Of Dragon Warrens and Other Traps

by Shannon McGee

  The orange silk robes of the speaker were finer than our clothes but not so fine as Lady Famai’s, marking her as wealthy, though not necessarily of a high caste. She had ebony skin stained with rouge and dark dreadlocks bound back into a tail at the crown of her head. She sipped her chai delicately, avoiding the surprised looks her story had garnered.

  Harold guffawed, showing a missing molar in the back of his mouth. “All right. So, if she’s so in love with her lord husband, why ain’t she back at his fief bearing him a son? Eh?”

  It was another woman who responded. “I heard from her servants that her husband, Ralph of Westpoint in Donegal— it is of Westpoint right?” The first woman to whom she had posed the question nodded. “He has business in our capital. While he’s there, he has gifted her a year to explore her new freedom. She is trusted with full use of his purse and complete discretion as to where she goes. Only a set of guards and her ladies accompany her. They are to meet again in Donegal, and there they’ll start their family.” She gazed wistfully into her coffee. “Can you imagine?”

  We couldn’t. Mercenaries and merchants had leave to travel wherever we wanted, whenever, but we didn’t have the luxury of endless funds.

  I wondered if any of those stories were true. I hoped so. With my hand loosely overlapping Aella’s on the table, as it was, I wanted to believe in grand romance. I sighed. If growing up in Nophgrin taught me anything, it was that people talked quickly, and not always about what they knew.

  When breakfast finished, Aella and Lucas made plans to go back into town, but I decided against it. It was too tempting to spend money when I was there. Instead I set myself to work with a surprise for Aella. The servants had cleaned our clothing and returned them to our rooms. I planned to do the mending of a few tears her clothes had sustained on the ride in. Unfortunately, her cuisse was beyond my abilities. It would need to be properly fixed or replaced.

  I ruminated as I worked. It seemed impossible that almost a year had passed since I had last seen the wintery peaks of the mountains, and there was no time in the foreseeable future where I would be able to return.

  Though at night the desert was cold, the heat during the day was so intense it felt as though I’d never be cool again. Even now I was just about sweating through my tunic. It made me long for the deep chill of swimming in the river in early summer, or the thick early morning fog that made me feel as though I’d walked through clouds. I poked my thin needle through the cloth of a pair of breeches only to have it jab the flesh on the other side. I winced, sticking my finger in my mouth.

  One good thing about getting paid for two warrens of dragons instead of one was that if I had calculated right, I could pay my dues to the guild and still have money to spare, if I was careful. I would be able to pay to have my gear and Aella’s mended professionally. I’d never gone wanting in Nophgrin, but nor had I ever had so much money at my fingertips or such a call to spend it.

  Aella was rough on her clothes, and I had a few things of my own that needed stitched before they got worse. As such, the mending took the better part of the morning. By the time Aella had returned from the market, I had stowed our clothing back in with the rest of our gear.

  “Want to go for a ride down by the river?” Aella asked as she stuck her head in.

  “Right now?”

  “Yeah, Lucas and I are going. So are Ito and Belinda.”

  “Sure. Let me get myself together.”

  If it had been Tess or Harold, I would have said no. Harold reminded me too much of home—of Daniel, the pig farmer. He and Tess were always making jokes that were more mean than funny, and if I ever complained, they called me a sheltered baby and laughed harder.

  Ito and Belinda were all right though. If I had seen the two of them on their own in Nophgrin, I would have never suspected they were mercenaries. Belinda even tended to wear proper skirts or wide-legged breeches that could pass as skirts when she wasn’t on a job.

  The whole road south they had taken time to show me different local plants and explain their uses to me. Michael used to explain new things to me in much the same way. Their earnest appreciation for what they were teaching made me excited to learn. I never used to have to worry about seeking out knowledge when Michael was around because he would bring it to me. These days, I sometimes worried that my learning had gone stagnant, and Ito and Belinda helped in that respect.

