Test of the Dragon

by Jessica Drake

  But the people who lived here didn't need to worry about these problems. As long as there was someone else in charge to see to the details, they could continue living their suburban lives as if the country hadn't been turned upside down.

  I knocked on the door of the address Jallis had given me, and a woman in her thirties with a baby on her hip answered the door.

  "Can I help you?" she asked, looking me over suspiciously. I supposed she had a right to be suspicious. After all, it wasn't every day that country folk wandered into suburban areas, and I was still playing the part of farmer's wife.

  "I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but I'm looking for the Tibas family." I gave her what little details of Jallis's family I knew. "I come to the capital every year and always visit my cousin Tibas while I'm here, but I can see they're not in residence. Have they moved?"

  The woman wrinkled her nose. "The family who was living here abandoned this house," she told me. "I assume they were dragon rider sympathizers and had to flee the city to escape the guards. Which was lucky for me and my husband," she said with a shrug. "We bought this place dirt cheap."

  I had to bury my anger at the woman's attitude. She didn't seem at all sympathetic to the plight of the house's previous occupants. "Are you sure you don't know where they went?" I injected a note of desperation into my voice. "If my cousin and his family are in some kind of trouble, I need to know."

  "My suggestion is stay far away from your cousin if you know what's good for you," she warned. "If he's really a dragon rider sympathizer and you're caught with him, you could get arrested too." Her eyes sharpened as she looked at me. "Unless that kind of affliction runs in the family, and you deserve to be arrested."

  "N-no, of course not," I stammered, holding my hands up as I backed away. "I have no love for dragons or their riders. I can't tell you how many times they've stolen sheep from my husband and me as they've passed by my farm, and we're expected to just take it, too!" While that story wasn't mine, it was not, in fact, a lie. I'd heard similar tales from others about dragon riders taking advantage of them, and I knew that despite my outrage at the way the people were behaving, they had reason to hate the riders. If we ever did take back our country, things would definitely have to change amongst riders and the common people. There would no longer be a purely dragon rider council, for one thing. The ground-dwellers needed to have fair representation, too.

  The woman nodded sympathetically, her suspicion melting away. "I'm sorry to hear about your plight," she said, "but I'm sure things will improve for you and your husband now that the new regime has taken over." The baby on her hip started to fuss, and she bounced him a little, cooing softly. The abrupt demeanor change from shrewd suspicion to motherly love was startling, but her expression turned businesslike once more as she turned back to me. "Now if you don't mind, I really need to get back to my day."

  "Of course." I inclined my head. "Thank you for your help."

  I knocked on a few other doors, just to be sure, and found out from one neighbor that Jallis's cousins left to stay with "relatives in the countryside." Unfortunately, they'd left no forwarding address, but I had to assume that was a good thing, and that they'd reached some kind of sanctuary. I resolved to speak to Lieutenant Diran and see if she and the other plants could establish some kind of underground network for the dragon rider families who had escaped persecution. If we could band them together in common cause, that would put us one step closer to taking the country back.

  10

  "Well, we look quite different," I said as Tavarian and I inspected each other. Once we'd returned to the shop—and Tavarian had healed Jallis—the two of us assumed rather drastic disguises using clothes and a makeup kit Carina had purchased for us. Tavarian was dressed as a humble clerk in an ill-fitting waistcoat and breeches, his long hair twisted and tucked beneath a dusty cap. I used makeup to soften his angular features and dotted his hands liberally with ink spots. "I don't think anyone looking at you would guess that you're a dragon rider, never mind a former Elantian ambassador."

  "And I don't think anyone looking at you would think you were a treasure hunter," Tavarian said with a crooked smile. I was posing as his wife once again, this time in a drab gray dress that looked more like something Miss Cassidy would wear. My own curly red hair was tucked under a brown wig that I'd twisted into a knot at the nape of my neck, and I'd used makeup to give myself a dull, pasty appearance. "You'll have to keep those eyes lowered, though," he murmured as he caught my chin in his hand. "I'd recognize those striking blues anywhere."

