Josie sat through dinner and listened to the others talk about their world. Aviras sat

on the table beside her plate. He put in comments about things he wasn’t quite clear

on.

Dragons very rarely opted to become companions, or learn the ways, of the lesser

races.

Budd quietly edged around what kind of jobs Markus would be interested in after

working at the hospital. The older adventurer said a lot depended on Vin and his wife.

They might stay in Hawk Ridge for a while. Simple patrols and filling out the

paperwork was something that Vin seemed to love doing at the moment.

They had missed filling out the ranks for the transport train to the Delve by that much.

A simple run like that was Markus’s and Vin’s type of job when they could get it.

“How did things go with the fishing?,” asked Josie.

“Jack made a dock for us to swim off of while he took to fishing on the quinjet,” said

Beatrice. “We caught some and cooked them on the shore before we switched

around.”

“Haven’t been fishing in a while,” said Markus. “Where did you go?”

“Lake Myra, I think,” said Budd. “How did things go here?”

“We woke up one of the women that had been experimented on,” said Josie. “Massa

said she would put a watch on the other two. We might be able to start moving them

back home soon.”

“How?,” asked Budd.

“Don’t know yet,” said Josie. “We might have to form trains to take them home, or

I might send them home by bird.”

“How can we help?,” asked Caroline. She held Case’s arm in her arm.

“I don’t think you can right now,” said Josie. “We’re waiting for the rooms to clear

so we can enact more of the cure. We’ll need some housing which is why I had hoped

to get the other empty building I know of to hold these women until they are ready

to go home, if they want to go home.”

“I would like to pay you back,” said Caroline. “I know you are going through a lot of

trouble for me, and I would like to do something.”

“If we get the other building, I may need extra hands to help with anyone we put in

there,” said Josie. “I will let you know. Right now, the adventurers and the Amazons

are keeping things under control.”

“What is this show we are going to see?,” asked Aviras.

“The Death of the Dragon, Edelgarde by Homere Cass,” said Beatrice.

“Really?,” said Aviras. “You couldn’t have picked something else to see?”

“We wanted a tragic romance with plenty of fighting,” said Budd.

“The dragon dies,” said Aviras.

“The dragon is the hero of the legend,” said Budd.

“That doesn’t seem much better,” said Aviras. “The next time I pick the show we go

to see.”

“That will be fine, little brother,” said Josie. She rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s

see this legend in action.”

Josie stood. She waved at the waitress to attract her attention. A few moments later,

she had the bill settled, and gave the woman a tip. She gestured for her party to get

to their feet while Aviras landed on her shoulder. They walked out on the street.

Markus fell in beside her as they walked toward the Oblong. He kept his thumbs in

his belt as they walked.

“Have you ever heard of this legend?,” asked Josie in a low voice.

“Sure,” said Markus. “A dragon falls in love with a princess and dies protecting her

from her enemies. The villains tend to be usurpers trying to take over her kingdom.”

“Really?,” said Josie. She glanced at the small dragon on her shoulder. The sapphire

gaze watched the buildings around them.

“Sometimes the dragon’s relatives show up because they don’t approve of the match,”

said Markus.

“Really?,” said Josie.

“My brothers are not going to come look for me,” said Aviras. “They are probably

glad I am gone.”

“So it would be a bad idea to shrink them down and keep them?,” said Josie.

“I think that you would have a fight on your hands before you could do anything like

that,” said Aviras. “But I would not be surprised if Mister Warner already knew how

to defeat a dragon. His archive details a lot of monster hunting across the world.”

“At the time he had a ring that allowed him to do virtually anything he could

imagine,” said Josie. “Finding a threat would not have been problem for him since he

could just imagine some kind of tracking to lead him to the problem, and then shoot

at it which seems the way he likes to do business.”

“I saw the way he did things when he helped June,” said Aviras.

“Fast and furious?,” asked Josie.

“He killed these golems in seconds with the persona he was using, the Dart,” said

Aviras.

“He was always a bigger fan than Jack and me,” said Josie. She smiled slightly.

“Here is the theater,” said Markus. “Should we try to get a box, or sit in the crowd?”

“I think Emily is going to want to get a box seat to protect Caroline,” said Josie. “I

doubt standing in the crowd would be considered good security.”

