by Angie Sage
Krane took a leisurely, practiced glide down through the pass, wheeling this way and that, soaring, swooping, and always in perfect control until ten minutes later he and D’Mara swept out of the shadows of a deep canyon into the bright warmth of the upland plains.
Thank you, my love, D’Mara sent. You can put me down now.
Krane glided down in a wide curve and the ground slowly came to meet them. He landed gently, folded his wings, and waited while D’Mara slipped off onto the grass. Krane looked at her quizzically. So? he sent. Why here?
I’m walking to the Zolls, D’Mara explained.
Krane nodded. Ah. I get it. And they’ll never guess it’s you.
D’Mara laid her hand softly on Krane’s snout. I knew you’d understand. I knew I wouldn’t have to explain to you.
Krane lifted his upper lip in what D’Mara knew was a smile. Wish I was coming too, he sent wistfully.
We’ll be together again soon, my love. Will you wait for me here? D’Mara sent.
I’ll wait anywhere you wish, Dee. But there’s a nice little cave up on the outpost plateau. I’ll be able to see you coming back. I’ll be there.
Preparing to part from her Lock, D’Mara lapsed into speech to make the disconnection easier. “Thank you, Krane dearest. It might be a few days, I don’t know. As soon as you see me, would you fetch the twins, please? And a couple of guards with nets?”
Anything for you. Even the twins.
To delay the moment of parting, D’Mara surveyed the vista spread out before her. The scrubby land undulated gently like a rolling ocean, but what had once been fertile grasslands was now a bleak landscape, raked raw by Raptor fire practice. A white, winding track through the scrub marked her path, meandering from one ruined settlement to the next like a lazy snake, and in the far distance, marked by a hazy blue line of hills, lay her destination: the Compound Zoll. An unexpected wave of excitement at the adventure ahead surprised D’Mara. She wrapped her arms around Krane’s neck, kissed him good-bye, and jauntily set off. There was something about her hair unbound and the flowing colorful robes that made her feel strangely carefree, as if she were on holiday.
It was past midnight and Allie was finishing her final task of the day—filling six massive pans with water from the well—when she heard a faint tap-tap-tap. The sound was so light, apologetic even, that Allie paid it no attention, thinking it to be just another rat in the wall. But the next tap-tap-tap was much louder, with a frisson of impatience, and Allie realized that there was someone at the door who wanted to be let in. Right now.
Thinking to find a farmhand in need of something, Allie opened the door and was shocked to see a stranger outside—a disheveled woman swathed in long, dusty robes, leaning on her walking stave and swaying with exhaustion. “Oh!” Allie said.
The woman ventured a hoarse croak. “Mistress, I am lost and weary. I beg of you a cup of water and shelter for the night.”
It was the custom of isolated farmsteads to give travelers a night’s shelter in a barn. However, Compound Zoll was different, as Allie was well aware. She hesitated—the woman was exhausted, but did she dare risk taking her to the barn?
“Water, fair mistress,” the traveler rasped. “I beg you. A drop of water.”
Water, Allie could do. She hurried over to the water pans, dipped a metal cup into the cool, fresh water, and gave it to the stranger. Allie watched while the woman gulped it down, wondering what to do. There was something about the woman that made Allie feel uneasy—a feeling of being watched from under her heavy-lidded eyes. A feeling, almost, Allie thought, of being sized up as if she was prey. Just as Allie was thinking that this was one stranger she would be almost happy to turn away, the kitchen door was hurled open with such force that it hit the wall with a resounding crash. Allie swung around, heart racing, and saw Madam Zoll: a small, sharp-featured woman in a long black flannel nightdress, her gray hair twisted up on top of her head into her nighttime knot. Shortsighted without her spectacles, Madam Zoll stared accusingly in the general direction of the kitchen door and the chill air cascading in from it. “What is going on here?” she demanded, sounding triumphant, as though she had caught Allie red-handed in a long-suspected crime.
“A traveler, madam,” Allie said. “She has come to beg shelter. I—I’m sorry, I gave her only a cup of water and I was just about to—”
Madam Zoll looked deflated. She had expected to catch the shepherd boy sneaking in out of the cold, but all she had gotten up for was some filthy old beggar. She was about to tell the traveler to go away before she set the dogs on her when the woman spoke.
