Edward glanced at his full glass of wine and gulped it half down, ignoring the salmon and beef, then shook his head, declining more food.
“Fine, just let me know if you do, son. You’re performing the duties of your new job well. This rumor of the child is important to the King and to me. I just have a few minor questions.”
“Sir?” Edward sat taller.
“Have you decided whether you will depart for Nettleton tonight or early tomorrow? And yes, I must ask if you have sufficient funds in hand to properly finance your journey? Traveling to far lands is not cheap, as you know.”
“Sir?”
“You’ve said that, already. Did you expect to bring me rumor of a boy of the Dragon Clans and just let it lay without confirmation or following it up? I have already praised you for your job well done this morn. Must I retract it and appoint someone more eager to please me?”
“No, sir.”
“Good. Now go find Tomas and tell him you need gold in your purse for your travels. Mention that I said he is to charge you his best interest rate. Take at least four aides, with fast horses for them, on your journey so they can return quickly with messages of your progress.”
“Aides?”
“Tomas will also provide you with the fast mounts you’ll require. He has some very nice ones, well trained and all that. I’ll trust him not to overcharge you, but if you prefer to beg funds from your father, or if you wish to use horses provided by your family, I completely understand.” The sheriff looked away from the confused expression on the boy’s face.
“I’m going? At my expense?”
“Edward, is there another you would have me trust with a mission so important?”
“No, I will go, sir. It’s just that I have traveled no further than Creighton in my few travels.”
The sheriff flashed his best smile and pounded the surface of his desk with his palm providing a sharp noise that made Edward nearly leap from his chair. “Excellent! You don’t have to thank me for providing you this adventure. Listen to me. You’ll love traveling afar, even if you’re moving so fast on your horse you cannot have time to experience it all. Still, you may locate a fine wine or other delicacies I could be interested in. Do keep me informed. I’m always interested in anything of quality.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, back to your task. You will confirm the existence of this dragon boy. Without his knowledge, you will lay your eyes on his bare back. That is critical. Send word of it to me immediately. You may consider adding a sketch if you have pen and paper at hand. Nobody else is to know about your mission, understood?”
“I have a question, sir. How will I see the image on the bare back of a boy I do not know, without his knowledge? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply take him into custody and return him here where you could examine him?”
“Warning him of your interest, or attempting to take him into custody might cost you your life. You might find yourself facing an angry dragon flying down from the sky and breathing fire directly at you.”
“Fire?”
The sheriff settled deeper into his chair as he fixed Edward with the same expression that often made men weep. He placed his elbows on the desk and then folded his hands with the tip of his long index fingers touching each other making a steeple. He sighed deeply before speaking softly. “Must I do all your thinking for you, Edward? I’m tempted to assign this glorious task to another.”
“I can do this, sir.”
“I hope so, Edward. More wine? Cheese?”
CHAPTER THREE
Camilla approached the washerwoman’s place from the opposite side she’d departed the day before. Best to always do things differently. It’s harder for others to anticipate your actions and, therefore, you live longer. Camilla settled down behind a small stand of thick briars. She spread them apart only enough to peer through. The old woman worked, as always. Alone. Not even a barking dog to warn of intruders.
Just as she was deciding it was time to come out from hiding and enter the yard, Robin called softly, “Going to remain out there all day, Camilla?”
How long had she known I was there? And how? Camilla stood and walked into the yard as if she had no cares, no sore legs, and no wounds hurting. A fresh application of the ointment soothed them, and most seemed to have already improved. She lugged the pole, one end dragging in the dirt. Her new knife rested between two thin strips of leather hastily sewn into the inside hip of her pants last night. She had practiced drawing it quickly but still fumbled.
The washerwoman already had several clotheslines drying her daily wash. She glanced at the end of the pole in Camilla’s hand and grinned. “Tired of carrying that staff, so you drag it on the ground? In time, that staff will feel as if it weighs nothing.”
Camilla nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, just acknowledging that she had heard.
“Don’t be ashamed. Carrying that staff with you was a simple test to see if you’d do as you’re told. You carried it all the way to your cave and back?”
Nodding, Camilla reached for and held out the knife. “You gave me this. Why?”
“It’s small, but you need a knife for chores like cleaning fish or meat. It’s a tool. And a weapon, if needed,” Robin responded smiling slyly. “It might trim your hair, too. While you’re hiding as a boy you must look the part, but that won’t last much longer, I’m thinking. You won’t be able to dress and act like a boy when you fill out in the hips and chest a little more.”
“That’s already happening.”
“I saw you without clothing yesterday. You have maybe a year left to hide behind the looks of a boy, if that long.”
Camilla held the pole out to her.
She shook her head with a small frown. Robin motioned for her to sit down on the stump again. “I started this story yesterday. We all have secrets, so now I’ll continue with telling you mine. As I told you yesterday, a long time ago a handsome man used to call on me. A warrior. I drew the attention of many handsome young men those days, but he was different. He had a dragon birthmark on his back and shoulder, similar to yours. The wings of his dragon circled his whole chest, almost touching.”
“He should not have shown it to you,”
Robin said. “It was one of the many secrets we shared.”
Camilla was on her feet. “But it was a mark like mine?”
“Sit, girl. Similar to yours. His dragon was larger and black. He could call down black dragons. I don’t think that means much of anything except that since your mark is red, you will only feel the touch of red dragons and no others. I could be wrong.”
“Feel red dragons?”
“He told me he could feel them when they were near, and call them down from the sky when needed. Black ones. If he was in pain, he said that any blacks nearby flew to help him. But he could always feel them if they were anywhere around. I never fully understood what he meant by that. You might know . . .”
Camilla hesitated, understanding the woman was trying to draw information from her. Camilla held little trust in anyone. Not even this woman who acted and talked like she was helping. She already shared two of her secrets, but the others remained hers. There was no way she’d mention the tingles along her spine when a red dragon passed overhead. “I don’t know anything about dragons except for the one on my back.”
The washerwoman watched and listened to her carefully and finally spoke in an urgent tone, “I see. There is more to my story, but you must never speak of any of this today to another person. Your life depends on it. If I find you have blabbered about the service I’m about to provide, I’ll kill you and deny all. My life is also at stake, and only the fond memory of a debt owed to a man of the Dragon Clan makes me help you.”