Ves could feel her hearts racing as it quickly became hard to breathe.

  ‘Ves!’

  “Ves!”

  “Consort!”

  She could vaguely hear voices of concern from all around her, but she couldn’t focus on them, not after what she had heard. The bastard was here. Her old master was in Corinth. She couldn’t go back. At this point, she knew without question she would die before she ever let him take her back. But would she really have a choice? The bond with Senotraxia should protect her, but it's not like they ever had a chance to test it out. The thought of the cold grip of the brand around her soul, forcing her to comply, made her feel sick. She felt like she was going to throw up.

  “Ves!” a voice called out as a pair of arms pulled her into a hug.

  “We, I, won’t let him take you.”

  The words pulled Ves back as she noticed the arms around her were Ryuko’s. Realizing this, Ves slowly returned the hug before whispering, “Thank you”.

  Ryuko pulled away just enough that Ves could look her in the face, “Feeling better?”

  “A little.”

  As she regained her composure, she tried to reassure the concerned faces around her with a smile, even if it was clearly forced. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for, my dear,” Varsray spoke up. Ves could see he was trying to give her a reassuring look of his own, but she could also see the death grip he held on the glass in his hand. Try as he may, his anger was evident.

  “I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep him away from you. We already have constant surveillance on his location. It should be simple enough to ensure you never run into each other. Adding to which he should have no idea you are here.”

  “But can’t he track me with the command seal?” Ves asked, voice still weak.

  “Yes, but the tracking features provided by the seals are rather weak, only giving a vague sense of direction, let alone any indication of distance. Add on that, as your registered owner, he doesn’t need it to command you. So it’s doubtful he carries it on him at all times. As they are valuable artifacts, most wouldn’t want to risk losing. Suffice to say, the odds of him ever learning you’re here are slim.”

  “And if he does?”

  “Let us just ensure he doesn’t, or at the very least that you two never meet. While I will never let him take you the consequences, intervening in what officially would be a legal act on his part would be severe.”

  “What would happen?” Ves asked.

  “Considering you’re technically considered the property of the royal family, in the best case, a fine and being stripped of my position as City Lord. Worst-case death. Let alone the punishments anyone who helped would face for carrying out an unlawful order.”

  “And by your expression, I take it you would do it anyway?” Ves asked, seeing a resolve in her grandfather's eyes.

  “If left with no other action, I would,” he answered without hesitation.

  “My lord!” Roland spoke up.

  Varsray looked over his shoulder at the man, “I understand your concerns, but she is my granddaughter. I have a lifetime to make up for, and you just saw how she reacted. How could I in good conscience let her be taken back?”

  Roland sighed, “I understand,” he said before turning towards Ves. “I’ll assign Lyra to stay with you at all times. She can help coordinate efforts to keep you and the Senator apart. I also suggest you keep your veil on at all times to hide your identity. Worst case, if he tries to order you and the command fails, we can use that as evidence to claim he is mistaken about your identity. As for better or worse, he is the only one who can use the tracking feature on the command seal, so no one in the city could verify his claim if it points to you”.

  “How about we stop here for now? You look like you could do with some fresh air.” Varsray commented while looking back at Ves.

  “That may be a good idea, besides, I would like to free the contracted with us soon as possible,” Ves agreed as she stood up.

  “Are you sure? I meant take a stroll in my garden or something, not leave the manor.”

  “I know, but I can’t let my fear of him rule my life. I am the consort of a dragon, that comes with its own responsibilities and people I want to protect. I refuse to let that bastard stop me.” Ves forced out fists clenched.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I understand, wait for a moment for Roland to summon Lyra and explain the situation,” Varsray nodded.

  With the initial meeting over and it still being the early afternoon, they decided to stick with the plan and free the rescued contracted. Technically, at this point, they were runaways, so the sooner they could clear it up, the better.

  Lyra had offered to get them a carriage, but seeing as it wasn’t a long walk, they declined. Nell wanted to look around the city anyway, having thus far spent her entire life in the forest. Ves, for her part, was more than happy to let Nell take control, trying to maintain a brave face was exhausting. She could only pray that when the moment of truth eventually came, she could maintain her own resolve.

  So their group set out. Lyra, Ves’Nell, with Hiroko and Ryuko acting as her guards. Then all the contracted, including Alice and Xeeta.

  Taythes stayed behind as he was honestly too intimidating. It was hard to be around him without feeling a sense of danger. Well, aside from Ves and Nell, the bond removed that innate fear unless a dragon was initially trying to be intimidating. That and there was a worry that, should the worst come to pass, he would be able to hold himself back. A dragon appearing in the middle of a city and killing a senator would be the perfect excuse for the king to start a war.

