“Sooooo…” Katya ventured cautiously. She and Axis had left the Loft of the Eternal Phoenix well behind and had crossed the internal divide between its ancient, lavish construction into the far more modern and emotionless military quarter below. They hadn’t bothered to stop back in Nieves Tower for less ostentatious clothes, or rather; Axis hadn’t. Katya was mostly following his lead, and while she had not found a particular discomfort with the elaborate outfits, she definitely felt out of place now among the identical uniforms of the military drakes. While initially more curious than anything about where he intended to go with what time they had left, his intentioned path into the military quarter of the Palace quickly left no doubt in her mind and invited her question. “... there anything between you and your sister I should know about?”
“Who said anything about my sister?” Axis asked.
“Why else would we be headed down here?” Katya answered, intent on not letting him dodge the question.
“Uh… weapons? Uniforms? Uh… general supplies?” Axis finished lamely.
“One, when was the last time you saw a Duke running around in a military getup?” Katya said. “And two, there will be plenty of those things aboard your sister’s ship.”
Axis started and failed to say something in response three times before taking a deep reluctant breath and admitting, “It’s complicated.”
“Because of the Crown Princess?” Katya guessed.
“No!” Axis replied a bit too quickly, earning a raised brow and titled head from Katya. “Kinda,” he amended.
“So you two don’t really get along then?” she continued to probe.
“Oh… we get along fine,” Axis said. “We just don’t see the Empire the same way. And she’s gonna be pretty mad at me so… yeah.”
“It’s not going to be a problem is it?” Katya asked.
“No. No, no,” Axis replied more confidently than his prior statements. “She’ll just need to uh… damn what’s a good way to say it… she’ll need to get it out of her system.”
“She’s going to yell at you,” Katya nodded.
“Eh… probably?” Axis agreed. “Hopefully she just yells. Hopefully Charlie isn’t around. But knowing my luck with the two of ‘em…” He shivered. “Just uh.. Just let whatever happens happen.”
“Who knew Axis Mortimer would take it laying down,” Katya smirked.
“She is my sister,” Axis said. “It’s different.”
“If you say so,” Katya said, pausing with him to begin checking the hangar listings for Pi’s Ridley, the ICS Helios. They looped around several more miles before finding the right entrance, and Katya noted both of their HUDlenses had received full access permissions and updated Duchery clearance. The hangar in question was buzzing with activity as three other Ridleys also occupied the space. Their own crews scurried over their surfaces, doing required daily maintenance and coordinating with the Palace’s own military contingent for additional support and supplies. Unlike those the two of them had passed in the corridors, these drakes were far too occupied with their present tasks to divert more than an interested glance at their pair of far too overdressed guests.
The Helios, despite bearing the same grey and blue colors of the other cruisers and having no unique, delineating markers on her hull, was immediately recognizable. Docked in the far right corner of the hangar, the ship’s exterior gleamed with a fresh polish and buff and while her guns disappeared from view the closer Katya and Axis got to her, they too shimmered and reflected the beams of the sun beyond the hangar. No window was dull or dirtied nor the drive housings stained by ionic dust. The Helios could have, for all intents and purposes, just left the shipyard for how impressively clean she was. This was further evidenced by dragons hanging over her sides, continuing in the effort to make her a shining example of the perfection touted by the Navy’s leadership.
And at the base of her command, stood the Helios’s captain, Pi Mortimer. Though dressed in the blood red of the Navy’s uniform, Katya could plainly see the inky black scales and venom green feathers that marked her as Axis’s twin. She had the same slight frame, the same arrangement of horns, even the same green eyes. Side by side, they would have looked almost identical save for the subtle feminine attributes in Pi and a circlet of white scales on her forehead. She was surrounded at the moment by her officers and more notably, Crown Princess Charlie, the former nodding periodically in confirmation of orders given. But upon coming close enough to be seen even peripherally, all those assembled followed Pi’s gaze to Axis, her’s being notably sharper. Katya, it seemed, was invisible to them. Pi wordlessly detached herself from her entourage and they made no attempts to follow her in striding up to Axis.
“Hey Sis!” he said brightly when they had both met and stopped the other in their tracks. Katya allowed herself a few cautious steps back from Axis’s side, as it didn’t take a genius to see the boiling rage in Pi’s insistent stare and resolute silence for her brother. “Oh c’mon you can at least say hi,” Axis added casually when nothing was forthcoming from Pi. Still nothing. Axis made to open his mouth again, but was cut off by a resounding slap across his face from Pi. “Aaaaaa…” he hissed, but with nodding acceptance only to turn back to her and receive a second, possibly even harder slap to his other cheek. “Okay! Okay!” he yelled, fanning his wings out in protest of a third Pi was already winding up for. “One! Fine! I probably deserve one!” he kept on, “but two!? Two!?”
“IMPOSSIBLE!” Pi finally screamed at him, and Katya couldn’t help but be surprised at the higher natural pitch in her voice. “YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!”
“Well we know that already,” Axis chanced sarcasm, preemptively flinching.
“Add insufferable to that list too!” Pi continued to yell, unconcerned at her commotion having drawn the attention of all the drakes within earshot. “Where do I even start with you?!”
“That I’m a Duke now so technically I outrank you?” Axis said trying and failing to hold back a grin more than dangerous to his health.
“Rrrrrraaaagh!” Pi vented, turning away and shaking a clenched talon only to wheel back on him. “Would it kill you to not try to murder someone everywhere you go!? Seriously! A Matriarch Axis!? A MATRIARCH!?” She was back to unfettered full volume and Katya was grateful for her foresight to back away. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE DEEP DARK HOLE YOU COULD’VE WOUND UP IN!? DO YOU!?”
“Ahhh… I don’t, I didn’t, and yes,” Axis ticked off his answers. “Happy?”
“NO!” Pi roared. “UGHHHHH! INSUFFERABLE! One of these days, you are going to bite off way more than you can chew and I just hope I’m there to see it!”
“Oh c’mon, Sis, you don’t mean that,” Axis drawled. “You were never like this when Dad pulled some crazy shit and walked it off.”
“You are not going to bring Dad into this!” Pi said with finality. “He was never a complete disaster to manage like you!”
“Oh see that hurts,” Axis mocked offense. “Unconventional? Yes. Disaster? I’m insulted.”
“Good!” Pi sniped at him. “Maybe it’ll make you think twice before doing something so stupid that it causes a Palace-wide lockdown!”
“Again, I didn’t kill her,” Axis tisked. “Didn’t. There’s a negative in there.”
“Only because of her!” Pi shouted, pointing at Katya, who found herself involuntarily shaking her head. She had no desire to become caught up in Axis’s family squabble. “Charlie told me -!”
“Ups…” Axis interrupted, “you mentioned Charlie so now I’m not listening anymore.”
“I’m gonna kill him… I really am gonna kill him. Progeny help me I’m gonna kill him,” Pi whispered disbelievingly to the ceiling.
“You ever notice how Charlie only ever tells you about me when its something bad?” Axis said. “Why is that ya think?”
“Because that’s all you ever show her!” Pi replied in exasperation. “Axis, she wants to care about you because she cares about me! Because I care about you… You just… You make it so damn difficult… All the time…” Pi’s voice had begun to return to a more normal volume, though Katya couldn’t be sure it was from having expended her energy or actually settling.
