“I must. ‘your skin glows like the light of the moon, and your hair shines like the sun.’”
“Brother, “Lamot broke in, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Shhhh. No interruptions, please. ‘Your body curves…’”
Lanner’s face began to redden. “Okay, time to stop… I didn’t think she shared the whole thing. You have a good memory, Nori, and if it stops you, I will admit to mooning, just a bit.”
“I…” Lenore paused for exaggerated dramatic effect, “will stop, for the sake of all that is proper.”
“Thank you. Can I eat now?”
Lenore laughed and waved her hand at the basket. Lanner dived in.
***
Of her two brothers, Lanner and Lamot, Lanner was the one who shared Lenore’s wit and love of words, while Lamot was more likely to mind his own business, work hard, and carve wooden figures in his free time. Both were hauling timber to Perante’s castle when Lenore stopped them with food. After Lenore’s teasing of Lanner, they ate quickly and got the horses headed towards the castle. The only thing more dangerous than working for Perante was not working for Perante, and the brothers were not stupid. The lumber was going to brace the third floor. They had been bringing in timber for two months now. No one asked why bracing was needed, at least not out loud.
Lanner and Lamot had passed through the inner and outer baileys, bringing their load to the inner courtyard. Two years ago, they had helped bring in lumber for the construction of the hall in front of them. The hall itself was massive; three horse-and-carts could be lined up end to end for its width, and the length was twice that. A windlass and treadmill had taken up permanent residence in front of the hall to keep the large supplies moving into a large square opening made in the second floor wall. If it was level with the ground, the men could have brought their horses and wagon through with room to spare.
All of this was taken for granted by the brothers, who had seen it all over a hundred times before.
“Did you see Melanie this morning? The ribbons in her hair?” Lanner asked Lamot.
“I really doubt, big brother, that it was her ribbons that you were looking at nor writing poetry about. Now grab that strap and help me off-load this timber, before his high and magic gets angry.”
“Watch the high and you know what, little brother. This place has ears and I’ve heard even the mice report back what they have heard.” Lanner was sarcastic, but he also was a good judge of who he could be sarcastic around.
“Right, seeing eyes and all-knowing.” Lamot’s smile left his face. “Let’s get this hoisted up to the third floor so we can leave this place.”
“Eager to leave my humble abode, woodsman?” Perante’s tone was cool, but Lamot did not know how much he had heard.
“No sir, only to get the work done so as not to impede your construction.” Lamot kept his eyes down, showing his respect.
“Don’t lie to me woodsman. Nothing wrong with knowing your place.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lanner attempted to take the attention from his brother, “This is fine lumber, sir, straight and true.”
“It had better be…You look alike, siblings? That means brothers.”
“Yes, sir.” Lanner bit the tip of his tongue to keep his reply short.
Perante eyed his discomfort and decided to play with the hired help. “You are two young men in your prime. Tell me, who is the fairest in the village? Where do you cast your eyes and your calloused fingers?”
“We spend too much time in the woods, sir, to really know.” Lanner attempted to dodge the question.
“That’s right, sir,” Lamot answered, “we work from sun up to sun down most days.”
“Now, now, if you take me for an imbecile, that means stupid, I will be insulted.”
Not any more than I, with your damn vocabulary lessons, thought Lanner.
“Who,” this time said with more force, “do you do you fancy among the young women of the village?”
The brothers stood silent, not knowing what to say and unwilling to offer a name to the mage who would do who-knew-what with the information.
“Ah,” Perante shook his head. “I have noble woodsmen, who having heard too many false tales thinks I may abuse this knowledge - take the woman for myself. Do terrible things to her in the boudoir. That’s bedroom. ”
“No, sir, that’s not…” Lanner tried to answer.
“Of course, I can do as I please. I made this town and that is only right, but do you cast aspersions on my character, you simpleton?”
