text: Tarcuna was living in a hotel room not far from the Diplomatic Brigade's offices. It was small and dingy, and I didn't much want to come in. The curtains were dusty when I brushed them aside with my muzzle to stick my head through the window.
  
  "Tarcuna, I would like you to come with me back to Dorday."
  
  "Do I have a choice?"
  
  I had to think about that. "You can, at least, express dissent," I said after a while.
  
  "I'd rather negotiate." said Tarcuna.
  
  "Negotiate away!"
  
  "I'm going to go visit some family and some friends. You come with me."
  
  "Oh, I'd be glad to," I said.
  
  "And you're not to injure any of them."
  
  "I should be glad not to injure any more hovens," I said.
  
  "You are trying to be nicer than me in that. I doubt you can manage it," said Tarcuna.
  
  "What?"
  
  "I imagine I'll want to injure my mother, at least," said Tarcuna. "I won't injure her, and you won't either."
  
  "You have an unusual style of requesting favors of dragons," I said.
  
  "Fine. I'll threaten you: if you kill anyone in Dorday, you'll have to kill me too," said my broken hoven.
  
  "I'm not going to kill anyone in Dorday!" I protested.
  
  "Right, then. When do we leave?"