Sszaxxanna gave Tokkenoht a little shove, and the younger female opened her shoulder bag, pulling out a lizard talisman. She said a few words, shook the lizard on a stick, kissed it, and then blew into Hsrandtuss’s ear. Suddenly he could hear the words of everyone present.
“I bring you a great gift,” said Zsackass, waving three of his warriors forward.
The three colorfully painted males each carried a leather sack. In front of Yessonar, they opened them up to reveal that they were filled with the copper coins the humans made. Zsackass must have sold many animal skins to the humans to accumulate so much treasure. Hsrandtuss shook with mirth.
“What a fool,” he hissed gleefully. “What a stupid gift for Yessonar.”
“It is great wealth,” said Ssu, before Sszaxxanna slapped her mouth shut.
“Yessonar grew up among the soft-skins,” explained the king. “The copper bits are valuable to us, but I have seen the humans trade piles of them for a bit of scrap with a picture on it. The copper bits are not valuable to the humans and they will not be to Yessonar.”
“Thank you for your gift,” said the god with a shrug, seeming to confirm Hsrandtuss’s evaluation. One of the orderlies led the king back up to sit with his people. Tokkentott stepped forward to take Zsackass’s place.
“Great Yessonar, I too have a gift. I hope you will like it.” He glanced over his shoulder at Hsrandtuss.
Two warriors from Hiikhuu brought forth a wooden chest, which they sat at their king’s feet. He reached down and pulled the lid back. Reaching inside, he pulled out a large black rock.
Hsrandtuss slapped his knee and hissed.
“What an idiot. He brought coal.”
He turned toward his second wife, expecting her to ask why coal was not an acceptable gift, but she was busy avoiding Sszaxxanna’s fist. He looked around for someone to address and found his sixth wife, Kendra.
“The humans want coal, but the amount he could bring in that box can’t be worth more than a few copper coins.”
Kendra nodded knowingly.
“This is just a sample, Great Yessonar,” shouted Tokkentott, as if he had heard his rival. “I have brought the equivalent of 500 of these boxes.”
Hsrandtuss sucked in air at the extravagance, but Yessonar did not seem impressed. If anything he looked bored. His tail whipped around and he reached up a clawed hand to scratch his whiskers.
“Uh… that’s not all either,” said Tokkentott. “We will bring you more. You shall have all the black rock you want.”
“That is very nice. That really is splendid,” said the dragon without enthusiasm. “Thank you.”
The king of Hiikhuu slumped his shoulders and led his warriors back up to the rest of the embassy from his village. His place was taken by Szisz. The king of Suusiss was painted in his war paint and was decorated with utahraptor feathers. He crossed his arms and looked up the huge dragon.
“I have brought you no gift,” he said with a sneer in his voice. “You are a false god.”
“How dare you!” shouted Hsrandtuss.
Tistakha jumped to his feet. “I will kill you with my bare hands!” His warriors jumped up and down, baring their claws.
Both Zsackass and Tokkentott were equally enraged. Only Hakheekh remained calm, though some of his people certainly looked uncomfortable.
“Silence,” said the god, his demeanor sedate, though his voice still boomed through the open air. When relative calm returned, he looked at Szisz and spoke. “Go in peace.”
With a sneer, Szisz turned and marched up the steps to the exit. His warriors fell in line behind him.
“Have him followed,” whispered Hsrandtuss to Sszaxxanna. “I want to know everywhere that offspring of an addled egg goes and everything he does.”
“Tistakha, come forward,” said Yessonar. “How good it is to see you again.”
Tistakha waited until the last of the envoy from Suusiss were out of sight before he stepped down in front of Yessonar.
“Hail, God of the Sky.”
“You have come quite a distance, Tistakha.”
“All for your glory, Yessonar, and I have brought gifts.”
He waved to his gathered people and three warriors brought forth a huge bundle. Laying it on the ground, they began unfolding a huge skin. It was flat black and almost large enough for the dragon to wear as a coat. It was a tyrannosaurus skin that had been tanned and then prepared by having females, probably a dozen or more of them chew on it until it was soft and supple.
Hsrandtuss let out a low whistle.
“A great gift,” said Tokkenoht.
The dragon lifted his long serpentine neck and moved his head over the skin, examining it carefully. Every so often, his forked tongue shot out to touch it.
“This is very well done,” he said. “What shall I do with it, do you suppose?”
“Anything you wish,” said Tistakha quickly. “I have several females who can cut and stitch it if you wish. It can be made into clothing. It can be mounted on a wall. It can be cut into squares, stitched together, and filled with feathers.”
