists often are chosen to be the mates of other Royals or highly placed non-Royal nobility. While deaths were rare, it was very violent. During the Struggles many drakes were crippled to make them yield. Only then would they be healed. Until then, if they could not heal themselves, they kept going as best they could. Sagroshahar became Champion before I was born. He remained Champion for a thousand years. He won a hundred and four consecutive competitions before being defeated. I was invited by Princess Stillwater to four of the finals after I was selected for the academy. I thought he was magnificent and someone that a dragoness as lowly placed as I was would never be able to have. You killed him in seconds. If Malikar thought it would improve her chances of being bred by you and giving the next Princess your genes, she would abort the baby she carries from breeding with him.”

            “That wouldn’t make me more interested in her.”

            “She knows that because Caintigern has told her. I didn’t know it either. Caintigern knows it because she and April talked at length about her joining the clan and what was involved. That’s how she learned that if you are involved with a woman, all of her children will be claimed by you and raised with your help even if you didn’t sire them.” She headed off. “I have located Caintigern. Come.”

            Iain followed. “Where is Niamh?”

            “She is with the Princess.” Nightraven glanced back at him. “You keep track of us, don’t you? My twee said yours contacts mine every half hour regularly. You request a location check and a status report.”

            “I’m making sure everyone is reasonably safe, as you suspected.”

            She glanced back at him. “Does that mean I am inside your bubble?”

            “You have been paying more attention than I realized. Yes, it does.”

            “No one has ever sought me out to be my student,” Nightraven said. “They seek me out for my knowledge or my magic or my possessions. Elminster, one of the currently premier mages, seeks me out for my obscure books and because he mistakenly sees us as peers of a sort. You not only sought me out to be my student, but it was your unconscious mind that caried you to me. Consciously you wanted nothing to do with me. That intrigued me. I began watching you from the day you became my student until now. When I realized that you would be the one that I would choose to be my mate, I watched you even more closely.” She glanced over her shoulder at him again. “You knew that I was watching, didn’t you? You were very careful to never do more than explain how dangerous I would become if you revealed any of my secrets, even under clan privacy.”

            “I suspected. I didn’t know for certain until now, but I suspected.”

            Caintigern and Malikar were standing and looking over a grassy field where several children, all female, were playing under the supervision of a dozen dragonesses. Malikar looked at Iain. “You must leave.”

            Iain raised a hand when Nightraven opened her mouth. “She’s the Queen and it’s her house, so it’s her rules. You need to talk to her more then we need another argument with her about me. I’ll find somewhere out of the way, like on the roof, and do some work on my studies.” He flashed a grin. “I’ve got these two instructors who make sure I’ve always got some studying to do.” He nodded to Malikar as he shifted to his small dragon form. “I obey, My Queen.” He took off, his form blurring as he camouflaged himself and flew quickly for the roof of the residence.

            “He is very annoying,” Malikar grumped. “Why do you tolerate his behavior?”

            Nightraven watched him fly away. “He is useful, as you have noticed when he just ensured there would be peace between us. Give me Princess Stillwater.”

            Malikar looked surprised. “She is my Princess. I have no other. Why should I entrust her to a strange dragoness?”

            “She is currently useless as Princess. She will never be powerful enough to overmatch you and Tharilat will murder her if she becomes Queen as she is. She has done so in my past and, having met her, I know she will not hesitate if you do what you are planning and make your daughter Queen as she is.”

            Malikar eyed Nightraven suspiciously. “What would you do with her?”

            “I had thought to never take another student now that Iain is my mate. However, I will take one last student, that being Stillwater. I will teach her and she will return powerful enough to make Tharilat rethink the plans that she would develop if she takes the throne as she currently is. She will return powerful enough to give you a serious fight and might even emerge the victor.”

            Malikar frowned. “How long will she be your student?”

            “I keep my students for an average of a thousand years. Some take a little less time, as Iain did, and some take longer. Stillwater will complete the development that I will require of her.”

