Theft of Dragons (Princes of Naverstrom)

by John Forrester

  After several days of worrying about Mara's condition, with no reports from Father or Mother, and Lady Malvia's refusal to allow him access to see Mara, Talis thought of a way to find out how she was doing. That afternoon he slunk behind a tree near the side gate to Mara's mansion, waiting for the healer, Belesia. She usually ran errands in town around this time, and around twilight, the wooden door creaked open, and Belesia stepped out onto the cobblestone street. She wrapped her shawl over her shoulders and strode down towards town. Talis followed her from a distance, past the royal mansions, past the merchant's houses, past the upper markets and their sweet smells of bread and cakes and ale, until they reached the dingy lower part of the city.

  All Talis could think about along the way was whether Mara was all right. Would Belesia be under orders forbidding her to tell him anything? But he couldn't believe that, the healer always did what she wanted, valuing the gods and friendship more than anything else. She was a friend, wasn't she?

  When they entered Fiskar's market, Belesia stopped at a stall where a man with a twenty-pound tumor in his neck sold mushrooms. Belesia haggled with the man for a long while, clucking disapprovingly at the price, then finally handed him a few coins and clutched the bag under her arm and left.

  Talis seized the opportunity and jogged up to her. Belesia turned her head, as if knowing he was there. "I'm surprised you didn't follow me sooner."

  "I tried to respect the wishes of House Lei." He didn't want to get in more trouble than he already was.

  "People say things they don't mean when they are angry." Belesia took his hands. Her skin felt warm and leathery. "Your friend is close to recovery."

  "She is?" Talis couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. He felt the tension go out of his shoulders, as if he'd released a heavy pack. "And is Lady Malvia still upset at me?"

  Belesia rubbed her hands together. "Time heals foolish actions...and your father knows the right words to sooth Lady Malvia's fire. You may not know it, but they were once close friends like you and Mara. That is until Lady Malvia decided to marry your father's old enemy, Viceroy Lei."

  Father and Lady Malvia? "I didn't know...Father talks little of the past, save for talk of Xhan."

  With that, Belesia came close and placed a hand on Talis's cheek. "The living sometimes suffer more than the dead. Give your father tenderness. His heart still bleeds."

  She turned and strolled away, her words still lingering in his heart. Talis pictured Father's face after the news of Xhan's death had reached him. He had suffered and Talis realized he hadn't been there to comfort his father when he needed it. Maybe there was more he could do.

  A laughing couple tramped by and the girl bumped into Talis. She bowed her head in apology and giggled as they strode off. Talis glanced around at the merchant stalls, thinking of Mara again, and decided he should find a gift for her. A gift to make her eyes sparkle.

  The air in Fiskar's Market smelled of roasted venison, pork, chicken, and sweet pies from the baker's oven. He sauntered around, scanning the vendors hawking their goods: sacred charms, shrunken heads, colorful jewelry studded with precious stones, Orbs of the Sun and Eyes of Death, and prayer beads sold by gold-toothed monks. Greed in their eyes. Why did monks seem more interested in coin than in meditation to the gods? Fiskar was long dead, but the name stuck. He was smart enough to set up business and sell in front of Shade's Gate and next to the Temple of Nyx, the God of War.

  Talis discovered a merchant who claimed to have recently purchased amber feathers with white flecks, plucked from a rare bird found along the Southern coast of Galhedrin. Whenever he pictured the southern seas he imagined adventure and sultry nights, swordplay and pirate ships ravaging towns along rocky shores. How he longed to explore beyond Naru. But Talis knew this was impossible, he was too young to ever be allowed in Father's trading caravans. Especially after Xhan's death.

  Yes, a feather would be a perfect gift. Mara was crazy about collecting feathers. She loved to adorn her hunting hats with immaculate feathers from all over the world. But these were new, he'd never seen such brilliant feathers. So he bought a particularly beautiful feather for her using money saved from pelts he'd sold from hunting in the swamplands. A small fortune.

  Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Nikulo, a boy he knew from the Order of the Dawn, where they both studied magic. Nikulo learned the healing arts. Didn't he worship the Goddess Tolexia? Talis thought of Mara's injury. Perhaps Nikulo could help him win favor from the Goddess. Not that Nikulo was likely to help him. Talis focused on elemental magic at the Order of the Dawn, although his success was limited to magic done in training dreams. And lately those had always turned into nightmares. The eyes of Nyx, the moans of the Underworld, his brother's face suffering. Talis had never managed to produce magic like the other apprentices and felt very frustrated at his many failed attempts.

  Nikulo scanned stalls off in the back corner of the market, and stopped to buy something from a merchant Talis was sure sold poison and other black arts supplies. As if afraid of being seen, Nikulo glanced around several times, frowned, and marched towards the stall where Talis stood.

  Talis tried to hide behind a bunch of feathers, but Nikulo stopped, and glared at him.

  "Cowering already? You know you don't have a chance of winning the Blood Dagger."

  The Blood Dagger competition. Talis thought of the sparring competition held once a year, and froze, realizing he'd forgotten all about it. Wasn't it only a few days away? With Mara injured, they'd moved the date, but Talis knew that House Lei and House Storm would never allow Talis and Mara to forfeit to the likes of Nikulo and Rikar, his sparring partner. Claiming rights to holding the Blood Dagger for a year meant far too much to the royal houses, especially since their house had lost claim to the victor's rights over the last few years.

