by David Talon
I nodded in understanding, and he took his hand away. But I was still concerned. “If I may ask, sir: why did you need to investigate St. Augustine in the first place?”
“Why indeed? You see, when Master Gomez sent word of his dilemma, he knew we would never come to his aid out of the goodness of our hearts, much as we might like to. So he offered us treats to tempt us, starting with knowledge of the smuggling operations of his longtime rival, Master Mendez, whose assets we seized this afternoon.”
Alfonzo glared at him. “St. Augustine depends on the goods smuggled in to survive. We’ll never make it only on what the Spanish merchants send us.”
“Yes, yes, I know that. Why else do you think we have let it go on under our noses for so long? But the Spanish crown still has an edict against smuggling, and for now we are selectively enforcing it.”
“Keeping the gold and goods for yourselves.”
“Of course. Captain Alfonzo, we are a wandering order of knight-monks without any tax revenues to support us. But soldiers expect to be paid.”
“Lord Tiberius won’t stand for it.”
Lord Marcus chuckled. “My dear captain, I have done Tiberius a great favor. Some of his more far flung smugglers were becoming independent, like Master Mendez, and in one blow I have brought the rest of them scurrying back to Tiberius’s loving arms. He will commend me publicly for bringing this malefactor to the king’s justice while letting me know privately who his next merchant smuggler shall be, and I will make it a point to leave the man’s operations in St. Augustine alone. It is a game Tiberius and I have played for years.” He looked at me. “However, that was not the only treat Master Gomez offered us, for he knows we are always on the lookout for wild Dragons who will make good fighters.”
Alfonzo whirled on Master Gomez, who’d placed himself behind the two soldiers with silver wolves on their breastplates. “You unholy bastard!”
Master Gomez raised his hands in supplication. “Captain, I can explain.”
“Gentlemen,” General Montejo barked as Alfonzo’s hands curled into fists, “if you please! I expect both of you to act with decorum in front of the Knight-Abbot.”
Alfonzo glared at the merchant as he uncurled his hands, and then deliberately turned his back on the portly man. Lord Marcus continued as if nothing had happened. “Now, wild Dragons are not as rare as they once were, and many are not worth bringing into the fold. So I sent Captain Cholula to see if you were worth the trouble.”
“But I swear I’ve never set eyes on her before tonight! How could she have investigated me?”
“How indeed? Think back and tell me, when could Captain Cholula have investigated you?”
I turned to look at Captain Cholula as my thoughts ranged back in time. “Sir, I swear to you I don’t know. The only stranger we had in the house recently was a sailor’s whore being treated for the red pox.”
Alfonzo made a strangled sound. “What! Johanna would never do that.”
Captain Cholula barked out a laugh. “She did when I paid her with gold. Shadow-viper’s not a healer, but Red-dog’s been with the order for a while, and she could’ve done it easily after the symptoms first showed up.” Karl gave an amused snort, and she shrugged. “Go ahead and say ‘I told you so’. But the boy was too comely to pass up, and you have to admit it got me into the shoppe.” I listened with growing horror as she went on. “I went to Johanna with a sad tale which she thought was my own and she took pity on me, but also took the gold I offered, and let me stay with her after Smoke had extracted the pox nodules. Tomas, of course, was not allowed to help, and I kept my face covered by a grey shawl while I was healing.” Her face softened for a moment. “You always call Johanna Belle-M’ere, which means something in French.”
“Beautiful-mother”, Karl said.
“Indeed she is,” Cholula said. “We became thick as thieves, she and I, for Johanna loves to tell a tale as well as hear one told. But to the rest of the household I was like a little grey mouse: watching everything but saying nothing.” She gave me a wicked grin. “I also got a rare treat when Captain Alfonzo came to the house after the old man had gone to the tavern, and he and Tomas stripped off their shirts and went at it with wooden swords. Johanna and I watched from the upstairs window, of course, so not to disturb the boys at their play. You then had Smoke create an air-golem of a wolf, and the two of you went at it like sailors in a wine shoppe brawl.”
