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Chapter 13
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Xerxes looked concerned.
"Are you certain Marg won't be able to return?" he asked nervously.
"I told you, she's dead, met her demise. She's an ex-dragon. She's pushing up daisies right now."
He scowled.
"You must forgive me if I find that very hard to believe. Gold dragons are virtually unkillable."
"Unkillable, eh? I know someone who said that before about an ancient blue dragon, but she died," said Zinariya. Then, she thought a little more about Vanquish’s story.
"Lothinar? We may have a problem." she transmitted through the Bond.
"You mean something more urgent than the moon falling out of the sky problem?" he asked.
"Maybe, but if the problem I'm worried about is actually a problem, then our moon falling problem might not be an actual problem," she said.
"It's a good thing that I can read your mind, or I'd never be able to understand that. "Look, I'm not near the lake. We're minutes from landing at the Capital. Your mother is here with me and throwing a fit, by the way. Dragons make terrible passengers when they ride other dragons. Now your father has gotten his feelings hurt. Your mother told him that he jerks his wings too hard when he flies. Anyway, there is nobody near the lake that I can immediately contact via Bond to check this out. Firestorm is probably still hours out. She's the closest and going in the right direction. I'll have her check out the gravesite when she returns. I'm sure Marg is right where Esmarilla planted her."
"I can hear you, Lothinar." Firestorm joined the conversation. "Give me two... maybe three hours. I'll check it out. Don't worry. Things that I kill have usually stayed dead before."
Zinariya smiled at Xerxes. "We're checking it out," she said.
The old elf nodded. "You can never be too careful,"
"Firestorm?" Zinariya transmitted.
"Busy. Flying a lot faster right now, pipsqueak," said Firestorm
"If Marg's grave is still there. You should probably dig her up and burn her," said Zinariya.
"My name is Firestorm. You don't think I've already considered that?"
"Of course you have," said Zinariya. "Thanks Firestorm."
"Yep, no problem. I'm the one who stabbed Marg in the eye. I don't think that will make her remember me fondly. If she's still alive, that could be hazardous to my health."
Zinariya returned her attention to the ancient elf sitting across from her.
"I am curious," said Xerxes, "what you intend to do about stabilizing our orbit. Has your elf friend offered any insights as to how to proceed?"
"Lothinar is on his way now," Zinariya replied. "He's going to use the portal in the capital."
"Which Capital?" Xerxes asked. "Other than Gold Dragon visits, we have not been able to establish a connection with any of the portals in a very long time."
“There’s more than one capital?” Zinariya asked.
Xerxes made a face that made it clear that he was losing his patience.
“If your associates on the planet have, as you claim, indeed killed Marg, you probably have killed us all,” he growled. “Marg was a tyrant, but at least she could get things done.”
“What do you need me to do? My friends will find a way to get here, but is there something urgent that needs doing right now?”
Xerxes nodded and walked over to a large round window. He peered through it, then used his hand to wipe at the fog on the glass surface created by his breath. “About kilometer over that way,” he said, pointing to the window. “Is a small outbuilding. Inside are some large bags. They look like burlap sacks. They are not burlap, and the bags are hefty. The bags are used to store the type of fuel that we use. We use that fuel to make electricity, among other things. He looked down at a round gauge with a needle pointer on it. Zinariya couldn't read the words written next to the gauge but observed the needle was pointed pretty close to the number zero on its face. Xerxes turned to her. “Marg could lift one of those bags and drop it down the feeder chute. I don't think you will be able to do that.”
Zinariya took a second to update Lothinar on the correct pronunciation of the word that his father had used.
"Your dad was just a little boy then, but he must have misheard his Grandmother. He mentioned something called 'legtricity when you were back at the house....." she said awkwardly.
"Ok," said Lothinar. "I'll let him know about the mispronunciation. When I get the chance."
Zinariya asked Xerxes, her host, another question.
“So why can't I just open the bag and pour the fuel into the chute a little at a time?” she asked.
He shook his head. “The contents of the bag are filled with a toxic poison as well. If the bag opens, you will die. It provides a shielding… Nevermind.” He sighed. I suppose that I will have to accompany you. You can teleport others as well as yourself?”
“I have. Many times.” Zinariya said.
He beckoned her over to the window and pointed outside. She looked across the desolate landscape and saw the small building he had mentioned. It was painted an ominous red.
“Can you get us over there?” Xerxes asked. “You can not miss. We need to be inside when we arrive.”
