A Ballad of the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 13

Dragon women were not like human women. They looked similar, yet were far more radiant. They spoke like them, yet with deep, sultry voices. And they enjoyed fine things, finer even.

But where human women bashfully hid their painted lips behind lacy folding fans and batted their lashes at passing beaus, dragon women winked their eyes without subtlety and whispered improper innuendos to men who caught their eye. Where human women feigned weakness at the prospect of exiting a carriage unaided or fainted at the sight of blood, dragon women leaped through hills and bracken-filled woods and grew emboldened by the thrill of a hunt. And where human women fought their battles with snide remarks and petty gossip, well, dragon women did that too. But they had no qualms settling disputes or questions of dominance with fists and feet.

In fact, altercations were more frequent than one might expect. The stronger girls often picked on the weak and those of small stature. They went after the ones they deemed poor or peculiar.

Sometimes the females even grouped together, mean girls prowling about the meadows or woods, hoping to chance upon a secluded maiden which they could abuse, their thirst for violence insatiable.

It was likely a impulse from an ancient time when Turning was not confined to a single sex and the drákon interactions less civilized. They fought for dominance and they fought for mates, the two tightly linked.

Either way, as long as Zoe Lane could remember, she had been on the receiving end of those aggressive women.

She had been quite the ugly duckling as a child, with queer, black eyes and mousy grey hair. The other girls teased her and pulled at her braids asking if they were made of feathers.

When she began to grow breasts and the Langford boy paid her attention, they cut her ribbons, broke her slates and emptied her lunch pail on her way to school.

Zoe never understood why the women still tormented her. She didn't get in their way, didn't cause trouble. She didn't challenge them or even look at the men they desired.

The truth, though, was something she couldn't see. She had grown into a painfully beautiful woman. Married men followed her with their eyes as she passed by. Bachelors dared each other to speak to her, to ask for a dance or if she fancied a stroll. Her tortured youth had turned her expression into hardened stone, perpetually frozen in scourn and those would-be suitors always lost their nerve in the face of that chilled exterior.

Yet she was desirable and as a woman of twenty-three very much elligible as a wife, a fact that didn't escape the females of the tribe. The married women were more subtle, distracting their mates with a passionate kiss or an arousing graze of the buttocks. The maidens however had only their poisonous words and their stinging nails and made use of them often.

Zoe grimaced at the pain developing in her palms. The skin had most certainly scraped opened and she could already smell the metallic tang of her own blood.

She'd skipped over Lydia's foot, having suspected she might try something, but hadn't avoided Gheillis' outstretched parasol.

They leered down at her with bright shining rays beating down upon their shoulders.

"I say Zoe, you must be careful traversing these cobblestones, especially in heeled boots. They can be quite treacherous to the ungraceful," warned Gheillis.

"That's right," chimed in Lydia, "Zoe dear, do be more careful. Perhaps you'd be better suited with a pair of stable boots."

They broke out into a laugh. The two locked arms and huddled together beneath Lydia's now open parasol as if the sun could mar their perfect skin.

Zoe could hear the clicks of their heels as they sauntered away decicively pleased with themselves. She peeled herself away from the road and brushed herself off as best she could. Bolts of fabric were strewn about having escaped her arms when she fell. She gathered them quickly hoping none of the finer weaves had been damaged by her fall. She would wait to inspect them once in the safety of the seemstressy.

The back of the shop offered a more private room where dresses could be altered to fit, measurements taken, and clothing changed. Zoe poured a bit of water from a white, porcelain pitcher into a matching basin and dipped her hands in. The water burned her skinless palms and turned a shade of pale pink as some of the dried blood sloughed off.

Across from the single window in the room where the light was brightest hung a full length mirror set in fine, curving bronze. Zoe examined herself in the reflection. Strands of hair had escaped her braid hanging haphazardly around her face. There was dirt on her right sleeve and a crimson stain on the left cream-colored cuff.

