Dragon Keeper

by Robin Hobb

  Alise nodded at his reasoning. “There’s no sense in packing up all our luggage and setting out in the dark in the hope of finding a hospitable family. One more night aboard the Tarman won’t hurt us, Sedric. In the morning, you can look for lodgings for us while I speak to the local council about the dragons.” It seemed a solid arrangement to her. The boat was not palatial, but it was comfortable enough. The food was plain but nourishing. Captain Leftrin might be a bit rough around the edges, but his efforts at gallantry were flattering in their sincerity. She enjoyed his company even if Sedric obviously found him provincial. Several times that day Sedric had given her long-suffering glances at the captain’s extravagant compliments to her, and once he had smothered a laugh over the man’s efforts to be charming. She’d been surprised that it offended her when Sedric found the captain a cause for amusement. It seemed unkind and petty of him.

  And flattering.

  She tried not to dwell on that thought but could not help herself. Leftrin’s attentions to her had taken her completely by surprise. They had made her uncomfortable at first, and even suspicious. But in the last day, she had become convinced his admiration of her was sincere. She could not deny the thrill of pleasure that went through her at the thought of this rough, masculine river captain finding her attractive. He was so unlike any other man she had ever met. His company made her feel that she was truly adventurous, even reckless in undertaking this trip. At the same time, his evident strength and competence made her feel safe. She had indulged herself in his company, telling herself that it was only for a short time and that she had no intention of being unfaithful to Hest. She only wished to enjoy, for a time, that a man found her pretty.

  Then Sedric had reacted to him in a way that she could only construe as protective. It had shocked her. And stirred to new life her ancient childhood infatuation with him. Even before he had blossomed into such a gloriously handsome man, he had fascinated her. He’d paid attention to her when no other boy would have looked at her, with her wild red hair and thick freckles and flat bosom. He’d been kind. Oh, how she had dreamed of him, her best friend’s big brother, being more than kind to her. She’d twined their initials on her lesson papers, and stolen one of his riding gloves. It had smelled like him, and she both blushed and laughed to recall how she had kept it under her pillow and smelled it every evening before she went to sleep. She could not recall now what had become of it, or when she had given up her dream that someday he would turn to her and admit that he loved her, too. Was it possible that he had once cared for her? Was it remotely possible that in some corner of his heart, he still did?

  Oh, it was a silly fancy, as silly as her timid flirtation with the captain. Silly and absolutely delicious. And what harm could it be for her to imagine, just for a day or so, that two such different men could find her attractive? Hest had, for years now, made her feel so dowdy and stupid and boring. In the light and warmth of the captain’s regard and Sedric’s protectiveness, she felt like a flower stirring back to life.

  In her brief time on the Tarman, Alise felt her adventure had approached what she had imagined it would be. The big scow sat so low in the water that it seemed but a breath above the river; it made the trees tower all the higher above them. The birds and the strange river creatures, both dangerous and mild, were closer to her here. From the barge’s deck, she’d had glimpses of what Leftrin called marsh elk and riverpig. One large, toothy gallator had slid from his sunbathing on the mudbank to come and keep pace with the barge for a time until Skelly had given him a good rap with her pole that sent him slashing back to shore. She had seen several varieties of very large water birds; Leftrin had caught her sketching them into her journal and been completely amazed at her great artistic talent. He’d persuaded her to leaf back through her days on the river so that he could exclaim over some of her other efforts. She had blushed with pleasure when he’d recognized Captain Trell from one of her sketches, and when he’d told her the Rain Wild names for some of the exotic plants she’d drawn, she’d pleased him immensely by lettering their names in under her sketches. “So pleased to have been of ser vice to such a scholar, ma’am!” he had told her, with such sincerity that she had blushed.

  One insight he had given her had dismayed her. He’d sought her out as she sat in her chair on top of the deckhouse, bundled against the evening chill, with the netting of her hat pinned down against the insects. “Would you mind if I joined you briefly?” His careful formality was at odds with his rough demeanor. “It comes to me that I’ve a bit of information that you might want to know.”

  “Of course you may join me! This is your ship, isn’t it?” she replied, at once intrigued by his conspiratorial tone.

