A Cat Among Dragons

by Alma Boykin

  And she chuckled along with the soldiers, then sobered, eyes like frozen steel. “The detachment commander was one of the first to die, trapped in a corner like a skritch-lizard and immobilized. It was not quite a massacre, but it certainly came close. The Imperial troops fought as well as they could, but the Delphians had studied how Azdhagi fought and took advantage of every bit of cover, of their greater physical and tactical flexibility, and of the few Azdhag nobles’ sense of personal honor, to nearly eradicate the force holding Sidara City.” She detailed how the fighting had gone, down to a few of the one-on-one combats. As she gave the history lesson, a few of the soldiers and officers grew interested and thoughtful, tails twitching as her points struck home.

  “Now, granted, this was a hundred years ago, and today the Empire is much stronger and one hopes wiser. But I trust you see why knowing how to think like and defend against mammals and others not of the Empire might be a valuable skill, Captain Tarssh?” She stepped back from her “sandtable” and waited.

  There was a long pause. “How did you come by this detailed knowledge, Commander Lord Ni Drako,” he finally asked.

  The Wanderer bared her fangs. “I served with some of the Delphi-2 veterans when I was in Krather’s Komets.”

  He didn’t respond, aside from narrowing his eyes and thumping his tail in annoyance. “If you will excuse me, Lord Ni Drako, I have a matter I must see to,” and he left the practice area. Most of the soldiers followed him but a handful stayed behind to ask questions. Rada was satisfied with that, and gave them all the benefit of her experience and knowledge that she could.

  The next day, when she came in from a session on the firing range there were three Palace Guard, two sergeants and a lieutenant, waiting for her. “Commander Lord Ni Drako, if you have a moment, could you demonstrate how one counters a smaller, lighter opponent? Just to settle a wager,” the lieutenant added hastily.

  Rada bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling and cheering. “Certainly Lieutenant. And you are here to confirm the results for the wager?” she asked the NCOs, who glanced around and then vigorously gestured their agreement. And I have wings. Score one for the Hairball, Rada snorted silently.

  A month or so later she and Zabet had an evening free, so after she got cleaned up Rada settled in for some quiet, reading further in an Azdhag history that she had borrowed from the Palace archive. Zabet was off somewhere, Rada assumed, and she didn’t bother trying to track her friend down. The Wanderer-hybrid had gotten through two chapters and was nibbling one of the sweets left from supper when she heard claws scrape behind her and swung around, blaster in hand. Then she bowed to the floor as Shi-dan emerged from her sleeping area, a very subdued Zabet trailing behind him.

  Ni Drako couldn’t read Azdhag body language well yet, but she could tell that the King-Emperor was not happy about something. The chocolate brown reptile circled her quarters while Zabet hung back, watching from around a corner. At last Shi-dan kicked some cushions into a pile and settled onto one of the low benches behind where Rada knelt. She didn’t move, waiting for his command.

  “We are informed that you are corrupting Our guard by telling them that mammals and non Azdhagi can defeat them in battle, and that you are making them look incompetent in blade practice and on the firing range,” Shi-dan rumbled. “What do you have to say in your defense, Commander Ni Drako?”

  “Imperial Majesty, that’s exactly what I am doing, although your guards are not incompetent in any meaning of the word. One of your sergeants and a lieutenant managed to kill me today,” she admitted.

  “Only after you lectured, demonstrated, and taught them how.”

  “Yes, Imperial Majesty,” Rada replied, still kneeling and facing away from him. She didn’t look at Zabet, but studied the floor.

  “How many of them are taking you seriously, mammal?”

  Rada counted in her head. “Perhaps ten, Imperial Majesty?”

  “Perhaps ten?” He snorted with derision. “How do you expect to train Our defense forces if only ten out of sixty in the Palace Guard, all of whom have seen you fight, care to learn from you? You seem to be trying Our patience while making free of Our hospitality,” he warned her.

