Dragon Keeper

by Robin Hobb

  She tried to be casual as she set both her hands to the coarse bark of the trunk. She wanted to hug the tree, but it would have been like trying to hug a wall. The flora and the foliage here in the Rain Wilds were on so immense a scale that they seemed more like geographical features than botanical ones. To Leftrin’s credit, he hadn’t said a word while she caught her breath and found her dignity. When she turned back to face him, he smiled in a way that was friendly, not teasing, and said, “I believe there’s a very nice little tea and cake shop this way.”

  He led her around the trunk on the sturdy boardwalk. More of the town was awake now, and though the walkways were not nearly as crowded as the streets of Bingtown on a market day, there was still a substantial population in evidence. Watching them go so matter-of-factly about their lives slowly changed her perception of them. Their scaled faces and outlandish clothing had almost begun to seem mundane by the time they reached the tea shop and ordered a small meal. They had talked and laughed and eaten, and for a time, Alise forgot who and where she was.

  Captain Leftrin was a rough man, almost coarse. Handsome he was not, nor particularly groomed, nor even educated. He didn’t care that he spilled his tea in his saucer, and when he laughed, he threw back his head and roared, and every customer in the shop turned to stare at him. It embarrassed Alise. Yet in his company, she felt more like a woman than she had in years, perhaps in her whole life. And that was the thought that made her realize that she had been behaving as if she were not only single, but not accountable to anyone else but herself. The shock of that thought made her catch her breath, and in the next instant she recalled that this sort of misadventure was exactly why Hest had sent Sedric to chaperone her and protect her good name. His good name, she belatedly thought. This was what Sedric had been trying to warn her about. She hastily finished her tea and then sat almost fidgeting as Leftrin slowly enjoyed his.

  “Shall we look about a bit more?” he offered her as they left the shop, his grin confident of her agreement.

  “I’m afraid I should get back to the Sedric and explain to him the change in plans. I don’t think he’s going to be happy with it,” she said, and suddenly the understatement of that rattled inside her. Sedric had been miserable spending only a few days on the Tarman. How would he react to the news that she’d volunteered herself to be part of the expedition, a trip that would certainly take days and possibly weeks? Would he forbid it?

  That thought made her cold with dread, and then a worse one came. Could he forbid it to her? Did she have to accept his judgment if he said she must give up her wild plan? What would happen if he did? She’d signed her name to an agreement. No Trader would even consider backing out on such a thing. But what if he disputed her right to do so? Just how much authority did she have to yield to him? After all, he was her chaperone, accompanying her to preserve appearances. He was not her guardian or her father. And Hest had said, quite clearly, that he was hers to command. So, if need be, she could force the issue. Wasn’t that why Hest paid him? To do what he was told to do? He was Hest’s servant.

  And her friend.

  Her conscience squirmed uncomfortably. She’d begun to think of him more and more that way lately. Her friend. And she’d enjoyed the attentions and deference he’d been showing her. Today, when she’d left so early without even telling him she was going, she’d dismissed the need to do so. Because as her friend, he’d understand. But as her husband’s employee, as her appointed chaperone, would he? Had she put him in a difficult position without thinking about it? She spoke quickly, before she could give in to the temptation to wander through Cassarick with the river captain as her guide. “I’m afraid I must go back right away. I have to tell Sedric what I’ve—” She faltered suddenly, at a loss for words. What she had decided to do? Could she use such a word and not be humiliated in a few hours when Sedric overturned it? For she was suddenly certain that he would.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Leftrin agreed reluctantly. “You’ll be needing to make a list of the supplies you want. I’ve got good sources here. I’ll pick them up for you, and we’ll settle up when we return to Trehaug.”

  “Of course,” Alise agreed more faintly. Of course there would be more expenses to extending her trip. Why hadn’t she thought of that? And who would have to pay for those expenses? Hest. Oh, he’d be so pleased about that! She was suddenly feeling a lot less competent and independent than she had a few hours ago. It would, she thought, be almost a relief when Sedric forbade it. And now she looked at the sky, or attempted to, only to be thwarted by the solid umbrella of vegetation. Just how much time had passed? How many hours had she lost of the time that she could spend with the dragons? The Council had seemed eager to move them as swiftly as they could. Would she even have a full day of research to show for this impulsive journey to the Rain Wilds? She thought of how Hest would rebuke and mock her for her waste of time and money, and her cheeks burned. No more must be wasted.

  So she had gritted her teeth and scuttled back across the swaying bridges with Leftrin. She’d never felt anything like the sensation of her belly floating up behind her teeth as they dropped far too swiftly for her comfort in the flimsy basket. Leftrin had a tendency to stroll, and to chat with every passing acquaintance. She stood impatiently at his side through what seemed like dozens of encounters on their way back to the docks.

  To every acquaintance, he introduced her as “the Bingtown dragon expert who will be heading upriver with the dragons to get them settled.” The title that at one time would have filled her with elation now agitated her. Her discomfiture was complete when she finally arrived back at the Tarman to discover that Sedric was not there.

