Page 10 of Accounting for Drakes

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Mbrak called Yorathand then went to his quarters. “If you want her, you need to just fly back home with her today. She’s leaving the station and intends to lose herself in the stars.”

“Our connection. My connection.” Yorath sat up and dismissed the holograms of his advisers.

“Tenuous. It will fade as distance draws it thin, and it will snap. She had decided to live her life in her drake form on a world with no population. She and her drake are really happy to be connected again.”

“Of course. Wait. What do you mean again?” Yorath frowned.

“She and her beast had fused when I first saw her. It took years to tease them apart and convince the beast that she should remain in the background until summoned.”

“Which happened yesterday.”

“Correct. Now, they are planning a girls’ trip through the stars.”

Yorath snorted. “How do they know how to navigate?”

“Abil knows anything she studies. There is no learning or hesitation. She just absorbs it. That was the reason she survived on her own. The drake lent her claws, and she learned how to hunt and scavenge as soon as she mastered climbing.”

“Oh. So being alone is not her fear.”

“No, being surrounded and unable to communicate is. It happened several times before her language instruction began to take hold.” He sighed. “My other foundlings didn’t understand and were cruel. Styra was kind, but she had her own issues, and she is gone now as the wife of Yr-el.”

“Yes, that is what got my attention. If you were starting to release your charges, I wanted to make sure that I was on your list.”

Mbrak snorted. “Don’t you have enough females swooning over you?”

He laughed. “That wore off after a few hundred years. I have quarters for companions, but they will be dismissed the moment that I have a mate confirmed.”

“You do know what will happen if you bring her to your palace and there are still women who believe they have a claim to you?”

“I won’t hurt her feelings.”

Mbrak laughed. “No, she will murder all of those women in front of you. She will transform and bite them into pieces, attack you, and fly off. No concubines. No mate. Don’t mess with female drakes, Yorath.”

The other male blinked. “Right. I will go dismiss them now. Just in case.”

“Wise.”

“Where is she?”

“She is at a hair appointment. How much debris did she absorb?”

“There were some construction remains left in a cluster. She took it all in. A few tons.”

“Oh dear. Well, she’s going to be a large drake. That’s good if she wants to fly between stars.”

Yorath growled. “She isn’t going to fly. I am going to give her what she needs.”

“What is it that she needs?”

Yorath smiled slightly. “Her own person. I will be her anchor and invite her to link her mind to mine. She will be safe with me.”

Mbrak sighed. “Thank you. While I cannot come by and tear out your throat if you lie, I have friends who will do it for me.”

“Friends?”

Mbrak chuckled. “Friends. To me.”

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