I woke with three bodies breathing softly around me. The surface I lay on was comfortable, and there was the smell of silver in the air.

It came to me slowly that I was in the strongroom, laying on the nest of pillows and blankets that my family had made for me. They must have brought me in there, somehow, sometime. They’d added mattresses, more pillows, and more blankets, and now Herald, Mak and, to my surprise, Kira lay around me in a protective half-circle, between me and the barred door. Herald and Mak both had their swords and daggers in easy reach, and while Kira was unarmed she still lay there, looking determined to at least make herself a speed bump if necessary.

I was hungry, but when I thought about it I wasn’t as hungry as I should have been. I didn’t know how long I’d slept, but I had healed a terrible injury and experience told me that I should have been properly ravenous. There was an empty box in one corner, though, smelling vaguely of fish. I couldn’t remember much of anything since we’d left the alley, but my best guess was that they must have gotten a bunch of fish in me when they moved me into the strongroom.

I looked around me again, and I was at once both satisfied and nearly moved to tears with how loyally my humans were guarding me. Even here, behind a heavy, locked door in their own home, my sisters, my little dragons, were prepared to fight. They were wearing their armor, their weapons ready, and there was no way that anyone could get in here and get to me without going through them first. The thing was, I could understand them doing it. But the fact that Kira had put herself in the same position was completely unexpected. She had slowly become more accepting of her position here and the power I had over her, but I would never have expected her to put herself at risk for me. The fact that she did so with only her body to put in the way of any attacker was flattering, to say the least.

Mak was the first to wake. I couldn’t say if that was because she was more alert than the others, because she slept poorly, or because she felt me waking up through our bond, but soon after I woke her eyes blinked open, and she looked at me blearily before giving me a tired smile and reaching out to touch where my wound had been and sending a pulse of golden light into me. “Good,” she whispered, running her finger over the irregular line of broken scales that now covered it. “Very good. It’s healing nicely.”

“How long?” I said softly, trying not to wake the other two.

“A full day. I’m not sure what the time is, but with how rested I am I’d guess late afternoon, or early evening. You’re healing very quickly.”

“Any response from the Blossom?”

“Not yet, though she may not have heard yet. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Yeah, all right.” I paused for a bit. “Thank you. For the healing and all.”

“No need. I did what I had to. And, I mean, not because of your power over me, but because I wanted to. You’re family, yeah? And you were hurt. How could I not?”

“Still. Thank you, Mak.” I gestured around the room with my head. “How did this happen? I don’t remember coming in here.”

“We found you asleep outside the door. I think you must have been confused, because you got scary when we woke you, rambling and growling and hissing and all… yeah, pretty scary.”

“I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?” I asked anxiously, but she waved it off.

“No, everyone’s all right. I could feel you, you know? You didn’t want to fight. Not us. So we backed off and slept on the floor in front of you, and in the morning we sent Ardek down to the fishing docks and he got a big box of fish for you — that box, there — and, ah… we kind of used it to lure you in here.”

“‘Lure me’?”

“Sorry, but, yeah. Talking to you didn’t work. I’m not sure that you understood us at all. I think you were delirious, talking to us in some language we couldn’t recognise. That ‘English’ of yours, maybe. But Herald got you away from the door by giving you a couple of the fish, and then we brought the rest of them in here and got you in that way. Not very dignified, I know. Sorry. But we just had to get you in here.”

“Why? Thank you, but why?”

“I… I’m not sure. It didn’t feel safe, I guess? We all agreed that we needed to get you in here, so you could rest safely. Herald wanted to try to get you back to the mountain, to your hoard, but how could we get you up there? So this was the next best thing. Ardek’s outside, too. He insisted someone needed to stay outside, to warn us if…” She looked away, slightly chagrined. “You know, it seems ridiculous, now. Warn us of what? Protect you from who? You’re in the safest place for you in the city. But you were hurt, and we felt that we had to watch over you.”

“Dragon magic? Messing with your head?”

“Probably.”

“I didn't mean for that to happen,” I said, suddenly embarrassed. “You know that, right? You know I don't like to make you do things.”

“I know. But I don’t mind. It was nice, in a way. There was no uncertainty, just ‘Protect Draka, and damn everything else.’ Very direct. Uncomplicated.”

