by Viola Grace
She smiled at his worried face. “I am fine. She took care of the repairs.”
Brommin scowled and investigated the back of her head. There was dried blood on her scalp, and she could feel his hands tense. “You could have split your skull.”
“I didn’t do it. The blast did it.”
Brenner and Niida were standing next to each other. Brenner cleared his throat. “She was thrown back at least twelve feet. I thought she was dead until she sat up and cursed.”
Trin was surrounded by folks who wanted her to be alive and well. “I am fine. I even have the plate number of the vehicle that struck me, and a description of the man who shot the plasma rifle.”
Brommin nodded. “You are coming back to the tower. We will get to the bottom of this and find out what is what.”
Niida cleared her throat. “They were behaving as if there was a contract out on Trin. They stalked her and made sure she was here on this street when they struck.”
Trin looked at her. Niida had untapped skills.
Niida shrugged. “I noticed that they circled at least three times while you were on your way here. That isn’t normal. This area is tucked in after dark.”
Trin blushed while Brommin ran his hands over her torso. “I don’t think your mother would approve.”
He looked up at her, and a slow smile spread over his lips. “I am fairly sure she would. She is a great fan of yours.”
Trin put her hands over Brommin’s and smiled slightly. “I don’t think she would enjoy a public display.”
“Ah. Right. You are probably correct.” He winked. “You don’t seem damaged, which is rather surprising. Even for you.”
She chuckled. “My dragon is doing what it can to fix everything, but my head is still a little sore.”
He nodded and turned his hands to grip hers as he rose to his feet. She came with him.
“I am going to make a few calls, and then, we will make a plan. Do you feel that this place is safe?”
Niida nodded. “I thought she was dead, so I am pretty sure those who pulled the trigger did, also.”
Brommin’s hands tightened on Trin’s. “I am going to make those calls.”
He took out his communicator and wandered to the rear of the building, speaking softly the moment he got a connection.
Trin looked at Brenner. “Sorry about this.”
The curse that exploded from Niida was enough to take them both aback. When she calmed, she said, “This is not your fault, Trin. Nothing is your fault. You have been dealt a very weird hand, and you are coping.”
Trin grinned. “Thanks, Niida. I needed that.”
Her friend stepped forward and gave her a hug. Brenner followed suit.
Trin chuckled and returned the embrace. “This is going on record as being the weirdest season ever.”
Brenner murmured, “You really have it bad for Brommin.”
“How can you tell?”
He chuckled and leaned back. “You didn’t punch him when he grabbed your waist.”
“Oh, yeah. That. I may have accepted it as concern for me.” Trin smiled.
“A weird season, indeed.” Niida giggled.
Brommin was pacing, and his free hand was clenching. He was not in a calm mood.
Trin murmured to Brenner, “I think I might want to take a trip to source out some new herbal teas, coffees, and crockery.”
“I think that is a great idea. Does Mirbella still have your go-bag?”
“Yup. I am sure that I can deal with the assassination attempts, but without knowing who is behind it, things could continue.” She grimaced. “I don’t know how long I want to be on guard, and I would hate it for my father to be the culprit.”
Brenner shook his head. “I still can’t believe that he was able to breed outside of the mating.”
Trin blinked in mock horror, “Maybe he didn’t, and you have imagined me all along.”
Niida snorted.
Brommin came back, his jaw tense and shoulders tight. “It is official. There is a price on your head. Death is the only option, and the contract has been spread through every assassin society in the city. We are going to have to hide you.”
Trin smiled. “How about I just make myself scarce?”
“What?”
“I have some business to attend to in a few cities. I can call you to check in, and you can look for the idiot who wants me dead.”
He gave her a look that said she wasn’t too bright. “There will be stories if a crystal dragon is known to be travelling the coast and interior.”
Trin took his hand and held it. “Unlike most dragons, I am not used to flying when I travel. I have a route, folks know me, and I won’t stray too far from my normal path and safety net. I can do what needs to be done and touch base with my sources, and you can seek and destroy my enemies here.”
He blinked and looked down at her grip on his hand. He flexed his fingers, and their hands wound together. “If you agree to call once a day, every day. Even just one word and I will know that you are fine.”
“Done. I will just get my vehicle from Creata’s, and I will be on my way.” She didn’t mention that she was stopping at Mirbella’s to get her clothing and travel documents.
“Good. Call me at exactly this time tomorrow, or I will find you.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Her dragon was eager to have him, but she was also eager to see the world, even through Trin’s eyes. She was on board, no matter what a velocipede was, the dragon was willing to find out.
Trin wrapped her hand around his neck and held on tight as she worked to remember the taste of him. It was Brenner clearing his throat that finally got her attention and made her back off.
She felt her lips humming, and there was that predatory look in Brommin’s eyes that she so enjoyed. “Right. I am guessing that I should be off.”
Niida was grinning. “Everybody has been notified. Get your velocipede and go. I look forward to the new crockery, china, and teas.”
Brenner put his arm around his wife. “Did you want a ride to Creata’s?”
