When Alex awoke, Razz had already left, leaving his brother sleeping soundly in the chair with Zilik and Rile deep in conversation.

"Where did he go?" Alex asked groggily, her movements restricted by the warmth of the blanket around her shoulders.

"He told us he'd be right back," Rile replied, gesturing towards the door, "but that was some time ago."

"The rebel Anolis contingency is conducting a party in the courtyard," Zilik said, and Dex's eyes snapped open as he moaned his brother's name.

Alex furrowed her brow, confused. "Why would he go there, though?"

"Political maneuvering," Zilik replied with an indifferent shrug. "There are revolutionaries and loyalists involved, hoping to make some contacts and gain favor."

Dex started rocking, hugging himself, and whispering Razz's name over and over.

Alex sprung to her feet and fumbled with the leather straps of her sword belt. She tugged at the sword's hilt until it slid out of the scabbard with a whisper, and buckled the belt around her hips. "Fire truck politics and the Anolis females. I'm off," she declared.

Zilik moved towards her, placing his hands gently on her arms. His voice was gentle but persuasive. "Politics create and recreate our world. Let Razz work through this political landscape. The Anolis rebels are different from the established Kuni." He held onto Alex's gaze as if to ensure that she was listening.

Alex stood tall, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword. She turned to Zilik and spoke with a determined edge in her voice, "He can work just fine with me and my sword ready for Anolis females."

"Then I will accompany you." Zilik stood up.

"Stay here," Alex added, "Please. Dex needs you and if Razz comes back, he'll freak out if there's no one in the room but Dex in misery." She looked him in the eyes and softened her tone. "You don't want to be around me. I'm a political nightmare. You must stay clean to work your political magic."

Zilik slowly approached Dex, and without saying a word, slipped onto the couch to sit by him. He wrapped his arm around Dex's shoulder in an embrace of solidarity. Alex pushed open the door with a deep exhale, as though determined to face whatever lay beyond it.

"I got your back," Rile said, stepping into the unknown alongside Alex.

***

Alex slinked around the edge of the room, her eyes noting each person, occasionally pausing to listen in on conversations. Rile watched her carefully—she was like a predator searching for her next victim. Suddenly, a noise caught Alex's attention and before Rile could even blink, she made their way into a dark corner of the room, intent on keeping out of sight. Rile followed cautiously, hand on sword hilt.

A female had a protesting Razz pinned to a couch, stroking him. Her hands moved slowly, as if memorizing the contours of his muscles and increasing his humiliation. No one paid Razz or the female any attention. Fury gave Alex the strength to fling that female up against the wall and pound her muzzle.

"Alex, I can only hold off so many. Maybe you should stop." Rile's voice was edged with a warning as he eyed the partygoers descending into an angry mob. He moved slowly, trying to defuse the tension in the room. "I'm not one to back down from a good fight, but this will be a slaughter." With the toe of his boot, Rile flicked up Razz's discarded gold collar from the ground, caught it, and stuffed it in a convenient pocket.

"Fine." Alex's face contorted in rage, and she shoved away the female. Spinning around, she jumped onto a nearby table. "I have an announcement!" Her voice reverberated around the room, full of anger and fire. "I am the single most jealous and selfish female on this planet, and no one touches my mates except me. Tell your oversexed and bloodthirsty girlfriends."

Rile tucked Razz under his arm and extended his hand to Alex. "I have Razz, so let's go!" he urged.

Alex grabbed his hand and her slipstream around them rippled as she took off flying at her slowest speed and hovering just a few feet over the ground. She felt like her chest was about to burst from the exertion and her forehead dripped with sweat. Her heart thumped loudly and her head pounded from adrenaline rush.

Rile chuckled as they flew through the crowd. "You sure know how to be the life of the party."

"Shut up and really run!" Alex barked in reply.

With one last burst of energy, they broke from the mob and Alex dropped the slipstream, picking up the pace into an all-out sprint.

