by Robin Hobb
“No. Thank you. ” Quietly she added, “I think I just want to work for a while. ”
Sedric cleared his throat, forced the difficult words out. “I’m changing, too. ”
A silence. Then Sylve said delicately, “Yes, we noticed. ”
He phrased his next statement a dozen ways before he found one that avoided the issue of blood and how he had tasted it. “Sometimes I’m afraid that Relpda doesn’t know how to control the changes. ”
“I think we’re all a bit afraid of that,” Sylve commiserated. And he could think of no response.
Thymara’s paddle dug in, pushing them out into the river. They moved on, battling the slow current.
Day the 9th of the Gold Moon
Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders
From Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown
To Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug
Contents: a legally registered notice from Hest Finbok, to the merchants, inns, and suppliers of Trehaug and Cassarick, to be duplicated and distributed freely. Please be advised that as of the first day of the Gold Moon, Hest Finbok will not be responsible for any debts incurred by either Sedric Meldar or Alise Kincarron.
Detozi,
The swift pigeons arrived a full day and a half before the regular carriers. As the weather was both rainy with the wind against them, I am even more impressed with their speed. Clearly, the breeding program is working, and working well. I shall sit down and try to work out a system of bands for the birds that we can use to establish which of them are fastest, so that we may breed more accurately for this trait.
Erek
Day the 10th of the Gold Moon
Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders
From Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown
To Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug
Enclosed, a notice from Trader family Meldar and Trader family Kincarron, offering a substantial reward for any information as to the location and well-being of Sedric Meldar and Alise Kincarron Finbok. To be duplicated and distributed freely, and a copy sent on swiftly to the Keeper of the Birds, Cassarick, all fees having been paid in advance for such service.
Detozi,
You are not alone in wishing that you could make a journey between our cities as swiftly as our pigeons do. I have puzzled for several hours over the markings I could use to designate swiftness of flight on the birds I wish to band. Somehow I am sure that if we could but spend an afternoon together, we could devise such a marking system. I have been curious as to how you manage your coops and flocks in such a dangerous place as the Rain Wilds. I think it would be in the best interests of all the bird keepers if I could take time to come for a visit to study your flock management. As soon as Reyall is able to return to handle my duties in my absence, I intend to apply for such a leave, if a visit from me would not be too great an inconvenience to you.
Erek
Day the 12th of the Gold Moon
Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders
From Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown
To Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug
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From Sophie Meldar Roxon, in the enclosed message, a letter of credit for the use of Sedric Meldar or Alise Kincarron, as they may have need. To be held for them at the Traders’ Concourse in Trehaug, with a notice of it sent on to the Traders’ Concourse in Cassarick.
Detozi,
I am very worried that perhaps I sounded too forward in my last small note to you. I only meant that I know we share a great interest in our birds, and that a conference between us might greatly benefit both our flocks. Such a meeting would only occur, of course, at your convenience and if you are so inclined.
Erek
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
REEDS
As evening closed in, the river still had no discernible banks. Leftrin stood on the bow of the barge, looking out over the wide spread of water before him. To the left and to the right, tall reeds and unnaturally thick cattails bounded the open channel that remained. The shallow channel itself was only about three times as wide as the barge itself. The dragons trudged slowly before them in a disconsolate bunch. Nothing even approaching solid land was in sight. Likely it would be their second night of standing in water all night. Dark was coming on. A single bright star already showed in the deepening blue of the sky. Soon the hunters and keepers would be bringing their boats back to the barge to reboard for the night. It felt strange to be on such flat water, on the deck of Tarman, and to have such a wide open sky overhead. The forested horizons were a distant circle surrounding his boat. A wide margin of vegetation-choked shallow water walled him off from them. Overhead, flocks of waterfowl and small birds were wheeling and coming down to settle for the night. The waterfowl coasted in to land in sprays of water. The small birds found perches in the tassels and seedheads of the water plants. Small fish, frogs, and something that looked like swimming lizards were plentiful in the shallows. The dragons did not enjoy the effort of feeding on such small life-forms, but at least they were not going hungry. Yesterday, they had encountered an immense flock of long-legged wading birds. They were at least as tall as a man, and heavy-bodied. Their plumage had been stunningly brilliant, in every shade of blue. He’d only had a short time to marvel at them before the dragons charged them. Most of the birds fled, almost running on top of the water in their haste to take flight. The rest had become dragon fodder. He’d had Davvie pluck a few of the floating feathers from the water for Alise to record and collect. Life here was plentiful on this river, and in varieties that Leftrin had never seen or imagined.