  Without more ado, he’d taken a seat on the deck next to her chair, folding up with an ease that surprised her. “Well, it’s like this,” he began immediately. “The Council at Cassarick has made a plan about the dragons. The dragons have agreed to it, but for a number of reasons, the word hasn’t been spread about much. But seeing as how it’s important to you that the dragons be there for you to talk to, I’ve decided to take you in, confidential-like. The fact is, the Council is getting ready to move the dragons out of there. And the word I’ve received is that it’s to happen soon. Within the month for certain.”

  “Move them? But how? And to where? Why would they do this?” She was shocked.

  “Well, as to how, the only way they can go is under their own power. By foot. And to where? That’s something I haven’t been fully told yet. Only that it’s upriver a way. The why is pretty easy; everyone in the Rain Wilds knows that the dragons have become more than nuisances at Cassarick. They’re a real danger to the workers in the buried city, and to the inhabitants. Hungry, bad tempered, and some of them aren’t too bright. Not bright enough to know they shouldn’t bite off the hand that feeds them, if you take my meaning. I don’t know how they’ve persuaded the dragons to leave, but they have. If they can get a crew together to sort of herd them along, they’ll move them out of there as soon as they can.”

  She’d felt faint. What if she arrived only to find that the dragons had already been sent away? What then? She’d found the voice to put her fear into words. To her surprise, the captain had grinned up at her recklessly. “Well, ma’am, that’s what I come to tell you. See, I’m part of that crew they’re trying to put together. And near as I can tell, if I say no, well then it’s not going to happen. That Council may not know it, but there’s no other barge on the river that can go as shallow as my old Tarman. No other barge will take on that contract. Up to now, I’ve just been talking to myself, figuring out how much money to hold out for. But if it comes down to it, I may put another condition on it, and that’s that you’ll have a chance to talk to the dragons before they depart. So. What do you think of that?”

  She was dumbfounded. “I’m surprised that you’d trust me with such a confidential matter. And I’m even more astonished that you’d do such a thing for a relative stranger.” She leaned on the arm of her chair and lifted the netting from her face to look down into his. “Why?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

  He shrugged and his grin became bashful. He looked away from her. “Guess I just like you, ma’am. And I’d like to see you get what you come so far to get. What can it hurt to make them wait a day or three?”

  “I don’t think it could hurt them at all,” she said. Gratitude and relief welled up in her. “Captain Leftrin, I’d be pleased if you’d call me Alise.”

  He glanced back at her then, a boyish flush of pleasure on his weathered face. “Well, I’d be more than pleased to do that!” Then he’d looked away from her and almost visibly shifted the topic. “Fine night, isn’t it?” he’d observed.

  She’d let the insect netting fall to shield her own blush. “The finest night I’ve experienced in a long time,” she replied.

  When he’d excused himself and left the deckhouse roof, she’d found herself giddy as a girl. He liked her. Liked her so much that he’d put a
major contract at risk. She tried to think when any other man had actually said to her, “I like you.” She couldn’t recall any instances. Had Hest ever said that in his early “courtship” of her? She couldn’t recall that he had. And even if he had, from him it would only have meant that she suited his purposes. When Leftrin said it, it meant that, for no other reason, he’d put himself at risk for her. Astonishing.

  And when he returned, but a few moments later, with thick sweetened coffee in heavy earthenware mugs, she had thought it the most delicious brew she’d ever shared with anyone.

  The rustic conditions of life on the barge had not lost their charm for her. It seemed exotic and a bit dangerous to sleep in the captain’s bed with its thick wool blankets and gaily pieced patchwork cover. The room smelled of his tobacco and was littered with the implements of his profession. She woke to sunlight on the cunning fish chimes that hung at his window. And it secretly thrilled her that, at any hour, he might tap on the door and ask permission to enter to retrieve his pipe or a notebook or a fresh shirt.