*****

Back at their rooms, Alex barred the door and bent over, breathing hard. Rile helped Razz to the bed, where his brother clumsily climbed over from the chair and hugged him. When Razz was settled, Rile laid his glimmering gold, opal, and star sapphire collar on the sheets beside him.

Alex stared at them both in disbelief, still trying to catch his breath. "Razz ... are you ... all right?" she gasped out.

"I am fine. It was nothing." Razz clicked the gold necklace back into place.

Alex collapsed onto the bed, her face contorted with anguish. "It wasn't nothing," she said through her tears.

"It was nothing that I have not gotten used to," Razz said.

"No one should get used to that." Alex wiped her forehead, streaked with sweat and tears. "Dex, where is Zilik? I told him to stay here with you."

Dex looked up at them guiltily, his eyes glassy with fear. "I told him to go find you, about a minute ago. I was so scared for you because you were gone so long. I'm sorry," he whimpered, and Razz patted his back.

Someone pounded on the door.

"Go away!" Alex shouted. "I'm in the middle of the usual! New mates and all that!"

Rile snickered, Razz grinned, and even Dex dared a shy smile.

"Alex, open up! You really did it this time!" Zilik shouted back.

"Alex smiled, trying to contain the adrenaline rush she felt. She stood and grasped a hand towel from the counter, dabbing her face. "Thank you. I'll take that under consideration."

"Open this door, Alex," Zilik warned.

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," Alex sang.

"What? Either you open this door to me or to all the new Anolis warrior friends you made at the party," Zilik warned.

Alex gave a curt nod to Rile, who stepped forward and softly turned the doorknob. He opened it just wide enough for Zilik to slip through before quickly pushing it shut again and dropping the locking bar across it.

"Alex, you infuriated a large contingent of revolutionaries at the party. We need their political help," Zilik scolded as he paced, and his tail lashed, while his color changed between green, blue, and brief bursts of red.

Rile crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, a single eye-ridge raised in disbelief. "Razz, Dex, here comes the show. Zilik has said the very wrong thing, at the very wrong time, to the very wrong person."

"You listen to me, Zilik." Alex jumped up and stood toe to toe with the astonished Chameleon. "I will never tolerate rape in any form, for any reason. Political expediency be hanged. Those Anolis females will pay for what they did to Razz and for what Morgan did to me."

"Who's Morgan and what did he do to you?" Zilik turned an angry red. "I'll make justice for you. I'm a formidable fighter, not just a politician.:

"Never mind," Alex said quickly.

"Morgan is dead," Rile said. "Decapitation. Too clean a death for that bastard, but it's what the Creator of All must have wanted."

Zilik's body language shifted from tense to relaxed as his hide color flowed from a fiery red to a soft, mossy green. He slowly nodded his head at Rile before turning back to Alex. Alex," he began softly. "Take a deep breath and consider your options. Why not prioritize staying alive?"

"My life is unimportant," Alex replied. "I've impressed that on Rile so he doesn't try to save me. Don't make me waste a lot of time impressing that on you. Just believe me."

Rile shook his head. "That's just the way she is, Zilik. You know that trying to get her to back down won't do any good. Besides, I admire her for standing up for what she believes in. It seems like every time someone talks about changing the system, but nothing ever happens.".

"Females will never change." Dex spoke the first forceful sentence that Alex had heard from him.

Alex raised her eyebrows and shook her head playfully at him. She pointed a finger in his direction and replied, "I'll forgive that statement, if you qualify it to your own species, mister." A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she tried to lighten the situation.

Zilik pinched the bridge of his muzzle and released a long sigh, shaking his head. His hide changed to a mournful blue. "Alex, what will I do with you?"

Rile cut him off without hesitation. "I'll tell you what you'll do. You'll maneuver us into fighting in that revolution." He stood tall, unflinching as he made the demand.

***

A/N

Dedicated to my long-suffering Wayfarers' partner

IanReeve216