Everything she said had happened, but I didn’t understand how she could’ve been there to see. “Smoke should’ve known what you were the moment you set foot in the shoppe.”
Captain Cholula tapped the temple of her forehead. “Not with Shadow-viper taking residence up here. There are ways to tell, of course, but a dragon-ghost has to know what she’s looking for, and Smoke is untrained.”
I was horrified. “But I was told to never merge with a dragon-ghost! The Dragon of Draco Magistris who renewed my license every year warned me it was a grave sin that would lead to greater evil if I ever tried.”
“It leads to madness,” Captain Cholula said in a matter-of-fact voice.” At least if you do it too often. I saw the world not only through my eyes, but through Shadow-viper’s as well, and I can tell you the world’s a far stranger place than you’d ever believe.” She shrugged. “I’ve met a couple Dragons who like it, and they’re both more than passing odd.”
Shadow-viper spoke from the empty space beside me. “It won’t ever be a problem for Tomas, because when I tasted him I knew at once there’s no possible way for us to merge. I’m not entirely sure he’s human.”
My eyes went wide as saucers while everyone stared at me in astonishment, including Lord Marcus. “If Tomas is not human, then what is he?”
“I’ve no idea,” Shadow-viper answered. “But he’s got a good taste; in fact, I think my Dark Sisters would choke on it.”
“That is very reassuring,” Lord Marcus replied, my blood chilling as he stared at me. “Cholula, is there no clue as to the identity of his real mother?”
“None,” she answered. “Johanna told me the whole story; how a mysterious stranger in dark robes, guarded by men in oriental armor, showed up in St. Augustine a few days after Johanna had given birth to a stillborn child. The woman gave her newly born son to Johanna, telling her the boy would be safer in St. Augustine than aboard the woman’s ship, gave Johanna a bag of gold for his maintenance and left, never to return. Johanna still had one of the coins left, and she showed it to me. It had Chinese characters stamped into the metal.”
Lord Marcus’s face never left mine. “Tomas is very obviously not of Chinese origin.”
“He’s not. But here’s the even stranger part: the robed woman wouldn’t let Johanna get a look at the child until he was at her breast. But once he was finished and went to sleep, Johanna realized his features mirrored her own. Everyone in St. Augustine thinks Johanna made up the story about the mysterious woman so Johanna wouldn’t be cast out of the church for bearing a child outside of marriage, since Johanna and Tomas look so much alike.”
“Was there an official report of this stranger?”
“Indeed,” Captain Cholula said. “It supports everything Johanna told me, but adds one detail she never knew: when the dock master looked at the child’s face, his features were Chinese.” I turned around to stare at her in absolute shock, and she gave me a sympathetic smile. “You must feel like a first time sailor riding out a gale, but I have stranger things to tell. Answer me a question: how many men have you killed?”
I gaped at her in confusion, my wits running about like rats on a sinking ship. Alfonzo answered her. “Tomas has never killed anyone. He’s given as good as he’s got from the ruffians who’ve set upon him, but he’s never killed a man in anger. I’ll swear to that.”
She gave Alfonzo a sardonic smile. “I believe you. Now tell me, Tomas, how long has Smoke been drawing strength from you?”
My wits were finally settling themselves back down. “Ever since I understood w
hat she wanted.”
“As Shadow-viper was for me. Now, you’ve heard that a Dragon get stronger the more she fights, but especially the more men she kills, and that a dragon-ghost gets larger because the Dragon’s able to give her more strength, am I right?” I gave her a wary nod and she went on. “I’ve been fighting ever since I was fourteen, killing my first man a year later. There’s been a lot more of them who’ve died on the edge of my swords since then. You’re what, seventeen?”
“I’ll be seventeen this December.”
Her hungry grin returned. “Really? I’ll be reaching my fortieth birthday in three years. I’ve been feeding Shadow-viper over thirty years, you less than ten, yet when I saw Smoke through Shadow-viper’s eyes, she’s as large as a big dog, not much smaller than Shadow-viper. Not as large as Red-dog, of course, but she’s been with the order over several generations of Dragons. I think once I’ve begun teaching you real sword craft, and we go hunting in earnest, you’ll have your Smoke the size of Red-dog by the time you’ve reached twenty-one.”