The little, brass bell hanging over the door rang, signaling the arrival of customer. Zoe tucked the loose hair behind her ears and brushed herself off as best she could.

Much to Zoe's dismay it was the thief who'd refused the Earl still wearing Rhy's clothing. Zoe couldn't help but narrow her eyes.

"Hello Miss Lane," greeted the thief.

"Miss Williams," replied Zoe in acknowledgment.

"What happened to you?"

"I tripped and fell," she fibbed, careful to conceal her wounded hands.

"How clumsy of you."

Zoe pursed her lips to conceal her anger.

"What can I do for you Miss Williams?"

Sunniva slapped down a fistful of coins onto the counter.

"I need a dress."

"A dress? But I made you five? Were they not to your liking?"

"Not at all. I burnt them."

"You...why?" asked Zoe, exasperated.

"Because they were gifts from the Earl and I do not accept gifts from liars. Now I don't need something extravagant. In fact the plainer the better. Homeweave or whatever the devil you call that stuff."

The aversion Zoe felt for this woman rose up through her throat. Sunniva could Turn and should have been wed to the eldest Langford by now, giving Rhys the freedom to be with Zoe. Until then, she had to remain a maiden, subject to the cruelty of the other females wishing to prove their position in the hierarchy.

"Homespun. And we don't carry that here. You best try the general store. They sell needles and thread as well," Zoe's made certain to say as chilled as possible. She wanted to make it clear that this woman was not welcome here.

"But I can't sew," replied Sunniva.

Zoe shrugged smugly. "I'm sorry. I can't help you." She half expected the thief to strike at her considering the flare to her nostrils and feral quality to her eyes.

But she merely scraped the coins off the counter into an open palm and stomped out of the shop. The door slammed so hard that the windows rattled and the little brass bell jerked upwards becoming stuck.

Zoe remained at the counter top till Sunniva was well past the storefront before going to the door and flipping the tin sign hanging from a nail to "closed". She reached up and freed the bell so it hung freely again.

Zoe had never been aggressive, never been even remotely dominant. She always wondered why she was given the abilities she had, to walk unseen among her own. A curse was what she'd always considered it, but Rhys insisted it a Gift, so unique and pure.

She was tired of waiting, tired of playing the distant ice queen. She wanted unrestrained love and passion and warmth. She wanted Rhys in her arms and between her legs. She wanted his children, to be a mother and a wife.

Oh her darling Rhys. There was no one she depended on more. He'd kept her secret despite his obligation to give her to his brother. They bade their time using Zoe's Gift to sneak around and upon the arrival of the Williams girl believed her an odd sort savior. Sadly she'd yielded nothing, too stubborn to give them the freedom they deserved.

Rhys had had a plan and Zoe had always believed in the validity of his schemes and machinations. And that too had yielded nothing.

A beast began to uncoil inside her as if awakening from a winter slumber, hungry and pursuing. It crept up the wells of her heart no longer content with a passive whispers. Sunniva might be a dragon, but within Zoe hid a silent serpent, just as poised and deadly and prepared to strike.

The rationalization oozed over her like thick tar and she no longer cared about the immorality of it all, no longer concerned with who it might hurt as long as she could be with her beloved. This woman's obstinance stood between her and her mate. She could Turn, she belonged to the Alpha and all Zoe needed was sufficient evidence for the council to deliver her.

Rhys couldn't help them anymore. It was up to her now to fight for and claim what belonged to her.

Zoe strode quickly to the back room and peeled back the cobalt curtain framing the single window. No one was on the small side street that ran behind the shop. She threw open the window and then snapped the curtain closed for safety. Her dress ripped once at the sleeve as she pulled it off in a violent jerk. No matter, she'd fix it that evening. It had to be washed anyways. She shimmied out of her shift and stockings and left it all in a neat pile on a venetian settee hidden behind a coromandel folding screen. She took one more glance out past the curtains before slinking as an unseen shade through the window out onto the street.