“At least this is fresh water, with no acid. ” Alise spoke as she approached him. “There’s that small mercy to be grateful for. Still, the dragons aren’t going to be happy about standing in water all night. ” She came to stand beside him, and he watched her place her hands lightly on the bow railing. How long had she been doing that, he wondered, but did not ask her. Tarman accepted her touch, even acknowledged her. She smoothed her hand along the railing the same way she stroked Grigsby when the ship’s cat honored her by leaping into her lap. It was a fingertip stroke, an awareness that he belonged to himself, and she was allowed to touch him but never own him.
Yes. That described Tarman for as long as Leftrin had known him, and even more since his modification. There was a stubborn streak to the ship that was familiar but more intense since they had entered the freshwater tributary. He sensed a certainty in his ship that neither the keepers nor the dragons shared. It pervaded his dreams at night; it was the only thing that let him rise and face each day with optimism.
Alise set her hand upon his.
Well, perhaps not the only thing. For how could any man feel discouragement when every night a woman engulfed him in tenderness and sensuality? She woke in him appetites he had not known he had, and she sated them as well. He had been more surprised than she had at how quickly the crew and keepers accepted their new arrangement. He had expected difficulties with Sedric at least, for although Alise nominally kept her separate quarters, she openly came and went from his stateroom without apologies or explanations. When Sedric’s silence on the matter had extended to two and then three days, he had asked Alise if she thought he had best directly tackle the subject with him.
“He knows,” she said bluntly. “He doesn’t approve. He thinks you are taking advantage of me and that I will one day greatly regret the trust I’ve put in you. ” Her eyes scanned his as she said this, as if she were trying to read his very soul. “I thought about that for a time. And I decided that if you were deceiving me, at least this is a deception that I have chosen. ” A strange little smile knotted her mouth. “And it is a deception that I will enjoy however long it lasts. ”
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He’d folded her into his arms then. “It’s not a deception,” he promised her. “And what we have will last. Perhaps some
days you will be disappointed by me; perhaps eventually you’ll tire of me and seek someone cleverer or wealthier. But for now, sweet summer lady, I plan to enjoy my days with you wholeheartedly. ” They had been standing in his stateroom, face-to-face, as they spoke. And on his final words, he stooped and picked her up and deposited her on his bed. She gave a whoop of surprise as he scooped her off her feet, and then, as she landed safely on the bed, she had given a throaty chuckle that sent a flush of pleasure through him. There was a bit of the bawd in this Bingtown lady, he was discovering to his delight. He suspected that discovery was new to Alise also.
Now, as they stood and looked out over the water, quiet stretched out around them. When she finally spoke, she asked her question gently. “Are you sure Tarman was correct when he brought us this way?”
He lifted his hand from the railing, catching hers as he did so. The ship was irritable enough without him doubting it. “I’m as certain as he is,” he said. More quietly he added, “What else do we have to go on, Alise? If the dragons had felt strongly that it was in the other direction, I think they would have objected. ”
“I just thought, well, it appeared to be more of a navigable waterway. And so I thought it likely that a large city, such as Kelsingra must have been, would be built on a navigable waterway. ”
“That would make sense. ” That idea had occurred to him, more than once. He consoled her as he did himself. “But everything has changed since the days of the Elderlings. This might have been a deep lake then. Or perhaps a lazy river wandered through low banks of farmland. We can’t know. Trusting Tarman makes just as much sense as ignoring him and going the other way. ”
“So. We have an even chance of being right and finding Kelsingra. ”
He scratched at his beard. “As even as any other chance. Alise, we might have passed its sunken ruins days ago. Or the tributary that led there might have silted in and grown up as forest a hundred years ago. We don’t know. Do you want to give up and go back?”