“Sir, my apologies. I meant nothing. We are simple…”
“Shut…up. I was getting bored and now I believe I am getting angry. Who the dragon do you think you are? Were you really planning to explain yourself? As if you have some justification for what you do that isn’t based on what I command?”
Lamot walked back towards their wagon, and his ax.
“Walk away, fool, and I will have you spending the rest of your miserable life emptying my chamber pot while your brother decides to join my army. I can always use willing, strong men.”
Lamot stopped two feet from the ax.
“You may not be as dumb as you look.” Looking away from Lamot, Perante asked Lanner, “Who, right now, is a fair maiden of the village? Don’t think, answer.”
Lanner looked at his brother, knowing he would pick up the ax before he said anything. “Melanie Fontaine, sir, is a pretty girl….” Lanner dropped his head, defeated.
“So simple an answer.” Lamot took a step toward his axe. Lanner moved quickly to the horses harnessed to the cart. “We will be off now, Sir, with your permission, to get more wood for your project.”
“Yes, go ahead. I look forward to further conversations with you.” The two brothers had brought up too many thoughts in Perante’s mind, and he was angry. His voice was cold as he added, “And Melanie.”
Chapter 10
Tadeus watched his son Hental come back into the hut with firewood. He had been quiet since Yuri left, but Tadeus was beginning to think there was more to the silence than the absence of his brother. “Good boy, Hental. It’s going to be a chilly night.” Agardia was chopping carrots at the table with the sleeping baby slung in front of her chest.
Hental didn’t reply, but added a log to the fire. “Sit by your father, Hental, and tell me what is on your mind.” Hental looked at his father. Tadeus smiled at him and motioned him to the chair next to him. “You are too young to carry such a weight I see on you, Henti. Your dragon rite is at least a spring away, so let me share your burden.”
Hental’s lip started to tremble and tears began to stream down his face. Even though he hadn’t sat on his father’s lap in many years, he jumped onto his father, burying his head in his neck and accidentally driving his knee into his father’s stomach. Tadeus tried to catch his breath that just rushed out of his lungs as his son started sobbing.
Agardia stopped preparing dinner to look at the two of them. Tadeus raised his eyebrows, letting her know he didn’t know what was going on. “Hental, my boy, everything is going to be okay.” Hental’s shoulder’s raised up and down as he cried. “Can you hear me, Henti?” Hental nodded into his neck. “That’s my boy.” He continued to pat his back.
“Henti, you just about made me a gelding.” Hental leaned back, putting his knee once again into Tadeus’s stomach. He rubbed the tears from his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Papa.”
“That’s okay…let’s get you in a better position.” Stephanvoich shifted Hental so he was now sitting across his lap. He had one arm over Hental’s shoulder. “So, what is all this about?”
“I…I…I…ate someone.”
“You what?!” If he hadn’t been so withdrawn before, Tadeus would think this was just another one of Hental’s stores.
Agardia set her knife to the table.
“And a wolf.”
Tadeus looked to his wife, who raised her hands in an I-have-no-idea gesture. He t
hen smiled at Hental. “I think your friends were playing a trick on you, Henti. You didn’t eat anyone.” Tadeus let out a deep breath and started shaking his head. “Henti, you had us both worried there.”
“But I did,” whispered Hental, “when I was with Yuri, I…I grabbed his necklace and felt Samora eat someone, and later, it ate a wolf.”
Agardia came from the table and knelt beside Hental, putting a hand on his head. “Oh Henti, that must have been terrible.” She gave quizzical and worried look to her husband, who gave a similar one right back.
Tadeus spoke soothingly, “Start over, Henti. When did this happen?”
Hental looked up at his father’s face, pausing before answering. “Well, I know you told me not to bother Yuri when he went to the dragon field, but I thought I could help.”
His father slowly nodded his head. “I know.”
Hental wiped one of the last tears from his cheek. “I wish I would have listened, but I didn’t know what would happen to him.”
A tone of reproach crept into Tadeus’s voice. “Then what happened?”
