The Last Dragon 2

by LeRoy Clary

  “I wish to pay his passage.” My voice was intentionally over-friendly.

  He lifted his chin and looked down on Flier. “We have no empty cabins.”

  I fought to withhold my smile. “At least six people departed the ship here, and I saw no new passengers come aboard.”

  “Nevertheless, all the cabins are bought and paid for.” The purser had moved slightly, so his hip prevented us from advancing until the matter with Flier had been settled. The ship served only passengers, the fares considerably more than on the slower, more cramped cargo ships.

  My temper was about to flare. Before it could, Kendra stepped past me and met the cold gaze of the purser with one of her own. She said, “Then a full complement of passengers is good fortune for the ship’s balance sheet, isn’t it, sir?”

  “A full ship is always good.” His voice sounded hesitant as if expecting a trap, which showed intelligence on his part.

  Her smile grew. “I happen to know that there is an empty hammock in my brother’s cabin, so there is room for one more passenger—and without any expense to the ship, because our guest will eat our food and we will pay for any other food or drink for him. The cost to the ship is nothing. The benefit is all profit with no expense. I’m certain the captain will find a few extra coins in his bonus because of it, and perhaps we should locate him and ask his opinion.”

  The purser swallowed and stepped aside as he cleared his throat and said to change the subject, “I am asking all passengers if they know anything about a large man who traveled with us.” He turned to me. “The one you had a confrontation with at the gaming table.”

  Will answered before I could. “The man was a bully and cheat if you ask me. As soon as he departed from the gaming table, we did also, to prevent trouble if he returned. Damon and I went directly to our cabins, but I couldn’t sleep and went back on deck for some air. He was there, still cursing and drinking. Not wishing to contend with that, my bed called to me.”

  The purser nodded and said, “I heard much the same story from another passenger. We cannot seem to locate him.”

  “Do you mean he fell overboard?” Kendra asked, after a brief glance in my direction.

  The purser said in a condescending manner, “That is always a hazard when on a ship but happens most when too much wine or ale is involved. Combined with an angry temper, it is dangerous.”

  Kendra, never one to argue with, continued in her sweetest voice, the one I detested when she argued with me, “Then you may have a vacant cabin after all? If so, my brother would like to book it and move out of that stink-hole he has below decks. Should he pay you now for Flier’s passage and the upgrade?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  T he purser hemmed and hawed, but finally accepted defeat in the form of the coins Kendra offered for Flier’s passage and the upgrade in the cabin but seemed none too happy about any of it. He instructed me to remain clear of the new cabin until we sailed, and if it was still vacant, it was ours. Otherwise, we would share the small cabin below decks. More returning passengers were waiting to board, and he allowed us to pass.

  Once on board, Will quickly took his leave, intent on remaining unassociated with us.

  Kendra watched him depart. I hadn’t shared his mission with her and knew what was coming. She hissed at me from the side of her mouth, “We’ll talk more at dinner.”

  It sounded like a threat, not an invitation. Flier began apologizing for the trouble he caused, but I noticed he never once offered to leave the ship. He went to the rail and watched the city, not with regret, but the anticipation of leaving. I stood beside him. He said, “Trager was not good to me.”

  “I’ve heard mages caused many of the problems.” My statement was made with the intention of getting him to discuss what he might know.

  “There are lots of rumors. Some say mages have a hand in what’s going on. Others say it is the fault of a weak king. Who knows?”

  I decided to try another tact. “Why would anyone allow a city like this used to be to fall into shambles and die?”

  Flier turned to me, his scraggly beard tinged with a few strands of white, his eyes bloodshot, his skin dirty. Yet, there was an intensity about the man, a dichotomy unexplained. He stood before me a crippled beggar, but he hadn’t always been such. He said, “I think you’ve already touched on the reason when you asked me about the Vin Pass. It is the only gateway between Trager and Kondor. Besides, the sea, of course.”

