I blinked from where I was curled up on the windowsill. Taureen tapped the table in front of him gently as he coaxed me, “Come. Come on.”

My stomach growled hungrily, and the berry was far too tempting. With a resigned sigh, I stood up and jumped down before jumping up on the table to get the berry.

I approached him slowly; it had been five days since he had taken my cage away, and I wasn’t scared of him at this point. He only put food in my bowl for breakfast and supper as he resorted to treats and bribery throughout the day. Hunger was a powerful force in this body. He was taking advantage of my stomach by offering the berries just before my meals.

He had been working on getting me to come when called for the last five days, patiently waiting out my attempts at being stubborn. He seemed to think that I was just independent, although his friends called me an ornery evil lizard. Then again, every time I see them, they get hissed at.

On one occasion, Soranto had tried to sit right beside the table, and I had snarled at him before jumping to the back of the couch that Taureen was sitting on. I had darted along the top of the couch until I got to the end and jumped down to the floor as I retreated to the window ledge.

Taureen had seemed surprised at my reaction, although he hadn’t moved when I ran behind his head in my escape. Soranto had wisely been keeping his distance ever since. They simply couldn’t figure out why Taureen allowed me to run loose in his living room.

I simply refused to attempt any of the other commands he had tried. So far, he had only attempted simple things like sit or go to your heat lamp. As if I were a dog… Come was bad enough, but I could pass that off as my desire for the treat he had. And nothing said that I had to listen once I was back in the forest.

I still wasn’t entirely sure how far I could push Taureen, although I had gotten into some innocent mischief during a few boring occasions when he wasn’t around. He had never punished me or even so much as raised his voice. His demeanor seemed more laidback than his friends. I still wouldn’t mind leaving a few claw marks on his friends’ hands, though.

His friends gave me my space, so it had never come to that point. I didn’t have the same reaction to Taureen as I did to any of the others that visited. He never tried to reach out and touch me, and he never really put me too far out of my comfort zone.

He seemed to sense the instant I was about to hiss or growl at his proximity and didn’t go past that point. He stayed near that almost uncomfortable range though, and his numerous attempts were slowly desensitizing me. I really want my wing out of this cast so I can go back to the park. Life was never this complicated there.

I ate the berry in two bites without bothering to move away from Taureen first. The doorbell rang, and I swung my head around as my ear tufts flattened. I quickly darted over to the end table and curled up under the heat lamp as I regarded the door with narrowed eyes.

Taureen sighed as my relaxed stance disappeared with the arrival of his friends. “Come in.” As two of his friends entered, I snorted at the sight of a young child accompanying them. The two sat in their now-customary chairs while the girl sat on Soranto’s lap.

Neither Soranto nor Tkael looked surprised to see me under the heat lamp in the corner; I was always in this spot when they came in. They visited with Taureen, including the girl in the conversation.

I relaxed slightly as none of them paid any attention to me and rested my head on my hands. I jerked my head up in alarm at the sound of a loud crash and bang outside. The three adults got to their feet and went to the window to see what had happened. They murmured to each other about whatever accident had just occurred.

I flattened my head into the sand and pinned my ear tufts back as the child got off the couch and walked up to the corner of the end table. I gave a slight rumble that she would hear, but the adults wouldn’t.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I squirmed backwards until I was in the corner, glancing anxiously at the adults, but they still seemed concerned by the scene below. Since when did the Kymari ever leave a child unsupervised? Especially when they knew that I was in the room. I was beginning to wish that I was once more in the cage since the glass would have kept her at a distance.

She tilted her head as she looked at me in curiosity before reaching her hand towards me. I grew far more worried and flattened myself down more as I started shaking from her proximity. My eyes darted around, searching for an escape route, but I was backed into a corner and couldn’t get away.

My breathing became faster in my growing distress. I didn’t dare threaten her loudly since Soranto would probably kill me if he thought his child was in the least bit of danger. If I gave a warning swipe and he saw it, I was in similar trouble.

Turn around, you idiot, and catch your child. He was deaf to my silent, desperate pleas. She gently touched my shoulders as she slowly stroked them, and I whined lightly in distress. She seemed confused by my cast and pressed on it lightly. Pain shot through my wing, causing me to yelp in pain and swat at her hand in pure reflex.

“Maria! Get back!” Soranto covered the distance between them with startling speed and scooped her into his arms, twisting to the side as he backed up in case I continued my assault. I pressed myself further back into the corner, trembling. Now I had done it… I was terrified of his reaction, and he was carrying several weapons that could make short work of me.

“How bad is it?” Taureen asked in concern. “I heard her strike connect from the window.”

Soranto held his daughter in one arm and examined her hands in confusion. “Maria, where is the injury?”

They seemed surprised when she pointed to her unblemished wrist. Soranto put her down and turned over both of her hands, searching for any injury. He murmured, “There’s no scratch… But we heard the slap when she connected.”

Maria spoke, “She hit me, but she didn’t use her claws. I didn’t realize that her wing hurt, or I wouldn’t have touched it.”

Taureen glanced at my trembling form in the corner. “You touched her bound wing?”

She nodded. “She let me pet her shoulders, but when I touched her wing, she yelped.”

Soranto heaved a sigh of relief. “The fire lizard must have realized that Maria was only a child. I’m very surprised that she didn’t hiss or growl beforehand.”

Tkael quietly spoke, “I am amazed that she let Maria so close to her. Then again, she was cornered so that might have had a hand in it. Those claws are sharp enough to slice skin wide open and leave a wound that would need stitches, yet Maria doesn’t even have the slightest bit of scraped skin.”

Maria looked guilty. “She did make a rumbling noise, but she looked scared, and I wanted to calm her down.”

Soranto shook his head in slight exasperation. “I told you Taureen was looking after an injured fire lizard and that you weren’t supposed to go near it.”

Maria ducked her head at the rebuke. “Sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Taureen glanced at me before coming over to sit in his usual seat with a sigh. He dug around in his pocket for a moment. Holding his hand out to Maria, he said, “Come here.” Maria left her father to approach Taureen. Soranto kept most of his attention on me, still not ready to trust me near his daughter.

I was still shaking in the corner, terrified, and waiting for the fallout. I had made sure to retract my claws as much as possible and ensured that they didn’t come into contact with the child’s skin, but I had still landed a strike on his child. Kymari didn’t tolerate any threat to their children.

I probably wouldn’t have to worry about surviving the next few weeks until I could be released – I had just signed my own death warrant. Taureen sat the girl on his lap. He held her hand open and dumped a dozen sunburst berries into her palm.

He held her open hand in his own and put it on the edge of the end table I was on. The other two adults were watching closely from where they were standing. Soranto wasn’t exactly happy, but he didn’t say or do anything.

Taureen looked at me and spoke softly, “Come on. Maria didn’t mean to hurt you. Come get the berries.”

I blinked at him in disbelieving terror from my corner. Maria sat quietly on his lap, simply watching me with a pleading expression. She saw this as her way of apologizing. I didn’t move from where I was.

Minutes passed and slowly my shaking ceased as the adrenaline and fear wore off. The way I was pressed into this corner was uncomfortable, and I was going to have to move before my muscles cramped up any more. No one else had moved yet. Taureen seemed to realize that I was about to move for the first time since I had yelped.

“Come. Come on,” he said, his voice soft and reassuring.

I felt my body relax slightly. It was past the time when I usually got supper, so I was getting hungry. If it had just been Taureen, I would have had no issues going over. The problem was that the berries were in the child’s hand, and she was on his lap.