“Well, he gave me the necklace to wear and…”
Agardia interrupted, “Yuri gave you the dragon talker necklace to wear?”
“Sort of.”
“Hental?” A tone of reproach entered Agardia’s voice.
“Well, not really, but he did give it to me to hold…and then I put it on.” Hental was sitting up straighter, as if telling the tale was making him lighter. “It was horrible. I put it on and then I felt like I was Samora, and she was eating!”
Agardia asked, “What happened then?
“Well, she ate this weird man, and it tasted gross…and his bones crunched.” He grimaced at the memory, but the grimace was short lived. “And then, I was flying! That part was cool, but I was, she was looking for this wolf, and she ate him!”
His parents exchanged looks. They both knew that was no wolf, but dragon villages didn’t talk about dogs, and there was no reason to burden Hental with that information. Agardia asked, “How long did you wear the necklace?”
“Ummm….a while.”
“Hental,” Tadeus’s voice became more stern, “now is not the time to exaggerate.” At this, Hental made a face, reacting as if he was just insulted. His father smiled and lightened his tone, “Hental, I love you but you do tell a great tale. This is serious. I need you to answer as accurately as you can.”
“If I think real hard, I’d say it was about 2 heartbeats. Yuri tackled me and took it right away when I put it on…he should be punished for that.”
“Maybe, Hental… You had it on for just a moment but you felt all these things that lasted longer, right?
“Oh yeah, I felt stuff all the way until I got home.”
“Do you feel anything now?” Tadeus was trying to figure out what to make of this. A lost or misused dragon necklace usually meant bad things for the village of its owner. The two people with the most knowledge of the subject were dead.
Hental climbed out of his father’s lap, pushing off against his stomach with one hand as he wiped away his last tears with the other. Tadeus just shook his head in wonder.
“Just hungry. Can I eat early?”
“Hental, only you can go from feeling terrible for eating a person to eating dinner early so fast.”
“You hush,” Agardia interjected, “of course you can, Hental. You did the right thing talking to us. You let us know if you get any more feelings, okay?
“Okay Mom, I will.”
Agardia patted him on the head and mouthed one word to Tadeus, she, before returning to the table.
Tadeus raised his shoulders in an I-don’t-know gesture in answer and joined them at the table.
Chapter 11
As Yuri headed east, pulled by something he couldn’t name, he thought of Hental. I should really go home and see how he is, but Dad will take care of him, and if Samora is eating people, I better find out what the tail I can do to make sure she doesn’t start eating anyone from the village. As these thoughts raced through his mind, Yuri appreciated the weight of the pack, holding him low to the ground.
As the miles stretched behind him, Yuri began to relax. At least, he thought, I’m moving. Standing around waiting was driving me crazy. Mandan was surrounded by mountains, and he was heading in the one direction that lead to the only open plain out of the valley. Other directions had small mountain passes, five trails requiring different levels of physical ability and knowledge. Yuri wasn’t afraid of them, but he didn’t complain that he was being pulled east.
That night, Yuri set up a fire and a small lean-to. He had spent time alone in the woods before, but never with his return in question. It would take another two days walking to get to the plain and another day to get to the first major village, Vrotsim. What he would find there, he didn’t know. Yuri took stock of his equipment by the light of the fire. In addition to some locally made items he kept to trade, he had his bow with 20 arrows, some still needing feathers for accuracy, the knife his father gave him, a spoon carved out of the hoof of a deer, a section of hollowed-out branch he used to heat water over a fire, a second set of clothes, the talisman from his dragon rite, and, of course, his dragon necklace. Yuri smiled, thinking of how his father would always put out all of the equipment and supplies before a hunting trip, just like Yuri was doing now.
