Page 19 of The Dragon's Pet
She unrolled one of the papers and frowned. English might be simple to the dragons, but whatever script they used was not simple to her. The marks were thick, bold, and angular, but they meant nothing to her. Disappointed, Aria slipped the paper back where she’d found it. This was an unparalleled opportunity to collect intelligence about the dragons, but she wasn’t going to learn anything from reading. She was going to have to question Vyktor skillfully enough that he didn’t realize what she was doing.
It was a couple of hours at least until Vyktor returned. Aria wondered if he had forgotten about her entirely. She had been through most of the objects in the room by then, finding little that she understood enough to know if they were of value or not. She was almost pleased to see the dragon when he returned, hisnaked form looking pumped, as if he had been engaged in hard labor. One of his hands was clutched behind his back, giving him a look of formality.
“What, did you have to build the bath with your bare hands?”
“Claws,” he smiled. “Much easier.”
Aria didn’t know if he was serious or not. It didn’t really matter.
“I have had your bath prepared, pet,” he said. “But before we go, come here.”
She approached him curiously and stood before him. If she was going to get information out of him, she would have to be a little bit compliant. Vyktor gently swept her hair behind her shoulders and from behind his back he produced something silver, studded with gold and amethyst crystals. It wasn’t quite a necklace. It was too thick and too short for that. When he looped it around her neck and fastened it at her nape, she realized that what it actually was a collar. A very beautiful one, likely worth in the tens of thousands given the gorgeous cut of the purple gems.
Aria wanted to be outraged, but it was rather difficult given that he had just hung a greater value of riches around her neck than she would ever have earned in years.
“What is this?” She fingered it gently, already half-knowing the answer.
“Eldor wishes you to be under effective control when you are outside my chambers,” he said, producing a chain, similarly studded and made of silvery links with gold inlay and amethyst gems set into the very center of the links. It was utterly stunning, and Aria stared at it with wide eyes as he clipped it to the collar around her neck. He had her on a leash now. She was literallybeing treated as his pet, but instead of it feeling humiliating and awful, it felt as though she were highly valued and spoiled.
“That is a hell of a magic trick,” she said. “Are you pulling these out of your ass? Do dragons poop jewelry?”
“I made these last night, after I settled you into your bed,” Vyktor said, apparently taking her question of high value defecation seriously. “I enjoy jewel crafting, and you are quite an inspiration.”
Aria tried not to feel too pleased about the dragon’s gift. It wasn’t a gift anyway. These silver, gold, and purple chains were no less shackles than the heavy iron ones that had been closed around her wrists and ankles in the beginning. She inwardly lectured herself not to be taken in by the shiny trinkets, but it was difficult. Even when Vyktor wrapped the other end of her leash about his hand and drew her gently forward, she gave in to the pressure easily, following him outside his rooms and into the halls of the dragon’s nest.
Everywhere she looked, the walls had been carved with ornate patterns and designs. It reminded her somewhat of the way ancient Egyptians had made the walls highly decorative, with inscriptions and carvings depicting dragons becoming men and vice versa, great representations of dragon eyes, fire being breathed over the surface of small worlds…
“Come along, pet,” he murmured, urging her forward.
“I didn’t see these before,” she said. “Why didn’t I see these?”
“You were exhausted and half asleep,” Vyktor replied, slowing to allow her to take the carvings in. “These are but a simple ornamentation. They help us feel a little more at home.”
“They’re amazing,” Aria said, running her finger over the image of a large dragon that was depicted arching its head back, flames issuing from its mouth. There was a ferocity and a majesty to the image that touched her somewhere deep in her heart. She felt a little twinge of the same feeling that had once spurred her to explore the portal storm and to seek its center—a yearning that made little sense and yet was powerful nonetheless. “If these are simple, your homes must be beautiful.”
“They are more focused on aesthetic qualities than most human dwellings we have seen,” Vyktor agreed. “So many of you live in little wooden boxes exposed to the elements. Very strange.”
“Most people don’t have the money or the time to decorate their houses like this,” Aria said. “Most people are very busy and count themselves lucky to have the wooden box.”
“People do not have time to build their houses? If you do not have time to build your house, what do you have time for?”
“Most people don’t build their houses,” Aria said. “They are bought and sold many times. Houses are very expensive.”
“Is it a lack of materials? You seem to have enough wood and stone…”
“It’s a lack of…” Aria pursed her lips as she thought. What was it a lack of, exactly? “People don’t have the skills to build houses. We specialize in our jobs. I flew planes. Other people might program computers, or look after others with medicine, or prepare food. It takes years to learn those skills and there’s no time for house building. So builders have to build them—and the land they’re on is very expensive, especially in big cities.”
“Why is it expensive?”
“Because people want to live there. So they will pay more.”
“So it’s expensive because people will make it expensive for themselves?”
“I guess,” Aria said. “I don’t really… I mean… it’s complicated. The economy and… I don’t know.”
“Hm.” Vyktor nodded slowly. “Such complexities for such simple creatures.”
“We’re not as simple as we seem.”
