Tobin nodded. “Yes, sir. They should be in use starting today.”
“Good.” Lord Koen turned to Cadoc. “Tobin can take the devices to the warehouse and test them while you get the next payment together. And I know that time runs short, but keep to the payment schedule.”
“Of course, sir. Keeping withdrawals below each of the banks’ monitoring thresholds is paramount. And next week, when we receive the remaining four devices, the last packages will be prepared.”
Tobin blinked. “Four? I thought you said that the revised plan calls for only six packages?”
Cadoc glanced at Lord Koen then turned to Tobin. “Yes, that is true. But, ah, we ordered an extra device as a safeguard in the event one of the others does not work. We won’t have time to get a replacement, after all. At any rate,” he turned back to Lord Koen, “though we’re a week behind where we thought we’d be, we already started work on the packages in anticipation of the devices, so we should still have them all ready within the planned time-frame.”
“Perfect.” Lord Koen nodded.
“In two weeks,” Cadoc said, “the packages will have been delivered and activated, and will be ready for use, exactly as the plan requires.”
“And then the show can begin.” Lord Koen chuckled.
Tobin watched them. He didn’t believe that hastily made up excuse for one minute. What in Yrdra’s deepest hells was going on? What was the seventh package going to be used for? Did it have something to do with the grand finale Cadoc mentioned before? What exactly were they going to do?
Chapter 19
Leday, Diamy 17, 1875.
Mid-Morning.
They come.
Millinith set the application she was reviewing on top of the stack on her desk. Quick flashes of faces in Itzel’s mind let her know who ‘they’ were. Oran and Komako. They do?
I sense them approaching with two others and horses.
Ah, yes, they were arriving by coach. Thank you.
Their rooms were ready, at least. After receipt of Adept Oran’s letter, Millinith had ordered guest rooms prepared for him and for Adept Komako. Millinith stood and left her office.
Stopping before Renata, she said, “I’m going to meet the auditors at the stagecoach station.”
“They’re here?”
“Itzel senses them approaching. Do you have the welcome kits and room keys?”
Renata slid open a drawer. “I do.” She grabbed everything and handed it over.
“Thanks.” Millinith took the folders and keys and turned for the hallway. “I’ll show them to their rooms and see what their initial plans are.”
They’d likely spend some of the afternoon settling in and figuring out what their first steps would be. Unfortunately, Millinith wouldn’t be able to spend much time with them as she had her own things to attend to. That’s where the kits would be useful. In their normal capacity, Oran and Komako were representatives of their craft guilds, Magic, and Animal, respectively, auditing the progress of the Dragon Craft Guild for said support guilds, so the kits would be of interest in that respect, but the items in the folders would also be very helpful for them to be able to navigate the Guildhall.
Millinith frowned. She’d prefer they had someone as a guide or an assistant while they were here. Conveniently, that person could also serve as her own eyes and ears.
She raised a brow. How about two guides? Itzel, could you speak with Citlali and Kisa and have them ask their bond-mates to meet me at the stagecoach station? Tell them they will be assisting the auditors during their visit.
It took a few moments for Itzel to respond. They will meet you there.
Thank you.
Sharrah was the first to join her minutes later, jogging down the hallway to catch up. Her wavy brown hair bounced as she approached. The newly-bonded dragonlinked matched strides to the right. “So, I’ll be assisting Adept Komako as before?”
Millinith glanced over and nodded. “Yes, but she’s here as a researcher this trip, rather than as our Animal Craft auditor. And you’ll be working with Adept Oran, as well. Though, I suppose Gregor can be his assistant, for the most part.”
“I see,” Sharrah said. “I wonder how long they’ll be here working on the dragon sentience paper.”
“I have no clue, but with all that we now do, more and more people will have contact with dragons, either seeing them flying on patrol or otherwise, and I want to be sure everyone understands their true nature. Right now they’re still exotic, like, say, elephants, or camels, but that won’t be the case for much longer.”
Sharrah nodded. “Which is why papers like this one will be important.”
“Exactly.”
The stagecoach station was west and a bit south of the Guildhall, perhaps thirty yards down the road from the front courtyard, across the road from the stables for visitors to the guild. The station had its own stables for their horses, which were maintained so that tired teams could be swapped out for fresh before a coach began its return trip. From what Millinith recalled, the station currently had something on the order of thirty or forty horses for that purpose.
“You and Master Doronal aren’t going to do any special stunts for the show?”
She chuckled. “No. I don’t have much time to devote to thinking up a trick, much less practice one. I think I’ll leave those to the rest of you. Master Doronal is busy with his own affairs, right now, including an apprentice sorcerer and,” she glanced down at the cobbled road, “keeping an eye on the enchantment teams working on making setts for extending and paving Lord Baronel’s roads.”
“Hmm. I suppose that’s why he spends so much time here. The granite.”
She glanced sidelong at Sharrah. There was a hint of a smile curving the girl’s lips.
Millinith looked back at the station and smiled herself. “If our relationship isn’t known to every dragonlinked by now, I’ll need to have a word with your Investigation Craft instructor about her lax teaching.”
