As close as Sevana had come to dragon territory, she’d never actually ventured into dragon territory. The experience would no doubt be educational, in a terrifying, gut-churning sort of way. I think I’d rather stay ignorant, thanks.
It didn’t help that once they were away from shore, Vashti spent the next two hours telling them in detail every story he’d ever heard of humans that had made bad deals with dragons. If not for the fact that he would always end the story with, “Which shows you what never to do with a dragon,” she would have snarled at him and shut him up. But the stories taught her what dangers to avoid, so she kept her mouth shut.
Finally, a patch of shore became visible. The fog burned off under the strong rays of the sun and the air gradually warmed so that she didn’t feel half-frozen. She looked up, almost pointlessly, to see the dragons. A few were in the air, lazily circling about, but most were stretched out on the island’s rocky surface. The Artifactor in her categorized them. Water dragons, most females with a few males, signified by the darker hue of blue in their scales. None of them younger than a year (no doubt from last year’s hatching), some old enough to have long white beards and scales hardened like marble over their backs.
Vashti came in and smoothly docked at the single wooden platform that stuck out from the beach. He quickly tied off, anxiously looking back over his shoulder at his passengers. Sevana avoided his eyes and focused on draping Bel with every piece of jewelry that they had stolen from the Lockbright Palace.
Finally, everything could be done had been done. Taking a deep breath, she turned on her heel and gestured for Bel to follow her.
“Be careful, and don’t panic, no matter what happens,” Vashti advised softly. He stayed at the railing, carefully keeping both hands on the wood in plain sight.
She spared him a nod as she put her behind on the railing and swung her legs over. Sevana stepped off the boat, looking up into the cavernous regions ahead of her, with almost every flat ledge filled with the form of a water dragon. None of them moved, but every dragon had at least one eye fixed on the newcomers and while not hostile, they were clearly not welcoming. Oh, yes. Water wheels would have been a very bad idea. Her gigantic wheels that rode along the water, carrying a passenger in the center, were faster than any other water-traveling method she had, but they were very attention-grabbing. It would have been a disastrously bad choice to use them for this venture.
“Stay close,” she ordered Bel in a low voice. “And for the love of the gods, keep that jewelry very visible.”
“No problem.” His voice sounded unnaturally calm, as if he were shaking on some level but refused to fall prey to his own fear.
She understood the feeling all too well. With a deep breath, she put one foot in front of the other. With no natural path on the rocky beach, she weaved her way from one rock to the next, sometimes having to lightly leap over the larger cracks. The sea splashed water here and there, spraying them lightly and making the air taste of salt. The air felt heavy as well, although she couldn’t tell if that were from the storm rumbling in or from the weight of so many eyes watching her every move.
Getting too close to their nests would probably not be a good idea. That in mind, she stopped once she got to a sufficiently flat area. It had nothing remarkable about it, not even an elevated area so that she could be more eye level with a dragon if it chose to come down and speak with her. But getting any closer than this would rile them up unnecessarily.
Sevana planted both feet shoulder length apart, raised her chin and said clearly, “We are here to offer a deal.”
Bel came up to stand at her side, his eyes scanning the area without pause. “Sevana, are you sure they could hear you? You weren’t very loud.”
“A dragon’s hearing is very keen,” she assured him without looking away from the dragons in front of her. “They heard me.”
From the far right ledge, a younger dragon—and she could only tell its age from the deeper hue of his blue scales, he was just as large as any of the adults—glided off the mountainside and took to the air. In a casual arc, he flew over their heads before landing directly in front of them.
Sevana and Bel held their positions, but it took every ounce of balance and strength they had to do it. The ground rocked and vibrated as the dragon landed, and the back flap of his wings sent a very harsh gust of wind at them, nearly blowing them over. But Master had been clear on this—when negotiating with a dragon, you keep your feet, no matter what happens.
