Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races

by K. D. Halbrook

  “On the other hand, we could get lost in the orchards,” he said.

  “Or we might get found by an angry farmer wondering why we’re cutting through his land,” Silver said. “We certainly look suspicious.”

  She raked her eyes over Brajon. His clothes hung on him. His skin was paler than usual, at least what was peeking out from under a layer of river cave muck. He looked hungry enough to eat the contents of Aunt Yidla’s entire kitchen. Silver probably didn’t look much better.

  The cousins agreed that the best option was to follow the road but to keep close to the tree line in case they needed to duck and hide. As the desert heat baked into their bones, Silver looked at the cool shade of the orchard with longing. There was no breeze to kick up their tunics and trousers and keep them cool. They wiped their sweaty faces with their scarves, which were soon the color of mud. Without any water left, they snuck a few leaves from yucca trees and chewed them for moisture, making faces at the bitter flavor.

  As city noises built up around them, Silver’s stomach went tight with nerves.

  “Give me your scarf,” Silver said. She wiped Brajon’s face even more and tried to tidy his hair. She smacked the dried muck out of his clothes with the side of her scabbard. “That’s as good as it’s going to get until you have a bath. Now do me.”

  Brajon cleaned up his cousin, but his fingers caught in her tangled hair. “Your hair’s really knotted, and there’s … monster sludge in here. What happened to the comb I gave you?”

  “I forgot about it.” Silver reached back to try to braid her hair, but despite pulling and ripping, the matted mess remained. She reached for her knife.

  “You’ll have to cut it off,” Silver said.

  “All of it?”

  Silver hesitated. She hadn’t realized before this how much she loved her long locks. On Jaspaton evenings, she and her mother would sit and watch the sun track across the desert into twilight. There would be neighbors stopping by to chat and the smells of evening meals floating lazily up to them. Always, there was the rhythm of Silver’s mother pulling a brush gently through Silver’s long hair.

  But Silver knew that short hair would be another layer of disguise. Silver wouldn’t be as recognizable, and that would make it easier to find out where Kirja was being kept.

  With a steady, sure hand, she passed Brajon her knife.

  “Up to my neck, at least,” she said. Were there any girls in Calidia with short hair? It was unheard of in Jaspaton. “Do it. Quickly. Before I change my mind.”

  There was the pressure of Brajon grabbing her hair in his fist, then the sound of the knife slicing through the mess. Her head went weightless. It felt like many pounds of hair fell to the ground. Silver had never realized how heavy it all had been. She rubbed her neck, startled to feel the air against it. There was a new coolness there.

  “You look really different,” Brajon said.

  “Good. Is it even?”

  “Mostly.”

  Silver fought back an impish smile. Her cousin still seemed uncertain, but she felt a new sense of freedom. She pulled out the forgotten comb and untangled the few remaining knots as best she could. The freshly shorn ends were starting to curl around her ears.

  “This is as tidy as we’re going to get,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  The melodic rustling of the trees faded away as soon as they slipped out of the orchards.

  “Look.” Silver pointed at a great sandstone arch that led into the first ring of the city. Her heart skipped with joy.

  Across the top of the arch, tiles read: THE ROYAL CITY OF CALIDIA: GATEWAY TO THE SEA. All down the arch, someone had attached the same flyer that had fallen out of Sagittaria Wonder’s bag, back in Silver’s father’s showroom.

  The columns of the arch were inlaid with hundreds of jewels, in every color of the rainbow, all arranged to create mosaics in the shapes of water dragons. Silver reached her fingers out, her eyes sparkling, but Brajon pulled her back quickly.

  “Don’t.” He pointed.

  A weatherworn sign featured a drawing of a man prying off a jewel in one panel, followed by a panel of that same man being tossed into the sea, rocks tied to his legs.

  “They’re serious about their punishments here, aren’t they?” Silver said, taking a hasty step backward.

  “Ready?” Brajon said.

  “Ready.” Not even the warning to thieves could keep Silver’s blood from racing with excitement.