Sharrah burst out laughing.
Gregor joined them at the benches in front of the station several minutes later, just as the stagecoach was making its way up the road.
“My apologies.” He took a moment to catch his breath. “I had to finish some notes before heading over.”
Millinith stood up from the wooden bench. “Not to worry. They’ve just arrived.”
The driver pulled the team of horses to a stop in front of the station. He and the guard then climbed down and headed to the rear of the stagecoach.
The door on the near side of the coach opened, and Adept Oran stepped out and jumped to the ground. “Guildmaster, dragonlinked, so good to see you all again.” He turned back to the coach and held out his hand.
“I hope your journey wasn’t too difficult,” Millinith said.
A hand reached out from inside, took his, and Adept Komako climbed down. “It was as pleasant as any long trip can be.” She released Oran’s hand and settled her skirts. “But I am glad it is over.”
“Well,” Millinith said, “there are still a couple of dozen more yards to go, more or less.”
“I would relish walking for a bit,” Oran said. “My backside is killing me, having sat for that long.”
“I am in full agreement with my colleague.” Komako nodded. “My, ah, legs could do with a stretch.”
The driver approached them, he and the guard having finished unloading the adepts’ luggage, which sat to the side. “Thank you for traveling with us,” he said, with a slight bow of his head. “If you could take your tickets to the window to sign in?”
“Of course.” Oran turned and held out his hand to Komako. “I can take care of this.”
“Thank you.” The Animal Craft adept handed a small rectangle of paper to him.
With a quick smile, he headed to the station office.
“Again, thank you for your patronage.” The driver bowed and then joined the guard.
They both climbed back on the coach, and it pulled away and aro
und the side of the station building.
“Is this all the luggage you brought?” Gregor eyed the four trunks, two stacks of two.
“I’m not especially concerned with attire,” Komako said. “And apparently, Adept Oran isn’t either.”
“Which are yours?” Sharrah looked from one stack to the other.
“Those two,” Komako pointed to the trunks on the right.
Nodding, Sharrah said, “Okay.” She stared at them—there was a pulse of magic—and the two trunks slowly rose into the air.
Komako blinked and turned to her. “Perhaps I should take up Magic Craft, at least enough so that I can do that as well.”
Sharrah smiled. “It does come in handy.”
Another pulse, and the last two trunks rose into the air.
Millinith glanced at Gregor, but the magic had come from behind.
“So there will be more dragons here, soon?” Oran walked up.
Millinith drew her brows together. How did he know about the Departed?
“More dragons?” Adept Komako looked from him to her.
“When I mentioned we were here to study dragons,” Adept Oran said, “the station manager told me that a dragon will lay eggs soon, so we’ll eventually have more dragons to study.”
Millinith chuckled. With everything else that had happened, Zyanya had slipped her mind. “A dragon from House Yaot is here to clutch. She wants her children to have a chance to bond.”
“Is she one of those who’ve been here before?” Oran looked very interested.
Gregor shook his head. “No. This is Zyanya’s first time here.”
“Aeron and Anaya’s trip is bearing more fruit, it seems.”
Millinith looked at Komako. “Yes it is. On the way to your rooms, let me get you two caught up with everything that’s happened since your last visit.”
She turned and the five of them headed up the road, the stacked trunks floating along behind.
A bit later, as they walked down a hallway in the Guildhall, Oran said, “The Departed are who you thought I meant.”
Millinith smiled. “Yes, and I was curious as to how you would know about them.”
“A great deal has indeed happened.” Komako glanced at Oran before returning her gaze forward. “I have to say, I am glad that you’ve decided to divest yourselves of everything having to do with agave. That was a concern of ours, you see. A minor one, to be sure, but it was a concern.”
Millinith shrugged. “It didn’t make sense for our craft hall to continue with all that. And handling it the way we are will not hurt the economy down there, either.”
“Precisely.” Oran smiled. “I’m happy that you were stuck with me. I do enjoy working with a guild that is conscientious.”
Millinith glanced at him. “Stuck with you?”
He chuckled. “Oh, yes. I recall how, ah, unsatisfied you were when Smarkel assigned me to you. Fillion, especially, was not happy.”
She laughed. “It wasn’t you we were unhappy with, it was that we only got one person to assist us. And, as you were at the fight in Daelon’s Plaza with us, you know my concerns were not altogether unfounded.”
He nodded. “True enough. My actual reason for being here notwithstanding, I think I’d like to visit Bataan-Mok to see how things are going down there.”
“As would I,” Komako said. “I’m interested in Cirtis, ah, in Cirtis’s take on your progress there.”
The woman’s cheeks were pink. Millinith grunted and looked up the road. “Well, as I mentioned, with Fala out of the way, things are proceeding much more smoothly. About my only concern right now is finding and hiring instructors for crafts we’re missing, because once the dragonlinked quarters are ready, we can start thinking about opening the branch.”
“The Departed are more of an issue, at the moment.”
Millinith nodded at Sharrah. “Exactly. From what Matlal said, there are ten dragons thinking about joining us. That’s almost as many as we have right now and we know nothing about the individuals.”