“You are making that part sound rather important,” Zinariya said. I’m sure I can get us close.”
“Close will not be good enough!” the old elf said sternly. We both must arrive inside—completely inside,” he emphasized again. If you were to miss…. then we would both die!”
Zinariya gulped. She felt a little stomach acid burble up. That was one of the few things she didn't like about being an elf. She had never had any digestive problems as a dragon. It seemed her dragon gullet was made of sterner stuff. Of course, it took a lot more to fill it. Perhaps because dragons often swallowed the bones of their prey, their stomachs needed to be tougher. Zinariya eyeballed the distance to the small red building. Then instead of just popping over, she asked Xerxes how far he thought the distance actually was.
He smiled approvingly. “It's a thousand meters,” he said. “Almost exactly.”
Zinariya knew from the vast amount of information she had been absorbing from Lothinar that there was something called a meter. It was an ancient and largely unused unit of measurement. She even had a pretty good idea about its length.
”Ok! So about a thousand yards,” she said, grabbing ahold of the old elf for easier teleportation. “I can certainly get us that far!”
Xerxes slapped her hand away. He looked pale. “You are going to kill us with a rounding error, young dragon!” he proclaimed angrily.
“Do they teach you nothing in school? A meter is 1.09 yards! That's 3.2 feet! A yard is only 3 feet. You were about to teleport us 93 feet too far. We would have missed the building!”
“Oops!” Zinariya said.
“Oops indeed,” said Lothinat through their Bond. “Let me help. Please look through that window again, Zinariya. I will do a bit better if I can see where you are trying to go through your eyes.”
Lothinar did something through the Bond, and Zinariya twitched in surprise. Suddenly, Zinariya was watching two different Siophras. One wore practical leather riding pants, boots, and a long-sleeved green top, and the other wore a simple blue dress. One of the Siophras, the one in green, was giving the other one unhappy, angry looks.
“That didn't work. My eyes seem to be broken, Lothinar. I’m seeing some things double!” Zinariya gasped.
“Oh, sorry about that.” Lothinar chuckled. “I should have warned you. Cantrell made a new friend. As coincidence would have it, she looks just like Siophra." He paused before continuing. "I believe I’ve got the distance now. If you allow me to help you with a bit of fine adjustment, I will be able to help you safely teleport into that red building. Please ask Xerxes if he’s been inside and if there are any large objects near the center of the room.”
“That's thinking ahead.” Zinariya said approvingly.
She asked Xerxes about the arrangement of objects inside the room.
Xerxes said the center of the room was a large, clear area. He nodded approvingly and looked at her with slightly less apprehension.
Zinariya’s view out the window returned to normal. For some reason, she felt extremely confident about making this teleport. She grabbed Xerxes, who squeaked in terror and then jumped.
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Daisy stepped back. The angry look she had received from Siophra was unwarranted and unexpected.
“I should go, Cantrell,” she said haltingly. “You need time to assist your friends with their search. I don't know anything about secret passageways or hidden rooms. I won't be of much help.”
Cantrell narrowed his eyes. “What has gotten into you, Siophra? Daisey has lived in this city her whole life. She probably knows a lot more specifics about the Capital than anyone here! You lived here longer, but most of your time was spent in the tower...”
“Did you have to bring that up?” Siophra cringed, then began to pout. Lothinar seemed to have had enough. He grabbed Siophra by the arm and pulled her far off to the side of the courtyard for a quick conversation. They began to whisper to each other in hushed voices. Candasar looked at Tundor who studiously looked away. Albarad suddenly realized that both of the dragons could listen in on Lothinar’s admonitions to Siophra and her distant replies, no matter how soft their whispers were.
Albarad stepped over and took Daisy’s hand, shaking it.
“I’m Albarad,” he said. Lothinar’s father. I’m the reason we came. I occasionally visited one of my relatives here as a child. I’m afraid my memories of that time are a bit rusty. We all,” and he let that word linger, “appreciate your help. I’m looking for a particular room. It's more of a large closet. It had some strange dials and knobs on the wall.”
”I’ve heard about a few places that might match that description.” Daisy said, smiling at the reduction in tension. “All that mysterious broom storage stuff is in the old town. Some of those places got torn down when Argent built the new library.”
Albarad’s face fell.
“Don’t worry,” Daisy smiled, trying to sound optimistic. “Not every building in the area was destroyed when the library exploded. Some of them survived. A few seemed abnormally well constructed.”
