“What Nicky does is not up to you,” I pointed out. “She’s planning to find a job and build a new life for her and Zaza.”
“Why would she do that when we will support her?” Percy sounded genuinely confused.
“Because it’s not Bruce’s place,” Nicky offered a firm reply. “He’s already been more than generous but it’s not up to him to provide for me and Zaza.”
My mouth opened, and I had to quickly rein in my tongue before it said, I don’t mind. How pathetic would I sound? The crippled soldier begging her to stay when she obviously wanted to leave.
Percy sniffed. “In olden days, it was a human male’s duty to care for females and their progeny.”
“Times have changed. Women fought for the right to live independently. It’s a good thing, wouldn’t you say? I mean, you’re female, too. You should be happy we’re no longer second-class citizens.”
Percy tossed her head and sniffed. “I said humans had the habit of denigrating females. We dragons never made a distinction between the sexes. With us, prestige comes with size, be it of our bodies, hoard, or conquered lands.”
“Should have called you Genghis,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Who is this Genghis?”
“A warlord who rampaged and defeated a great many armies to capture a vast amount of territory.”
“A male title wouldn’t have suited me,” Percy said with a shake of her head. “But I am curious how you chose the name Percy? Especially since you were unaware of my sex. What great things did this sexless Percy accomplish?”
I gaped and my mind whirred. How pissed would Percy be to discover I’d in fact named her as if she were a dude?
Nicky saved me. “Percy is actually short for Persephone, a fictional Greek Goddess who ruled over the dead and the underworld.”
“Oh, what a wondrous choice. A dragon is, after all, practically a god.” Percy preened but only for a second. “Wait, I thought you told me you didn’t know I was female?” Suspicious eyes narrowed on me.
“Percy is actually the unisex name created to honor the goddess, suitable for males and females,” Nicky replied.
I glanced at Nicky to mouth, ‘Thank you,’ because she’d saved me from dealing with an angry little lizard who might have tried to chew my ankles in rage.
“Persephone is quite a mouthful,” Percy mused aloud. “But it has a majestic tone to it. While you, as my closest servants, may continue to use Percy when addressing me, I shall expect you to introduce me to newcomers using my full name and my title, once I’ve selected the one I like best.”
“Title?” I repeated.
“You know, your majesty, empress, queen, warlady.” Percy spouted off a few. “I wish to study the languages a bit more to see which best resonates.”
My little dragon and her delusions of grandeur. “Moving away from names and titles, you mentioned getting rich. How are you going to do that?” Because I couldn’t exactly see Percy getting a job.
“By accumulating treasure, of course.” Percy rolled her eyes.
“Sounds like you’re planning to steal people’s stuff.”
“Hardly steal. If one can’t protect their possessions then that’s hardly my fault. Then there’s the wealth generated as I take people into my service and their assets become mine.”
“Whoa.” I held up a hand which Zaza took to be game as she slapped it. When had she ended up on my lap? “I am not giving you my stuff.” Bad enough my ex took more than fifty percent of my asses, which had been quite a rude slap, considering she made more from her job than I did with the military. At least I retained all the rights to my books and royalties.
“There is no giving,” Percy explained as if I were a simpleton. “It became mine the moment I selected you. Same as Nicky.”
“Hate to tell you, Percy, but I own pretty much nothing,” was Nicky’s wry reply.
“At least you have skill in the kitchen, so you’re forgiven.” Percy waved it off.
“Are you telling me, back in the day, a dragon just had to show up and people would hand over their stuff?”
“Of course not. Some protested.”
“And what happened to them?”
