The Dragon Prince's Consort

Ten

"You two look like you're getting on well," Benna commented over the rim of her coffee mug, "I'm assuming you've made your peace, then?"

Valen looked up from his plate of fried dough-cakes, roasted meat and eggs boiled hard in their shells, and finished chewing before he answered. He glanced to the side as Fang lifted a delicate bowl to her lips and sampled a warm, hearty broth sprinkled with herbs. She nodded and drank deep of the rich stock before she reached for a bowl loaded to the brim with fresh fruit and grains boiled to a thick porridge. She hadn't yet tried the yangru steak, so Valen offered a piece of his to try. "Hngh, under the circumstances it's probably best we try to get along." He tried not to think about Fang's suggestion that she might be open to more than just getting along, and shifted his foot to pin his tail to the floor. Be still, you.

"Hngh, good to know." Benna nodded, and turned to Fang with a raised eyebrow. "And how did you sleep last night, Lady Lienfang? Or should I ask if you slept at all?"

"Yes Madam Warden, I slept fine. Thank you for asking." Fang returned to her porridge and stirred a spoonful of soft butter into it, as cool and unruffled as the long-legged snowbirds that sometimes roosted on the outside walls of the palace compound. "His Grace wanted me well-rested for our shopping trip this morning, so he insisted I didn't stay up too late. He's been very considerate." She took a long sip of hot tea, holding the bowl in her left hand as any polite Drass would, and Valen breathed a silent sigh of relief as he thanked the Flame that she'd responded so tactfully.

"Well then!" Benna raised her mug and Valen stood and took a carafe from its hook on the mantle where it hung near the flames to stay warm. He filled her cup and returned to his seat, and Benna continued. "I have to say I'm impressed. I thought surely after yesterday's debacle there'd be a lot more screaming and sobbing."

Fang gestured with her bowl. "Well, I figured screaming and sobbing wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I decided to change my track and give being a Dragon Prince's concubine a try."

"I see..." From a plate in the center of the cart Benna took a stick of hard-baked bread and crunched the end off. "If that's the case, then perhaps this won't be quite the public relations nightmare His Majesty thinks. Is that what you're going to tell the public, Your Grace? They're going to have questions, you know."

Valen nodded soberly and speared a chunk of fried dough-cake soaked with the juices from his yangru steak. He didn't dare tell even his Warden, who'd known him since he was eight, the truth behind their alliance lest she let it slip that their whole relationship was built on calling his brother's bluff. If that got out, nothing I do will keep Tias from hounding us for the rest of our lives. Not to mention what the Federation would do if they found out about Tias's deception. "We'll say as much as we're allowed, nothing more."

"Letting the public do the heavy lifting, I see. Considering the mess you're in, that's probably wisest until His Majesty says otherwise. Right then," Benna finished her coffee and stood. "I'll see if the car's ready." She excused herself and that left Valen alone with Fang. 

Once the door shut, Fang pounced on him. "All right, before she comes back," she spoke quickly and her Benis accent sounded even more clipped and hurried. "Here's the deal: today, whatever I do, just play along. I don't care how weird it looks, just try to do what I do or at least just don't look too surprised."

The old familiar panic crept back into his mind. "Hngh? What do I do?"

Fang blinked. "Right, you're new to this – here, I'll show you." Pushing the cart back Fang stood and pulled Valen to his feet. "I don't know how much time we have, so crash course. Show me that thing you did with your arm yesterday," she demonstrated by pointing her elbow at him.