King Erwin Forlay stood up from his chair when I landed.

  His guards immediately moved in front of him. I could tell that at least some of them were competent, as far as humans went, but I felt no threat. I was reaching a point where I only needed to fear the very strongest humans and even then, only if they were in a group.

  I shook my head in chagrin. All dragons looked down on humans, but what had that short-sighted view led to?

  Galbrecht slid down my side. Bowing before the King, he said, “If it pleases your majesty, I should help with the wounded.”

  The King nodded and said, “Always a hero, Sir Galbrecht. My niece continues to speak highly of you. I had thought for a time that you might end up matched with her, but sources say your heart now belongs to another member of your party. I note, though, that the adventurer Modessa was not mentioned in the reports about the battle at the front.”

  “She was otherwise occupied, your Majesty. There are many needs in this world, as you are aware.”

  “Yes, I suppose that is so.”

  I felt like I was missing something as I watched these humans banter. It was like their words said one thing, but meant something different. Their propensity to do so was well known to dragons. The dream even spoke of it, but I felt like I was only just beginning to learn about it.

  While the Paladin and King chatted, Lisella walked over. The guards allowed her to stand with her uncle and father who were both on their feet.

  “The most serious wounds have been dealt with. You can rest easy, Sir Galbrecht. Although I find that I’m curious about what happened to the creature upon the white dragon’s back. It bore a resemblance to a certain mage we once knew.”

  He nodded. “It is as you say, Grand Priestess. You are correct on both counts, although the latter has been resolved by our goddess.”

  I was baffled by the exchange. I’d been around both Lisella and Galbrecht many times, and they never spoke to each other in such a stilted manner. It seemed they, too, played this same game of words the King enjoyed so much.

  The King then stepped forward, “I would like to hear from Sir Galbrecht, as I am sure the others here do, but perhaps we are all avoiding the dragon in the room.”

  Titters of laughter came from around the room. Had he made a joke? I must have missed what was funny.

  King Forlay looked directly at me as he said, “It seems that you have some hidden talents, Lord Sandumas. Would you care to explain how this magic works?”

  Chapter 2 - Lord and Lady

  I snorted as his meaning became all too clear to me. I had a sudden urge to unleash my breath weapon on all of them. They honestly thought that I was some human in a dragon’s body? That sounded like a fairytale humans might make up to live out their fantasies.

  Hmmm… as I thought about it, I realized that might make for an interesting tale—at least if it wasn’t a blue dragon. Such a story would strike too close to my majesty.

  I pondered it further as I successfully restrained myself, deciding that I might enjoy a tale about a human who was blessed to be reincarnated as a dragon. Perhaps something from old legends like a shadow dragon? It would be entertaining to hear about a human turned dragon struggling to learn the dragon way as he became the master of a hoard.

  Did he think I was really a human? What if he imagined that my human form was my true shape, and that I only used magic to become a dragon? Part of me wanted to blast them all with lighting for the impertinence of it, though the rest of me wanted to snort in laughter. As if human magic could be powerful enough to encompass my majesty.

  The part of me that took offense won out, and my blood started to boil again.

  Cami thoughts entered my head, “Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Nico. He is a fool to imagine that… but fools are amusing, and his idea isn’t worth the conflict electrocuting them would cause.”

  I stifled my desire to watch them all spasm on the ground like landed fish and instead only let out a bit of my Dragon Fear. I didn’t push it at anyone in particular, but simply stopped restraining all of my natural aura.

  Armor rattled as the men within it shook. Hands went to swords again and the mage near the King raised his staff, but Lisella was the first to speak.

  “Your Majesty is mistaken. Nico is a dragon. He has only taken the form of a human to learn more about our kind.”

  A look of awe crossed the King’s face, but that was no longer enough for me.

  “You really thought that I was one of you flat-faced overgrown monkeys? I’ll have you know that my kind ruled Ileria when your ancestors were still in trees flinging poo. Even now, you use paper or shells to collect your excrement… so maybe you haven’t progressed quite as far as you imagine.”

  A few faces grew red with outrage at my statement, but Dragon Fear seemed to keep most of the humans suppressed.

  Galbrecht asked, “Nico, can you drop the dragon fear?”

  I bared my teeth for a moment before replying, “I will do so only if he apologizes for claiming I could be a human in disguise.”

  For a moment, I was certain that we were about to come to blows, but Lisella said, “Your Majesty, Nicosandumas has been made a noble by the Emperor and given control of all matters related to dragons within the Empire. Certainly, you don’t want to insult a guest and a hero of our nation?”

  The King clearly struggled with my demand. He was clearly used to getting his way—but he was a human and I was a dragon. There was a desire within me to draw a clear line on this point, yet another voice told me that this was the same mistake others had made before me and that I shouldn’t underestimate humans.