****

Sunniva had discovered a lucrative and well-suited-to-her-abilities activity to pass the time. Burgundy truffles were all the rage across Europe and the thick forests of Darkfrith just happened to contain a hidden trove of them.

Humans paid upward of a pound per ounce and used specially trained female pigs to sniff them out. An entire industry had developed around the collection of truffles, breeding the animals precisely for the purpose of discovering the rare morsels. Drawn by the scent of the dirt-dwelling fungus the sows rooted about the forest floor seeking out the bounty. The trick of the handler was to snatch the fungus first before the sow gobbled down the treat.

Sunniva needed no such beast, as her nose was keener than any swine. She merely need peruse the area where the pine trees had taken claim of the forest.

It had taken her a brisk hour's walk from Lane's Seemstressy to reach her hidden niche. With a basket hung at the crook of her arm and attired - still - in a ragged set of nobleman's clothing, she looked like a bastardized mixture of Riding Hood and The Wolf.

She'd forgone shoes, preferring to experience the tendrilled glory beneath her toes of ivy and peat sprawled over exposed roots. A preliminary shedding of orange and red leaves already dotted the forest floor signaling the oncoming Autumn. Too bad the temperature hadn't been informed as well.

Sunniva caught that signature scent between the base of two Scots pines, of earth intertwined with garlic and the smell of a musky man, naked and ready for coitus. She went to her hands and knees bringing her nose close to the ground following the whiffs of truffle. Here it was weaker, there it was stronger, stronger and stronger until she was certain her hands would yield something if she dug. She pulled up the mushroom, an ordinary looking thing, dull-black of color and covered in dirt and nubs resembling warts. That people paid exorbitant prices for them made no sense. Still, she'd collect them anyway, delighted by the prospect of a second meal that week befitting a carnivore.

She had hoped her first harvest would go towards a dress. The gentleman's clothes didn't bother her, but they drew attention which Sunniva preferred to avoid. If she wished to continue playing the meek maiden she had to remain unnoticed and at the bottom of the pecking order, appearing a woman of insignificance among the tribe. Her trip to the Lane woman though had sadly been an utter disappointment.

Sunniva spent most of the afternoon in her hunting ground enjoying the quiet and solitude. She dug once more into the earth, carefully scraping away to expose the mushrooms. The pressure between her fingers and nails of wedged dirt reminded her of talons furrowing in the ground after a fast landing. She stretched her arms wide recalling the pleasant ache of spanning her wings before flight after taking form. She looked up into the sky until the pull became a beckoning threat and she had to tear her eyes away settling them on a fallen branch.

Though her basket was hardly full, she treated herself to a break atop the spongy forest ground, a cozy weave of decaying mulch and a sheet of last year's shed needles.

It was so strange, the silence of this place. Not a single trill of a bird or bellow of a buck graced her ears. If any creature wished to draw near they'd have to be very careful indeed.

Sunniva dozed off comfortable in the surrounding calm, remaining in that state between sleep and dreams, until the dragon inside jerked alert. For a mortal it might be described as that inescapable feeling of falling, plummeting to ones death off a seaside cliff where jagged rocks await. But a dragon had no such fear.

Niva thrust her senses out like a spider's web feeling nothing, hearing nothing, smelling nothing. But she did see. She saw the flaw in her watcher's disguise. 

A fluttering in the light like an oasis in the desert stood over by a solitary pine with a thick trunk lacking any low branches. Niva's eyes floated downwards and she allowed her peripheral vision to adjust to the figure, gathering any information it could. It wasn't detailed, just feint warping waves around a single, feminine body.

In nature predators can easily be identified, eyes located in the front, a feature used to hone in on and follow prey. Humans were predators, despite their fragile bodies and dulled senses. They had used this knowledge with their domesticated livestock and beasts of burden. There was an old horseman's trick when approaching an animal; don't look them in the eye, don't look at them like a hunter. So Sunniva did just that, keeping her eyes unfocused on the ground.