“Yeah, I know Sis. I know...” Axis said, with a softer tone of genuine care Katya didn’t think he was capable of. “Not on purpose though, for the record,” he added, the sincerity whisked away as quickly as it had appeared. Pi gave him a wry look, as if she expected nothing less and appreciated what little empathetic acknowledgement she could get out of him. “So… are we good now? You’re not gonna yell anymore?”
“I don’t think we’ll ever be ‘good’ per se,” Pi sighed. “I don’t think you’re capable of behaving yourself for any more than a few hours at best, but… it’s good to see you again Axis.”
“Same, Sis,” Axis smiled and the two of them embraced each other’s wings. Katya let go a hearty breath, having not realized until that moment that she’d been holding it. That every dragon family had their internal conflicts was all but guaranteed, especially among the larger and more affluent ones, but Katya idly hoped that her future of working with Axis never found her between him and Pi. She was rather like her brother in that regard, and Katya had no desire to be on the receiving end of her fury with him. Even standing on the sidelines had felt a touch risky. She carefully rejoined his side as they broke apart, and the Crown Princess did likewise for Pi. Unlike her soon-to-be betrothed, Charlie’s stiff posture and hard eyes were not so forgiving of Axis and his methods, and this piercing coldness seemed to extend to Katya as well.
“Congratulations,” Charlie said to them both rather formally. “Becoming a Duke and Duchess is no easy feat.”
“Thank, Your Highness,” Katya bowed, knowing full well Axis would not render the proper gesture of deference.
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself,” Pi started.
“You’re Captain Pi Mortimer, Axis’s sister,” Katya said. “Don’t worry about the introduction. It was pretty obvious.”
“Sorry about that,” Pi answered, wings shifting a touch in mild embarrassment. “You must be Duchess Truminoff. Charlie told me about you.”
“If we’re going to be working together, you can just call me Katya,” she said. “And don’t worry about it. That was tame compared to my family.”
“Mm,” Pi murmured. “I know we’ve just met but do mind me asking a favor of you?”
“Go ahead. I can’t make any promises though,” Katya replied.
“Could you keep my pig-headed brother out of trouble since he seems utterly incapable of restraining himself?” Pi asked with complete honesty.
“Aight, aight,” Axis butted in, waving a wing between the two dragonesses only for Katya to brush it away. “That’s cute, Sis.”
“It’s more for me so I don’t have to yell at you all the time,” Pi retorted her brother.
“Don’t worry, Captain,” Katya chuckled. “I already planned on it.”
“This is conspiracy,” Axis said flatly. “And I’ll have you both know, I don’t appreciate it.”
“Too bad,” Pi said and cleared her throat, her tone taking a more business-like cadence as she added, “I take it you’re here to get settled before we get underway tomorrow?”
“No,” both Axis and Katya echoed each other simultaneously, awkwardly looking at the other having expected the opposite. “Not quite,” Axis amended, slowly peeling curious eyes from Katya. “There’s some stuff I gotta take care of down in the City. I just wanted something to wear that wasn’t this shit. Ya got any spare uniforms onboard?”
“Of course,” Pi said. “I’ll get one of my mando drakes to take you up to the quarters I’ve had set up for you both so you can change.”
“Hold up,” Katya piped in, stepping between Axis and his sister and inviting his stare. “Again, Axis, when was the last time you saw a Duke wandering around in Navy fatigues?”
“Uh… what’s your point?” Axis asked.
“My point is that Dukes don’t wear military fatigues because they aren’t military,” Katya said. “Not to mention how Navy red isn’t exactly the most subtle color in the galaxy.”
“Well I’m sure as hell not gonna keep wearing this,” Axis tugged at the high collar of his vest.
“Then we agree that we need to shop some new clothes,” Katya insisted with a bit more force than was strictly necessary.
Axis tried to hold in his snickering before letting go and guffawing loudly. He looked past Katya and said to Pi, “I’ll take you up on those quarters real quick, Sis.”
“We are going. Together,” Katya stated, one of her wings pushing Axis’s face back to look her in the eyes.
“I heard that!” Axis shouted, and while he didn’t take his gaze off Katya, the sounds of Charlie’s continued, barely contained laughter were unabated.
“You have something else aside from military dress?” Katya probed, clearly already knowing the answer.
“No,” Axis sulked.
“Then you’re going to come with me and you’re going to like it,” Katya said.
“Probably not,” Axis answered, clearly still unenthused by her idea.
“She makes a good point, Axis,” Pi said. “You’ll have a far better chance of going unnoticed if you look like a civilian.”
“Could you not encourage her?” Axis tisked.
“I was going to go for myself anyway, and you yourself said you had things to do in the City,” Katya continued. “You should learn to treat yourself sometimes too. You’ve earned it. We both have.”
“This,” Axis gestured to his royal attire, “is not my idea of treating myself. I like armor weave, kevlar straps, ammo pouches… not fru fru bullshit.”
“Oh you are definitely coming with me now,” Katya sighed. “The galaxy is a bit more subtle than kill or be killed, Axis.”
“You do not want to go where I’m headed in the city,” Axis changed tack.
“Let me be the judge of that,” Katya retorted, ending the discussion by turning back to face Pi and Charlie.
“I think it’ll do you some good, Axis,” Pi shrugged. “Will I need to send a Helephant to pick you two up? I have shove off scheduled for 10 sharp.”
“No I’ll make sure we’re back in time,” Axis grumbled. “Can you just do me a solid and send the Helios armory inventory to my lenses? I might want some… extras stowed.”
“And the Chestrian climate,” Katya added. “I want to make sure we pick up the right stuff.”
“Grand Knight Lusso will be in touch,” Pi agreed.
“Captain, Your Highness,” Katya bade farewell to the two dragonesses.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning then, Sis,” Axis said, already being led away by Katya’s wing.
Pi felt no need to reply, merely waving with her own wing until Katya had almost forcibly turned Axis’s reluctant head around. “She’s good for him,” Pi mused, her mind filled with half formed thoughts.
“Why do you say that, love?” Charlie asked, resting her weight against Pi’s side affectionately.
“Deep down, Axis knows I get upset with him because I love him,” Pi said wistfully, watching as her brother and his companion shrank in the distance of the Ridley hangar. “But that’s been something unique to me ever since we were brought back to the Empire. And I think he’d grown to think it would only ever be me. But… she changes that.”
“That also requires he not be so deliberately stubborn as to not notice,” Charlie cautioned.
“True,” Pi acquiesced. “But he listens to her. Which is strange all on its own. That has to count for something.”
“Only the Progeny can know,” Charlie said.
“And only the Progeny can bless,” Pi finished the short prayer.
----------------------------------------
Leaving the Palace of the Loft was a task unto itself. As a defensive measure, the Palace had no trams or rail lines connecting it to the City below. Access was strictly via air travel, but even this was heavily controlled and difficult to come by. The Matriarchs, their staff, and members of their House held royal status and thus did not need or deign to lower themselves to the use of public transport into and out of the Palace. They arrived and departed on ships owned and operated by and for the exclusive use of the House. The multitude of servants in the employ of the Palace also had little to no need to leave, as they lived where they worked and any journey into the City would likely be in the performances of their duties. This also did not necessitate the use of public transport thanks to the Palace’s own impressive motor pool. Furthermore, despite Katya’s claims of his being childishly stupid, Axis refused to rely upon the resources available to them through the Duchery. This meant they had been forced to wait for a good two hours on one of the landing platforms of Nieves Tower before finding a company willing to send a driver with the proper clearances all the way up to the Palace. Even then, the company had only complied when Katya had presented their Duchery permissions, something which Axis had also refused to do for the five companies prior.