  My heart beat a little faster as I stared into Tavarian's swirling silver eyes, which were hidden behind a pair of spectacles. "Look who's talking," I murmured, my body instinctively swaying into his.

  Our lips met, and I closed my eyes for just a second, trying to pretend we were a normal couple enjoying a simple moment of domestic bliss. His mouth was soft and warm against mine, stoking a lazy flame of desire inside me, and when he flicked his tongue against my lower lip, I nearly moaned out loud.

  "A promise for later," he said as he drew back, his eyes burning with lust. "When we make it through this."

  I nodded. The moment we returned to Polyba, safe and sound and with eggs and treasure in tow, I was going to jump his bones. It was the least I deserved after all we'd been through.

  "Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Jallis asked as we went downstairs to make our goodbyes. "It feels wrong to send the two of you up there alone, especially after what happened to me."

  "No," Tavarian said. "We need to stick to the plan, and besides, there's no time for us to put disguises together for either of you."

  "Besides, we're not breaking into someone's home," I assured them, "and it'll be nighttime, so fewer prying eyes. Trust me, it'll be okay." I touched the amulet, which was hidden beneath my dress. I didn't expect it to protect me, as it only worked against magical attacks, but it was a comfort to have all the same.

  Get going, Caor's voice echoed in my head. You don't have much time.

  Tavarian and I hastily finished our goodbyes, then hurried to the base of Dragon's Table, which was perched on top of a giant mesa at the edge of the city. "It's been a while since I made this trek on foot," I puffed as we climbed the twentieth flight of stairs. Only forty left to go, right?

  "You've climbed these before?" Tavarian asked from behind me. Like me, he was slightly out of breath, but I was thankful we both stayed in good enough shape. The stairs zigzagged up the side of the mountain, with platforms at various intervals for people to get on and off the elevators. I generally preferred a straight shot up, but many people, especially tourists, liked to get off at different elevations to enjoy the view.

  "Yes, back when I didn't have a pass." Only those who lived or owned businesses on Dragon's Table were given them. The rest of us had to hoof it. I'd eventually gotten one myself from Barrigan, the antique shop owner I used to treasure hunt for, but when I'd quit, it had been revoked. I hadn't gotten another until I became a dragon rider.

  Maybe the rules have changed, I thought as I glanced askance at the lift tracks. Both lifts were hanging at the top of the mountain. It wasn't past curfew yet, but it was late enough that people wouldn't be coming and going anymore. Once upon a time, the sons and daughters of dragon rider families would have been hopping on and off these lifts, heading away from their privileged lives to enjoy a night of debauchery in the lower city, but there was none of that now. The people who had moved into the houses up here already knew what life was like on the ground, and I doubt they wanted the reminder.

  Though guards were posted at the different platforms, they let us pass with barely a glance. They probably think we're silly tourists or something, hiking up all these stairs just for a glimpse at the city view. Which was fine by me. The less memorable we were, the better.

  When we reached the top, I wanted to take a moment to catch my breath, but the moment I set foot on Dragon's Table, a faint but familiar gong echoed in my h
ead.

  "You sense it already," Tavarian said, recognizing the look in my eyes. "I used a spell to muffle the signal, but if you can sense it, Salcombe will be able to as well. We should hurry."

  I allowed Tavarian to take my hand and pull me along through the quiet city streets. We passed through a shopping district I was quite familiar with, and my lips pursed as I noticed Barrigan had moved his shop to a larger, grander building than the one he'd been in before. I bet he'd moved into one of the dragon rider mansions, too, I thought. Barrigan had always been a favorite amongst the nobility, but he was a snake, and I'm sure he had no problem ingratiating himself with the new regime once he saw which way the tide was turning.

  But thoughts of Barrigan and my old life quickly fled as Tavarian led me into a warren of old buildings, the upper city's historic district. The dragon heart's signal tripled, humming loudly in my skull, and I wanted to arrow straight toward the location only a few blocks away.

  "And what business do the pair of you have up here on Dragon's Table?"

  I forced myself not to freeze at the guard's voice.