            “I cannot be without a Princess for that long,” Malikar said. “Others will seek to become Princess in her absence. If I am to choose my next Queen, I want one whose rule will benefit the People and Stillwater will do exactly that if you make her stronger.”

            “I will want my mate and his other dragonesses with me,” Nightraven said. “Iain and I will ensure that we return Stillwater before much time has passed here so you will not be without your Princess for very long.”

            Malikar regarded Nightraven thoughtfully for several moments. “Can she do this?”

            Caintigern nodded. “She will do this.”

            “My Princess is pregnant. How will you deal with that?”

            “After she delivers the child will be brought here. She would have given a baby dragoness to them,” Nightraven gestured towards the dragonesses monitoring the children, “and a drake would be sent to a creche. I have inquired and she has had very little to do with any of her children after it is born. It is one of her failings and one of the things I will address during her apprenticeship.”

            “What of me? I do not have a lot of contact with my children, compared to some.”

            “You are not going to be my student,” Nightraven said. “Your behavior does not reflect on me and I will not express an opinion of it.”

            “I invite your opinion,” Malikar said.

            “I decline to provide it. If it is positive, it will change nothing in your behavior. If it is negative, it will have the same result. But if it is negative, it will annoy you and I see no reason to add to the issues that exist between us.”

            Malikar scowled. “That says your opinion of my behavior is negative.”

            “No, you are assuming something that you have no proof of. I offer neither criticism nor compliments and you, who have known me as a child, know that is something I have always done. I do not seek to be your enemy but neither do I seek to be your sycophant.”

            Malikar chuckled softly. “That has always been true of you, even when I appointed you to the academy where your younger self now studies. Assure me that Stillwater will remain healthy and hale in your care.”

            Nightraven shook her head. “No. Her health will suffer greatly from time to time as my student but I assure you that I will return her to you healthy and ready to resume her role as Princess. She will be much more powerful and will be able to hold her own as Queen.”

            Caintigern laughed. When Nightraven and Malikar gave her curious looks, she quickly got her laughter under control, but it was still in her voice. “Iain.”

            Nightraven blinked and then smiled. “He is monitoring this discussion? Of course he is. What is he suggesting?”

            “He says it will not be enough just to train her but that after investing that much time in Stillwater’s development, you will want to continue to influence events here and we will help protect her, if only so you will hopefully still get the chance to kill Tharilat. In doing so we will help to force the other dragonesses to accept the idea of abdication and a peaceful transition of power with both Queen and former Queen being alive. It also means that Malikar won’t have to leave the worlds of the People and there are some very nice forests on Five.”

            Nightraven nodded. “Although I hadn’t considered it, he is very likely correct in that evaluation of my attitude towards Stillwater once she’s my former student.” She nodded. “Is there anything else?”

            “He said that by giving you Stillwater, Malikar will no longer have to worry that one of us will kill her and become Queen.”

            Malikar looked surprised. “That was not a concern,” she said.

            “You lie.”

            “Why would I be concerned about that?”

            “You suspect that we are more powerful than you are,” Nightraven said. “You can’t tell and that is unusual enough, but you know we are both old enough to have become powerful. You don’t want to die. If you did, you’d have let Stillwater kill you in a formal challenge for the Queenship. Give me Stillwater and I will return her to you powerful enough to completely crush someone like Tharilat, even if she attacks with others, as she did in my past.”

            Malikar glanced at the residence. “If your drake is going to be involved with this, summon him back.” She held up a hand and a ball of red light appeared above it. “The Princess.” It shot away. “I am summoning her here. Be warned, she will not want to go with you.”

            “When I take a student,” Nightraven said amusedly, “I do not ask their permission. With the single exception of Iain, none of them were very willing or enthusiastic about becoming my student. They had no choice in the matter. In the end, however, they all acknowledge that my training made them stronger and gave them an understanding of the power that truewizards use that they did not have before.”

            “The Princess understands the magic she wields,” Malikar said confidently.

            Iain landed in front of Caintigern and shifted to his elven form. “I am not sure that’s entirely true,” he said quietly. “A lot of the People don’t seem to have more than a basic comprehension of what they can do now, and almost no idea of how to imagine more so they can develop. And many of them use brute force when the application of the just proper amount of energy at critical points could give a much more beneficial result with less overall expenditure.”