She stood casually, adjusting the legs of her pants and gathered her basket as if to seek more fungi. She kept the blur of light in that unfocused region of her vision. The woman hadn't realized yet that she'd been caught; a fact that was only a matter of time.

Meandering around the trees arbitrarily, appearing as if she caught the scent of a truffle, Sunniva moved closer and closer to the observer.

There was a tension in the air, like when one holds their breath so long their lungs hurt. The woman was so still, so quiet Sunniva almost wondered if it was actually wraith, but then the warmth of flesh and body tickled her skin as she drew near.

A jaw dropped as a gasp escaped the half second before Niva's hand gripped her throat. She lifted effortless removing the woman from the ground.

"Why are you spying on me?" Sunniva roared. "Did the Earl send you?"

Desperate lungs could neither contract nor expand restricted by digging fingers and all that came out was a wretched weeze. The woman's feet dangled helplessly as she clawed at Niva's arm causing her only to grip tighter.

"Tell me what you are doing out here!"

The light faded around the woman like raindrops removing dust from glass revealing Zoe Lane.

Sunniva dropped Zoe - whose legs gave out - letting her fall to the ground in a naked, crumpled heap.

Zoe grasped at her throat, rubbing frantically as oxygen finally filled her lungs again. Her eyes were bloodshot and lips sported a purple tinge. "How...did you...see..."

Sunniva's father had told her of all known Gifts of the tribe and Miss Lane's certainly hadn't been among them. She transformed from acute anger to delighted wickedness, her eyes squinting and lips curling.

"That is a rather special Gift you have Miss Lane. Quite impressive indeed. I may be new to the tribe, but I'm willing to wager it's not a common one is it?"

Zoe didn't have to answer, the terror in her face revealing what she didn't say.

"Shouldn't it please you?" continued Sunniva. "You could take a position beside the Earl? Alpha mates Alpha do they not?"

Sunniva was a healthy head taller and far more menacing than Zoe. "Well you are certainly no Alpha. Still, I'm sure the ruling family would be pleased to hear about it. They are always looking to improve their line."

"No please! Please don't tell them!" Zoe begged.

"Then tell me what you were doing out here spying on me."

Zoe looked anywhere but Sunniva's eyes until she shifted towards her, threatening fingers like claws at her neck again.

"I was hoping to see you Turn," Zoe said quick and desperate.

"I most certainly cannot." Apart from Kimber, it was the incorrect truth that everyone believed. "Why would you think I can Turn?" asked Sunniva suspiciously.

"They talk in the village. They say-"

"They say I'm just a poor man's halfing daughter."

Sunniva squat down to eye level, softening her features in attempt to appear less ferocious.

"Miss Lane, Zoe, I ask you again, why are you spying on me?"

Sunniva watched the conflict in Zoe's face. She was scared, certainly, but there was something else, something Niva couldn't quite put her finger on. She'd give her time to answer, to choose honesty over lies.

"I wanted to see if I could trust you. If you were Gifted in any way like me then I thought, maybe, we could be friends. Maybe someone might understand what it's like to be special."

It almost came across as authentic, delivered with soft eyes molded to a wishful round and a reverent reach upward without touching.

Sunniva stood. "Well isn't that sweet," she said.

Zoe released a breath. She pulled herself off the ground looking at Sunniva hopeful.

"Are you Gifted like me?" Zoe asked, taking on an expression resembling candidness.

Sunniva let out a laugh. "How quaint. You're quite the actress Miss Lane, but your pulse betrays you. You should work on controlling it."

Zoe's skin went paler than it already was.

"I'm going to ask you once more. Why are you here?"

Zoe remained silent and Sunniva was growing impatient.