Katya had directed the cab to take them down into the heart of the City of the Loft’s shopping district, one of eight quadrants of the City surrounding the Palace at its center. The cab descended rapidly, and as it did so, the City faded from a flat expanse of metal, crete, and shifting points of light to more defined shapes. No building in the City was more than three stories high, as so prominent a height would invite ceaseless lightning strikes in the storms that could develop and vanish in the blink of an eye across the unbroken flat surface of the planet. To this end, almost every structure was topped by lightning rod spires, giving the skies just above the City the appearance of a twinkling star map from the innumerable warning strobes. Individual streets were almost impossible to make out from altitude, but what could be seen were the hundreds of rail lines carving up the City as well as the more notable gaps between districts reserved for arriving and departing starships. At the farthest edges of the city, comprising the entire outer perimeter, was the slave quarter. Even from the sky, it was a ramshackle assortment of small houses and larger community centers packed together so tightly it may as well have been the teeth of some great beast.
As the cab descended even lower, the pilot swung them over the division between the shopping and commercial district. Katya was nearly ready to make plain she wanted them to closer to the shopping district center when the drake up front lowered the partition and said, “Sorry m’lady, m’lord. Duke or no Duke, air traffic goes in and out of here and only here. There’s plenty of rails that’ll take you deeper in from the space port.”
“That’s fine,” Axis cut Katya off with a roll of his eyes. To the credit of their pilot, the cab was small enough to maneuver into a landing space closer to the shopping district access tunnel, limiting how far they would need to trek through the space lane. Katya practically yanked open the door as soon as they touched down and seemed to almost tumble out with eagerness. Axis followed her with a raised brow, and found her waiting on the platform, eyes closed and concentrating on steady breathing.
“You good?” he asked with a teasing note.
“I’m fine,” Katya answered tersely. “I don’t like being a passenger.”
“You’re not gonna puke are ya?” Axis said, backing up a step.
“Just give me a minute,” Katya replied and shuffled her wing feathers a good three times before breathing in sharply and opening her eyes. “Okay, I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh…” Axis remained unconvinced.
“Seriously, I’m fine,” Katya insisted before perking up with, “Now, where do you want to go?”
Where do I… Axis mouthed her question in scowling disbelief.
“Come on, you’ve got to have a preference,” Katya said.
“A preference for what?” Axis asked, still somewhat befuddled.
“Axis you’re a prick but you’re not dense,” Katya answered with fading patience.
“I really hope you’re not talking about clothes,” Axis said learily.
“That’s what we’re here for! What else would I be talking about?” Katya asked, echoing his own confusion with a nervous titter. “What kind of stuff did you wear when you were on leave?”
“My… Navy red…” Axis reiterated carefully. Katya didn’t respond, only stared at him, blinking several times as if trying to tell if he was outright lying for the sake of a bit. “What?” Axis asked, head tilting and lips narrowing, managing only to have Katya’s eyes go wide as saucers and her wings cover her mouth.
“Oh Progeny you were being literal…” she gasped, laughter stunted by realization. “You’ve only ever worn - ”
“My Navy reds. Yes,” Axis finished the sentence for her. “That is what you asked me back at the Palace.” Katya coughed in sheer disbelief, her wings folding back to her sides as she tried to process the sudden shift in her understanding of Axis’s statement.
“Okay okay okay,” she said, more to herself than him in a definitive attempt to regain her composure. “That changes things. Okay… um…” She paused, scanning him up and down, toes tapping on the crete of the platform to the tune of the gears working in her head. “Alright, we can fix this. C’mon follow me,” she finally said, whipping around and leading Axis through the throngs of dragons. She kept the end of her tail firmly wrapped around one of his forelegs like an over eager school’ness out on her first date, completely ignoring Axis’s protestations of the gesture.
It wasn’t until they had cleared the tunnel into the shopping district that Axis had enough room in the crowds to catch up to Katya’s side and flick his leg out of her tail’s grasp. “I can walk on my own ya know,” he huffed.
“But you can’t dress yourself apparently,” she needled him in good humor. Axis allowed himself a disgruntled growl but was convinced she didn’t hear it over the din of the City around them. Like the other quadrants, the shopping district was comprised of interlocking streets and alleys at ground level with just as many, if not more railless catwalks above joining together countless buildings. Stairways leading up could be found at every few street crossings, and dragons of all stripes milled and glided about, chattering with their friends and families and generally, politely minding their own business. What set the shopping district apart from the other portions of the city were the advertisements and signs. Massive viewjectors with accompanying loudspeakers hung alongside building walls and beneath monorail overpasses prospecting passersby for everything from indulgent food to the latest HUDlens models. Tools, hobbyist equipment, overlanders, toys, gimmicky gadgets, clothes, luxury goods: everything that could be bought and sold could be found on the viewjectors with an accompanying address in the district for where it could be found.
Likewise, not a single building was without its own signage. The stores immediately outside the tunnel and for several miles beyond used viewjectors to signal the proprietor inside, often with a particularly tempting sale to lure in those easily parted from their money. But Katya ignored these and led them deeper into the district, the density of the crowds thinning the further they ventured. Her pace slowed when they were sufficiently removed from the hustle and bustle that they could hear their own footfalls again, her head on a swivel as they passed shop after shop. The buildings here were smaller, indicative of boutiques, and no catwalks spanned their second stories as it was likely the family who owned and operated the store living above it. Additionally, the viewjectors had all but vanished, replaced by much smaller physical signs hanging above the doors or stained glass in the main window. “Are you looking for someplace in particular?” Axis asked, beginning to wonder if Katya had any idea where she was going or if she was just waiting for one of the boutiques to catch her fancy.
“Yes I am,” Katya replied. “You threw me for a loop but I know a good place for the both of us.”
“My gut says I should be terrified,” Axis said flatly.
“Stop being such a downer… Aha!” Katya rebuked him only to stop in her tracks before bounding across the street to one of the single story shops. A simple swinging black placard with gold lettering over the door named it Theroux Outdoor Goods. The entrance slid open to admit Katya of its own accord and Axis had to brace a talon against it to keep it shutting in his face. The interior of the boutique was true to the word of the sign outside. Unfinished wood planks for a floor, wooden rafters, and rows of split logs against the walls created the homely illusion of an isolated cabin in the wilderness, complete with the earthen scent. A mild but pleasing tune hummed from the corners of the store, only furthering the sense of relaxed ease expressed in the decor. The business seemed to stock every kind of survivalist tool, but most importantly, was ripe with rugged attire not unlike that which Axis had seen his father don. He had felt absolutely ridiculous in Chloe’s royal garb before, and now surrounded by such devotion to practicality, felt doubly so in his purple blazer.
Katya also looked remarkably out of place dressed in the finery accentuating her natural beauty, but she nevertheless weaved among the stands and hangars like she was right at home. “Katya!” Axis hissed between his teeth to no avail and began to follow her into the forest of products. He nearly crashed into her as he rounded a free standing coat rack, and would have loosed a string of expletives had she not cut him off by removing a thick, white fleece lined brown leather coat and presenting it to him.
Her head peeked over its shoulder, an excited but firm grin on her face. “Go try this on.”
“Wait, what?” he said dumbly, trying and failing rather spectacularly to comprehend the situation in which he found himself.
