“Exasperating,” Thymara supplied quietly, with a small smile.
“Exactly!” Alise replied. And to her surprise, she found herself smiling back at the girl.
“Well, at least I know that it isn’t only me.” Thymara cocked her head at Alise and asked shyly, “Does this mean you’re giving up and going back to Bingtown?”
Alise could not miss the mixed emotions that flickered across Sedric’s face. Hope seemed to be a strong one, but anxiety was there as well. He spoke before she could. “It’s perfectly understandable if you’ve decided not to make the journey, Alise. I can have us packed and unloaded from Leftrin’s barge in a very short time. But before we do that, I promised Thymara that I’d assist her with one of the other dragons. An injured one.”
“The silver,” Thymara said quietly.
Alise looked from Sedric to Thymara and back again, trying to make sense of his words. She had never known him to have any fondness for or interest in animals. Oh, he shared some of her scholastic interest in dragons, but she had never seen him pet a dog or talk to his horse. And now he was going to assist this girl in doctoring a dragon? There was something here, and she felt she stood at the edge of a strange and perhaps dark current. Could he possibly be interested in the girl? She was so young and so peculiar looking. It would be very inappropriate. She spoke without thinking.
“I’ll come along. Perhaps it is only Skymaw who is so difficult. You are right, Sedric. I should not give up so easily, especially after I gave my word to the Council. Shall we go right now?”
He looked uncomfortable. “Perhaps later. I don’t think we should bother him while he’s eating.”
“Actually, that might be a good opportunity,” the Rain Wild girl suggested. “It may be that while he is distracted with eating, we can look at his injuries.”
“But I’ve heard one should never bother an animal while it is eating!” Sedric protested.
“Ordinary animals, perhaps,” Thymara agreed. “But the silver is a dragon. And while he looks very stupid, perhaps there is a kernel of intelligence there. If I’m going to help care for him on the upriver journey, the sooner I get to know something of him, the better.”
“Let’s go then,” Alise agreed.
“Of course,” Sedric replied weakly.
Day the 6th of the Grain Moon
Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders
From Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug
To Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown
A copy of the contract between the Rain Wild Council of Cassarick and Captain Leftrin of the liveship tarman, including a binder concerning Alise Kincarron Finbok, Dragon Scholar of Bingtown, with the suggestion that a copy of this document be retained in the Council Records for Alise Kincarron Finbok. A detailed accounting of the expenses involved will follow.
Erek,
In my official capacity of Bird Keeper for Trehaug I am relieved to tell you that the exceptionally ugly bird that was vomiting on itself after eating its own droppings has apparently cured itself. There is no danger of the contagion spreading to either of our flocks. Sa’s mercy on us all!
Detozi
Chapter Fourteen Scales
Sintara shouldered her way past Veras and seized the swamp-deer carcass the green had been eyeing. The smaller female hissed around the meat that she gripped and made a half-hearted swipe at her. Sintara ignored her. She would not waste time fighting while there was food to be had. The meat that was being dumped from the relay of barrows was the most she had seen in months. All the dragons had converged on it, forming a half circle of large, hungry creatures. She didn’t intend to stop eating until every last bit of it was gone. Then she would nap in the sun and digest. Let the humans flutter and squawk that it was time to leave; she’d leave when she was ready and not before.
She was surrounded by the sounds of feeding dragons. Bones crunched, meat tore, and dragons grunted as they raced to consume the most food. The larger dragons had pushed into the central area and claimed the largest pieces. The smaller dragons, shouldered to one side, had to be content with birds, fish, and even rabbits.
It was when she tossed her head back to gulp down the front quarter of the swamp deer that she noticed the cluster of humans around one of the other dragons. The dragon, a malformed silver, was trying to eat. He was ignoring the humans who had seized his tail and drawn it out to its unimpressive length. Apparently he was so hungry that nothing could distract him from his meal. Sintara would have dismissed the sight for a very similar reason if she had not noticed that two of the humans fussing over him belonged to her.