Give the Devil Their Due [K'tar/Ghost]

[Shoki]

77.06.05

“I need your help.” Shri looked up from her food, eyeing the rider in front of her. Cr’wean again. After a moment of silence she motioned to the seat across from her, and he sat down. He had his two firelizards with him, the Black one starting to chirp to Selt. The Flame cautiously watched the other while the humans began to talk.

“What exactly do you need my help with?” Shri’s voice was surprisingly neutral, but that was mostly because she got the feeling this was something serious. Cr’wean didn’t look angry at all. That was suspicious.

“Is it possible for you to watch someone for me?” Shri bit down wrong her meal, and rubbed her tongue against her cheek. He wanted what? She stared at him for a while, until the point where he started to fidget. He was very serious about the request though.

“Since when do Lifewing riders have people watched?”

“Since the time some pushed a pregnant woman down a flight of stairs.” Shri’s eyebrow was the only thing that moved, a slight twitched before being raised. He was very serious about this.

“I think you should tell me the whole story.”

So he did. Shri listened closely, while Cr’wean spoke on a line of events that was elusive to him. But she could hear the restrained anger. Kiyosh as well, though that hardly surprised Shri. After it was all done, Cr’wean sat back and said finally, “That’s why.”

“So, I want me to have them watched?”

“Yes.”

“Why me?”

Cr’wean pointed to her shoulder by way of answer. Shri glanced at Analis, who was perched on her shoulder. Shri raised her eyebrow again before pointing to the white and purple firelizard flying next to him. “If you think for a minute I can get this lot to do something like that, you clearly slept though my chase around the Aerie.” Shri’s lips twitched into barely a smile.

“Very well. Payment then.” Cr’wean frowned but didn’t make an outburst. Shri considered for a moment before, in a voice that was dead serious, said, “I want a pie every fortnight. For as long as this lasts. A plate of sugar cookies up front.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my price, take it or leave it.”

---

Shri marched with her crew to the weyr, a cookie in her mouth as she walked. Not that she knew where Cr’wean had got them, but he hadn’t gone and begged the kitchen for these, so there was that. Her trio were attached to her sash as usual, but they were quiet today, sensing they were ‘on the job’, whatever that meant.

Today her purpose was setting things up. She wanted to be able to send any of her dears to watch, and they would merely pop over to her if something was odd. Problem was, she didn’t know this ‘K’tar’ at all. Nor this ‘Chantrea’. If she didn’t, that made things harder. First step, ask some questions.

It wasn’t that long when she figured out where the two riders had their weyr. She went by it, but merely kept on walking. She just wanted to know where it was. Better for her later. That done she sought out the riders themselves. She started with K’tar.

When she found him, he was in the Bowl. Shri considered options, watching him with an unreadable expression. Well, a face with the name was good, he was about how he was described to her. Analis watched with Selt the rider, Dea electing to watch behind Shri. There was nothing that she could determine right now, though she merely watched K’tar’s body language for now. What was the next step? She could make an approach if she wanted to be friendly, but she really didn’t know if that was the best idea. It might be easier to explain her presence later though. She debated for a moment before walking straight up to K’tar.

“Excuse me sir, do you have a firelizard?” Shri’s words were completely serious.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar was sitting down. Rather, he was lounging, using Viarth as a pillow. Approaching footsteps were heard and ignored, there were lots of people in and out of the Bowl on a given day, and K’tar would never get any rest if he let every single approach, or departure, or passing-by, distract him from the goal. The voice however, changed things.

K’tar looked up, tipping his head back to more easily regard the petite woman in front of him. She had firelizards clinging to her, three of them, but they seemed relatively well behaved, at least.

“No, I’ve always been more of a canine person,” he answered. “My weyrmate has a few, though, they like to roost on the dresser… and the bed, of course.” He offered a grin, inviting the conversation to continue.

“Oh, shard my manners. I’m K’tar, K’tar Damoyen of Purple Viarth.” He offered his hand, though he didn’t go the whole way into politeness and stand up. It had been a long time since Lord Famoran had drilled manners into his head.

[Shoki]

Shri’s expression let a tiny smile flicker onto it with K’tar’s response. A canine person, huh? Well his response did not leave her original premise entirely out in the cold. This would work. He introduced himself, and though and she remained standing, leaning forward as she extended her hand.

“Well met rider. My name is Shri, Shri Kestrel.” When the handshake was over she merely motioned naturally to her firelizards, not even looking directly at them. “This is Analis, Selt, and Dea.” Analis puffed her chest somewhat at her introduction, and Selt merely observed quietly. Dea, well she flicked her tail and continued watching the bowl.

“I do understand, firelizards do want to be in the way sometimes, don’t they?” Shri stroked under Analis’ chin, and the Gold let out her little croon. “I suspect then you are not so interested in being on my list of people I alert for firelizard eggs? Unless your weyrmate would like another, of course.” It sounded like Chantrea had a few though. It was a fact she noted, since it would be of great use if they did not view her trio as a problem. Dea looked back at the conversation turning toward firelizard eggs. The Copper seemed a bit bristly. Shri could feel the gaze, but paid it no mind as Dea was not going to do anything. Dea disliked her eggs getting sold, possibly more than Analis. It was inevitable though. Thank Faranth for Selt.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar sighed. The last thing he wanted was another baby firelizard, and yet he knew that Chantrea would probably just love the chance at another one. Actually, really, he was starting not to mind the little creatures so much, particularly those rare times when he met purple ones, since all he could think while he was around them was how they were miniature Viarths.