She took the measure of this dragon as he settled onto his belly, lowering his head to speak with her. Young, yes. Barely an adult. His scales had the deep blue of the unfathomed sea, eyes the grey of a storm cloud. The ridges over his eyes, nostrils and around his ears hadn’t yet fully hardened, either, but the rest of his scales formed into impenetrable armor. He might be young but he wouldn’t be easy to defeat if it came down to a fight.
“We are here to offer a deal,” she repeated clearly, looking straight into his eyes. “Will you bargain with us?”
The dragon’s head cocked slightly so that he could look at her steadily from just one eye. “YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH GOLD TO BARGAIN WITH ME.”
She winced at the volume. He had softened his voice a little, but not enough for a human’s ears. “This is nothing more than a good faith payment that we bring.”
The dragon let out a low hissing sound, which was the same as a human giving an ohhh of interest. “MY PRICE WOULD BE TWO BARGES OF GOLD.”
Bellomi took a step forward, and his hand cut in a gesture of disagreement. “No, that’s too much. What I need from you will only take you a moment of effort and focus. One barge of gold plus what I carry with me now. That is my offer.”
Sevana held her breath. Bellomi had used the right tone and the right countering technique. Acting like a coward or a pushover in front of a dragon would only invite disaster. In that sense, having confronted a dragon before helped him in this situation. He wasn’t as nearly as nervous this time. But that didn’t mean this dragon would respond as well as that young mother had.
The dragon’s eye narrowed slightly and he let out a puff of steam that warmed the air by a good ten degrees. “WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WISH OF ME?”
“I am under a curse,” Bellomi answered steadily. “The woman at my side is an Artifactor. She will place a spell upon me to help channel power and then I need a water dragon to spray water where she directs. We will channel the power that you hold at the curse to break it.”
“THAT IS ALL?”
“That is all,” Bellomi assured him firmly.
The dragon let out another low hiss, but this time it sounded more thoughtful. “WHERE IS GOLD?”
“At my home in Windamere,” Sevana responded, carefully choosing her words. “It is along your migratory path to the Endless Sea.”
One could almost see the wheels turn in the dragon’s head. This task wouldn’t take more than five minutes on his part, if that, and it wouldn’t mean going out of his way at all. If he left ahead of everyone else, he would still have plenty of time to gather up a new load of gold and make it to the other nest before the rest arrived.
Proving to be a cautious sort, the dragon asked suspiciously, “WHERE IS HOME EXACTLY?”
“Do you know the large river that cuts through Windamere?” she checked. “There is a mountain near the river. That is my home.”
The dragon let out a low haaa sound of understanding. “WE FLY OVER YOU. IT IS ON PATH.” He didn’t seem to need a response to that, as his head bobbed once in satisfaction. “IF YOU GIVE ME ONE BARGE OF GOLD PLUS THE GOLD YOU HAVE ON YOU, I WILL STOP AND DO THIS TASK FOR YOU.”
Sevana let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Can you spray him with the water from this sea? It will have more power if you can.” That might be a bit much to ask. Holding a mouthful of water on a four day flight to Windamere would be something of a challenge.
He almost looked affronted that she would even suggest it. “OF COURSE. FRES
H WATER DISGUSTING.”
“Ah. Right.” A point she hadn’t considered from his perspective. “Then, when can we expect you?”
“WILL COME IN ONE MOON CYCLE.”
Bellomi shot her a confused look.
“One month,” she translated for him in a low tone. Looking back at the dragon she gave a half-bow. “We thank you for the deal.”
Bellomi shrugged off the necklaces, the headband, and the bracelets on both arms before offering them over. The dragon extended one paw and took them with easy grace. Then without another word, he launched himself up into the air with a powerful thrust of his back legs, wings flapping to gain altitude. Once again, she and Bel were knocked about by the force of it, but somehow barely managed to stay on their feet.
She grabbed the young prince’s arm and tugged him back toward their boat. His eyes were shining with excitement, no doubt happy that the curse would be broken soon. She was just happy to get out of there alive. This whole experience had too many variables and too many dangers for her peace of mind.