Alfonzo gripped my shoulder. “Tomas, we’re leaving now.” I began to rise but instead froze in place. Faster than thought, Captain Cholula whipped out the dagger from her belt and laid it against Alfonzo’s throat, while Karl gripped the wrist of his sword hand like an iron vise.
Lord Marcus spoke in a seemingly kind voice. “Dear Captain Alfonzo, your concern for Tomas’s welfare is most touching. But he is not your son, much as you may think of him in that manner.”
General Montejo walked up beside Alfonzo. “Tomas is not going to be press-ganged into service like an English sailor. He will be offered a choice as his own man; I swear it to you both as an officer of the order, and a gentleman of the Spanish court. Now I ask you to stand with me, beside the other gentlemen. If you please, sir?”
For a moment I thought Alfonzo would try to fight anyway. But then he bowed his head, and Captain Cholula removed her dagger from his throat, while Karl released his arm. But I noticed neither one of them relaxed until General Montejo had led Alfonzo away to stand beside him. Lord Marcus then motioned for Captain Cholula to take a seat in front of me. “Pray explain to young Tomas the choice he must make tonight.”
“With pleasure,” Cholula said as she pulled the bench closer to me and sat with her back to the altar, and her knees pressed against mine. The tang of dried sweat and steel off her armor touched my nose, her breath still smelling of rum as she leaned in close. “You do realize your Belle-M’ere has a serious problem with the church, don’t you?”
I felt a stab of fear. “Belle-M’ere’s not a heretic; she’s a good catholic.” I turned to Lord Marcus. “Sir, I swear to you she is.”
Lord Marcus only sighed. “Your devotion to Johanna Rios is touching, but it cannot alter the facts. Her birth parents were both part of the heretical Huguenot cult, and there is no record of her ever being baptized into the true faith. The Elders” and he motioned toward the three men standing around the baptismal font, “have diligently checked. To make matters worse, Johanna has been carrying on a long-term affair with a married man.” And he pointed at Alfonzo.
My mouth opened in shock as Alfonzo said urgently, “Tomas, let me explain. It was an arranged marriage for the sake of a political union between our families, nothing more. The woman lives in Toledo with her own lover.” I felt a stab of betrayal, like a knife in my chest, which Alfonzo saw reflected on my face. “Tomas, Johanna knows; I told her at the beginning of our friendship. She’s always known I’d divorce that woman if I could and marry her.”
Captain Cholula squeezed my knees with her hands, regaining my attention. “Do you see what he just did? By admitting Belle-M’ere already knew he was married, it can be shown that a heretic led a good catholic to throw over his marriage vows, showing she’s an unrepentant sinner. That’s a death sentence.” At the look of fear on my face Captain Cholula’s became sympathetic. “I don’t want to see it happen either; I grew quite fond of your foster-mother in the time I spent with her. But only you have the power to save her.”
I felt like I’d stepped into a marsh pool sucking me down into black water. “If I join the order.”
To my surprise she shook her head. “You’d be miserable there; anyone can see it. No, I want you to become my apprentice. You see, I’m what they call a lay-sister, technically part of the order, but also independent, answering to Lord Marcus alone. I gladly follow his orders, but my life’s my own, to live as I choose. Just as yours will be. Johanna said you like to sail, and I know you like to fight, am I right?” I gave her a wary nod. “So as my apprentice,” she went on, “I’ll teach you to sail, to lead men into battle and fight in a way that you’ll come out alive when the killing’s done. Most of all, I’ll teach you how to think for yourself, while always having respect for your captain, or your Knight-Abbott.”
“That isn’t all you’ll teach him,” Alfonzo snarled behind me. “I’ve heard tales of you, Captain Cholula, of how you take innocent young boys and corrupt them with your foul ways.”
