"G.P. Pelesar III resided high in the sky on Nob Hill in a tower that allowed him to scan the city he thought he owned. His eyes peered through the curtain, his four-fingered hand pushing the drapes aside revealing the city lights. The expanse of the gossamer trails that fled in the night from his pedestal toward the bay, reflected in the pane. His sugary pet, held tight in his arm’s crook, yelped for attention, much like his master, although the great Taipan of San Francisco did not need to yelp to get the world spinning under his heels. This world was bought and paid for and, as such, did service to the Raja.

Pelesar tapped the pane, and then, like a boy at Christmas, fogged the window with his precious breath. The fog grew, misting the panorama. He puffed again and again, until the gossamer beads of San Francisco were obliterated. This drew comedy from his soul. He tittered while his sugar pet yelped. He shushed it, and then, with his shushing finger, drew a cross through the condensation, an X marking the spot. Pelesar’s X counted. It was in demand. When that X was etched in the sands of Cyprus, when his mother combed the beach for conch and scallop shells to sell to the tourists, it was a mere scratch beckoning the sea to swallow it. Now, it was Pelesar’s mark, the one stamped with awe and, sometimes, respect.

The sugar pet yelped again, prompting Pelesar’s curtailed hand to snap across teeth and snout, holding fast. One clamp on either side of the jaw and, like candy, the thing would have broken. A snap, silencing annoyance. The Caesars did more with less provocation. Sugar pets were cheap. This one was a mere seventy thousand in some currency or other. Who kept track? A mere scallop shell on a beach that teamed with endless riches. Pelesar tensed, but then relented. He eased off the snout, and then flicked the head. A grateful tongue caressed the four fingers, lapping over an iceberg pinkie ring. This sugar pet amused him. There was no love for it, but if it annoyed him now, it would annoy his company later; and that was a good thing. Advantages increased by keeping the company ill at ease. Pelesar stroked the fawning yelper, and then returned to his idle watching over the world he could break. Advantages. The Caesars could do no better, and perhaps a trifle less."

Edward C. Patterson
The Jade Owl http://www.amazon.com/dp/1440447977 (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J54AWO (Kindle)
also on Mobipocket and Smashwords