"By the laws of your people you belong to Kimber Langford. I'm sure he'd make good use of you," Sunniva said, lewdly, turning to leave.

The Lane girl finally found her voice and shot back in a tone just as lewd.

"By the laws of my people, you belong to him more so than I."

Sunniva's eyes turned to slits and her mouth took on a not-quite satisfied slant.

"There it is. You don't want to marry the Earl, so you thought if you brought the council evidence, they'd wed me to him and you'd be safe. Does that sound about right?"

For a moment Niva felt sorry for this woman. Chained against her will to the laws of this place just as she was. But that moment of pity turned to ash in the face of reality as to why she was here.

"I've no further need of proof. I saw it already. All I need do is tell the council," hissed Zoe.

"You've got nothing to tell them."

"You're wrong. I saw it the day I took your measurements."

Sunniva shot her puzzled look.

"Dragon's eyes. I'm sure the Earl and the council would love to hear about those terrible glowing white orbs. Only those who can Turn have eyes like that." Zoe straightened proudly as if she'd won, watching her adversary's face grow grave. Better than any drug, she enjoyed finally having power, of being able to lord it over someone, making them feel as small as she always had.

The fear hitched in Sunniva's throat and she tried to maintain the illusion of control. She didn't even know that was an ability she had. She hadn't lost yet though.

"If that would convince the council then you would have already told them."

The telling twitch in Zoe's lips confirmed Sunniva's surmisal.

"Come to think of it, if Kimber Langford can't convince those goats of my ability to Turn, what makes you think you and your flimsy evidence can?"

"What makes you think you can convince the council that I can become invisible?" Zoe shot back.

Sunniva took a threatening step forward. "What are they more likely to believe? That a half-breed stray looking plain as day can become dragon? Or that Miss Zoe Lane, a beautiful woman of good tribal pedigree, with her unique pearl hair and exotic black eyes has a Gift the likes of which your kind has never seen?"

Sunniva took another step closer, close enough so that the woman felt the threat of her warm breath. Zoe stood her ground, forcing herself not to yield, but her pulse thundered and Sunniva could hear it.

Sunniva tucked some of Zoe's loose hair behind her ear brushing her nails against her lobe.

"Do not think for a second," Niva said in an ominous whisper, "that I have scruples against dragging you before the council and forcing you to show them your trick to protect myself. I've more secrets than you could fathom Miss Lane. How else do you think I could see you?"

Ignorance of others could certainly be powerful and Sunniva used Zoe's against her. Apart from the threat of violence she had no known way of revealing Miss Lane.

Zoe took the only step backwards that she could, pressing against the rough bark of the tree behind her and lowered her gaze in submission. "You belong here you know," she choked out, shaking, yet still daring to utter her spiteful piece.

Sunniva raised her eyes.

"You're just like every other dragon bitch. You're a cruel brute," Zoe said, closing her eyes waiting to be struck or kicked or taken by the throat again.

Niva only spoke with searing clarity. "Then get out of this bitches territory." She didn't move nor did she touch the Lane woman. She remained with her piercing eyes as if to melt ice with a terrible heat. 

Zoe slithered out from between the tree and Sunniva keeping her eyes low and focused on her as she slunk away.

"Oh and Zoe?" called Sunniva, causing Miss Lane to pause. "I'll see you in a week for my dress...in exchange for my silence of course."

Zoe's skin faded into to the backdrops of her surroundings as Sunniva shot her a nasty grin.

****

It was Wednesday meaning the meat vendor would be there selling his cuts of veal and beef. Sunniva's dress wouldn't be ready but she wanted to remind the Lane woman of their little deal.

She stopped by the storefront window peering in cupping her hands around her eyes to prevent the glare.

At the counter was a gathering of young women dressed finely and blocking Sunniva's view. Two of the women jerked suddenly, a curious smack resonated through the glass, and another woman shifted allowing Sunniva to see.