“That's probably where we should head next, then,” Lothinar said, walking up to them with a smile. Daisy stuck out her hand to shake it, as she had with Albarad. Lothinar didn't take it. He looked down at her hand apologetically.
“Sorry,” he said. I have a strange skin condition. It's probably better if we don't shake hands.”
Daisy pulled her hand back quickly, embarrassed. Behind Lothinar, she thought she had caught a glimpse of Siophra smirking. Her evil twin saw her notice that, and her face quickly returned to a neutral smile.
“My Aunt Siophra has promised to be on her best behavior,” Lothinar said. “Can you help us find this ‘Old Town” about which you were speaking? Daisy was a little confused. She didn't know how Lothinar had heard what she had said to Albarad when he had been almost across the courtyard talking with his Aunt. Only the elf with the lustrous dark blue hair had been anywhere near them.
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The blue-haired elf smiled at her and finally spoke. “I’m Candasar. I’m Lothinar’s first Bond.” She reached out, actually shaking her hand, which Daisy realized she had thrown forward automatically. “Thank you for helping us rescue my daughter!”
“Wait! Did you say Bond? Are you somehow a dragon?” Daisy asked. Her head was spinning slightly.
“Not for another nine months or so, it seems.” the beautiful elf said, sadly. “We will be in your care.”
“Let's get started, then,” said Cantrell, striding away. There was a large pop, and the big white dragon disappeared. Where it had been standing was a really large elf. He had abnormally white hair for someone obviously so young. He was also covered with rippling muscles. He grinned at Daisy.
“It's unbelievable, actually, how much you look like my Siophra,” he said. Daisy felt the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. This whole set of circumstances was crazy.
“Oh, terrific!” came a huge, angry rumble. The black dragon Cantrell had named Esmarilla was now glaring at the white-haired elf. “Just go on, then…with them. I guess I’ll just find my own way over to the stables. By myself! I do manage to remember where they are.” The black dragon jumped into the air. Her down-swept wings blasted them with air. Everyone else hurried after Cantrell, including Daisy. This was shaping up to be a very unusual afternoon.
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Heirwynn was feeding Harvey with a bottle. He didn't seem to like it. He was making angry baby faces.
“Now, now, little man. It's the exact same stuff. It's just in a different package.” Heirwynn insisted. Little Harvey wasn't buying it.
Ardwynn sighed. “Give him here. She took the baby, lifted her top, and gave him what he wanted. Her breast.
“So pumping and putting milk in a bottle isn’t going to work. I knew it was probably too soon,” she said.
Heirwnn grimaced. “I’m sorry. I know that you wanted to go with Lothinar this morning. It took me some time to run around and find the equipment for that. Bottles and breast pumps just aren't that common around here."
“I’ll try again later, Your efforts won't be wasted," Ardwynn replied. ‘With Candasar down and Firestorm still gone, they were already doubled up as it is.”
“Tundor is obviously big enough to carry three,” Heirwynn said.
Ardwynn made a face.
“The last time I rode Tundor to the capitol, it was under far different circumstances. It was not a pleasant experience for him, to say the least. We have reached a truce of sorts, but bringing up those memories….” she trailed off. She switched sides, and little Harvey reattached to her second breast greedily.
“I really do appreciate you being willing to stay here and help me,” Ardwynn said. “Candasar is whining about her new nine-month commitment. I don't think she’s thought it through. The baby elf she’s carrying is going to need an attentive mother even after it’s born. Dragons pop out of their eggs and can be self-sufficient pretty quickly. That's not really the case for elf babies or even human ones.”
"No, I suppose not," replied Heirwynn. She looked down at the small dragon, Snow, who was completely fascinated by Ardwynn's breastfeeding of Harvey.
"Does that hurt?" Snow suddenly asked. She was obviously addressing Ardwynn. "He's drinking you," she said.
Ardwynn laughed. "No, but I'm not looking forward to his first teeth coming in," she said. "The milk is not really part of me. I just make it here in these overly large flesh bags for a short time. Breast milk is only until the baby is old enough to eat more regular food."
"Being born a dragon seems to have advantages," Snow said. "I had teeth at birth. Nobody was around to take care of us except Ardwella. There were also so many of us. It was fortunate that the dairy was within walking distance. We were eating cows almost immediately. I'd find lapping up milk a bit strange."
"If the cows had been able to weigh in, they might have suggested that." laughed Ardwynn. "It would have been easier on their numbers. Eating the actual cow inhibits milk production."
"I suppose on the cow's part, it is a different sort of commitment," said Snow. “Poor cows!”