Brommin shook his head. “I will take her. When I lift you, look limp. I want anyone spying to think that you are injured at the very least.”
Trin nodded. “I can play dead. Are we going now?”
Brommin nodded. “We are.”
He didn’t give her a chance to say goodbye, simply lifted her into his arms and left the shop, heading to the street.
Trin let her arm hang and whispered to Brenner, “Let me know if they fall for the offer.”
He laughed just as quietly, and then, Niida whispered, “Good luck and stay safe.”
Trin fought her smile as Brommin flexed his wings and she kept herself floppy and loose as he bent and launched them upward.
“So, do you have any other conditions to impose on me while I travel?”
He looked down at her, and his face was being kept grim with effort she could see. “I want you safe, and I want you to promise to let your dragon out when she demands it. She will be able to keep you safe.”
“Got it. In case of emergency, break cover.”
“Vasic also has a file for you with all the details of your mother’s family, if that happens to be near one of your routes.”
She blinked. “That was not on my list.”
“It is your first assignment. You can get in and out legally, looking for your parents. Few can get in and out of that valley.”
Trin didn’t nod, but she knew about the settlements versus the cities. She had access to a few settlements but getting in was always an effort. They didn’t want any plants, animals, or technology that wasn’t already in use in their agrarian areas. They defended their farms to the death. It made visiting the settlements rather tricky.
His wings carried them over the city, and her lolling head saw the Tal residence. He brought them down in the backyard, and Creata was waiting for them.
>
Creata cried out and ran toward them, but Trin lifted her head and smiled. “I am fine. Just a bit dented.”
Brommin set her on her feet, and she hugged Creata the moment that her friend stumbled into her arms.
“I am sorry for the scare, Creata. You don’t deserve any other stress.”
Creata stiffened her spine and nodded. “You don’t deserve to be shot, but you were. Vasic is coming home, so this is the perfect time for Ystine to leave the shed.”
Brommin’s voice was curious. “Ystine?”
Trin was still holding Creata. “My velo. We built it together when I needed to travel. It was cheaper than having me on mass transport, and I found the experience exhilarating. Ystine is a true group effort.”
“I look forward to meeting her.”
Creata chuckled. “She will be looking forward to meeting you.”
Creata pushed away and wiped her eyes. “I have been tweaking her a little. She is ready to travel.”
Trin blinked and slowly grinned. “This I have got to see.”
Creata took her hand and led the way to the rear of the huge garden, through some trees, and to a workshop painted to look like the brush around them.
“I didn’t know that you had put such effort into it.”
Creata smiled. “Vasic thinks that I like the gardens. I had a scrubber put in so that I always come out smelling the same way I went in. The boiler suit was stretched to capacity when I was pregnant, but it gave me something to do when Vasic was out of town.”
Creata pressed her palm to the lock and the heat and pressure of her hand set the gears and tumblers in motion. The wide doors slid aside, and in the center of a polished concrete space was Trin’s travel companion.
“Ah, Ystine, you look wonderful.”
Lights sparked on the edge of the handlebars. “Thank you, Trin. You are looking well, also. Have you been recently injured?”
A beam of light shot over Trin. “You have been hit with a blast to the chest, and your skull was cracked but is healing at a rapid pace. Congratulations on your evolution.”
Trin walked over and asked, “May I touch you?”
“Of course. You are my rider. No one else may touch me.”
Bronze, steel, gears, panels of polished wood, small indicator lights, and a new attachment. “Is this a screen?”
“Of course. It isn’t safe for you to check your com and drive. It is a complete com panel with navigation.” Creata stepped forward and asked for Ystine’s permission before she began to flick through the options. “They are all on voice request as well.”
Trin glanced back, and Brommin was staring at them as if they had suddenly transformed. “You look confused, Brommin.”
“This is not what I had envisioned as a hobby for Creata. Does Vasic know?”
Creata chuckled. “I told him that I come here to make things if that makes it better. He has just never asked what it is that I make.”
Brommin blinked. “You look so... sweet.”
Trin looked at Creata and giggled. She was wearing a frilly nightgown covered by a frillier robe. She looked adorable and feminine, soft as a flower petal, but that overlooked the stems and thorns she had grown when her family had refused to claim her.
Creata raised her eyebrows. “I deceive folks by simply being what I am and doing what I can do to keep myself busy. It was holding back that caused a bit of the difficulty I have been finding myself in. From now on, I am going to do what I need to do, and I will teach the baby to do it from the time she can walk. Vasic can do his work for the senate; I will do what I need to here, as long as I need to do it.”
Trin stroked the velo again. “Who designed your brain, Ystine?”
“Brenner was my main creator, but Creata shaped all of my systems.”
“Your voice is familiar.”
“Your friend Apraxa contributed my voice. You always liked listening to the sound of her speaking. You told Creata that it was like listening to the sea, so she got Apraxa to record the words for her.”
Trin blinked and then grinned. “It is a voice I always listen to. It always sounds like music.”
Brommin came forward and cocked his head. “Who is Apraxa?”