“Madam Zoll, I beg your favor.”
Madam Zoll strode over to the traveler. “How do you know my name?” she demanded.
The traveler smiled but did not answer the question. “I am very willing to pay for a night’s board.”
“We are not a cheap boardinghouse,” Madam Zoll snapped.
“Who said anything about cheap?” the traveler replied.
Madam Zoll looked shocked; few people answered her back.
The traveler took a small leather pouch from a pocket deep inside the folds of her dress. “I am very willing to pay,” she repeated.
Madam Zoll looked at the bag. It was a quality coin bag, stamped with the Lennix mint seal, and she knew at once it was genuine. Her hands itched to feel the weight of it and the tips of her fingers longed to stroke the dragon-headed coins; the traveler’s cool dark eyes met hers and Madam Zoll felt the last trickle of resistance drain away. She held out her hand, and a moment later the soft leather bag nestled in her palm. It was satisfyingly heavy. Madam Zoll pulled at the drawstring and took out a gold coin, thick as a pat of butter, and held it between thumb and forefinger. It glimmered a soft, rich yellow in the candlelight and Madam Zoll lost her heart to it.
Madam Zoll told Allie to show the traveler to the best guest room and bring her up hot water, a clean towel, and supper. Allie took a candle and led the way through the gloomy corridors of the farmhouse, taking the traveler up the main stairs and along to a room hung with dark curtains that contained a great oak bed. As Allie busied herself lighting the fire, the traveler seated herself in the only chair and, to Allie’s discomfort, watched her every movement as she coaxed a flame from the damp wood in the grate until at last the fire took hold. Allie jumped to her feet, glad to be able to go. “Excuse me, ma’am. I’ll fetch your supper now.” She bobbed a curtsy and hurried away, pleased to get away from the scrutiny of those calculating eyes.
Allie made the supper—a fine collection of cold meats, oil, toasted bread, and mulled wine—and took it up to the traveler’s room. It was nearly two in the morning when at last she fell exhausted onto her pallet bed in the outhouse. She slept fitfully, with the gimlet eyes of the traveler stalking her dreams.
Allie forced herself to wake early, and it was still dark when she wearily set off along the winding track toward the hills, carrying Joss’s food basket. Several glances back at the gate in the compound wall told her that no one had followed her. Allie knew that no one from the Zoll household would dream of going to the trouble of getting up early to follow the kitchen maid on her daily visit to the shepherd boy—she and Joss occupied a status lower than Seigneur Zoll’s hounds—but this morning it was not anyone from the household that Allie feared: It was the traveler. She had a bad feeling about the woman.
Allie hurried on her way until the path took her behind the first low hill of the grazing lands, and she was able to slow down and relax a little now that she was hidden from the compound and no gimlet gaze could see her. The day was overcast and the air felt heavy as the gray light of the dawn began to filter through the clouds. Allie climbed the track as it followed the foot of the hill, and when it turned the corner she stopped for a few moments to catch her breath and look down at the stone circle below. In the center lay the remains of Joss’s hut, splintered planks strewn in a circle with the hut’s bare metal chassis in the middle. Of Joss and Lysander there was
no sign, but Allie expected that. They had agreed that it was best if from now on Joss and Lysander bedded down in the sheep shelter. Allie hurried down the hill, across the springy sheep-nibbled grass of the circle, and headed along the winding path to the sheepfold. The sheep were gone and the gate was wide open, which was unusual because Joss was very particular about gates, but Allie thought nothing of it. She checked inside the shelter and saw Lysander curled up and sleeping, his shimmering silver flanks rising and falling in long, slow breaths. Allie stood for some minutes, watching the dragon: He was so beautiful that it took her breath away. Then she sighed, set down the basket, and went to find her brother.
Allie scanned the low range of hills before her, but there was no sign of Joss or the sheep at all. She listened for the telltale plaintive bleat—Joss’s flock were a moany lot—but the hills were oddly silent. A flicker of worry nudged at Allie: Suppose Joss and the sheep had been taken by Raptors? Telling herself not to be so silly, that Lysander would not be sleeping peacefully if something terrible had happened to his Lock, Allie stood very still and listened. After some minutes she heard a faint thudding of footsteps, and then the wild figure of Joss came hurtling down the path toward her, running so fast that it seemed to Allie he must surely trip over his own feet. Allie hurried to meet him, and as they neared each other, Joss’s feet did at last forget where they were and he came tumbling forward, knocking Allie to the ground.
