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"He is doing very well," Mikail said, relaxing in his sand pit with his mate curled partially around him.

"I'm glad to hear it," Irian said, leaning back. "Do you think he's ready?"

"Probably not quite, but close."

"I am not sure how much time we will have."

"There have been no other incidents," Cladden said. "Norian reports a few in the UK, but there has always been some dissent there, hence their own conclave. Guillaire in France says it has been quiet there. The German leadership say there have been a few incidents and all the other European groups are now quietly on watch."

"Russian?" Pax asked.

"Just the typical infighting from what I am told."

Mikail grunted. "They are always infighting. It is why my family left."

"How long ago was that?" Pax asked brightly and Mikail glared at him.

"Never you mind, speck."

Irian laughed. "He is never going to say and you know it."

"One can always try," Pax said philosophically.

"And you will never find out."

Cladden laughed. "So, all things considered, Ryan is very close to being able to address the council."

"If needed, yes, but I would say give him more time," Mikail said.

"As much as we can," Irian said. "I only fear that it is only a matter of time before they make their move."

"It is, it is only a question of when not if," Cladden said.

"Ryan will be ready," Pax said. "I have faith in the little dragon."

All the other dragons looked at Pax, who was perched on the edge of Cladden's desk, and burst into laughed.

Pax just sighed.

"Who hired you?" the blond woman asked in a soft voice that caused the hairs on the back of the mans neck to rise up and sent a sharp thrill down his spine, as well as causing an ever growing tightness in his pants.

The brawny man laughed. "Why are you worried about that?"

"I just want to know," she pouted.

He snorted. "She pays."

"She!" the woman said, eyes narrowing.

"Ha! You know me for all of three days and you think I'm yours?"

"I think I'm the best you'll ever get," she said, shifting her body about.

"You keep going on about great and all you are and all I've gotten were a few feels here and there," he grumbled. "How about your prove your the best thing in bed since...whenever!"

She smiled and stood, stretching out in such a way that made his heart skips. "Tell me who she is and we can talk."

"Ha! Get naked first and I'll think about it."

She smiled and slowly started to undress herself, teasing him. She pulled off her shirt, revealing firmly shaped breasts and a wonderful physique. She undid her bra and let it fall to the floor and stretched her arms over her head and smiled at him, winking. He was quite nearly hyperventilating but the time she was down to nothing but panties. She fingered them, pulling them out, giving him a brief glimpse of her pubic hair, and then pulled them back up.

"Tell me," she said breathlessly.

"Woman you need to do something about this!" he said, tugging at his pants.

She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his chest. "Tell me and all of me is yours, however you like it."

"Alexis," he breathed, trying to get his pants down.

"Ah," she said, "I suspected as much."

Her voice had changed.

HE looked over at her and she was looking at him intently. "Wha the hell is wrong with you?"

"You retrieved the information she wanted?"

"It's on my drive. Now get to it!," he said, finally getting his pants and boxers off.

She smiled and stressed, showing off her breasts and he reached to grab them.

He suddenly came in contact with smooth, warm hide. He screamed as he recoiled back from the dragoness standing before him. She considered him for moment then silenced his screams forever.

As she showered and redressed herself she muttered something about humans and their lack of control regarding their mating instincts. She paused to take the hard drive out of the case it sat in before walking out of the dingy apartment.

"Never back down," Isabelle told him. "It will be seen as weakness. If you should wish to withdraw a point you have made, allow them to explain your way out of it."

Ryan blinked. "How?"

"Usually you allow them to explain their situation again, pretend to mull it over, and concede that they may, not do but may, have a point and to continue on. Then you can acted to what they have said, if only theoretically."

Ryan sighed. "Why not just admit being wrong?"

"Because at this point, my dear child, you have to earn that right. Dragons have a notion of honor and power that is foreign to you and you will have to become accustomed to it I fear." She sighed. "I only wish that I would have taught you from the egg onwards. It would have made this so much easier."

"My parents would not have taught me?"

"Oh, they would have, boy, but they would have had me instruct you as well. It is always good to have multiple insights and methods of handling things."

Ryan looked down and mulled this over for awhile. "How would my father have handled it?"

She snorted. "Probably would have got up, told the council they were being so very foolish and vain, and then got down to the business of discussing the issue and actually making a choice rather than all the meaningless blustering."

"I wish I could do that."

"Give it some years, my prince," she said, smiling at him, which always made him feel so very strange.

Isabelle was hard to predict. She could be sweet and grandmotherly one moment and hard as nails and cranky the next. Overall he thought she liked him, if for no other reason that she was friends with his parents.

Her grasp of draconic politics was first rate, who was who, the factions, the probable weaknesses of each, and so on. With Pax riding with him he should have a fairly clear grasp of what was going on. Failing that, Irian would call for various procedural issues that would slow things up and give Ryan a chance to catch on.