            Malikar scowled again. “Are you saying we’re wrong in how we use our magic?”

            “I never said that. I would never say that. It is a tad inefficient, but brute force does work for many things.” He smiled. “There is no such thing as overkill.”

            Two dragonesses flew into view, circled them and landed not far away. One shifted into the form of Princess Stillwater while the other became Niamh. “You summoned me, My Queen,” Stillwater said respectfully. “What may I do for you?”

            “Thanks to your machinations, I met Tharilat,” Nightraven stepped forward. “It was not wise to send her after Iain.”

            “If you kill her, I win,” Stillwater said. “If Iain kills her, I win. If no one kills her, nothing changes for me.”

            “I would disagree,” Nightraven smiled slightly. “She still lives and something has changed for you. We are going to have a test. I am going to hold you. You are going to try to break that hold. When you cannot, you will come with me as my student.”

            “I see no reason to engage in such a stupid,” Stillwater broke off as he eyes went wide. “What is this?”

            “Break free if you can.”

            Iain looked at Malikar. “Get those children out of here!” He grabbed Niamh’s wrist and they lifted into the air to hover as the ground shuddered. The sound of yelling came from inside the residence as dust rushed from the doorways and open windows.

            Light flashed from Malikar and the dragonesses watching them quickly herded the children away.

            “I have a barrier up to contain most of the power being released,” Caintigern said calmly as the air shimmered around Nightraven and Stillwater. Light flared in different colors and the view turned monochrome and then flipped negative before settling back to what it was originally. All plant life for a hundred yards turned brown and rotted into dirt in seconds. “Some magic is still escaping. Be careful.”

            Suddenly Stillwater screamed and dropped to her knees as she pressed her palms against her temples. “Stop!”

            Nightraven moved forward, stopping in front of the Princess. “Stand.” Stillwater struggled to her feet. “You are my student. You will address me as Mistress. Failure to pay me proper respect will earn you punishment. Failure to try to do what I instruct you to will earn you punishment. Failure to succeed will not. You will try and you will fail. Eventually you will learn and you will succeed. It is the task of the student to learn from her mistress. You will be obedient in all things and you will not embarrass me. As time passes you may earn rewards.”

            Stillwater took a deep, shuddering breath. “I agree.”

            “It was not a question. What I said was a presentation of fact. You are my student.” Stillwater screamed again and dropped to the ground. “And you did not address me as Mistress. Stand.” More slowly than she’d done the first time, Stillwater struggled back to her feet. “Good. Go behind me and be silent.” She looked at Iain as Stillwater took her place behind Nightraven. “As of this moment you are no longer my student. You will assist me with her training as I require it.”

            It sounded a lot like still being her student, but Iain wasn’t going to argue with her here. “Yes, Mistress. Will I need to collect the student’s belongings for her?”

            “No. As you are aware, my students come to me with what they have. She will change into the customary student’s clothing when we arrive at my castle.” She looked at Caintigern. “Stillwater will have special needs that only you can teach her. She needs to learn how to be a Queen and retaught how to use her powers for survival. I can teach her command; I cannot teach her how to rule.”

            “I will aid you in this. We share a drake, after all, and this will help to ensure the survival of the People.” Caintigern looked at Malikar. “I will return with Stillwater in two tendays. The child, if she carries to term, will be brought here tonight before dinner.” She looked at Iain. “You are a priest. Identify the child’s gender.”

            Iain came around and touched Stillwater on the arm. “Mistress, she carries a drake.”

            “Iain will bring the child here tonight,” Nightraven told Malikar. “Stillwater will return in the morning after sunup. Is returning her here sufficient or should I return her to her quarters?”

            “I wish to keep this as quiet as possible so her quarters.”

            “Iain, you will remain here until you see her rooms so you know the coordinates for returning Stillwater.”

            “Yes, Mistress.”

