Hidden Rage: Kindred Tales

At that point, Komendant Vizlar rose with the scraping of a chair and began to address the room.

“My fellow Crimson Blades Clansmen,” he began and then went on for some time about how he had inherited the Clan from his Sire and had built it up into the great organization it was today.

He thanked his enforcers and his Advisor, Rep. Yariz, who was also—as it turned out—his “Little Brother” who had been adopted into his family from a rival Clan, just as Dragon had been adopted into the Crimson Blades. He talked about the future of the Clan and how they would soon be annexing more territory and how everyone would have to be ready to go to war when he gave the word.

Gotta get ready to go to the mattresses, Bobbi thought, remembering an old phrase from The Godfather. She really didn’t want to be here when the Crimson Blades went to war with another Clan—it would make it that much harder to escape, she thought. But even if she did escape, where could she hide for an entire month until the Kindred of the Mother Ship came looking for her?

She was so preoccupied with this question, that she almost missed the part where she was supposed to drink.

“Raise your glass.” Dragon nudged her with one elbow. “We must all drink to my Sire’s speech.”

“Oh, sorry!” Bobbi lifted her goblet which was still sloshing with the deep blue wine and raised it in salute like everyone else was doing. Then, when Dragon took a deep drink from his goblet, she also took a sip from hers.

To her surprise, she actually liked it. It didn’t taste like wine at all—which had always kind of tasted like rotten fruit to Bobbi. Instead, the liquor was rich and fruity with a flavor a little bit like peach and plum juice mixed together with just a hint of some kind of spice.

“Wow—that’s good,” she murmured, taking a deeper sip.

Dragon shot her an amused look.

“Save some of that—you’ll need to take a sip after every speech. And my father’s Council members have a lot to say.”

Sure enough, he was right. Saurian after Saurian got up and made speeches—some of them quite long-winded. And after every speech, they had to raise their glasses in salute and take a sip.

Soon the novelty of the tasty wine wore off and Bobbi began to feel restless. She shifted in her seat, glad for the soft cushion Dragon had found for her. If she was sitting on the hard wooden chair with nothing under her, she was certain her bottom would be aching by now.

“Be still, feela, it’s almost over,” Dragon leaned down to murmur in her ear. “The old ones always have a lot to say. But after Rep. Kerzil has finished his speech, my Sire will open the room to announcements and petitions and those are much shorter.”

“I certainly hope so—I’m running out of wine,” Bobbi whispered back.

At that point, the older Saurian whose name was apparently Rep. Kerzil finished his speech and everyone drank to him. Then Rep. Vizlar spoke again.

“And now I will open the floor for any announcements or requests. Please keep them brief,” he said loudly.

To Bobbi’s surprise, Dragon rose from his chair. The buzz of conversation which had been growing in the background was silenced at once and everyone looked at him expectantly—Bobbi included.

“I never have much to say at these events,” he began in that deep, rumbling voice of his. “But today I have glad news to impart. I wish to announce that I have found my future wife. This is ‘Bobbi’,” he continued, gesturing to her. “She comes to us from a planet beyond Night’s Curtain.”

Every yellow, slitted eye in the room turned to look at her and Bobbi felt a cold chill run down her spine. Suddenly, she felt like a tiny, delicate bunny rabbit in a room full of snakes or some other reptilian predators.

“Er…hi,” she murmured and gave them all a little wave, feeling both incredibly frightened and incredibly foolish at the same time.

“I never thought I would meet a female I would want to keep forever,” Dragon went on, apparently oblivious to her embarrassment at being the sudden center of attention. “But when I saw Bobbi, I knew she was the one female I wanted to bear my sons. Thank you all for bearing witness to our joy.”

He put a heavy hand on Bobbi’s shoulder and she tried to smile again, though to be honest, she wasn’t sure what her face was doing at this moment. She was still frozen in place, feeling incredibly awkward as everyone stared at her, and wishing she could sink through the floor so this weird situation would just be over. She didn’t mind giving speeches or lectures in front of crowds, but she hated being put on the spot.