They lay winded on the dewy grass for a few seconds until Allie got up and pulled Joss to his feet. It was now she saw that Joss was mud-stained and pale, and dried teary streaks ran down his cheeks. “Hey, what’s happened?” Allie asked.
“They’ve gone,” Joss said, sniffing and angrily rubbing his sleeve across his face. “All of them. Every single stupid sheep has gone.”
Allie stared at Joss, uncomprehending. “What do you mean, gone?” she asked.
“Gone. Gone, gone, gone” was all Joss would say.
She threw her arm around his shoulders and guided him slowly down the track. “Hey, Joss, tell me. What’s happened? Was it Raptors?”
Joss shook his head miserably. “Not Raptors. It’s all my fault.” He gulped.
“No, Jossie, it can’t be your fault. You love those silly sheep.”
Joss sniffed loudly and Allie handed him her handkerchief. “It is my fault,” Joss said fiercely. “I was so stupid. Last night me and Lysander went into the fold. Lysander promised not to frighten the sheep and he didn’t. Well, he didn’t mean to. But I let him go in first. And the sheep panicked. They went crazy. They stampeded. They pushed me over and were out of the fold before I could stop them. They ran up the hill so fast … I went after them and then … well, you know the old quarry?”
“Oh,” said Allie.
“Yes,” said Joss. “It was dark and they didn’t see the edge and they all went over.”
“What, all of them?”
“Yeah. One by one, even when I was shouting at them to stop. Stupid, stupid sheep. So I climbed down into the quarry and they were piled up. Dead on the quarry floor. Well, they weren’t all dead. Some were injured and bleating. So … so I had to hit them on the head. To put them out of their pain. It was … oh, it was horrible.”
Allie hugged her brother tightly. She thought of what he had been going through last night, and all the time she had had no idea. All she’d had to worry about was some creepy traveler. “Oh, Jossie,” she said. “I am so, so sorry.”
“The Zolls will kill me when they find out,” Joss said. “And I’m not exaggerating.”
Allie felt like she had swallowed a stone. “I know you’re not,” she said quietly.
They walked slowly back to the sheepfold where Lysander lay, breathing deep and slow. “We have to get out of here,” Joss said. “Right now. On Lysander.”
“Is he big enough to carry both of us?” Allie asked.
“I think so.” Joss sounded a little unsure. “He doesn’t have to take us far. Not at first. We can find somewhere to hide out while he gets bigger. Then we can go wherever we like.”
Allie allowed herself to feel just a little hopeful. “Oh, Joss. That would be so wonderful. But …”
“But what?” asked Joss, nervously glancing back at the door.
“But we’ll have to go really soon,” Allie said. “If I don’t go back they’ll come looking for me, and then they’ll find Lysander. And no sheep.”
“So we go now.” Joss looked at Allie, his face glowing with excitement. “Right now!” Gently, he put his hand on Lysander’s soft, silvery snout and whispered in the dragon’s ear, “Wake up, Lysander. Wake up …”
But Lysander did not stir.
A little less gently, Joss rubbed Lysander’s ears and said, “Please, Lysander, it’s time to wake up now.” There was no reaction at all.
“Is he all right?” Allie asked anxiously.
“He’s fine,” Joss said, knowing that if anything was wrong with Lysander he would feel it at once. “Lysander! Wake up!” he said as loud as he dared. But the dragon did not stir. He breathed slowly and deeply and his eyes did not even flutter beneath their firmly closed lids. Joss looked up at Allie, his hands over his mouth in dismay. “Oh,” he said. “Oh no …”
“What is it?” Allie asked, trying to ignore a growing feeling that things were going wrong.
“I think it might be his first long sleep.”
Allie looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“You remember that book on dragon development that Dad had,” Joss said.
Allie laughed. “The one you read so much it fell to bits?”