  Nikulo's coffee-brown eyes sparkled as if he was eager to tell a new joke. He waddled close to Talis, holding a porcelain jar in one hand, and he yanked up silk pants that kept falling below his protruding belly. He scratched his curly hair and released a smoky fart, blowing the fumes in Talis's direction. Talis coughed, retreating quickly. Nikulo never should have swallowed that last potion he concocted. All his farts smelled like sulfur and spoiled onions.

  "Thanks for that, just what I needed." Talis rubbed his stinging eyes. "What are you doing slumming in Fiskar's Market? Finding more noxious ingredients for your potions?"

  Nikulo moved the jar away from Talis. "No...nothing of the sort." He frowned, and pursed his lips. "Why are you holding a feather?"

  "It's for Mara. Why are you hiding that jar?" Talis gave Nikulo a determined scowl.

  "Oh this?" Nikulo glanced around at the jar he was holding. "Just ingredients." He fidgeted, constantly glancing at Shade's Gate, the way to the upper part of the Naru where Nikulo lived.

  "Ingredients? What for? Weren't you at the poison merchant?"

  "Poison?" Nikulo coughed out an offended laugh. "Why would I want anything to do with poison? You know it's not allowed for students of the Order." Nikulo narrowed his eyes, studying him for a time, as if trying to decide if he could trust him or not. He cleared his throat and went on. "When is Mara supposed to get better? Rikar and I are getting tired of waiting to fight you guys. If you don't compete soon, the Blood Dagger will be ours."

  "You know that's not going to happen. You'll taste our blades soon enough. Are you so anxious to have your blood spilled? Mara will be better soon enough, just you see."

  Nikulo chuckled. "You're lucky that House Lei hasn't sent an assassin after you."

  Talis waved his hand as if the idea was ridiculous. "I've got to go. Be careful with that poison... Another failed alchemy experiment and you're likely to kill someone." But then again, maybe that was Nikulo's idea, poison merchant after all... Maybe he was working on something to give him favor at the Blood Dagger competition. Again Talis imagined his brother Xhan dying of poison, and grimaced, finding his hands clutched over his stomach.
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  The next morning Talis awoke in a fright to spot spindly shadows dancing across the room as the wind knocked the shutters back and forth. He hated waking this way. His cat, the yellow and white Tobias, pounced on his bed, tail jerking crazily, staring above at the amber feather he'd bought for Mara. It flipped around in the breeze, taunting Tobias torturously.

  Talis had mounted the feather on a strand of leather tied to a wooden beam that spanned across the ceiling. The cat leapt into the air, trying to swat the feather, but missed it by a few inches.

  "You little devil." Talis tried to scoop up Tobias, but the cat darted about the room as if possessed by a ghost. "You can't have Mara's feather, it's not your toy to play with... I'll get you a duck feather or something. Come on now."

  The shutters suddenly slammed opened and Talis spun around. Mara was perched on the windowsill, grinning viciously at him. Mara was here? And she looked all recovered.

  "Miss me?" She jumped inside the room and dove into his bed, then wriggled under the covers. Her hands were uncomfortably near his pants. Talis felt his face flush from the surprise of seeing her here. Tobias pounced onto the bed, leaping high into the air every time Mara moved her hands under the covers, deliberately teasing the cat. Tobias meowed, a complaining meow, and the cat stared, as if trying to figure out what was going on.

  "You're all better?" Talis went to hug her, then realized she was lying in his bed and he felt his cheeks go red in embarrassment. Mara raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice to a whisper.

  "Way to state the obvious. No"—she coughed and clenched her stomach, rolling over in bed—"I'm about to keel over and die." She laughed maniacally and pulled the blanket over her head.

  "Be serious, I thought you really might die. We were all so worried! I prayed so many times to Tolexia..."

  "You can't kill a cat that easily. Though you sure did try!"

  "Me?"

  "Just kidding!" She stretched her arms wide and wiggled her body towards him. "Somebody here is so in love with me. I bet you couldn't stop thinking about me, right?" She stopped and glanced up at the feather. "Is that for me?"

  Talis nodded, then jumped up to grab the feather.

  Mara squealed when he handed it to her. "It's gorgeous! I bet it cost a small fortune... Didn't it? It'll look great in my green hunting cap. I can't wait to wear it."

  He smiled, and braced himself as she jumped and flung herself onto him, giving him an enormous suffocating hug. She stayed there for a long, uncomfortable time and he could feel her soft breath on his neck. She whispered thank you in his ear, and slid down his body to stare up at him. From the look of beaming happiness on her face, it was worth every silver piece buying her the feather.

  She motioned towards the window. "Why aren't you offering to take me to breakfast? Can't you see I'm hungry?"

  "Whatever you want, it's my treat, thank the gods you're better." He sighed and fixing his eyes on her, nodded. "It's really good to see you, Mara."

  A blush appeared on her face, but she quickly snorted as if to avoid embarrassment. "If you want to know, I'm craving dumpling soup from Fiskar's Market. Hurry up, already." She pulled her hood over her head and scrambled out the window.