Orc’s Forbidden Claim (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss #33)

8. Khiara

8

KHIARA

D ilacs is staying so close to my side that I can barely move without stepping on him. The lizards pulled me out of the tunnel after I had leaped into it which led to a brawl. It took four of them to restrain me and then my brother had shown up. He rushed in and would have joined the fight if not for the Queen walking in a moment after him.

Now we stand in this stupid meeting room waiting for the leader of the lizards and the humans to arrive. Six Zmaj stand behind Dilacs and me, watching with wary eyes. Rage pulses with every beat of my heart. With every passing second, she is being taken further away, which fuels my anger.

My nails dig into the palms of my hands until blood trickles from my clenched fists. Dilacs shifts his weight, looking down at the drops of blood on the ground. He growls and then places his hand on my shoulder.

“Khiara,” the Queen says, walking over and coming to a stop in front of me.

When she says my name, it takes my breath away. I never thought she would ever even know who I was, but now she speaks to me in a familiar tone. It is enough to ease the burning rage that consumes my thoughts, if not extinguish it. I bow my head in deference.

“My Queen?”

“We will save her,” she says, placing her hand on my forearm.

I stare at her hand touching me. Her touch is cool, her voice calm and reassuring. Certain. But even so, it is not enough to cut through what I know. It does not negate what the Shaman will do to my dragoste.

“But the Shaman,” I say.

“I know,” she says, bowing her own head. “I know too well. But I tell you, I know, in my heart, that Tajss will not let your dragoste come to harm.”

“You should have told me,” Dilacs says.

“As if you didn’t know,” I snap.

“I did, but knowing and you telling are not the same.”

I open my mouth to make sure he knows how stupid I think he is but before I can say it there is a commotion in the room behind us. As one, Dilacs and I turn and move so that we are between the doorway and the Queen.

“Where!” a Zmaj roars.

The six Zmaj who are obstinately not guarding us form a line between the door and my brother and me. I shake my head, it’s well enough to let the lizards deal with one of their own. What difference does it make to me? Except it would be good to release some of this anger and beating a Zmaj is the next best thing to laying my hands on my dragoste’s kidnappers.

A Zmaj rips the leather that serves as a door aside so hard it comes down in a heap. He throws it to the side and storms in. I do not recognize him, but his rage is palpable.

“You!” he roars pointing a finger between Dilacs and me.

He rushes forward and right into the six guards. They try to stop him, but his momentum carries them with him. They cling to him ineffectively, as if they are no more than a child’s dolls. I take a step ahead, ready to meet him head-on.

“Me,” I growl, cocking a fist and letting it fly for his ugly lizard face.

My fist lands with a hard crack. His head snaps to the side, and he grunts in pain. Two guards let go of him and jump onto me. I fight to break free so I can finish what I started. The lizard is also trying to break free. The room reverberates with our mingling roars and battle cries.

“Enough!” a new voice commands.

The tone of the voice and the way it carries brooks no denial. I stop fighting and before I can see who gave the order, I see the Zmaj did as well. I look for the source and see her. A human. Tall with gray at her temples stares with an imperious gaze. She is also very, very pregnant. Her belly is swollen to the point she looks as if she must burst at any moment. Pregnancy or no, it doesn’t matter. She commands the room by her very presence.

A lizard stands behind her wearing a breastplate made of bones. That must be the Al’fa, leader of the Cavern Zmaj. The one who has plotted the demise of my people for longer than I have been alive. Seeing him, I growl, but then someone touches my arm. My Queen presses her hand onto me as she moves to stand in front of Dilacs and me. She’s placing herself between the two groups.

“Lady Rosalind, Al’fa of the Zmaj,” she says, bowing her head. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

Quickly? I could have caught the infiltrators and saved her by now.

I keep my mouth shut. I respect my Queen too much to let my mouth run off with every thought that pops into my head.

“Queen Rani,” the human she called Rosalind says, moving forward and bowing her head. “Forgive me if I don’t curtsy, I am,” she motions her hands around her swollen stomach.

“Of course,” my Queen says with a bright smile. “I assume you are due soon?”

“Yes,” Rosalind says. “But we have a more pressing problem, do we not?”

“I am not sure it is our problem,” the Zmaj Al’fa says, moving past everyone and going to stand on the far side of the table that dominates the room.

Everyone turns towards him. The Zmaj with the broken horn and milky eye goes to stand on his left and another, one of the monster Zmaj, enters and stands on his right. The rest of the Zmaj move back to stand against the walls except the one I punched. He is rubbing his jaw as he moves to stand next to me. I give him a side-eyed look and he frowns as a low growl slips from his lips.