  They stepped through the arch. Suddenly, they saw people of every possible type: young and old, tall and short, stick-thin and column-heavy, with light skin and medium skin and dark skin. They wore an eye-pleasing array of fashions, in fabrics that were familiar and ones Silver had never seen before. Silver even spied one person in the distance wearing a tunic in Jaspaton’s special weaving pattern, which made her quickly duck her head.

  She put her arm over her face and coughed at the dust being kicked up by all the shuffling feet. But through the haze, she saw hundreds of delights. The buildings themselves were two to three stories tall, and a matching shade of sandstone to one another, but their doors and windows were decorated with intricate tile patterns in many colors. Some patterns seemed purely artistic, while others were more practical, spelling out the name of a shop or of the family that lived in the home above a shop. Rugs and tapestries hung from high balconies, and clotheslines crisscrossed like brightly colored festival streamers above Silver’s head.

  She wished that Hiyyan could be here to see it. She looked slowly left to right, memorizing every detail. Then she closed her eyes and tried to send him an image. Her fingers warmed with his response, and she grinned. She, too, itched to explore everything.

  Everywhere, there were water dragons. In the tile designs, woven into fabrics. Even stone heads and figures jutting out from the tops of the buildings.

  Silver’s mouth fell open. “I feel like I’ve entered my dreams … and I don’t know what to do next.”

  Her nostrils flared. Somewhere nearby, someone was grilling meat over an open flame. Brajon breathed deeply.

  “I know what to do,” he said. “Must. Find. Food.”

  Brajon and Silver wove into the crowds, following the intoxicating scent.

  On the ground level, shop doors were flung open, and keepers called out to their friends and neighbors to come in and see their newest displays of goods, especially arrived for the Autumn Festival. There were porcelain, simple metalworks, and clothing shops, and dry goods vendors. Most people walked wherever they were going, but every once in a while, a wheeled contraption would come through. Carts full of produce that were pulled by hand, or buggies that were ridden by the power of a chain system, dragging baskets of fresh fish or piles of dried succulent leaves for tea. Silver kept an eye out for the Maze Market, but they didn’t seem to be anywhere near the palace just yet.

  Furtively, she peered at Nebekker’s pendant, but it lay still and dark. The city, though, was full of brightness and energy. It both revitalized Silver and made her realize just how tired she was. They needed to find food and rest. Quickly.

  She pulled her arms close to her sides, so that she was even smaller, but people still elbowed and shoved. In Jaspaton, people walked side by side and often held hands as they strolled, but there you could see for miles into the desert. You felt the air around you and could breathe. Here in Calidia, everyone pressed together, and the buildings blocked sights more than a few paces away. Silver felt insignificant in the crowds.

  And maybe that was a good thing. Silver and Brajon didn’t want to be noticed.

  The weight of Silver’s father’s jewels dragged down her bag, her feet, and her heart. They likely had enough money from Nebekker for a meal, but Silver was desperate to rid herself of the stolen goods.

  She squinted at the signs. “I think this is as close as we’re going to get to a jeweler’s shop,” she said, pointing to a clothing merchant.

  “But food,” Brajon said.

  “This first.�
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  She went straight to the back of the store, where a pinched-faced lady served tea to customers draped in fine silks. The customers looked away in disdain when Silver approached.

  “Only customers allowed,” the woman said, wrinkling her nose.

  “I am a customer,” Silver shot back. “Do you buy jewelry? I have something of value.” She pulled a ring from her purse and held it in her palm.

  The woman’s mouth dropped open. “Where did you get that?”

  “I … It’s mine. It’s…”

  “No wretch like you would have such a fine piece. Thief! Call the guards!”

  “No! I—”

  Brajon pulled Silver out of the shop before the woman could shout for the guards again. They ran into the streets, dodged a group of children running and screaming down the road, and darted around a corner.

  “There she is,” a voice at the entrance of an alley said.

  Silver’s breath came faster. It was one of the customers from the shop. An older man with white hair and a long lavender tunic. He walked toward them.

