by Sarah Noffke
Sophia shook her head. “No, that is where we keep the prisoners…if they haven’t been killed remotely by their mysterious leader,” she said morbidly as she took Ainsley’s hand. “I will take you to your room and fetch you before dinner.”
“Thanks, S. Beaufont,” the elf said, managing a smile before glancing back at Evan. “Oh, and remember the laundry hanging on the line needs to come in, the bedrooms need to be cleaned, and the sheep need to be let out.”
“Let out of what?” Evan asked, scratching the side of his head with the tongs of a fork.
Ainsley shrugged. “I’m not sure. That is Quiet’s job. But I’m certain he lets the sheep out every day.”
“Why? And where to?” Evan questioned.
“Well, maybe so they don’t get wet or cold or something,” Ainsley said dismissively, obviously trying to get out of there and to bed.
“Dear Ainsley, you do know the sheep are made of wool and can withstand cold and rain, right?” Mama Jamba asked, wrapping up the bag of wafers and putting them on a high shelf like she was trying to keep them out of her reach, so she didn’t eat too many at once.
Ainsley seemed to consider this before shrugging again, disinterested. “Whatever. Figure out what Quiet does and do that too, Evan. And know no matter how hard you work and how pure your intentions are to do a great job, it will never meet Hiker Wallace’s expectations, and he will grunt and refuse you any gratitude.”
Evan sighed, a smile still on his undeterred face. “Thanks for the motivation. That really helps.”
Chapter Sixty
After tucking Ainsley into bed, Sophia slid through the narrow passageway that led to Quiet’s room. She was hoping she could convince him to give her his real name. When she arrived in his modest room, she found him fast asleep and didn’t have the heart to wake him.
How many centuries had he tirelessly cared for the Gullington doing whatever he did? No one seemed to know what that was when they had discussed divvying up tasks at the meeting. Without the groundskeeper and housekeeper, everyone was going to have to pitch in a little bit. Quiet always had dirt on his hands and clothes, and his nose was usually blistering red from being outside, but what he did was a mystery.
“We will be sure to let the sheep out for you,” Sophia said in a whisper, that heavy feeling lingering again in her chest.
She glanced around the room, looking for any clues to tell her what his name could be. Maybe like Rhett Wren, he had it embroidered into one of his garments. Sophia almost laughed, thinking of the ridiculousness of such a thing.
Besides, there wasn’t anything in the room. Just a bed, a side table, a sleeping gnome, and an old painting of a ship.
The McAfee.
Sophia had to go there next to find answers. Hopefully, she’d learned something about Trin Currante and her band of cyborg pirates. More than anything, Sophia hoped she found something to help her convince Quiet to give her his name. What had Mama Jamba said?
“If you want Quiet to reveal his name, you must find that which houses his soul…”
“Yeah, that doesn’t seem hard,” Sophia muttered to herself as she left the gnome to sleep in peace.
Lunis met Sophia on the Expanse, which was still covered in brown grass. It wasn’t dying like before, but it wasn’t coming back.
“The dragons really don’t know what is happening to the Gullington?” Sophia asked her dragon when he glided down from the Cave to land smoothly beside her.
Lunis folded his wings into his body and stared serenely across the grounds of the Expanse. Many assume that because we are the most powerful magical creature in the world—predating most others, that we know all the answers to problems.
“Based on what you just said, I would say that is a pretty astute assumption.”
Well, we aren’t all-knowing creatures, he corrected, giving her a snotty expression. Sometimes he took on a regal look most of the other dragons in the Cave shared. Sophia knew his real demeanor was closer to a playful teddy bear.
“Okay, well, do you limited-knowing creatures have any ideas?” Sophia asked.
Yes, the Gullington has been cursed.
Sophia threw up her hands, exasperated. “Well, the investigation is over, everyone. We can get back to our lives. The dragons have figured out what we all failed to see. The Gullington has been cursed. Thanks, Lunis.”
The critical expression on his face deepened. Your sarcasm is echoing across the grounds.
Sophia smirked. “I figured the sheep might enjoy the joke.”
He shook his head. They have zero sense of humor.
“Wow,” Sophia said in mock sympathy. “No organization skills and no humor. Sounds like my algebra tutor growing up.”
Why a child with more magical power than a clan of old magicians had to take math is beyond my comprehension, the dragon offered.
“In case this magician thing fell through, I could get an accounting job,” Sophia joked.
You would make a horrible accountant.
“Because my math skills are so awful?” she asked, checking the saddle strapped around him and tightening the buckles.
Because you wear color and have funny jokes, he quipped.
“Save your accounting jokes for Rory, the giant,” Sophia said. “He will appreciate them.”
Even though he is no longer an accountant? Lunis questioned.
“Especially so,” she answered.
I was going to make writing jokes about him at our next meeting.
“Oh?” she asked, affectionately running her hands over his blue scales.
What do you get when you cross a writer with a deadline? Lunis asked.
“What?”
A really clean house.
“Ba-dum-THS,” Sophia said, not laughing.