Mikail was going to do what he did best: bluster and overwhelm. His age and status made it such that it was very, very impolite to overrule him directly. He could easily keep conversation going and a point of debate lasting long beyond it's actual useful lifespan just by being obstinate.

Ryan shook his head at all of it. "It is all so very odd."

"Without it, dragon would challenge each other and many would get hurt," Irian said. "Mother is right, you will get adjusted to it, my prince."

"It just seems like such a waste of time."

"Keep in mind you are thinking in a human perspective. Dragons have many, many more years do to things and so things can move more slowly. Quickly to a dragon may mean months or ever years, decades in some cases. Dragon politics are slow."

"Save for now," Ryan said astutely. "The evil ones are rushing."

Isabelle sighed. "They are, my prince, and we can only hope they will make mistakes along the way."

"Hope?" Ryan said with some misgiving.

"If they do not, it means they have some solid plan they are working with and it may well be as such that we cannot stop them this time," Isabelle said quietly. "But I cannot see that being so. The evil ones are never so very organized."

"And remember that they tried to kill you before you could get to the council at all. That means they would rather you be dead that to deal with you. I have the feeling your sudden appearance has thrown a wrench in their plans," Irian said.

"I suppose that is true," Ryan said. He yawned and stretched himself out as long as he could. "When am I going to see the council?"

"We are not so very sure, my prince," Irian said. "We have to do this carefully. So far, no one has admitted that you exist and, by and large, I think the council is ignorant of you. Your arrival will cause power shifts and maneuvers. So long as we control when this happens we will be in a position of advantage."

"And if they do know about me?" Ryan asked

"Then we are being played a fools," Isabelle said quietly. "And I only hope not too foolish."

Ryan's parents lay out on the back deck, enjoying the sun, taking a rare moment of relaxation, inasmuch as anyone could relax in their situation. Being used to a single dragon they had raised was one thing. Having several about that had motives and desires that were unclear to them was another one entirely. One that was just a little, to put it mildly, nerve-wracking.

And then there was how they treated Ryan and the fear that they would lose their only child.

So they lay out, trying not to think of any of those things, pretending, at least, that this was some sort of vacation.

"You know, I almost feel guilty," Beth said.

"About what?"

"Just relaxing. Shouldn't we be doing something for Ryan? Shouldn't we be worried?"

Allen sighed. "Beth, there's little we can do at this point and taking a break for ourselves is hardly betraying Ryan. If anything our son needs us to be at least somewhat relaxed to support him."

"I know. It's just that he so stressed I just feel that..." She shrugged.

"I know what you mean."

They lay there for awhile, lost in their private thoughts, when a short, graying, man walked up to them, dressed in a nice blue polo shirt and beige slacks. "May I join you?" he asked, his voice British accented.

Beth looked at Allen who nodded. "Of course. I fear you have us at a disadvantage, Mr?"

The man blinked. "It is Pax."

"Oh! I had no idea what your human form looked like!"

He shook his head. "I very seldom wear it; I much prefer my dragon form."

"Ah," Beth said. "Have a seat. Is this a social visit?"

"Partly. Mostly I needed to get away from Cladden for awhile. He is a good dragon, but tends to get flustered over things a bit easily."

Allen laughed. "Good to see dragons with human traits."

Pax snorted. "Humans are far from e the only creatures that can make an ass of themselves."

They were quiet a time and Pax yawned. "Tired," he muttered.

Beth looked him curiously. "I know that Ryan can go a long time without sleep before he starts to complain. A lot of the time the only reason I think he sleeps when we do is because it's convenient."

Pax nodded. "Dragons in general need little sleep, most of the time. Things have simply been very stressful and busy, trying to get Ryan up to speed, keep him safe, and figure out what to do next."

Allen grunted. "Moving him around like a pawn, you mean."

Pax sighed. "Not so very much. Ryan is important, but none of us would ever do anything to harm him or force him into something. He understands what is at stake and has, so far, agreed to go along with us."

"And if he decides not to?"

"Then we figure out what to do from there. Mostly trying to figure out how to protect him," Pax said. "I fear if the evil ones gain control that his life expectance is going to drop rapidly. They are not going to let him alone."

Allen grunted again and Beth looked at Pax with a worried expression. "I do not mean to worry you. So far, so good," Pax said, smiling.

"Its hard not to worry about Ryan," Beth said. "He's... well sometimes he just seems so fragile."

"There is more steel there than you think, Lady," Pax said. "He stood up to Mikail just fine and has interceded on the behalf of other dragons and humans. He is plenty intelligent and strong."

"Just don't push him too hard."

"We try not to."

The conversation lagged and Beth finally asked about the weather.

"Oh, pleasant enough for this time of year. A bit warm currently, but it will only get more so."

"It's always hot around here?"

"Pretty much. I prefer it a bit colder actually."

"Sure is beautiful though."

