The wind ruffled Kody's hair as he and his mount, Per, rode along the silent streets of Rileikoul. It was the dark of night, and Kody was enjoying his peaceful ride. Little did he know, he was being watched. Watched by a woman with dark eyes and a long sheet of thick, white hair....
"Halt, boy!" Inrahi called shrilly, darting out of the shadows on quick, heeled feet. "Who are you, and where are you going with that Drakkin?"
"Oh, I'm Kody," the boy said quickly, recognizing Inrahi. "I'm Tytula's friend, and I help her care for the Drakkins. I just applied for a hatchling from Dwahro. Sorry to disturb you." Kody bowed quickly from Per's back.
"I see," Inrahi snarled. "How is that girl doing?"
"Oh, she's great!" Kody chattered to a smug Inrahi. "Did you hear? Tolethven just awarded his hatchlings, and he awarded Sera to Ty! She's growing up so fast. She's a blue...female, too? Amazing, eh?"
Inrahi's eyes widened, but, before she had a chance to reply, both Drow heard a frantic voice.
"Kody, you naughty child, there you are!" Tytula came running up, followed by Serau-ra herself. Ty seemed surprised to see the little female as it darted around her, but she quickly snatched the little one up.
"Sera," Tytula tutted. "You shouldn't have followed me, young lady!"
I want to see where you going, the young blue replied simply, wide green eyes glimmering in the night.
"Well, you should have...oh." Tytula's voice became sour and dry when she spotted Lady Breeder Inrahi standing beside her. "You."
However, Inrahi couldn't speak. She was staring at the tiny blue female with an expression of uncontrolable wrath covering her face. She was visibly trembling with fury, her hands clenched into fists. Finally, she found her voice.
"How COULD he?!?" the Lady screeched in rage. "The IDIOT, BLASTED MORON! Augh, Tolethven, WHAT WAS he THINKING? Him, selling a blasted female to a blasted foreigner like that. Oh, we have had the monopoly for SO LONG, WHY DID HE DO THIS?!? I CAN'T BELIEVE he threw it all away. Just like that, YES, like none of it mattered!"
The woman's breaths were coming in short, heavy gasps now. Her face was red, and her eyes were wide with anger. "That Dwharo, it was all his idea. Yesss..." she hissed, her eyes glowing. "I'll show him a thing or two. Tytula, you are NEVER taking this business over! NEVER, do you hear me? NEVER!!"
With that, the lady stormed away. Her high heels clicked loudly as she stomped, and she stumbled more than once as she rushed off to her home. Her sleek hair was tangled and matted now, and it fluttered slightly in the breeze.
"Hmph," Tytula said, shaking her own long hair back over her shoulders. "Serves her right. Let's go home now, Kody."
With that, the two people and two Drakkins returned through Kody's portal, to Dracogrex.
* * *
"It's for you, Ty!" Kody called, waving an envelope. "From Tolethven, I think!"
With a sigh of relief, Tytula sat down to read the letter. Hopefully, Tolethven had some good information that would help Sera.
Tytula,
I understand your troubles completely! Many drakkin females have a strong dislike of albinos, seeing them as weak males with little or nothing to contribute to a colony. That's probably how your little blue is seeing Cris right now. You need to find some way to hint to her that he's not as useless as she thinks. This can be very tricky.
First, if he's ever done anything nice for her or stood up for her in a conversation, even if it seemed minor at the time, she will have remembered it. Females have a remarkable tendency to retain things like this, as well as insults and slights. They hold grudges quite well. You can use that memory to your advantage in this instance, however, by lightly and subtly hinting that loyalty is hard to come by and she wouldn't be making the right decision as a leader to ignore his potential.
Drakkin of old - and of today, in the wild - were very territorial creatures and females often fought over territory, laying traps for infringing colonies and planning ambushes. Albinos were kept by some of these leaders as advisors, their attention for detail being quite acute and their tactical minds being well-advanced. These were females at the peak of their power. She would be foolish to ignore such history, and that little blue of yours is no fool.
Anyway, hope this bit of history helps you out! I'm lucky Cha's such an easy-going partner or my life would be that much more difficult. Hopefully Sera will tone down the bossy with age.
Tolethven
Tytula laid her head on her hands, stumped. What had Cris ever done for Sera?
Then, she remembered.
*
The blue blinked again.
"I need to name you," Tytula continued.
"How about Blue-Deamon?" Kody suggested, having watched the whole ordeal. Per nodded in agreement.
You stupid, Cris said indignantly. Lady should have pretty name. Like Pretty-Name, see?
*
It was perfect! Cris had not only been nice, but he had protected the little female's dignity. As bad as the name 'Pretty-Name' was, it was a kind, respectful thing for a male to do for a female.
Tytula rose to seek out Sera. The young female looked much older now. She was beginning to slim up a bit, and become more elegant and poised than the males. Her slanted, green eyes flickered over to where Tytula stood.
"Hey, Sera-baby!" Tytula said sweetly, sitting down beside the gorgeous blue. "What's up?"
Nothing important, Sera replied dryly. Why? If this is about biting Per....
"You bit Per again?" Tytula asked, surprised (even though she should have been expecting something like that). "We can discuss that later. For now...it's a bit of history for you."
Boring Crap 101, Sera sighed, rolling her eyes in a teenager-ish fashion typical of her. Continue, teacher.
Tytula playfully scratched Sera behind the developing horns. "Well," Tytula said, "I want to teach you about females like you. You'll be leading the Dracogrex colony soon, and you'll be bringing more little baby Drakkin into the world. However, I don't expect you do make all of the important, vital decisions entrusted to the colony leader on your own."
Vital, Sera sighed dreamily.
"Yes," Tytula continued. "Most females that live in the wild have advisors. They'll run their ideas and suggestions by them, just to get a second opinion. Makes sense, right?"
I guess, Sera said, looking interested. When it came to her future position as colony leader of Dracogrex, she was all business.
"Usually," Tytula said, mentally crossing her fingers, "the females will choose intelligent colony members, as well as ones that have a lot of loyalty to their leader. Now, loyalty is hard to come by, eh? You'll want to think about that one."
Tytula stopped her little talk there, because she could see the light of recognition passing over Sera's face. The blue rose to her feet, and trotted off in search of something. Tytula hoped it was Cris.
Feeling she had done all she could for the situation, Tytula went back into the kitchen. To her amazement, Sera was perched in a kitchen chair, reading the letter from Tolethven! Tytula grabbed the parchment just as Sera began to look up, and whisked it away.
It makes sense, I suppose, Sera said simply. I just wish you could have told me flat out that you wanted me to be nicer to Cris. I like the idea of an advisor, and he's certainly smarter than certain Greens we know.
**To Be Continued**