She thought for a long time. “I don’t want to go back ever,” she said quietly.
“Then we go on,” he said. He squinted. “Look at that, over there. Something wrong with that patch of reeds?”
She leaned past him, pressing against his arm to do so. Boyish and silly to enjoy that so thoroughly, but he did. Then she shocked him by gripping the railing and saying, “Tarman, we need to go over there and see what that is! Right away!”
He didn’t know whether to laugh aloud or feel affronted when he felt his ship heel over to obey her.
“It’s a perfect rectangle. And look over there. Another, smaller one. ” Despite her efforts to be calm, Alise was grinning insanely and her voice shook. She leaned so far over the edge of the small boat as she peered down through the water that Leftrin leaned over to grip the back of her shirt. “I won’t fall in,” she responded to his touch, but did not straighten up.
“DO YOU THINK they’re roofs of sunken buildings?”
“That could be, I suppose, but they’re flat and from the tapestries and preserved images from Elderling times, I know they seldom built plain, flat-roofed structures. Some cities, such as the sunken one at Trehaug, were more like interconnected warrens rather than the freestanding buildings that we create in our cities. One of the difficulties in excavating Cassarick is that the structures are not all connected as they were at Trehaug. Why they built one way in one place and differently in another is something we don’t know. ” Alise lifted her eyes and scanned the shallows. Plant life was thick on the surface of the river. The flat leaves of lilies barely moved in the sluggish current here, and ranks of reeds lifted tasseled heads. At the oars, Leftrin held the small boat in position over a perfect rectangle of shorter rushes. The uniformly stunted square of plant life was unmistakably unnatural. She eyed the shallow water beneath the boat and announced, “I’m getting out. ”
“Alise!” Sedric objected before Leftrin could, but she was already pulling off her shoes and rolling up her ragged trousers.
“It’s clean water, remember? And so shallow here that not even reeds can take root and grow tall. That’s what first attracted Leftrin’s attention. Don’t worry so much. ” She clambered out and was pleased that she hardly tipped the boat. Nonetheless she landed with a splash that flung water up to her thighs. Her feet sank into the muddy bottom.
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“What about leeches? And rasp snakes?”
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated, but wished Sedric hadn’t mentioned them. She wasn’t sure why he’d insisted on coming along in the small boat to explore the square of uniformly short reeds. She gritted her teeth and then scraped her bare foot, trying to discover what was beneath the mud. Sediment spun up to obscure her view. She rolled up her sleeves and reached in with both hands. The water over the sunken structure was shallow, barely knee-deep. But reaching to the bottom with her hands still meant nearly putting her face in the water. She dug at the mud and matted roots, and then ran her fingertips over what she’d exposed. Then she straightened up, dripping and grinning. “Mortar and stone. And the stone feels regular, as if it were cut and shaped and then put together. ”
“So what is it? What have we found?”
When Leftrin had halted the Tarman and then ventured out in the small boat to investigate the patch of reeds, the dragons had paused and then come back to watch the humans. Now Mercor and two of the other dragons lumbered up to investigate for themselves. Mercor lifted a foot, tested his weight on the concealed surface, and then surged up out of the water to stand beside Alise. “Be careful!” she cried, alarmed. “It may give way. ”
“It won’t,” he said shortly. “It was made to take a dragon’s weight. ” He paced to the edge, turned, and then came back. “Somewhere here,” he said, and then, “Ah. Here. ”
He hooked his claws into something, tugged, then grunted, “It’s stuck. ”
“What is?” Alise demanded, and “What are you doing?” Leftrin demanded just as the dragon, with a roar of effort, pulled on something under the water.