  Stung, Ni Drako raised her head and defended herself, letting some heat into her voice. “Imperial Majesty, one must start somewhere! If I try and force them to listen, they will resist whatever I say. So I persuade, trick, and sneak the lessons in as best I can. Ten fighters who can teach their fellows is a better start than most forces have, Your Imperial Majesty. And with all due respect,” she snapped “if you will look at the accounts you will see that none of your funds have been used to support my concubine or supply my table.” Zabet made a small gasping noise and Ni Drako realized too late what she had just done. Blessed Bookkeeper, I just suggested that I’m rejecting his hospitality! Oh shit. Zabet, you’d best run and run hard.

  A very loud silence filled the Wanderer’s quarters. Then she heard the King-Emperor leave his seat and Rada braced herself. “No one has spoken to Us in that way for many years,” Shi-dan stated calmly. Then his tail lashed out, knocking the woman onto her back. Razor-sharp talons pricked the skin over her heart and on her throat, drawing blood. The King-Emperor, neck spines stiff with anger, glared down at the Wanderer. He pushed his claws deeper into her flesh and waited for the response.

  “Forgive me for my impertinence, Imperial Majesty, and if I seem ungrateful for your generosity and trust,” she whispered, barely able to make a sound.

  “You will never speak to Us that way ever again, is that clear?” he asked almost gently. “And you will use the allowance We provide for you and your concubine.”

  “Yes, Imperial Majesty,” came the strained response.

  He lifted the talon in her throat, but bore down carefully and firmly over her heart. She lay still and didn’t beg for mercy or try to remove his claw. Zabet crept closer and Rada moved enough to shake her head in warning, freezing the True-dragon in place for a moment. Zabet started easing forward again and the Wanderer looked into Shi-dan’s eyes and implored, “Spare her at least, Imperial Majesty.”

  His voice was cold and the talon dug deeper into the mammal’s chest, making her gasp and drawing more blood. “Why should We?”

  “Please, Imperial Majesty, don’t punish faithfulness and loyalty, even if misplaced,” Rada beseeched him.

  With a little additional pressure, Shi-dan’s talon would pierce the Wanderer’s heart and the King-Emperor could feel it beating under his claw as Rada waited to die. He held her there for several seconds more, then lifted his talons and stepped back. Rada remained where she was until, at his gesture, Zabet held out a forefoot and helped her sit up.

  “You pass Our last test, Commander Lord Ni Drako. Lord Tak died two hours ago and his cremation ceremony will be at sunset tomorrow. You are now Lord Defender in fact, and will move into your proper quarters in two days. And We are pleased with the work you have been doing with Our soldiers. Continue it,” and he turned to Zabet. “As for you, silver dancer,” and he smiled, “your loyalty does you credit. We grant you these: that you are free to come and go anywhere outside Our chambers, and that you do not have to renounce your lord in the unlikely event the Lord Defender is ever disgraced.” With that the brown Azdhag walked into the sleeping quarters and vanished behind a wall panel.

  The two foreigners didn’t say a word. Rada sank to the floor and her boss came and twined herself around the small mammal, both of them trembling from reaction. Rada used the hem of her skirt to stanch the blood flowing from her chest and waited for her heart rate to slow down before trying to even think about what had just happened. «He’s a cruel creature, is your King-Emperor,» Zabet said, curling tighter around the Lord Defender. Rada didn’t disagree or try to defend her liege lord.

  “If you want to leave, I understand,” Rada offered.

  Zabet swatted her Pet with her tail. «Nope. Now it starts getting interesting, Lord Defender,» came the ironic voic
e. «And now you have to get me very, very nice things, to go with your new position,» she gloated.

  “Paymaster’s Purse but you’re a hedonist,” Rada managed to laugh. “And now I really need to go to sleep. Because I think this will be the last quiet night I get for a long time,” and she started untangling herself from the True-dragon.

  «True, because you owe at least two receptions, plus a musical evening, and now you will have proper quarters to do it in.»

  “I could have done without that reminder, silver dancer,” Rada said as she lay down. Her ‘concubine’ made herself comfortable, resting her narrow muzzle between Rada’s hip and ribs. “Um, out of curiosity, why so affectionate?”

