Page 32 of Accounting for Drakes

“Which side has wings? I am curious which side of the family has wings.”

Her mother’s grandfather raised his hand. “It is from my side. Our son married a human, and she bore our granddaughter, who had you. My ancestress took in a dragon, and the wings come every two generations. I am guessing they come naturally to you?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “His gift to us.”

She shrugged. “Thank you. I just wanted to know. Are we eating now?”

Yorath chuckled. “Yes, we are. Nanitha, have you met Orwon and Rikian?”

Nanny looked up and cleared her throat. “No, but they are staring at me so hard their gazes are colliding in the middle.”

Yorath said, “Orwon is the one covered in tattoos, and Rikian is the other one.”

The folk at the table laughed. Abil watched as Nanny blushed.

* * * *

Nanny could feel themlooking at her, and she wished she was off eating an asteroid or something. Orwon was smiling at her. And Rikian had a calm expression.

The tattoos mentioned were tendrils that crept up Orwon’s neck and wrapped around the edges of his jaw and hairline. His clothing rose to the base of his throat, and the collar of his formal tunic rode along the base of his neck.

His arms had the same blue-black marks as the rest of him, and she knew that whatever they were, they were not tattoos. They were moving.

Rikian chuckled. “You seem to understand about Orwon, so I will contact Mbrak and see if he has a lady who enjoys the finer things.”

Nanny blinked.

Orwon smiled. “It is for the best.”

Rikian laughed. “I value my life. He’s been around longer than I have, and until he saw some of the files on you, he had sworn he wouldn’t find a partner.”

She looked at Orwon. “What files?”

He grinned. “You are a planet eater.”

“That is a gross exaggeration.” She mumbled. “I just ate one dwarf planet.” She shrugged. “It was rogue anyway.”

Orwon grinned. “I am sure it was. What did you do with all that energy?”

“Got bigger.”

He laughed. “Do you have wings?”

“I did. I don’t anymore.”

“Would you care to go for a walk with me before dinner is served?”

She opened her mouth but was stalled by a parade of servants bringing in place settings and food.

It wasn’t the way things were normally done in a palace, but the servers were improvising around an unprecedented roomful of drakes.

Nanny sat and watched Yorath angle Abil so she could eat her meal with some decorum, and she smiled. They were vibrating with the same frequency. It was lovely.

Orwon lifted his cutlery. “What are you seeing when you look at them?”

“They are humming at the same frequency.” She smiled and tried to find a starting point on her plate. “It is a very good thing.”

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