“Good afternoon, welcome to Theroux - ! Oh!” the pleasant voice of a dragoness preceded her finding the two of them among the racks of garments where she promptly bowed her head deeply. “How can I be of service to you, your Graces?” she asked, much more formally.
“Oh for the love of…” Axis growled, passing around Katya and impatiently telling the shop attendant, “Get up. We’re not what we look like.”
“I beg your pardon, m’lord,” she said, though she did raise her head.
“No, no ‘m’lords’,” Axis flustered.
“He means we’re not royalty,” Katya chimed in more kindly. “We’re trying to replace these clothes actually. We’re headed off-world to some pretty remote places.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place I’d say,” the shopkeep said. “You gave me a good shock though. Members from the Houses never come down into the City and you both could’ve fooled me.”
“Exactly why I want out of this shit,” Axis declared.
“I’m Lily, by the way,” she said. “Is there anything I can help you find?”
“Where are your winter coats for dragonesses?” Katya asked promptly.
“Right this way!” Lily said cheerily, only pausing when Katya stopped to lay the leather coat over Axis’s back.
“Go on, look around and see what you like,” she encouraged him. “Find a few things and I’ll help you out when I’m done.”
“Sure…” Axis quipped, yelling after her as she followed Lily deeper into the store, “This is already more effort than its worth ya know!” She paid him no mind, and Axis was left standing in the midst of things he had never once given thought to. He shrugged the jacket off his back into his talons, and was about to haphazardly toss it back onto the rack but stopped himself. The craftsmanship was excellent for one, the attached sleeves having snaps all the way down to his ankles to not only make donning and doffing as easy as possible but allowing for flexibility to either keep him warm or offer as wide a range of motion as a traditionally detachable chainlink sleeve. The leather itself was thick and durable, without an excessive number of seams, and the fleece was as soft as it was well padded. But the quality of the coat wasn’t the source of his hesitation. Katya had given it to him with genuine excitement. The last time he’d been given something that way had been four years ago when he and Pi had managed to meet up for their birthday. “You are fuckin’ losin’ it, Axis,” he whispered to himself in Common, taking a deep breath for good measure. “It’s a coat. Who cares, Axis?” he continued to mumble. But it was a nice coat and the sort of thing his father likely would have recommended for him had he become a Watcher. So despite wanting to toss it back with Katya’s indulging look of eagerness, instead; he slung the coat around the base of his neck and added a matching fauld of the extra long variety before wandering among the racks upon racks of rugged clothes without any real idea of what he was searching for.
Katya didn’t reappear for a long while though he occasionally heard her and Lily’s muffled voices from somewhere farther in the back. In her absence, he discovered to his surprised delight that there were civilian variants of equipment he’d used in the Navy. While some were definitely not up to the task of handling the beating his kind of outdoorsmanship would bring, others exceeded his expectations. Such was his absent perusing that by the time Katya found him again, he had added to the coat and fauld a tightly knitted grey two piece sweater, rubberized talon treads, a tube sock matching the sweater for his neck, and set of saddlebags that could either hang off his sides under his wings or join into one long burlap pack over his back.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“So the soldier can learn to enjoy living a little,” Katya half laughed when she located him and his spoils. Axis would have given her a sarcastic remark in exchange, but then, he hadn’t expected to turn and find her already changed out of her royal raiments. She wore a light navy blue lambskin coat, the cuffs around her neck and foretalons ringed by puffy beige fleece as well as the snap and elbow link seams. Her fauld matched her coat, whatever method by which it connected concealed by a thick cover of the same fleece. Aesthetic snaps adorned the front at a false fold, and two drawstrings ending in dirty white puff balls dangled around her chest. He could tell she had a second layer on beneath the coat but it hardly mattered. She looked disarmingly cute, added to by her self-satisfied grin, and Axis had to remind himself the dragoness in front of him was an assassin of sufficient skill to have become a Duchess.
But he had to say something and in lieu of letting slip something he would live to regret, said, “How often am I gonna get reminded of this?”
“Every day until you can admit it’s okay to like things outside guns and body armor,” Katya ribbed him.
“That’s rich comin’ from you,” Axis said.
“Hey if my life can be more than a well placed bolt, so can yours,” Katya chided. “Go hurry up and change. I’ll feel better not having to listen to a complaint about purple velvet every five minutes.”
“Ten minutes, gimme some credit here,” Axis snarked, sidling off to the changing rooms. She was right however. He had never been happier to doff clothes than he was shedding the scratchy, over-designed hoity-toity garbage Jada had seen fit to cover him in. It took some effort to slide on the scale tight sweater and get it clasped, but once he had it adjusted, it was relieving to have something that was more fitted and practical. The neck sock and coat and fauld went over him much more simply, and the dragon that stared back at him in the mirror reflected a casual but authoritative figure. He’d spent so long only ever wearing what the Navy provided that he hadn’t ever even considered that he could look half decent. And to Pi’s point, he certainly didn’t look like a dragon with the power of the Empress at his back. He looked, for lack any better way to describe himself: normal.
“Oooo… aren’t you the handsome drake,” Katya cat called as he exited the changing rooms.
“Okay now you’re overdoing it,” Axis smirked.
“Fine, but I do mean it,” Katya said. “You look nice. I knew you’d like that coat. It goes well with your feathers.”
“I… sure…” Axis started then trailed off. “This was a good call. Thanks.”
“Ya know I’d be more flattered if you could say thank you without sounding like a million needles were digging under your scales,” Katya replied dryly.
“Don’t be picky,” Axis said as they weaved through the shop searching for Lily. “Even Pi doesn’t get many of those.”
“I’ll remember that after I’ve saved your ass a few times,” Katya said, nudging into him ruefully.
“Ready to go?” Lily asked after coming from the back to the reception bench.
“Yeah, run all this up on a tab and bill House Nieves,” Axis said. “And you can send those damn costume party outfits back with it.”
“Excuse me, sir, did you say House Nieves?” Lily asked.
“Duke and Duchess,” Katya offered in explanation with a nod.
“But you said you weren’t royalty, m’lady,” Lily said, clearly mortified.
“That’d be ‘cause we’re not,” Axis repeated with firm emphasis. “Just attach the name Axis Mortimer to the bill and they’ll pay you. If they don’t, get in touch with my sister, Captain Pi Mortimer in the Navy, and she’ll make sure it happens.”
“M’lord my humble house is honored to have clothed a Duke and a Duchess,” Lily said, unable to withhold another bow of her neck. “My mother will be thrilled! Thank you so much!”
“Don’t mention it,” Katya smiled.
“One more thing,” Axis said, stopping Katya in her tracks as she made to leave.
“Anything, m’lord Duke Mortimer,” Lily said eagerly.
“Make that two,” Axis amended. “One, my name is Axis. Two, where’s the closest train stop for one that’s on an inter-district rail?”
“Um… Axis,” Lily struggled to not address him with the proper titles, “there’s a station about four blocks east for a train that can take you anywhere in the City.”
“Perfect,” Axis said, turning to follow Katya back out to the street, and adding just before he passed the doorway, “I mean it about my sister.”