“Guess it can’t hurt,” he said. “I think she’d probably like the chance at another one.” K’tar offered a shrug, communicating that he considered his hands tied on the subject. “About how often do you have eggs around?” he asked. His gaze drifted across the Bowl, briefly, before returning to Shri. Whatever he might have been looking for, it clearly wasn’t there yet.

[Shoki]

“About every turn, maybe a little more often. The clutches vary in size, of course, depending on sire. Still, a fair number on average.” The actual rate was slightly different, since Analis and Dea were not perfectly spread out in their flights, but it was good enough. For example, after Dea rose, it would be a lot longer until Analis rose again, than it would be the other way around.

“Worry not, when there are eggs I can inform you. From there you can decide if your weyrmate is ready for another egg.” It was a joke, though Shri’s expression didn’t get any more joking then a quiet smile. One of the hardest things she had learned in her training was a joke to get a buyer at ease. She didn’t really joke as a general course of events. Still, she tried.

A flash vision from the other side of the bowl did not make Shri flinch. Dea, it could only be her, was showing a person she deemed suspicious. Shri didn’t pay it mind. Dea was suspicious because they were loitering. Shri recognized them, and they were often in the bowl. However, she didn’t dissuade the Copper from watching. In part because Dea was at her best when she had a target she was focusing on. It calmed some of the suspicious tendency of the firelizard. The second part was that it did fulfill the criteria of someone she would want Dea to look for. She didn’t want to dissuade her pet from looking for more of the same. So she gave the Copper a pat.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar blinked. That seemed awful frequent to him at first, although, if the copper actually clutched…

“Do Copper flitts clutch, then?” he asked, curious despite himself. He knew that copper dragons never did so, although that might well have had something to do with the fact that, if he was remembering right, they were made to chew stone, since their maternal instincts could be described in one word: lacking.

Beneath his head, Viarth’s side shifted a little, the muscles sliding along each other under the vibrantly purple hide as the dragon slowly climbed towards wakefulness. Viarth didn’t nap often, but when he did, he slept deeply.

Shame you can’t render a human sterile so easily, K’tar mused. He rather fancied that his own mother probably never should have had kids.

Not so, Viarth pointed out sleepily. If she had been, you wouldn’t be here, and then who would I have bonded with?

K’tar snorted. “Can you tell what color the egg will be?” he asked. He rather fancied that he might like to have a little purple, or maybe a nice friendly brown, like Holt’s firelizard.

[Shoki]

Shri was actually somewhat used to the question, though of course it created a predictable result. Dea, keenly aware that she was being insulted (in her book) started to chew K’tar out in a series of chirps, squawks and hisses. Analis seemed morbidly amused, the Gold getting some amount of satisfaction from the affair. Selt merely ducked. Shri made a sharp ‘tsk’ noise, and Dea quieted, but was still looking at the Purple rider with anger. There was a moment of dueling wills (something that Shri never really could explain to people without a bonded) before Dea turned back toward the Bowl. With that, Shri neatly explained.

“Of course. Coppers have the capacity, it is merely as dragons they don’t have the choice. I have no knowledge of how other Coppers behave, or even would behave, but Dea is fiercely protective of the eggs until I take them from her.” And Shri meant fiercely. She didn’t know if it had anything to do with Analis and Dea’s rivalry, but if she wasn’t careful, she would have an angry Copper firelizard clawing her up when she took eggs. This was part of the reason she never let the buyer take them personally. She knew better.

The expression that reflected on Shri’s face was something approaching curiosity. Generally firelizard traders claimed that this or that egg would be a king, for sure, but really the only guarantees were on Queen eggs. Shri made no such claims. Instead…

“No, though I take pride in matching eggs to people in a way that most suits them.” An odd way to put it, but it was how she did things.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar leaned back, in as much as he could with Viarth right behind him. Every muscle tensed, as his mind shrieked that the copper colored beast was about to attack. Even when the copper quieted, K’tar had to focus to force himself to breathe, and his back didn’t start to relax until the creature yielded and turned her baleful red-eyed gaze elsewhere.

“They’re like dragons then?” K’tar asked, glad to be off the subject of copper firelizards and their maternal instincts, however present or absent such instincts might be. “You can sense something of the baby’s personality as they get closer to Hatching?”

[Shoki]

Shri nodded, just a little. “I imagine it is not as clear as with dragon eggs, but I have no personal basis of comparison. However, I do know that between what I get a feel of, and how the mother reacts to the egg, I can usual do pretty well at matching eggs to those that wish to purchase them.” Which might explain why when she had eggs left over they were some of the more ‘problem’ eggs. Not so much because she though Dea or Selt a problem, but because she knew that if either of them had gone to someone who couldn’t handle them, they could be a terror. Selt was nice enough, but she had seen what Analis and Dea didn’t as far as his scheming to them went. As was the case for other pets, sometimes the hardest to control, were the best when they were handled properly. This is why when she was selling a Queen firelizard egg she was always very careful to be sure the person could handle them. Golds were shiny, but they also had big personalities. Which could make them the best of friends, though.

“Because I do things this way, it is helpful if I have a list on which to call. That way I don’t have to spend so much time worrying about who is getting the eggs, so much as it is which egg is going where. I do try to make the best possible match within each person’s mark budget.” Shri was rather proud of that. She was always proud of her work. Even if others didn’t always think what she did, either as a trader or at the aerie was all that important. She knew.

“So if your weyrmate does desire an egg, it would be convenient if she spoke with me sometime. And if possible bring her firelizards, I would be most able to match effectively. Of course no rush, there is still time before I have any eggs at all.” Shri got a small, polite smile on her face. Of course in this she had not forgotten her purpose.

She was a spy with a sweet tooth.