The Dracons' Woman (35 page)

“What if we bribe her?” Val suggested.  Lariah narrowed her eyes at him but he pretended not to notice.

“I think that is a great idea!” Garen exclaimed with far too much enthusiasm.  “What do you think
sharali
, can we bribe you into letting us spank you red again?” 

Lariah shuddered.  She was hopeless.  But she wasn’t going to give in that easily, even if she did want it as much as they did.

“I don’t know,” she replied.  “I guess it depends on how good the bribe is.”  If they thought she could be bought with sweets and kisses, they had better think again.

“Hmmm…,” Garen said, tapping his cheek thoughtfully.  “You know, there was a delivery today that I think might do the trick.  What do you guys think?”

Val and Trey shrugged.  “It’s worth a try,” Trey replied. 

“I agree,” Garen said.  He removed Lariah’s feet from his lap, then got up and left the room.  When he came back he was carrying a large wooden crate which he placed on the low table in front of the sofa.  He flipped up the lid and lifted out the item on top, grinning at the expression of shocked wonder on Lariah’s face.

She reached out one hand to touch the green leather cover of the book, as though testing to see if it was real.  “This is one of those books that was on display in that window.”

“Yes,” he said simply, placing the large book in her hands before reaching into the crate for another one.  Lariah gasped and stood up to look down into the crate.

“You bought all of them?” she asked, her voice squeaking with surprise.

“Of course,” Garen replied smugly.  “What good would it be without all of them?  I believe there are twelve volumes in all.”

“But, they must have been so expensive,” she said.

“You wanted them, we wanted you to have them,” Garen said with a shrug.

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.  Garen’s eyes widened in horror and he looked quickly at his brothers.  They were equally horrified by her reaction.

“Did you not want them?” he asked uncertainly. 

She wiped her eyes and smiled.  “Yes, very much,” she replied.  “I have always dreamed of owning a real book, but on Earth such things are not possible unless one is very wealthy.”  She shrugged.  “Even money cannot buy what does not exist.  Printed books are very difficult to find.”

“Well little love,” Trey said, “this is not Earth, and the expense is not an issue.” 

“Are you certain?” she asked doubtfully. 

“Trust us in this,” Val said. 

She nodded her head slowly.  “Alright,” she agreed.  She turned her gaze back to the books and smiled radiantly as she ran her fingers over the rich, smooth covers.  After a moment she set them carefully on the table, stood up and threw her arms around Garen’s neck, kissing him soundly.  She then did the same for Trey and Val.  “I hardly know how to thank you,” she said.

Garen’s face split in a slow grin so suggestive that it caused Lariah to blush. 

“Will this do for a bribe?” he asked.

Lariah couldn’t help but grin back.  “I think it will,” she replied.

Trey swept her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom.  “Good thing,” he said to her, “otherwise, I was thinking I’d have to pull out my fall-back reason to punish you instead.”

“I guess you’ll just have to save that up for next time,” she said, laughing.

“Don’t worry little love,” he growled at her as he laid her on the bed and began removing her clothing.  “I will.”

Chapter 17

The next morning Lariah rushed through her breakfast, anxious to spend time with her new books. 

“Trey and I have to check the field towers today,” Val announced as he reached for a second helping of Suly’s special egg scramble.  “We’ve put it off too long as it is and I know that some of them need a full recharge by now.”

“And I promised Ric I would go over the final stock rotation and allocation plans in the main barn today,” Garen said.  “I’ve been putting it off, and we have some commitments that need to be filled soon.  It really can’t wait any longer.”

Trey opened his mouth, but Garen held up a hand. “I know, the field towers can’t wait any longer either.”

The brothers looked at each other, then at Lariah.  “Perhaps today would be a good day to work in the clinic with Doc,” Val suggested to her. 

“No, today is not a clinic day,” she replied.  “Today is Doc’s day off.”

“Guess I forgot,” Val said with a shrug.

“I think you and Tiny should come to the barn with me,” Garen said.  “You can visit Nahia.” 

Lariah wrinkled her nose. “If you don’t mind I’d prefer to stay in the house today,” she replied.  “I rode Nahia yesterday, and I promise I will visit her tomorrow.  Today I really want to enjoy the books you guys gave me.”

 Garen, Trey and Val all looked at each other across the table.  They all knew that it would not be fair to deny her.  As soon as they had given her the gift, they had carried her off to the bedroom, not allowing her even a few moments to enjoy them.  Still, they were hesitant to leave her alone.

“Guys, please,” Lariah said, a faint note of exasperation in her tone.  “I’ll be fine.  I promise to stay in the house all day, Tiny is here, and Suly, and I think Pater is planning to work in the garden today.  You don’t need to constantly watch over me.”

Garen hesitated.  Lariah frowned. “I lived many years all by myself, without anyone watching over me every single minute of the day,” she said.  “You don’t need to treat me like a child.”

“We do not treat you as a child,” Garen corrected her. “We treat you as the most precious person in our lives.”

Lariah blushed. “I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it.  “But you guys have left me alone in the house before with Suly and Pater.  I don’t see why today should be so different.  And I really want to enjoy my gift today.”

Garen gave in with a reluctant sigh.  “Very well, we will attend to our tasks, and you can stay here.  But Lariah, I warn you, should you allow any harm to come to yourself we will spank you every single day for a year.”

Ouch, Lariah thought, while her treacherous body reacted hotly.  She rolled her eyes.  “Fine, but nothing is going to happen to me,” she said.

Lariah spent the morning deeply engrossed in her new books.  The images were astounding, the colors bright and pure, each one so beautifully detailed she felt as though she could stare at them for hours.  After spending a long time flipping through each volume, enthralled with the images, she finally selected one and settled down to read.

