Dragon Keeper

by Robin Hobb

  She had meant it as a rebuke to him. Too late she saw that she had brought Tats and Greft back into direct confrontation. Tats stood and rolled his shoulders as if loosening them. He might have been sitting still too long, but to Thymara, it looked as if he prepared himself for a possible fight. “That’s right. I did. Sylve, if you need help with the silver’s tail, let me know. Rapskal, it would be good if you could find him a fish or any extra food. I’m going to go say hello to my green, and then I’ll check on the dirty copper one to see what I can do for him. You go with Sedric, Thymara. We can manage without you for now.”

  She watched Sedric’s eyes dart from Greft to Tats, and suddenly knew he was wondering just who was in charge here. Of her. She felt a flush of anger at both of them. It made her sharp. “Thank you, Tats, but I said I’d do it and I will. I don’t need anyone’s help. Or permission.”

  The look on his face made her realize she’d spoken more harshly than she intended. She’d only meant to assert that no one was in charge of her except herself. It was made worse by the smug look on Greft’s face. She ground her teeth. In less than two days, she’d gone from being mildly infatuated with Greft and flattered by his attention to actively disliking him. She knew he was manipulating the situation, but she could not seem to escape his puppet strings. Now everyone would think she was at odds with Tats, when she wasn’t. Or at least, didn’t want to be. Jerd was looking at the ground, but Thymara knew she was smiling. Tats was turning aside from her rather stiffly, and there was nothing else to do but follow Sedric. Even he seemed aware of the awkwardness as she walked away with him.

  “I didn’t mean to cause you any problems,” he apologized.

  “You didn’t,” she said shortly. Then she took a breath and shook her head. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. Honestly, you didn’t cause any problem. Greft is the problem, and sometimes Tats. Greft wants to be the leader of the dragon keepers, so he just acts as if he is and hopes everyone will fall into line. And it’s so infuriating that some of them do! The truth is, no one was put in charge among us; we’re all free to do our own jobs. But Greft is very good at causing discord among those who refuse to concede to him. Like Tats and me.”

  “I see.” He nodded as if he actually did.

  “Usually Tats and I get along very well. Then Greft came along, and he just seems to enjoy making trouble. And manipulating people. Sometimes it seems that if he can’t make us do what he wants, he focuses on making us as miserable as possible. At first, I thought he liked me. He behaves as if he can’t stand for me to have a friend, like it makes him less important. It’s almost as if he tries to drive a wedge between Tats and me. Why are some people like that?”

  She hadn’t expected him to have an answer, but he looked startled, as if she had asked him something of great significance. When he answered, his words came slowly. “Maybe because we let them be that way.”

  SEDRIC FELT AS if he’d been hit in the back of the head. Twice. First by the glimpse of the extraordinary young man who’d seemed to dispute his right to ask Thymara to translate for him. He’d never seen such a person, at least not unveiled and unhooded. Most people marked as strongly by the Rain Wilds as Greft was went veiled. But Greft didn’t. Was that a defiance of custom, or had they traveled far enough up the Rain Wild River that the locals no longer cared what outsiders thought of them?

  There had been a definite reptilian cast to his features that somehow only lent power to his presence. His blue eyes had gleamed like polished lapis lazuli beneath his finely scaled brows. The austere lines of his face reminded Sedric of a sculpture, save that this was no cold stone. He was closer to an animal than anyone Sedric had ever met. He’d felt he could almost smell him, as if the dominance Greft sought to assert were a musk emanating from him. Even his voice had held an inhuman tenor, a hum that reminded Sedric of a bow drawn across dark strings. The scales repelled him and the voice attracted him. No wonder the girl at his side was so agitated by his presence. Anyone would be.

  Even Hest. He and Hest would have collided like antlered bucks battling for territory. Even as that thought occurred to him, the girl had asked that telling question. It had snapped a stinging realization into his mind. Hest didn’t like him being friends with Alise. Hest didn’t want him to have conversations with her or have opinions about her. She was supposed to be something he’d surrendered to Hest, a part of his past he’d given to the man when he suggested that marrying her would put an end to his problem with his parents. He didn’t like thinking of all the implications of that. He pushed aside the thought of other friendships he’d neglected for Hest’s, even how he’d alienated his father by taking the position with Hest rather than striking out on his own or following his father into his business.

