Annan spoke first. "Let's start with the most important part of our cooperation: how we'll divide the underground gold mine in the Broken Mountains. We each get thirty percent..."
The negotiations hit a snag almost immediately.
"Thirty percent? Wasn't it twenty?" the old Clan Chief said slowly.
When had it become twenty?
Annan looked at the old Clan Chief in confusion, then caught his Father-in-Law and Mother-in-Law winking at him. Understanding dawned, followed by a headache.
His in-laws were on one side, and the formidable old Clan Chief was on the other. Whose side was he supposed to take?
"Bessa, Luna, you two would even skim your own group's share..."
But the old Clan Chief was the old Clan Chief. She owned more gold than the others had ever seen. How could she not know what was going on?
Illymoyas's mother, Bessa, had an excuse ready. "He's my daughter's fiancé. We deserve a share!"
"We're not—"
Annan was about to explain when the Dragon Mother glared at him, dangerous lightning flashing along her horns.
"Are you going to deny it?"
Annan obediently shut his mouth.
The old Clan Chief said, "Then you should take a cut from Free City's share."
"Aren't we Blue Dragons too?" the Dragon Mother demanded.
Clearly, the Blue Dragon Group was more like one big family than a rigid hierarchy. At least Illymoyas's Parents weren't afraid of the old Clan Chief.
"Are your parents always so... enthusiastic about wealth?"
Annan asked Illymoyas under his breath.
His future in-laws were actually arguing with the old Clan Chief. He marveled at their nerve but couldn't bring himself to say "greedy."
"That's what Dragons are like," Illymoyas said blandly, with a calmness that hardly suited a Dragon.
"You're different, at least." Annan smiled in relief, then looked down. "Though