Dragon Clan #6: Anna's Story

by LeRoy Clary

  Later, Thief shook her shoulder. When her eyes opened, he jutted his chin ahead. The day was breaking although the sun was not yet up. She sat and saw the high walls of King Ember’s Summer Palace in the distance. The road rose ahead, giving the impression the walls were even higher than they were.

  The correct thing to do was thank the farmer for the ride, and then she and Thief could skirt around the palace, but Anna hesitated. Dragon Clan seldom left their families and villages. She had never been inside the Summer Palace, let alone any other palace. She saw the flags and streamers flying above the pointed tops of the watchtowers and along the ramparts she found other colorful flags and pennants. Palace guards marched their rounds on the ramparts in their red and gold uniforms, the rising sun reflecting off their shiny buttons and polished helmets.

  Her attention was so fixed on all the newness that she didn’t notice how close they were getting to the main gate. The wagon, and her and Thief, were in plain sight of the soldiers standing guard. She imagined anybody climbing out and running off would be suspect. They might even send men on horseback to chase them down.

  “We’ll stay here,” she whispered to Thief.

  “What’s that you say?” the farmer asked, turning to hear better.

  “I said, we’ll go to the palace with you if that is agreeable.”

  He shrugged, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Anna, in her guise of the petulant little girl, couldn’t simply let it go. “I was just trying to be mannerly.”

  The farmer snorted in what may have been laughter, but she wasn’t sure. When the wagon pulled up to the guards at the gate, one stepped in front with his arm raised for them to stop. Two other guards approached; one with a gold rope looped around his shoulder. That one said while holding a stylus ready to dip into a small bottle of ink, “Your name and business.”

  “Names Richter. Hopin’ to buy a few animals for my farm.”

  The pen poised to write. “Can you spell your name for me?”

  “Nope.”

  “Tell it to me again.”

  “Richter.”

  The soldier made a notation on the scroll and motioned for them to continue. But the farmer sat waiting for the soldier to look at him again. When he did, the farmer leaned closer. “Can I see?”

  “What?”

  “My name. I’d like to see what it looks like.”

  There was a pause during which Anna held her breath, but the soldier relented holding the scroll closer. The farmer studied it and then smiled his thanks, and the wagon was moving again.

  When they were out of earshot, she said, “They didn’t ask for our names.”

  The farmer answered, “Must have thought you were with me, which you are, I’m thinkin'.”

  That made all three of them laugh as he turned the wagon to the right and found a place to pull in beside twenty other wagons, most of which were filled with beets, carrots, firewood, leather goods, clothing, and a hundred other things for sale.

  A boy rushed to the farmer and promised to feed the mule enough grass and grain to make it fat . . . If the farmer would give him a thin copper for his services. Before the farmer could refuse, Anna had a thin pulled and handed it to him. “Fat you say? If we return and find our mule not satisfied, I’ll hunt you down.”

  “No worries, I’ll fetch him some water, too.” The grinning boy promised.

  Walking in the direction of the market and hundreds of stalls, each a brighter color than the last, the farmer said, “Ye didn’t have to do that.”

  “Would you have taken payment for our ride?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, your mule did all the work so it’s only right he gets fed and watered.”

  The farmer was still smiling when he left them to inspect a stall with goats of all ages. Anna and Thief slipped away and were soon lost in the morning activities of the market. Dancers twirled, singers sang, and vendors shouted over each other to call attention to their goods. Anna and Thief moved up one aisle and down another, buying a meat pie from an insistent child, and then cups of tea from a gaily dressed woman who claimed to have more varieties of tea than the King’s own kitchen.

  They gawked at wood carvings so intricate and real that a live animal in their midst might be mistaken for one of them and paintings of far off places with beautiful women in colorful costumes. Smells assaulted their noses, children raced, vendors hawked, and the two of them wandered and stared until Thief exploded into action and knocked a man to the ground.

  A crowd gathered as the man tried to regain his feet and escape, but Thief placed a foot on his neck and waited for the first palace guards to arrive. Each time the skinny young man under Thief’s foot attempted to free himself, Thief placed more weight on his foot.

  Anna whispered, “Let him go. We can’t have trouble.”

  “Hey, wot’s going on here?” A winded guard demanded as he charged up to them. “Let that man up, I say.”

  Thief said, “Bad man.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? Let him up.”

  Thief didn’t respond other than to give one brief shake of his head. Four more guards arrived, one taking charge as he demanded of Thief in a more reasonable tone, “Why are you holding him down?”

  Thief lifted his foot as he reached down and pulled open the shirt the man wore. Three purses spilled out, one of them Anna’s.

  “That’s mine,” she cried, patting her waistline to make sure, then snatching it off the ground. The strings had been neatly sliced with a sharp knife.

  A well-dressed man wearing blue the color of a summer day and the attitude of a lord stepped forward and reached for another purse. He opened it and said, “Mine.”

  A sword appeared in the hand of the guard, the point touching the chest of the man. He said in a calm voice that carried with authority, “Anybody claim the third?”