Pax shrugged. "I tend to prefer the hills of Northern England myself, but then that is where I was hatched and raised, mostly."

"Who did you come to the US?" Allen asked.

"Mother and father decided to spend some time here with some of their friends and decided they rather liked it, so they built a house here. I honestly figure it was more to get me out of England and some of the people I was associating with at the time. I had developed a rathe ardent dislike of humans."

Beth laughed. "I'm human and I don't care for us most of the time."

"How long ago was that? Twenty? Thirty years?" Allen asked.

Pax thought about it. "Closer to two hundred actually."

Allen started. "What?"

"200 years, give or take. Somewhere around 1780 or 90 or so, if I remember right. Not terribly after the rebellion of the colonies."

"You mean the revolutionary war," Beth said.

"Different sides, different names."

"Just how old are you, Pax?" Allen wondered.

"264 or so. Why?" Pax asked curiously.

They both shook their heads. "I had no idea...dragons are very long lived aren't they?"

"400 years is about average if I remember correctly."

Beth hesitated before asking. "How long will Ryan live?"

"I am not so very certain. I would guess upwards of 400 years or so. Information on his breed is spotty."

"So long after we will be gone," Beth murmured.

Pax smiled sadly. "It is hard and one of the reasons that dragons are careful about human friendships. In our time scale you do not live very long. Most times dragons become friends with the family in question for many generations."

"I could see how that would be hard. Ryan knows?" Allen asked.

"We have discussed it. In fact, he was asking me where I went to school when we first met, assuming that I was a young dragon due to my size. It was rather humorous when I told him that John Adams was president when I was placed in a human school, mostly against my will."

They were all silent, listening to the sounds of nature while Ryan's parents contemplated their sons lifespan and other dragons, wondering what all they had seen and done as compared to a human. It was rather unnerving to think that the dragon across or them had seen things that would be considered old history.

Pax finally spoke. "Thinking of friends and humans, I did wish to ask you about Ryan."

"What about him?" Allen said flatly. "What is it you wish of him now?"

Pax held up his hands. "Nothing, and if it makes you feel any better I have cautioned everyone about pushing him so hard."

Allen grunted. "So?"

"How did he meet Tanner?"

Beth and Allen looked at each other for a moment. "We were on vacation. He ran across Tanner while he was out hiking and Tanner figured out that he was a dragon," Allen said.

"Fortunate it was Tanner and not someone else."

"True," Beth said. "Why did you want to know?"

"I am trying to figure out the depth of their friendship and why."

"You see a problem?" Allen said, quick to jump on the possibility of keeping Tanner away from his son, or at least limiting his access. He did not fully trust the man no matter what Trisk and said about him.

Pax shrugged. "Not so very much. It is more wanting to know Tanner's influence on him."

"A lot," Beth said. "He has done things for Tanner that he would not do for others, or at least more quickly. Like after Kheros scared him Tanner was the only one who could coax him out."

"So you would say he wishes to please Tanner?"

"Yeah," Allen said. "And I don't like it."

Pax shrugged again. "It is doing no harm."

"You think having a human with that much sway over the prince isn't harmful?" Allen demanded.

"That remains to be seen and why I am asking. So far, Tanner seems a good influence on him."

"I can't see dragons allowing Tanner be around Ryan all the time."

"I cannot see Ryan allowing him to be put away, or you two for that matter," Pax said. "They will have to adjust to it."

"Or kill Tanner and us."

Pax shook his head. "I do not see them as that desperate and if they did Ryan would become totally unmanageable."

"Seems like a good thing for the evil ones," Beth pointed out.

"No. If they cannot control him and he is not dead, he is going to stir up trouble. It would be much preferable for them if they could control him or keep him out of the council."

"But they tried to kill him already!"

"Because he was not known about at that time. Once Ryan is introduced to the council then he actually becomes more safe in a way. They are far less likely to try to kill him and leave a martyr."

"Great!"

Pax shifted to his full dragon form. "Do not worry so. Even the evil ones are not quick to take lives; it is more satisfying by far to be in control of someone."

"Yeah. Lovely," Allen said sourly. "I would rather Ryan not have to deal with the council at all. There has to be some way of keeping him out."

"I wish there was."

"Fine! Do whatever with him, but what you're going to do if he breaks down is beyond me," Allen said, frustrated.

"If he cannot fly with the dragons, then he should stay grounded. If running with humans is too much for him, how is he going to contend with a dragon in flight?" Pax asked. "Let him grow. He needs to grow."

"Poetic," Allen said sourly.

"Sounds like the book of Jeremiah. 'If running with the footman has wearied you, how will you contend with the horses?'" Beth said.

---

"Very similar, Yes," Pax agreed

"Do you know the Bible?" Beth asked curiously.

"Some. I have never really settled down to read it."

"Don't you think that's rather important?" Beth asked.

Pax lifted his wings slightly. "It is not a bad thing, but is hardly required."