She realized the noise had been skin against wood as Zoe lay bent across the counter, each arm held tightly by two of the women. Sunniva could make out their voices perfectly as they threatened Zoe.

She watched as Zoe crunched her face and closed her eyes as another woman slapped her across he back. Not even a cry escaped Zoe's lip resigned to take what they were dolling out. Why wasn't she fighting back? Why wasn't she even trying to resist them?

Sunniva had the urge to go in. She'd never seen women behave like this before. Six against one, it hardly seemed fair. Perhaps it was a truth of their kind, though she'd never had the urge to pick on anyone that hadn't wronged her. And Zoe had. Maybe she was right to let them beat up Zoe who had just a few days ago threatened to expose her.

She lowered her hands and turned away from the glass.

Anyone could hear the maniacal giggles and sound of fists against flesh stemming from inside. A familiar pair of gentlemen greeted Niva with a tip of their hats as they walked by. Adam Richards and Devon Rickman, both members of the council. They were completely unaffected by the ongoings just beyond the thin sheet of glass. They strolled merrily away with walking canes clacking against the cobblestone street.

Sunniva peered in again and her instincts insisted once more to join the fray. It would be six of them against her so hardly a fair fight. If it were Joan or Audrey or the Marchioness it might have been different, but these women were peons, small shadows of might in the bitter sun. Sunniva was dragon, the strongest of them all.

And that was exactly where the danger lie. She could go in there and thrash every one of them proving that she was the strongest, the most dominant, that she was Alpha. What if someone of consequence walked by? What if word got out that she single handedly took down six grown women? What if the council decided that was sufficient to send her to Kimber in a white wedding frock?

She couldn't risk it. She pulled away from the shop window and kept walking.

****

Zoe had never expected them to be so bold.

Gheillis had come with her permanent fixture Lydia along with their little pose complaining of sloppy stitching on a sheet dotted muslin gown she'd bought months ago. As Zoe explained that a back stitch was more durable when Eleanor and Elizabeth grabbed her arms flattening her out onto the counter.

She pulled and pulled as Lydia berate her, eventually realizing it was futile, resigning herself to take the beating, retreating into her thoughts to escape the sting of the blows. It would be over at some point. She had some salve for the open wounds and would make a poultice of witch hazel for the pain. The most embarrassing part of it all was the tears escaping in frantic drills, spilling down her face onto the wooden counter. She squeezed her eyes shut willing it to stop when she heard the little brass bell to the shop door ring.

Zoe knew it wouldn't stop there. The women would act like proper ladies perusing dresses, biding their time until the customer was done. It made no difference to the other members of the tribe what a few mean girls did another female. As long as they weren't permanently damaged everyone looked the other way. It was, after all, the natural way of beasts.

Lydia was the first to speak. "My, my, aren't you looking lovely," she said to the intruder seething with sarcasm.

The grip on Zoe's arms released and she tried to see who had come in.

"Hello Lydia, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm sure you've deduced who I am. And I know who you are based on the fact that I sent you those sapphires hanging from the scruff of your neck."

It was Sunniva.

The women began to shift position, all sensing the challenge, moving in a choreographed pattern to surround the intruder impeding their fun.

"These sapphires were a gift from the Earl," retorted Lydia proudly, stretching her neck in a ridiculous display of braggadocio.

Sunniva let out a haughty laugh. "Just like Gheillis' emerald ring," she said gesturing, "and Eleanor's topaz bracelet. I know them all, intimately. Don't flatter yourself darling."

Lydia, emboldened by the women surrounding Sunniva and wearing a contrived grin, spat some words of her own.

"So the rumors are true. The Alpha did catch a filthy rat from the gutter. Perhaps it's time we show you your place. Ladies..."

Zoe, in a growing influx of courage, pushed herself up from the counter inspecting Sunniva's  battle stance. Her heels had lifted slightly, knees bent as well. Her arms had become coiled springs and her face filled with cheeky daring.


