“I got her for my fifth birthday, but my father wouldn’t let me ride her until I was eight. Three long years of training. You have no idea how much I wanted to disobey my father. But no one disobeys my father. He is very strict.”
“I know what you mean,” Silver said quietly.
“I couldn’t believe it when he gave me permission to come to these races alone! Well, not so much alone.” Ferdi pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
When Silver looked, she discovered that one of the men she’d seen with him at the inn was trailing them.
“You have guards?”
“More like babysitters.”
As the swarm of people grew larger, Silver realized more than one person had stopped to glance at them or was making a concerted effort to move out of their path.
Silver drew her eyebrows together. “And who’s your father?”
But Ferdi pointed to something in the distance. “There she is! Isn’t she a magnificent beast?”
The change in the air hit Silver swiftly. Salt and brine, like the juices from the crocks of pickled sea vegetables traders often brought to Jaspaton, lingered under her nose. She stood on her tiptoes to try to see over the heads in front of her.
“Oh, she dipped down again,” Ferdi said. “Glitherns do that, you know.”
“Glitherns?” Silver racked her brain. “I’ve never heard of them.”
Ferdi nodded. “Lots of people haven’t. They’re so rare they’re practically mythical.”
“I know something about that, at least,” Silver said.
But Ferdi wasn’t done. He talked faster as he grew more excited. “They’re the only water dragons who can live their entire lives underwater. All water dragons have gills to help them breathe underwater, of course. But none have ones as big and efficient as a Glithern’s. Other breeds might stay under for several hours—and a lot less than that if they’re racing—but my dragon? Never has to come up for air! When we race, she stays under the surface the whole time. Makes her one of the fastest water dragons in the racing world. And the hardest to find.”
“Except—oof!” A large man’s elbow dug into Silver’s side.
“My apologies,” he said, turning to them. It was the palace guard from the day before, dressed in his immaculate white uniform. He smiled at Silver, then looked at Ferdi. The color drained from his cheeks.
“Truly! I … I didn’t mean,” he stammered.
“Not a problem. It’s crowded here,” Ferdi said quickly, pulling Silver along by her arm.
“What was that all about?” Silver said. Inside, though, she was shaking herself for almost giving Hiyyan away. It was hard not to brag about her own water dragon when Ferdi took so much delight in his Glithern.
Ferdi shrugged and looked down, letting his hair fall over his face. “Nothing. Just a friendly stranger.”
Silver knew there was more to it than that, but it was better not to ask questions, so that he wouldn’t start asking questions of his own.
“Only a desert fox could get through here,” she muttered as they jostled through the crowds.
Ferdi looked amused. “I’ve never seen a desert fox. But oh, look over there!”
This time, when Silver looked where Ferdi pointed, she saw the dark-blue-and-brilliant-orange head of a water dragon break the surface of the pool. The dragon looked around in a slow circle, then paused once she caught sight of Ferdi. The sun striking her skin reflected millions of rainbows. Silver had to shade her eyes against the brilliance.
“So bright! And so many colors,” Silver said. “She looked purple in the cart.”
“She’s every color, depending on the light. That’s the other reason she races underwater. Otherwise, I could temporarily blind my opponents with her dazzle.”
“That’s the rule for Glitherns, then—that they have to stay underwater during races?” Silver asked.
“No. There are no rules against the dragon’s special features. I just think it’s fairer to race that way. I win on my own merit. Because I’m the best racer.”
He waved to his Glithern. The water dragon’s narrowed eyes and sharp snout softened, her jaw fell open in a huge grin, and her tongue drooped out. Silver had to giggle.
Water dragons were all the same.
The Glithern splashed her tail against the water and dove under again.
“She’s beautiful,” Silver said.
“Her name’s Hoonazoor. Do you want to meet her?”
Yes, every cell inside Silver screamed. But Brajon would be wondering where she was soon. “I can’t,” she said. “I have to be somewhere right now. Thank you for showing me your Glithern.”