Faron stepped out of the bright sunlight and into the dim coolness of the main barn.  He spotted Garen and headed straight for him.  Normally he would not interrupt the Prince when he was so busy, but he had an anxious feeling about the message he had received and felt the need to speak with Garen about it at once.

Garen heard Faron approach and turned to greet him, halting his foreman, Ric, in mid-sentence with a raised palm when he saw the expression on Faron’s face.

“What is it?” he asked before Faron had even reached him.

“I received a call from Jackson Bearen,” Faron said, speaking quickly.  “A ground-car was reported stolen this morning from the spaceport.  The owner just returned from vacation, and when he went out to the lot, no ground-car.  Jackson had the security vids pulled and they were able to see what appeared to be two humanoid figures taking the ground-car late last night.  The security vid showed them using an ignition card.  The owner checked his pockets and discovered that his ignition card was missing, but he had no idea for how long. 

“Bearen got the trace codes for the vehicle about an hour and a half ago.  They were able to confirm that the car took a direct route from the spaceport to just inside of Granite Falls where it stopped early this morning.  Bearen just rechecked it and discovered that it had moved again.  It’s been sitting just outside your main gate for about an hour, as of approximately 15 minutes ago.”

Lariah looked up and realized she had been sitting on the floor reading for a couple of hours.  She stood and stretched, spotting movement through the front windows.  She recognized the shape of Pater’s floppy wide brimmed hat and smiled as she headed for the door.  She was just reaching for the doorknob when he knocked softly.  She frowned even as she turned the knob, wondering why Pater would knock when she knew the lock was coded with his handprint.  She pulled the door open, confused when she saw that, although the man standing in front of her was wearing Pater’s hat, it was not Pater.  The unfamiliar figure drew back his arm, but a loud, deep roar from behind her caused her to quickly turn toward the source of the sound.  She felt a sharp pinch, then a jerk, as Tiny leaped into the air and flew past her in a blur.  She heard a strangled yell, then a thump.  She was struggling to sort through the confusion and make sense of what was happening when a flood of warmth caught her attention.  She looked down, surprised to see that her shoulder, chest and arm were bright red with something that was spreading so quickly she heard it dripping on the floor.  She hoped that whatever it was didn’t get all over her new book.  Then darkness closed in and she thought no more.

Garen frowned.  The entire incident was, indeed, very strange, but he couldn’t imagine what it might mean.  Loggia was still weeks away from Jasan, but what if he had once again ordered someone to grab Lariah?  Just as he opened his mouth to begin giving Faron orders, he heard a faint, low sound in the distance.  From the expression on his face, Faron heard it as well. 

Before the sound had begun to fade both men were racing for the barn door, transforming as they ran.  Garen leapt through the doorway and into the air as his wings were still forming.  Within seconds his 25 foot long dracon form with its 30 foot wing span was speeding toward the house.  Below him, Faron’s massive loboenca raced flat out in his wake, moving so fast his gigantic paws barely seemed to touch the ground.

Garen roared his fear and fury into the sky as he flew, knowing that Trey and Val would hear and understand that they needed to get to the house as quickly as possible.  Another long, low howl rent the air, filled with unmistakable, unbearable sorrow, and Garen felt his heart begin to break.  He strained his magic to aid him, flying faster than he ever had before, covering the mile and a half distance between the barn and the house in just under a minute.

Garen’s sharp dracon eyes barely recognized the male lying on the front step, noting with both regret and satisfaction the gaping hole below his chin where his throat had once been.  Regret that he himself could not kill the man; satisfaction that the manner of his death indicated he had certainly seen his former pet leaping for his throat, and had certainly suffered a painful and bloody death. 

He transformed back to human form as he landed, passing the body on the ground without a glance.  Suddenly he stopped, turning back to look at the dead man, the hair on the back of his neck standing up.  The once portly figure of Tiny’s former owner was now extremely thin and haggard, but it was the same man, Garen was certain of it.  But he didn’t smell right. 

Garen turned back toward the house.  All that mattered right now was Lariah, and the scent of her blood had him gritting his teeth against a blood-rage.  Lariah needed him.  Nothing else mattered.

He stepped through the open door, and knelt down beside Tiny.  The huge dog was laying full length next to Lariah, his head on his paws, huge tears rolling down his face.  Garen took a moment to place his hand gently on the grieving dog’s head, and murmur his heartfelt thanks even as he sent a soothing thread of magic into him to ease his distress.  If not for the dog, Lariah would certainly be dead.  As it was, her injury looked very bad, but at least she still breathed. 

Garen examined Lariah with his eyes first, assessing the situation.  The black handle of the knife sticking out of her flesh between her shoulder and collarbone was an assault on his senses.  He wanted nothing more than to rip it out, but he knew that could cause more harm than good so he clenched his fists and left it.  He looked up at the sound of footsteps, and met the wide, shock filled eyes of his housekeeper. 

“Suly, call Doc.  Tell him that Lariah has been attacked and we need him.”

Suly nodded her head, spun around and raced for the vox.  He heard her yelling to Doc, and knew from the response that the man would be there as quickly as possible.  He then heard the staccato sound of Faron’s racing paws as he approached the house, then silence as he transformed back to his human form.  He considered telling Faron there was something wrong with Frith’s scent, remembered that Faron had spent more time with the human than he had, and set that matter aside.

Garen placed one hand on Lariah’s forehead and let his senses reach out to her.  He knew he couldn’t do much for her, but he needed to see for himself that she was still there.    

He sensed that the knife had cut something vital, which explained the large amount of blood on both Lariah and the floor, though she didn’t seem to be bleeding too heavily at the moment.  He sent his magic into her, trying to relax her body and slow her heart rate down in an effort to slow the blood loss further.  It was all he could do.