  Learning about magic was much different than learning about different pieces of history, but I still liked it. Though magic scared me since my brother’s demise, I appreciated their tendency toward explaining how different bits of every day magic was performed. In some ways, listening to them dissect it made it less frightening.

  The two of them were already mounted when Aella and I made our way to the stable. Ito, whose ancestors hailed from South Elyria and across the Ocean of Sadai, had many features similar to Dai. However, where Dai had brown eyes and whipcord muscles, Ito was gangly, and his eyes were dark green. In the right light, his hair also had more red in it. A childish part of me thought maybe the fire of his magic colored it.

  Belinda, only ten years my senior, was classically pretty, with plump lips and hair that started dark at the roots and faded at the ends from sun exposure. She had spent most of her early years in relative luxury as a servant in the capital. She had only come to the mercenary life recently, so she had had less time to be beaten down by life on the road. Her years with Twelfth Company had also yet to rid her of the curviness a half a decade in court had granted her. It helped that being a healer meant she stayed out of most frays. I didn’t know the specifics of who she had served in the capital, only that she had to leave in a hurry.

  Belinda smiled when she saw me. “We know you youngsters prefer to ride on your own, but it is so nice out today that when Aella politely offered, we couldn’t bring ourselves to turn her down.”

  “You’re not that much older than us!” I protested at the same time Aella said,

  “I wasn’t just being polite!”

  She smiled at both of us. “Very well, you weren’t just being polite, and I’m not old. However, I am experienced enough to tell you that the river we are going to is an amazing place. There are so many animals there that you won’t see anywhere else.”

  “Like what?” I asked, mounting Cinnamon, who was more than eager to leave her stall.

  “There are egrets—white birds with long necks.”

  “Like geese,” I said helpfully.

  Lucas chuckled. “Not half so mean as geese. More elegant. Tall.”

  Ito nodded. “Then there are crocodiles. Scholars believe they were one of the pieces to creating drakes. They get almost as big.”

  Aella saw my look. “They never come after humans,” she hurried to say. “Leastwise, not unless you’re cattle-brained enough to go swimming next to them. Mostly they just lie around.”

  “I’m hoping to see some otters.” Belinda said, as we entered the sunlight. “They’re giant rodents, as big as dogs. We didn’t have a chance to see any last year, and some people in the market claim to have spotted them in the past week. They’re funny creatures. They squeak.”

  Squeaking or no, a rodent the size of a dog sounded terrible to me, but I didn’t say so. The three of them continued to discuss river animals, but as we made our way out of town, my attention had turned ahead of us. Outside the southern gates the farm fields stretched as far as the eye could see. A complex system of irrigation spanned the length and width of the greenery.

  “Aqueducts,” Ito intoned, kneeing his mount to ride abreast with me. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? All of this, in the middle of a desert, and it doesn’t require even a touch of magic.”

  “It is magic. To grow such lush crops in a place like this,” I murmured.

  He chuckled. “Perhaps that is so.”

  Workers toiled in most of the rows we passed. They carried giant woven baskets, into which they tossed fruits and vegetables. They wiped sweat from their brows and watched us
as we went by them. They were curious and wary of strangers amidst their livelihood.

  A thin breeze slipped through the slight material of my new tunic and buffeted my hair. It smelled of the river, and I breathed deep.

  The Lorus was ahead of us, and it was huge—as wide as Lake Forklahke and stretching endlessly in both directions. I saw more clearly now the sailboats we had caught glimpses of on the road. They skimmed over the smooth water, as fisherman brought in baskets and nets of fish. On the shore, some children chased brilliantly white birds, and others played in the hot sand. When I realized the logs, only a few yards away from them were not logs at all, I yelped.

  “Those!” I pointed. “Are they drakes?”

  Ito looked to where my finger shakily directed. “Crocodiles. The children see them. You see how they never get any closer to the water?”

  “Where are their parents?”