  “The ring is mine,” Silver insisted. She wanted to say she wasn’t a thief, but that would have been a lie.

  “It is,” Brajon said.

  “I believe you,” the man said, watching the two of them carefully. “Will you hold up the ring again? But quickly! Guards are everywhere in this city.”

  When Silver hesitated, he leaned in closer. “Don’t be afraid. I’m interested in buying it.”

  Silver shared a look with her cousin. Brajon pressed his lips together and gently shook his head. But what choice did they have? They needed money. Silver showed him the ring.

  “Such fine handiwork. Gold and rubies.” The man considered, then named his price.

  Silver bit back a gasp. He wanted less than a third of what the ring was worth. Rami Batal would have refused. But she wasn’t her father, and she didn’t have much choice.

  Her stomach rumbled, and the old man smiled knowingly.

  “I’ll sell,” Silver said. “For your price.”

  “And for your silence,” Brajon said.

  “Is there someone after you?”

  They shook their heads.

  “No?” The old man shrugged. “Then I care nothing for your troubles. I leave for the southern mountains tomorrow, and this will fetch a fair price there.”

  Silver took the meager handful of coins and watched the man walk away with the ring.

  “Added to Nebekker’s money, it should be more than enough for our meals and supplies,” Silver said. Even so, she smarted at being taken advantage of.

  “You did well,” Brajon said.

  “So did you. ‘And for your silence,’” Silver said, mimicking Brajon’s voice.

  Brajon laughed. “I felt like a mysterious trader with secrets to keep. I was just trying not to appear nervous. I was worried he was going to bring guards back with him.”

  The cousins returned to the main road. Silver pointed at a small stall with a stone cauldron in the shape of a dragon’s head. Its open mouth was tilted to the sky, breathing flames. Behind the fire, a rotund woman turned sticks heavy with meat, while another woman sat to her side, rolling thin rounds of dough and handing them up to be cooked next to the meat skewers.

  The line for the vendor was about a dozen people long. Silver and Brajon joined the end of it, tapping their feet impatiently. Silver sucked on the insides of her mouth. She was so hungry she couldn’t think about anything else. Not Kirja, not Nebekker’s friend Arkilah, not Sagittaria Wonder. At least she knew Hiyyan was enjoying plenty of river fish.

  When they finally got to the front of the line, Silver pointed. She didn’t trust herself to open her mouth; she thought she might swallow the entire cart of food.

  “One!” the woman rotating the meats called out.

  “Five,” Brajon called, countering.

  The woman’s eyes narrowed, then she shrugged. She pulled five flatbreads off the grate and lined each with a stick of meat. Then she sprinkled some herbs over the top and a dollop of yogurt and passed them to Brajon. He blew on them while Silver dug coins from her bag.

  The cousins found a quiet doorway to settle in. The desire to sit and inhale the delicious smells of the food battled with Silver’s need to stuff it all in her mouth in one huge bite. Brajon didn’t have the same problem. He was already on his second one as Silver took a bite of her first.

  “By all the dunes in the desert,” Brajon mumbled between bites, “this is glorious.”

  The warm, pillowy bread and the hot, juicy meat were the best things Silver had ever tasted in her life. She almost wanted to cry. Instead, she took another bite. Then another. When she’d finished her second and Brajon was licking his fingers after his third, they both settled back against the wall, hands on their bellies.

  “I feel like a new person,” Brajon said, smacking his lips. “I’ll admit that Calidian food is almost as good as my mother’s. I’m so full I could probably nap right here.”

  He closed his eyes, but Silver tugged at his hand and got to her feet.

  “Come on!” She laughed. With her energy renewed and the light fading quickly, she knew they needed to start looking for Arkilah. Besides, she wanted to see the rest of Calidia.

  They rejoined the throngs. Just like in Jaspaton, people came out in droves at evening, when the heat of the midday sun had faded and the city was releasing its warmth back into the sky. She saw a scarf vendor and paused to consider one in a luminous shade of orange, and one stamped with big green flat-backed water dragons.

