Hand-drawn, a hasty copy based on a beautiful map inside, it showed part of Delcimaar and the Bureau of Guilds. A large courtyard at the rear was circled. That was where they were to land. From there, large doors lead to hallways, which he was assured were big enough for dragon use. Those in turn would lead to the room where the meeting would take place.
Master Doronal had told them that the meeting rooms were large solaria designed to allow applicants to show off products, skills, and anything else the Council of Guilds felt they needed to see. The solarium where their meeting would take place was the largest one. It had been chosen in order to accommodate their five dragons.
The inside edge of the riding jacket collar scraped against his neck. Brand new—they had all brought along fresh, new gear for the all-important meeting—the leather was still stiff and rough. He rubbed the abrasive bit with his gloved thumb.
Willem walked up. “Nervous?”
“I’ve only visited the water closet fifteen million times this morning.”
Willem chuckled. “From what Master Doronal said, it should be simple, really. Master Millinith will do all the work. We just have to stand there, silent.”
“Well, at least until our added demonstration.” Aeron frowned. “Do you still think it’s a good idea?”
“I do. Now stop being so nervous. Here, for good luck.” Willem leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
“Celebrating already?” Sharrah had a brow raised.
Aeron cleared his throat. “No.”
“It was for luck.”
Cheddar smiled. “Well, I think we all hope for that.”
“Luck be damned,” Liara said. “We’re going to grab hold of our future ourselves.”
Renata turned to her. “I like that idea.”
Jessip, looking at Aeron, said, “We’re going to try.”
Fillion snorted. “Try? We’re going to do.”
Coatl chirped.
Aeron gripped Fillion’s shoulder. “That’s the spirit!” With an enormous grin, he said, “Alright, enough waiting. Mount up, dragonlinked. Let’s go and do!”
+ + + + +
“I’m sorry sir,” the clerk checked through several schedule books and lists, “but I don’t see—Oh. No wonder there’s no approval meeting. The application was withdrawn three days ago.”
Lord Eldin rubbed the space between his eyebrows where a dull, throbbing pain had begun. “And what of the meeting for Lady Rora’s company? It was scheduled directly after.”
A moment was spent scanning the lists. “That application was withdrawn as well.”
“Thank you.” His initial suspicion confirmed, Lord Eldin made for the door.
Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!
Breathing slowly, trying to calm himself, he reviewed his options.
All may not yet be lost. If Baronel was launching a craft guild, then he’d still need a primary craft’s support as well as a secondary’s. The Council of Guilds that partook in business approval meetings also ran the guild approval meetings, so the effort Lord Eldin had expended on Animal Craft and Investigation Craft should still be in play.
The desire to work behind the scenes, through back rooms and secret channels, had worked in his favor. If he’d tried more direct approaches to stopping Baronel’s businesses, which turned out to be feints, all his work would have been for naught.
One foot on the carriage step, he looked at the driver. “The Bureau of Guilds.”
+ + + + +
Millinith took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Over the last week, she’d been instructed by Master Doronal, Master Canneth, and even Lord Baronel himself. Everything they knew about dragons, nahual, the purpose of the guild, ideas on its future, and what to expect from this meeting, had all been imparted to her. She felt she was ready to help Lord Baronel with this.
Where was he, anyway? The meeting was scheduled to start any moment. She’d expected him to be here.
Looking around the room did not reveal the tall man. A few people stood with her in the waiting area. Most, however, stood in lines, queues that moved ever so slowly. Clerks were everywhere. Some sat behind windows serving the queues, while others scuttled about this way and that with determined looks on their faces that seemed to say, ‘We’re on important errands. Do not disturb us.’
“Master Millinith?”
She turned around. “Yes?”
“Are you ready?”
“For the meeting? Yes.”
“This way, please.” The young woman lead her out into a hallway. They walked for what seemed like forever, through several turns and rooms, before the clerk stopped before a nondescript door. “You have the papers?”
Holding up the forms, Millinith said, “I do.”
Smiling, the clerk opened the door. “If you would follow me, please?”
Millinith was lead to a wood podium in the middle of a large, bright room. The ceiling, it must have been at least forty feet above her, was almost entirely made up of glass windows through which the morning’s light shone. On one side of the room, to her left, two large doors dominated. A quick glance behind revealed row upon row of wooden benches, over half of them filled with men and women, chatting and looking about, while before her, seated on a raised dais, was the Council of Guilds. Made up of men and women, representatives of the major guilds, the Council would decide the fate of the guild application. A few representatives glanced her way, and many whispered and chatted amongst themselves.
She looked to the right, at the door through which she had entered and through which the clerk now departed.
Where was Lord Baronel?
+ + + + +
As his good fortune would have it, Lord Eldin came across Baronel in the lobby of the Bureau of Guilds. The meeting hadn’t been missed.
“Hello, Baronel.”
The man turned to him, and with recognition came a large smile. “Eldin!” The smile faded as Baronel finally worked out the pieces. “It was you, wasn’t it?” He shook his head. “Even after all these years. I suppose I should have suspected when your son was so keen to join the investigation team. He’s been sending you information.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Gregor’s interest in the investigation, in dragons, was all him. I had nothing to do with that. Though I did ask him to keep me apprised of Aeron and Anaya’s progress. Which he did. For a time.”
