Annlonna sat in the room she was using as an audience chamber. She didn’t need to hold audience more than once a month, so she didn’t have a room just for that. Instead, she used whatever room was available, usually one of the meeting halls. “The contract is binding. The land was paid for. There have been no violations of the agreement. Give the elf back his cattle or pay for them,” Ann said in Dragon and then repeated it in Elvish. This wasn’t part of her responsibilities. Disputes of this sort were her sister, Irkali’s job. But, the dispute was between a dragon and an elf and neither spoke Menthan or the other’s language. Since Ann spoke all three languages, she had been asked to help rather than needing to find multiple translators. The dragon frowned but nodded. The elf also nodded. Both bowed and left. “I think we need a break,” she told her cousin in Dragon. “What do you think?” She didn’t expect an answer. Bremul was only six months old. She spoke to him in Dragon because his parents felt he should learn both Menthan and Dragon. He was, after all, half dragon and half human although he looked to be half elf. Here at the palace and in town at the children’s home, he heard plenty of Menthan. So she and the dragons all spoke to him in Dragon. She started to get up. “Don’t move,” someone said. She froze and then sighed as she realized who spoke. “Nim? What are you doing?” She hadn’t realized he’d come in. He was in human form near the side door, out of the way, but still with a good view for drawing. “I wanted to draw a picture of you and Bremul for Jo,” the dragon confessed. “I need a break,” she said. Her backside was getting sore. “Just a moment longer. Bremul doesn’t normally hold still this long.” “Since when do you need someone to hold still?” “Just one moment, please,” Nim pleaded. “Is my lady in need of a break?” The page asked in Menthan. He had been working with her quite a bit and was starting to pick up some Dragon. “I am.” “There’s only one more petitioner,” the page said. Ann sighed. “Okay.” She switched to Dragon. “Hear that Nim? You have one more. Then, I’m done.” Nim nodded. “I’ll be done by then.” “Should I see if Sir Pt’this is done with his meeting so he can take Bremul once you’re done here?” The page offered. “If you want. I can contact him telepathically though, remember?” “That’s right. I forgot. I’m sorry.” The page bowed. “That’s all right. Let’s get this over with.” The page announced the ambassadors from Yarba. It was a man and a woman. The woman had the most stunning blue eyes. The color reminded her of Sapphire’s eyes. They offered her a bunch of purple flowers. Their scent was sickeningly sweet and Bremul sneezed. The page took the flowers. The ambassadors from the kingdom north of the Retamlic Mountains were there to confirm the meeting they had requested to work out a treaty between the two kingdoms. Ann and her husband, Andy had gone to Yarba to start the talks and get the preliminaries out of the way. Most of the treaty was agreeable. Now, they agreed the kings would meet in Yarba in three weeks' time to finalize it. “What about our advisor?” Ann asked. “The king will insist he be present. It’s protocol. However, he’s a dragon.” Yarba did not allow dragons within its borders. Ann hadn’t mentioned that she was half dragon while up there and they hadn’t paid any attention to the fact that she was adopted so no one thought to ask. “The king is willing to make an exception on this occasion, so long as he stays in his human or elf form. He must also not go anywhere, except his rooms, without an escort.” Ann nodded. “I think we can agree with that.” Bremul started whining and squirming. Hey, Dad, are you about done? Bremul is getting fussy, she sent to Pt’this telepathically. I’ll be there shortly, she received back. She had been working with Areantor to improve her telepathic abilities. She still had pain, she always would since she was only half dragon, but it was less now. A simple conversation didn’t bring her to her knees. “Like last time, if you wish to transport up, please use the same area,” the man continued. “Or if you are taking a ship, we’ll have coaches waiting to bring you to Kamlia’s southern manor. It is the closest.” “We’ll have to contact you on that. We’d like to make the travel as short as possible, but there are limits on how many can be transported at once.” “Kamlia asks that you limit your guards to two per noble and one servant each. His southern manor is a large place.” Ann nodded. “I think that is acceptable.” Although she’d seen the place not long ago, and knew it could house many more, she detected no attempt at deception. They at least believed the place was too small for more. They finish the arrangements and the ambassadors left. “Nim? Are you done?” He nodded. “Done enough. Thanks. Bremul grows so fast. I don’t trust my memory.” “When do you see Jo again?” “Not until you get back from Yarba. She can’t get any time off before that.” “And you’re not going to try to go back there?” Nim shook his head. “She was so furious with me last time that she wouldn’t speak to me for the first day.” Joanne was a friend of Ann and Andy from Andy’s world, a place called Earth. Nim had met her during a visit and fell in love with her. The problem was, Earth was filled with a metal harmful to magic and would make a mage horribly ill. It was no problem as long as you were human or you didn’t use your magic, but they had gone there to defeat an immortal named Nor’than. They all had needed to use their magic, including Nim. It still wasn’t a big deal for most of them as they returned to Torthoc shortly after. Nim, however, stayed to be with Jo. Even then, he should have been able to recover and be fine there, but Nim was unique. He was a special type of mage called an Augmenter. It seemed perhaps the special abilities of an Augmenter made it impossible for him to recover. He had tried for months. He’d start to have good days but then any exertion, including sometimes just getting out of bed, would make him worse again. Joanne had brought him back to Torthoc through a magical gate that connected the two worlds. It’d still taken him months to recover. When he finally did, he went back to Earth and got sick again and had to come back to Torthoc. It seemed he spent the first year traveling back and forth and spending weeks, at least, recovering. Finally, Ann’s father had told the guards at the gate Nim was no longer allowed to use it. Joanne came whenever she could but Nim wouldn’t allow her to stay. Her family had disowned her for taking a job helping abused women and children at a woman’s shelter. Nim felt strongly about family and didn’t want her to give up the job that had cost her so much to get. Bremul cried. Ann rocked him. “Let’s go find Dad shall we?” She said in Dragon. They met Pt’this and Andy in the hallway outside the meeting room Ann had used. “Your highness, you forgot these.” The page came up with the flowers. Pt’this snarled. “Get those away.” He swatted at them. Sapphire came running. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” She asked. “He tried to give sunset lilies to Ann,” he growled. “Take those out back and burn them.” The young page ran. “Uncle, calm down. They’re just flowers. Andy gives me flowers all the time,” Ann said. Pt’this was prone to lose control easily and this seemed like one of those times. “Flowers from the garden, not sunset lilies. Sunset lilies are poisonous to half breeds,” he explained. “The ambassadors gave them to me,” Ann said. She pointed down the hall to where they stood talking with the steward. Sapphire grew pale. “What are they doing here?” “The ambassadors?” Ann asked. She didn’t know if it was the suggestion of poison or the flowers but she was starting to feel lightheaded. “My parents,” Sapphire corrected. Pt’this gave off a roar of alarm that would shut down the palace and keep them from leaving. Bremul screamed at the sound. Ann shoved him to somebody. She didn’t see whom and collapsed.