“Is this true?” Jaspar demanded of Fabian.
“You heard what my princess said,” the leader said.
It was a classic example of Harbinger manipulation.
He was telling the truth, after all; Jaspar had indeed heard what the female had said.
“You must answer his question,” the hologram said to Fabian.
“Which question must I answer?” Fabian wheedled.
“Did your people also station spies to watch our hotel and this place?” Jaspar repeated.
The leader glared at him.
“Yes, we did,” he snarled, his eyes briefly going reptilian, bright red with an angry vertical black slit.
“Then both of you may station guards here until the actual meeting takes place, to ensure that there is no sabotage.” The Arbitrator looked annoyed. “You are meeting in a week; please stay away from each other until then. Since the Harbingers have broken the laws of the human world, I forbid them from entering the town again.” And he faded out.
Jaspar flashed a scornful look of triumph at the leader of the Harbinger Clan, and then he and his clan headed back to the bed and breakfast.
He needed to find out why his heart-mate was angry with him. He would not rest until he knew and figured out how to make it right
That was no easy task, however. Liza avoided him all day, barely speaking to him. At the end of the day, she hurried to her room at the bed and breakfast and locked the door. She did not answer when Jaspar knocked.
A couple of days went by like this, with Liza working all day and ignoring Jaspar at night. Jaspar knew that he could have insisted that Liza honor her agreement and go on a date with him, but he did not want to force her to be with him. He wanted her towantto be with him. He wanted her to look at him the way she had before she’d become angry with him…with that light shining in her eyes and the smile playing on her rosy lips.
On the third morning, Jaspar saw her get up and hurry over to her grandmother’s house at six a.m. He followed her over there and knocked.
Liza’s grandmother pulled the door open.
Jaspar bowed to her. “Greetings, baker of goods and ancestor of my heart-mate.”
Her grandmother just looked at him and shook her head from side to side, disappointment in her eyes.
Liza stomped up, glowering at him. Marjan followed her, accompanied by La La. Even La La looked angry, Jaspar was shocked to see.
He pulled a piece of candy from his leather belt-pouch and offered it to La La. She slapped it out of his hand and stomped on it with her little booted paw. “Sriii, sriii, la, la,” she spat.
Marjan looked amused. “Shall I tell you into which orifice she suggests you shove your gift?”
“Ah, no, I prefer that to remain a mystery.”
“Why are you here?” Liza demanded.
“You know why. I am here to find out why you’re angry.”
“Really. That’s how you’re going to play it.” Liza met his stare challengingly.
Jaspar shook his head in confusion. “We are playing? What are we playing? I do not like this game at all.”
“Fine,” Liza snapped. “Apparently, an investigation at the Weather Control Station revealed a couple of Drakken scales next to a machine that had been sabotaged. Silver, tinged with black.” She glared at him. “Now, if it were just a matter of you trying to make sure that we were stuck there for our date, I could look past it and chalk it up to you wanting to spend more time with me. But the fact is, you swore to me that you didn’t sabotage the weather station. And you also claimed that your species is incapable of lying.”
“We are,” Jaspar said.
“Yeah, so it said in the Encyclopedia Galactica, but you lied about sabotaging the weather station, which means that you are capable of lying in general. The only reason I believed you when you said you weren’t spreading the fungus was because you said you couldn’t lie. But you can. And if you can lie about one thing, then you could be lying about everything.”
“That logic cannot be denied,” Jaspar said.