"What do you mean?" Allen demanded.

Pax just looked at him, head cocked. "It was not written for us."

Allen started. "What?"

"The Bible was written for humans, not dragons."

Beth looked troubled. "But what about God? What about salvation?"

Pax smiled. "If you are so very worried that dragons worship some pagan God, you need not be. We worship the same God you do; there is no other. His plan and intent for us it not the same as it is for humans, as such, the Bible mostly does not apply to us. You will find that in general He requires the same of us as he does of you, which makes sense really."

Beth shook her head, baffled. "That's...just amazing."

Pax laughed. "I suppose that I have never given it that much thought."

Allen still looked disgruntled. "So what about salvation? What do dragons have to do to be saved?"

"Obey, mostly. Dragons are not the ones who fell."

Allen looked stunned and then burst out laughing. "You know, for some reason that's about the funniest thing I've heard all day."

Pax snorted. "Glad to have amused you."

"Dragons never fell?" Beth asked.

"No. Mostly, dragons have been good."

"Then why do you have evil dragons?"

Pax sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, dragons have a will that can be corrupted. The dark one is capable of swaying dragons to his side. It is much harder to do with dragons but all the worse should it happen. When a dragon falls, there may well be no way back."

"That's horrible!"

"Rather! Only God knows when a dragon is too far gone, but once you cross the line, it seems there is no way back."

Beth shook her head. "I don't know if I could live like that."

Pax shrugged. "It is not so very bad. Dragons have more freedom, I guess you could say, in what we do; we are not as rule bound as humans. But then we also have instincts and other drives that help to protect and guide us, even though some of them have to be controlled."

"We are not saved by law, but by grace," Allen said.

Pax nodded. "I have some limited understanding of it. But again, dragons have instincts and a different way of thinking, so it all makes sense the way God arranged it."

Beth shook her head. "I'm dumbfounded. It's amazing. Bizarre. Weird."

"I suppose it is as odd as you religion is to us at times. It is comforting, however, that we all came from the same source as it were."

"There is that!"

---

Allen sighed. "All this theology aside, do you honestly think Tanner is no threat to Ryan and that Ryan is doing well?"

Pax nodded. "Yes, I do. Tanner has done nothing wrong and has given him good advice. Ryan is far stronger than you give him credit for. Do not underestimate the little guy."

Allen stared at Pax and then burst out into laughter, Beth shortly behind him. Pax rumbled, looking at them both, wondering what he had said. "Little guy!" Beth gasped, pointing at the dragon, and then went back to holding her sides.

Pax shook his head and grumbled. "Humans!"

Tanner sat on the couch in his room, watching a documentary on North American dragon breeds and some of their customs, entranced by it. Draconic videos were very rare for obvious reasons. It was far too easy for a DVD to fall into human hands, even with the custom encoding that dragons used. Eventually, any encoding could be broken.

There was a knock at the door and he wondered who it could be. He paused the video and went to the door, opening it to find a medium height, black haired man of nondescript features standing there. Tanner had never seen him before. "May I help you?"

The man cocked his head. Dragon, Tanner thought. "Are you Tanner Wilberforce?"

"Yes. And you sir?"

"Ebony. May I come in? I have wanted to meet you for some time. You writings on the Irish breeds are very interesting. Human perspective is rarely so sharp and well done."

"Ah!" Tanner said, smiling. "Certainly. I wasn't aware that anyone on this side of the Atlantic had read any of it."

"A few," Ebony admitted. "I have personally always had an interest in Irish dragons."

"Related breed?"

"Possibly, though we are much lighter in build."

Tanner smiled. "Have a seat. I was just watching a video on North American breeds. I'm not very familiar with them."

Ebony nodded and sat down. They talked about the video for a few moments when Ebony looked over at the clock. "You are friends with the prince?"

Tanner blinked, a little startled. "Well, yes, but I didn't think that to be common knowledge."

"It is not, human," Ebony said in a cold voice.

Tanner started to rise when Ebony shifted to to his bipedal form and knocked him to the ground, pinning him. "Oh no, you will not get away, human."

"Who are you?" Tanner grunted.

"No one you need know about," Ebony growled. "You are going to be the perfect control over the prince."

"Shove your tail up your ass!"

Ebony growled and hit him hard enough to make his ears ring. "You do not need to be alive, human, to be of use. You only need appear that way."

"Ryan isn't going to follow you!"

"Oh, he will," Ebony laughed. "The runt cares for you far too much to allow any harm to befall you. He will do exactly as we say or you will die a slow, painful death."

"You're going to kill me anyway!" Tanner snarled.

"True," Ebony admitted. "But there are many ways to die and we do accord you some small honor."

He stood up, jerking Tanner to his feet, cruel wrenching his arm, causing him to gasp in pain. "Now, you are going to come with me, quietly, or things are going to start going very, very badly."

