The Dragon Princess (Crystalosias - Saga - Book One)
Chapter Eighteen: Kerby

Sahrah stared at the broken Crystal that was still on the floor in two pieces. She looked around at the shards, spread out everywhere. She sat in the chair that was closest to the planter and continued to stare at the Crystal, as tears slid down her cheeks.

Conner moved restlessly and she rubbed her stomach to soothe him. “It is alright, my Banshon. Your Mama will fix things.” She whispered.

“Spitfire.” Derk said as he stopped just inside the room when he saw his mate. “I didn’t want you to see this by yourself.”

Sahrah forced a smile for her mate. “I would feel heartbroken if you were here or not.”

Derk frowned as he moved over to his mate. “Sahrah.” He whispered.

Sahrah looked back down at the Crystal. “Why have you not moved it off the floor?”

“We weren’t sure if it was safe to touch it.” He whispered.

She nodded. “I understand. Can I use Kerby?”

“Kerby?” He asked as he stared at her.

She looked up at him. “The small cleaning robot, you have on the ship.”

He chuckled. “You named him?”

“Of course. I had thought you name your cleaning robots, like the one in your apartment, but the little guy told me he had no name, so I gave him one, and I think it made him happy.” She said with a faint smile.

“We don’t exactly name the cleaning robots.” He said as he moved closer to her. “Rover is what I call the larger cleaning robot; because that’s what he is.” He said as he knelt in front of her. “Rover Roover.”

She laughed as her head fell back on the headrest, then she broke into sobs.

“Sahrah.” He whispered as he pulled her from the chair and into his arms.

She continued to sob as he sat in the chair with her in his arms.

“I will get Trey or Dan to retrieve Kerby for you.” He said as he rocked her.

“Thank you.” She cried as she buried her face in his shoulder.

“Tasheen, your father...” Trey stopped talking when she saw her Tashia was awake and crying. “I will tell him you are with Tashia.” She said as she turned to leave.

“Trey.” Derk said as he looked up at the robot.

“Yes, Tasheen?” Trey asked as she turned back to him.

“Can you or Dan go to my ship and retrieve the small cleaner?”

“You mean Kerby?” Trey asked.

“You knew...never mind, of course, you knew she named the damn thing. Why hadn’t you told me? You know what happens when a robot is named.”

Trey bowed to him. “I did not think of it, Tasheen.”

Derk waved her out of the room and Trey turned and left.

“What happens to a robot when it is named?” Sahrah asked as she looked up at her mate.

“Nothing you need to worry about right now.” Derk said as he kissed her forehead.

She started to cry again. Had she gotten the poor little guy destroyed, by giving him a name?

**

Sahrah heard a beep and turned. “Kerby!” She said excitedly as the little round robot spun in a circle.

“He is actually happy to see you.” Derk said as he leaned against the opened door of their chamber.

“Are you going to destroy him?” She asked as she looked at him.

Derk snorted. “What gave you that idea?”

“What you said to Trey, about what happens to a robot if he is named.”

He sighed as he moved into the room. “No Sahrah, I’m not going to destroy him. He’s not mine to destroy.”

“You mean you don’t own him?” She asked as she looked down at the little robot who was still spinning in a circle. “You’re making me dizzy Kerby.” She said with a laugh.

The little robot stopped with a beep.

“No Sahrah, I don’t own him anymore.”

“Anymore? Then who does?” She asked as she eyed him.

He grinned. “You do.”

“I do?” She asked with a squeak.

He chuckled. “That is what happens when a robot is named. If the owner does not name the robot or call him by his own name, like Rover, and someone bonds with the robot enough to name it, you must give the title of ownership, to the person who named it.”

She stared at him. “But doesn’t that make it so people could just go around naming other people’s robots and get free robots?”

He shook his head. “I said they must bond with the robot.”

“Or just name your own robot so no one else does.” Trey said as she entered the chamber.

“Yeah.” Derk said with a laugh. “I hadn’t gotten around to naming the little guy. He was only ever on my ship, didn’t think of someone else naming him.”

She smiled. “Until I came along.”

He grinned. “Sahrah Prem, this cleaning robot is now yours, Kerby, Sahrah is your new owner.”

Kerby beeped and lights flashed in a circle around him.

“He is happy.” Trey said.

“I can see that.” Derk said with a laugh.

“Can you understand him, Trey?” Sahrah asked her companion.

“Of course, Tashia. I can understand all languages.”

“And you didn’t tell me this before, because?”

“There was nothing to say, Tashia. The cleaning robot never talked. He cleaned and left.”

Sahrah rolled her eyes, then looked down at Kerby, who was waiting for her command.

“Okay, Kerby. Since you are now mine, I must ask you. Do you enjoy your job of cleaning?”

A series of beeps came from the robot and Sahrah looked at Trey.

“He was built to clean; it is what he does. And he will be happy to serve you.” Trey said.

Sahrah chuckled. Of course. “Okay Kerby, you can do whatever pleases you. And you don’t have to run away after cleaning. You can come and go as you please or stay close to home. Which would be this room.”

The robot beeped and Sahrah didn’t need Trey’s confirmation, to know the little robot was happy to work for her.

“I need your help with collecting my Crystal.” She said as she showed Kerby the pieces of her Crystal. “I need to replace every shard.”

Kerby let out a long whistle as he looked at the Crystal.

Kerby worked for hours, looking for every small piece of the Crystal, while Sahrah sat in the chair, with the two larger pieces, pressed against her heart.