“When are they returning?” Oran asked.
“Next Hemday night,” Millinith said. “And you are both welcome to be there, should you desire.”
Oran chuckled. “Oh, we desire.”
“Dragons that have lived outside of a House?” Komako nodded. “Yes. We wish to be there.”
“How do they live?” Sharrah murmured. “What kind of social structures exist among them? Do they actually think of Matlal as their leader? Or, is he more like their speaker? There is much to learn from them.”
Komako, lips curved, glanced at Sharrah. “Indeed there is.”
Millinith kept herself from smiling. The two were very similar in their thinking. “While you are here working on the paper, I’ve assigned Sharrah and Gregor as your assistants. Sharrah with Adept Komako and Gregor with Adept Oran. When they are not busy with lessons, chores, or shift assignments, they will work with you.”
“Perfect.” Oran nodded to Gregor.
Millinith stopped before a door. “And here is your room Adept Oran.” She handed him a folder and the room key. “These are the welcome kits we provide to accepted. Each has maps of the Guildhall and a personnel listing that you’ll both find helpful in making your way around the place, I’m sure.”
Oran accepted the items. “Thank you.”
She turned to Komako. “And these are for you.” Millinith pointed just across the hallway. “Your room is right there. I thought having the rooms close would allow you to meet in one or the other to discuss your work.”
Komako nodded. “That will be perfect, thank you.”
“So.” She placed her hands on her hips. “What will your first steps be? Anything I can assist with?”
“Actually,” Oran twisted his lips, “the news about Zyanya and the Departed has thrown our initial plans into disarray, I think. Komako?”
“You’re correct. We should meet and re-think things based on these new developments.”
“Alright,” Millinith said. “I’ll leave you four to it. I need to get back to reviewing employment applications for the desert branch.” She turned to Sharrah and Gregor. “Could you two keep me apprised of everything?”
“Of course.” Sharrah smiled.
Gregor nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Millinith glanced at Oran and Komako. “They should be able to help with anything, but don’t hesitate to contact me should the need arise.”
Komako nodded. “Thank you, Guildmaster.”
“Yes, thank you.” Oran glanced at Komako. “Meet in my room in an hour?”
“That will suit.” She turned and made for her room.
After one last wistful glance at them, Millinith turned and headed to her office.
Back to that exciting pile of applications.
+ + + + +
This reminds me of when you were getting ready to clutch.
Anaya turned from watching Zyanya and looked at Aeron. It was a special time.
Happiness and love came through from him as he watched the mother dragon lying in the clutching pit. A smile curved his lips. It really was.
She chirped. Xoc and Nelli chose well. Cheddar and Korrie doted on her children. But not so much as to spoil them, thankfully.
A dragon knows best. Besides, it would be difficult not to choose well with our candidates.
That is true. She looked back at Zyanya and let out a contented rumble while thinking about all the guild’s candidates waiting to bond, some of whom she had personally reviewed.
Most humans were just as curious, just as capable of amazement, as a happy young dragon. Even in Bataan-Mok, the majority of people who had come to see her as she lay shackled on the platform in Daelon’s Plaza had been filled with wonder.
Worry sometimes came from the Guildmaster and Aeron, their thoughts troubled by humans who felt otherwise. She understood their concern. If there were dragons somewhere that wished to hurt humans, she would want to do something about it, too.
That was another reason to continue conversations with the Departed. They were an unknown. There were no memories with specifics of what they got to. What did the Departed do? Did they have a warren? Or did they wander about living as nomads? Did they lead desperate lives, trying to find food and water away from humans and away from the dragons that shunned them? What effect did that kind of life have on already anxious people? Would desperation drive them to anything dangerous?
She did not like the idea of them hurting others or of being hurt themselves, which is why she liked Polandra’s idea so much. It would allow them to review the Departed who wanted to join them to be sure they were good dragons. Those that were would have a new home and would be safe.
As a matter of course, dragons always sensed what they could of anyone that got close. It was a defensive reaction and doing it was just part of their nature. But sensing people ahead of time, on purpose, as a plan—like with the patrols in Stronghold, the review for candidate selection, and the review of the Departed—that was a little different.
The ethics lessons that all bond pairs were now required to take about dragons sensing people’s thoughts and emotions, came back to her. It was surely something to think about, to keep in mind, when dealing with humans, but every dragon knew that they would likely be examined in such a way because they were doing the same thing.
Chin on her forepaws, she let out a little breath. Hopefully, the Departed that wished to join were decent dragons with good minds and good hearts. They needed more dragons here, which is why she wanted her talks with the Departed to go well. They had, so far. All the Departed seemed to revere her.
Highest Mother. Queen.
She had been called that on a number of occasions, now. What did one do as Highest Mother anyway? Though some had been close to that position in blood or standing, none in her direct line as far back as she could remember had been queen, so Anaya had no real idea as to what being one actually entailed. That bothered her a little because many were relying on her in one way or another. She did not want to let them down.
You feel a little troubled. Are you okay? Aeron placed his hand on her shoulder.
Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4 Page 59