"I am having a good time, mother!" Ryan said earnestly as they walked along. "It is stressful at times, but it is also fun. I only wish that no one wished to hurt us."

"I know, Ryan," his mother said. "I just worry about you."

"I am a big dragon!"

She laughed. "Oh stop it! You don't have to play the big scary dragon act with me and you know it. It won't work anyway; I raised you, remember?"

Ryan laughed. "Ok so it is scary. But no one will allow me to come to harm and we will win."

"I hope so."

"I know so. We will win, mother," Ryan said. "The dragons will know the truth when they hear it and will do the right thing."

She nodded. "We talked to Pax a bit about that. Good or evil though, dragons are dragons, Ryan, and you were raised human. Please be careful."

"I am, mother!"

"Good dragon!"

They walked around the side of the safe house, onto the front grounds. While nowhere near as elaborate as the gardens, they were still well kept and landscaped. It was a pleasant day, warm, bright, sunny, open, airy so many good things it was hard to describe them all. Ryan leaned close to this mother, enjoying her company. His father was out with Sulvius and Kheros again, golfing. Ryan hoped that he was enjoying it and getting used to being around dragons so that he wasn't so touchy.

"Isn't that Tanner?" his mother asked.

Ryan looked up to where his mother was pointing to see Tanner getting into a black BMW sedan with a dark looking human. "Yes, but who is that?"

His mother shrugged. "I don't know. Probably some dragon Tanner is getting to know. He loves to learn about different dragons."

Ryan quite nearly grumbled, even in his human form, about the thought of another dragon. "Yeah."

His mother looked down at him. "Jealous?"

"Why would you think that?" Ryan snapped.

"Oh, no reason," she said, trying not to laugh.

Ryan glared at her and looked at the car. It was starting to pull out , Tanner in the passenger seat. Ryan started. "Something is not right!"

"Oh Ryan, you're just jealous! Tanner isn't going to stop talking to you just because he found another dragon to be interested in."

"No! Something is not right! It does not feel right," Ryan said, starting to fret.

"Ryan," his mother said placatingly.

He shifted to his full form, startling her. "Mother! Please! Get someone!"

She looked at her son who had his ears laid totally back, body tense, eyes locked on the leaving BMW, wondering if Ryan really did sense something. She didn't believe in ESP, at least not with humans, but Ryan could be very perceptive and sensitive to emotions, even more so if he were close to the person. "Alright, alright! I'll go tell someone in the house."

Ryan suddenly snarled. "He is in danger! It will not be soon enough!" Before she could say anything he launched himself into the air, flapping hard to catch up to the BMW.

"Ryan! Wait!" she yelled

He either did not hear or did not listen and continued to gain altitude. She watched as he suddenly went into a stoop and dove on the car, slamming into the hood, roaring as loudly as he could. The car swerved, then accelerated, hard, and the driver slammed on the brakes, sending Ryan tumbling. The driver gunned the engine and drove at Ryan.

"Ryan!" she screamed, running!

Ryan lifted his head and hissed in alarm, leaping into the air, trying to get above the car. He barely made it, the car hitting him in the rail as it drove past, knocking him askew. He nearly pitched forward, slamming into the ground, but pulled out, spinning around, roaring angrily.

The car continued to drive forward, picking up speed as the driver headed for the gate, and Ryan roared again in frustration, flapping hard to gain height to stoop again. Other dragons were taking flight, roaring in anger.

Ryan screamed and dove again, dodging through the trees, landing on the roof of the car, barely able to catch it. Several other dragons were airborne, flying towards them, roaring in anger. The gate guard had shifted forms and was barreling down the road towards the car.

Ryan swung his tail, hard, at the drivers side window, smashing it, causing Ebony to swerve hard, smashing the car into the low wall that lined the drive. Ryan jumped, backwinging at the last second, landing easily. "Tanner!"

Tanner staggered out of the wreck, bleeding heavily from a cut on his forehead, looking dazed. Ebony climbed out of the car and shifted to his bipedal form, one wing askew. He snarled at Ryan. "You will pay, freak!"

"Ryan! No!" someone roared.

Ryan let loose a sharp trill, causing Ebony to duck. He burst forward and his jaws fastened around the black dragon's neck. Ebony feebly tried to knock Ryan away, but the little dragon bit all the harder, blood spurting out of his jaws, savagely sawing with his teeth, tearing out the black dragon's throat.

Ebony finally collapsed, body twitching, and Ryan released him. The dragons landed around him, looking on with expressions of anger, fear, and confusion. Ryan dizzily made his way to where Tanner sat holding his head. Tanner looked up at Ryan and flinched at the sight of all the blood and gore on the dragon's jaws. Ryan jerked back. "Tanner!"

He heard footsteps pounding up the drive and looked to see his mother running up. She stopped a short ways from him, staring at him with wide eyes, then looked over at the body of the dragon, still bleeding heavily, twitching. She looked at Ryan with a hand over her mouth, fear and unbelief in her eyes.