  The barge moved slowly but steadily against the current. It stayed to the shallows at the edge of the river where the flow was less strong. Sometimes the crew manned sweeps and sometimes they used long poles to push it along. It seemed like magic to her as the wide heavy ship prevailed against the river’s steady push. On the first morning, the captain had placed a chair on the roof of the deckhouse for her so that she could take in all the sights and sounds of their journey. Sometimes Sedric joined her there, and she took keen pleasure in his company when he did, but Captain Leftrin had actually been more constantly at her side than he was.

  Captain Leftrin was full of tales of the river and the ships that traded on it. Rain Wild history had changed in his telling of it, and she fancied that she now better understood how the Rain Wild Traders thought of themselves. She had come to enjoy the picturesque members of the crew, right down to the affectionate Grigsby. She’d never had a cat as a pet, but she was rapidly becoming fond of the beast. She’d wondered what Hest might say to such a request, then suddenly resolved not to make it. She’d simply get herself a cat. That was all. It was strange, she thought, how a little rough living made her feel so much more in control of her life. So capable of making her own decisions.

  So Leftrin’s suggestion of one more night aboard the Tarman pleased her. Sedric had sighed and rolled his eyes. She’d laughed aloud at his doleful expression. “Let me have my adventure while I can, Sedric. Soon enough, too soon for me, it will all be over. We’ll both be back in Bingtown, and I don’t doubt that I’ll have a soft bed, hot meals, and warm baths the rest of my life. And little else in the way of excitement.”

  “Surely a grand lady like yourself doesn’t lead as boring and sedate a life as all that,” Captain Leftrin had exclaimed.

  “Oh, I fear that I do, sir. I’m a scholar, Captain Leftrin. Most of my days are spent at my desk, reading and translating old scrolls and trying to make sense of what they tell me. This chance to speak to real dragons was to be my one real adventure in life. After what Captain Trell and his wife told me about them, I’m afraid it will be far less rewarding than I thought it would be. But, what is so funny? Are you mocking me?”

  For Captain Leftrin had broken into a hearty boom of laughter at her words. “Oh, not at you, my dear, I assure you. It’s the idea of Althea Vestrit dismissed as ‘Captain Trell’s wife’ that is a rich jest for me. She’s every bit as much a captain as Trell is, not that Paragon needs a captain at all these days. There’s a liveship that has decided to be in charge of himself !”

  Sedric broke in on their conversation. “Surely there must be some sort of lodging available here? Even a humble one would be welcome.”

  “None that I’d say was fit for a lady, there isn’t. No, Sedric my friend, I’m afraid you’ll have to tolerate my hospitality for one more night. Now if you’ll excuse me for just a bit, I want to confer with my tillerman. There’s a tricky bit of river before Cassarick, where they tried to build those locks for the sea serpents the year they came up the river. Didn’t help the poor creatures much at all, and they’ve been a hazard to navigation every since.” And so saying, he left his perch on the railing and descended to the deck. He quickly vanished from sight in the darkness.

  Alise looked up at the lights of Cassarick growing closer. Sedric spoke quietly in a sour voice. “I can’t wait to be off this stinking tub.”

  She was startled at the venom in his voice. “Do you truly hate it that much?”

  “There’s no privacy, the food is primitive, the company one level above socializing with street dogs, and my ‘bunk’ reeks of whoever last slept in it. I can’t bathe, shaving is a challenge, and every piece of clothing I packed for this expedition now smells like their bilge. I didn’t expect to be comfortable accompanying you on this journey, but I didn’t think we’d descend quite this far into squalor.”

  Alise was struck dumb by his vehemence. Sedric seemed to take her silence as condemnation, for he seethed on, “Well, you cannot pretend to enjoy it here, even if you’ve a smelly room all to yourself. That pirate shows you no respect at all. Every time I turn around he’s leering at you, or calling you ‘my dear’ as if you were some tavern wench he was set on impressing. He spends more time perched up here beside you than he does running his ship.”

  She found her tongue. “And you think this is inappropriate? Or that my behavior is reprehensible in this?”

  “Oh, Alise, you know better than that.” The sharpness dropped from his voice. “I know you wouldn’t do anything dishonorable, let alone with some smelly riverman who thinks a ‘clean shirt’ is one that he hasn’t worn in the last two days. No, I don’t fault you. You’re a very determined woman, and despite your disappointment about the dragons, you leaped to the practicality of trying to actually see them. I’m wretchedly uncomfortable on board this ship. At the same time, I’m relieved that you’ve recognized the realities we’re dealing with and that our visit to the Rain Wilds will not be as extended as you originally planned.”

