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“I wasn’t willing to throw the cat, Mom. I placed him very carefully into the circle. He disappeared.”
My mother smiled at me. “That is because magic is smarter and wiser than any of us, my daughter. You have been chosen by the carbunclo, and that is all you truly need to understand. Garnet has accepted you—and the carbunclo are wiser than we often give them credit for. And if Garnet decides that Erik is appropriate for you, she will find him a carbunclo friend herself. These things have a way of working themselves out. You will see.”
“And if he isn’t?”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’d hate to have to teach an entire species why it is unwise to cross me.”
As opening the present from Erik seemed a great deal simpler than tolerating my mother’s vast ego, I loosened the tape, removed the paper, and eyed the jewelry box. “And you’re sure this isn’t a ring, Dad?”
“I’m positive. I have seen your engagement ring and the matching wedding bands after that was put in a trap of glitter.”
Aware Erik had a prankster’s heart when comfortable and confident of his target, I cracked open the box to peek inside. Sure enough, glitter spilled out. I held the trapped box over the other one, heaved a sigh, and poured it out. A small ziplock bag with a piece of paper and a lump within waited inside. “Clearly, he wants to anger me so I chase him, yelling at him for this evil deed.”
My father regarded my glittery hands and heaved a sigh. “When you put it that way, I realize that my discouragement was encouragement, as that is something you would do. Tomorrow, I will take you shopping for some creature comforts for you, your carbunclo, and your hummingbird as penance. Your phone is a good one, and I will pay that off in full if it hasn’t been paid off already.”
“I paid it off. In my position, I didn’t want a monthly bill I wasn’t sure I could afford. As it is, I wasn’t sure if I could afford Garnet.”
“I will expose you as our beautiful daughter if you do not make use of the accounts and money that is rightfully yours,” my mother warned.
When I bothered with dressing nicely, I could pull off beautiful, although I found it took a great deal of work. If I offered her a truce, she might abandon the thought. “You can take me clothing shopping.”
“A good request, and something we would do for imposing.” My father turned to my mother. “We could fit her for a proper gown. We could subject her to a wedding gown, a proper evening gown, and otherwise treat her like she is the daughter of proper dragons. And we can torture her while we’re at it. It’s perfect. Everyone will think we’re being our typical nasty selves. In reality, we’re paying for our daughter’s gowns, which she absolutely will need if she decides to stay in Dragon Heights.”
“You would have a very good home among the officers here, be it as human, dragon-kin, or dragon,” my mother informed me. “Your work experience is applicable, although you’d have to go into training for magical investigations. I think a three year forensics program would be a suitable punishment for her, my darling. As we’re imposing so harshly, we’ll pay for your testing, book your appointment, and otherwise preserve your anonymity. I recommend against arguing.”
Sighing over the inevitability of it all, I opened the little baggie, pulled out the paper, and eyed the lump within. I set it on the table, unfolded the paper, and uncovered a piece of coal, a bag with a few cut gemstones, and a note informing me that he loved me. I scowled, picked up the piece of coal, and glared at it.
He’d given me coal more than a few times over the years, usually with a nice present, making me unwrap hundreds of pieces of coal to find the present—which was often hidden inside the coal. Sure enough, I spotted a seam where the coal had been broken open and glued back together. Growling over his prank, I went to the kitchen, got a knife, and went to work busting my way inside.
Another tiny baggie with a clear gemstone inside waited within.
“Explain, Dad.”
“Sapphires, pink quartz, and a diamond, hoping you’d get the hint. And the coal because you’ve earned it.”
As I couldn’t argue with my father on that score, I wrinkled my nose, heaved a sigh, and gathered both baggies, holding them up to examine the stones within. “Please tell me he didn’t spend a fortune on this.”
“He did not spend a fortune. We wrestled with him. He stole them from our hoard.”
I snickered at the thought of Erik trying to take out either of my parents. “You let him steal from your hoard?”
“Yep. Of course, we tricked him into locating one of them, and then we showed up as small but irritated dragons that some whippersnapper was pawing through our gemstones. We were testing his fortitude.”
“More like his sanity,” I muttered.
“That, too.”
My mother grinned, grabbed a paper towel from my kitchen, dampened it, and cleaned up the spilled glitter before sealing the box containing what hadn’t escaped. “It’s the start of your hoard, Kinsley. You don’t have a hoard yet, so he was giving you the start of a hoard of your own, stolen from our hoard. Upon realizing you’re a dragon-kin, he started digging through his clan’s traditions. Young male yellows steal from the hoard of another dragon. It’s a trial by fire. In this case, literal fire. I gave him a demonstration of my abilities. I like him so he was not burned. He definitely was gloriously startled. I plan on dragging him to Shrine Hill, kicking and screaming, and holding him down at the yellow shrine until he starts a proper pilgrimage. I will wait until this killer has been dealt with first, however. I’d hate to have to turn over every stone in this city because someone dared touch my little yellow dragon.”
“I had no idea he’s a dragon-kin.”
“Just like he had no idea you’re a dragon-kin. You’re equal,” she stated. “Now, go put those on the upper shelf of your bookcase along with your note. Garnet will have an easy time learning you want a hoard, too, and you can explain to her that Erik stole those for you fair and square.”
“Perhaps we should not teach her carbunclo how to steal additions to her hoard,” my father murmured.
My mother scowled. “Well, if those dragons lose pieces of their hoard to a carbunclo, they were not guarding it sufficiently.”
“I will teach Garnet she may steal from your hoard,” I replied, and I put Erik’s present up on the top shelf of the bookcase as told. “He really gave me that to start a hoard?”