            A gate opened in front of Nightraven. “Student, proceed through. You will be outside my tower. Wait for me there. If you are not tuned to the wards, they will detain you until I release you. Testing the wards will mean you disobeyed me and will earn your first punishment.”

            “Yes, Mistress.” Stillwater gave her mother a pleading look that she ignored, sighed and headed through the gate.

            “Make her strong,” Malikar said.

            “I will.” Nightraven stepped through the gate, which closed behind her.

            “Nightraven wants us to help,” Caintigern told Iain and Niamh. “I don’t believe she wants us to stay there, however.”

            “We’ll probably commute,” Iain said thoughtfully “Niamh will need a place to stay, but that won’t be hard to set up.”

            “She will come with me to my training castle,” Caintigern announced. “If she is to be one of your mates, she must learn much more magic. I will begin teaching her. You will help me too.”

            “Of course,” Iain said quietly. “We can move her library and set it so it’s kept separate. My Queen?”

            Malikar looked at him. “What is it?”

            “Would you be so kind as to arrange for us to see the Princess’ chambers?”

            “I will take you there. Come.” She headed off at a quick walk with Iain, Niamh and Caintigern falling in behind her.

***

            Iain put down his mug of tea. “Daya, I am going to need a review of security for Seven since I am going to be spending a lot of time there and, more importantly, because a colony from Twenty Three will be placed there sometime relatively soon. And schedule me the site survey for the Africa colony sometime in the next week.”

            “How long were you gone this time,” Kasserine asked.

            “Two years. After Nightraven took Stillwater to her tower, I had to find a place to begin construction of a small home for me. I won’t be developing it too much since Nightraven intends to take Stillwater to Twenty Seven for most of her training after she beats down Stillwater’s bad attitude about being shanghaied into being her student. Stillwater isn’t stupid and she and I had a long talk about how this will probably save her life multiple times in the fairly near future, so she’s working on it. After Daya completes the security review for Seven, she’ll be starting a security review of Twenty Seven since I’ll be there a lot too. I’ll probably just get an orbital station there as my base, however.”

            “I’m on it,” Daya said.

            “What are you looking for in a home,” April looked around at the rest of the command staff. “If we’re going to visit there sometimes, I’m curious.”

            “Defensibility and I want it to be as difficult to access as I can easily come up with. People treat Elminster like he’s always available and he would cheerfully send as many of them my way as he can, so I want to be hard to find and harder to reach.”

            Ninhursag raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing towards that?”

            “I commissioned a flying castle from a family of cloud giants. Once it’s done, I think I’ll set it loose to drift wherever the wind takes it. I can always find it and if even I don’t know where it’s going at any particular time,” he grinned. “Most everyone else will never find it.”

            “What about the defensible part of what you’re looking for,” Vanessa asked.

            “I have the structural plans for the castle and the rock it’s built into,” Theodora said. “It’s sized for giants because Iain used some subterfuge during his negotiations and the builders think it’s being made for another giant family. That gives me a lot of room to work with and I’m putting in the kind of defenses that you’d expect to find on a clan frigate. I can’t use anything with explosives but energy weapons and coil guns work perfectly well as do shield and gravity generators so I can put modern drives on it in case the giant’s magic has a time limit or gets somehow removed.”

            “That and sometimes,” Daya added, “Iain will want to actually go somewhere specific and now he can get there in a timescale that’s measured in something less than tendays.”

            “While she makes it sound like this place is larger than Texas,” Iain said, “what she’s planning will have to be carefully fitted in. After the drives and shield generators, there will be room for five or six small point defense turrets and that’s about it. It certainly won’t leave much space for me, which is perfectly fine. I’ll have one tower with a small basement. It’s more than adequate for my needs there and won’t invite lots of people to try to move in with me.”

            “What about food?” Lucifer reached for the teapot.

            “I’ll have a small storage for dried food. More importantly, I’ll be putting in a gate to an Ark. I’ve got some projects for my copious amounts of spare time and that’ll give me access to the resources that an Ark has.” He looked around the room. “And I’ll be making regular trips here. This is home and where I belong. I will be here as much as I can.”