“That may be the first time I’ve heard a dragon feeling sorry for their prey,” said Ardwynn.
“She’s like that,” said Heirwynn. “She often thinks of others. “It's why we are such a good fit.”
“So why are you actually here Heirwynn? Not that I don't appreciate the help. Are you just trying to get closer to Lothinar?” Ardwynn asked abruptly. That’s what Michelle suspected before she left.”
Heirwynn looked down. She did not immediately answer.
“Allow me to make my case.” She finally said.
“I am bonded to a white dragon. Any harm that might come to Harvey or to any of your future children would be instantly healed. You would never have to be worried about skinned knees or anything!” Heirwynn said. “I’d do a good job, so you probably wouldn't have to even worry about that stuff. I’d watch all the kids. Candasar’s too! You all could travel with Lothinar on great adventures! I just….”
“Just what?” asked Ardwynn.
“Lothinar’s important. He’s handsome yes, but I’ve heard the stories. How he fought Argent’s army to a standstill almost single-handedly. He's bonded to three dragons. Three! I know that lots of beautiful elves and human women like Michelle are going to be hanging around…”
‘You have no idea.” interrupted Ardwynn. “Now that some dragons are able to transform they want him too! Firestorm’s already making a play.”
“I saw that.” Said Heirwynn.
“So why complicate things? Why would you want to be part of this mess?”
“Why do you? You’re sitting here, now, in this house. A place that your parents built to harvest and ship dragon eggs. Your mother and brother were killed by dragons and your father killed my brother. Your closest remaining relatives almost killed me a few nights ago when they murdered, well tried to murder, almost everyone. That was in my hometown! I could take umbrage at that you know!” Heirwynn was almost shouting.
Ardwynn blinked. “When you put it that way.” she finally said. She was holding Harvey close and eyeing the door.
Heirwynn laughed, but not unkindly. “Don't worry. I would never hurt you. It's just not our nature.” She gazed lovingly at Snow. “But don't forget. You owe me,” she said firmly.
“I suppose I do,” Ardwynn said. “I won’t stand in your way regarding Lothinar. But remember, his actually accepting this is ultimately up to him.”
“I have several ways of dealing with that,” Heirwynn said.
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Firestorm was nervous about going to the burial grove alone. On her way past, she stopped by Albarad's and got her father involved. Mo-Rung had just returned from a hunting flight and had returned with a second deer. Once he saw her, He offered it to Firestorm.
"You couldn't have known that I was coming, father," she said. "Who did you bring the extra deer for?"
"I thought I might offer it to Night-Sky. But he's not here," said Mo-Rung. "He and Emerald went over to the lake to do some fishing again. He seems to like her, and he probably needs some exercise. They took Mandel and Mavis as well. Muina is helping Ardwella. They are making some new clothes for Lothinar's baby sister. Supposedly she is growing like an unwanted, interloping garden plant. Whatever that means. Personally, I've had enough fish to last a lifetime, but the green dragons seem committed to that path for their dietary needs. I'm not sure if those dragons will be able to grow to their full potential if they don't get some red meat into their diet."
He looked at his daughter, who was easily as large as he was.
"How did you get so big, so fast?" he asked her.
"Lothinar's magic, I suppose," she said distractedly. "I appreciate the offer of the deer, but that's going to have to wait." Firestorm began. "We have concerns that the gold dragon Marg might not be all the way dead."
"Esmarilla obviously told me what happened," her father said. "She stopped by after burying HER mother in the same grove as YOUR mother, Aleena. I couldn't really object. That little glen seems to have become the family plot, so to speak."
"Will you come with me, father? I'm nervous! What if Marg's not there?"
"What if she is? Boo! " Then he chuckled.
"Father!"
"Stop thinking the worst," Mo-Rung said. "Let's go check it out. It's not far. We should probably walk. Landing in that wooded grove would be really tricky."
They left the deer near the barn. It already had a few too many flies on it for Firestorm's taste, anyway. "Besides, how could she eat it raw and without spices?" she thought to herself.
The short walk to the burial grove was uneventful. The two red dragons looked around. Nothing looked disturbed. Aleena's silver statue was still standing guard over the buried body Cantrell and his wardens had placed there. A short distance away, there were signs of fresh digging, but it looked like everything was in place. Firestorm was feeling a bit paranoid. She walked over to the burial place, which was covered in freshly turned dirt, and put her considerable weight on the soil. It immediately crushed down, leaving a Marg-sized depression on the earth.