“I suppose we have you to thank for the reporter, as well.” Baronel turned and headed for a hallway.
Lord Eldin followed.
“And his story led you here.”
“It was a clever ruse, Baronel, putting in two business applications. Who would have thought your real gambit was a more difficult path. Still, it won’t work, you know.”
A quick glance. “Oh?”
“Of course not. What makes you think Animal Craft will approve being primary for a craft guild when they wouldn’t do so for a business?”
Lifting a corner of his mouth in a half-smile, Baronel said, “What makes you think Animal Craft is our primary?”
+ + + + +
“Well that was easier than I expected.” Aeron tucked his gloves in his jacket pocket and dismounted.
There are many, many people in the city. Anaya looked about the near-empty courtyard, and curiosity trickled through the link.
Yes there are. Luckily, not many are in this plaza.
“The map made it pretty simple.” Willem checked the straps holding the bundle to his saddle. “I’ll have to commend Master Doronal on his drawing skill.”
“It’s a good thing this courtyard is walled,” Gregor said. “Did you notice all the people that saw us fly in?”
“I did.” Liara walked over. “Many were running along the streets, trying to keep up.”
Aeron turned to what looked like a gate at the back of the courtyard. “I hope they have guards or something, to keep people from rushing in. I forget that not everyone is as accustomed to seeing dragons as we are at the Caer.”
&nb
sp; A loud clank and the sound of some kind of mechanical action made everyone turn around. The two large doors they had set down near began to slowly slide away from each other.
They opened on a passage, which was indeed wide enough for dragons. In fact, it was so wide, two could walk through abreast. As the doors slid to a stop, the left one revealed two men. They stared at the dragons for a moment, then one stepped forward.
“If you would all please follow me?”
With a look at each other, the dragonlinked and dragons followed into the dim hallway, out of the sunlight.
+ + + + +
Lord Eldin sat next to Lord Baronel in one of the front benches and took in the room as he waited for the meeting to start.
Looking over the Council, he recognized the Investigation Craft representative on the far right. The sketch his agent had sent was a very good likeness. The representative sat staring forward, looking resolute. Good. The representative from Animal Craft was nowhere to be seen, however. She was probably sitting with those in the back row. And there was the Smith Craft representative. He sat second from the end on the left. He, too, had a determined look on his face. Lady Helena had taken care of that guild.
A young woman stood at the podium before the Council. It was Millinith. Gregor’s description had been accurate, though she looked younger than expected. She kept looking about, particularly at a door to the right. When she caught sight of Baronel, her eyes grew large. Glancing at the man, Lord Eldin thought he caught sight of a wink.
The banging of a gavel, thrice, announced the start of the meeting.
“You are Master Millinith?” The Chair, a woman who looked to be in at least her fiftieth year, sat at the center of the Council. Four members sat to her left, four to her right, and nine were seated in a row behind her.
“I am, madam Chair.”
“I see on the application that Lord Baronel is your sponsor?”
“That’s correct, madam Chair.” Baronel stood and smiled.
“You are Lord Baronel? Good.” Turning to Millinith, she said, “You have at least the requisite five Accepted, I assume?”
“We currently have eight, madam Chair.”
“Good, good. Now, owning to the nature of the guild, the Council will need to see several dragons.” She paused as the crowd began to murmur. “Saying the word ‘dragons’ makes me smile. I never thought to see one in my life.” She looked at Millinith. “I will get to see one, yes? And in fact, I will need to see at least four.”
Lord Eldin frowned. From what he’d heard, they had enough. So much for that avenue of interference.
“How about five, madam Chair?” Baronel’s smile, though not smug, was annoying none-the-less.
The crowd’s murmurs grew louder as two large doors at the left of the room opened. A boy and a dragon walked in, side-by-side.
“Aeron and Anaya, madam Chair.” The girl at the podium announced their names.
Lord Eldin watched as they walked to the center of the room. So that was Aeron and his dragon Anaya. The boy didn’t seem remarkable. The dragon, however, was impressive.
“Willem and Balam,” the girl continued. “Renata and Xochi. Jessip and Zolin. Fillion and Coatl.”
The murmurs, whispers and mutterings of the audience were so loud, now, that they nearly drowned the girl’s words.
“And the last of our current Accepted, Sharrah, Cheddar and Liara. Gregor is our healer.”
Lord Eldin grunted. His son looked older, but happy.
The gavel banged twice as the Chair tried to maintain control over the excited audience. “There will be order in here or I will have the room cleared!”
Looking back at the dragons, Lord Eldin could see why people were so out of sorts. Dragons were enormous.
A thought occurred to him, and he stood. “Are we safe in the same room with the dragons? Can we trust children to maintain control over those titanic beasts? And why were children even allowed to make pets of them?”
Gregor looked surprised to see him. “Father?”
Baronel turned, a frown on his face. “Eldin—”
The gavel banged. “Order!” After a glance at those who had spoken, the Chair turned her gaze on him. “Who are you?”