We both knew that she probably couldn't mind, as long as it benefitted me, and that she was at peace with that. It still felt weird, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. I had that effect on some people. It had something to do with strong emotions, like love or terror, but I wasn’t completely clear over how it worked. I couldn’t tell why Barro had become so loyal to me, but not the scholars Ramban or Tavia who’d been with him. I’d terrified the crap out of Jekrie, and he practically worshiped me, but Simdal couldn’t get far enough away from me. But no matter how it worked or why it happened, I had a responsibility to those I’d mind-whammied, at least those who were essentially good, well meaning people. My people.

“Well,” I told Mak, “I’m happy to hear that. And again, thank you. For your efforts and for your kindness. I really do feel like I can rest safe with you here.”

“That’s all I wanted,” she said, giving me a wide, proud smile.

Soon Herald and Kira both woke and, just like Mak, the first thing each of them did was to check my wound. “Another scar,” Herald commented, running her thumb over the irregularly placed scales.

“Another mistake,” I snorted. “Perhaps I will learn from this one?”

“What did you learn from the previous ones?” Kira asked curiously.

“Pay attention to the strongest opponent,” I said, pointing to the nub where my left horn was starting to grow back. “Do not rush into combat with multiple, prepared opponents.” I lifted my wing to show the scar there, where I’d been stabbed while cleaning house in the Blossom’s prison. “I am still working on that. And this new one… never underestimate a cornered enemy, perhaps? I really did not think that the little shit had it in him. And speaking of Tark, what happened to him?”

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“I stopped the bleeding from his arm,” Mak said. “Nasty amputation, by the way. Well done. Then we bound and gagged him and stuck him in that barrel. We have kept him in there since, under guard in the other room, where we talked to Simdal.”

“In the barrel?”

“We did not see any reason to get him out, since… Oh, hells. Sorry, Kira.”

Our short exchange about Tark had Kira looking fairly miserable, and Mak had picked up on it much more quickly than me. “Draka,” Mak said, “If it is okay with you… Kira, perhaps you could go upstairs and send down whichever of Tam and Val is not on guard? We will need to talk about some things that you would be happier not hearing.”

“Please,” Kira said, giving me a desperate look. “I understand that you need to do this, but—”

“Go ahead, Kira,” I said. “And thank you for watching over me as I slept. I appreciate it. Mak, would you open the door for her?”

Mak tried to do as I’d asked, but when she pushed on the door there was a light thump and a startled cry from Ardek, who had apparently been sleeping with his back against the door. Once he got out of the way Mak let Kira out, who left with a relieved smile my way.

“Poor Kira,” Herald said, looking out the door after her as she left. “She really cannot stomach even talk of violence. Her time with the Silver Spurs must have been hell.” Then she turned back to me and Mak with a predatory smile. “Now, what do we do about the monster in the barrel? I have some ideas, but I suppose we should try to get some information out of him first.”

The little room where Val was guarding a barrel became terribly crowded once Herald, Mak, Ardek and me had crowded in there, and when Tam arrived he had to stand in the doorway by virtue of being last on the scene.

I opened our meeting without preamble, tapping the barrel with a claw. “Suggestions?”

“Throw some rocks in there and sink the bastard in the river,” Tam suggested.

“Interrogation is usually the first step, with prisoners,” Val said. “But I don’t think that this is an ideal place for it.”

“I agree with Val on both points,” Herald said. “And, sorry to say, brother, but simply drowning him does not sound nearly satisfying enough. So, if not here, then we go back to the original plan, yes?”

“I think so,” I agreed. “The important question is: Herald. Mak. Do you feel up to actually talking to him? Or would you prefer that we do it?”

“I need to be there,” Mak said softly. She was staring at the barrel like Tark might break out and start abusing her at any moment. “I need to.”

“Me too,” Herald agreed. “Seeing you take his hand off helped, but I need to see this monster made human.”

“That’s agreed, then. I’m taking him, and you all know where I’m going and how to get there.” I knocked on the barrel. “You hear that, you little shit? We’re going flying, you and me!”

There were some angry, muffled groans from inside that delighted the darkest parts of my heart no end.

