The Mysterious Coin

by James E. Wisher

  Uncle opened his mouth and Silas pressed his dagger hard enough to draw blood. “I’m going to speak and you’re going to listen. My assumption is that you didn’t get where you are by being a complete idiot. Though given that you tried to attack a wizard head-on without a wizard of your own makes me wonder. Anyway, nothing’s changed except that instead of offering you gold, I’m offering your life in exchange for the use of your tunnels. Nod if you understand the situation.”

  Uncle’s head bobbed a fraction.

  “Good. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to put a curse on you. If you betray us, you die. When you’ve led us safely outside the city, I’ll remove the spell. I’m also going to put an identical spell on your torchbearer, who will take our horses out the front gate and meet us wherever the tunnel exits. We’ll be on our way and you’ll survive, wiser if no richer. Does that sound like a good plan?”

  Another faint nod from Uncle.

  “Excellent, now don’t move. Drawing with lightning can be tricky.”

  Silas slammed the dagger into the ground beside Uncle’s head and began to chant. His finger glowed with white light and he drew a design above the thief master’s heart. It resembled a dagger made of lightning. When he finished drawing, Silas opened his hand and pushed the design into Uncle’s chest.

  The thief gasped as it passed into his flesh but appeared otherwise unharmed.

  “There.” Silas looked at the seated boy. “Now, you’re going to help us out as well. Hold still.”

  Silas cast his lightning curse a second time, driving the dagger into the young man’s chest. A bead of sweat formed on the wizard’s brow when he finished.

  “Now that we’re all set, we just have to wait until morning and we’ll set out,” Silas said.

  “What about the rest of our prisoners?” Yaz asked.

  “We can leave them as they are or kill them,” Silas said. “My spell will hold until I release it so we don’t have to worry about them doing anything inconvenient. Since they were going to trade us for the bounty money, I don’t have much sympathy. Whatever you decide is fine with me. If you don’t mind keeping watch, I need a nap.”

  Silas lay down a few feet away, leaving Brigid and Yaz to keep an eye on the thieves. She moved to stand closer to him. “What should we do?”

  “The last time we spared people we should have killed we ended up with bounties on our heads. Cutting their throats seems a bit harsh, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”

  “We’re doing that anyway because of the bounty,” Brigid said. “And I don’t want their lives on my conscience.”

  “Spare my men and never return to the City of Bells,” Uncle said. “And I promise you’ll have no trouble from us.”

  Brigid gave him a pleading look.

  Yaz sighed. “Fine.”

  He was torn between the part of him that was relieved and the little voice that said he was a fool for sparing them. Most surprisingly, that voice sounded like his mother, not his father.

  Chapter 10

  Ariel was sitting by herself in the dining hall when Callie walked in. The students were there for lunch, all sixteen of them. Ariel was the youngest at around twelve and the oldest was a seventeen-year-old boy named Kevin that had been with them for five years. He had pretty well mastered his bardic ability and would join the king’s service in a few months.

  Callie sighed as the little girl fed a bite of meat to one of her dragons. It didn’t look like she’d made any friends yet. Only a few weeks had passed since Moz brought her and given what she went through it shouldn’t surprise Callie that she was still withdrawn. Deep down though Callie suspected it was more than that. Something about the dragons kept her from interacting with people.

  After a quick scan of the room she spotted Amanda, a fifteen-year-old whose ability let her sense and control emotions. Callie had assigned her to be Ariel’s roommate in the hope that if anything happened to upset Ariel, Amanda could calm her before a dragon showed up.

  When Amanda spotted her watching, Callie waved her over. The girl smiled and said something to her friends before trotting over. She was dressed in a trainee’s deep-blue uniform of tunic and trousers.

  She bowed to Callie. “Yes?”

