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Finding a vet qualified to care for her would be a problem, but unlike regular kittens, I wouldn’t have to worry about spaying her.
She wouldn’t breed with anything other than a male carbunclo, and he would have to prove himself worthy of her affection. If such a carbunclo came around, I had equal chance I would end up with two of them, and the bereft companion would receive a pair of kittens as an apology.
In good news for my sanity, Garnet would likely outlive me unless I sprouted scales and wings, and carbunclo tended to only have a litter of two to six kittens every twenty to thirty years. If she stayed with me, I would keep the kittens for a period of two years, after which I would need to find new homes for them much like the titanium dragons had done for Garnet.
The thought of the carbunclo leaving upset me, although I would be powerless to stop her.
Everything I read indicated the carbunclo returned to their owner with time, resulting in a household of three carbunclo and one beleaguered companion. In three to five years, I would need to worry about the problem, but only if a handsome male came calling she happened to like.
Argentinean and Chilean dragons tried to convince their carbunclo to breed with a less than ten percent success rate.
The carbunclo queens rarely liked the suitors enough to have kittens.
With my luck, I would end up with an apartment full of carbunclo and no sanity nor money left.
While she hadn’t been with me long, I would be heartbroken if she left me to have kittens. As a silver lining, if she did wander off to have kittens, she’d eventually return.
Eventually.
Once I learned as much of the basics about my kitten as I could, I returned to my research. As planned, I mixed in a variety of subjects to mask my activities. I dug out the entirety of my new notebook collection, labeled them based on general subject, and took notes. While I regretted needing to spend the time tracking financial news making headlines in Dragon Heights, it might come in useful later.
Money mattered, especially to those who didn’t have it but wanted it. Those who had it and didn’t want others to take it fought to keep their wealth in their possession. When the two sides clashed, death often happened.
For the moment, the financial news would give me a picture of the economic health of the city along with a list of names of the biggest players.
Wanda showed up several times, as she did a lot more than run a cell phone shop in the city. Cecilia had made the fiscal news once; she’d made a notable donation to a charity for the poor, earning the praise of several dragon clans.
The titanium dragons would drive me to the limits of my sanity, as they loved their money almost as much as they enjoyed creating new dragons to lord over.
The titanium dragons didn’t rule over Dragon Heights, but no matter how long I searched, I couldn’t find any information on who, precisely, held the reins over the city.
All the colors had a representative who attended a yearly gathering, which was when they handled the majority of the city’s business. The colors voted among themselves and presented their votes, grievances, and requests to the rulers.
I expanded my search to every news outlet, but I found nothing about the dragons in charge.
Interesting.
The only thing I learned for certain was that the rulers were a mated pair, old, and took steps to protect their identity. Every year, some fool challenged them.
Every year, the news outlets had a ball reporting on how badly the challenged had gotten their asses kicked before being permitted to crawl away with their lives and an adjusted attitude.
As I had no idea if the murdered pilgrims had anything to do with the city’s leadership, I compiled a list of articles to refer to later.
Then, as curiosity got the better of me, I checked to see if the tablet could access the public library. To my delight, it could. My library card gained me access to the digital system, including articles typically found in the paid subscriber section.
With a wealth of new information to pursue, I resumed my search, deliberately creating a pattern of mixing pleasure and curiosity to mask my general activities.
If anyone did check my notebooks, they would assume I chased knowledge as a hobby and had indulged the instant I could. I made it through one of the library’s newspapers before an inquisitive mew nearby informed me the kitten had tired of playing with her wheel. I reached down, picked her up to discover she panted, and abandoned my work to show her where her new water bowl was and give her a small saucer of her new milk. I petted her while making sure she caught her breath without issue.
When certain she had finished drinking, I picked her up, showed her the litter box and the toilet so she could decide for herself, and gave her a few minutes to explore her surroundings before coaxing her to my desk and setting her in her new bed. Within a few minutes, the carbunclo passed out, her sides rising and falling with each breath.
I returned to my work, determined to make progress on both cases.
Time was not a luxury I could afford.
SEVEN
“It seems our little hatchling has decided to join the modern world.”