  He forced himself to focus on the business at hand. He glanced over at the annoyed girl stalking along beside him. “I’m sorry I created problems for you.”

  She snorted in amusement. “Oh, you didn’t create them. They came with who I am, and multiplied when I signed a contract to do this. That’s all.” She cleared her throat and he could almost see her wrench the topic to one side. “Why is Alise awake so early for this?”

  “She’s eager, I suppose. Once we start to travel, I suspect she’ll have little time for chatting with the dragons.” That wasn’t the truth. He’d wakened Alise and suggested to her that she attempt an interview before the day’s travel began. She’d been very willing, appearing fully dressed only a few minutes later. He was hoping against hope that they would both have all they needed before the dragons actually departed. That hope was fading now, but this was his final chance. If the results of this morning’s “interview” were as lackluster as what she’d recounted to him last night, perhaps he could persuade her that she’d learn more by remaining in Cassarick for a few days and studying the ruins there. If luck favored him, perhaps they’d still find a way to connect with Captain Trell and journey home on the Paragon.

  “Or it could be that she’ll find she has far more time than she can actually fill. I suspect this expedition is going to take a lot longer than they told us it would. I don’t think anyone actually knows where we are going, and the folk who aren’t going with us don’t much care, as long as we take the dragons with us when we leave.”

  Sedric thought that summed it up nicely, but it hardly seemed kind to say so. He tried to find a way to steer the conversation back to something he’d overheard earlier. When inspiration didn’t strike, he simply pushed it there. “So. In addition to the blue dragon, you’ll be taking care of a silver one?”

  “So I said,” she admitted. She sounded as if she regretted it now.

  “Tats said the dragon was injured? Something about his tail?”

  “I haven’t taken a close look at it, but he has some sort of wound there and it looks infected. The dragons are fairly immune to the acidity of the river water, as are the water birds and fish. As long as their hides are intact, they do fine. But the water eats away at open sores. So we need to clean the injury, bandage it well, and somehow make sure he doesn’t get his tail in the water if we have to do any wading. And I consider it very likely that we will.”

  Alise and the blue dragon were walking by the river. The dragon made her seem tiny. Sedric knew that Thymara had spotted them as well, for the girl quickened her pace. He deliberately walked more slowly, holding her back. What he had to say to her was not for Alise’s ears. “I’ve always had an interest in animals and medicine, and dragons in particular. Perhaps I could be of some assistance in helping the poor thing.”

  Thymara shot him a startled look. “You?”

  It rather stung. “Well, why not me?”

  “I just . . . well, you can’t even understand them when you hear them speak. And you’re so, well, particular. Clean, I guess I mean. It’s hard for me to imagine you dealing with a muddy dragon with an infected tail.”

  He put a smile on his face. “You’ve only just met me, Thymara. I think you’ll find there’s a lot
more to me than meets the eye.” That at least was true!

  “Well, I suppose if you want to help, you can. But first I’ll translate while Alise talks to Skymaw. I don’t think that will be for long, for they’ll be bringing the dragons’ food soon, and I know Skymaw will want to eat just as much as the others. But after they’ve been fed, I want to check on the silver and see what I can do for him.”

  “Perfect. I’ll gather my equipment and come with you then.”

  “Equipment?”

  “I’ve some basic medical supplies I brought with us for this journey. Lint and bandages. Sharp knives, if we need them. Alcohol for cleaning wounds.” And for preserving specimens. With a bit of luck, he might have a vial of dragon scales before they even left the beach. Sedric smiled at her reassuringly.

  IT WAS NOT going well with the dragons. Alise knew it, and the sense of impending failure burdened her. Why had she ever imagined that it would be easy to talk with dragons? Yet in her dreams, when she arrived at the Rain Wilds, the creatures had sensed a kinship with her and opened their hearts and memories to her. Well, that fantasy certainly wasn’t coming true.