  “Destroying Trager effectively closes Vin Pass, the back door to Vin and Dagger, and all of Kondor. I can see that, but there are still ships that sail there.” My words emerged as I leaned on the railing and let my mind wander.

  “Only as long as seaports welcome them, and warships allow their passage.”

  “Meaning?” I asked.

  “Ships require docks, piers, stevedores, cargo handlers, and ports that welcome them, as well as paying passengers. Close the docks, dismiss the workers, raise the taxes on any ships arriving so high they can’t afford to pay, and you’ve closed off an entire kingdom that only a few warships are required to enforce.”

  Flier hadn’t looked at me once as he spoke. Yet the words spilled out smoothly and without effort. He’d thought about this conversation before—or spoken with others. The ideas were not new to him, as they were to me. Impulse forced me to ask, “Dragons?”

  Now he turned. “Wyverns. There are rumors of Waystones with wyvern eggs inside. Where you find Waystones, you find mages.”

  “And sorceresses?”

  “Same as mages, but they are not always as obvious. They tend to stay in the background and use their powers of suggestion to obstruct those opposed to mages.”

  Again, his answer surprised me. Not only because of the content but the manner of his speech. Flier looked the part of a crippled beggar but sometimes spoke as if educated and observant. For the moment, I decided to allow the subject to drop. His comment about wyvern eggs in Waystones had come as a surprise, one that required more information. He’d already given me much to think about. So much, I started to wonder at his true identity. Perhaps I was reading too much into his answers.

  He said to me, “You already have a cabin?”

  “A dark hole below decks with a pair of dirty hammocks and a wall that seeps seawater.”

  “Assuming the cabin your sister spoke of to the purser is available, you can take that one, and I’ll happily remain in the other. I owe you for passage, more than I can pay, but my family will reimburse you.”

  Mumbling something about loyalty being worth a fortune, I looked out over the city and turned my thought inward. The city was depressing in its present state but hadn’t always been that way. A building not far away leaned a few degrees to one side. It wouldn’t stand against the next storm. The edges of the roof were lined with boards cut with scrolls and curls and had at one time been decorative and probably beautiful.

  Three large blackened areas of the city were absent of buildings, and there were smaller ones where a building or two had recently burned to the ground. The air had a scent of ash and burned wood. There was no sign of new construction. A resentment of what was happening built in me. The king of Trager supposedly lived on the hill high above his city and kingdom. The view from his palace overlooked the scars the fires left. He did little to nothing for the people. They deserved better.

  Again, him allowing the decay to advance was not much different than Elizabeth’s father lying ill while others ruled his kingdom to the tune of what the mages wished. Given five or ten more years, Dire may have faced the same circumstances as Trager. The mages would have placed their selected people into positions of power. They didn’t rule for the people, but for themselves.

  Six days of continued boredom on the ship were ahead to reach the city of Vin. After a short stop, three more to Dagger. We had eaten all the food we’d brought with us, so the trip would not only be long, but I’d go hungry before eating most of the food served on the ship.

  As the
lines were removed from the pier, and the two longboats pulled us out into the channel, Flier raised an arm and gave a small wave. “Never thought I’d see it behind me.”

  “Trager? You’ve been over the Vin Pass, why not again?”

  He paused, and confessed, “They attacked my camp, killed another messenger, and put me in their dungeon. Kept me there for three years.”

  “Why?”

  “I had delivered a message from my king ordering the pass closed. Kondor wished to cut off all communication, trade, and travel with Trager. They locked me up along with anyone from Kondor in the city. Only a few of us lived through it.”

  That didn’t fit with what I knew. Trager was ruled by the same people as Kondor. “Did the king still rule Trager at that time?”

  Flier turned to me. “Yes. Trager’s troubles started at about the same time.”

  “How long were you there?”

  “About ten years. An arrow struck my leg when they captured me, right at my knee. It never healed right, I had no money, no contacts, and the remainder of the Kondor military had fled. They mistreated me for a few years then turned me out to be a begger and die. It was not a good time for a being a beggar in a city with no money.”