  “Orange,” Silver finally said, reaching for her bag of coins. Better not to draw any connection to dragons for now.

  She chose one patterned with black tears for Brajon. Despite everything they had to do in Calidia, and despite a sticky sort of remorse from selling her father’s ring, Silver was having fun with the money. There was a great sense of freedom in spending coins on the royal city’s endless treasures.

  They didn’t know where they were going, but the streets were mostly flat, sloping very gently toward the center of the city, and so walking didn’t feel as tiresome as it did in Jaspaton. The farther into the Calidian labyrinth they got, the busier it was. The buildings were taller, the noises louder, the smells stronger. There were metal-and-glass structures alongside buildings made of sandstone. Multiple shades of granite, too, from the quarries Silver knew were far to the south.

  And then the sandstone fell away, and there was only glass and metal and white granite, and the green of lush low-lying plants that Silver had never seen before, and the sparkle of wide, shallow pools of blue, blue water.

  Silver gasped, jolting to a stop and throwing an arm across Brajon’s chest.

  They’d reached the palace.

  TWENTY-THREE

  A low white wall ringed the whole palace. At least, Silver assumed it went all the way around. The grounds were so big that she couldn’t see the end of them. The center building was a huge rounded-edged rectangle, not quite a dome and not quite angular like all the other buildings in town, but something in between. It seemed to flow like water, sometimes straight across and sometimes curving. There were six white towers around it, three on either side. The Calidian royal flag, a circlet of gemstones on a black background, fluttered from a dome on the top of each. Gold and silver winked at them from all angles. The precious metals were used as decoration on the tower walls and ceiling, on the statues in the pools, and around the doors and windows, like the tiles in the outer Calidian ring.

  “Listen. Hear that?” Silver said to her cousin.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Brajon said.

  “Exactly. It’s so quiet here. There aren’t as many people. And they’re not in a hurry.”

  As they approached the pools, Silver looked more closely at the statues that rose from the water. They were all water dragons. Species Silver thought she recognized from trader stories, and others that were unfamiliar to her. A thin rod rose from the cente
r of each statue, and bells hung down the side of the rods. When a sudden wind danced over their skin, the bells rang gently, eliciting a calming music.

  “Oh, look,” Silver squealed. She hopped over a low fence and dashed toward one of the pools, pointing at a small creature swimming slow laps around the circle.

  But as soon as the creature saw her coming, it raised its long horn-shaped snout and let loose a shrill alarm.

  “You!” An angry voice sailed across the palace grounds. “Get back from there before I arrest you!”

  A man dressed in head-to-toe white ran toward her. Silver hadn’t noticed him standing against the wall, since his clothes blended in perfectly with the palace, but now that she saw him, she realized there were many guards on the palace grounds, all dressed in white, all pressed against the wall. How many other guards throughout the city had they missed? The hairs on Silver’s neck stood on end. They would have to be more careful.

  Silver hastily backed away. “I’m sorry.”

  “You can’t come in here. It’s treason to trespass on the queen’s property.”

  “I…” Silver pointed at the small creature who’d continued its turns around the pool. Its gray-and-black-striped tail and the black tufts on top of its head wiggled side to side as it swam. “It’s just that I’ve never seen one before.”

  Suddenly, the guard smiled, his mustache bouncing with mirth at the ends, and his whole face became friendly. “Never seen an Abruq? Not from Calidia, then. Fine little water dragons. Can sound an alarm loud enough to wake the dead. Very useful.”

  “They’re so cute.”

  “About the right size to cuddle in your arms, aren’t they?” The guard shook his head. “Much too restless to stay still, though. And, like I said, noisy. They don’t make good pets. People who attempt to keep them always find their homes in shambles after the first day. To be fair, I can’t think of a single water dragon that would be a good pet. Even the mild-mannered ones need lots of food and water and—”

  “Do you know all about water dragons?” Silver asked. She hoped he would have an idea where the dragons were kept.