  “Can you share with me any of your ancestral memories?” she asked the dragon. She phrased it that way out of despair. Skymaw, as her keeper called her, had neatly deflected every question she’d asked of her.

  “I doubt it. You are only a human and I am a dragon. In all likelihood, it would be impossible for you to ever share the remotest idea of what it is to be a dragon, let alone comprehend any of my memories.”

  Skymaw dashed her hopes yet again. And she did it with a wellmodulated voice that was treacly with courtesy and kindness. Her lovely eyes spun as she spoke to Alise, and Alise’s heart yearned for a bond with this creature. She knew she was falling under the dragon’s glamour; she recognized the hopelessness of the unrequited worship she felt for the dragon. Yet she could not help herself. The more the dragon patronized and insulted her, the more she longed to win her regard. It didn’t help that she’d read of such things in her old scrolls. One could read about addiction and still fall prey to it.

  She made a final desperate attempt. “Do you think you will ever answer any of my questions?”

  The dragon regarded her in silence. Without moving, she seemed to come closer to Alise. Alise was flooded with a mawkish love for the creature. If only she could spend all her days in ser vice to the dragon, she would be happy. She had been right to come to the Rain Wilds, and if she did not accompany this dragon up the river, all of her life would have been a meaningless tragedy. Skymaw was her destiny. No other relationship could fulfill her as this one—

  As abruptly as a dropped doll hits the floor, Alise jolted back to the summer day on the riverbank. “They’re bringing the food,” the dragon announced suddenly, and Alise actually felt the creature dismiss her. It had been a glamour. The dragon had been toying with her. She could not deny it, and she should have felt shamed to have fallen under her charm so easily. Instead she felt only a wretched longing to regain Skymaw’s attention. It echoed unpleasantly how Hest had once made her feel, and that memory of utter humiliation finally broke the spell. Something hardened in her, and she turned away from the dragon. All that she had longed for was never going to be, not with Hest and her life in Bingtown, and not with her foolish dreams of journeying with the dragons. Abruptly she wished she could give up and go home.

  Did the dragon know she had lost her worshipper? It almost seemed that way, for on the way to the barrows of carrion, Skymaw suddenly halted and looked back at her. Alise looked resolutely away. No. She would not fall under her spell again. It was over.

  “Oh, dear. It looks as if we’re too late.”

  Sedric’s voice startled her. It was even more surprising to discover that he had arrived with Skymaw’s keeper in tow. The girl looked as disapproving of her as ever; or perhaps that was an assumption on Alise’s part. The way her exposure to the Rain Wilds had disfigured her, it was hard to read the girl’s expressions.

  “Skymaw was hungry and decided to go and eat rather than answer questions,” she explained needlessly. She glanced at the girl, wishing she weren’t there, and then spoke anyway. Her words came out stiff ly, as if the lump in her throat had squeezed all inflection out of them. “Sedric, I’ve discovered that you were right. Brashen Trell and his wife were right. Even Hest was right. I’m not making any headway in speaking to the dragon. She delights in thwarting me.” She formed the last and most difficult words. “I’ve put us both through so much to get here. I foolishly signed an agreement to go upriver. And now I wonder if I will gain any real knowledge of dragons at all from this experience. That creature is so, so—”

  “Exasperating,” Thymara supplied quietly, with a small smile.

  “Exactly!” Alise replied. And to her surprise, she found herself smiling back at the girl.

  “Well, at least I know that it isn’t only me.” Thymara cocked her head at Alise and asked shyly, “Does this mean you’re giving up and going back to Bingtown?”

  Alise could not miss the mixed emotions that flickered across Sedric’s face. Hope seemed to be a strong one, but anxiety was there as well. He spoke before she could. “It’s perfectly understandable if you’ve decided not to make the journey, Alise. I can have us packed and unloaded from Leftrin’s barge in a very short time. But before we do that, I promised Thymara that I’d assist her with one of the other dragons. An injured one.”

  “The silver,” Thymara said quietly.