Since it was still only evening when we met, it was a few hours before Val carried the barrel down to the abandoned garden. I followed him in the shadows, then grabbed the barrel and flew with it to where the drains emptied into the harbor. Carrying it was surprisingly easy; the barrel plus the man inside didn’t weigh all that much more than Herald, and since I could dig my claws in I had a nice, strong grip on it. Landing, though, was hard. I didn’t want to end up in the water, still feeling uncomfortable after my earlier experiences, and the drain opening was too small for me to fly inside. I considered approaching at speed, folding my wings as I approached, and then Shifting as soon as I was inside, but that might kill Tark. He was a tough little monster, but I’d need to be going 20 mph at the very least. In his state, the impact might just be too much. If the barrel landed just right and rolled he might be sick but otherwise all right, but I didn’t want to take the risk. Not that him dying was a problem in itself, but we wanted to at least try interrogating him. Besides, I’d promised his life to Herald, and I intended to deliver.

I’d been worried about how to get him to the cave. Flying with the barrel had been all right, but I wasn’t sure exactly about how to move it through the drains. Carrying it wouldn’t work, since I needed all four limbs for walking, and dragging it seemed like a hassle. I’d been on the verge of just opening the barrel and making him walk when something occurred to me: Getting him there was only difficult if I cared about him.

Once I realized that, the fact that I didn’t give a damn about his comfort made it easy. For the few miles from the harbor to the cave, I simply rolled the barrel in front of me, hearing the occasional thud or muffled groan from inside. I hummed happily all the way.

In the cave, I stood the barrel up on the little jetty that extended into the water. The boat was where it had been the last time I saw it, still in the dark, placid water. My sense of Herald and Mak told me that they were somewhere in the direction of Tellee’s house, and it would be a while before they made it to me.

“Listen, Tark,” I said, speaking into the side of the barrel. “Can you hear me?”

There was no reply, so I shook the barrel a little until I heard a groan, then put my head against it. “I said, Tarkarran, can you hear me?”

Another groan, somehow managing to sound indignant this time.

“Great. I want you to know what’s going on. You’re underground, right now, in a place where no one will find you. No one will even know to look for you here. Not that it matters, since you won’t be here for long. What does matter is that no one can hear us down here. And that’s going to be very important in just a little while, because Herald and Mak are on their way here. You remember them, right? Tekereteki, one of them really tall, the other one short with long hair? You spent a couple of days with them, about two months ago? They killed two of your guys last night? Anyway, they’re very excited about seeing you. They’ve got all kinds of ideas about what to do with you, and I’m pretty sure that you gave them most of those. But it doesn’t have to go like that, yeah? It can be quick, instead. Clean. As much as I hate you — and I really do hate you — and I want the girls to get to take their frustrations out on you, the one I want is the Night Blossom. You know her, right? Your, what? Boss? Mistress?”

The next groan sounded very rude, somehow.

“Or maybe you don’t call her that. Zabra, then? Tespril Zabra?”

With a little bit of imagination I could almost think that I heard a sharp intake of breath.

“You know, finding out who she actually is took some work, but less than I’d expected. Do you know if she got my message? I had such a good talk with Kesra, and I thought that I was very clear. I said that anything you scum did to any of my people, I would do worse to her. To Kesra, I mean. And then some of your morons went and beat up one of my boys. I can only imagine that you never got my message, because now I have to pay Kesra another visit, don’t I?”

That got a reaction out of him, and what a wonderful reaction it was! He must have been screaming, but the guy was gagged in there so it all came out as muffled nonsense. At the same time he was moving around so much that the barrel was shaking.

I picked the barrel up and shook it, then put it back down. That settled him. Then I kept pulling on the little thread I’d found.

“I really don’t know why you’re so upset. I was very clear. All you had to do was leave my people alone. Now, I don’t know if Kesra never passed the message on, or if Zabra just doesn’t care about her sister, but it really doesn’t matter. I have been insulted, and there need to be consequences.”

The angry groaning started up again, if a little weaker this time.

“But, Tark, I’ll give you a choice, and you can think on it until the girls get here. I’m afraid your time is likely to run out fairly quickly at that point, though not nearly as quickly as you may wish once they get started. So, here it is: Zabra, or Kesra. Give me the one, or I’ll take the other. And don’t think that all those guards at her house can stop me. I walked out of your little prison. I can walk right into her bedroom as she sleeps, and no one will ever know. So. Think about it.”

Then I left him there to stew. It would be at least half an hour before the others showed up, so I leapt up to the alcove in the cave wall that I’d scoped out for sleeping and settled down, with one eye on the barrel in case Tark tried anything.

It was nowhere near as comfortable as either of my nests, but you can’t have everything.