  When nobody spoke up, a voice behind Anna whispered loudly, “If nobody wants it, I’ll take it.” Several people laughed as the guard retrieved the last one and held it high for all to see. When again, nobody claimed it, he pronounced, “If any of you hears of a lost purse, send them to the guard.”

  “What about him?” A voice asked.

  Anger stirred within the crowd. A cutpurse ranked low on the social scale, an occupation despised by any who had lost the contents of a purse to the likes of him. “The dungeon,” someone snarled. Others took up the chant. “Dungeon. Dungeon. Dungeon.”

  “That’s enough of that,” the guard said, motioning for the cutpurse to stand and said, “You will find stealing harder without all of your fingers.”

  One of the other guards reached out and held up the man’s hand for the crowd displaying a thumb and only three fingers. “Not your first time getting caught, is it?”

  The cutpurse had remained stoic, lips pursed and obedient. However, he flashed a look of hatred at Thief an instant before he spun and freed himself from the guard’s hand. In less time than it takes to blink, he darted into the crowd, squirreling and running, then he leaped over the counter at a stall and disappeared behind the tent. All five of the palace guards were in pursuit, but even Anna, who had never been in a crowded market, realized they would never catch him.

  The crowd dispersed, many of them grumbling and making threats if they should ever see the cutpurse again. One or two muttered their appreciation for Thief’s quick action.

  The incident revealed to Anna how vulnerable she was in this new place. With a gulp of regret, she realized that she was not here to enjoy the trip. It had been a dangerous waste of her time, an action of a child. Squaring her shoulders, she led the way out, Thief obediently following like a great puppy.

  Nearing the same gate that they had entered the palace grounds, she still mumbled to herself for allowing the distraction to keep her from her goal. Glancing up, she noticed the stone wall that lined one side of the market. It was the dungeon, the repairs where a red dragon had knocked part of it down to free Raymer clearly visible.

&n
bsp; She pulled to a halt, almost causing Thief to bump into her. Raymer had spent a year behind that wall. It was one of the recent tales of the Dragon Clan, known by all.

  From the corner of her eye, Anna saw another palace guard approaching. She glanced around, finding no place to run. No choice presented itself but to face the guard. Anna decided to go on the offensive.

  “I want to speak to you,” the guard said in a voice used to giving orders.

  “And if I don’t want to speak with you?” She puckered her mouth and prepared to stare down the guard.

  “Not you, miss,” his eyes were on Thief. His voice turned more friendly. “That man you took down back there, how’d you figure out what he was doing?”

  Thief pointed to Anna. “He touched her.”

  The guard had pulled to a stop a few steps away, smiling and nodding. “That all?”

  “No.”

  “Well, tell me, man. I’d like to train my men with what you saw.”

  Thief said, “Eyes.”

  “Ah, you were watching his eyes. I understand. He has to make sure nobody is watching him when he makes his move. Very clever,” The guard said. “Is there anything I can do for you while you’re here?”

  Anna stepped forward. “No, but thank you. We’re in kind of a hurry.” She wished to spend as little time with King Ember’s palace guard as possible. Nothing good could come of it, but a lot that was not good could happen. She took Thief by his elbow and walked to the gate without looking behind.

  The crunching of his boots on the gravel stayed with them. I need to let him do something for us, or he’ll never leave us alone. She turned, “Can you give us any help with directions to the Northwoods, sir?”

  “I sure can. First, you’re heading for the wrong gate. You want the Warrington Gate, which is up that way,” he pointed. “If you get lost, ask anyone. Don’t delay, and you’re better sleeping well off the road until you get to Anders. The Brown Bear Inn is clean and safe, but avoid any in Ryland or Menno, if you can.”

  “The inns in those towns?”

  “Neither is a place for a pretty little girl like you, but keep your brother right at your side for protection.”

  The guard believed Thief was her brother, and she didn’t correct him. The information was good, but she didn’t know where any of the three villages were, except that they must be on the road to the Northwoods. She thanked the guard and turned to enter the market again to find the Warrington Gate he’d told them to take.

  When they left the market, they entered a section of town that was winding lanes that twisted and turned as if no construction worker knew how to make a straight line, or perhaps they were intoxicated. She could seldom see more than a few doorways ahead. When they passed an inn, Anna couldn’t help glancing at the window. When passing the second of the inns on the street, she caught sight of James, the traveler from the day before.

  He had been looking into the street, and as she saw him, his head turned away as if he’d seen her first and was trying to hide. She increased the pace and looked behind often. When they finally found another gate, she verified with the guard that it was the Warrington Gate.

  Outside the walls was a cleared area where no trees were allowed to grow near the walls for the defense of the palace. Enemies couldn’t sneak up, and archers on the walls had an open field of fire. When they reached the edge of the forest, Anna pulled Thief into the underbrush and waited. She watched the gate, expecting to see James appear at any time.

  CHAPTER SIX

  When James didn’t appear after a while, Anna and Thief went back onto the road and walked with a few others leaving the Summer Palace. Two wagons passed, neither offering rides, but she probably would have refused. Riding in them required sharing information with the drivers.

  Two days later, Anna paused as they walked behind two of the King’s soldiers going the in the same direction. She looked at the sky. Then behind.

  Thief turned a full circle, searching for the reason before asking, “Why stop?”

