Trinket (Reverse Harem)

On Stealing Marcus

There were already worries Ethat was "defective." I bristled. "They aren't defective."

"Don't cause a scene," Itek said in a teasing voice.

"Have they ever met you, gryphon?" Ormiss inquired.

"No, but they know I exist. Not sure they know I masqueraded as Korr's husband, though. Not sure they'd care either. Dragons have their fun until they pair off, then they're intensely devoted. They are going to be very bewildered by this situation."

I tensed. So did Ormiss, and he said, "You think there's going to be a problem."

"Based on what I know of dragons? Yes." Itek said grimly. "Ethat is... Korr protects him, but I've been with Korr and Ethat for some time. You've seen Ethat, though."

Ormiss made a noise of agreement, while Itek clicked in his throat.

"Hmm," Ormiss said. "They will think what small, little dragons these are that are content to divide their consort five ways."

Itek said, ,"It was already controversial enough they had the same trinket. Korr doesn't talk about it much, and Ethat, of course, never talks about it, but I've gotten a few things out of Korr over time. And of course, we've seen what Ethat is."

I nudged Itek. "Do you think that's something to worry about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're a gryphon," I said. "Your species tends to... share. Do you think the fact they can take... I don't know, less will reflect badly on them?"

"I think it will cause trouble," Itek said. "But we have to go. It's very improper for dragons to not introduce their consorts as soon as they're found. Korr has an excuse, but it won't hold much longer. They'll be annoyed enough Ormiss' and Asund's family met you first."

Ormiss raised a brow.

"Actually," Itek amended, "they're going to be pissed about that."

"But it wasn't intention," I argued.

"Technically, our first stop should have been to take you the mountains," Itek said. "We breeched dragon etiquette. But that's Korr's problem to spin."

"I hope the candies offset it." There sure were enough of them. I went to try from my pile. There were an assortment. I chose the ones that looked like little meadow flowers dusted in sugar.

Crunching into the flower rattled something in my headcheese brain loose. It tasted familiar--something I'd enjoyed eating in the past, but had forgotten all about. But it didn't taste right either. There was a slight fetid taste to the flower that even the dusting of sugar couldn't overcome.

"Theia?" Ormiss asked.

I tried another flower and it was the same. Familiar, but not right. Slightly fetid. Which was to say it had that slight fetid taste everything had, and I'd grown up with, but this didn't match the shape of what I expected and it bugged me. Slightly fetid water, slightly fetid food (or a lot fetid), sure, that I didn't notice, but this I noticed.

And the hillside of Haven hadn't looked right either. What about it hadn't been right? Just like in the dream/memory of being carried, I'd heard my name, but I hadn't heard it. I'd just known the sounds were my name.

My original name. My real name.

And the voice--Korr's voice, but it hadn't been Korr's voice either--that had asked is that all of her?

Below us, the front doors opened. Itek tensed, and Ormiss summoned a crackling ball of lightening as he strode to meet the intruder, only to be met with a fluttering black raven that dodged a zap.