"Uh oh!" she said. She began digging. Mo Rung helped. They dug down a long way. Nobody was home.
"Lothinar," Firestorm reported. "Xerxes was right. We have a huge problem!"
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Zinariya hit the room dead center. It was cold in here. Her breath fogged in front of her face when she exhaled.
"Give me some warning next time!" Xerxes hollered. Then he looked around. "Nice job, actually. And to think that I doubted you."
"You should thank my bond Lothinar," Zinariya said.
"I sure will once I meet him," said the old elf. Let's get the reactor fed.
The old man walked over to a stack of red bags. "Now for the hard part," he said. "We need to drop one of those extremely heavy sacks into that chute over there!" He looked at Zinariya appraisingly. "How strong are you?"
Zinariya went over to one of the bags and grabbed an end. It didn't budge. "Hmm. she said. Stand back. I'm going to need some room for this."
"No! don't!" the elf shouted. "The room isn't big eno...."
POP. Zinariya transformed. It was quite cramped. She hadn't realized that she had been growing so much. Xerxes was pressed up against the wall pushing against her tail. She grabbed the red sack with both her front claws and lifted it. Then she pushed it over the lip of the chute and dropped it inside. It made a crunchy noise and then disappeared into the hole at the bottom. Over on the wall, a needle on a round gauge began rising.
"Good job," said Xerxes. I'm sorry for the outburst earlier. I didn't realize that you were still so small. You have to admit, you almost didn't fit."
"I'm growing every day," said Zinariya. I might not fit by tomorrow. Should I throw another sack in? Just in case?"
"Heavens no! That sack should fuel that reactor for twenty years. I think one is enough for now." Xerxes said.
"You should know that in as little as twenty DAYS, I probably won't fit in here," Zinariya said. At least as a dragon."
"I'm feeling a little cramped right now," said Xerxes. "Do you mind?"
Zinariya transformed. The elf breathed out. "Let's get out of here," he said. "I'm getting cold."
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Cantrell stayed with the group for about an hour, then begged off.
"Esmarilla is taking being left alone harder than I expected," Cantrell said. "I need to go see her and then take care of some administrative things," He looked at Daisy.
"I know it's short notice but could you finish showing my friends the rest of the mysterious broom closets of old town? I have a feeling you would actually be better at that then I am." He smiled, and then he pulled out a silver card. "This is one of Mandel's courtesy passes. If you need get into somewhere that someone won’t allow, show the card to them. It should get you in."
"You're trusting me with this?" Daisy asked.
"Well, I'll want it back, probably." he grinned. "Let's see how well you do with it first." Then he hurried away.
Soon Lothinar was standing in a small room looking at strange knobs and dials. He couldn't make much sense of it. Thankfully, Tundor had quickly cleared out the brooms and a rickety old cleaning cart. And a mop.
Albarad, though, had gotten excited. "This is it! I'm sure I've seen something like this before!" he almost shouted.
A short time later, Albarad was scratching his chin and nodding. "I think it was this one!" He pushed a lever. Nothing happened. He sighed. "I guess not. Then....What about this one?"
"Don't touch that one!" said Lothinar. It's red. I've recently learned more about how whoever put this together thinks. Red might be bad," said Lothinar.
"We won't really know unless we try, will we" Albarad grinned. "I wish Gran was still around."
"Didn't your grandmother pass away a really long time ago?" asked Daisy.
"Yeah," said Lothinar. But now we have dragons! You probably don't want to know how old my own mother is," he said. Mom's probably older than your own Grandmother, Dad."
"Oh. That's probably right," said Albarad. He had a strange look on his face. He called out into the hallway. "Hey Siophra? Did you ever meet anybody named Elverta?"
It took a few seconds, but Siophra poked her head into the cramped closet. "No, Never heard of her. Why?"
"Just asking," said Albarad. Siophra rolled her eyes and went back out into the hallway. Lothinar could hear her stomping a bit as she walked away.
"Always good solid boots, that one." Lothinar thought.
"This is just weird," said Daisy. "Is Siophra really as old as your grandmother?" Albarad.
"Don't bring it up," Albarad replied. "Siophra's being extra sensitive right now."
Lothinar looked puzzled. "She really is!" said Lothinar, "I talked with her. I leveraged some good behavior out of her because I had Zinariya's help guessing her secret. But how do you know, Dad?"
"Son, I'm married to both of her sisters. I know the signs." Albarad said. "You'd have to be blind not to see she's upset about something."