He thought of what his father said to him before he left. “Yuri, I am proud of you. You are a good young man. I can only imagine what you are going to find out there, but do not forget who you are or where you are from. If you do that, you will always know what to do…When I went out to find your mother, this is what my father said to me, ‘stand tall, talk straight, and don’t be afraid to knock someone down or help someone up if that’s what is called for.’ “
“Now,” Tadeus smiled ruefully, “that advice got me into some trouble, just ask your mom someday, so I will add to it, based on my experience. “Stand tall when you need to see. Talk straight when you trust the listener; otherwise, keep your mouth shut. And if the odds aren’t in your favor in a fight, keep the fight for another day. You can help people, but you can’t change them.”
“I know father,” Yuri had replied. I’ve been listening all these years at the table and on those hunting trips.”
“Humor me, son. And be back for Hental’s dragon rite. He will be insufferable if you aren’t here.” Tadeus had hugged his son, secretly placing his own good luck charm in his pack.
Yuri remembered his own dragon rite. It was a four day ordeal in the woods when all the boys around the age of 13 were initiated into the village, into the world of men and dragons. He wanted to be there for Hental. Suddenly, Yuri realized he had to be there for all the boys of the village. He was the dragon talker. He would be the one to give the boys their talisman and share the basic rules the men of the village followed in relation to Samora. There is so much I have to learn, he thought, and why didn’t I pay more attention when Sandeen was talking? Yuri committed himself, between now and his rite, I’m going to find every dragon talker I can.
***
Two days later, Yuri entered Vrotsim. Being the closest village to Mandan, there were a lot of similarities, and each village was used to seeing young men from the other village show up. Yuri’s blue coat, the color favored by men in his village, easily marked him as a Mandanite. Yuri’s first stop was to go to the market. He didn’t want to arouse anyone’s suspicion. He had no idea why he was being cautious, but it felt right, so he did it. He remembered his father’s advice, “Keep your mouth shut.”
I have to say something, though, he thought. I guess I am looking for a wife! I hope she is a great cook and knows everything about dragons. A young man can dream, can’t he? He entered the market and began checking out the food and wares being sold.
A merchant selling cooking utensils waved him over. “Young man, you look like a hearty traveler. I have just what you need.” With nothing else to do and no real idea what to do, Yuri walked over.
The man smiled, “Let me guess, you are a man on a quest?”
“As a matter of fact,“ Yuri replied, “I am. I’m looking for a wife.”
“Yes! Only the best women live in Vrotsim.” The man came from behind his stand and put his arm around Yuri, whispering, “To tell the truth, young man, the woman here are not good for marriage, not this time. They are a mean and ugly lot, but I hear, and this from good authority, that the fairest women of them all are in Aruna, but a four week walk from here.” Louder, for all to hear, he said, “Ah, but you are just traveling through. You are missing out on true beauties, my friend.” Back to a whisper for Yuri alone, “Aruna, young man, that is where I would go if I were your age.”
Before Yuri could say anything, the man continued, “Now, what you need, on a trip like this, is just what I have here. Notice the craftsmanship.”
“A three-legged pot, that I’m to carry cross country?” Yuri eyed the merchant quizzically.
“Of course not, my boy, that’s for a settled family, not a young man on an adventure. Next to it, my friend, the light weight kettle, or possibly a new skillet to replace the worn-out one hanging from your pack?”
“It serves me fine, Sir.” In reality, it didn’t, but Yuri thought, it’s too soon to spending my arrows or bartering away my goods and I’m not sticking around long enough to work for it. “And a kettle is one more thing I don’t want to carry. Fine equipment, though, that is for sure. Maybe on my return?”
“I can’t guarantee they will still be here, but a young man must be a young man…Now, there is one last thing that every man in this village has that you might be interested…no…I’ve taken to much of your time.” He waved Yuri away. “And yet, all the men I know have this…”
Yuri couldn’t resist, “What is it?”
“Ah, I suppose it would not be right to deny a man such a basic necessity. I keep it behind my table - so popular there are attempts to steal them.” The merchant shook his head at the thought of someone trying to steal his goods.
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