The result was immediate. Alise gave a cry of fear as the mud and water under her feet suddenly warmed. A bluish light suffused the sunken rectangle unevenly, making the water clear as glass in some places but in others was blocked completely by straggling roots. Alise splashed hastily back toward the small boat as the water swiftly warmed around her. She seized the edge of it, and Leftrin, with no regard for her dignity, reached over the side and clutched her shirt collar and the waist of her trousers to haul her in. “Back away from it!” he shouted to Sedric, and the two men employed their paddles to move the boat away from the glowing and humming rectangle.
“Mercor, Mercor, be careful!” Alise shouted at him. But the dragon calmly lay down in the water. Ranculos and Sestican had already ventured to join him there, and the other dragons were moving slowly toward them.
Mercor stretched and spoke as if in a dream. “They’re not supposed to be underwater. Once, they stood on the grounds of some of the finest lakeside cottages. They were built for dragons, to welcome them when they chose to visit here. On cool evenings or rainy days, they made a warm and comfortable place for a dragon to stretch out. ”
“Guest beds for dragons,” Alise said faintly.
“Um. You might call them that. Delightfully warm. Even now, the heat feels good. ”
As Alise watched, Sestican lay down in the water. He heaved a sigh and stretched out. Around the dragons, the water had begun to shimmer with heat. Kalo clambered up onto the rectangle and found just enough space to join them. The other dragons drew closer, staring enviously and leaning as close to the warmth as they could. Streams of bubbles began to rise and break at the surface.
“Does this mean you know where we are? Are we close to Kelsingra? Was this place a part of it?” Alise shouted her questions to the blissful dragons.
Beside her, Sedric yawned suddenly. “You’ll get no sense out of them
,” he said quietly. “The warmth is something they’ve been craving for a long time. They’re nearly stupefied with it. ”
And indeed, they reminded Alise of cows more than dragons as they crowded together, leaning against one another. Even Sedric had begun to breathe more slowly and deeply. Alise stared at him in horrified fascination. His eyes were beginning to droop closed.
“What’s the matter—” Leftrin began, but she placed a restraining hand on his arm. She leaned closer to Sedric. “Does Relpda remember this place?”
He sighed. “There were lots of places like this. Elderlings wanted to welcome the dragons. They competed for dragon favor, and to get the attention of the most powerful ones, wealthy Elderlings spared no efforts in accommodating their large guests. ”
“So there were many of these dragon beds?”
It took longer for him to respond. “Not in the city. Kelsingra had an entire plaza that remained warm. But at the country homes of wealthy Elderlings, or at the dwelling places of Elderlings who lived on the northern islands or even farther north, there would be places for dragons to be comfortable. ” He opened his eyes and tried to focus them. He took a deeper breath, and his voice changed slightly as he seemed to come back to them. “At Trehaug, there were chambers with glassed-in ceilings, places large enough for dragons to enter. They were kept warm for them when they visited. The Elderlings grew beautiful plants in them and had fountains. ”
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“That makes sense,” Alise said quietly, recalling what she had heard of an excavated room called the Crowned Rooster Chamber. “The place where Tintaglia hatched was a chamber with large doors and heavy glass panels. It would have admitted sunlight year-round, but been a shelter from the rains of winter. It has been speculated that there was a great earthquake or other disaster, and some of the dragon cases were dragged into the chamber for protection. Instead, when the city was buried, the dragons were interred with it. ”
“So. ” Leftrin’s brow was furrowed. “What do we have here? The buried remains of a city? Kelsingra?”
“No. ” She was decisive. A thrill shot through her. She knew, really knew what this was. “The platform the dragons are warming themselves on is below water level, but I think it’s plain that the water rose to cover it. And it isn’t covered deeply at all. If we anchored here and searched, I daresay we’d find other signs of Elderling habitation—the remains of old stone foundations, and perhaps more dragon-warming spots. But this wasn’t a city. Kelsingra was a place of many palatial stone buildings, fountains, courtyards, towers. If this were Kelsingra, or even the outskirts of it, we’d see the remains of those building still, for the dragon-warming spot is scarcely covered at all. No, Leftrin, we are at the site of an Elderling habitation, but not Kelsingra. Sedric! Wake up. We need to take measurements and make notes. Before the light is gone, we need to survey as much of the area as we can. ”