  “Out on the water,” Belinda said, her voice chiding. “Did your parents not take you to the field when you were young and let you run around it?”

  “Yes…” I hedged.

  “I’m sure a wolf could have gobbled you up just as easily.” I could tell by the way her eyes were creased and by her tone that she was teasing me.

  Embarrassed, but unable to let it go, I pressed, “Wolves are afraid of people. These things bask in the sun as though they are a part of the community.”

  “So, maybe they are,” Aella said. “They were here first, and they’re just lying there, trying to decide if they want to go fishing too, maybe. Look.”

  I did look, and I laughed, startled. More than a few egrets, displaced by the children, had gone to land on and around the crocodiles. “Do they feel safer with crocodiles than little babies?”

  “Can’t blame them. Have you ever held one of those things? They cry, they scream, and they bite. No thank you,” Lucas deadpanned, and we all smiled.

  The road led past the children, affording us a closer look at the crocodiles. Certainly, they bore an even stronger resemblance to the drakes than the spiny desert lizards. Their hides were dark green and gray, and they had spiny ridges over yellow eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. These were animals, not monsters. Indolent, and while probably clever enough, they were not intelligent. Not like a dragon. I relaxed a little more in my saddle.

  We saw no sign of the river otters Belinda and Ito had been hoping for. Perhaps they were hiding in the wispy papyrus reeds or paddling under the water. Perhaps the noise of the children or the presence of the crocodiles had frightened them off entirely.

  In the end, we pulled off the path in a spot clear of crocodiles or other people. At our backs was a plot of sugarcanes. As the workers hacked at the stalks, they released a musky sweet smell that enveloped us under the shade of two date palms.

  To my disappointment, the trees were bare of fruit, but Lucas and Aella had bought a few dates and a dish of ground beef, rice, and chickpeas on our way through town. The meat dish was cleverly contained in a reed basket with a lid that could be fastened shut. Stacked and tied to the top were enough reed bowls for all of us to use. We ate with our fingers, not minding the mess as we watched the busy river. Together we relaxed, soaking up the warmth of the sun in quiet companionship. I leaned back against Aella, and she stroked my shoulder as I listened to the rumble of her occasional comments in her chest.

  When I heard hooves behind us, I couldn’t be bothered to look. My eyes had drifted shut, and I was listening to the gentle sound of water lapping at the shore—something I hadn’t even realized I had missed. Ito was paying attention. When he cleared his throat, I cracked a lid in time to see him nudge Belinda. Still, only when I heard the familiar honeyed voice of Lady Famai did I straighten to give the newcomers my full attention.

  “Aella! That is your name, right? I thought it was you. Tahmahn bless me. You make such a serious picture here!” She laughed gaily, fanning herself.

  The goddess she had named was an eastern one; a being who was typically associated with new growth—butterflies, ivy and the like. Like a butterfly herself, Lady Famai was draped in another extravagant gown. This one was made of goldenrod yellow silks and sheer veils in a vibrant purple. Unlike the dress from the day before, the materials of her clothing today were so thin that they floated around her as she rode. From over the top of her face veil, her kohl rimmed eyes twinkled merrily.

  Lucas stared at her unabashedly, his mouth agape. I couldn’t blame him. Lady Famai, with her poise and comely features, was really closer to a goddess than a butterfly. Her companions… I swallowed, casting my gaze to the dirt to hide my surprise. They were the mages from town.

  Good thing I didn’t bet Aella, I thought.

  Aella smiled up at Lady Famai. Though she must have recognized the mages, she didn’t spare them even a glance. “Normally you’d have the right of me. However, you must trust me, my lady, there is nothing serious about us in this moment.” As she spoke, she carefully drew herself away from me.

  Ito, who had not met the lady, rose. We hastily followed his example. He bowed, and we did the same. “My lady, I have not had the pleasure.”