Rosalind inserts herself between the two of us and then motions that my Queen should be at her side. Queen Rani moving in forces me to take another step aside, which I do for her.

“Al’fa,” Rosalind says. “They have taken two of my people. I am not going to stand by and let that happen.”

“My mate!” the Zmaj I punched yells.

“I know, Sek’su,” the Al’fa says. “But they have tunneled past our defenses. I cannot send warriors out until we are sure of the security of the compound.”

“I will not wait here while they do…” Sek’su strangles off and he doesn’t finish.

“Nor will I,” I say, leaning onto the table and growling. “We must save the females.”

“I say again, this is not my primary concern,” the Al’fa says. “I have to protect the compound.”

He motions across the table that has the compound carved in miniature.

“Your words are wise,” Queen Rani says. “But I also agree with Rosalind. We cannot let the Shaman have any more of our people. You do not know what he will do to them. Anything they know, he will. They can help him in ways you cannot imagine.”

“I cannot afford to waste a single life,” Rosalind says. “There are too few of us as it is. Our future depends on all of us surviving. I will not let them go.”

“I cannot send a force against them,” the Al’fa says. “Not now.”

“Not a force then,” the one-horned, milky-eyed Zmaj says.

“What are you thinking?” the Al’fa asks.

“A strike team,” the monstrous Zmaj with the freaky tail and extra arms says looking right at me. “Small. Effective.”

The Al’fa slaps his tail on the ground rapidly then shakes his head.

“We need all hands,” he says. “The… Urr’ki,” he hesitates before using our proper name, “know their people. I need them to help us find where else they might have tunneled past our defenses.”

I growl and just over from me, the Zmaj I punched does too.

“I will stay and help,” Dilacs says, jerking my attention to him.

“Brother!” I exclaim in our language.

“I know,” he says. “But this is the only way. He is right, we need to know where else they have managed to tunnel into. Do you think these unobservant lizards will ever find all the tunnels? They can barely find their tails with both hands.”

I frown, shaking my head, because he’s right. Queen Rani watches the two of us and then nods when she sees both understanding and agreement.

“Does that satisfy your needs, Al’fa?” Queen Rani asks.

“I am going too,” Sek’su says loudly. “They took my treasure. I will destroy every one of them.”

“Sek’su,” the Al’fa says, speaking softly, which somehow makes him seem dangerous for the first time. “You will do as you are ordered.”

Sek’su growls. His wings rustle and his tail slaps the floor in rapid-fire. He’s breathing heavily and shaking his head while balling his hands into fists. I watch, waiting for him to explode.

“My treasure,” he says.

Treasure. The Zmaj equivalent of dragoste, though it doesn’t encompass nearly as much as dragoste. How can you own your love? Treasure, as if you might put her on a shelf and lock her away. Another ridiculous lizard concept.

“Al’fa,” milky eye says. “It is his treasure. He should be part of the team.”

The Al’fa narrows his eyes, takes a deep breath, and holds it. I think, for a moment, he is going to say ‘no’ just to spite Sek’su. I watch, curious, how can they follow a leader who would act this way? But no, the Al’fa lets the breath out in a sharp exhale and nods.

“Yes,” he says. “You will go. The two of you. That is all I can spare.”

“What?” Sek’su and I exclaim as one.

We look at each other, shaking our heads as one before turning to protest to our leaders. Queen Rani smiles and nods, placing her hand on my forearm before I can protest. Dilacs snickers so I punch him in the side making him grunt with pain.

I missed what happened with Sek’su, but he is glaring at me with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw. Looking at him all I can think is how much I hate him. His smug look. The stupid tan of his scales. The smirk of his lips. I want to beat him until that smirk is gone forever.

But if I am to save my dragoste, I have no choice. All they will send with me is him. I would be much happier with my brother at my side, but he is right too. The lizards will never find the signs of tunnels without him which means the entire compound is at risk. And they will not mount a force to take out the Shaman until their compound is safe.

I am caught between a figurative rock and a cave-in. Resolving myself to the situation, I walk over to Sek’su. He’s a head taller than I am as well as a little broader in the shoulders. I look him over slowly, carefully, until our eyes meet. I thrust my hand out between us. He stares at it. I wait.

Finally, he grasps my hand by the wrist, like a warrior, and we shake.

I am coming for you, Saylor. Even if it means having to work with this dim-witted lizard, I will find you. I will save you. And I will kill anyone who has laid a finger on you.