"Mother! No! I did not, I had..." Ryan started. He looked at the other dragons who were also staring at him and he whimpered.

"Get out of the way!" Athena yelled as she awkwardly flew over, carrying a bag in her forearms, Pax flying next to her. She looked at Rayn, looked at Ebony, then at Tanner. She sighed. "Pax, take the boy home. I will attend to Tanner."

Pax nodded and landed in front of Ryan. "Come on, Ryan. Lets get you home and cleaned up."

Ryan looked at his mother, trembling. "Mother...please..."

She just stared at him, eyes wide, hand still on her mouth. Ryan whimpered and Pax reached out and put a fore claw on his nose. "Come along, dragon," he said very gently. "You are fine; it will be fine."

He turned and walked off, Ryan following, head hanging low.

"How is he?" Cladden asked quietly.

"Shaken. Very badly shaken," Pax said. He shook his head, sighing. "He has never even experienced rage before to say nothing of actually drawing blood or killing someone. He is stunned."

Cladden sighed. "One would expect."

"Athena is with him, but he has been fairly unresponsive."

"And Tanner?"

"Minor laceration to the head; it just bled a lot. He may have a mild concussion and has sprained shoulder along with a bunch of bruises."

"At least that is good news."

Sulvius walked in, looking dejected. Cladden's ears came up. "Sulvius."

The white and blue dragon nodded and sat down heavily. "He is in shock and really would not say so very much. I will give him some more time before I talk to him again."

"Do you think he will speak with you?" Pax asked.

"I was his counselor before and he trusted me then, so I do not see why not," Sulvius said. He shook his head. "Damn, but this could not have happened at a worse time."

"Think it was planned?"

"Doubtful. They do not, hopefully do not, know much about what is going on here."

"There is alway the possibility of a spy," Pax said.

Cladden lifted a hand. "Please do not borrow trouble."

"Wisdom enough," Pax agreed.

"We are going to have to watch him," Sulvius said. "Draconic honor and pride, he may-" he broke off, ears up. "Kheros!"

"Damn!" Pax roared and they both barred out of Cladden's office at top speed.

"Kheros, put the gun down," Pax said reasonably.

"Get away!" the large dragon growled.

"It is not your fault!"

"I am to be his guardian! His protector! And now?"

"Kheros, Ryan was not attacked directly," Sulvius said. "You cannot plant for everything, so stop this nonsense."

"Nonsense!" Kheros roared. "It is my honor!"

"Way to go, Sulvius!" Pax said

"Oh shut up," Sulvius said irritably.

"Is that all you can come up with?" Pax asked, tail lashing.

"Why no, speck, I can also tell you to get the hell out of here while a professional handles the situation!"

Pax snorted. "Oh yes, so professional that you offend the client!"

"And a microscopic dragon can do better?"

Pax roared. "Why you!"

"Stop it! Both of you!" Kheros snapped, dropping the gun and standing between them.

Pax pounced on the gun, shifted to his human form and unloaded it. "There. Much better!"

Kheros looked startled "Why you!"

Sulvius put a hand on his shoulder. "It worked. Now are you ready to listen to reason?"

Khero's shoulder slumped. "Yes."

"There is nothing you could have done about this. Ebony, or whatever his real name is, snuck past the guards and used a fake ID to get into the safe house. No one suspected him; no one had seen him before but that is not uncommon here. Remember, most dragons expect some sort of honorable behavior, not all this skulking."

"Cowards!" Kheros growled.

"Be that as it may, we cannot be on guard for everything. We are fortunate Ryan acted as fast as he did and was there when he was, or Tanner could have been take and held against Ryan. I do not wish to even consider what that would have done to the young prince."

Kheros nodded. "He...is very attached."

"Yes," Sulvius agreed.

"Ryan killed for him," Pax said.

Sulvius sighed. "It is a little...disturbing."

"It was just rage!" Kheros protested.

"Ryan is not fully mature and his breed is not prone to rage," Pax disagreed. "Ebony was wounded and no longer a threat when Ryan trilled and then killed him. It was more than just rage."

Kheros looked troubled. "I cannot see Ryan doing that."

Sulvius shook his head. "Nor I, under normal circumstances."

"What are you suggesting?"

Sulvius was quiet a moment. "Let's go talk to Athena and Cladden."

"So, how are you feeling this fine morning?" a cheerful young male dragon asked as he stepped into Tanners room.

"Like I was hit on the head with several bricks," Tanner groused.

"Normal, but you should be feeling better in a few days," he said as he checked Tanner's vitals, much to the humans irritation. "You look fine; you are free to go."

"Wonderful."

"Oh, Cladden wants to meet with you tomorrow morning."