"I hope it's not on my account," said Daisy.
"It's not you, Daisy," said Lothinar. "It's what you possibly represent," said Lothinar.
"Well, that hardly seems fair," Daisy replied.
"Why don't you come out of the closet, Lothinar?" Candasar asked from just outside the door. She used her voice and not the Bond to ask.
"You're probably right. None of these levers or buttons seem to be doing anything anyway." He said.
"Also, Don't you think it is a bad idea to get that close to Daisy?" Candasar transmitted. "I know you haven't touched her yet, but you're in close proximity in that small space. I'm sure you don't want to give her a dose of your pheromones."
"Please excuse me," Candasar said to Daisy. "I heard my dragon calling." He carefully squeezed past her and out into the hallway. Tundor and Siophra were a short distance down the hall. Even Tundor seemed to be arguing with Siophra today. The big elf had his arms crossed, and he was staring down at her. His eyes were kind, but his body posture said things were tense. Lothinar was beginning to wish he hadn't allowed Siophra to come along. She did provide the dragon, though.
Daisy stuck her head out of the door. "We found a hidden gold button Lothinar! That might be promising!" She ducked back inside. Lothinar could hear Albarad and Daisy discussing something loudly. Suddenly there was a whooshing sound. Lothinar felt the floor tremble under his feet. Then it stopped. He quickly looked. The closet was empty.
"What do you think you're doing, Lothinar? Zinariya's voice entered his head. "I need YOU up here, not your father and Siophra's look alike."
"Well, at least we know it works!" he replied. "I'm sorry I didn't make it myself."
"It's fine," said Zinariya. "Xerxes said we have already fueled the reactor, and the moon won't fall for another twenty years or so. Unfortunately, unless you are actually here to grant me some additional power, I don't think that I have the range to teleport home on my own. Now your father and Daisy are stuck here too. By the way, she's kind of freaking out a bit. She's obviously also not a good traveler Lothinar! Xerxes is trying to calm her down. She’s pushing on buttons that even Xerxes doesn't know what they do.
"More trouble. Firestorm just checked in. Marg's gone."
"Get me home, Lothinar. Soon." Zinariya pleaded. "I really don't want to be here when she shows up!"
"I'm really trying, Zinariya." Lothinar said.
"By the way. Bring some food when you come. Xerxes says he's all out of space food sticks. Whatever those are. Wait a second....."
Lothinar went back into the broom closet and poked around a little. He couldn't seem to find the gold button. He looked twice.
"Ok, Xerxes says to skip the space food sticks. He's sick of them anyway. He's hoping you can bring up some mung beans. But your father is vigorously shaking his head no. Daisy is really becoming a problem. We may have to restrain her!”
Lothinar continued to search for the button. It seemed hopeless. Suddenly, there was a sizzle and a pop. A blonde elf in a blue dress that looked suspiciously like Siophra materialized out of thin air and practically fell into his arms. He caught her reflexively. It was Daisy. She was back!
"I had to get out of there! She said. "I think I must be slightly claustrophobic. Did you know this broom closet goes straight to the freakin moon? Sorry! I was terrified!"
"Yes, I did," said Lothinar, standing her to her feet. She was just staring at him. She straightened her dress and licked her lips. Lothinar knew the look by now. He had unintentionally just hit her with a direct dose of pheromones.
"So, just where is that gold button?" he asked.
"I might tell you if you give me a kiss," she said coyly. Her cute dimples deepened as she smiled.
Candasar stumbled into the room. She had run down the hallway so quickly that she barely managed to turn the corner. She glared at Daisy. “Show me the gold button elf!” she demanded.
“EEK!” Daisy feigned terror and jumped into Lothinar’s arms. She batted her eyelashes. “Save me Lothinar,” she said in a low sultry voice.
“Somehow, you managed to do it again Lothinar!” Candasar sent via Bond.
Out in the hall they both could hear Siophra giggling. “Well, that's a relief!” she said. "I've got less competition for Cantrell."
"This is absolutely terrible," said Firestorm. "Blondes have always been Lothinar's strike zone. Ardwynn, Michelle..even Zinariya! But I could take comfort that at least his Aunt was way out of bounds. Now this! A lowly redhead doesn't stand a chance! I need some hair dye! Lothinar? do they have hair dye in the capital?"
"Aren't you at all worried about Marg?" Lothinar asked, trying to change the subject.
"You're right! She's a blonde too!" Firestorm wailed.
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