Silver started back through the crowd, sneaking one last glimpse at the stunning water dragon.
“Races start at six,” Ferdi called after her. “Don’t forget to watch me. I’ll be the one winning!”
TWENTY-NINE
Six o’clock was too soon for Silver’s comfort. She needed to figure out how to get Hiyyan registered for the races, and then how to get back to the cave to gather the camouin.
Luckily, the kind palace guard was straight ahead, buying a box of sweet jellies from a vendor. Brajon was probably still in line at the breakfast cart. There was time for a detour.
“Hello again,” Silver said, pausing at his side.
“You again! Lemon jelly?” the guard asked, holding the box to her.
“No, thank you. I was wondering if you know where the water dragons get registered.”
“You couldn’t ask your friend there? He knows.”
“He’s not my … He had to run. But I thought that since you see everything that goes on around the palace…”
The guard gave his mustache a twirl and leaned in conspiratorially. His eyes twinkled. “I do see everything. Even things I’m not supposed to.”
“Well, I just need to know one thing,” Silver said impatiently. The sun had risen high enough in the sky that the royal city’s streets were beginning to bake.
The guard shrugged and stood upright again.
“You’re a squire, and your rider sent you along to register, yes? I thought about becoming a water dragon squire when I was about your age. But it’s too competitive here in Calidia. Hundreds—no, thousands of kids try to get picked, and only a handful make it.” The guard popped a pink jelly into his mouth. “It’s all right, now. I like the guardship. An easy job most days. Even when the seawall gets crowded like this, it’s not too bad. Especially with little squires like you to keep me amused. Follow me. I’ll take you right to registration.” The guard headed toward the seawall, and Silver gratefully fell into step with him.
“Who are you signing up?” the guard asked between bites of jellies. “Where are you from?”
Silver squirmed. Lying was necessary, but she still felt awful doing it.
“Kolghan,” she said. It was the name of a desert town far to the west of Jaspaton. She didn’t know much about it, only that it was renowned for its shell jewelry.
“That’s some distance,” the guard said. His cheeks took on a rosy hue as he talked to her. “I didn’t think you had a water dragon there anymore. Not since your last Vaprozy retired and your town decided to use the river for shellfish farming instead of dragon training.”
“It’s a new one,” Silver said, fibbing again. “A young … Vaprozy.”
“Bred for racing, I’d guess. That’s an exciting thing for you to be part of. The breeding program here in Calidia is the second largest in the world,” the guard said, boasting. “Biggest one after Runesque, which is out there in deep sea, of course. But you’ll know all about that.”
“Yes.” Silver nodded, but her insides were twisting like a ball of yarn. Runesque? She’d never heard of it.
“How many races has your young Vaprozy won?”
“None. I mean, today will be his first.” She stood up straighter.
“That’s the spirit!” The guard patted her on the shoulder. “Although I have to say, I can’t help b
ut have a bit of a laugh when I see the Vaprozys racing. Haven’t seen one in action since before your old girl retired, but I thought I saw one training out in the sea yesterday. Must have been yours, eh?”
Silver nodded along, but she had no idea what the guard was talking about. What could be so amusing about racing?
“People might make fun, but you just ignore them and be proud of how well you’ve trained him up,” the guard said. He smiled.
“I will. I am. I mean, we all are.” If Silver’s insides were to twist any more, they would wring her as dry as the desert.
“Good. Ah, here we are. See those folks sitting on that platform? Sign up with them. And all the best to you. I’m a lucky one. Don’t have to work today, so I can come down to the festivities before the races begin. I’ll be looking out for your Vaprozy and cheering him on. Oh, and speaking of looking out, look there. Famous folks all around this morning!”
The crowd noise built. Silver’s stomach lurched when she spotted Sagittaria Wonder. The racer had appeared near the seawall and was gazing over the water. When the water dragon racer turned, her eyes swept the throngs, and her fierce gaze seemed to catch on Silver and the guard—or was that only Silver’s imagination?