"Lovely!" Tanner groused again and the young male dragon nodded and left the room, allowing Tanner to get dressed. They had convinced him that it would be a good idea to keep him overnight in the infirmary which was not all that comfortable. He was bruised all over, his head ached, and all he really wanted to do was sleep in his own bed.

After checking on Ryan, of course. They assured him that he wasn't harmed.

It wasn't physical harm that Tanner worried about.

He walked out the door to the desk where the young male sat. "Where is the prince?"

The dragon hesitated. I believe he is still in the dragon infirmary."

Tanner thanked him and hobbled his way down to the infirmary, groaning from time to time. By the time he made it to the door of Athena's office he was sweating profusely. He knocked on the door, waiting for a response. No answer. He knocked harder, grumbling.

The door finally cracked open and Athena looked out. "Ah. Tanner."

"Yeah, Tanner," he grumbled and started to walk in but Athena didn't move. "What the hell?"

Athena sighed and stepped out, gently pushing him back. "Ryan is fine, Tanner."

"Then let me see him," he said flatly.

She shook her head. "No. Not right now."

Tanner felt anger boil up inside him. "What? I'm the boy's friend and I want to know how he is!"

"He is fine, Tanner, I promise you."

"Then why aren't you letting me in?"

She sighed. "It is not good for you to be near him right now."

Tanner was so angry he was speechless. "I!" he shook. "What the hell are you trying to pull? Using this as a chance to get rid of me maybe? Blame me for him getting hurt, perhaps?"

Athena shook her head. "No, it is nothing like that, Tanner. But, for now, I need to ask you to leave."

"The hell I will!"

"Please, do not make me call someone to escort you."

"You wouldn't dare," Tanner said very quietly. Athena just stared at him. He shook his head. "I can't believe this. Dragons can be secretive and odd, but this? This is more like something the evil ones would do or some sort of conspiracy! If you don't like humans so damned much then you should be in a safe house that doesn't allow them!"

Athena laid her ears back. "That is enough, Tanner. You know better than all of that and I would hope know better than to think that I would lie to you. You need to go and let him rest, okay?"

Tanner closed his eyes and she sighed. "Very well," she said softly. She motioned and two other dragons stepped out of the room in their bipedal forms. "Please escort Mr. Wilberforce to his rooms He will need to stay there until Cladden calls for him."

"Yes, Lady," one said and reached for Tanner's arm. He jerked it away.

"I'll walk myself!" He snarled, and hobbled off, both dragons following him. Athena watched him go, sadly, wondering where this was going to end.

Tanner walked into Cladden's office the next morning, wondering what in the hell this was all about, wondering why Athena had kept him away from Ryan, and wondering why Cladden insisted on talking to him first thing in the morning.

He stopped in the entry way, catching his breath, and eyed all the dragons warily. Cladden was sitting at his desk, as one would expect. What he did not expect was Irian, Athena, Sulvius, Kheros, and Pax all sitting around as well. He slowly walked the desk and Cladden motioned for him to sit down. He slowly sank into the chair looking at all the dragons looking back at him. "What the hell is going on?" he asked quietly.

"What makes you think something is going on?" Cladden asked.

"Because you're all sitting around staring at me like I may be some sort of foodstuff rather than a dragon friend."

"You are in no danger; you know this."

Tanner grunted. "I doubt that I am. I am far more worried about Ryan."

"He is doing just fine," Athena said.

"Physically or emotionally?" Tanner challenged and she hesitated.

"He will recover."

Tanner shook his head. On top of pushing him too hard, now this? He warned them, had constantly warned them, that they were expecting more of Ryan than perhaps he was able to give. They had questioned him many times about it and he found the questions to be frustrating. While he was close to the little dragon, he figured they really should pose their questions to him.

There again, answering the questions in Ryan's stead enabled him to at least try to divert too much attention on him and try to keep him from being completely overwhelmed. Even still, he felt they wanted to use him as a wedge against Ryan somehow, to try to use him to influence the young dragon into doing what they wanted.

And he wasn't going to be party to that.

"So what the hell do you want me to convince him to do now?"

"Why do you think we wish you to convince him of something?"

"Every time you call me like this you want me to talk to him, to tell you how he is feeling, or how he is doing, and now I assume you want to know why he was attacked, as if I would know!"

"This is somewhat what this is about, yes," Cladden said.

Tanner slammed his fist down on the chair, causing the dragons to jump in startlement, making his arm twinge. "Dammit, I will not be used as a tool against Ryan!"

Sulvius crooned. "We would never ask you to do something like that."

"Then just what the hell do you want? I'm hurting, Ryan is hurting, and you're keeping me away from him, and probably trying to find some way to blame this all on me!"

"No one blames you for this, Tanner," Irian said, "We do, however, want to know exactly what your relationship is with the young prince."

Tanner looked surprised. "I want to be the boy's friend! It's all I've ever wanted! Would you stop trying to turn it into something sinister?"

"No one is thinking anything sinister, Tanner," Cladden said.