“I have to agree with that,” said Markus. “Someone would have to post up across the

theater to shoot at her with a bow.”

“I hope none of Rustam’s cohorts are here in the city to make such an attack,” said

Josie. “Sending him to prison doesn’t seem that good because of his standing. If

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something were to happen to the royal family, he would be the core to any noble

revolution against the next viable heir.”

“That would be his younger brother, Illheim,” said Markus. “I haven’t heard anything

for, or against, him. He has kept his head down and avoided trouble as far as I can

tell.”

“He might go along with deposing the king to get the throne,” said Josie. “Or he

might sit out any revolution and hope for the best.”

“I think your sister is waving at us to hurry up,” said Markus.

“We have two box seats,” said Beatrice. “We’re going to have to split up for the

performance.”

“That will be easy enough to do,” said Josie. “The women will sit in one box, the men

will sit in the other.”

Beatrice made a face at being separated from her date on her date night, but said

nothing.

“Don’t worry,” said Josie. “Eventually you and Thad will be able to sit in the dark

and do things without having Case and Caroline around. Until then, make the best of

it.”

Markus and Aviras said nothing. One didn’t have any standing to express his opinion,

and the other was not human enough to appreciate the sentiment of having to watch

from the crowd while the rest of your group did things in the dark.

Beatrice led the way up the stairs to the boxes. She paused to let the others know how

they were doing things.

“Aviras, please go with Markus,” said Josie. “I doubt you want to hear women gossip,

and he will be able to explain the action better than I can.”

“Come along,” said Markus. “We can talk about the women while we watch the

show.”

“That would be interesting, I suppose,” said Aviras. He hopped to Markus’s shoulder.

“Stay out of trouble,” said Josie. “I don’t want Matilda to come home to find her best

friend with holes in his hide.”

“Don’t give Caroline cancer,” said Aviras. “I know Jack said you preferred fast

moving projectiles, but I don’t trust his assessments.”

“You have learned one thing well,” said Josie.

Aviras breathed a small bit of flame as the men walked into their box.

Josie waved at Beatrice to lead the way to their own box. They walked down and

entered the balcony. No one could see into the box from the ground, or the sides. You

had to get a box directly across the theater, and the boxes were offset so none

perfectly faced the other.

The younger women were subdued. Emily shook her head as she stood by the door.

It was hard to talk about your courters with the big sister in the room with you.

“How are things going with you and Case, Caroline?,” asked Josie. She might as well

get that out there.

“I think they are going well,” said Caroline. “It’s still early. I like the way he pays

attention to me.”

“How long do you plan on seeing each other?,” asked Josie. She settled in a chair

behind the younger women.

“I have no idea,” said Caroline. “We are still working on things.”

“What about the man you came with, Missus?,” asked Beatrice.

“What about him?,” asked Josie.

“He said that you were only together for this one night,” said Beatrice. “Are you

going to take him out again without us?”

“What do you think I should do, Bea?,” asked Josie. She regarded the younger

woman with glittering eyes. “He says he has been burnt too many times to want to get

into a steady relationship.”

“He must like you to come out with you to a show,” said Caroline.

“What makes you think that?,” said Josie.

“Wouldn’t he have said no otherwise?,” said Caroline.

“Not if he was afraid of me,” said Josie. “After all, I am his boss at the moment.”

“Markus would have said no if he didn’t want to come,” said Emily. “He has turned

down enough jobs in his time.”

“The adventurers think highly of you, Missus,” said Beatrice.

“What makes you say that?,” asked Josie.

“Everyone at the hall is glad that you are there to give them jobs, and to keep the

money flowing,” said Beatrice. “And most everyone knows you paid Fass’s Fighters

triple what they should have been on their last job with you.”

“We invaded another country and extracted a group of victims from that

government,” said Josie. “The money came from what we took from the man

responsible.”

“And it was more than enough for us to retire if we want to do that,” said Emily. “Just

seeing the Enterprise and flying was almost worth the fight.”

“Are you going to pursue Markus, Missus?,” asked Beatrice.

“Why would I do that?,” asked Josie. “He doesn’t want to get involved in our

problems beyond this.”

“I think you need someone,” said Beatrice. “Someone outside of our group.”