“I’m so sorry this happened.” She said to the Crystal for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Has she asked about the women yet?” Bentin whispered as he joined his Tasheen, who was watching their Tashia.

Derk shook his head. “She’s too absorbed in the Crystal. Which I am glad for. I don’t know how I’m going to tell her what she did.”

“The truth?” Bentin said as he looked at Derk.

Derk sighed. “I know, but how is she going to take it? She killed over a dozen women out there.”

“Who were all about to kill her and your son.” Bentin grumbled.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Derk hissed.

“You know boys, since I burned those Brigidans, my hearing has increased.” Sahrah said from her place across the room.

“Flick.” Derk grumbled as he looked at his mate.

“It’s not that I don’t know what I did, it’s that I am trying to not think about it. My priority is my Crystal.” She said.

“I’m sorry, Spitfire.” Derk said.

“And when I have fixed my Crystal, you are going to tell me, why you call me Spitfire, and why people are afraid of me. And how the flick I blew flames... Spit fire at those women.” She said as her eyes widened. “Spitfire.” She whispered. “You knew!”

“Uh, oh.” Bentin said as he backed out of the room.

“I did.” Derk said with a nod.

“And you didn’t think to tell me, that I can spit fire?” She asked. “I almost killed Bentin!”

“It wasn’t the right time...”

“Can it, Derk.” She said with a growl. “If you say, it isn’t or wasn’t the right time, one more time, I’m going to light your hair on fire.”

He chuckled. “Do you have enough energy to, Spitfire?”

She snorted. “I do have matches, smartass.”

He laughed loud and hard. “I love you, Sahrah.”

She snorted. “Do you love me, or Spitfire?”

He moved over to her and knelt between her knees. “Both.”

She smiled at him. “Is it the right time to tell me?”

He sighed. “Can it wait until the Crystal is put back together?”

She looked down at the Crystal, then back at him. “No time better than the present, Tasheen.”

He sighed as he pulled himself up onto the chair, closest to hers.

“Once upon a time...”

“Are we telling fairy tales now?” She asked as her eyebrow shot up.

He chuckled. “Bear with me, Sahrah, this is how it was told to me.”

She sighed as she nodded for him to continue.

He cleared his throat. “Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Dragons roamed the lands. There were good Dragons who helped the villagers, and then there were the evil Dragons, who believed the people of the world should be food, not something to help. There was a long war over this, and the good Dragons won, but not before some evil Dragons escaped and went into hiding. The Dragons and the people, lived in peace, for many centuries, until a race of aliens, visited the planet and coveted the Dragons and their powers. Spitfire, the leader of the dragons, sent her Dragons all over the universe, separating them, forever. Some lived in caves, and some turned to their human form and lived among the people of their planets. Some even fell in love with humans and had offsprings, who were as powerful as any Dragon. A hundred years ago, it was foretold, that Spitfire would return, and with her, an heir, who would be big and strong and bring his Dragons back home.”

Sahrah stared at him as he finished his story. “And you think our son is that heir?”

“You are Spitfire.” Derk said with a nod.

She laughed. “But I’m not a Dragon.”

“What do you call what you have done, Sahrah? And your hair, have you ever seen anyone with that color hair before? It’s the same color as Spitfire’s scales...”

“That’s why you call me Spitfire! Because my hair looks like your Dragon...”

“It’s more than that.” He said. “At first it was because of your hair and your personality. You have the personality of a Spitfire, which is tough and angry and good, and...”

“I get the picture.” She grumbled.

“Feisty.” He said with a grin.

She chuckled.

“Then I started seeing things in you, that I read about Spitfire.”

“But I can’t be her. I’m only twenty-four.”

“Dragons live for thousands of years. You may not be her, but I would give all my gold, that you are her daughter.”

Sahrah’s eyes widened.

“Do you know your mother?”

She shook her head. “I was told she died when I was a baby, and someone delivered me to my Father’s door.”

“I see.” Derk said as he scratched his chin.

“You see what?” She asked as she watched him.

He shook his head. “I believe your father is your true father. He must have met Spitfire and they...” He looked at her stomach and her cheeks turned a bright red. He chuckled. “When we get your planet back, we will search and replace out what happened to Spitfire.”

“My mother.” She whispered.

“You believe me?” He asked as he studied her.

She looked at him. “I have learned to trust you, Derk. You would not tell me a tall tale.”

“No.” He chuckled. “I would not.”

“So, now you have told me everything.” She whispered.

“Not quite.”

She stared at him. “What have you not told me?”

“Austen told us about your “Warrior Mode”.” He said.

She studied his face. “Okay.”

“That, my dear, is Spitfire.”

“Oh.” She said as her eyes widened. “No wonder I don’t remember most of what happens when it happens.”

He smiled. “No one should know what you truly are. They all suspect, but if they knew a Dragon was truly here, there would be panic...”

“I know.” She said softly as she reached out and touched his hand. “So, it was foreseen that we would get together, huh?”

He smiled. “I never believed it until I met you.”

She sighed. “I wonder, did we fall in love, because it was destined to happen, or because we chose it to happen.”

He moved so fast she squealed as he knelt between her legs with his face in front of hers. “You and I may have been destined to have Conner, but it said nowhere, about love. That, my dear heart, was all us.”

She smiled as she leaned forward and kissed his lips.

“Beep, beep.”

Sahrah looked down at Kerby and smiled. “He has found all the pieces.”