"Then why do you ask? Why have they asked Ryan?"

"There are some...concerns."

"I've done nothing wrong!" Tanner nearly yelled

Pax crooned. "No one is saying that you have done anything on purpose."

"On purpose," Tanner said flatly.

Athena sighed. "Please, Tanner, what is your relationship with Ryan? And do not say you are just his friend; I think it is clear that it goes beyond that. The prince loves you, Tanner."

Tanner looked down. "He just likes me," he mumbled.

"I have watched the two of you. It is more than just like," Kheros said.

"There's nothing improper going on!" Tanner said with disgust. "I can't believe that you would even imply such things!"

Kheros shook his head. "It is not like that."

Tanner stood up shakily, head throbbing. "If you don't get to the point I'm going to leave!"

Cladden sighed. "Kheros, stop, you're agitating him. Tanner, please, sit down, friend."

Tanner reluctantly sat and Athena came over to the side of the desk. "Tanner, you have been around dragons your entire life. What does your experience tell you about the way Ryan reacts to you, how he feels about you?"

Tanner stared at her. "We're just good friends. He likes me. That's it."

Athena sighed. "Tanner..."

"Of course after last night, I can see how you'd want me away!"

Athena bristled. "That has nothing to do with this!"

"Stop it! Stop it, both of you!" Sulvius said. "Tanner, you need to answer the question, and you need to answer it truthfully."

"I have no idea what you're implying or what you're after, but I'm sick of this! Why don't you just leave me and Ryan well enough alone and let us work out our friendship without your bloody interference!" he said, standing up again.

"Sit down, Tanner," a voice called from the doorway.

Tanner looked over his shoulder in shock. "Sir!"

Norian walked over to the desk, barely leaning on his cane. "Who else?"

Tanner stood and carefully hugged Norian, then tried to guide him to a chair. "Sir, you should sit down."

Norian swatted his hand and gestured to the chair. "I am just fine, boy. I think you are the one who needs to sit."

Tanner hesitated and sat. "Sir, why are you here?"

Norian snorted. "As if I needed your permission to be someplace. I am here because of you, of course."

Tanner looked down. "I've done nothing wrong, Sir."

Norian sighed deeply. "No one says that you did, boy. Please, we are just trying to figure out the depth of your relationship to the young prince. It is strong, boy, stronger than your grandfather's was with me."

Tanner looked stunned. "But..."

Athena looked to Cladden, then at Norian, and sighed. "Tanner, we think he's becoming bound to you."

Tanner looked like someone punched him in the gut. "What? That's a myth!"

"Far from it," Norian said. "Think about it, boy, think about the stories you have read and how Ryan is acting towards you."

Tanner started to tremble, looking troubled. "Norian....Norian I didn't mean anything like this! I just wanted to be his friend..."

Norian reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "More than that, I think," he said gently.

Tanner blushed. "I wanted to take care of him. It just seemed to me that his parents knew so very little about dragons that they were almost neglecting him. I just wanted..."

"All that is perfectly understandable, Tanner," Sulvius said.

"But we need to figure out what to do about it," Cladden added.

"And what the hell would you have me do?" Tanner demanded. "Leave? It would crush him."

"Can Ryan afford to be bound to you?" Irian asked.

"Am I such a bad person?"

"That is not what I meant," Irian said bluntly. "If Ryan is bound to you what is it going to do when he meets the council? What is it going to do for his chances to unite the council and possibly prevent a war? What kind of effect will it have on him?"

"What kind of effect will it have on you?" Norian asked gently.

Tanner sat back, staring at the ground. "I didn't...."

"I know," Sulvius said simply.

Pax fluttered over and perched on the arm of Tanner's chair. "Tanner, you need to consider how this is going to effect Ryan. He is precious young."

"What's worse, the effect the bond would have or me leaving?" Tanner asked.

"We don't know," Athena said. "There is so very little written about it. It does not happen so very often, at least not in modern times. All we do know is that Ryan would become very dependent on you."

"Are you ready for that kind of responsibility?" Norian asked.

Tanner closed his eyes and was quiet a long time. "Yes. If it came down to it I would dedicate the rest of my life to Ryan."

"And when you die?" Athena asked quietly.

Tanner closed his eyes. "We will have to cross that bridge as we come to it."

Cladden sighed. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

"No!" Tanner said angrily.

Cladden shook his head. "I suppose I would think less of you if you did. Still, we need to consider what to do next. Tanner...if you would be willing to back away from the boy a little. Perhaps we could say you need to leave for a few days, perhaps to go pick up Norian."

Tanner looked troubled. He looked up at Norian. "Sir?"

"I think it would be for the best, Tanner. If it turns out the bond is the best thing for Ryan, then so be it. But if not..."

Tanner found tears rolling down his cheeks and an ache as he had never felt before, even worse than when he lost his father, grasping his heart. "Then I would do the best thing for Ryan."