By the time they reached the stairs to the rail platform, the sun was beginning to set. Where the streets deeper in the district had been less packed with dragons, the onset of the evening hours found the train station nearly overflowing with those on their way back to their homes for the night. It was an odd thing for Axis, being in so dense a crowd as they waited for the train’s arrival without a single sideways glance or a wide berth given. He was, as Pi had suggested, invisible to the masses. And while he could acknowledge the value in being so imperceptible, Axis did find it a bit disconcerting. He would have liked to believe it wasn’t vanity driving the feeling, as that would make him little better than the flashy attention grabbing royals in the Palace, but at the same time, he couldn’t shake the dissatisfaction that his accomplishments could be so easily stripped away from his person by a simple wardrobe change.
Then again, most civilians in the Empire didn’t know who individual Dukes were. If they did, they wanted to be as far away from them as possible as they likely were a target of said Duke. Axis shook the thoughts away as he and Katya boarded the train, managing to find an unoccupied cabin amidst the shuffling about inside. Katya had remained oddly quiet ever since leaving the boutique, which Axis was both grateful for and concerned by. She seemed the inquisitive type and he wasn’t willing to believe she trusted him to such a degree as to let him lead her around the City of the Loft without knowing where exactly he was taking them. However, he wasn’t going to simply inform her of his own volition. Doing so was a fast track to an argument he didn’t have the patience for, and it would be far easier to get her to just roll with it when she really had no other choice. Not that he would be free of an argument, it would just be an easier one to win. At least in his assessment.
But no sooner had the train begun to ease out of the station and its intercom sputter with the next stop did Katya pipe up, “So, where are we headed that you have ‘business’?”
“Huh?” Axis asked, pretending not to hear as he scrolled his lenses of the train’s route and its stops.
“C’mon Axis where are we going?” Katya repeated.
“You’ll see,” he replied noncommittally, still engaged with mapping the route against a layout of the City’s stations.
Katya’s eyes half-lidded in impatience. “I’m beginning to understand your sister’s impatience with you. That’s not an answer.”
“I didn’t say it was,” Axis lilted. “I gotta go talk to the driver for a sec. Keep the cabin ours yeah?”
“Axis…” Katya only half-heartedly tried to stop him before he was out in the car’s hall. So late in the day, the train was mostly quiet. Few dragons roamed between cabins and those that did were mostly the attendants cleaning and checking in on those passengers who had some issue or another. Axis’s route to the front of the train was thus rather unencumbered, and he was only stopped at the divider between the first car and the actual engine. Two attendants waited there to keep the unruly and/or drunk from wandering where they ought not, and both bolted to their feet when Axis approached.
“Sir, it’s only rail employees past here,” one said.
“Duchery permissions. I need to talk to the driver,” Axis brushed them off, linking the clearances in his lens to theirs.
“Right through here then my lord,” the second said, unlocking and opening the access hatch to the engine. The train’s cockpit was surprisingly cramped, with room only for ingress and egress past a communications officer up to the piloting mounts for the two conductors. “Sir, there’s a Duke here to see you,” the attendant introduced Axis, inviting the senior conductor to quickly dismount his post and offer a light bow.
“I’ve got it from here, thank you,” he dismissed the attendant before returning his attention to Axis. “What can I help you with my lord?”
“I just finished going over your stop schedule and it ends at 10 PM,” Axis said. “What’s past ten?”
“Nothing,” the conductor replied simply. “That’s the end of the night for us. We take her back to the hangar and let the technicians check her over before our next shift tomorrow. There’s a different set of trains that do the night runs.”
“I need a favor then,” Axis said.
“If it’s within my authority, my lord.”
“After you’ve made the last stop, I need you to take a detour on the city’s outer rail line to Station 37 and let me and my colleague off there.”
“My lord, begging your pardon but you do know where Station 37 is right?”
“Oh yeah, I’m aware,” Axis snipped. “Is that a problem?”
“No, my lord, no it won’t be,” the conductor said. “We’ll just need to make a reroute call to the hangar.”
“Good, that’s all I needed,” Axis nodded.
“We’ll get right on it, my lord,” the conductor bowed again, Axis leaving with a note of satisfaction in his steps. He wasn’t overly fond of the excessive and meaningless gestures of deference to his new status as a Duke, but the overriding authority it granted he definitely could get used to. He supposed that was the double edged sword of being within the Royal echelon and decided the change of attire was probably for the better on that count alone.
When he returned to the cabin, Katya was preoccupied by something in her lenses and didn’t bother to look in his direction when he entered. “Since you wanna be a stick in the mud about where we’re going,” she said, darting eyes focused on whatever projections were over her eyes, “you might wanna take a look at the Naval Vault data on Chestria. Place looks pretty miserable.”
“More miserable than the Loft?” Axis quipped, but obliging her nonetheless in his own HUD. “Seven hour day-night cycle?” Axis breathed aloud. “Misery noted.”
“Oh it gets worse further down,” Katya grimaced. “The star is a small one and the planet is way too far from it to stay warm. Whole thing is like a giant glacial mass.”
“Batteries aren’t gonna like that,” Axis mused, sifting through the information. “We’ll have to carry extras for the gear.”
“Forget the gear,” Katya said. “There is no way a normal overlander will take those kinds of conditions.”
“Keep going through the data,” Axis said. “I’ll get Sis’s Grand Knight to requisition an ICE overlander and make sure they have extra fuel and batteries on board for us to take down.”
“It might be easier to just land a civilian ship at the Auction directly,” Katya said.
“Ah yes, and blow off any and all subtlety the Empress wanted us to have?” Axis snarked.
“Two dragons arriving at an Auction in a private ship to buy some slaves is pretty normal, Axis,” Katya retorted.
“And so is running a ship ID and finding out it’s confiscated Navy property,” he answered. “Poof. No more discretion.”
“Oh, very good,” Katya congratulated with no hint of sincerity.
“What?” Axis drawled.
“You know how to say something in Drael without completely mangling it,” Katya said overly sweet.
“That’s cute,” Axis replied. “Really cute.” Katya only smiled, clearly rather proud of herself, before her lenses darkened and she curled up on the cabin cushion.
“I kinda like it actually,” she said, eyes closing. “I wouldn’t mistake your voice for anyone else.”
“See now that’s more scary,” Axis said, inciting only a single chuckle from her before she settled her breathing for a rest. He spent the remainder of the trip sending requisition requests to Pi’s Grand Knight. While her ship seemed mostly well stocked as a patrol cruiser, the Helios was in no way outfitted for specialized assignments such as this. In addition to the equipment he and Katya had discussed, Axis made clear they would be needing other cold weather equipment like tinted goggles and humidifying nostril inserts. But perhaps what he spent the most of his time on was the weapon situation. The Helios, per Pi’s stringent standards, had a substantial armory brimming with small arms and fully accounted for ammunition that was in congruence with standard Naval deployment recommendations. However, the vast majority of the guns were designed for internal security use and boarding actions. And while Axis had made preferential recommendations on the other gear he and Katya would need, he was specific and demanding of the weapons that be brought on board for their use. A Hoissan BLR-8854 sniper cannon with associated conditions analysis module was a must, as well as the reliable Daleworth GoreHog DP-32 combat cannon set. He wasn’t certain what Katya’s preferences in harness armaments would be but recommended a few choice brick guns and flak spitters for good measure. Most of all he was concerned about Grand Knight Lusso being able to locate an ICE overlander, but the dragon officer didn’t seem perturbed by the request, his only communication regarding the vehicle being Axis’s preferences for size and power. His worries allayed somewhat, Axis simply deferred to the Grand Knight’s judgment and that of his sister after explaining the reason for the odd vehicle’s necessity.