  The city grew smaller in the distance behind the ship, the smell of the rot and smoke that pervaded faded, and the wide bay seemed to cleanse my thinking. Our mainsail was set, just enough to maintain steerage as we moved to the mouth of the bay. Nearby, a man standing at the rail to my right said for both of us, “Glad to be away from that damned place. Heard you had some trouble there.”

  He expressed my thoughts exactly. I said, “A little.”

  The purser came up behind me and stood, uncharacteristically and respectfully waiting for me to acknowledge him before speaking. Kendra had taken the edge off his attitude. I smiled. “Sir, can I help you?”

  “If you will follow me, I’ll show you to your new cabin. The possessions of the previous passenger have been removed and the cabin cleaned.”

  “Didn’t find him?” I asked, knowing that was a question expected of me. Then, to push his a little more, “Is this ship safe?”

  The purser pursed his lips and motioned for us to follow him with a wave from his hand. My smile was contained, something I’d been doing a lot lately. We entered the same passageway as Kendra’s cabin and stopped two doors past hers.

  The purser opened it and stood aside for me to inspect the cabin. As with the other down the hall, there were two beds, one above the other and a small porthole for light. It was a full two steps to the edges of the beds, a veritable palace when compared to the dank space I’d been confined to for a week. I paused, then said as if I’d considered rejecting it, “It will do.”

  He nodded slightly. “It has all the amenities of the salon, and your chamber pot will be emptied twice a day, and your water replaced as required, sir.” He didn’t exactly extend his hand for payment, but it was obvious. His eyes never once fell on Flier. I paid the difference and assured him I’d have my old cabin cleared out before I slept. If my old space was going to be sold to someone for an upgrade, I pitied him or her for the place they now occupied.

  After he departed, Flier said, “I can stay in your old cabin and give you privacy.”

  “No. Just help me carry my things, and that will be enough.” I had my sword, bow, arrows, and a few changes of clothing in a sack. The pitcher of water in the new cabin sat in a ring cut into a shelf to prevent it from spilling from the movement of the ship. Such a small thing, but a welcome addition. I felt like a prince.

  We went below deck to the small passage and all the way to the bow. When I opened the door, Flier curled his nose at the water seeping down the wall, the rotten smells, and the hammocks that were worse than his tattered clothing. Wordlessly, he gathered my clothing bag under his arm and backed down the passage with the aid of his crutch.

  “Still want to sleep here and give me my privacy?” I drawled.

  He said with a grin, “For trying to force me into this hole, you will have no privacy for the entire voyage.”

  We laughed. I stuffed my spare clothing into a bag, and we left the lower part of the hull for the cleanliness of the cabins above. My magic powers had failed when the dragon was freed, but they had gradually returned. Now and then, to be sure, I moved a wisp of hair, formed a drop of water on a hard surface, or levitated a small object. I had to assure myself it had remained. As long as the dragon stayed fairly close, my magic worked.

  One of the more important aspects of my small-magic is the ability to restrict the wings of insects from moving. That might not sound important until a swarm of mosquitoes flies around my head. One after the other, they fell victim to me. Their tiny bodies often littered my sleeping spaces.

  As we entered the new cabin, Flier seemed hesitant. I gave him a sour look. “What is it?”

  “You’ve given me so much, asking for more does not seem right.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I’m filthy, and I stink. There is water here for washing. Would you mind if I use it to clean myself and my clothing?”

  I’d noticed. Both things. And didn’t look forward to sleeping within nose-scent of him. I pulled a spare shirt and my only spare pants from my travel-bag and tossed them on the bed. “Only if you put these on.”

  He smirked and reached for a panel on the wall that hadn’t caught my attention. It swung open and revealed a thick bar of yellow soap, along with a comb and several other small items a traveler might enjoy. Now that he mentioned bathing, my body hadn’t seen water and soap for more than ten days, but a little longer wouldn’t hurt. I wouldn’t wish to restrain him and have him change his mind.