  "Good evening," Tavarian said pleasantly as we turned to face the pair of guards that seemed to melt out of the shadows. "My wife and I are in town visiting for a few days. Her sister, Anna, is a cook for a family that lives on Primley Drive, and we've come to visit now that she's off shift."

  He presented the pass we'd collected at the gate, and the guards inspected it for a long moment. For an anxious second, I was worried he might not give it back, but finally he handed it over.

  "Curfew's in two hours," he said shortly. "See to it that you've concluded your visit by then."

  "We will. Thank you."

  I could feel the guards' stares on our backs as we continued down the street, so Tavarian and I ducked into an alehouse on the corner, a cozy but low-key establishment that catered to just such servants as the fictional sister we were visiting.

  "We'll wait here until the patrol passes," Tavarian said as we sat down at one of the few empty tables. A buxom woman in a form-fitting tavern dress came over to take our order, and we both got tankards of ale. I sipped at my mug cautiously, mostly for show. The brew was good and strong, but we couldn't afford to get buzzed, not when we were about to break into a government building.

  As Tavarian and I made small talk, the door opened again, and the young man with the riotous blond curls walked in. He looked around the tavern, his blue eyes sweeping the busy crowd before he walked up to the bar to order. I didn't expect the flicker of recognition when he looked my way—after all, he wouldn’t have noticed me amongst the crowd outside the gates—but to my surprise, his gaze narrowed on me before he turned away.

  "Don't you think he looks suspicious?" I murmured as I leaned closer to Tavarian. "Look at those fancy threads. He doesn't belong here."

  Tavarian glanced at the man. "He seems harmless enough," he said after a minute. "Just a young dandy wandering about town. But if he worries you, we'll keep an eye on him."

  But as we watched, the young man didn't do anything suspicious. He simply sat at the bar and chatted up the man next to him while he worked on his mug of ale, and he never looked my way again. By the time he ordered a second mug, Tavarian tugged on my arm, and we slipped into the dark streets once more.

  "Nearly there," he said under his breath as we navigated through several unlit back alleys. We had to move more slowly to avoid the patrolling guards, and as we crouched behind a group of trash cans, I wished for Halldor's ability to sense people. My treasure sense could come in handy sometimes in that regard, but in the middle of a city with so many objects of varying value, it was impossible to pick out a soldier from anyone else.

  We came to a stop in front of an unobtrusive door at the back of an ancient house crammed between two others almost exactly like it. After checking to make sure no one was watching, I fished my magic lock pick out of my skirt pocket and slid it into the keyhole. One quick twist and we were inside, my spelled boots muffling my footsteps while Tavarian used whatever spell he had to move ghost-like through the house.

  "This way," he whispered, so quietly I almost didn't hear him. We made a sharp left, then went straight downstairs to the cellars. Tavarian used his magic to conjure a small, glowing orb.

  I stopped dead as the light illuminated a large space filled not with caskets of wine or stores of food, but thousands upon thousands of boxes.

  "Correspondence and files from past diplomatic missions," Tavarian explained as he led me to a stack in the corner. "The cellar houses old archives, and the floors above contain the more recent records. Thankfully, the librarians and record keepers only work during the day, so there should be no one within."

  My treasure sense told me the piece of heart was tucked not in one of the boxes, but beneath them, so I helped Tavarian move the stack of boxes aside so he could get at it. A plank of wood beneath popped free easily enough, and I held my breath as Tavarian lifted a spelled box out of the hole.

  "I'll be taking that," a voice I'd know anywhere said, and I froze.

  "Salcombe," Tavarian said flatly as he straightened, box in hand. "It would seem Zara was right to be suspicious of you."

  I turned around and gasped. He was the young man we'd seen in the tavern! "You've been following us all along," I accused.

  "But of course," Salcombe said with a shrug. It was highly unsettling to hear his deep voice echoing out of the throat of a young man. In his last disguise, he'd always spoken in a Warosian accent, since we'd been posing as nobles from that country, but there was no need for such deception now. "Why expend the effort when I can just ride on your very capable coattails?" He gave a sigh that was downright theatrical. "It's really too bad you had to be so obstinate, Zara. You were an apt apprentice, and we could have done great things if only you would cast aside your foolish morality and join me."

