Chapter 29:

29

Balancing the Scales: The Sage Hero's Story


Telos tells his tale from the beginning, he lived in a normal village out in the wild. Until human soldiers came and slaughtered the men who resisted and kidnapped the women and cubs. Telos went on to be sold to an extremely wealthy family in the Capital of Vance. He was brought up well, schooled in basic math and taught housekeeping, proper manners and other things along with several other beast men of all kinds. They were all treated well, until the woman of the house passed away leaving the man, a shrewd merchant named Lod. Who went on to blame all the "filthy animals" his wife purchased for her death and proceeded to beat them. Telos was lucky enough to escape, not knowing where to run, he saw Kaz fighting the doorman for his kobold's sake to be able to enter the clothing store with him. Seeing this, he felt like Kaz would be someone who would care enough about species besides humans to help, so he followed their scent here from Vance.

Kaz was appalled by Telos' story, "Telos, you're more than welcome to stay here until we figure this out. The things Lod did to you are unacceptable, give me some time to look in on this." Kaz reassures Telos that he'll do his best. Lucia gets up and hugs Kaz, she gives him a lengthy kiss on the lips, then takes off to show Telos around the manor. As Lucia walks downstairs with him, she turns her head and gives Kaz a seductive wink and continues forward. Kaz cleans up all the mess they made and dumps the water over the balcony, a loud thump from below causes the balcony to shake. A soaked purple head rises from under the balcony with an annoyed scowl on its face glares back at him. 

 Kaz gulps, and turns around to dash back inside, but Tasi had already climbed up after him and blocked the doorway. "Not so fast my love." She growls at Kaz. "I'm not going to let you just run away after that." She says as she heads into his room and blocks the door. "Not so fast." Tasi says. Roarke came up to tell Kaz he was heading to the market, Roarke stopped in front of his door and heard the unmistakable sounds coming from within. He immediately pivots on one foot and begins walking back downstairs and out the door without uttering a word. Lucia and Saphana both witness this and break down laughing, waking up little Zavi who starts whining, Lucia comforts the little one and coaxes her back to sleep.

Saphana climbs out onto the balcony roughly half an hour later and lies down in the sun, Kaz hobbles down to the main hall and chugs several cups of water before collapsing on the sofa next to Tasi. He falls over sideways and lies his head in her cool scaly lap, Tasi looks over at Lucia, "Do you mind taking the little one for a bit?" She asks. Lucia jumps at the opportunity to hold Zavi, she takes the infant and Tasi hefts Kaz off the sofa and carries him up to his bedroom. She carefully sets him on the mattress and hops on to lie down next to him, she envelops him in her coils and places his head in his favorite spot between her breasts and the two nap and cuddle for the remainder of the afternoon.

Kaz slowly opens his eyes after his nap and finds himself wrapped in Tasi's warm coils, he stretches his arms out and both of his elbows pop. After skillfully wiggling his way out of the clutches of the napping naga, he taps her shoulder, "Tasi, time to wake up. Naptime is over, it's almost supper time." He whispers to her face. Her eyes shot open upon hearing the word "supper", Tasi flicks her tongue around Kaz's neck causing him to chuckle. He waves at her to stop, "It tickles! Quit it!" He repeats while she tackles him to the ground and begins tickling him more. A knock on the door is heard, it opens shortly after and Lucia steps in to find Tasi relentlessly tickling Kaz to the point where he can't breathe, "I suppose this is more acceptable to walk in on than what I usually see. Come down, supper is ready for you two." She groans as she heads back to the main hall. 

 Tasi and Kaz both cease their roughhousing and head down to sit at the table. Kaz greets Telos, "How is everything going Telos?" Kaz asks. Telos takes his attention off of Lucia and turns to face Kaz, "Oh Master, I am doing wonderfully. You have a very unique home, everyone here is so kind. If only I could work here instead of at that tyrant's estate." His ears droop as he says the last bit. Kaz lets out a long sigh and stands up, he heads over and whispers to Lucia for a few moments before sitting back down.

Kaz sits across from Telos this time, he folds his hands and looks him in the eyes. "What are your qualifications and skills if you were offered a steward position here Telos?" Kaz inquires with a raised eyebrow. Telos stops slouching and sits up straight, "I am fluent in both canine and human tongue, I can cook. I am exceptionally skilled at cleaning and air magic." Telos lists in a professional tone. Kaz looks intrigued, he grabs a single plate from the table as he stands up. He walks a few feet forward and quickly turns around, tossing the wooden plate like a saucer at Telos. The wolfman swiftly hops to his feet and waves his hand, the plate stops flying and floats gently down into the palm of his hand. Kaz claps his hands together once, "You're hired!" He shouts. Telos bows, his tail wagging and stirring up the dust on the floor. He thanks Kaz and shakes his hand. Kaz sits back down as Lucia brings the food to the table, "We'll be needing another hand around here soon." Kaz winks at Telos and wraps his arm around Lucia as she sets the plates down and he pats her belly gently. Telos laughed for the first time since he arrived here covered in all manner of scars and other wounds.

Kaz gets up and begins clearing out a corner of his bedroom, he heads back downstairs to the cellar and grabs a few blankets. He folds the blankets up and brings them back to his bedroom. Kaz calls Telos up to the room, the pitter-pattering of claws on the wooden floor can be heard, Telos bows before Kaz, "What can I do for you Master Kaz?" Telos inquires. Kaz frowns a bit, "None of that Telos, just like I told Lucia. Just Kaz is fine." Kaz corrects the wolfman. "We're out of bedrooms at the moment, I figured I'd give you mine. We can extend the manor and add some extra rooms, until then I'll just bed with Tasi and Zavi." Kaz explains. Kaz starts chuckling, Telos looks back and cocks his head, "What is so funny Mister Kaz?" Telos asks. Kaz settles down, "Just Kaz." He says as he pats Telos on the back, "Oh, I just remembered something is all. Tasi kind of ripped her bed up to make a nest when she laid little Zavi's egg. I guess I'll bunk with Lucia then, or maybe sleep with Saphana." Kaz decides.

 Telos looks down, "If it's that much of an issue, I can sleep on the…" Telos is cut off. "No, you were pretty busted up. You deserve a good rest, you take my room." Kaz says with a smile. Telos bows again, "Thank you Kaz." He whimpers as Kaz lets himself out. Kaz would look further into this Lod character tomorrow after he gets Telos settled in. He creeps up to Saphana sleeping on the pile of blankets by the fireplace, Kaz tosses a few more logs into the embers and taps the dragon's head, "Lift your leg and let me in." He whispers. One of Saphana's eyes opened momentarily and before Kaz could react he was gently batted to the ground and snatched up in her forelegs like a stuffed animal. Kaz looked up and kissed her scaly chin before he went to sleep in the dragon's warm grasp. 

Chill64
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