  Callie nodded toward Ariel. “How’s she settling in?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. She seldom says more than a handful of words even when it’s just the two of us. I’ve tried to draw her out a few times, but it’s like pulling teeth. Her emotions are as smooth as a calm lake. No anger, very little sadness, very little happiness for that matter. It’s not normal. No one runs on such an even keel. It’s all ups and downs, highs and lows. But not her.”

  “What about the dragons?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “My theory is that the dragons are doing something to her mind to keep it under control. I was wondering if their emotions fluctuate the way a human’s would.”

  “I never thought to check.” Amanda hummed a couple of notes then turned toward Ariel.

  Callie grinned when she recognized the lullaby Amanda used as her trigger. She sang the words under her breath until Amanda stopped at the first verse.

  “I can’t get a read on them.”

  “At all?”

  “It’s like my ability bounces off them without penetrating.” Amanda shook her head. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Callie said. “Dragons are highly resistant to magic. Still, I thought you’d get something.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We’ll just have to be patient and let her come around in her own time. Once she gets to know and trust us, hopefully she’ll open up. Thanks for trying, Amanda. You can go back.”

  While her student ran back to rejoin her friends, Callie considered her options. The truth was she really didn’t have any. As long as Ariel did nothing dangerous, Callie’d watch and wait. Hopefully Moz would come back soon. He was the only one that Ariel seemed to open up to. He might be the key to understanding the girl.

  Ariel tiptoed down the hall toward the door to the courtyard where she was told she was to have her first lesson. Her roommate, Amanda, walked alongside. She wore the school’s blue uniform, the same as Ariel. Amanda seemed nice, but the dragons didn’t trust her at all. Considering everything she’d done to help Ariel settle in, she couldn’t understand why they didn’t like her, but the dragons must have had a reason.

  Moz said these people were going to teach her how to use her powers, which was nice, but she already had a pretty good idea how to use them. All she had to do was ask the dragons to do something for her and they did it. What else was there to learn? Perhaps she’d find out this morning.

  As they walked through an open area overlooking the second floor, Ariel flicked a glance to her left. The dining hall was empty at the moment. She didn’t really like eating her meals there, too loud and too many people. Playing by herself suited Ariel much better. Not that anyone treated her badly. If anything, the kids seemed nervous around her. How could she make anyone nervous? Ariel didn’t know that either.

  One of her little ones landed on her left shoulder and glared around with his beady eyes. The dragons didn’t trust everyone at the school yet, so Ariel didn’t either. The dragons were the only ones she knew would never betray her. If someone had asked Ariel how she knew that, she wouldn’t have been able to answer them. She just knew it, right down to her toes.

  “You okay, sweetie?” Amanda looked down at her with a worried smile. “You’re awful quiet.”

  Ariel blinked and asked, “What should I say?”

  “I thought you might have some questions. It’s been a couple weeks, but you haven’t even asked why you’re here.”

  “Moz said you’d teach me to use my powers better. That’s good I guess. It’s not like I have anywhere else I can stay. The food is yummy here. The little ones like it too.”

  Am
anda gave the dragons a nervous look. “I’ll tell the cook. Not everyone can say their food is dragon approved.”

  Ariel giggled. The little ones liked anything as long as they didn’t have to catch it. If they weren’t careful, they’d get so fat they couldn’t fly.

  “Your teacher’s name is Miss Lacy,” Amanda said. “She’s been training tamers for thirty years.”

  “Tamers?” Ariel didn’t know that word.

  “Yeah, that’s what we call the bardic ability to communicate with and control other creatures, like dragons.”

  “I don’t control the dragons,” Ariel said. “They’re my friends. I ask them to do me a favor and they do. If they didn’t want to help, I don’t think I could make them. Are you a tamer?”

  They went down a flight of steps and at the bottom Amanda said, “No, I’m a psychic.”

  “Psychic?” Another word Ariel didn’t know.

  “Psychic is what we call bards that can interact with people’s minds. For example, I can sense and control emotions. Bards with abilities like mine have to be constantly aware of what they’re doing, or they might misuse their gift.” Amanda stopped and crouched so her eyes were level with Ariel’s. “The most important thing for every bard to remember is that what we do reflects on all the other bards. If a bard goes around using her power to hurt people then all bards will be mistrusted.”