“I have a lot to do, Bea,” said Josie. “I don’t really have time for entanglements.”

“I think you should ask him out again without us to complicate things,” said Beatrice.

“Caroline can’t be left alone with Case, and Thad’s sister is here at the moment so I

can’t have Thad ravish me. Without us, you might be able to do things.”

“Really?,” said Emily and Josie at the same time.

“Jinx,” said Josie. “I will think about it. I have to clear the rest of the victims off

Jane’s lawn and the Enterprise. I don’t have time for dating right now.”

“Don’t you want to make time?,” asked Beatrice.

“No,” said Josie. “Right now, I have too much to do, and not enough time to do it.

Dating is just not a possibility.”

“There is such a thing as overwork,” said Emily.

“That is for weaker people,” said Josie. “I only work enough to take care of my

responsibilities. Why all this interest in my love life?”

“You just never seem happy,” said Beatrice.

“Some people aren’t, Bea,” said Josie. She smiled for a moment. “It’s just their

nature. Besides I don’t want Jack to take his harassment to the next level and start

planning on me getting married and having a thousand kids.”

“That does sound like Jack,” said Beatrice.

“And I don’t want to share my life beyond what I already have,” said Josie.

“You will be an old maid by the time Matilda leaves on her own,” said Beatrice.

“I haven’t been a maid in a long time,” said Josie. “I will just be old.”

The curtain drew back on the stage below. The talk paused as the dragon met his

princess, and they began their life together. True love was not meant to be as knights

arrived to take the princess from the dragon. The dragon turned into a blue firework

that vanished as the knights told the princess that it was better this way. The princess

disagreed and killed herself with a knife from one of the knights.

“I hope Matilda doesn’t do that,” said Josie.

“I think if Aviras reaches his full size again, that won’t be an issue,” said Beatrice.

She held up her hands to indicate the dragon they had seen talking with the Society

in their dreams.

“I know,” said Josie. She looked at her sister. “I’m going to take it easy on you two.

Grab your boyfriends and walk home. Don’t do any ravishings on either side.”

“Emily will make sure of that,” said Caroline with a sigh.

“Have you worked out what title Case will have to buy to marry you?,” said Josie.

“Not yet,” said Caroline. “I need to send a letter to Father to see what is open.”

“Go ahead,” said Josie. She waved her hand. “Stay out of trouble.”

“What are you going to do?,” asked Beatrice. She stood, looking down at the people

moving out of the theater on the ground.

“I am going to collect Matilda’s dragon, and walk Markus home,” said Josie. “Then

I am headed home to the Hangar to finish my day. Tomorrow, I have to work.”

“We will have training with Sir Harp, and the Rick,” said Beatrice. “I suppose we

shouldn’t be out too late.”

“I will meet you at home,” said Josie. “It was a tragic story like you said.”

“Some versions have the princess die first, some have the dragon’s kin arrive to turn

the tide, some have them both walk away into the clouds of heaven,” said Caroline.

“Go ahead,” said Josie. She smiled at the girls. “Keep an eye out, be careful.”

“Yes, Missus,” said Beatrice. “Thank you for coming out.”

“You’re welcome,” said Josie. She smiled at them. “This isn’t getting ready for the

day.”

They left the box in a group, with Emily protecting Caroline’s left, and Beatrice on

her right. Josie walked ahead, looking for the men, and her little brother. She smiled

as they came down the hall looking for their dates.

“The girls are going to walk you home with the expectation that they also be home

soon,” said Josie. “Don’t abuse the privilege, Case.”

“Why me?,” said Case.

“You are not allowed to ravish me yet,” said Caroline, with a smile.

“This is a lot of stress to live under,” said Case.

“Go ahead,” said Josie. “I have to take Markus home.”

The five younger people descended ahead of their older counterparts. The couples

linked their arms as they went with Emily walking behind them.

“I’m sorry we had to split up,” said Josie. She took his arm and descended the

staircase beside him. “They all should know better than that.”

“Are we walking to my house?,” said Markus.

“At least part of the way,” said Josie. “Would you like to do this again without the

responsibilities of chaperoning our younger generation?”

Markus’s face took on a thoughtful cast as he looked down at his escort.

“I think that I would,” said Markus.

They walked out of the theater silently.