  Alise looked from Sedric to Thymara and back again, trying to make sense of his words. She had never known him to have any fondness for or interest in animals. Oh, he shared some of her scholastic interest in dragons, but she had never seen him pet a dog or talk to his horse. And now he was going to assist this girl in doctoring a dragon? There was something here, and she felt she stood at the edge of a strange and perhaps dark current. Could he possibly be interested in the girl? She was so young and so peculiar looking. It would be very inappropriate. She spoke without thinking.

  “I’ll come along. Perhaps it is only Skymaw who is so difficult. You are right, Sedric. I should not give up so easily, especially after I gave my word to the Council. Shall we go right now?”

  He looked uncomfortable. “Perhaps later. I don’t think we should bother him while he’s eating.”

  “Actually, that might be a good opportunity,” the Rain Wild girl suggested. “It may be that while he is distracted with eating, we can look at his injuries.”

  “But I’ve heard one should never bother an animal while it is eating!” Sedric protested.

  “Ordinary animals, perhaps,” Thymara agreed. “But the silver is a dragon. And while he looks very stupid, perhaps there is a kernel of intelligence there. If I’m going to help care for him on the upriver journey, the sooner I get to know something of him, the better.”

  “Let’s go then,” Alise agreed.

  “Of course,” Sedric replied weakly.

  Day the 6th of the Grain Moon

  Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders

  From Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug

  To Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown

  A copy of the contract between the Rain Wild Council of Cassarick and Captain Leftrin of the liveship tarman, including a binder concerning Alise Kincarron Finbok, Dragon Scholar of Bingtown, with the suggestion that a copy of this document be retained in the Council Records for Alise Kincarron Finbok. A detailed accounting of the expenses involved will follow.

  Erek,

  In my official capacity of Bird Keeper for Trehaug I am relieved to tell you that the exceptionally ugly bird that was vomiting on itself after eating its own droppings has apparently cured itself. There is no danger of the contagion spreading to either of our flocks. Sa’s mercy on us all!

  Detozi

  Chapter Fourteen

  Scales

  Sintara shouldered her way past Veras and seized the swamp-deer carcass the green had been
eyeing. The smaller female hissed around the meat that she gripped and made a half-hearted swipe at her. Sintara ignored her. She would not waste time fighting while there was food to be had. The meat that was being dumped from the relay of barrows was the most she had seen in months. All the dragons had converged on it, forming a half circle of large, hungry creatures. She didn’t intend to stop eating until every last bit of it was gone. Then she would nap in the sun and digest. Let the humans flutter and squawk that it was time to leave; she’d leave when she was ready and not before.

  She was surrounded by the sounds of feeding dragons. Bones crunched, meat tore, and dragons grunted as they raced to consume the most food. The larger dragons had pushed into the central area and claimed the largest pieces. The smaller dragons, shouldered to one side, had to be content with birds, fish, and even rabbits.

  It was when she tossed her head back to gulp down the front quarter of the swamp deer that she noticed the cluster of humans around one of the other dragons. The dragon, a malformed silver, was trying to eat. He was ignoring the humans who had seized his tail and drawn it out to its unimpressive length. Apparently he was so hungry that nothing could distract him from his meal. Sintara would have dismissed the sight for a very similar reason if she had not noticed that two of the humans fussing over him belonged to her.

  She swallowed and then gave a low rumble of displeasure. She considered interfering, but decided to continue feeding while she thought about it.

  To her surprise, she had begun to enjoy the humans’ attention. It was flattering to have attendants, even if they were merely humans. They were so ignorant. They did not know how to praise her properly and had not brought her any gifts, but the younger one was acquiring some grooming skills. Last night Sintara had slept deeply, not waking even once to claw bloodsucking parasites from her nostrils and ears. The girl had brought her a fish, too, a large fish and fresh. And the Bingtown woman was at least attempting to address her with proper respect and flattery. Dragons, she reflected, were not so foolish as to be swayed by flattery, but it was pleasant to listen to compliments and endearments, and they did indicate that the human was adopting the proper deference.