Shell watched him disappear into the crowd, and said, “Well, that was surely unexpected.”
Camilla said, “I’m sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Shell said, his eye still searching for Red. Then they fell onto the watcher, who pretended to look elsewhere. “I guess if we want to get rid of anyone bothering us, we just need to mention Breslau.”
“Can you sense Pudding?”
“He’s roaming the countryside, searching for a meal.”
Camilla said, “That must be a wonderful gift.”
“Or a curse, I’m not sure which it is. I have not felt the sting of a dragon since we entered Fleming. What about you?”
She shook her head. Then said, “I just cannot see why Red reacted that way.”
“He talked all about it until you mentioned that one word.”
Camilla’s eyes had tears at the corners, but an edge of determination controlled her voice. “Maybe I was not supposed to use that name if we were as innocent as we pretended. He knew from that we were not what we believed, and that scared him. I thought this would be easier. I came here to help our families, and I also think because my ego said I could do what others cannot. But the reality is that this is much harder than expected.”
While Shell felt much the same, he shook his head and forced a smile. “You know what? We only arrived this morning. Let’s give it a few days.”
“I suppose you’re right. A lot has happened, but I hoped Red would tell us about the city, where to buy weapons, who to trust, and what to avoid. I messed that up.”
Shell said, “I’ve been thinking of something you mentioned. Those men, the dock workers loading and unloading the ships are strong. Look at the chests and arms on them.”
“I have been,” a slight smile slipped into place on her lips.
“They lift and carry all day,” he ignored her smile. “If we find two of them, we can half-trust, they could deliver the watcher to us if we had a private location.”
Her smile increased. “Or, if I could get him alone for a few moments, I’ll bet I could get a look at his back and see if he has the Dragon Clan mark.”
“How would you do that. . . Oh!” Shell felt his face redden with some embarrassment, but mostly jealousy. He also feared for her safety.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The possible Dragon Clan watcher followed them back to the house where they rented the rooms. Shell didn’t make a big deal of keeping an eye on him but didn’t let him out of sight, either. If he tried to slip away, Shell decided to try following him, maybe turn the tables on who watched who. If nothing else, it would serve him right, but with luck, Shell might find where the watcher lived, or other useful information.
Their rooms didn’t overlook the street in front, so they didn’t know if the watcher remained out there on the street. Both entered Shell’s room and took the same spots as before, Camilla on the bed and him sitting on the floor.
She held out her hand. “Let me see that knife, again.”
Shell passed it to her, again noticing how ordinary it appeared while in the sheath. But as soon as he pulled it, the blade reflected light in a way that indicated the knife was anything but ordinary. The surface of the blade was free of rust, dents, and other signs of use, but instead of a bright reflective surface, it had a soft gray finish. The balance felt perfect, the edge looked new, and the metal had to be an alloy he’d never seen.
Camilla examined it near the window, turning it over and over, end over end, and then she held the handle to the light. “I should have kept this for myself. I’ve never seen a knife as well made. Have you noticed that inside the black of the handle are pictures if you hold it to the light?”
“Pictures? I haven’t had time to look at it, yet.”
“If you hold it in the sunlight, there is an elk on one side and a bird, maybe an eagle, on the other. The handle is smooth, so the images must have been carved from the back side, although I cannot imagine how.”
He held the knife in the sunlight and found she was right. He slid his fingernail down the edge and couldn’t feel the smallest chip, or dent as if the knife had never been used. Yet, the scabbard was not new, but well-worn and aged. Why would someone purchase a knife so rare and yet carry it in an old scabbard?
He said, “The knife with the ruby?”
“Safely hidden. I don’t know why, but this place, this city, makes me feel worried. It’s not the place I’d post pictures of the knife at every street corner. At least, not yet.”
Shell said, “How do we proceed?”
“You’re not talking about the ruby knife, are you? Well, remember this is our first day, and we have not even spent a night here. I say we keep exploring. So far we’ve found several interesting things, and I’d like to talk to Red again.”
“I don’t think he will talk to us,” Shell said. “But I keep thinking about the watcher, and wondering if he is Dragon Clan.”
“Why would he stay here two months?”
“Red never said he had been here all that time. Red said he had seen the man around for over two months, I think. What if there is another place he goes?”
Camilla said, “The watcher? Are you suggesting he may travel to his Family? Or that he has a home nearby? Well, how about him watching more than ports than just Fleming? Or he sails to other ports and always returns here? Maybe the ports are in a certain country across the sea?”
Shell stood, stretching and pointing to the door. “My intent was to make a point, not throw out a hundred possibilities and confuse the situation.”
“So, you just want to consider part of the facts, not all of them.”
“No, I am impatient and direct. Sometimes being impatient and direct are virtues.”
She laughed softly, and asked, “And how might that be?”
“I’m going outside, and if he’s there, I’m going to confront him impatiently and directly.”
“You’re going to walk up to him and ask if he is Dragon Clan and he’s going to tell you? You call that a virtue?” Camilla asked. “If he is, or is not, he’ll probably think you daft, disappear, and you’ll never see him again.”
“Which would be better than looking up a hundred times today and seeing him.” Before Camilla could object, Shell strode onto the landing and descended the stairs. He threw open the front door and caught sight of someone ducking into the deep shade across the street; someone dressed in the same dull brown color of clothing as the watcher.
Shell walked down the street, crossing it as he did, and at the next alley turned. He sprinted past the building and leaped behind the corner where he was hidden from sight as he waited. No sooner had he placed his back against the wall than the watcher’s footprints sounded, drawing closer. Shell held still until the shadowed movement approached. He was reminded of Quester sneaking behind him on the path back in the grasslands.
The watcher continued running until he came even with Shell, and he must have seen Shell from the corner of his eye because he spun and reached for his knife. Shell already held his. The watcher stood taller than Shell by half a head, weighed more, and appeared to be younger, but not by much, maybe a few years.
He wore clothing better than most dockworkers, not as good as many who strolled the streets. His beard was neatly trimmed and his light brown hair longer than most, but shorter than the sailors who tied theirs behind their heads to keep hair from blowing into their eyes while working aloft. He’d learned that earlier while listening to conversations at other tables.