“Pillows,” said the dragon. “Yes, I could use some of those. And maybe a satchel so I can carry things with me. Wonderful. Wonderful.”
“It shall be done, God of the Sky,” said Tistakha, waving for his warriors to roll the skin back up.
He turned and marched back up to join his people, his dewlap flushing bright with pride.
Hsrandtuss didn’t wait to be invited down. He immediately marched to stand directly in front of the steel dragon’s massive head.
“Great Yessonar, I have come…”
Suddenly the great shining body rose to its feet. Two massive wings spread out wide enough to blot out the sun. The tail, tipped with a razor-sharp barb, whipped through the air. A great mouth opened and a few sparks shot out, floating to the ground before dying on the stone floor. Then just as suddenly, the dragon plopped back down. He closed his mouth and ran his huge, clawed fingers through his whiskers. Then suddenly his attention was back on the king of Hiissierra.
“My old friend Hsrandtuss. It is good to see you again.”
“Great Yessonar.”
“Is it true that you have six wives and that you’ve brought them all with you to see me?” asked the dragon. “I should have expected something like that from you, but still… six seems quite excessive.”
“It’s not excessive. Khassna had fifty wives and mated with hundreds of females.”
“You see yourself as another Khassna?”
Hsrandtuss stopped for a moment, then continued, carefully choosing his words. “Khassna was evil. He was on the wrong side of things. He was a poor king. But he was a great warrior and he was loyal to his god.”
“Well said,” commented Yessonar. “Well, let me see your wives then.”
The king waved his wives toward him without looking back. They formed a line to his left.
“This is Sszaxxanna and Ssu and…”
“Yes, I remember these two from my visit to your village.”
“My third wife is Szakhandu. She is from great Tsahloose, from a noble house.”
“Did you buy her, or was it part of an alliance?” asked the dragon.
“Both,” replied Hsrandtuss. “Her family is well connected in their city but are not as wealthy as they once were. They were happy to have her married to a wild male, so long as he had trade relations with the humans. Next to her is Tokkenoht. I stole her from Hiikhuu.”
He looked over his shoulder at Tokkentott, who was silently fuming.
“A female witch-doctor?” wondered the dragon. “Curious.”
“Then there is Sirriss. She comes from Tserich and knows much trade and speaks many lizzie dialects. Finally, there is Kendra.”
“Oh, I know her too, don’t I?” Then Yessonar broke into the musical language of the humans. Kendra replied and they spoke back and forth. Hsrandtuss leaned over so that Sszaxxanna could translate for him.
“He asks her how she comes to be in Hiissierra. She says she leaves the human city before the war and doesn’t want to go back. He asks if you are a good husband. She says you are a good husband and a good king.”
“I see you are a wily one, Hsrandtuss,” said the dragon, once again speaking the lizzie tongue. “Among your wives you have trade connections north and south, an alliance with the largest city-state, a magic-user, a hunter, and a translator.”
“Yes, God of the Sky.”
“So, just one more question. If I were to eat one of your females, which one should I choose?”
“I am sure that Ssu would taste the best,” said Hsrandtuss, and Sszaxxanna shoved Ssu forward. Ssu looked too terrified to move.
The dragon laughed a deep rumbling laugh.
“Relax, he will not eat you,” the king told his second wife.
“I am glad you are here Hsrandtuss,” said Yessonar. “We will talk later.”
“Wait, Great God of the Sky. I have a gift for you too.”
He held out his hand and Sirriss placed a small bundle in it. Carefully unwrapping the cloth covering revealed what the humans called a “book.” He held up the grey and black volume with the gold lettering facing upwards.
“Power and Guilt: The Crimes of Klaus II of Freedonia by Isaak Wissinger,” read Yessonar. “I’ve been meaning to read this one. Can you open it for me?
Hsrandtuss didn’t really know how a book was supposed to be used, but he held it as steady as he could and lifted the top cover back.
“Yes, the title. McCoort and McCoort Publishing. Yes. Turn the page please.”
Hsrandtuss carefully lifted the first thin white leaf.
“Ah, there it is: the dedication. For Zurfina.” The dragon’s voice became smaller than Hsrandtuss thought possible. “It’s dedicated to my mother.”
“What is this word—nother?” Hsrandtuss asked Szaxxanna in a whisper.
Sxaxxanna shrugged, but Kendra leaned toward him.
“The female that laid his egg.”