As the hours crept by, the train gradually began to become more and more empty with each stop. The sun finally set completely beyond the flat Loft horizon, and through it all, Katya continued to sleep, unbothered by the steadily more frequent station visits the closer the time moved to 10 PM. Axis knew they were on the detour with a particularly violent shudder of the car signaling the train had diverted from its normal stomping grounds of the inter-city rail system to the one that covered the outer edges.
He took a moment to stretch and preen his feathers. He wanted to look presentable, as this would likely be his last visit for potentially even longer than a spec ops deployment stint. In an ever decreasing fashion, the light fixtures along the rail became more and more sparse until they began to act like a strobe inside the cabin. Outside, Axis could see the shadow of the City walls rising above the horizon and the silhouette of flak and brick gun emplacements mounted rather frequently along it. Everything was now deathly quiet outside the low hum of the train’s motors and light mechanical jostling of its linkages. Were Katya not directly across from him, Axis would have felt a serious case of deja vu, as he had made these lonely train rides every day when he had been stationed aboard a Ridley doing a defensive tour at the Palace. A sort of peace settled over him with the familiarity, bringing back memories he hoped were not going to be marred once the train stopped.
Katya’s eyes blinked open slowly as the cars shuddered at the train’s brakes, and her head raised slowly to check out the windows. Her brows furrowed, and she strained to identify anything in the dark outside the cabin. Axis caught a whispered, “Where the hell…” from her, but was saved from the next logical question when the train came to a full stop.
“My lord, this is your stop. Station 37,” the intercom said.
“37?” Katya echoed in a confusion that was rapidly overcoming the dreariness of having just woken up. “What district is that in?”
“It’s not,” Axis answered flatly, and gave her no time to further question him. He left the cabin and disembarked onto an empty platform, Katya following behind with a concerned swiftness. It wasn’t until they were both well on the platform and the train began to pull away that Katya’s frustrated energy seemed to vanish. Not that Axis hadn’t expected her not to, but the moment the train had left them in the silence of the station, Katya’s head whirled around, taking in her surroundings and gradually putting together a recognition of where they were.
“Axis why are we in the slave quarter?” she asked, no playful bite or ribbing sarcasm in the words. She was deathly serious.
“Kat, you’re gonna have to trust me on this one,” Axis said, taking the first few steps toward the staircase leading off the platform to the street below.
“Axis, I am not interested in being part of your suicidal fantasies!” Katya hissed, refusing to follow him.
He rounded back, rolling his eyes as he said, “It’s not a suicidal fantasy. I mean really, ya think me of all people would be too pussy to put a bolt into my own skull if I wanted to kill myself?”
“Axis there is no other reason a dragon goes into a slave quarter after dark!” Katya insisted, still staunchly remaining right where she had gotten off the train.
“Okay fine, you wanna stay out here and freeze tonight, be my guest,” he shrugged, and continued across the platform. He was nearly at the staircase down when he was stopped in his tracks.
“AXIS MORTIMER!” Katya roared. Properly roared. Loud enough that she would have silenced the entire station at peak hours.
“Yes?” he asked, doing his best and only mildly failing to hide his amusement at her discomfort and nerves. She made her way over to his side, blue eyes sharp as steel and lips thin enough to cut bone.
“Axis…” she took a deep breath, a serious effort given to control herself, “you are going to tell me exactly what is going on and so help me, Progeny if I don’t like the answer I will flay you to within an inch of your life.”
“Ah…” Axis tried to find the best way to explain but stopped short and let out a long sigh. “Um… okay… yeah, I believe you for one. But ah… damn how to say this… okay, we are not here to commit suicide. The rest is kinda complicated so… ya trust me?”
“Not right now, no,” Katya said.
“Shit, fine,” Axis more muttered to himself than her, earning a himself a severe scowl from her. “Look it’s a long story!” he replied. “How about this, I know this joint. So, just… stick close and do exactly what I say and it’ll all make sense.”
“Axis if you’re trying to pull something I will make you regret it,” Katya conceded, her expression not softening in the slightest.
“Kat, if I was gonna pull one over on you, I wouldn’t do it like a coward,” Axis said, and led them down the steps to the streets of the slave quarter. If he was being honest with himself, he couldn’t really blame her for feeling so out of sorts and on edge. The very construction of everything in the slave quarter was foreign to a dragon who had lived their whole life within the Empire. Stairs and raised platforms had rails, gates swung open with latches at the top rather than sliding with latches at the base. The buildings had tall, rectangular doors and were themselves square as opposed to the typical domed or tower like dragon dwelling with a rounded entryway.
The slave quarter itself didn’t exactly inspire much confidence either. The bones of a once orderly construction of individual apartments was still present but it was buried beneath layers and layers of generation after generation of slave additions. Everything had a ramshackle and barely held together appearance to it not helped by the large swathes of darkness where streetlights had failed and not been repaired. Makeshift street stalls littered the path, and deeper alleys were illuminated by glowing fires inside old metal barrels. Bits of random detritus blew across the pavement and cracks in the very same with hearty flora attempting to find purchase in similar fractures along hut walls induced a palpable, threatening aura of decay.
Having meandered along these streets before and seen far worse hovels outside the Empire, Axis was generally unperturbed by the state of the slave quarter. Katya, by contrast, was a ball of tension he could feel without even looking at her. Her head darted at even the slightest sound and her steps were uneven as she tried to keep pace with Axis while still monitoring suspicious shadows. Which for her Axis guessed was every shadow. Deeper into the increasing compaction of slave homes, their tenants began to appear, albeit farther down in the alleys around trash fires. “Don’t stare,” Axis cautioned Katya as they passed a more visible group of three slaves gathered around one such flaming barrel. “That whole suicide bit you were talkin’ ‘bout? Staring’s the invitation.”
“What do you expect me to do?” Katya said in hushed aggravation.
“Not stare,” Axis repeated with more emphasis. Katya’s only answer was a low rumbling growl that Axis barely heard, but she tore her eyes away from lingering on any of the groups of slaves they began to pass with more frequency. The same could not be said of those self same slaves, as they fixed suspect eyes on the pair as they passed, some even leaving their fellows behind to follow Axis and Katya. They held their distance from the two, but Katya’s irritated tail flicking told Axis she had noticed. “They just wanna see where we’re going,” Axis reassured her.
“There’s over a dozen of them,” Katya said. “That’s not a problem to you?”
“Nah…” Axis shrugged. “Actually Katya, since we’re almost there, here’re the rules. Don’t stare, don’t speak, and don’t do anything… uh… stupid.”
“Excuse me?” she replied, incredulous. “Stupid would be wandering into the slave quarter at night.”
“I mean don’t like… make any sudden moves or anything,” Axis sighed. “Just let me handle it.”
“I don’t like any of this just so you know,” Katya hissed.
“Oh shocker. I couldn’t tell,” he snarked. The company of slaves following them was easily a good thirty or more by the time Axis detoured off the main street into a much narrower road. It was mostly a backdoor access point filled with garbage cans and other assorted homekeeping devices that could be safely stored outside, but was notable in that about a half mile in, two lighting fixtures cast much needed illumination on a single door guarded by two well-toned humans. Whether the two slaves noticed Axis or Katya or the shuffling mass of their brethren behind them first was unclear, but they nevertheless gave their full attention to the approaching dragons. Just outside light’s reach, Axis stopped and turned to Katya, who despite his warnings stole a sidelong glance at the throng following them before glaring at him for answers. “Look, this is the part where I really need you to keep quiet and stay calm,” he said.