  «Simple—it’s cold out and you’re at least ten degrees warmer than the rest of the room. Relax,» and the Wanderer felt whiskers tickling as they vibrated with Zabet’s laughter, «it’s nothing personal and you’re not my type. Now that really handsome bull we met on Tirnat, the one with the big shoulders and black wings? Mmmmm, now he was quite something,» and the details in the sent memory made the Commander blush. There was absolutely no safe response to that sally and the mammal didn’t even try.

  Predators and Prey

  “Clang!” Blades collided, slid across eachother, then disengaged as the opponents separated and circled. The two reptiles watched each other for a weakness. The larger, very dark brown one faltered slightly, the smaller male saw his opening and lunged, coming up onto two legs as he tried to catch the enemy in the flank. “Thwack-clang!” and the larger Azdhag’s heavy tail slammed into the exposed leg, knocking the other one onto his side. I could have predicted that would happen Lord Defender Ni Drako sighed to herself as the King-Emperor “killed” her second-in-command. Deeker has got to stop fighting by the book so much. It makes me look bad.

  Shi-dan contented himself with bruising the Captain of the Palace Guard, this time. The King-Emperor sheathed his weapon and glanced over at the Lord Defender, who left her position at the edge of the indoor practice area and came to where he stood. “What would you have done?” he asked, not even breathing hard, as Deeker bowed low, then hauled himself off to the cleanup area.

  The petite woman snugged her arm guards tight and drew her blade before walking to where Captain Deeker had stood. Shi-Dan returned to his earlier position and they restarted the match. When the King-Emperor feinted to the left, Rada followed him, cutting low for his left foreleg. When he countered, she used his own momentum to knock his right foreleg out by catching the elbow with the butt of her knife. It was a risky trick and Shi-dan growled as he fell that way, using his tail to help speed his rolling recovery. Before he could get to his flank, Rada swung at his throat. Her strike slid off his armor. Now truly angry, Shi-dan side-charged the mammal. She tried to dodge, but his weighted tail caught her in the knees and she fell towards him, losing her sword when she hit the ground. He was on her before she could do more than inhale, blade under her throat and talons in her back and spine. Rada tried to block his sword with her dagger and gauntleted hand but he overpowered her.

  The King-Emperor released her only after he’d drawn blood. Rada staggered to her feet, trying to hide how much she ached, and Shi-dan’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have a problem, Commander Ni Drako?”

  “I don’t know, Imperial Majesty.” She started to take a deep breath and felt a familiar pain in her chest and back. “Ah, yes, I do, Imperial Majesty. Cracked ribs.” Again.

  “You certainly are fragile,” Shi-dan observed after taking a drink from the water bucket.

  Rada started to correct him, then caught herself, saying only, “Yes, sir. I wasn’t designed to support 200 kilograms of warrior.”

  He snorted, “Then move faster. Come to the lesser throne room in two hours. Good bout,” and he left.

  Lieutenant Tsreesh handed the Lord Defender a wet rag and a water bottle. She drained the flask before she wiped her face and neck. “How bad is it this time, Lieutenant?”

  The pale-green reptile rose onto his haunches to get a better look at the cut on her neck. “No worse than usual, Lord Mammal.”

  “Thank you.” She stared in the direction in which her liege lord had disappeared and sighed as much as her new injuries would allow. Now I know how the training sack felt during unarmed combat practice she thought. “Is there anything that needs immediate attention?”

  “No, my lord. Ah, I thought Captain Deeker was doing well?” the junior officer half-asked, half-observed.

  “He was, Lieutenant. You all are. But our Imperial lord has more experience and has no hesitation about using everything he’s learned.” What Rada really wanted to say was, “He’s meaner, sneakier, and venting on us,” but that would be disrespectful, if honest. Shi-dan had almost killed her once already for being too blunt. Even Rada Ni Drako could learn to keep her temper and discretion when the King-Emperor was involved.

  “I’m going to go get cleaned up. The practice area is open,” she announced, and several waiting Guards left where they’d been observing and paired up for their own workouts.