I have a lot more where that came from, Lunis told her proudly.
“Although I would love to hear them, I have to go and investigate that mysterious ship over there.” Sophia pointed at the McAfee.
I suppose you want a lift, then? he pretended to ask.
She patted her dragon, enjoying the warmth that spread over her from their every interaction. They had a spark, which had brought them together and chemistry that would keep them united for all their lives.
It was that elusive thing people look for all their lives, most never finding it because they settled for the practical, the safe and easy, the opposite of what Sophia and Lunis’ life was.
“I would never think of you as a simple lift like some Uber driver,” Sophia said, stepping onto the wing her dragon extended and climbing into the saddle.
If I were an Uber driver, I would have an exemplary rating and would be charming, asking my fare thoughtful questions to learn more about them.
With the slightest of intentions, Sophia directed Lunis into the air. He took off after a few steps, gracefully gliding off the cliff edge next to the Nest, where the dragon eggs were safe once more. The wind tangled Sophia’s hair back as her heart rose in her throat. Lunis took a sharp dive and barreled to the water’s surface. He pulled up inches away, gliding along the Pond, almost blending into the blue waters.
“What would you ask?” Sophia questioned, her voice barely audible over the rushing wind.
Well, it depends on where I was taxiing people.
“Fair enough,” Sophia said, studying the McAfee anchored in the distance. “Let’s say you were taking people around Edinburgh.”
Oh, good, I’m staying local in Scotland, he began, a hint of mischief in his voice. I guess I have many questions for the Scots I would like answered.
“Oh?” she pretended to ask. She knew Lunis could sense her stress about boarding the mysterious ship and was doing everything he could to make her feel better.
Yes, I mean, I obviously want to know what they wear under their kilts.
“You live in a Cave in Scotland with a bunch of dragons who belong to male riders,” Sophia replied. “How do you not know that answer, or can’t you find out?�
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Lunis scoffed. How uncivilized do you think we are?
“I once saw you eat a calf without hardly chewing,” she fired back.
That is different, he stated. We mind our boundaries. You wouldn’t want me telling them your personal business. Like about that one thing—
“There is no thing,” she interrupted.
There is a thing, he said, knowingness in his voice as he pulled up near the McAfee. The reason for the chaotic winds on the Expanse. But we don’t have to discuss it. Just know that I know there is a thing.
“Anyway,” she drew out the word. “Other questions for unsuspecting Scottish people who have chosen to take Dragon Lyft?”
Right, he chirped, circling over the top of the ship and giving Sophia a chance to survey the area around it and the deck. Well, I want to know why they sound so angry when they talk?
“That could just be Hiker,” she said with a laugh as she scanned the ship for any clues. It was abandoned, she knew that much.
Yeah, Wilder doesn’t have that same disgruntled quality to his voice, Lunis offered. I would also like to know why they are physically incapable of saying the word ‘Carl’ or the number ‘six.’
“Is that a thing?” Sophia asked, wondering why the McAfee appeared in such pristine condition. It was a very old ship, according to the painting on Quiet’s wall, if it was his ship, and he had been at the Gullington for several centuries. The ship below them appeared brand new if one ignored the old craftmanship style of the decoration around the outside and balustrades.
Ask them to say those words, he suggested. You will see. I would also like to know what the deal is with haggis and whether it is a form of currency.
“I think they use pounds,” she replied.
Finally, I want to know if they can introduce me to David Tennant.
“Because…”
Because all Scottish people know each other, right? Lunis laughed at his own joke. But seriously, like who wouldn’t want to meet the tenth Doctor. He is my favorite.
“You are very strange,” she remarked, steering Lunis closer to the ship’s deck.
Sophia would have to plan her dismount just right since Lunis couldn’t land on the surface of the ship. Once her feet hit the deck, she wanted to be ready to fight or defend herself from whatever magical force was on board or what the Pond might decide to do.
Chapter Sixty-One
Sophia tensed as soon as her boots touched the deck of the ship. She paused, crouched down low, and took note of the sounds, smells, and sights around her.
The boat rocked on the choppy waters of the Pond. With the winds up lately, the usually calm waters were full of white caps and made the ship bob from side to side.
Nothing charged out of the water and tried to lob her head off, so she rose slowly, her eyes constantly scanning.
I need to find something that houses Quiet’s soul, she said to Lunis in her mind.
His shadow cast over the ship and waters as he flew close by, ready to swoop down and get her if a sea monster sprang out of the water.
I’m not sure if Mama Jamba was being literal when she said that, he offered.
I hope not, Sophia told him. I mean, we aren’t supposed to part from our souls, I thought.
That is true, usually, but think of it this way, Lunis began. Parts of your soul can be in things. In the work you do, the ones you love, the places you value most. Maybe you can find a clue on board of what that is for Quiet.
Sophia thought she should go down to the lower decks first. It seemed the most logical place to find clues.
And you think, Sophia began, taking a few steps and pausing to see if her movement triggered any attacks. If I find something related to his soul, it might encourage him to share his name?
