Nasari was awakened two hours past midnight.
Still half asleep, she got out of bed, walked over to the ornately decorated cradle and reached inside it.
I thought I was done with this, the black cat thought.
Of course, it would have been one thing if the baby she was now feeding from a bottle had been hers, but, he wasn't...
****
"Ah, Nasari. Good of you to come, have a seat."
It was earlier that same day. Argath had summoned Nasari to her bed-chamber, where the former was recuperating from the ordeal of child-birth.
"Thank you, I'd rather stand" Nasari replied, glancing at the wicker-chair the Queen gestured at.
"Suit yourself. You know, Nasari now that We have become a parent ourselves, We feel a certain kinship between all the mothers in Our Kingdom. Including you."
"That's nice" Nasari replied, halfheartedly. Get to the Point, she thought.
"Isn't it? Unfortunately, as you may know, being Queen is a full-time job. As such, We have no time for child-rearing. We need a wet-nurse for the Inheritor to Our throne."
Having said this, Argath turned to Argeron the younger who was sleeping soundly next to her and lightly brushed his cheek with her fingers.
"Let me guess" Nasari said, "you want me to do it."
Mentally, she calculated how long it would take a baby-dragon to grow up. The Answer she arrived at was not encouraging.
"Why not? You have the experience and who knows? It may fill the void after...what were their names again? Oh, yes, Risha and Leorin."
Nasari's ears flattened against the back of her head, she forced them back in position.
"Your Majesty seems to think that my children are no longer in this World" she said, a slight tremor in her voice. "I know that is not so and if it was, nothing could fill the void left after them."
"In other words, you reject the honor We wish to bestow on you?"
"I do. Now, if you'd excuse me..."
"We'd reconsider if We were you."
Argath's response took Nasari by surprise. She had expected the dragon to spit fire, both metaphorically and literally, but instead, Argath remained calm.
This did not make Nasari feel at ease. If asked, she would have preferred an outburst. What could the Queen have up her sleeve?
Let me think, we're both of us aware any threats to my person would be hollow. She needs me alive to be assured of Jer's co-operation. Is she going to offer me something? But the only thing I want from her is something that she won't give. What then? What else do you have on me, you cursed tyrant? You...
The Realization struck Nasari like a blow. Argath would not hurt her, but the one person in the palace she cared about? That was a different story.
After all, she's not indispensable.
"Very well" she said, staring down at the carpet, so that she would not have to look at Argath's face. "I will do as you wish."
As if on cue, the heir to the Vinolian throne woke up and, having looked around, decided to voice his displeasure in the only way children his age know how.