Next time I come across a difficult case like this, we’ll just do the slow and safe method. This is the last time I deal with dragons!
Their departure for home became somewhat delayed by the Vash villagers. Sevana actually hadn’t expected anything less. She only made it down this far south about twice a year, so when she did come, they kept her for days. She had to eat at everyone’s house at least once (fortunately, it wasn’t that big of a village), attend to any medical/magical/strange requests, and load her supply of dragon scales they’d saved for her. Even with Bel’s help in loading and such, it took a solid four days to get through everything. By the time they could leave, Bel’s head swam with names and he still couldn’t keep them all straight. Sevana felt a smidgeon of sympathy for him—after all, every person’s name started with ‘Vash’ and she to this day couldn’t keep them all straight either.
Finally, they managed to get back on the skimmer and head for home. With her and Bel taking turns, they made it in three days and touched down on the top of Big late in the evening. Sevana did nothing more adventurous than touch down and request that Big move the skimmer back into its storage room. She’d deal with that abundance of dragon scales tomorrow. Maybe.
Tired beyond relief, she went to bed. A bored cat woke her up far too early the next morning by lounging on top of her chest—and thereby cutting off all air. She flailed awake in a panic, unable to breathe, only to find the culprit purring at her. Feeling murderous, Sevana reached for the wand at her bedside, fully intending to turn Baby into a mouse for a while.
But after years of living with her, the cat had developed fine survival instincts. He quickly disappeared out the door before she could get the spell off.
“You little rat,” she muttered at him, throwing back the covers. “I’ll get you one of these days.”
Too irritated to go back to sleep, she threw on the first clothes at hand, pulled her hair back in a messy bun, and slunk to the kitchen. Maybe a good, hearty breakfast would put her in a slightly better mood. Besides, she had to cook. She lived in a mountain full of men who were talented in burning things.
Fortunately for all concerned, someone thoughtfully kept the larder stocked so she had quite a selection to choose from. Sevana set to cooking, and as the aroma of sizzling meat and baking bread filled the air, her mood lightened considerably. In fact, she felt so much better about the morning that as she cooked, she started humming a folk song from Vash Village.
“Ahhh…morning?” Kip ventured from the doorway. “I didn’t expect you back this early.”
“We made good time,” she responded, waving him in. “Want breakfast?”
“I wouldn’t turn you down.” Kip came inside, going directly to the cupboard and gathering plates. “I haven’t had a decent meal since you left, I think.”
Kip’s meals depended on a) if he could find a market with already prepared food or b) if he could charm a woman into cooking for him. It made for an erratic diet.
“Since you’re alive and intact, I assume that the bargaining with the dragon went well?”
“Amazingly so. Bel handled it perfectly.” She paused long enough to get the bread from the oven and bring it out, setting it on a metal rack to cool for a moment. “The dragon was a young one, too, which I think helped. He’ll be here by the end of the month so we have a few more weeks to focus on breaking Bel’s curse.”
“Thank all the gods for that.”
As he set the table, and she dished out food, she asked, “So what’s happened while we were gone?”
“Quite a bit, actually. The king has ventured into the palace daily while you were gone, always paired with someone, and he’s bringing back a lot of information. He’s also discovered that the security of the palace is tightest around the places he needs access to. Sarsen and Pierpoint have helped him a few times, but their diversions only work once, so it’s becoming more and more challenging.” Kip sat at the table and started filling a plate full as he talked. “Right now, it’s Hana that’s worrying me the most.”
Sevana gave him an odd look as she sat in the chair next to him. “Hana?”
“Didn’t you know?” Kip glanced up at her, brow quirked. “Before you left, Bel asked Hana to do some research for him.”
That part didn’t surprise her. Hana had been helping Bel from the beginning in researching things. Aside from knowing what Bel would want, she was good at it. Most librarians were. “Research what, exactly?”
“Quite a few things. She’s asked for my help several times now in gathering information she needs.” Kip started ticking things off on his fingers. “He asked her specifically to make a list of what laws have changed in the past ten years, what families lost or gained property, and who was promoted.”