I think Mama Jamba told you to find what houses his soul for an important reason, Lunis answered. Motivation is key, and right now, Quiet would rather die than give up a seemingly simple thing. You need to remind him of what he’s got to live for. Find it and show it to him, and make him want to live regardless of whatever circumstances will come about after you learn his name.
Sophia scratched her head at the stairs that descended below deck.
It’s strange that a name could be of such importance, she said to her dragon.
And yet, if you would have called me the wrong one when we first met formally, you couldn’t have been my rider, he explained. A name holds incredible power, as do words in general. I’m guessing whatever Quiet’s real one is, it tells his secret and also might be the source of his power. Maybe you knowing it will be his very undoing.
Then why would Queen Anastasia Crystal make it a requirement for the antidote to work? Sophia asked, taking the first step on the dark staircase.
Good point, Lunis agreed. She did seem fond of the gnome.
Well, he saved her people, Sophia said. A very Quiet-like thing to do.
Right, so there is another reason she requires that information for the antidote to work, Lunis remarked.
Sophia sighed. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone just told us the intentions behind the riddle-like stuff they do?
Lunis laughed. Where would the fun in that be?
Obviously, that is what this is all about, Sophia answered. Make everything as confusing and mysterious as possible for the newbie dragonrider, so she gets a headache trying to solve riddle filled missions.
I’m sure that is the conversation they all secretly have about you, Lunis chuckled.
Sophia was about to respond when she passed a room that stole her attention. She halted in the doorway and braced herself as the boat rocked back and forth. When it calmed, she pulled in a breath, mesmerized.
The room in front of her wasn’t like one she had seen before. It was a complete duplicate of Hiker Wallace’s office.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Everything before Sophia was the same as in Hiker’s office in the Castle when it wasn’t in disrepair. The windows lining the side of the ship were the same arched type that faced the Pond, and the large desk sitting on the far-left side of the room was exactly like Hiker’s. It even had the same logbook on one corner. Even more surprising than the leather couch and books on one wall, all duplicates of the ones in the Castle, was the globe next to the windows.
Tentatively, Sophia took a step into the room and grasped this would have been the Captain’s quarters, Quiet’s private space.
Sophia hesitated before running her fingers over the globe. She rotated the orb on the axis, bringing it around until Scotland was in view.
Because everything appeared the same as the Castle, she half expected to find five red dots blinking on the surface indicating the dragonriders located currently at the Gullington. There was only one dot, and it was labeled The McAfee.
Sophia studied the globe for a minute longer, thinking she might find other clues on it, but other than the location of the ship, there didn’t seem to be anything else magical about it.
Turning her attention to the books, Sophia stepped along the shelves, not searching for anything but allowing her gaze to run over the spines. The volumes on the shelf were old. Really old. Although everything was in pristine condition, it all looked like it was from a millennium ago.
Sophia hoped to find a book of poetry on the shelves, but the clue she was looking for wasn’t going to be that obvious.
Going over to the desk, Sophia opened the logbook, eager to find something helpful. Maybe Quiet’s name, she thought.
There was one thing different about the gnome’s office versus Hiker’s. Beside his desk was a display case, and its location seemed to denote its importance. On a stand next to the captain’s desk, the box-shaped case was glass on all sides, except the bottom where a red velvet pillow sat. Sitting on the top of the velvet was nothing.
Sophia stared at the empty display case for a whole minute, wondering what could have been held inside the approximately two by two box. There didn’t appear to be any foul play. It hadn’t been br
oken open, but whatever had been inside was gone.
Maybe it’s invisible, Lunis offered.
Sophia shook her head. I don’t think so, but that is always something to keep in mind.
For as pristine as everything was on the ship, all the writing in the logbook was blurred as if it had suffered water damage, but the pages weren’t warped as if they had gotten wet and dried.
Magic had no doubt been used to blur the writing, which might have given her clues.
She pulled open the desk drawer and rummaged through it, finding several things that could have given her the captain of the McAfee’s name. An engraved lighter. A set of receipts. A picture of the crew with Quiet standing in the front, all the names written on the back.
On everything, the name that would have belonged to Quiet was blurred.
Sophia sighed. Why did the sweet little gnome have to be so revoltingly annoying about this?
She studied the picture, looking over the faces of the men who stood behind Quiet. They were all magicians or elves. It was a strange picture, with the small gnome standing in command in front of them.
She shouldn’t have been surprised to see the groundskeeper hadn’t aged a day. It was common for magical races to age slowly. Dragonriders lived the longest and aged very slowly. The Castle was obviously responsible, but the Dragon Elite weren’t immune from growing old. Adam Rivalry’s portrait in the Gullington was a testament to that, displaying him with a face full of wrinkles and long white hair and beard. At age eight hundred, he looked considerably well.
The fact Quiet hadn’t aged at all in one-thousand years was a bit harder to believe. She remembered Ainsley from when she went back to the reset point. She still looked the same too.
There was something about the Castle that kept those two the same.
But how? And why?