  I explained how he could reach the salon and went there to wait while promising myself to wash when he was finished. To my surprise, several acquaintances nodded or said hello. Shipboard life breeds familiarity. It is a microcosm of society where the rules are quickly learned, and everyone knows everyone. My eyes avoided the gaming table and the awkward remembrances of the player who had fallen overboard. The questions about the missing passenger were sure to be raised as soon as I took a seat, comments would be made, and perhaps accusations—said or unsaid.

  The couple from Kondor, Damme, and Hannah motioned a greeting, and I joined them at their table.

  Damme said, “We apologize for failing to teach you as much of our language as intended. On the voyage from Dire, Hannah was ill from the ship’s movement and needed attention.”

  “No problem.” My eyes darted around the salon, finding no new passengers. That was no surprise from what the crew said. They seldom made a stop at Trager anymore. “The girls are learning our language so fast, they almost speak it as well as me.”

  Damme smiled. “Children are like that. Still, we wish to help and would like to spend some time with them. We might find who they are related to, or some clue that will allow you to deliver them to their family. I understand you also had a few language lessons from Ella and Emerald.”

  The idea had occurred to me to learn more ourselves, but Kendra felt that it would be easier once we were ashore in Dagger. However, Vin was our next port of call and Vin was at the northern tip of Kondor. The girls might even be from there. “After our evening meal? Would that suit you?”

  They agreed, and Will entered long enough to catch my eye. He wanted to talk. Outside, on the deck. After making my excuses, I went out on the deck and found him sitting in the shadows cast by the upper decks. It may have been intentional or not, but raised my awareness. Danger lurked aboard the ship.

  Settling into a position near him but standing at the rail so any observers would believe us, strangers who happened to be near each other in the restricted space of the ship’s deck, I waited. We didn’t want to flaunt our relationship. The night was warm, far warmer than at Crestfallen that sat several days sail to the north at the foothills of a great chain of un-crossable mountains. There, the summer days could be warm, but at night a cloak of some sort was r
equired. Near Trager, the nights were warm enough to forego blankets while sleeping, an oddity I found uncomfortable.

  “The princess sends me. She asks if you intend to attack the city Vin, also.” His voice was low, steady, and he tried to keep even a hint of humor from it.

  “Tell the princess that I was simply practicing my skills, so I can better protect her. And remind her that even a princess needs to be turned over a knee now and then.”

  He snorted a laugh. “Three things strike me about you, Damon. My first impression was that you were simply a personal servant, not a warrior. Your scabbard led me to believe you wore a substandard blade and therefore held little skill. I steeled myself, forgive the pun, to do your fighting, but you slashed and felled more of the attackers in Trager than me. Hell, your sister took down two to my one with those fancy spinning knives of hers.”

  “I take it that those are all compliments.”

  “More. You appear a pretty-boy, a plaything for the royalty. Instead, you fight well, gamble better, and serve your princess without question. She wishes to be notified when you know or suspect a mage is near.” He handed me a thin blue scarf. “We may not have the opportunity to speak again privately, so place that in your pouch and wear it around your neck if there are mages—or if you suspect them. She is very fearful of mages, it seems.”

  “Concerned, not fearful,” I told him coldly as I stored the thin material in my purse. He accepted my rebuff without comment. “Sorry, I’m still on edge,” I said.

  “Why did you bring the cripple with you? That is also her question, not mine because I know the reasons.”

  That was a good question, one hard to put words to. “He is more than he seems. Flier may be of future service to us. All of us.”

  “In what ways? She is going to ask.”

  Will’s questions felt relentless. I leaned on the rail and wondered how many other passengers over the years had done the same while thinking deeply. The stars were brighter than those in any sky in Dire, they cast white reflections off the water. The moon hadn’t risen, so the night was full of warm breezes, twinkling lights, and the soft murmur of water rushing past the hull, interrupted by other passengers outside talking in low tones as if respectful of the nightly silence.