            “Can we visit your flying castle,” April asked. “I want to see the concept in action. Flying castles would impress the hell out of the Nipponese when we begin conquering them. We can probably build more of them if we want to, after all.”

            “We’ll have to plan things out but sure. And the planning will be because a lot of the time I’ll be helping Nightraven with Stillwater, especially in the beginning. Like I said, she’s not stupid but she is arrogant.” He grinned again. “Just like all of us. That’s my briefing. Yes, I have to spend another thousand years away, but I’ll be coming here regularly and spending time here while doing so. I won’t be isolated and,” he glanced at April, “I won’t be looking to add to the family.”

            “Where is Niamh going to live?”

            “She’s becoming Caintigern’s student so she’ll be living at Caintigern’s training facility on Twenty Six. I’ll be helping with that too. Once again, I’ll remind everyone that I’ll be here too and helping begin the fun of turning the Protectorate and the Protected Folk in it into clan.”

            “Never a dull moment for our Iain,” April said.

            “While I think I’d like it if it weren’t quite so complicated,” Iain said quietly, “Other than everything from what Nightraven made me do, it was going to become complicated no matter what. Indigo was going to be a problem regardless and expansion was going to be our only option to protect ourselves. It also protects the people we just conquered, even if many of them won’t see it that way until the feral pressure gets much worse. Then they’ll see things falling apart elsewhere but not where they are and they might reconsider.”

            “Even if they don’t,” Ninhursag noted, “in a generation or two they’ll be clan.”

            “Exactly.” He looked around the room. “Are there any other questions right now?”  He waited a few seconds. “Then I’m going to end the meeting. We’ve got a lot to do and, we’re going to discover, not enough time to do them all in. Let’s get hot, people.”

 

The End

           

Iain Grey

 

Harem

Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani

April Grey - Duelist & beta

Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage

Pandora - Fiendish Archangel

Zareen - Nightmare

Sofia - Ria

Vanessa – Evangelion

Lucifer – Megami Sama

Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice

Heather - Elfqueen

Marguerite – Unicorn

Scheherazade – Dread Wolf

Irena – Sanctuary Goth

Lynn – Dire Wolf

Rosemary – Mistoffeles

Dianthus – Elfqueen

Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)

Bellona – Dragonqueen

Elizabeth – Vampire

Matilda - White Tigress

Sorrel - Armsmistress

 

 

Outer Clan

Golden Cloud – equine unicorn

Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female

 

Satellite Clan

            74 male Goblins

            89 female Goblins

 

Queendom / Outer Clan

1048 Elves & Elfqueens

Dionne - Elfqueen

Adrianna - Elfqueen

Heltu - Wet Queen

14 Wet Elves

 

Dead Harem

Eirian - Silver Dragoness

Aurum - Gold Dragoness

Skye - Blue Dragoness

Emerald - Green Dragoness

Beryl - Red Dragoness

Julia - human

Ling - Cheetit

Liadan - Twau

Natalie - Blazicunt

Maria – Slutton

Alabaster – Dragoness (white)

Onyx – Dragoness (black)

Lapis – Dragoness (blue)

Garnet – Dragoness (red)

Iolite – Dragoness (purple)

Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)

Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness

Talyl – drow commoner

Zarza – drow commoner

Sabrae – drow commoner

Sintree – drow commoner

Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen

Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen

Tadalareth – drow drageloth, daughter of Alyfaen, stolen by House Janaleth

 

Mother                        Children

 

Vanessa

                                    Myrna (Age 4)

                                    Saoirse

April

                                    Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)

                                    Meara: Duelist

                                    Regan: Duelist

Lucifer                       

                                    Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)

                                    Seraphina: Megami Sama

                                    Miram: Angel (Age 5)

                                   

Zareen:                       

                                    Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)

                                    Kim:  Nightmare

                                    Xanthe: Nightmare

                                    Epona: Nightmare

                                    Philippa: Nightmare

                                    Nott: Nightmare

                                    Nyx: Nightmare

 

Sofia

                                    Anna: Ria

                                    Esmerelda: Ria

 

Monica Chambers

                                    James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)