“There is a crowd of slaves behind us who have every right under Imperial law to beat us to death for waltzing around their quarter after hours,” Katya grit her teeth. “Where is the calm supposed to come from exactly?”
“They haven’t done anything yet right?” Axis pointed out, to which Katya only huffed with dissatisfaction. “It’ll make sense in a minute just… don’t open your mouth.”
“Axis I will kill them if they - ” Katya began but he waved a wing at her to stop.
“You won’t have to,” he said, shaking his head. “Just trust me.”
“You have one shot,” she agreed reluctantly. He gave her a nod and they stepped into the light of the two guarding humans who stared them down with expressionless faces.
“Alright, the act is good but you guys know me and that I’m here to see Mox,” Axis said to them, switching over to his much preferred Common. Neither slave made any indication they cared, and Axis was distinctly aware of Katya’s eyes boring a hole through his head in utter shock at his Common fluency. A language he guessed she didn’t understand in the slightest. “C’mon,” he continued impatiently when the humans’ demeanor remained unchanged, “I know freakin’ out the girl is fuckin’ hilarious but I really did come to see Mox.” Still, the humans said and did nothing. “Tal, if you don’t give me somethin’ here she’s gonna flip and start hurtin’ people,” Axis warned, his own nerves beginning to build.
For only a moment more the humans remained stoically impassive until one couldn’t hold any longer, a grin growing on his face until it broke into a hearty chortle echoed by amused laughter from the gathered slaves behind them. “Axis!” he bellowed, arms open wide and bending down to embrace him.
“You son of a bitch, Tal,” Axis chuckled with him, returning the hug with his wings. “She really would have gone apeshit on everybody,” Axis said gesturing to Katya, who now looked doubly confused amid the foreign tongue and apparent familiarity the slaves had with him.
“She has a damn good death stare, bud,” Tal said. “She is pissed.”
“Eh, she’ll get over it,” Axis brushed away his concern. “Mox is in, yeah?”
“Just sat down for supper,” Tal nodded. “I’ll take you and your lady friend inside.” He rapped on the door three times and someone on the other side unlocked and opened it. Tal stepped over the threshold, and Axis motioned for Katya to follow. Just inside the door was a simple entry hall that while lit had definitely seen better days. The floors creaked at every step and the walls were adorned by faded and heavily peeling wallpaper from at least four generations past. The clinking of silverware and glasses could be heard amongst idle conversation from the room just ahead and Tal stepped lively ahead while Axis and Katya waited in the hall.
She brushed up against Axis, to which he raised a brow and said, “Hey… relax.”
“Who are these slaves? You know them?” she ignored him completely, the tension in her voice tangible.
“Yes, I know them,” Axis whispered back to her lazily. “I’ll explain once we’ve gotten some food.” They waited only a minute more before Tal reappeared and enthusiastically waved them toward the dining room. It was a humble space, taken up primarily by a large eating bench well apportioned with dishes wafting delectable smells all through the room. Seven humans sat cross-legged on cushions all around the bench from young children all the way to an elderly man at the head. He was rather heavy set, but in a soft, grandfatherly sort of way that matched his short and stiff white hair and neatly trimmed beard. When Axis and Katya cleared the doorway into the dining room, all chatter and eating ceased, the elderly man staring at Axis with wide eyes of shock and jubilance.
“Hello Mox,” Axis said switching back to Common again and unable to hide his smile as the man’s fork clattered from his hand.
“Axis, my boy!” Mox exclaimed, flinging his arms wide in welcome. His voice was gravely with age but bespoke nevertheless an unstifled youthful energy. “What a treat! Come in, come in. Have a seat! We just sat down!” Axis maneuvered his way past those already seated and took a place next to Mox on a cushion that had clearly been hastily added to the table arrangement. Katya however, stayed in the entryway, eyes shifting nervously over the humans and looking as out of sorts as a dragon high on chocolate. “You married?” Mox asked Axis with surprise as he studied Katya.
“Woah now, Mox,” Axis laughed. “Don’t do me dirty like that. She’s a colleague.”
“Well then come over young lady!” Mox waved at her. “Any friend of Axis is a friend of mine.”
“Mox…” Axis drawled. “She doesn’t understand a lick of Common.”
“Well then I’d say that’s your responsibility, not mine,” Mox chuckled.
“Katya, he said you can come have a seat,” Axis said to her, switching back to Drael.
She started at words she recognized, but nodded and joined the table next to Axis. “I have no idea what’s going on,” she whispered to him, still very much uncertain.
“That’s fine,” Axis said. “But you got invited to a meal right? That’s gotta count for something.”
“But I don’t know why,” Katya replied, still hushed.
“I promise I’ll explain, but I wanna eat first,” Axis said. Going back to Common, he asked Mox, “Can we?”
“Oh, dig in!” Mox said. “The table is open.” Axis nodded and selected several different cuts of meat, doing the same for Katya’s empty plate. Everyone seated resumed their meal, the younger adults of Mox’s family even passing filled cups to Axis and Katya, which she accepted as graciously as her awkwardness would allow.
They ate in relative silence until Axis spoke up, half way through his plate, “Looks like you’ve had a good year, Mox.”
“The start was rough,” one of Mox’s sons proffered.
“The slavemasters were debating replacing me as leader of this section of the quarter,” Mox elaborated between bites.
“I’m sure that went over fantastically,” Axis said.
“They cut rations after there was a riot over it,” Mox continued. “But I handed over the troublemakers to the slavemasters and that smoothed things over. They decided to keep me around after that, but I don’t know for how much longer.”
“Why would they want to get rid of you?” Axis asked in disbelief.
“Don’t kid yourself son,” Mox answered. “I’m not getting any younger and the slavemasters don’t want a power vacuum situation if I die on the job.”
“Fair enough but it’s not like you’re sick or anything,” Axis said.
“The slavemasters are long-sighted gents,” Mox sighed. “They don’t wanna risk that being the reason they have to choose a replacement. But enough about us. It’s only been two years. I thought you were going to be gone for at least six.”
“Well Mox I… uh…” Axis pushed his empty plate forward and leaned his full weight back on his haunches. “Mox… I made it. I did it.” Just as when he had walked into the room, the entire table went silent, even the children stopped their chattering at the gravity which settled over everyone. Every slave’s eyes locked to Axis, their pupils widening to blot out the color in their irises.
“Axis… what did you say?” Katya asked, glancing around at the gathered humans with distinct apprehension.
“Yeah… Yeah… I made it Mox,” Axis ignored her. “I’m a Duke now.”
“No jokes Axis,” Mox breathed out. “You are Duke Axis Mortimer?”
“Yup, as of this morning,” Axis replied.
“My boy…” Mox said before bursting with a shout, that made Katya flinch, “Congratulations! Congratulations son! I think a toast is in order! My god, congratulations Axis!”
“What’s going on? What did you say?” Katya repeated, looking from Mox to his family further down as they all raised their glasses.
“To Axis and his future success!” Mox declared.
“To Axis!” the table echoed, tilting back their glasses.
“Axis, stop smirking and tell me what you said!” Katya growled, her alienation beginning to boil over into irritability.
“Katya, I told Mox and his family that I’m a Duke now,” Axis went back to Drael for her sake. “And then they toasted to my health.”
“Okay that’s very nice but why? What do they care?” Katya asked.
