They watched as the lizard turned away, then Aradella sat up. She reached under her skirt.
“What are you doing?” he asked, eyes wide.
She untied the lower pad around her waist and handed it to him. It was big since it had been made to cover her from waist to knees. “Will this work?” She took a breath. “That feels wonderful!”
Mekos was looking at her in speculation. “Is this like your eyebrows? To protect you from the queen’s wrath?”
“Yes.” She smiled at his perception.
He nodded to the large upper half of her. “Is that more?”
It was harder to remove the upper pad and pull it out of the big dress.
Mekos gave a crooked smile. “I didn’t mind that part of you being large. It—”
“Get that lizard!” she ordered, her face turning red. She stayed back and watched as Mekos wrestled the lizard, deftly escaping the claws.He can certainly move well, she thought. Finally, he wrapped the pads around it. Once the creature was encased, it stopped moving about.
Looking like a cave dweller who’d just conquered a marauding beast, Mekos went back to her, all fifty pounds of the mini dragon held by one arm on his hip. “We need to tell Kaley this story,” he said. “Maybe she’ll know a solution.”
“But if we tell your parents what we heard, won’t they take us away?”
“Definitely! They’ll get us out of here so fast we’ll disappear. But then you’d be in danger from Valona for the rest of your life. I don’t think that woman will let distance stop her.”
“So how can an earthling help?” She sounded as bewildered as she felt.
“I don’t know, but I have this monster to use as a bribe. If we can get Kaley to, uh, stop with my father long enough, she might tell us what to do about this woman’s murders. Maybe there’s some ancient spell or potion.” He looked into the distance. “I wonder where the woman does it?”
“And your earthling stepmother might know this? And she wouldlikethat thing?” She nodded to the lizard.
He pushed in a foot of the lizard. “Yes. Kaley walks up to the most dangerous animals and they become tame. She might trade my father for this creature. She—” He broke off, seeming to be waiting for Aradella to make a joke, but she was silent. “Go on,” he said, “you can say it.”
“I wouldn’t trade your father for all the dragons on Earth.”
“That’s mild. You can do better.”
Aradella thought. “I’d trade it for one night of ecstasy with him? I would let him rule Pithan if I could be his queen?”
“That’s better.”
Aradella laughed, then gasped. The lizard had just burned a hole in the padded wraps. “It might hurt her.”
“Not Kaley. Wait until you see what she does.”
“I’ve already seen too much of what she does.” Her sarcasm was heavy. “The question is, how do we find them? Search every waterfall and cave? Swim the rivers and look at duck feet?”
“Good point.” Mekos gave a low whistle and the large black bird that had given warning about the fruit flew to a tree branch.“Find Papá and tell him I have a special animal to show Kaley. Alone.” He gave the bird a warning look. “Don’t even hint at poisonous plants or the evil plans of Valona. Understand?”
The bird gave a body dip, then flew off.
“It’s convenient that they can talk to your father that way.”
“Ha!” Mekos said. “When I was a kid, the birds told on me wherever I was. I’d fall asleep with my cousins and Papá would come and get me and carry me home.”
“He doesn’t like your relatives?”
“They’re foxes and there are predators after them.”
Aradella nodded in understanding. A little boy curled up with a litter of kits was a sweet vision, but dangerous.