Sunniva didn't need to see to feel their clumsy movement behind and before her. Her senses were primed, filling the vicinity like a still pool of water waiting to be rippled.

Like a coward, Lydia refrained from attacking first, instead letting one of her sneaky companions attempt a strike from the back.

Sunniva ducked under the reaching claws of Eleanor, giving her a powerful kick in the ass sending her flying. Her face met the edge of the counter and a crack rang out. No one was sure if it was the wood splitting or bones breaking.

It didn't matter in the moment, Sunniva was facing five angry women, all of which were fortunately now at her fore. Elizabeth and Eleanor tried to attack her as a pair, but Niva was too quick. She hit one in the stomach causing her to keel over in pain. The other received a punch to the chest retreating off to the side clutching her breast not daring to risk another gruesome blow.

The remaining three, determined to strike in tandem moved towards Niva with measured steps in a tidal wave of ruffled skirts. The key to their strategy was perfect unison, like lionesses taking down a buffalo.

So when Gheillis suddenly broke formation Niva utilized the opportunity and her hand shot out grabbing an unprotected jugular. But it wasn't Gheillis in her grips, it was Lydia, her eyes filling with fear and red and her feet dangling as Niva lifted her from the floor.

When Niva heard the telltale smack of knuckles hitting flesh and bone she knew why Gheillis had abandoned her pursuit. The woman lay on the hard wooden floor with an emerald-adorned hand pressed over a swelling eye as Zoe Lane stood triumphantly above her brandishing a closed fist.

Hattie, the last enemy standing, lost her nerve watching her pitiful Alpha dangling in the air by the throat. She moved to the corner with her delicate hands up in surrender.

Sunniva gripped tighter and tighter as Lydia scratched her arm leaving red streaks across her skin. She didn't care and neither did the terrible dragon.

"Williams," cried out Zoe, pointing at her own eyes as a warning.

Sunniva released her grip, jerked back to reality.

Lydia landed in a paltry pile on the floor. The hem of her petticoat had ripped and one of the heels of her pumps had been knocked off in the landing. The desperate attempts for air signaled the one-sided outcome of the battle.

Sunniva looked in a small mirror on the counter seeing the terrible glowing eyes of a dragon peering back at her. She closed them tight, willing the beast back into its lair. It had felt so good, so right to lash these women into submission that she'd almost forgotten what was at stake.

When she opened them again only a peasant looked back at her. Her skin still boiled and she hardly looked contained but that telling draconic quality had been squeezed back into submission.

She strode over to Hattie, her back pressed to a shelf filled with cloth still too scared to move.

"You won't be talking about this," said Sunniva, her voice like a foreboding rumble just before a storm.

Hattie blinked once.

"I said, you won't be talking about this will you?"

She shook her head rapidly confirming that she understood.

"Good," said Sunniva, "now gather your hens and go back to pecking around the coop."

Hattie helped her downed friends to their feet.

Eleanore was retrieved last needing first to come to. She'd had the most embarrassing aftermath, lying flat on the ground with her pannier holding her skirts high in the air like a ship's sail, leaving her not a single modicum of modesty.

The women left with their eyes glued to the floor avoiding the dominating gaze that Sunniva cast down upon each and every one until the little brass bell rang as the door closed behind them.

Zoe watched Sunniva, contemplating the tentative truce between them. She'd risked imprisonment in a marriage she didn't want to help someone who had attempted to wrong her.

Alpha, whispered the waking serpent.

"Why did you do that?" asked Zoe.

Niva ignored her, bending over to pick up a fallen dress form covered in an unfinished bodice. The shop was in a minor state of shambles.

"Why would you risk exposure for me?" asked Zoe more pointedly.

Niva busied herself by picking up reams of cloth that had been knocked to the floor attempting to shove them into the already packed shelves.