  “Just a feeling,” she said cryptically suppressing a grin. She had just felt the slightest touch of a nearby dragon on her back for the first time in days. Nearby was not the precise word to use to describe the distance, since it might take her a full day to walk to it. But a dragon could cover that same distance in part of a morning.

  Not that Anna would relax, but knowing that if she needed it, the dragon would come. Or would it? There were not many dragons in the world, and the one she sensed was probably Raymer’s, which told her she would not be making the long trek to search for him at The Raging Mountains family. She only had to convince him to accompany her, and he’d be at Castle Warrington.

  She didn’t spend much time on how she would convince him. Raymer was something of a wild card in the deck of the Dragon Clan, as were most who bonded with a dragon, at least that’s what rumors told. She didn’t know why. Perhaps dragons liked their sense of freedom or the travel that most bonded Clansmen enjoyed. Few of them remained with their villages. Maybe it was just their different mindset that the dragons enjoyed.

  She believed she had a similar mindset. Had any woman ever bonded with a dragon? The event of bonding was so rare that she only knew of two alive today, and the few in the past she knew of had all been men. But did that mean it couldn’t happen? Anna didn’t like that idea. If there were to be a third bonding—it would be her.

  “We go?”

  Glancing at Thief, she realized she had been standing there for too long. The soldiers were now far ahead, almost out of sight. Thief had stood watch over her and waited far longer than she intended. She was beginning to take her new friend for granted, and that needed to stop.

  A day later, Castle Warrington drew into sight. It occupied the ridge above a river, looking out over a wide valley containing at least a hundred farms. A single road, the same one they’d been following since leaving the Summer Palace, carried them closer until it merged with another road that ran parallel to the river.

  Castle Warrington also looked out over a harbor, but from the floor of the valley, Anna hadn’t seen the ocean, yet. The castle was made of heavy gray stone with few banners, flags or decorations. From the distance, Anna found it more functional and military than the Summer Palace.

  A high wall surrounded Castle Warrington. Obviously, this wall they approached, was built to defend the city if attacked from the river or valley. Without seeing the rest, she suspected the west side would protect an attack from the sea. It was a fortress intended for war, or by its very presence, preventing war. Only the most determined army would dare attack it.

  “They watch,” Thief said, in his first attempt to speak all morning.

  Her eyes followed him to the top of the gray wall where soldiers marched, but at the corner were two standing and speaking, their eyes on the road. Nothing or nobody would get past them.

  Anna said, “Listen, when we get to the gate, let me do the talking.”

  Thief turned to her and rolled his eyes, drawing a chuckle from her.

  The pair of guards waited at a small doorway cut into the large gate able to accommodate wagons coming and going at the same time. However, it stood closed, and only the small doorway to one side granted access to those on foot.

  The guard holding a quill and scroll half-smiled a greeting and demanded, “Your business?”

  Anna had long ago decided to keep any association with Raymer to herself. She spoke as if it pained her to say each word. “We are here to visit with our family.”

  The guard made a notation, then lifted his head to speak directly to her. “The family name?”

  She didn’t have an answer. Thinking quickly, she said, “Is that any business of yours?”

  The guard made a motion with his left hand, and four more guards appeared from inside the door, all carrying spears. They snapped to attention. The guard repeated, “Family name?”

  “Oh, alright. We’re here to see my grandmother. She fell, and we came to help.�
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  “Her name?”

  The guard wouldn’t let up, and she had no answer, but wouldn’t allow him to upset her. She sneered, “Grandma Emma.”

  His eyes raised, “She is a citizen of Castle Warrington?”

  “Well, what do you think?” she snapped, stepping to the side to pass by him.

  The guard casually moved with her, blocking her. He said, “Her full name, family relationship, and husband?”

  Anna sneered, trying to look convincing. “I don’t know.”

  “Occupation?”

  “She cooks and cleans her house. What are you trying to do? Keep me from seeing my grandmother? You don’t want her climbing your walls.”

  The guard shifted his eyes to Thief. “Your name, occupation, and what is your business here?”

  “Thief.”

  The guards snapped to attention, spears raised to the ready position.

  Anna leaped forward and shouted, “No, he’s not a thief. That’s his name.” They didn’t stand down. She continued, telling the story of the stolen mule and they relaxed slightly.

  The same guard said, “Your occupation, sir?”

  Thief looked at him as if he spoke another language.

  “What do you do for a living? Farmer? Shepard? Tradesman?”

  “Watch her,” Thief said, indicating Anna.

  His answer was truthful. Thief did watch over her, and she provided for him. She said, “Thief is slow to speak,” she winked, “but we take care of each other.”

  It was a good answer and one she expected to win over the guards. However, the one asking the questions didn’t relent. He spoke from the side of his mouth, “Take them into custody.”

  Before Anna could protest, two guards stepped forward. One took her upper arm in a vice-like grip and used his greater size to urge her forward. Another did the same with Thief. Inside the gate that led through the gray stone walls a small stone room, or cell waited. They were gently escorted inside where wooden benches hung from chains attached to the bare walls. Three windows, too high up on the wall to see through, and too small to fit through, offered the only light.