“Lion.”
When she only stared at him blankly, Drakkal sighed and slowly—veryslowly—spelled it for her in the Universal Speech alphabet.
She rolled her eyes and input information on the holo screen in front of her. After a few seconds, she sighed. “I need to scan your ID.”
“No, you don’t,” Drakkal said. “You just need to give me my order. It’s already paid for.”
“Still need to confirm you are who you say you are.”
Drakkal leaned forward, bracing his hands on the countertop, and said in as overly pleasant a voice as he could manage, “The order is paid for. Twenty outfits for a newborn terran and three pairs of terranleisure pants, ordered ten days ago. Would you like me to tell you the total on the bill and how much I paid over that number? Maybe I could go to the back and find it. Wouldn’t want you to have to do your job or anything.”
Though there was a glimmer of fear in her eyes, the volturian didn’t back away. Drakkal, still refusing to let himself be annoyed—undoubtedly a failing endeavor—had to admire her courage. Of course, it could’ve also been a matter of arrogance.
Perhaps next time hewoulduse one of those Undercity tailors.
The female took in a slow breath. “I need to scan your?—”
Her words were cut off by an older female volturian, who hurried over saying, “Vyri, go fetch Master Lion’s order,now!”
The intricateqalmarkings on Vyri’s face darkened, and her skin blanched. She rushed into a back room with a muttered, “Yes, mother.”
The older volturian took Vyri’s place. “Please, Master Lion, accept my deepest apologies. My daughter is young, and like many youths, is prone to bouts of unnecessary rudeness. She has much to learn. I am Arae. Welcome to my shop.”
“Thank you,” Drakkal said with a nod. He stood up straight and stepped back from the counter. “All’s forgiven. I’ll collect my order and be on my way.”
“Of course, of course.”
When Vyri emerged from the back with a stack of neatly folded clothing, Arae waved her over. “Hurry girl, hurry. You’ve already wasted too much of this gentleman’s time.”
Head down, Vyri placed the stack on the countertopbetween Drakkal and Arae before retreating and clasping her hands together.
Arae lifted a tiny garment from the top of the stack and unfolded it, displaying it to Drakkal with practiced ease. It was what Shay had called aonesie. “As you specified, only the finest fabrics. We used terran patterns as reference, but gave them a more modern and tasteful flair.”
Drakkal barely suppressed a chuckle; he couldn’t help seeing humor in the knowledge that his newborn cub—who wouldn’t even be able to crawl for another five or six months, at least—would be better dressed than him.
Better dressed than Arcanthus, too.
What am I thinking? Arcanthus barely counts as dressed most of the time.
That thought nearly shattered his self-control; it was amusing enough to make him forget the difficulty Vyri had caused.
“Would you like to inspect the rest?” Arae asked as she deftly folded the garment.
“No. Just a bag.”
Arae snapped her fingers, and Vyri hurriedly stepped forward, pulled a large, tailored cloth bag from beneath the counter, and loaded it with the folded clothes. Herqalremained dark, her skin pale, but she worked efficiently and precisely. She placed the loaded bag on the counter.
Even the bag looked nicer than most of the clothes Drakkal owned.
“If you are interested, Master Lion, I could make room in my schedule for some custom fittings,” Arae said as though reading his mind. “We have styles that can accent all your powerful features.”
At that, Drakkal did laugh. Back on Caldorius, they’d often dressed slave gladiators to make them look more imposing—which usually just meant making them go shirtless. He lifted the bag off the counter. “I’ll have to think about that.”
“Very well.” Arae dipped into a bow. “Please, let me know if there are any problems. We will do all we can to ensure your satisfaction.”
“Yeah. I will.” Drakkal offered Arae a nod, turned, and exited the shop without a backward glance.
Drakkal’s amusement didn’t fade—now he was picturing himself stuffed into a form-fitting Volturian suit with tufts of fur sprouting from the neck and sleeves, and it looked hilarious. But that humor was underscored by thrumming excitement. He was finally going back to Shay and Leah. He’d only been gone for two hours, but it felt like ten times as long.