See? That’s what Krol hated about Zuzani talking in circles. “Are you saying I can’t have another day or two if I need it?”
“I want the female in one week. I have been quite clear. You must decide if you wish to make this deal. It is the only time I will make this offer.”
Krol had harbored a bad feeling this mage would be like that. “I’m in. I want the Lammogo.”
“As we proceed, there must be terms of agreement and consequences for failure,” Zuzani stated.
Krol’s skin chilled, but he had confidence in his ability to execute a plan. “I’m listening.”
“If you succeed, I will give you unfettered authority over the Lammogo forever. You will have all the control you require during the next week but no orders to attack. Until you have fulfilled your part, I will still hold the full reins to my creation. Fair enough?”
“Agreed. If the Lammogo follows my orders without harming the bear shifter mate, that’s fine by me.” Krol could barely wait until completing his part of this bargain to make plans for using that flying creature as a weapon to build his empire. “I get that you have a consequence in mind for me if I drop the ball, but what if your Lammogo does not perform as expected?”
Zuzani gave him a flat look.
Had he insulted the egotistical mage? Krol put this in simpler terms. “Hey, I’m negotiating, just like you are. I’m putting any question out so we’re both clear on what might and might not happen.”
Sounding put out, Zuzani said, “If my Lammogo does not perform successfully, in addition to keeping the Lammogo, I will gift you the only living Mapogo lion, which I have no intention of parting with for any price. If you fail to deliver Magdelina, mated to Ivo of his bear clan in Austria, to this location at the time agreed upon, I will send a message to the Lammogo to capture and deliver you at my feet to do with as I wish.”
If Krol were in his lion form, fur would be bristled at his neck, the only warning of an impending attack.
“You still may choose to walk away,” Zuzani offered in a mocking tone.
“How do I know you won’t call to the Lammogo to bring the mate to you without me delivering her?”
The mage sighed so loudly that Krol expected birds to scatter from the trees.
Staring past Krol, Zuzani gave his answer in an exasperated tone. “I am one of the Power Barons.”
Nodding that he knew this, Krol kept silent. “Explain.”
“A Power Baron known as Robert lied and manipulated others in a bid to unseat the leader of our council recently. Once he was executed, the ruling council dictated a rule that all Power Barons had to take an oath to pay a substantial price if they broke their word or lied. If they did, the penalty would be to suffer ten times the fate of the person he intended to undermine or injure.”
“What if someone died?” Krol needed convincing.
“If a Power Baron caused a person’s death by breaking his word, he would die a horrible, dragged-out death, then be brought back to life to go through nine more similar terminations. I will make a simple demonstration to prove the truth of my words.” Zuzani looked around until he found a tiny bug crawling on the ground. He crushed it under his heel.
Krol had to keep from laughing. What would killing a tiny bug prove?
Ignoring Krol’s smirk, the mage explained, “Now, if I say, ‘I did not kill that bug,’ I would be—” Zuzani could not finish. His fingers seized, and he choked. His face lost blood, and he panted through clenched teeth.
Krol had no idea what to do to help him. He didn’t think anyone was that good of an actor. He didn’t dare move. He glanced at the Lammogo that stood still, blinking languidly as it watched.
After a long minute of watching Zuzani suffer, the mage caught his breath and shook his body as if freeing it from a binding. “I willneverdo that for anyone again,” he muttered angrily.
That demonstration showed Krol how important this pregnant mate was to Zuzani. What would the mage do with her?
Did he care? Silly question.
Now would be a good time to get them back on better footing. “Thank you. What’s next?”
Zuzani had paced a few steps away, shaking his hands, then returned to where he had stood before. He pulled his emotions under control, closed the distance between them to six feet, and took a commanding tone again. “Prepare to make the formal commitment.”
Then Zuzani removed his hands from his sleeves and held a knife clutched in one. He reached up and cut a lock of his reddish-brown hair.
For a mage to clip a lock of his hair in the presence of someone who might take a strand and use it was shocking.
Following his lead, Krol produced his own knife, bigger than the mage’s weapon, and lopped off a length of blond hair from his ponytail.
