The Dragon Prince's Consort

Seven

"Atta, where are your friend's horns?" Little Susa, flipping through one of Valen's books of historical battle maps, asked him almost as soon as her mother took Fang into the bedchamber and shut the door. "Did she break them?"

"Eh? No, Fang doesn't have horns. She's a human, humans don't have horns."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, that's a question for her I guess."

"Does she have scales?"

Valen thought about Fang's soft skin, how last night he'd marveled at it himself. "No, she doesn't have scales. She has smooth skin like your cousin Bataar."

"Bataar is a baby. Will Fang get scales as she gets bigger too?"

"No," Valen shook his head. "Humans don't get bigger either. It's strange, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh. Mana says she's going to live with you now."

"That's right, she's going lo live with me and we're going to do a special job together. Your grandfather wants us to find a place for some of Fang's people to live." As he said it, his chest tightened. It had been nothing short of the Flame's mercy that he hadn't completely seized up when he'd faced his father and Tias trying to set Fang free. It hadn't worked, and now he was facing down a new threat and Valen didn't feel very good about it. They expect me to fail, he thought as he absently answered Susa's questions. There's no way my father thinks I can do this, it's as much punishment for me as it is for Tias.

"Atta, does Fang have a tail?"

Valen thought of Fang's smooth flanks, the soft curve of her hips. "No, she doesn't." For the moment Susa's questions were a welcome distraction, even if they were steering them into delicate territory. "Fang's very different from us Drass. But that's all right, the universe is a big, big place and there are lots of interesting people out there."

"Atta Tias says the humans want our kai," Susa stated simply as though she'd said she wanted a bowl of broth. "Is Fang coming to take our kai?"

"Of course not," though it was a little true. "The humans want to come and trade with us, so in some cases we'll give them some kai, but we're also going to get things from them. You should ask your Mana about economics, she can explain it better."

Susa closed the book. "What kind of things?" she asked, looking up at him with big round eyes. "Are they going to bring us chocolate?" Susa adored chocolate, and the stuff sold for a good deal of money even in its unrefined, bitter state. Valen didn't care much for it, but he wondered if Fang liked it; if she did, the cost wouldn't be much of a concern.

"You know, I bet they might. And coffee, and some of their minerals. They have saltwater oceans, we could use that salt for dyeing our clothes." Speaking of clothes, it had been some time since Fang and Yena had disappeared into his bedroom and Valen wondered what they were doing - perhaps Yena was giving Fang advice on how to survive as concubine to a Dragon Prince. Valen decided that was fine; Fang would need all the guidance she could get, preferably from another woman and preferably not Aisana or Shisa. As though his thoughts summoned them, the bedchamber door opened and Yena stepped out. "I think that should do until you get your own clothes," she said, stepping aside. "What do you think, Valen?"

Valen's body tensed as guilt wracked his hearts. He knew that if he turned around he would see Fang wearing borrowed clothes, probably too large for her and not the right fit. Valen steeled himself and set the carafe down. "I'm sure you're-" He turned, and the world went still. Firemother's ashes... Instead of looking like a child playing with her mother's clothes, Fang stepped out from behind Yena in a soft pink robe that gave her cheeks color and made her long hair look darker and thicker. Valen wondered at how well she wore Drass robes, surprised at how her pale skin complimented the robe's light color and enchanted by the effect. Someone asked him a question but his brain wasn't working. "Huh?"