Joss looked sheepish. “Yeah. Well, the thing is, it said that an immature dragon will have three long sleeps of at least twenty-four hours, during which it is impossible to wake them. And each sleep allows a particular thing to develop. The first is navigation skills, the second is dragonsong, and the third is fire. And then they’re all grown up.”
“Oh,” said Allie. She looked at Lysander, who was so still that she could hardly see him breathing.
“So there’s no way he’ll wake up until this evening,” Joss said miserably. “Oh, Allie.”
It took a huge effort, but Allie was determined not to let the setback get the better of them. “Okay,” she said a little too brightly. “So I’ll come back then.”
“But can you get away?” Joss asked, his voice flat with disappointment.
“I’ll make sure I can. And anyway,” Allie said, trying to make the best of things, “it would be better to go under the cover of darkness when no one can see us. It’s only a few hours to wait, and then we’ll fly away and leave this horrible place forever.” She forced a smile. “And his navigation sleep means he’ll know where to go, won’t he?”
Joss hugged his sister. Suddenly he dreaded being alone all day. “I’ll be counting every second,” he said.
“Me too,” Allie said, reluctantly letting go of her brother. The sun was well up over the hills now, and she dared not waste another moment. “I have to go now, Jossie. I’ll be back this evening.” She hurried off, running down the path from the sheepfold, across the stone circle, and then climbing the short, steep incline up the hill that hid the circle from Compound Zoll. Then she ran down the well-trodden path, scooted around a tight bend at the foot of the hill, and ran straight into something tall, bony, and swathed in flowing robes.
It was the traveler.
Speechless, Allie stared at the traveler with undisguised horror.
Fighting the urge to knock the clumsy servant girl to the ground and kick her in the ribs, D’Mara Lennix forced a steely smile. “My, that was a surprise,” she said. “I hope I didn’t startle you?” It annoyed D’Mara that the girl just stood in the way, gaping like an unattractive fish served up for supper. D’Mara did not like fish and she didn’t like the girl either. “I expect you’ve been to see your brother,” she said.
Allie’s eyes opened wide with surprise. How did the traveler know she had a brother? “I alw
ays take him his morning food basket,” she replied guardedly.
“What a faithful friend he has, to be sure,” D’Mara said. “He’s a lucky boy.”
“It depends what you mean by lucky,” Allie retorted, and then wished she hadn’t. The most important thing was to get the nosy woman away from Lysander, and being rude was not going to help. She thought fast and started again. “I am sorry to be snappy. It’s just that I … I’m scared. There are wolves prowling by the sheepfold. My brother has taken the sheep to safety over the hills and the wolves are hungry. It is not safe here, ma’am. Shall I show you the way back?”
D’Mara looked quizzically at Allie, weighing up what to do. The girl did seem very flustered and she was clearly running away from something. D’Mara was not entirely convinced, but neither was she prepared to meet a ravenous wolf pack around the next corner. “That is most kind. I thank you for the warning; early morning wolves are best avoided. Let us return to the compound. Perhaps the seigneur will send out his marksmen.”
The last thing Allie wanted was to have Seigneur Zoll and his men stalking around the sheepfold with their trigger-happy fingers on their shotguns. But she kept her cool. “Seigneur Zoll says that wolves must have their freedom. That is why he sends my brother out with the sheep.”
D’Mara nodded as if in agreement. “I understand. And I thank you for escorting me to safety. By what name shall I call you?”
Allie disliked telling the traveler her name; it felt as though she were giving away the very essence of herself. “Allinson,” she said, giving her formal name to ward off any feeling of familiarity.
“Allinson,” D’Mara murmured. “I shall make sure to remember that name.” A shiver ran down Allie’s spine. It sounded like a threat.
For the rest of the day, Allie went about her chores feeling very edgy. She longed to run and find Joss and warn him to stay hidden, safely away from the traveler, but she was trapped by her own deceit. The traveler had reported the presence of wolves and Seigneur Zoll was up in the watchtower with his shotgun. There was no way Allie could make a move until darkness fell. But as soon as it did, Allie promised herself, she would be off, and then she and Joss would fly away and leave this horrible place behind forever. And no one, not even the cold-eyed traveler, was going to stop them.