Sagittaria set her jaw and walked in the direction of the palace, the people spreading apart to create a path for her. Silver breathed a sigh of relief. Against her skin, Nebekker’s stone pendant warmed. Silver looked around. Did that mean Kirja was near?
Silver waved good-bye to the guard and headed for the short set of stairs to the platform, citing squire duties. She swallowed and looked over her shoulder as she climbed. No Sagittaria Wonder in sight. A man with pale hair flowing to his waist was finishing his registration as Silver walked up. Parchment was strewn all over, and three of the four people sitting behind the table were furiously making notes with feathered quills.
“Can I help you?” said a tall, narrow woman who wore a hat in the shape of a flower. The petals bobbed as she looked Silver up and down. She sniffed.
“I’m here to register a dragon for my racer,” Silver said.
“We explicitly said in the registration materials not to send squires.” The woman rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ll take your information. But tell your racer that I’m not amused. Name?”
Silver smiled. This part had come to her in her dream last night.
“Desert Fox.”
“Age of dragon?”
“One year,” Silver said. A trader had told her that was the age water dragons began to hit peak form.
The woman nodded. “Place of training?”
“The deep desert,” Silver said without thinking, then hesitated. “I mean, a river near the desert.”
The woman looked up at Silver. “Really? How interesting. What body of water?”
One of the men behind the table spoke up. He was so old his skin looked like paper. “No time for chitchat, Keppleroo. Just register the dragon.”
From beneath her bobbing petals, Keppleroo glared at the ancient man before turning her attention back to Silver. “Preferred racing time? We can’t guarantee a time, of course, unless you’re registering a Daknyan.”
Silver thought back to the collection of water dragon facts tacked to her bedroom walls. Daknyan. Light-sensitive eyes. Can’t race while the sun’s up.
“Can you tell me which race Sagittaria Wonder is in?”
The woman’s mouth twitched. “Oh, child. Everyone wants to test themselves against Sagittaria Wonder. But it’s the easiest way to ensure that you won’t move on to the finals.”
“I’ll … I mean, my rider will take that challenge,” Silver said firmly. That would wipe the smug expression off Sagittaria’s face.
“Well, you don’t have the option. The races are sorted randomly after registration closes. No one will know who or what they’re up against. Too much knowledge lends itself to cheating.”
“And there’s already plenty of that,” the old man put in. “You’re not a cheater, are you?”
“No.” Silver held her head up high. To save Kirja, Silver had become a lot of things she wasn’t proud of: a disappointment, a thief, a liar. But she wasn’t a cheater.
The woman finished making a note on the parchment and gave Silver a numbered tag from a pile on the table. “Here’s your assignment. Place it on the back of your rider’s uniform. The race schedule will be posted on the seawall just below us at noon, so check back then to match your number to your race.”
“So I won’t know who I’m up against—”
“Until you’re at the starting line. Correct. The first races test speed. If you move through to the semifinals, you’ll be tested on speed and agility. Next!”
The person registering next to her jostled her as she turned away from the table.
“Oh, hello. You look familiar.” The man in dark blue—one of Ferdi’s companions—raised his eyebrows at her. “What are you doing up here?”
“Registering for my rider.” Silver hastily tucked her number in her coin pouch.
The man looked suspicious. He reached over as though he were going to dig through her bag. Silver pulled back, right into a sturdy figure. The other man in blue.
“I think this whelp has something to hide,” he said over Silver’s head. “There’s more to her than just a street urchin, I think.”
“I’m not a street urchin,” Silver said.
“Of course not. You’re a hero, too! Saving water dragons from theft.” The men laughed. “Ahrid, what shall we do with her?”
The first man snatched her tag. “Number one hundred fifteen. That’s a lot of water dragons. Cam, do you really think there are one hundred fifteen dragons in Calidia right now? That’s … why, that’s an army full, isn’t it?”
A shudder went down Silver’s spine. There was something about the man’s words and his smile and the way his friend gripped her shoulder that reminded her of Sagittaria Wonder.