  "Yeah, I think I'm good," I said, and threw a dagger before I finished speaking. That trick usually worked. People were generally too focused on what you were saying to notice you were already attacking, but Salcombe dodged in a blur of motion. I palmed another knife, but he barreled into me before I could even think which way to aim, his hand on my throat as he slammed me into the wall.

  "Get off her," Tavarian snarled. He ripped Salcombe away, then used his magic to throw him across the room. "Take it and run, Zara!" he cried, tossing me the box.

  I caught it one-handed and raced for the door, but Salcombe appeared in front of it.

  "You can leave once you've handed it over," he said pleasantly, but Tavarian hit him with a powerful gust of wind, slamming him into the wall before he could wrest the box from me. I half-hoped he might slump to the ground, unconscious, the way the Polybans had done when Tavarian had performed the trick earlier, but no such luck. Salcombe rebounded off the wall and launched himself at Tavarian, his face twisted with fury.

  "Enough of this," Salcombe roared, raising his hand. Tavarian blasted him with more wind, and my heart shot into my throat as black flames shot from Salcombe's hand. The wind whisked the magical fire through the room, and in seconds the boxes were ablaze.

  "Damn!" Tavarian swore as he raced for the door, but the flames had already spread to block it. Salcombe cackled, an evil sound that turned my blood to ice, and I glanced back to see him standing amid the flames, his hands raised as he basked in the destruction he'd created. The flames licked at his clothing, but he seemed unaffected, and I imagined the dragon god's influence was protecting him.

  Magical fire. Right. "Take my hand," I yelled. "We can do this!"

  I seized Tavarian's wrist in mine, then dragged him toward the door. The flames leapt high, licking at the ceiling, but I reached through them anyway, grasping the door handle. It was hot enough to burn, but the amulet I wore flared to life, preventing the flames themselves from latching onto my clothes.

  Salcombe's laughter turned into another snarl of rage as I flung open the door, but Tavarian blasted him back with another gust of wi
nd before he could catch us. Heart racing, I slammed the door shut and stuck my lock pick into the handle, then twisted it the wrong way to magically seal the door.

  "That's not going to hold him for long," Tavarian warned. The flames were already eating through the doorway. Salcombe would be on us in a moment. "Run!"

  We sprinted up the stairs, my amulet still blazing with light as we ran through the flames. The fire was eating up the entire house, and as we got farther from the basement, it turned from magical black to mundane red. Shouts dimly rose from outside over the roar of the fire as the fire brigade and soldiers arrived.

  Tavarian and I burst outside through a servants’ entrance on the side of the house, gulping in great lungfuls of crisp, cold air. We glanced around to see if there was a way to sneak off, but the brigade was already here.

  "Get back to the lower city," Tavarian whispered, his voice harsh from smoke inhalation. "I'll distract them."

  I wanted to protest—getting separated was not part of the plan—but he was already running toward the firefighters. "Did you see them?" he cried. "The masked men who set this place on fire? Surely they must have run right past you!"

  I leapt over a hedge as Tavarian concocted whatever wild story he'd come up with, slipping the small box into my skirts to settle with the other piece of heart. The feeling of wrongness doubled, slithering over my skin like an oily caress, but I forced myself to keep moving, heading for the Blue Daffodil. My friend Portina ran the place, which was why we'd agreed on it as our pre-arranged meeting point. If things had gone wrong and the authorities came looking for us, she would hide us and keep our secret.

  "Hey," Portina greeted me as I walked in, careful not to say my name aloud. I'd sent a note ahead telling her to expect me so that she wouldn't give me away with her surprise. She was behind the counter as usual, pouring ale and spirits, but I noticed she'd taken on two new bar hands to help her out. It wasn't hard to see why. The place was packed, more than I'd ever seen it before. "What can I get you?"