Bodran stepped through the portal and into his eyrie wearing his empyrean form. He stretched his senses as far as he could and detected no dragons inside. There would be no servants in his personal chamber. He waved Etta in. The portal winked out behind her.

  "Now what?" Etta said.

  "Now you change out of your royal robes and into simple martial practice clothes. We can use the fortune in jewels woven into your clothes to get everything we need."

  "I still think we'd be better off going to The Homeworld and simply decreeing what we need be brought to us. By the time the Empress gets wind of what's happening, we'll be long gone. If they capture me, I can simply make a wyrmhole and leave. Your way takes forever. We may not even find what we need at the markets."

  Bodran frowned. "What if they kill you instead of capturing you, or drug you. Weren't they ready to be rid of you less than a cycle ago? And if they find out you've bonded a rebel... that a rebel has potential access to your Imperial secrets..."

  "Now that I can create wyrmholes, mother won't harm me unless I've a proven replacement." She glared at Bodran. "But they would probably stick you in a dungeon and use your life as leverage to control me, and I admit that would be an undesirable outcome." She looked around. "I should be safe enough while you go to the markets."

  "You've never been to a market in your life, have you," Bodran said.

  She looked like she was about to say something haughty again, but her shoulders slumped. "I've never been outside the palace except to hunt the Imperial grounds and to go on well-planned and chaperoned trips with my sister dragons for training in wyrmhole magic. I've been surrounded by servants and guards every single moment I spent outside the palace. Making wyrmholes, eggs and political connections is all that has ever been expected of me. If you are going to ridicule me for my ignorance in the ways of commoners, then get it over with now. I will not stand for being disrespected in front of other dragons the way I tolerate it around the Earth creatures."

  Bodran pushed down the urge to choke the princess. He knew more about being politic with people like her than she thought he did. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make fun of you. I never thought about what it might be like to be born into so much responsibility. I see that it comes with challenges." Bodran handed Etta a set of plain clothes. "You probably have no idea how disruptive an imperial decree is. All other commerce takes a back seat. People relying on shipments they need to keep their business open, food from The Homeworld for a commitment celebration or a funeral, scheduled wyrmhole to travel to a clan gathering -- everything gets pushed aside for Imperial whims just the same as for Imperial needs, and the people affected just have to deal with the consequences."

  "That's the price our subjects pay for our protection and for access to our wyrmholes," Etta said. She was already shedding the fancy clothes and putting on the simple ones. To her credit, she didn't seem to care that they were plain. "Without us, you would all be stuck on your backwater planets."

  Bodran laughed. "Accidentally bonding myself to you is the first time I ever left my backwater planet. I rather like it here, and if your Imperial taxes and decrees went away along with access to your wyrmholes and your so-called protection, we would be just fine. Andonth has been part of the Empire since the third Empress. It was a bountiful world rich in mana with a sustainable economy and ecology. The Andonthans accepted us as their gods. They bestowed on the Empire everything that was asked of them. They had no choice but to trust the promises that were made of the superior way of life the Empire would bring, but it's been nearly two thousand Imperial years. The bounty this planet offered has flowed in one direction, and the demands have only increased. The Empire has taken more than this world can sustain. It will be incapable of sustaining life or generating mana in my lifetime, just like countless other Imperial conquests. I am Bodran the Blue. I am one of their Gods. What kind of God would I be if I didn't try to stop that."

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  Etta waved her hand. "We will transport the people here to new planets when the time comes for it. The dragons here will be gods elsewhere, and we will find other planets to sustain our mana needs."

  Bodran stared at her. "And when that happens, another culture - another entire heritage will be lost. It will be tragic. It hurts to even imagine it."

  Etta shrugged. "It won't be your problem or mine soon. Let's go. We have much to accomplish and if our bonded pets realize we have left them alone, they will likely panic."

  "Come on then," Bodran said. "There’s no way anyone will recognize you without all your fine clothes and an Imperial entourage."

  The range of eyries where Bodran lived all belonged to his father's clan, and as his father's heir, he was given an entire compound to himself staffed by the sapient species of the planet. Most were loyal to him, but he knew his father had spies. Seeing his son who was supposed to win an Imperial lekking in the future walking around with an obviously unmated broodqueen wouldn't be ideal, but hopefully he wouldn't find out until it was too late. Really all they needed was a strong enough mana crystal to get the old Wyrmcraft back into working order and some sort of food for Sara and Hammy. The Earthlings didn't have dragon stomachs that digested food over the course of days. Like so many of the species they found on other worlds, Sara and Hammy needed to eat and drink many times every day. They were vulnerable to cold and disease, and since they lacked a draconic form, they needed beds to sleep in and blankets for warmth. These were all things Andonthan's also needed, so Bodran was certain he would have no issues.

  The most difficult thing to find was going to be cores for Sara and Hammy so they could start harvesting mana and doing magic. Bodran also wanted a spell to shrink himself down to Sara's size so he could visit her world and learn of the wonders of engineering that could be found there.

  The sun was rising over the distant mountains as they turned the corner and found the market square. The compact, stocky Andonthans with their mosslike hair and beards were swarming through the market, chattering in their sing-song language. The pitch of their voices was such that no matter how many of them were talking or what they were saying, it all harmonized. Their laughter, on the other hand, was something like tinkling bells. The effect in a crowd was a kind of buzzing hum that made Bodran's chest vibrate, with sprinkles of little chimes punctuating. It was the most relaxing sound. It was the sound of home – the sound of his people. He'd learned to speak their language, but dragons lacked the vocal ability to laugh like an Andonthan. When he realized he might never hear Andonthan laughter again, his chest ached with the loss.

  Today's sunrise was spectacular as it caught the crystalline mountaintops and cast prismatic rainbows into the mist that hung low over the market.

  Bodran turned to tell Etta to stay close and to let him do the talking, only to find her staring, stunned, at the scene before her. He waited, letting her soak it in and thought to himself that there might be hope for her yet. If she wasn't the monster all the Empresses before her had been, there might be a better way to save his people than ending the wyrmhole line, and himself with them.

  Please let it be so, he thought.