As always, the queen was stunningly beautiful. Her ethereal grace and poise marked her as royalty even if the diamond and amethyst tiara perched atop her carefully braided and twisted white hair wasn’t enough of a clue. Today she was dressed in a flowing purple silk gown that matched the color of her eyes, and her consort the king was attired in a coordinating deep purple tunic over dove gray leggings. They both wore matching expressions of benign curiosity, although the surrounding courtiers were less subtle, whispering behind fans of peacock feathers or staring openly.
The queen actually rose from her chair to greet Alexei, kissing him lightly on each cheek before returning to her seat and inclining her head regally at Beka, Chewie, and Koshei.
“My dear Black Rider, welcome back to Our court. I cannot say how pleased We are to see you looking so well.” She gazed down her elegant nose at the rest of the party. “Baba Yaga, it is a pleasure to see you and your Chudo-Yudo as well, although you are hardly properly attired for tea. We assume this means you have some interesting tale to tell?”
The king stroked his dark, neatly trimmed beard. “A tale involving multiple dragons and the Black Rider promises to be fascinating indeed. Do proceed, Baba Yaga.”
“It is mostly Alexei’s tale to tell, Your Majesties,” Beka said. “Although Chewie and I played our part in it. When I was Called to the east coast by the local Paranormal peoples, I discovered Alexei already there, on the trail of the same mystery I had come to solve. So naturally, I persuaded him that it would be more efficient for us to work together.”
“Of course,” the queen said, eyes twinkling. She might no longer rule on the Human side of the doorway, but she had plenty of contacts there still among the Paranormal creatures who had been unable to make the move to the Otherworld. Alexei was fairly certain she knew exactly how he had spent his time since he’d left, and how hard he would have resisted being dragged into any purposeful task.
“Beka did most of the hard work,” Alexei said, trying not to sound too brusque. “I just talked to some dolphins and sharks, and fought a pirate.”
There was a moment of silence. “You can talk to dolphins now?” the queen asked. “How interesting.”
“And dogs,” Beka put in helpfully. “I mean, not just Chewie. Regular dogs.”
“Ah.” The king nodded sagely. “That must be your new ability. I confess, after your brother Mikhail turned out to be a shapechanger, and Gregori developed strong psychic abilities, I would have expected your own gifts to be something more…flamboyant.”
Koshei smothered a laugh. “He always did tend to be the most dramatic of all the Riders. Makes this a bit ironic, doesn’t it?”
Alexei ground his teeth. “I am perfectly happy with something a little less difficult to handle and potentially life-threatening than what my brothers ended up with, thank you very much. Besides, I’m much less dramatic these days.”
“Did you not just say something about fighting pirates?” The king asked, his lips twitching.
“Oh. Right. That.” Alexei shrugged. “But the pirate was really a dragon, so it doesn’t count.” He nodded at Hayreddin, who so far had been successful avoiding attention.
“One of Our dragons was in the Human world, playing at being a pirate?” The queen sat up even straighter than before, although her posture was always perfect. “Hayreddin, isn’t it?” she said, staring at him. “Would someone care to tell Us why Hayreddin has been trapped in Human form in bonds that smell of Baba Yaga magic?”
Beka looked at Alexei, but when he didn’t speak up, she took up the story. “The Paranormals who Called me were complaining that the fish they depended on for food had been disappearing. There was also talk of some kind of monster being sighted, although nothing definitive. In the meanwhile, the fishermen at the local bar where Alexei was hanging out had the same issue, plus something had been wrecking their boats.”
The king leaned forward. “A curious story, but what has this to do with the dragon? Or pirates, for that matter. Do get to the part with the pirates.”
“It turned out that the monster that was scaring away the fish and destroying boats was a kraken,” Beka said. “And the kraken was being controlled by an old talisman once owned by Hayreddin, back in the days when his kind still lived on the other side of the doorway. Apparently he took on the guise of a succession of famous Human pirates, and used the kraken to sink other ships and take their treasure.”
The queen made a moue of distaste. “And My people ask why they were forced to leave those lands and hide out in these. Really, Hayreddin, how short-sighted and inappropriate.” She made a tutting noise, and turned back to Beka. “I do not approve of such actions, of course, but that was then, and the rules were quite different.”
“When there were any rules at all,” Chewie muttered.
The queen ignored him. “So who was controlling the kraken now and causing all the disruption?” She paused for a moment. “One would think such a thing would be beyond the skills of a mere Human.”
Alexei opened his mouth to protest her use of the word “mere,” but thought the better of it. Instead, he took up the rest of the story. “It probably would have been, if that Human hadn’t had help. It would seem that Hayreddin sensed that his talisman had been found and activated, and he returned, taking on the guise of a pirate again and guiding a fisherman named Len in the controlling of the kraken.”
The queen’s austere features grew even sterner as she held out one slim finger to beckon Hayreddin closer. “Is this true, dragon? Did you instruct a Human in the use of one a magical tool to the detriment of Our Paranormal kindred still living on the other side?”
Hayreddin executed as polished a bow as was possible while wearing handcuffs. “The issues affecting the local Paranormal community were accidental and unintentional, Your Majesty,” he said in a smooth tone. “The fish would have returned as soon as I had reclaimed my final treasure, which was all I sought on the other side. Then the kraken would have gone back to its rest, with no permanent harm done.”
“No permanent harm done!” Alexei sputtered indignantly. “What about the harm to the fishermen whose livelihood you ruined? The ones your kraken killed left families behind.”
Hayreddin shrugged one shoulder. “As Her Majesty said, mere Humans. What does it matter?”
“It matters to them,” Alexei said. “And some of those Humans are my friends, so it matters to me.”
The king and queen exchanged looks at this, undoubtedly intrigued by the thought of Alexei having Human friends, but Alexei ignored their unasked questions and went on.
“It was your talisman and you were responsible for Len using it to call the kraken. You’re not going to just walk away from the mess you made.”
“Ah, but my dear Rider,” Hayreddin smirked. “Oh, I am sorry, it’s former Rider, isn’t it? Either way, I did not control the amulet myself, so I broke no laws. Making suggestions to the weak-minded is hardly a crime.”