  After a great internal struggle, I turned off my Dragon Fear.

  The relief on the faces of many in the room was immediate. I hadn’t realized that most of the servants had actually been forced to the ground in terror. Even now, there were signs of the strain it had placed upon them.

  “Thank you, Lord Sandumas, for withdrawing your aura. Now, please understand that I meant no offense by assuming you were human. I honestly didn’t know that dragons could speak—or that they were as intelligent as you obviously are. It was so in the old stories, but most people believe those to be just that… stories.”

  He shook his head. “To that end, I apologize and ask that you teach me more about dragonkind. I would have us be friends, not enemies.”

  I snorted. “Of course. No one in their right mind wants to be enemies with a dragon—that’s a quick way to become an appetizer. Though, if I am honest, I would need to wrap such an appetizer in your lovely bacon to disguise the flavor…” I shuddered briefly.

  “But I will accept your apology, so long as your actions mirror your words. That, and for the sake of your kinship with my mentor. Lisella, despite being a clingy, flat-faced human, has been quite useful at times.”

  There, they couldn’t take fault with that. I’d even given some credit to Lisella. I was starting to get the hang of this human diplomacy. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if their King soon begged to become my minion. In fact, he seemed so pleased with what I had said that he had a large, stiff grin upon his face and his entire body trembled with what I could only assume was excitement.

  My stomach growled. That made my decision for me. I pulled back and said, “I need food.”

  The humans all looked at one another until, once again, the King spoke. “Uh… Lord Sandumas…”

  “Just Nico.”

  “You don’t wish to be referred to by your title?”

  “No. I’ve grown fond of simply being called Nico. Besides, that is a human title. Dragons have only one title amongst our kind and that is reserved for the strongest of dragons in the world. The rest of us know that power is what matters, not titles… well, power and gold. You can never have too much gold.”

  The King stumbled over his words, “Uh… well… perhaps you could tell us more about dragons. I’m sure my entire court would be very interested to learn about dragonkind.”

  Even as he spoke, I couldn’t help but notice that many humans were leaving the banquet hall. It wasn’t something that concerned me, but I did take notice of it. Peering around the hall, I noted there was plenty of room, even with me in my natural form. Heck, as hatchlings, my clutchmates and I had literally laid on top of each other. They couldn’t have felt crowded… this room could hold ten times as many humans and still have plenty of space.

  It did make me wonder, so I asked Cami telepathically, “Why are so many of the humans leaving?”

  “You scare them, Nico. They aren’t prepared to deal with a dragon like you.”

  “I know I am a lot to take in, but I would have imagined they’d want to bask in my glory.”

  “Remember my da? Little people have little minds. They are scared of things bigger than them.”

  “Yes, your sire was quite repugnant… even by human standards. Do they think I’m going to eat them?”

  Cami shrugged. “You never know. You are much larger than all of them.”

  “Well, I suppose their departure is not a bad thing… it means more food for me.”

  Platters of different roasted meats were soon brought to me, but I quickly realized there was a problem. I’d barely flick my tongue over the trays and everything was gone.

  I could barely even taste such tiny morsels.

  “More,” I growled, and the King started feverishly giving commands.

  From the remaining nobles, a man and woman approached his throne. There was something about them, especially the woman, which drew my eyes. Unfortunately, the royal mage must have been cloaking their sounds because I should have been able to hear anything but the softest of whispers at this range.

  Finally, the King stood up again and approached. “My niece assures me that you will not attack me, but my royal mage and my guards are urging me to stay far away from you. Which is it?”

  I was pleased by this question. I wanted respect, but my first impression of the King of Forlay had been rather positive. He was a man who did things, rather than being one of the whinier humans.

  “I don’t eat humans,” I replied. “Like I said, it would be a waste of too much good bacon to make your kind palatable.”

  “That is… ah… that is good to know, Nico.”

  “Yes, my ancestors determined that humans don’t taste good. Not enough fat, and too much bone to meat ratio.”

  He stared at me for a moment. Then I winked at him.

  His chest heaved, and he blurted out, “Oh, you were merely jesting.”

  “What I said is true and accurate, as far as I know. Personally, I’ve never eaten a human, nor do I have a desire to do so. I once bit down on a knight in full plate armor, but found chomping down on the metal shell to be an entirely unpleasant experience—though I wasn’t trying to eat him.”

  The King blanched.

  “However,” I continued, “I’ve started to learn some things about humans. You often say one thing but mean something else, or you say something just for the reaction it will elicit. That is what I was doing. Humanity and my kind do have issues to resolve, but I’d rather not make enemies of all of you—just the guilty ones.”