  “Oh, do not do all that.” Carelessly she waved her carved wooden fan. It had been soaked in sweet scented oils that drifted down to us. “My name is Mai. This is Gabriel.” The fan shut as she whipped it to the left. “And Anya.” The fan whipped to the right. Its quick movements were a sharp counterpoint to her relaxed tone. She snapped it back to center before spreading it and cooling herself with it again.

  Both Anya and Gabriel nodded to us. Though they didn’t speak, they met each of our eyes in turn. Meeting their stony gazes made my head swim from nerves which I could not understand, because I could see no reason to be nervous. I could place nothing about them that was dangerous. They did not even carry daggers, as far as I could tell.

  Both of them were solidly built, neither muscular nor heavyset. Anya, seated on a dainty brown mare, was a square jawed woman, older than the lady whom she served by a decade, if I had to guess. Her sable and slate hair was slicked smoothly back and tucked under a black lace veil, only the first inch or so showing. Her lips, naturally rose-colored and thin, were shaped in a substanceless smile.

  Her companion, Gabriel, was a bald and clean-shaven man of similar age to her. He had a distinctive hooked nose, hooded eyes, and an angular set of jaw bones that sloped to a perfectly pointed chin. His mount was tan and white and looked almost washed out next to the other horses, as though it might easily blend into the sand. It was a type I had seen only twice before. Once on the way to Forklahke and then again in the desert on our way to Dabsqin. What had Aella called this coloration? The word came to me with only a little difficulty—palomino. Like the other mage, Gabriel wore the same clothing as I had previously seen him in and a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  As I took stock of the mages, Ito continued to speak for the rest of us. “My name is Ito. I am a mage for Twelfth Company, in which Aella is employed. Is there anyone else here who I might introduce you to?”

  “I have had the chance to learn all the ladies’ names in your fine little group, but I have not had the pleasure of your name, young man.” An elegant gesture with the fan indicated Luke.

  Luke stepped slightly forward to bow again. “Lucas of Twelfth Company, my lady.”

  “Mai,” Lady Famai said firmly.

  “Lady Mai,” Lucas returned amicably as he straightened. Lady Famai chuckled.

  “I suppose that will have to do until we are better acquainted. I had meant to take a whole meal with your company before this, but I have been so tiresomely busy with appointments. In fact,” she glanced at her riding companions, likely the guards we had heard about at breakfast, “let us stop here. We may let the horses rest. Sharing our lunch with these nice people would be lovely. Do you not think so?” It was worded like a request, but somehow, I knew it wasn’t one.

  Gabriel responded to it anyway, his voice pleasantly low and gravelly. “Yes, my lady. That wo
uld be most pleasurable.”

  The three of them dismounted. The servant, who rode one horse length behind them, did so as well. He was cloaked from head to toe—more covered than either of the mages—so it was impossible to see his face. He scurried ahead of them to spread an intricately patterned rug across the sandy ground and then began to arrange a basket, as well as the plates and cutlery contained within it.

  Lady Famai ignored him. Well, that wasn’t true. If she were ignoring him, I would have expected her to make allowances for his presence. This servant might as well not have been there at all. She smiled through him as she continued to address us. When she moved toward the rug, she walked as though he was not in her way. For his part, the servant deftly shifted his preparations out of her path, and he did it so quickly that she did not even need to pause.

  “It is such a delight to meet you all here. I heard about your dreadful run-in with those nasty beasts down in the sewers. I just thought— oh how awful.” She said this as though we had stumbled upon the drakes by accident, though of course she would know our express purpose was hunting drakes. Just as she wouldn’t know that the drakes we had found had been a surprise.

  We waited for her to sit before taking our own places on the blanket. The servant moved away to stand at attention, out of easy listening distance but close enough to see if he was needed. Though I supposed it was rude, I was glad he wasn’t sitting with us. He had stared at me oddly, even as he set up his lady’s items. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have called the look in his pale eyes triumph. There was no reason for that though, and I forced myself to dismiss the thought.