"Wait here while I speak with Deszeld, I'll see what I can do for your Atambrean." Rennick squeezed Nall's shoulders, gave her a smile that a few days earlier would have set her at ease. He might as well have been standing at the door, shuffling a deck of cards, like one of the men Deszeld sent to escort them, judging by her lack of reaction.
"Akso would have broke him out," she whispered. No talking, no being nice to this bad dragon. Akso would have fought him just like she fought Bern, she would beat Deszeld into little scraps of dragon-bits. Then they would all be together again. A week earlier, the thought of Akso, Atam and herself all together again would have made her happy. Now it just made her feel sad, since everytime she thought about it, it seemed further and further away. She wondered if Rennick would be mad at her since she mentioned Akso. Ever since she had that dream about meeting Akso again, just hearing about her made Rennick mad. Not raging, animal mad or anything. His lips would curl up a bit and his eyebrows would twitch like they were going to cross - if she didn't pay attention she would miss it. Sometimes she could hear it in his voice.
"I'm not Akso," Rennick said calmly. "I'll have to deal with Deszeld in a way I know how. Trust me Nall."
He was right about Atam being here. Maybe he didn't have to chop Deszeld into dragon-bits to get Atam. Nall would have preferred him to turn to dragon-bits though, he deserved it. "Kay," she said flatly.
"That's my girl," Rennick kissed her nose and swept out of the room, following one of Deszeld's men. The one that was shuffling the cards stayed and watched her closely.
Nall rubbed her nose and glared at the man with the cards.
--
So this was the client's agent for that find-n-bag. Kitsune nearly had to do a double take when he saw her walk in with the client. At first glance, he guessed that she was just stunted or some sort of little human. He accepted that guess because her red tunic, white slacks, white cloak and dark boots had a grown up sort of style. Her long brown braid and kiddish facial features almost changed his mind, but that stoic look on her face brought him back.
Now Kitsune was certain that she was a child. If anything, the way she was glaring at him was downright childish, all anger with no threat to it. She was no one's innocent little darling, but she was certaintly a child. He wove the deck and continued to watch her.
--
Deszeld's sitting room was one in name only. The dragon believed anyone that met him there could very well stand and talk to him while he reclined on a perfectly curved outcropping of rock. It was a terribly plain room to meet a client, but Deszeld's back was too sore for him to consider moving to a better room for this particular client.
"Sa-ta-na-ch-i-a," he said slowly, curling his claws around the edge of the outcropping and lifting his head a bit when Cushion escorted him in. "It's been too long."
Satanachia smirked, hehed and waited for Deszeld to activate the crystal that served as the room's light. Even though he could focus on the dragon's acid green eyes, he wanted to keep aware of Deszeld's little servant. Even if he counted Deszeld a useful creature, old habits died hard and wouldn't let him get too comfortable. The light was dim and the room was small on the dragon's scale so, while he could see his hand in front of his face if he wanted, most of his sight was taken up by Deszeld's black body on the rock. "I would have thought you less enthusiastic, once you knew I was bringing Nall here."
"I would prefer the girl to stay far away from my mountains, but what am I to do now that you've dragged her here. At least you've found a way to keep her from them and for that I'm again glad to see you. If not, I would have talked you into it and still been pleased. It's always good to see you Satanachia. Your business keeps me in business."
"Here I thought you'd bar the doors against me," Satanachia raised his eyebrows and put his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to fidget with them . "Though, if you had, Nall would have been much more eager to break it down and tear you apart piece by piece."
Deszeld laughed, the deep rumbling sound echoing throughout his sitting room and washing out into the halls. Cushion grinned for a second before his face settled back into its usual frown. Since he was so close to it, the air ruffled Satanachia's pale blond ponytail and whipped the tail of his traveling coat around.
At least Deszeld's breath didn't reek as much as he thought an enormous reptile's would. The thought of Deszeld chewing anise seeds to freshen his breathe was almost funny. "Now," Satanachia ran a hand through his hair. "How are preparations going. I need to hear some progress before I leave."
"There's no need to worry," Deszeld's nostrils flared and the webbed fins around his head rose. "Most of my steady agents might be busy, but I've never needed to fret. If I need a body, I can find a body, or hire a body to find a body. Andusk and Othim are waiting for any arrivals in the entrance chamber, they will be taken to one of my waiting rooms and Kitsune will find the ones that are suited to this job. Then I will have a team and you will get your body."
"There's no time to dawdle now. Aznimal is with-"
"Aznimal..." Deszeld hmmed. "I thought you killed him already."
Satanachia's eyebrow twitched and his lip curled a little. As long as he needed Deszeld he couldn't afford to lose his temper with the dragon. Pity, he needed to be taken down a notch or twelve. "It wasn't his time."
"Then the lack of time is your fault," Deszeld sighed, resting his head on the outcropping. "I have faith in you, you'll learn from this. I will take as much time as I need to form a team that will succeed, whether it is your quarry's time or not. It sounds like I should plan for you to trap Aznimal again, it's a shame we've run out of bait."
"Don't clear you calender."
Deszeld hmphed. "You should stay a little, keep pretending that you're talking to me about Atambrean. Let the girl talk to me! I would like to see how red and angry she can get. I'm thinking about telling him that the girl is here. You should have seen the colour of that false face when he saw the girl's old cloak. If he knew that she was here, Satanachia, he would finally break free of his delusions and hesitations and be clay in my claw. I'll let you be there when I tell him. He will break and I will fix him."
"As you will Deszeld. I'll humor you this time," Satanachia smirked, already looking forward to the look on Atambrean's face when he saw him. Deszeld was wrong, it wasn't knowing that Nall was there that would turn Atambrean into putty. It was knowing who brought her there.