  “The ‘guilty’ ones?” Lisella’s father asked. He had come to stand beside his brother while shooing the guards back.

  “Yes, my mentor’s sire. I shall explain what I mean by guilty ones in a moment. But for now, let me commend you. By human standards, you have created quite an impressive offspring. She is a bit overly concerned with mating, but her magic is powerful and she has a sharp mind.'

  Duke Forlay’s eyes grew wide. “Uh… thank you, I think.”

  Nodding graciously, I added, “And as for your proposal earlier that I should mate with your niece, I did consider it. The amount of gold you’d pay me to do such a thing would, I’m sure, be impressive. But I have decided it is neither in my best interest or that of my mentor. It would be better for Forlay to have only human rulers.”

  Both the King and Lisella’s sire thanked me for my consideration, although both their faces grew red when Lisella stormed out of the room.

  Cami covered her giggle with a cough and then said, “Nico is still learning, Your Majesty, but he is very interested in human magic and technology. Dragons are not naturally social beings, so human relationships are strange and unfamiliar. As for the guilty humans, he is talking about those who created and encourage the enslavement of dragons.”

  That led into a long conversation, during which my stomach only growled every few minutes. I was beginning to worry that I was going to need to go find an entire herd of cows to eat. The conversation devolved into Cami explaining what we knew about how the collars affected dragons, with Galbrecht supporting her, while the King and duke displayed appropriate signs of shock and horror.

  Sadly, I knew that human faces could lie as well as human words, so I couldn’t place too much stock in their supposed outrage. They did, however, pledge to free all the dragons and to appoint a noble to work with me to provide protection for all domesticated dragons in Forlay.

  Finally, the King brought up another topic. “Again, I want to thank you for fighting that dragon. I know it was not done out of service to our nation, but the actions of all three of you warrant a reward. Perhaps I can grant you lands in the mountains? Sir Galbrecht, I know you are barred from accepting such by your goddess. But Nico, would you like to have another estate?”

  “Actually, I want only two things besides what we already discussed with respect to domesticated dragons. I would like your people to strip the corpse of the dragon I slew, making all of the resulting scales, hide, claws, horn, and bone available to Cami. She is a legendary crafter and perhaps can make some hoard worthy items with such materials. Then I would ask that one hundred cows be led to the wall near the mountains. I am going to travel into the mountains, but find that I am still hungry beyond measure.”

  “Of course, such things are simple. I will even add 25,000 gold as a reward for you service. I wish that it could be more, but most of our resources are committed to protect Forlay. Without the dragon riders, it is going to be a struggle, as I’m certain the attack which you thwarted will not be the only one.”

  It did seem like a small amount compared to some of the offers I’d received lately, but then I remembered that a couple of months ago, I would have slapped my tail in joy to see so much gold in one place.

  Then, the man and woman who had approached the King before came up behind him. He glanced back at them. “You have listened to our discussion. Are you certain that you are okay with this?”

  The man spoke up, “We are, your Majesty. It is an honor to serve in such a capacity.”

  The King turned back to me and said, “Lord Sandumas… or rather, Nico… may I present to you Lord Nagafen and his wife, Lady Vox? They are two of the oldest and most faithful of my nobles, having served my grandfather and my father before me.”

  I looked at the humans. They seemed young to have served his grandfather—at least as I understood how humans aged. Then I drew in a deep breath. Hmm… their scent was odd. Something was at play here, and I was beginning to wonder if I was being tricked.

  Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox bowed, then she spoke. “It will take a couple of days to drive that many cattle north, but perhaps in the meantime, you would consider taking a human form and meeting with my husband and I so that we can determine what needs to be done in order to free the… uh how did you term them, ah yes… the domesticated dragons?”

  She wrinkled her nose as she said the term.

  Cami said, “Nico has been in human form for many months, I believe he is enjoying the opportunity to remain in his natural…”

  I cut her off, “No, I will change forms. And then I would most definitely like to meet with Lady Vox and Lord Nagafen.”

  Cami frowned at me, obviously confused, but I was already transforming.

  Chapter 3 - The Birds and the Dragons

  Once I was back in my human form, the hunger subsided a bit, though there was still a subtle gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach. I also found that emotions hit me harder in this form.

  When I looked at Cami, I saw the concern on her face. “I’m okay,” I sent to her, “But I was getting very hungry and was worried that I might act out if I was being myself.”

  Her face didn’t give away anything, but I felt her shock through our bond. “Are you ill? Perhaps it is something Lisella can help you with.”

  “I don’t think it is. In fact, I have a suspicion about what it could be… but for now I do this because it is easier to handle the hunger.”