“I am Lord Eldin.”
She stared at him.
He bowed his head, slightly. “Madam Chair.”
“They are not pets.” The first boy, Aeron, spoke. “They are our partners, our companions.” The other children nodded.
The Chair glanced at the boy and then back at him. “I will not tolerate outbursts in my meeting, Lord Eldin. If you have a question, you will first ask to speak.”
“Yes, madam Chair.” He sat down.
No matter. The seed had been planted. And there were still the three craft guilds that had been persuaded not to support Baronel.
The Chair returned her attention to the Millinith girl. “Have your dragons had any offspring?”
“No, madam Chair, they are not yet of reproductive age.”
“I see.” After shuffling through papers in front of her, she said, “Your petition for Magic Craft as your primary has been approved by their guild.”
Lord Eldin looked up at Baronel. “Magic Craft?” he hissed.
“Dragons are creatures of magic,” Baronel murmured. “They can cast spells. Naturally, Magic Craft came to mind.”
So, they had a primary craft. That wouldn’t matter when it came time for the vote. He had hoped to sway the Council’s opinion against children consorting with dragons even more with the newspaper article, but that hadn’t quite gone as planned. Still, as this was a guild application, Baronel needed a secondary supporting craft. What would he do for that?
“Let us see. Your secondary petition was for Healing Craft.”
Preposterous! Lord Eldin started to stand and protest.
“Alas, it was declined.”
Thank the gods. He sat back down. How could Healing Craft possibly be tied to dragons anyway? A glance at Baronel revealed that he wasn’t smiling any more.
“May I ask why it was declined?” Millinith said.
The Chair turned to someone in the row behind her. “Representative?”
When the Animal Craft representative stood—Lord Eldin recognized her from the sketches—Millinith took in a sharp breath.
“It was declined,” the representative said, “because we wish to be secondary.”
What? Lord Eldin sat forward. Why would they—
“Caryn?” Millinith seemed to know the woman.
“Representative Caryn, if you please.” Turning to the Chair, she said, “Can the application be modified to reflect Animal Craft as secondary?”
“Indeed it can.”
Lord Eldin looked from one to the other. What was going on here? Standing, he said, “Madam Chair, if I may ask a question?”
“Questions and comments from the public are welcome and are an important part of the approval process.” The Chair stared at him. “As long as they are pertinent. What is your question, Lord Eldin?”
“It’s for Representative, ah, Caryn, was it?” He turned to her. “Why is the Animal Craft Guild supporting this effort? Aren’t dragons direct competition for horses, mules, and such? Their delivery escapade should have proved that. If anything, I would think your guild would oppose it.”
“It was you!” Gregor looked at him. All of the children by the dragons and even Millinith turned to him. “You’re the one who worked against us.”
The disbelief and betrayal in his son’s eyes cut Lord Eldin deeper than he expected.
“Control yourself, young man.” The Chair stared at Gregor until he nodded. Turning to the Animal Craft representative, she said, “What of Lord Eldin’s question?”
Representative Caryn looked at the dragons a moment and said, “If you’d seen how they worked with the mail couriers delivering the horse vaccine on that ‘escapade,’ you’d understand. Besides, if they were competition, why would they have helped? No, dra
gons are something else entirely.”
“They’re something else, alright.” Lord Eldin looked at the enormous beasts. “Dangerous.” He glanced at the Investigation and Smith representatives. They were both staring at the dragons, nodding in agreement. Perhaps all was not lost.
“Do you have another question, Lord Eldin?”
“No, madam Chair. Not at the moment.” He sat.
Unlike a business, only two votes were required to decline a guild application. Lord Eldin allowed himself a tiny smile.
“The main requirements seem to have been met.” The Chair gathered the papers before her, and after a couple of taps on the table, set the neat pile down. “Barring questions from the guild representatives, or more from the public, all that remains is the vote.”
Lord Eldin crossed his arms. Yes, let’s move on to that. Baronel wore a smug expression again, but it would be wiped from his face soon.
The Chair addressed Millinith. “One of the responsibilities of this august body when considering a guild application, perhaps its most important responsibility, is determining whether the proposed guild’s members and the public at large will be safe. Safe from whatever activities the guild will be involved in.”
Lord Eldin stared at the Chair. This sounded promising.
She glanced at him momentarily before returning her gaze to Millinith. “Though I don’t approve of his initial outburst, Lord Eldin did bring up a few very good points.”
He held back laughter. Maybe this farce would be over even before the vote!
“Dragons are indeed titanic beasts. Much larger than I ever assumed possible. One can only imagine the destruction they could unleash.”
The crowd murmured in agreement. Some of the children, standing next to their dragons, looked upset.
“Though the dragons do seem to be well-behaved, we must consider every possibility and weigh it in our decision.” She looked at the boys and girls near the dragons. “And the Accepted do seem to be awfully young.”
“No younger than Accepted in any craft, madam Chair,” Millinith said.
Was there a touch of desperation in the girl’s voice?
The Bond (Book 2) Page 41