WIP Wednesday – Clan Beginnings: Clan, Honor, and Empire

            The Imdiko turned to see Dramok Rajhir hurrying after him.  Flencik tried to steady his suddenly thudding heart, but it wasn’t easy when the councilman’s aide offered him a smile that he couldn’t help but answer.  Rajhir was an extremely handsome man, one he’d felt an instant attraction for.

            Flencik held no hope that the dashing stunner had come after him for personal reasons.  Despite enjoying seeing the man heading his way, the Imdiko hoped desperately that Ospar hadn’t come up with something new to add to his covert assignment.  Flencik felt he was in over his head as it was.

            Dreading what Rajhir might say, Flencik asked, “Did we forget something?”

            The Dramok shook his long, sleek hair back as he reached him.  “No.  I thought I’d walk you to the in-house transport.”

            Flencik’s mouth dropped open before he could stop it.  “Oh.  Thanks.”

            He flushed, hearing the unadulterated pleasure in his own tone.  Blushing only increased his embarrassment.  Rajhir’s good looks and confident bearing kept flustering him.  His shirt and trousers, while not showy, were well-cut to show off a strong, perfectly proportioned body.

            The Dramok fell in step with him, and they proceeded on towards the in-house transport system.  Rajhir tilted his head to gaze at him with a sidelong look.

            “Flencik, I – I know this is important, finding out what’s going on at your work, to you as well as to Ospar.  But I really hope you’ll be careful.”

            The kindness sent warmth spilling through Flencik’s chest.  He warned himself to not see it as anything more than a simple expression of consideration of the guiding Dramok personality for a member of the sensitive Imdiko breed.

            He wasn’t a liar, however.  He told Rajhir, “I’m scared stupid.  I guess the councilman thinks this is big.  Do you think his instincts are good?”

            Rajhir sighed.  “Honestly, this is my first day working for him.  That’s why I kept getting caught screwing up.  I do know he’s motivated to get rid of corruption in the council.”

            Flencik eyed him worriedly.  “You really don’t know if this Ospar is a good bet?”

            “If you didn’t think so, why did you come to him when Teken wasn’t available?”

            “His was the first door I came to that wasn’t full of people applying for a job,” Flencik admitted, his face flaming hot. 

            Rajhir looked up at him, his expression stunned.  The Imdiko thought how stupid he must appear ... deservedly so.  He had walked into the chambers of a councilman he knew nothing about and spilled his guts. 

            What if Ospar had been a good friend of Councilman Ledsin?  What if Flencik had told his story to a man who would have gone straight to his employer’s Dramok with the story?

            For someone who was supposedly brilliant, Flencik had done something remarkably stupid.  He could have crawled into the nearest closet and hid for a year in shame.

            Rajhir abruptly started laughing.  Flencik winced, but when the Dramok slapped his hand on his back a couple of times and then gripped his shoulder with a friendly squeeze, the doctor realized it wasn’t mean or derisive laughter.  Rajhir was finding the situation, not Flencik, hilarious.

            Keeping his hand on Flencik’s shoulder, Rajhir gasped between guffaws, “You and I are not having a great day, are we?  Which of us do you think is the more foolish acting?”

Releasing March 2014