  Whereas Farren stayed back to dig through economic records in the lord’s library. While he hated to admit it, as he was a skilled merchant, his experience was more on the ground, leading trade caravans between cities and such. Now he was being asked to create and manage an economy for a fledgling nation to be. It would work for now, as to be honest, calling their home even a hamlet would be generous. Still, solid foundations needed to be laid, and Farren was out of his depth. They all were.

  While nothing compared to the cities in the central part of Kohdessia, let alone the capital itself, the city Varsray managed, Corinth, was still well developed and maintained. It mostly served as the central trade hub for Kohdessia’s farmlands. Many of the buildings were on the humble side, wood with some stone or brick. Varsray’s manor was a notable standout, crafted from white marble shipped from the western end of the nation. It matched the capital in style, nearly entirely carved from stone. Even still, it was plagued by the same issue every other city in Kohdessia suffered from in these turbulent times, refugees.

  So many were displaced by all the recent large-scale conflicts around the continent. Ves hoped she could offer them jobs and homes. As they desperately needed an influx of manpower to really get their dreams for a new city started. These people were also prime targets for slavers. If she could at least spare some, that fate all the better.

  ‘So how are you liking your first trip to a city?’ Ves asked as Nell gawked around as they walked.

  ‘It’s incredible, I got fragments here and there from your memories, but to see it in person is another story,’ Nell replied.

  Ever since the time they felt each other’s minds sync up in the spawning pool, their memories began to slowly drift together. They even shared dreams from time to time. For better or worse, due to Nell’s age, it was mostly her getting fragments of Ves’s past. A past that, unfortunately, more often than not was unpleasant.

  Still, Nell wasn’t the only one entranced by their first time in a city. Ryuko herself looked just as giddy and received frequent scolding from Hiroko to stay on task. But whereas Nell was interested in architecture and the people, Ryuko was distracted by simpler things.

  “Grilled Skewers! Skewers here two a piece!” a man shouted into the crowd as another directed people to his fresh fruits.

  “Umm Nell….” Ryuko asked before Hiroko knocked her on the head. “I mean, Lady Consort, we haven’t eaten yet today… sooo…”

  ‘I’m honestly amazed she can tell us apart sometimes, any idea how she does that?’ Ves asked.

  Ves liked to think they had gotten pretty good at seamlessly switching control. These days, it was pretty rare anyone could tell which one of them was fronting at a given time, but somehow Ryuko always knew.

  ‘I haven’t a clue,’ Nell replied before she turned to the rest of the group, “I suppose she does have a point. Would anyone else like to grab a snack from one of these stalls?”

  Even Hiroko reluctantly agreed, it seemed they were all starving, and no one had the courage to say anything. Ves was fine eating a large meal only once every few days. At this point, she could honestly make it a week if she had to.

  Turning to Lyra, “Sorry about the delay.”

  “It is no problem at all, my lady,” Lyra responded. Ves had noticed now that the woman was no longer around Taythes, she didn’t look nearly as pale or on edge.

  ‘Too bad there is nothing here for us to eat,’ Ves commented, while they didn’t need to eat that often, that didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy a snack.

  “Hey! What are you…” a man's voice trailed off.

  Unfortunately, before Ves realized what was going on, a flood of warm meat and fresh blood flooded her mouth. It wasn’t the gamey mess she had grown used to from the forest but a real, proper steak. Nell had already found herself a snack…

  ‘Nell!’ Ves chided as the butcher who Nell stole the meat from, and Lyra looked at Nell in shock as she chewed on the raw meat from under her veil.

  Ves could feel Nell's confusion, not understanding that she had done something wrong.

  While the wrapping of the meat kept blood from dripping on her dress, her veil was not so lucky. As soon as Alice realized what had happened, she gave the still-shocked butcher a handful of coins and promptly pulled Nell off into an alley and out of sight of the main thoroughfare.

  “Alice? Did I do something wrong?” Nell asked.

  The rest of their group quickly followed behind, leaving the stunned butcher before he could say a word.

  ‘Nell, let me take care of this. Short answer, one you can’t just take things. We need to pay for them. Second, most people don’t eat raw meat…’ Ves said as they switched.

  Alice gave her a scolding look before removing the veil and pulled out a handkerchief to clean the blood from Ves’s face.

  “I’m sorry, Alice, I didn’t realize what Nell was doing until it was too late.” Ves apologized.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ves…’

  ‘Don’t feel too bad, it’s your first time outside of the forest. This is on me for not warning you, Ves explained.

  ‘It may be best if you front for a bit, let Alice know I’m sorry,’ Nell said, sounding a bit downtrodden.

  “Nell wants me to tell you she is sorry. I’ll stay in control until she can learn about life outside the forest,” Ves said

  “Could someone please explain what is going on? And who is Nell?” a woman’s voice called out before both Ves and Alice turned their head, remembering Lyra was still there.