  Hennesey was already occupied with loading a stream of crates and barrels of supplies. He seemed surprised to see her. “Well, we all thought you was just taking some extra sleep. That Sedric fellow said to tell you that he’d gone off to find ‘suitable lodgings’ for the two of you.” The way he parodied Sedric’s diction made her fully aware of just how the crew viewed Sedric’s aristocratic manners and fastidiousness.

  For a time, she stayed on the deck, watching with awe just how much the crew could fit into the Tarman’s holds. She went back down to the captain’s stateroom and tried to imagine living in it for over a week or possibly as long as a month. It had seemed quaint and nautical, but when she considered it for a longer period, she began to feel claustrophobic. She made an excuse to put her head into the crew’s living quarters, and then hastily withdrew. No. She could not imagine Sedric existing there any longer than he already had. She was certain now that he would veto her participation in the expedition. She went back on deck and looked anxiously upriver. Several times Leftrin tried to engage her in conversation about what her own needs might be, and once when she asked in some agitation when she would get to see the dragons, he explained that the dragon beach was less than an hour away by river, but quite a bit more than that if she wished to travel there by reentering the city and using the footbridges and lifts to reach it. She gratefully declined to do that and attempted to find both her patience and her aplomb.

  She had caught sight of Sedric before he saw her. He strode down the dock, his normally pleasant face set in grim disapproval. When he looked up from the dock and saw her seated on top of the deckhouse, she saw him take a deep breath and hold it. Then he clambered aboard and came immediately to her. He didn’t greet her at all but demanded, “What are these ridiculous rumors I’m hearing? I tried to rent some rooms for us, but the landlady asked whatever I would need them for, when she had heard that the Bingtown lady who came to study dragons would be heading upriver on the Tarman before the day was out.”

  Alise was shocked to find she was trembling. For all his sly mockery of her, Hest had never raised his voice to her. And in all her years of knowing Sedric, she had never heard him speak so severely, with anger so plainly bubbling under his words. She clenched her hands together in her lap and tried to force steadiness into her voice. “I’m afraid
that, yes, I did volunteer to go. You see, when I accompanied Captain Leftrin to a meeting with the Cassarick Traders’ Council, I discovered that they intended to remove all the dragons from here, transferring them upriver. No one quite knows exactly where they are to be resettled, but the Council is quite determined that they must be moved immediately. Malta the Elderling was there, and was very dejected that she herself could not accompany the dragons, but when I said that I could, she was—”

  “Impossible.” He cut off her flow of words. His face had gone quite red. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing! I can’t believe what you’ve done! You left the boat without my knowledge and went off with that man, and now you’ve involved yourself in Rain Wild politics, making offers that we can’t possibly fulfill! You can’t go off on some harebrained expedition to an unnamed destination, with no fixed date to return. Alise, what are you thinking? This isn’t some sort of pretend game. They are talking of going upriver beyond any settlements, perhaps beyond explored areas. They may encounter all sorts of dangers, not to mention the discomfort and primitive conditions of such travel. You are scarcely fit to endure such things. You cannot even imagine what you are suggesting. Or perhaps you can, but that ‘imagining’ is all that you are doing. You have no concept of the reality. And there is the time factor to consider. Summer does not last forever, and we did not pack the clothing or make any arrangements for an extended stay in the Rain Wilds. You may not have real commitments to return to, but I do! This is ridiculous! And backing out of it will be endlessly embarrassing! Hest has trading partners here in the Rain Wilds. How is it going to look, that his wife agreed to do a thing that she could not possibly do and then backed out of it? What were you thinking?”

  Between the time when he began his speech and the moment he finished it, a strange thing happened. The trembling inside Alise stilled, and then hardened. In Sedric’s outraged gaze she suddenly saw herself reflected as he saw her. Foolish and sheltered. Living out an imaginary adventure before fleeing home to her lifetime of no “real commitments.” Ignorant of the real world in which he and Hest moved so competently.

  And perhaps she was, but through no fault of her own. She had never been allowed to gather the experiences she needed to be competent and independent. Never been allowed. That was the thought that burned in her like molten iron and suddenly hardened into cold resolve. She was not going to be “allowed” to do anything. Never again would she submit to being “allowed” or “not allowed.” She would follow her resolve if it killed her. For being killed by it would certainly be better than going home and dying of not being allowed to follow her dream.

  So when he had asked her, so rhetorically, what she had been thinking, she replied literally. “I was thinking that I would finally study the dragons, as Hest promised me I could. It was one of the conditions for me marrying him, you know. That I would be allowed to come here and study them. If he had kept his word, I would have been here years ago, and all of this would have been much simpler. But as he chose, over and over again, to ignore the terms of our bargain, here we are. And the only way that his promise to me will be fulfilled is if I follow the dragons upriver and study them as we go.” She ran out of breath and had to pause.