Her smile became hungry again. “I do far more than corrupt them, good captain; I break them like wild horses, until they’ll do anything I want. But Tomas will be different.” Captain Cholula put a hand, rough as salt-washed leather, to my face and gently stroked my cheek with her calloused thumb as her smile grew gentle. “You’ll hate me at first, as I hated the Dragon-captain who made me his apprentice when I was fourteen. But hate will turn to respect, and respect to love, as you begin to enjoy the things we do as we share my bed.”
I shrank back from her. “You’re old enough to be my mother.”
Her smile grew hungry once more. “Can you believe Johanna and I were only born a few months apart? Poor woman; I asked her what she would do when you turned eighteen and went into heat for the first time, and she said...she’d lock you in a room for the three days.”
All the members of Draco Dominus laughed, General Montejo remarking, “She has no concept of how desperate Dragons become when they go into heat.”
“Or how resourceful,” Lord Marcus remarked, smiling. “I envy you your first time in heat. Every woman able to bear children will wish to lay with you, and you will barely sleep, for your need and for theirs. It is fortunate for the world that a Dragon is only fertile a few times in his life, else we would rule the world and not be its servants. Your first time in heat will truly be a magical experience.”
Captain Cholula looked at him. “It’s not magical for everyone.”
Lord Marcus leaned forward, his wrinkled face sympathetic. “I know, and shall always regret what happened.”
She shrugged. “You did the only thing you could. Besides, had it happened differently, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today.”
“And were you not that woman,” Karl said beside her, half turned so he could keep an eye on Alfonzo, “I wouldn’t have signed on as your armsman.”
Captain Cholula looked up at him with a delighted grin. “You know, I never thought of that. I may have lost a child but I gained a mercenary.”
“Regardless,” Lord Marcus said, “we will see to it that Tomas fathers several children during that time.” He turned towards me. “I plan to take your foster-mother with us when we sail. The town around our fortress is growing, and needs a good apothecary. I will see to it she owns the business free and clear from the start, to recompense her for the loss of your companionship.”
It seemed too good to be true. “That’s been her dream all her life.”
“So Captain Cholula told me.”
“Johanna won’t leave St. Augustine,” Alfonzo snarled, “not while I’m there.”
Captain Cholula snorted. “You do think highly of yourself, don’t you?”
“Johanna Rios is an attractive woman,” Lord Marcus said. “Once she has been properly baptized and accepted into the loving arms of mother church, I feel certain she shall not lack for...unmarried...suitors.” His voice became brisk. “Now, the ceremony of the Dragon-swearing shall take plac
e at the fortress on Jamaica as soon as we arrive...”
Behind me there was a loud rapping sound on the door, which I heard opened. “Lord Marcus,” a man’s voice said, “the group of savages you’ve been waiting for are here.”
Lord Marcus stood up and turned around. “Indeed? I am surprised they finally showed.” I scrambled to my feet and Captain Cholula followed suit, everyone turning toward the open doors of the church as Lord Marcus continued. “How many are waiting for us?”
“Maybe a couple hundred local natives,” the soldier responded. “But only a few are armed.”
“They are only here to watch the performance,” General Montejo said. “What of the others?”
“Close to fifty,” the soldier said. “All of them are armed, except for five of them wearing animal skins. They look like shamans of some sort. But all of the warriors have their weapons put away, except for some in the back that bear gunpowder muskets.”
Karl gave an amused snort. “Didn’t anyone tell them the age of gunpowder’s at an end?”
“Evidently not,” Lord Marcus remarked as he looked toward the men standing beside the baptismal font. “Sebastian, have we any Dragons to be wary of?”
The shortest of the three, a lean man with a shaved head and a close-cropped beard, gave him a smile. “Night-wing tells me the five shamans are Dragons, but they’ve merged with their dragon-spirits.”
Lord Marcus nodded. As he began giving General Montejo his instructions, Captain Cholula leaned over to whisper in my ear. “When you’ve merged with a dragon-ghost and she leaves you, she takes most of your strength with her. Which would be fine in a fight, except she only uses it to protect you until you’re back on your feet, so among the natives it means they aren’t planning to launch an attack.”
“Because the Dragons can’t help.” Captain Cholula nodded as she grinned at me, and I stiffened as she hooked her hand around my belt in a possessive way.