  Ariel didn’t want to hurt anyone, well maybe those bad men that chased her, but other than them she was happy to not bother anyone.

  They went out into the yard and the bright sun made her squint. Three girls and two boys stood facing an older woman who looked them over with her hands clasped behind her back. One of the boys had a dog sitting beside him and a girl held an orange-and-white kitten. With her hair pulled back in a tight bun and deep wrinkles creasing her forehead, the older lady didn’t look very nice.

  Ariel slowed and Amanda said, “Don’t be afraid of Miss Lucy. She looks stern, but it’s only because she wants her students to do well. She’d take an arrow for any of us. Go on. I’ll see you later.”

  Not at all certain about things, Ariel trotted over to the gathering and stood in the rightmost position of the line. Her second little one landed on her right shoulder.

  Miss Lucy stopped pacing directly in front of Ariel. “You’ll be the new arrival. Callie tells me you can control dragons. Were they not perched on your shoulders, I’d have my doubts. Never fear. You’ll be a master tamer when your training’s finished.”

  Ariel didn’t know what to say so she stayed silent.

  “Just so we can see where you’re at, we’ll start with a little game.” Miss Lucy pulled a stick out of her belt and held it up. “Tamsin, call your partner.”

  A bronze-skinned girl who wore her hair in an elaborate braid took a heavy glove out of her belt, put it on, and loosed a piercing whistle. A shadow dove out of the sky and landed on the raised glove. It was a brown-and-white bird with a sharp yellow beak, and hard black eyes. Its feathers looked so soft, Ariel wanted to pet them, but wasn’t sure she should.

  “The game is simple,” Miss Lucy said. “I’ll throw the stick as high as I can. Whoever brings it back wins. Hawk versus dragon. Understand?”

  Ariel hummed to the dragons, weaving her thoughts into the notes. The little ones didn’t have much interest in chasing a stick, but she asked nicely and promised an extra portion of meat at lunch which got them excited.

  “Go!” Miss Lucy threw the stick up and toward the wall.

  Tamsin whistled and launched her hawk into the sky. Ariel urged her dragon to go and it buzzed away at top speed.

  The hawk shrieked and beat its wings harder. It snatched the stick out of the air just ahead of her dragon.

  “Yes!” Tamsin pumped her fist.

  The little one’s annoyance came through their link. It wanted the extra meat at lunch. Ariel hummed reassurances, telling it what a good job it did and that it could have the meat anyway. It liked that but didn’t like losing to a bird.

  As Tamsin’s hawk banked around to return with the stick, Ariel’s dragon zipped in and breathed a puff of fire at the talon grasping the stick. The hawk squawked and dropped it. Her little one snatched it out of the sky and buzzed back, thoroughly proud of itself.

  Ariel accepted the stick and rubbed the little one on her brow ridge. She purred like a cat before settling back on her shoulder. It wasn’t until she looked up to return the stick to Miss Lucy that she noticed everyone staring at her.

  “What?”

  “You cheated!” Tamsin said.

  Ariel blinked and looked at Miss Lucy. “You said to get the stick so that’s what I asked her to do.”

  “Perhaps it was my fault for not explaining more thoroughly.” Miss Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Battles between beasts are strictly forbidden here. Though it wasn’t really a battle, when your dragon attacked Tamsin’s hawk, it technically broke the rules. I assumed someone had explained this to you, so the fault is largely mine. It’s important when we’re training that you keep tight control over your partner so things like this don’t happen.”

  “I don’t control them,” Ariel said. “We’re friends and they do me favors.”

  Miss Lucy shook her head. “You need to free yourself of such a childish notion. You can’t be friends with an animal, you’re their master. You command, they obey. Until you accept that, you can’t be a proper tamer.”