  “Sedric, I’m so sorry! You hadn’t said a word. I didn’t realize you were so unhappy. Perhaps tomorrow you can find appropriate lodgings for us, yes, and spend some time on a hot bath and a decent meal. You can even take a long rest if you wish it. I’m sure I’ll be fine talking to the local council. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t offer me a guide for my visit to the dragons. There is no reason that you have to go see the creatures at all. Originally, when I had thought I would have long, detailed conversations, I’d hoped you’d be available to take notes of what was said and do some sketches for me. But now that I know my experience will be little more than a trip to a menagerie, I don’t see the sense in tormenting you.” She resolutely kept her disappointment from her voice as she offered this. She longed to have him at her side when she met the dragons, and not just for the comfort of a familiar face.

  She wanted there to be someone who would witness her there. She imagined them both back at Bingtown, at some stuffy dinner, when perhaps someone would ask her about her time among the dragons. She’d modestly say that it hadn’t been much of an adventure, but then Sedric might raise his voice to contradict her pleasantly, and make a witty tale out of her time among them. She visualized herself, in her black boots and canvas trousers that she’d bought just for her encounter, striding across the flats to confront the scaled behemoths. She smiled to herself.

  Before she met the dragons, she’d have to visit the local Traders’ Council, to introduce herself and get its permission. And there again, she hoped to have his companionship. She had no idea whom she’d meet with when she visited the Council. She’d wanted to enter on Sedric’s arm, to be seen as a woman worthy of such a handsome and charming escort. But he’d already made so many sacrifices to come with her. It was time for her to set her vanity aside and think of his comfort.

  Sedric sat up straighter. “Alise, I didn’t mean that at all! I enjoy your company, and I think I shall enjoy you
r seeing the dragons as much as you will. I apologize for being so discouraging. Let’s get what sleep we can and make an early start of the day. You should come with me to find our lodgings; I’d never just abandon you in a strange town. And regardless of what Captain Leftrin says, we’ve no idea of how safe or dangerous a place this may be. We’ll find our lodgings and, as you say, have a meal and a wash and change our clothes, and then we’ll go to the Council together. And then, on to the dragons!”

  “Then you don’t mind going with me?” She was startled by the sudden change in his attitude. She could not keep the smile from her face.

  “Not at all,” he insisted. “I’m looking forward to getting close to the dragons as much as you are.”

  “No, you aren’t,” Alise said with a laugh. She looked into his face boldly, knowing that in the night she did not need to fear letting her affection for him shine in her eyes. “But it’s a very kind lie, Sedric. I know you realize how much this means to me, and you’ve been awfully good about enduring your exile from Bingtown. When we return, I promise I’ll find some way to make it up to you.”

  Sedric abruptly looked uncomfortable. “Alise, nothing of the kind is necessary. I assure you. Let me walk you to your cabin and then say good night.”

  She wanted to tell him that she could walk herself to her cabin. But doing that would mean admitting to herself that she did enjoy her quiet chats with the captain, and that she rather hoped that he would join her again that night. But Sedric had already made it clear that he had reservations about such conversations, and she would not put him in the uncomfortable position of having to stay awake to chaperone her. She rose and let him take her arm.

  SINTARA AWOKE TO DARKNESS. The blackness jolted her, for she had been dreaming of flying in sunlit blue skies over a glittering city by a wide river of blue and silver. “Kelsingra,” she muttered to herself. She closed her eyes to the dark and tried to will herself back into her dream. She recalled the tall map tower at the center of the city, the broad city square, the leaping fountains, and the wide, shallow steps that led into the main buildings. There had been frescoes on the walls, images of both Elderling and dragon queens. Some ancestor of hers recalled sleeping sprawled on those wide steps, baking in the heat from the sun and the stone. How pleasant it had been to doze there, barely aware of the folk who hurried past her on their business. Their voices had been as musical as the distant chuckling of the river.