"Here let me," insisted Zoe. "They go in a certain order." She retrieved the cloth from Niva and put the reams in their appropriate place. With pleading eyes she asked the thief again for answers.

"I suppose," Niva said, leaning against the counter considering her words, "if I didn't do anything I'd be no better than those bitches. I'd be no better than every prick who walked by your shop and suddenly found the sky to be more interesting."

"It's how our kind are," replied Zoe.

"As if it's all they could ever be. As if they have no choice. It's not acceptable."

Sunniva ran a hand across the grains of the counter, the corners of her mouth suddenly taking a satisfied slant. "Looks like miss Eleanore doesn't have a broken nose after all," she remarked, thumbing a crack in the wood.

Zoe didn't look as satisfied. "If any of the council saw that display. If Lydia talks talks to her brother..." She paused not sure how to finish, finally settling for an unsure shake of the head.

"Well I guess we'll find out how deep her new found shame runs," said Niva, her voice quivering. The steady confidence that she always exuded wavered, exposing the underlying fear.

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Niva's words hit first.

"That invisibility act, am I the only one who knows about it?"

Zoe looked at her cautiously.

"I'm not going to tell anyone," added Niva. "Least of all Kimber."

"Rhys Langford," confessed Zoe.

Sunniva threw her head back and let out a singular laugh. "Why doesn't it surprise me? A girl like you? No wonder you aren't already married and with child."

Zoe shifted a basket of thread and needle-covered pin cushions.

"He should have told his family years ago but he never did."

"Because he covets you," said Niva, blunt and harsh.

"Because he loves me," corrected Zoe turning to Niva. "And I love him. Like you said we drákon are capable of more than what that barbarous beast within desires. I may not be able to Turn but it's in there always whispering just as it is in every single one of us."

Sunniva replied with a mocking laugh. "Or maybe Rhys is just clever. Biding his time to move against his brother. Waiting for him to settle on some trollop while he takes a mate of exceptional Gifts."

"But Kimber already has settled. And that woman is no trollop. You're Alpha, Sunniva. Who else would risk everything to protect someone like me? I know what you are now. You do too. And so does Kimber."

Sunniva scoffed.

"Kimber knows nothing. He is just waiting for me to slip so he can be granted the council's approval. If those horrid men find out my secret they'll give him what he needs to take me."

"Do you really believe that Kimber is only waiting for the council's permission to have you?"

Sunniva couldn't take Zoe's words as perfectly genuine. There were personal reasons why Zoe might thrust Niva into Kimber's arms.

Her beginning with the Earl had been one of unbridled lust and either luck or circumstance had shown her that devious side of him, that cruel, calculating beast that lurked behind his lovely facade. There was merit to Zoe's sentiment though. None of those soggy men could rival Kimber. He was strength and terror and dominance. He was the Dreadful Night. Alpha. Who could really stop him if he decided to take what he wanted?

Sunniva began to wonder if Kimber was actually the shield and the council the sword. The thought of a sweet smile, of soft hands, of a kind man who wanted more from her than a dragon to bear his children slipped past her carefully constructed barrier. She snuffed it out as quickly as it had sparked. She didn't need Kimber tying her to this place, because when she left would never look back.

And didn't need a friend either.

The shop now appeared as if a brawl had never occurred, neat and tidy and ready for customers. 

"I've got to get going," Sunniva said. "Thank you for the stimulating conversation Miss Lane."

"Zoe," corrected Miss Lane. "I think fighting side by side puts us on a first name basis. I hope it does anyways."

Sunniva scrunched her eyes at odds with herself, hating the cold she forced across her heart. She couldn't agree to it, but she couldn't bringer herself to forbid it either. Slowly she put one foot in front of the other, heading towards the door.

"Sunniva?" called Zoe. "Come back by in a few days. I'll probably have a dress about your size."

Sunniva turned as a natural smile escaped her lips accompanied by a nod.

The little, brass bell rang signalling her departure.