“My apologies young lady,” Mox interjected just as Axis was about to open his mouth. He spoke perfect Drael, even better than Axis’s own, and Katya stared at him in complete disbelief that a slave could so clearly speak her language. “I can’t watch you feel so nervous anymore. My name is Moxy Daina and I’m the leader of this section of the City of the Loft slave quarter.”
“Mox you’re no fun,” Axis half laughed as Katya sputtered an attempt at a response.
“How… How do you…?” she tried to say.
“How can I speak Drael?” Mox finished her question for her with a wisened smile. “I was taken as a slave as a young boy to settle my parents’ debts and a lifetime living among dragons rubs off on a man.”
“So then how do you know Axis? Or, I guess how does he know you?” Katya asked, her anxiety still noticeable but fading with the use of her own language.
“I was stationed on a Ridley that was here on a defensive tour,” Axis inserted. “Early Navy years. I hated staying in the Palace barracks so… I lived here.”
“Every slave knows the Mortimer twins, miss,” Mox said, a note of sadness in his tone. “Two dragons taken from their home and made to live here in the Empire, not unlike ourselves. Axis here felt a kinship with us, and we to him. I gladly gave him a more welcoming roof than what he could find in the Palace.”
“Oh…” Katya said rather blankly and idly ran a finger along the edge of her plate.
“Don’t read too much into it,,” Axis nudged her with a wing. “It’s not as pathetic as it sounds. This is just the family I chose when the Empire took me and my sister.”
“Katya is it?” Mox asked her. “Well we are happy to have anyone who can charm our Axis.” Both she and Axis erupted into a string of overlapping protestations at Mox’s insinuation, much to the raucous amusement of the entire table.
“Really, really,” Katya managed to get out between the subsiding giggles of the human children especially. “We’re just colleagues. I’m a Duchess.”
“Long story, Mox,” Axis added.
“Forgive an old man his jokes,” the elder human said with a chuckle. “But all the same Duchess, you are as welcome here as Axis.”
“Thanks,” Axis spoke up in Common when Katya didn’t immediately offer the pleasantry. “She’ll learn eventually.”
“All in good time,” Mox forgave in his native tongue. “How long will we have you?”
“You won’t. We leave for the border tomorrow,” Axis turned more serious. “And it may be a lot longer before I’m back here again so I wanted to stop in.”
“I’m glad you did my boy,” Mox replied. “You’ll stay the night?” Axis nodded. “Good good, I left your room the way it was but you’ll have to share it with your Duchess friend. I don’t have anymore space.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Axis waved away his concern and stood.
“Axis has a room upstairs, Duchess,” Moxy explained to Katya in Drael. “He’ll show you.” Katya remained seated briefly, glancing between Mox and Axis until the latter motioned with his head for her to follow. They squeezed up an exceedingly narrow, human style staircase that led to an equally confined hall of several doors. Axis passed them all to arrive at the last, leaning up on his hind legs awkwardly to twist the knob and open the door.
A flick of a light switch revealed a sparse bedroom with only a nest cushion and simple drawer for furniture. However, the walls were almost completely covered with physical pictures of humans, mystics, and simulans; and judging from the background, each was of a slave that lived here in the quarter. All except one. Just above the nest cushion was a picture of a human man, arms around two dragons which, while clearly much younger, were unmistakably Pi and Axis. “You can have the cushion,” Axis said, removing his coat and fauld and tossing them in an unoccupied corner.
“Um… sure,” Katya replied, her fascination with that one photograph drawing her attention away from everything else. She crept closer to it until her snout was a hair’s breadth away. His black scales and green feathers gave Axis away in the picture, but Katya wouldn’t have guessed it was him otherwise. He had more meat on his bones in the picture, making his lithe form now seem almost starved by comparison, and his face was lit up with a genuine happiness so foreign to the dragon in the room with her she had to consciously remind herself they were in fact the same drake. She pulled her eyes away to better scan the rest of the photos, noting that Axis appeared next to the subjects in a good number of them, that same joy present and visibly changing his features.
A single thought formed and escaped her lips before she had even been able to consider it, “Do you hate me, Axis?” She gasped at having let it slip, turning away from him to stare into a corner.
“What?” Axis asked, bewildered.
“Nothing. Sorry, forget I said anything,” she answered frantically, busying herself with removing her own coat and outer fauld without disturbing the simple pastel pink vest and sleeves and breezier floral fauld beneath.
“Why would I hate you, Kat? Axis pressed. “Sure you’ve been a royal pain in the ass but - ”
“Not me specifically,” Katya cut him off abruptly. “Dragons. Do you hate all of us?”
“Oh,” Axis said, recognition dawning on him. “The pictures?”
“Not just the pictures,” Katya said, easing herself onto the nest cushion. “I’m a Duchess, you’re a Duke, and we’re spending the night in a slave hut. By choice.”
“You’re free to go back to the Palace if you want,” Axis offered. “The slaves here know better than to mess with someone Mox is good with.”
“That’s not the point, Axis,” Katya said, fixing him with eyes filled with real concern.
“I’m not getting out of this am I?” he sighed and she shook her head. He sighed again and said, “Scoot over.” She obliged him, and he joined her on the nest cushion, which was admittedly a bit small for two adult dragons to lay on. He grunted as he laid down, resting his neck on his talons and staring straight ahead while Katya kept her own upright, watching him intently. “I did hate dragons once upon a time,” Axis started, his words more carefully chosen and less flippant, even his Drael gaining a small minutiae of proper grammar. “I wanted nothing to do with them or the Empire. Right after me and my sister got to the Machine, the whole thing could’ve gone up in flames, and I wouldn’t have shed a tear. Probably would’ve celebrated. But I got older and I grew up. My hate’s a bit more selective now.”
“And that’s why you chose to lower yourself down to come live with slaves?” Katya asked. She kept herself still as stone, certain that any sympathetic gesture on her part would bury again this more honest Axis she’d yet to see.
“I didn’t lower myself,” Axis bit back, though his voice was still quieter and less stinging than usual. “Other dragons think of it that way but I don’t. And they helped me cool off. I saw how a lot of them enjoyed their lives and how the slavemasters actually cared about them and took their well-being seriously. It was… is… more real to me here than around other dragons.”
“But then you didn’t try to find other dragons who saw things the same way,” Katya said, struggling to word it in a way that didn’t come across as a reprimand.
“No, I did,” Axis clarified, adjusting his head ever so slightly to look back at her. “Some dragons I met in spec ops. A Squire or two. Just… few and far between.”
“So everyone else is just ignorant and complicit,” Katya concluded.
“Yes but I don’t blame…” Axis trailed off. “What’re you getting at Katya?”
“I like to think I’m pretty good at getting a read on other dragons,” she replied. “I’m not going to sit here and act like I know you well. I don’t. But some things are very clear. You are so pent up with anger and pain, I don’t know how it’s not killed you yet.”
“And so what if I am?” Axis asked. “What’s the problem?”
“I am going to spend the rest of my career with you. I will not watch from the sidelines as you let yourself get eaten alive by it. I’ve seen it. Blood doesn’t wash.” Katya said plainly.
“Don’t worry about me, Katya,” Axis said, slinking off the nest cushion and curling up against the far wall. “You’re thinking too much. I’m just uh… different as dragons go. Night.”
Katya mumbled back her own good night and wrapped her tail around herself. “It’s not a weakness to admit you’re lost and confused…” she whispered, knowing he wouldn’t hear as the two of them drifted off into dreams.