But Silver raised her chin and sniffed derisively. “There can’t be that many. Where would they be kept? They would fill up the guest pool.”
Ahrid chuckled. “They would, if everyone here were a special guest of the queen. But they’re not. Most dragons are over there.”
The man pointed over Silver’s shoulder. Cam spun her around.
Silver’s eyebrows shot up, and her mouth dropped open. The seawall cut across the palace grounds, creating a private lawn and beach for the royals, before continuing on the other side of the palace. There, where there were no docks or grand ships bearing exotic goods from around the world, the open seas churned with white-capped waves. Water dragons. Maybe not hundreds of them, but a lot. Dozens. More than Silver ever thought she would see in her lifetime.
Some of the dragons swam, darting to and fro as their racers put them through their exercises. Some floated along lazily, soaking up the sun’s rays. Others formed groups, playing and talking. Silver strained her ears.
“They’re singing,” she whispered to herself in wonder. Could Hiyyan sing, too?
Silver recognized some of the breeds from the drawings that were on her bedroom walls, but others were new to her. And still others were so far away that even when she squinted she couldn’t quite tell them apart.
It was magical. A dream come true. She felt like she could lift off the platform and float right over to the water dragons.
“If only you had a scarf to wipe away your drool,” Ahrid said. He smirked, still holding her tag. “Bet a street urchin like you dreams of being close enough to a water dragon to touch them. I don’t believe you have a rider.”
“I do too.” Silver glared. “And a water dragon.”
“No rider would let you near their precious beast, no matter how many times you step in front of a cart. Dragons are worth more than silks, more than jewels.”
“More than kingdoms, in some cases,” Cam said.
“It’s none of your business,” Silver snapped.
“It’s not? I make it my job to assess Ferdi’s
potential opponents. And you are up here registering, after all.”
“For my rider,” Silver said. “And you don’t need to worry about Ferdi. His father thinks he’s good enough to be here, and that’s all that matters.”
The two men shared a shadowed look.
“You know more about Ferdi than you should.”
“Aw, don’t listen to her.” Cam grabbed the tag and pressed it into Silver’s palm. “You can lie to the folks at the table, but you’re boring me with your stories. Go on. Get lost.” Cam shoved Silver off the platform.
Fighting the urge to shove the man back, Silver gritted her teeth and melted into the crowd. Better that the man believed she was a liar. She wanted to keep her secret a bit longer. Needed to if, as Ahrid said, they took a special interest in Ferdi’s opponents. But as she looked back at the platform one last time, she saw Cam still standing there, a curious look on his face.
THIRTY
Silver shoved the man’s suspicious expression out of her mind. She needed to focus on finding camouin and another way to disguise Hiyyan and herself before the race. There might be enough camouin to hide Hiyyan’s wings, but his face—and hers—needed a different kind of disguise. Too bad her Aquinder couldn’t stay underwater the entire race like Ferdi’s dragon did.
At her side, Silver’s fingers worked back and forth as she thought, her bedraggled scarf rubbing against her skin. The fabric was smooth, the weave tight, and Silver wondered what it was made of. Cotton? Silk? Not Jaspatonian wool, and definitely not Aquinder fur. Both so useful. There are thousands of ways yarnwork is useful and wonderful, her mother had once said to her, when Silver had complained about learning it.
Silver had an idea.
There wasn’t much time to collect everything she needed to make her plan work, but to do that, she had to find Brajon. She darted down the road, back to the breakfast stand, but when she got there, he was nowhere to be found.
“You would disappear,” she muttered. Never mind that she was the one who took off first. She craned her neck left and right but caught no sight of her cousin.
What she did catch sight of were two guards posting a new notice on a wall near the palace. Most people paid little mind—there were many colorful flyers promoting merchants or festival events—but Silver crept closer. The wind shifted so that the delicately briny breeze became something harsh and cold, something with a touch of a warning.
Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races Page 16