  He was staring at her, his mouth open. She saw him take breath to speak and beat him to it. “So. I have signed an agreement with the Traders’ Council. We will be going upriver with the Tarman to see the dragons resettled. And we’ll be leaving by this afternoon, so Captain Leftrin will need a list from you of what supplies must be picked up for us. I’ll see to balancing accounts with him when we return to Trehaug. I’ll be earning a wage aboard the vessel, of course, so I’ll have money to settle with the captain. And of course I’ll be speaking to him about changing the sleeping arrangements so that we can both be more comfortable during the journey.”

  She tossed the last comment toward him as a peace offering, hoping he would focus on it and simply accept the rest. It didn’t work.

  “Alise, this is crazy! We aren’t prepared—”

  “Nor will we be, if you don’t go to work promptly and make that list! That is, isn’t it, the sort of duty that you perform for Hest? And isn’t that what he instructed you to do for me, on this journey? So do it.”

  And then she had stood up abruptly and walked away from him. Just like that. She had been shocked when he had actually done what she told him to do, and uneasy ever since. She’d avoided him successfully, not an easy feat on a ship. Leftrin had been surprisingly reasonable about changing quarters for them.

  “I’ve already put my mind to that, and the materials are on their way. I don’t mind giving up my bunk for a night or two, but much longer than that simply won’t work. But you’ll see. We can set up some temporary shelters on the deck. I’ve done it before for cattle, and it won’t be much different for passengers. The Tarman was built to be versatile. Oh, don’t look at me like that! You’ll see, I’ll make it comfortable enough for even Dapperlad there.” And with an outrageous grin, he’d tossed his head toward the sulking Sedric.

  Leftrin had been as good as his word. She had not noticed the fittings set into the deck that allowed for walls to be raised. The chambers created were neither large nor elegant, being not much roomier than a large box stall, but they were private, and when hammocks were slung in them and her own luggage set in place, she found she could arrange her boxes to make a cozy little den for herself. She had a place to sit and write, and a lantern for her own use, though Leftrin warned her sternly to be eternally cautious with it. “Spilled oil and flame aboard a ship is never a trivial thing,” he warned her. Her quarters shared a wall with Sedric’s, and once the walls had been raised, he entered his room and shut the door immediately.

  And there he had stayed until the ship had departed the wharf at Cassarick only to put in at the muddy banks of the dragon beach less than an hour later. Sedric looked much better now than he had earlier. Access to his wardrobe for fresh clothes, privacy, a nap, and a solitary meal seemed to have restored his energy if not his charm. He had not said anything directly to Alise about her high-handed ways, but the edge to his tongue let her know that he had not forgiven her. She shook her head to herself and turned away from him. She’d deal with Sedric later. Right now, she wasn’t going to let anything ruin her first glimpse of the young dragons.

  “They’re huge!” Sedric sounded daunted. “You don’t intend to go down there and walk among them!”

  “Of course I do. Eventually.” She didn’t want to admit that she felt much safer looking at them from the Tarman’s deck.

  Down the beach, the golden dragon suddenly lifted his head. The small figure beside him stirred. The dragon looked toward them, flaring his nostrils and audibly blowing. He rolled to his feet and began to lumber toward them.

  “Now what does he want?” Leftrin muttered uneasily. He watched the dragon approach the barge. The animal turned his head on his long neck, regarding Tarman curiously with shining black eyes. He came several steps closer, and then stretched out his head to snuff at the barge. Sedric stepped back from the railing. “Alise,” he warned her, but the captain had not moved. She chose to stay where she was. A moment later, the dragon gently butted his head against the vessel’s planked side. Tarman did not budge, but in an instant, both Swarge and Hennesey were at Leftrin’s side. Big Eider hulked up behind them, staring balefully at the dragon. Grigsby, the ship’s orange cat, joined them. He leaped to the railing and glared at the dragon, lashing his striped tail and muttering cat curses in his throat. “There’s no harm done,” Leftrin warned them softly. He set a restraining hand on the angry cat’s back.

  “Not yet,” Hennesey replied sourly.

  “Is there danger?” Alise asked.

  “I don’t know,” Leftrin said. Then, as the dragon’s girl-keeper caught up with the creature, he added quietly, “I don’t think so.”

  Moments later, the immense creature was following the girl placidly down the beach, back to their sunning spot. Alise
let her pent breath out in a sigh. “Look how the sun reflects off him. His markings are so delicate. Such amazing creatures. Even flawed, they’re incredibly beautiful. Of course, the queen at the end of the beach is the most glorious, but this is to be expected. The females of this species were always the most flamboyantly colored. My studies suggest that they could be assertive, even arrogant perhaps, but given the level of their intelligence, such ‘arrogance’ was perhaps the natural attitude that such a superior mind might take. Look at her. The sun soaks right into her and shines back out of her.”

  The blue dragon and her tender were a good distance away, at least a hundred feet. Alise was sure her voice had not carried that far, and yet the blue female suddenly lifted her head from where she had been stretched out on the hard mud and regarded Alise with whirling copper eyes for a long moment. Then she said, quite clearly, “Were you speaking of me, Bingtown woman?”