  Ariel nearly cried. Why couldn’t anyone understand? She was about to try and explain again, when Miss Lucy let out a sound halfway between a hiss and a hum. She stared at Ariel’s little ones.

  A jolt of anger ran from the dragons to Ariel through their connection. They hissed back at Miss Lucy and took to the air.

  What was she doing? Miss Lucy kept hissing and humming while tracking the dragons through the air. Every moment the dragons got madder.

  “Miss Lucy? I think you should stop. They don’t like whatever you’re doing.”

  Her teacher paid no attention. The humming got louder and more insistent.

  The dragons dove. They were nearly a blur as they flashed past Miss Lucy.

  Blood flew from her cheek where their little claws sliced lines across her cheek. Miss Lucy fell silent and touched her cheek. The dragons hovered in front of her, plumes of smoke rising from their jaws.

  “No!” Ariel shouted. “It’s okay. She won’t do it again. Right, Miss Lucy?”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “See, it’s okay. Come on.” Their anger faded and with a final hiss at Miss Lucy her little ones settled back on her shoulders. “Good dragons.”

  Chapter 11

  The common room of Moz’s inn was half full and the smell of cooked meat and smoke from the kitchen filled the air. Moz was delighted to find Robess and his brother waiting like he told them. He was less pleased, though not surprised, to see Priscilla as well. The trio had settled in at a corner table as far as they could get from the door and any other diners. It would be a good place to talk once he sent Priscilla on her way home. The librarian didn’t seem to understand that what they were doing was dangerous. The woman seemed to think they were playing a game. He needed to convince her that hanging around might get her killed.

  Moz worked his way toward the others. He jostled a couple tables, but one look was enough to convince the guests that they shouldn’t complain. Finally he sat in a hard chair beside Priscilla and across from the brothers.

  “You made it back in one piece,” Robess said. “Congratulations. When you went alone to the guard house I had my doubts. Did you learn anything useful about Crow?”

  “A little.” Moz turned to Priscilla. “I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done, but it’s time for you to go home. My task is only going to get more dangerous from here. I can’t have your safety on my mind.”

  “I can make my own decisions,” Priscilla said. “And I don’t need you worrying about me. I’m in this to the end.”

  “You’re not in this a
t all.” Moz ran a hand through his hair. “You just showed me to an inn. You work in a library for the gods’ sake. If this man Crow isn’t a killer, he certainly has killers on his payroll. Unless you’re willing to die and take me with you, it’s time to bow out.”

  Priscilla crossed her arms and glared at him. He’d have had better luck talking to one of Ariel’s dragons.

  “I’d like to leave before I get myself killed,” Abe, the younger brother, said.

  Moz offered a faint smile. At least someone had a brain in their head. “Good decision. I just need an address from your brother and you two are free to go. I do recommend finding a new line of work or at a minimum a new employer.”

  “What address?” Robess asked.

  “The mansion you visited in the wealthy quarter.”

  “You’re not going back?” Robess said. “The guards will be looking for you now. You won’t make it a hundred yards before getting caught.”

  “I appreciate your vote of confidence. The address?”

  “I don’t know exactly,” Robess said. “It was a big house, white with gold trim. Two floors. A tall black fence surrounded it. That’s all I can remember.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Moz jerked his head toward the door. “Go on home.”

  Unlike Priscilla, the brothers were only too happy to leave his company. Not that Moz blamed them, especially now that he had a better idea what he was up against. It wasn’t just Rondo that wanted Ariel, it was this Dark Sage group. If they already had people in every city, it didn’t take a genius to imagine what they’d do with dragons at their beck and call.

  “So what now?” Priscilla asked.

  “Now I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day and I need some sleep before I go investigating in the morning. Feel free to sit here as long as you like. Good night.”

  Moz stood and made the short walk to the stairs up to his room. The small space held only a lumpy bed and a trunk. He sat on the bed and sighed. Priscilla should get bored in a few hours. He’d head out around midnight to find the mansion Robess described.