Sevana saw the sense of it as he rattled off the list. Aren and Bel knew that the laws had changed while they were both imprisoned in Lockbright. But the question was, how much had changed? And how exactly was it changed? For Aren to straighten out the laws of the land, he would have to know where to begin. But it was just as vital to know what families lost their lands and estates because of the Council, and who’d replaced them. For that matter, knowing who was promoted at the ruling family’s cost was also vital. “Aren’s going to have a great deal of house cleaning to do.”
“I don’t envy him the job,” Kip agreed with a grimace. “Not one bit. But you can see now why I’m worried. This research that Hana is doing is, well, rather sensitive information. Not just anybody can look into this without raising suspicions. She’s doing as much as she can through the library system, to avoid raising flags, but some of it requires pulling Council records. I’ve helped her gather some information, but even then, she’s coming under scrutiny.” He put the bread in his hands down and shook his head in frustration. “I tried to get her to stop, or at least slow down, but she refused to listen. She’s absolutely determined to help Bel.”
“She’ll land herself in trouble,” Sevana observed dispassionately.
“She might already be in trouble.” Kip rubbed at his forehead, looking at least five years older. “What was Bel thinking, asking this of her?”
“He might not realize how dangerous it is.” Sevana kept eating, enjoying the flavors of home cooked food. Not that the food down at the island had been bad, but they put too much spices in food. “Think about it. For years, if he wanted to read anything, all he needed to do was request it. They let him read whatever he wanted as long as it kept him quiet.”
Kip growled, stabbing at his ham viciously. “Royalty really doesn’t have any common sense.”
“Not so’s I’ve noticed.” Feeling pleasantly full, she pushed the plate a little away from her and sat back with a sigh of satisfaction. “But if you put a word in the kid’s ear and explain, he’ll put a stop to it. The only thing he’s careful with is Hana.”
Kip brightened at this. “That’s true. Do you know where he is?”
“Probably sti
ll abed. I would be, if not for a cat with a death wish.”
“He sat on your chest again, didn’t he?” Kip guessed, eyes crinkling.
“I’ll murder him one of these days, see if I don’t,” she gritted out between clenched teeth, aggravated all over again.
“You’ll miss him too much if you kill him,” Kip mockingly soothed.
“Wanna bet?” As he laughed, she snorted, finally seeing a little humor in the situation. “Go wake up everyone and tell them breakfast is on the table. I have some work to catch up on.”
~ ~ ~
Sevana wandered down to her research room with the intention of doing nothing practical for the day. She’d been running around for so long that she couldn’t remember the last time that she’d relaxed. Hmmm. A nap in her favorite chair in front of the fire sounded good, actually. Those pesky boys were probably out doing other things.
She nodded firmly to herself. Yes, nap it would be.
Sevana took care to lock the door behind her (to prevent a certain cat from attempting to join her in the nap and thereby crushing her), curled up in the chair with her legs tucked in, a lap blanket around her. She let out a large yawn. The chair felt perfectly comfortable and familiar, the fire heated her with soothing waves, with pristine quiet bathing the room that induced her to sleep. Her eyes fell closed and she started breathing in deep, slow breaths.
“Sevana? Are you there, sweetling?”
Her eyes popped open and she glared at the Caller on the table in front of her. “Old man, you have the most atrocious timing!”
The caller flowed and changed to reflect her Master’s features. “Ah, it must be nap time.”
“It is, actually,” she agreed with false pleasantness. “Do go away.”
“I would, but I actually won’t be able to call you back for several days. I’d like to know what’s happening on your side of the world first. Also, I haven’t been able to contact Sarsen for the past two days. Do you know where he is?”
The stubborn old man apparently had it in his head to talk. Sighing, she pushed off the lap quilt and sat up, resigned to her nap-less afternoon. “He’s busy plotting on how to steal a kingdom.”
The Child Prince (The Artifactor) Page 29