  Commander Rada Lord Ni Drako, Lord Defender of Drakon IV, stood at parade rest as she waited for her lord to arrive in the lesser throne room. A guard opened the side door, and she dropped to one knee and bowed her head as King-Emperor Shi-dan entered. He settled onto his throne, draping his tail carefully as he stretched out. Only after he was comfortable did he allow Rada to rise. She returned to parade rest and waited for him to speak.

  “Have you visited the properties that We put in your charge?” he wanted to know, curiosity in his greenish black and yellow eyes.

  “Not yet, Imperial Majesty,” she admitted. “I’ve been in contact with the Royal steward and estate manager, but have not taken the time to go to Singing Pines or Burnt Mountain.”

  “Then you will come with Us on Our hunt next sixt. It’s time you take on your full duties, Commander Ni Drako, and that includes estate management.” He knew why she’d not gone—he’d not given her time. He’d been pushing her to train the Palace Guard and some of the Defense Force officers so that they would obey her without question when the time came. Shi-dan studied the female soldier and noticed how still she held herself and how tired she seemed. Perhaps he’d been forcing her a little fast? No. He had no choice and so neither did she.

  Rada bowed her head. “Yes, Imperial Majesty.”

  Shi-dan realized something he’d never considered. “We assume that you know how to hunt. Do you?”

  “Yes, Imperial Majesty. On foot and on beast-back, for both game and trophy prey.”

  “Good. Then you will bring your concubine if she wishes and join Our hunting party, as well as meeting with Our Steward and managers,” the King-Emperor informed her. An odd expression crossed her features. “Well?”

  “Ah, Imperial Majesty, you are aware that I’ve done most of my hunting at night?” she asked, thinking This is probably the best time to show him, if he doesn’t already know.

  He sat up and stared at her. “No, We were not so informed. Why?” The only thing he could think of was because she had poached and he had absolutely no tolerance for anyone stealing his game or wasting animals.

  “Because of this,” and she took off her weapons belt and dress and changed shape as he watched in amazement. Rada remained roughly the same size, but a black-furred feline with her eyes, tail, and ears watched the astonished King-Emperor. Her voice explained into his mind, «I am nocturnal in this form, Imperial Majesty.»

  “Come closer, Ni Drako,” he ordered and she complied, letting him study her new shape as he had her walk to and fro before his throne. “Interesting.” He waved her back to her proper place, “You will keep this talent between yourself and Us.” The feline bowed gracefully and returned to her more human-looking form, dressed and armed. “And you will hunt with the rest of the party, by daylight.”

  “As you command, Imperial Majesty.”

  Shi-dan started to rise, and the woman knelt, head low. He left her there as he depa
rted, considering how best to use this new information.

  Six days later Rada stood at her lord’s shoulder looking up at the walls of Singing Pines manor house. Her first impression was one of age and mass. The “manor house” had served as fortress more than once over the centuries, and walls of thick, dark grey stone rose ten or so meters above the ground’s surface. Not house she decided, but keep. Shi-dan had not found anything that displeased him during a quick overflight of the estate’s eastern lowlands and Rada relaxed just a fraction.

  The Zhangki River formed the eastern border of the estate, and the village of Singing Pines and the agricultural areas covered much of the land between the keep and the river. Farther upland one passed over a thin strip of forest before reaching the manor house proper. The pine stands that gave the estate its name stretched over the rolling hills and low mountains to the west and north. The land rose more steeply to the southwest until reaching the flanks of the Burnt Mountain.

  She had studied the history of the estate and Rada shivered a bit as she waited for the King-Emperor and other nobles to precede her into the keep. Burnt Mountain drew its name from a dormant volcano on the western part of the estate and from the forest fires started by hot ash from other peaks farther west in the Wildlands. The sound of the winter wind in the trees had inspired the main estate’s rather poetic modern name. Both properties remained possessions of the King-Emperor; Rada would only be manager, although she could draw the Daimyo’s Tenth, after the estate revenues paid the annual royal share. Singing Pines and Burnt Mountain remained self-sufficient hunting properties far from “civilization.” In fact, by the standards of most Azdhag nobles, the estates were in the back of beyond and primitive beyond belief. Which suited Rada just fine. No one else wants them, so there’s a minimum of Court politics related to them. Other nobles were not so blessed.