He carefully kept his distance from the velocipede, but he examined it from its wide tires, comfortable seat, and sloped handlebars.
Creata smiled. “Apraxa is a specialist at acquiring what is needed from something small to a ship. I have been in correspondence with her for a few years now. She is charming, even in prose.”
“Is she a shifter?”
Trin shook her head. “She’s a half-breed. All the lineage, none of the extra energy to shift.”
Brommin cocked his head. “What is she?”
“She’s half shark.” Trin smiled. “The teeth didn’t translate to her born form, and she has skin like a peach.”
“Shark? They are thugs, organized crime.” Brommin’s brow furrowed.
“And very good at moving things through customs that have gotten stuck by bureaucrats who want a bribe.” She shook her head. “Dealing in tea can be a nasty game.”
Creata piped up, “It is why she gets most of her product from the mainland.”
Trin stopped her slow caress of the velo. “Well, if everyone is good, I am going to be on my way. It will be hard enough to get Ystine through the streets.”
Creata straightened and moved to the side of the workshop. She pulled a leaver, and the sound of gears and chains could be heard. A panel in the floor lowered until it formed a ramp leading down into darkness.
“I made a few escape routes with a tunneller. This will take you under the main streets, and Ystine can get you to the southern or northern gates, as you like.” Creata paused, and tears welled in her eyes. “I am going to be counting on that ping.”
“I won’t leave you hanging.” Trin hugged her. “Now, I have to get going, or I won’t be out of flight range by dawn.”
Brommin waited until she was free of her friend, and then, he took her hand and knelt. “When you return, I will ask you for your hand, but for now, will you choose me when the time comes?”
She got a little teary-eyed. “Always. I choose you now, and I choose you then.”
He grinned and placed a soft kiss on the palm of her hand. “Be safe and stay clear of the city until I assure you it is safe or for the ball. I really want you there at that ball.”
He pressed his forehead to hers, and she felt the rumble of his dragon speaking to the strident tones of hers. They stayed like that for several moments, and when the dragons had completed their conversation, Trin pulled back, got on Ystine, pulled her skirts into a stable position, and she started the deep purr of her velocipede.
She didn’t look back, merely pulled her helmet from the attachment spot on the side of her transport and throttled forward, into the dark. Time to ride.
Chapter Five
Ystine’s lights came on automatically, and she asked, “Would you like me to plot a course through the tunnels?”
“Please. I have a pretty good idea where we are going, but I am not sure of landmarks.”
“There aren’t any. Creata told me while she was working on me that no one would be able to find their way out without the map. She gave me the map.” Ystine’s voice was low and cheerful, coming in through the headset in the helmet.
“She is good at maps and puzzles. I am guessing that this is one of them.”
Ystine paused and then asked, “Should we not mention that you are no longer human?”
“I am still partially human, I have just had the other portion activated. Please lock that in your databanks. It is sensitive information that could get me killed in the wrong location.”
“Filing the sensitivity away. It will remain locked in my databanks so that I recognize you, but no one else will gain that information.”
“Thank you.” She knew that Ystine would have picked up on her change in
energy pattern. They were in direct contact in at least three places, after all.
They rode in silence for three turns, and then, Ystine announced, “We are under the dress shop. There is a compressed ladder under the seat.”
Trin dismounted and smiled at the balance that Ystine had on her own. Wide tires rocked.
She was just flipping up the seat when a hatch opened ten feet above her, and a rope and wood ladder tumbled down, missing her by inches.
“That works as well.” She removed her helmet and left it with Ystine.
Trin pulled the ladder tight and started to climb. She pulled herself up into the storeroom, and Mirbella was sitting nearby with a tea service and a stack of sandwiches.
“There are more sandwiches in your pack. I must say, I never thought we would be doing this again.” Mirbella smiled and poured the tea.
“It wasn’t looming high on my to-do list either, but here we are.” Getting off the ladder without stepping on the half-dozen yards of fabric that made up her skirt was impossible. Trin flopped to the side when she was at hip-height and rolled to her feet.
Mirbella handed her a soft wipe for her hands and gestured for her to sit on the arranged boxes. “Now, I have a list of things for you to keep an eye out for during your travels. If you find them, I will pay just about anything for them.”
“What are they?”
“Mostly buttons and clasps of certain metallic compositions. They are easier to enchant.”
Mirbella’s position as an actual magic user was something that was understood and not spoken about. Trin knew she liked certain metallic compositions from previous journeys, but she wasn’t sure why until now.
“So even the buttons are enchanted?” She picked up her teacup and took a long sip. She didn’t mind the scalding heat, she needed tea.
Mirbella smiled. “They have to be, or when you change back to your human form, the clothing would fit but flap open.”
“Right. Thanks for getting this together for me.”
“It is rather fun. Now, I have to make you look human without sacrificing style and the alteration-ability of the clothing. I do so love a challenge.” Mirbella grinned. “I have created a leather trench coat for you, your standard trousers, an array of small weaponry, and boots suitable for use on your velocipede.”
