The memory flashed in my mind, more because eating with Avery was not something I’d normally do, but Elizabeth had insisted. It had been an unpleasant meal. “That was him?”
“He concealed his identity as the future king, of course, but Elizabeth told me. I’d forgotten until now that he came from Trager.”
Her voice had trailed off to a whisper and made me think she had feelings for him. “Back to the present, and Avery’s request,” I said.
She sighed. “Put yourself in my place. When Avery speaks in an official capacity, he is speaking for the Heir Apparent, who may be the King of Dire at this very moment, for all we know, but certainly, he will be one day in the future. He has the right to make such a demand. The question is, do I have the right to refuse? Besides, the people are warned, and most will be dead by spring if they do nothing. This might save a few lives.”
We sat in silence while thinking. Finally, I said, “If we take this to Elizabeth, what will she say?”
“I must obey.”
“Okay, then there is only one more thing to determine. Call your dragon and have her stand nearby and ready. When we board the small boat, she can be our diversion.”
Kendra closed her eyes. She was not sleeping, but I had a hand ready to grasp her if she fell from her sitting position. Her posture remained fixed. Her eyes opened as if a firebrand had touched her skin. “She’s coming.”
Those two words scared me more than if I’d been locked in a room with a thousand spiders. I don’t like spiders, I hate them, but the implications of her response were so far beyond what I comprehended that I simply nodded. Spiders would have been preferred.
No, they wouldn’t.
Kendra as much as said that she had reached out with her mind and told the dragon to come to Trager. How can that happen? How can her answer get any stranger? Well, it did. According to her, the dragon “heard” the request. And if that was not enough, it had somehow responded. My sister, the Dragon Tamer, had a dragon ready to obey her and destroy a city.
A small shiver ran down from the back of my head to my neck, and down my back. Worse than facing a slashing sword in combat, fear took hold.
In my mind, I recounted the possible conversations the two of them may have had. “Hey, dragon. I’m going to need you to come over here to Trager if you’re not too busy.” Kendra is always polite. The dragon said in her mind, “Oh, sure. I’m not too busy slaying sheep and deer to eat for dinner so I’ll fly on over as soon as I’m finished.”
The words may have been different, but the result the same. I found myself in a decaying city with a king that required “our” help, so my sister talked to “her” dragon with her mind and ordered it to fly here. Later, she would tell it to destroy part of the city, not the first time it had done that. Maybe afterward we could all have a tea party.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked.
While formulating an answer, Will strode to us with heavy feet down the deck, no doubt letting us know of his approach with the pounding of his heels. He leaned on the railing nearby and said, “A small boat approaches.”
As the last word was uttered, he turned and walked to the young man on duty at the gangplank and stood talking with him. No doubt, Will was making sure no warning was sounded. If the young sailor attempted to go back on his agreement, he would die this night. Kendra moved quickly, and after a little fussing by Emma, they stood and carried extra blankets in their arms.
We went to the far side of the ship, the side of the hull facing away from any prying eyes of the city and pier. The coiled ladder was secured to the rail, and I lowered it as a large rowboat approached, using the shadows and the ship to remain unseen to any on shore. The moon was a crescent, but between it, the bright stars in the cloudless sky, and the brilliance of the warm desert air, it seemed to me the rowboat was as obvious as a pink cow in a herd of white ones.
Anna went first. Her expression said it was another adventure. Emma was more hesitant, and then Kendra, who was visibly scared. When my foot touched the top rung, it twisted and almost caused me to lose my balance. The ladder rungs moved with each step, not always predictable in where they would be.
Hands grabbed my ankles and directed them down the last few rungs. A space had been cleared for us to sit. Flier sat across from me in the bow, beside him sat Kendra and the girls. Four rowers, two on each side were behind, and a huddled man at the stern with a tiller tucked under his armpit whispered orders.
The boat moved easily and almost silently away from the Gallant. The direction was away from the opening to the sea. Nobody spoke. On the shore near the pier, movement drew my attention. At least five or six people were standing together. As we slowly moved away, a glint of gold braid on a shoulder or military button reflected in torchlight, but no alarm was raised.
There was no current, but the incoming tide moved us along faster than the oars by themselves would have. Within a short time, we were rowing past a part of the city I’d never seen. We remained quiet because voices carry over water, especially at night.
The piers in this part of the city were crumbling, and much of the dock area had fallen into the bay. The buildings were dark, made of wood, and most lacking paint. There were only a few lamps or candles in windows. Nobody walked the dark streets. Dogs, if there were any that hadn’t been eaten, remained silent. A dank smell of rot permeated the air.
We rowed on. A misty cloud temporarily obscured the moon, and the city drew indistinct. I felt safer. We eventually reached the end of the buildings and rowed on, but moved closer to shore where I assumed it would be harder to spot us from the shore, even though we were closer. The overhanging trees drooped willowy branches we brushed aside, the speed of the rowing increased, but not a single word was whispered.
Getting caught would cost all of us our lives, I had no doubt. Everyone on the rowboat understood, even the girls who huddled against Kendra for protection seemed to sense the danger and urgency. Emma watching my hand hover near the hilt of my sword as if she knew that would be her first warning of immediate danger.
Without notice, the rowboat turned to shore, where a stream fed into the waters of the bay. The bottom of the hull ground on rocks and gravel. Flier leaped out as nimbly as a boy, his bad leg history. I went next, my feet in cold water up to my ankles. Kendra passed the girls to me one at a time, and I stood them ashore, then she came last.
Oars braced on the bottom of the stream and shoved the boat away before I could thank the men in the boat. Without our dead weight, the boat floated higher and eased into the darkness before it quickly disappeared.
Flier pushed his way through weeds taller than our heads and located a narrow trail that followed the edge of the stream, one with solid footing, even if seldom used. He took the lead, me the rear. We moved quickly until arriving at a small lean-to hut made of sticks. Inside were crude backpacks sewn with large stitches. They had originally been canvas sacks, probably used by ships to carry cargo.
Straps had been poorly made of the same folded material and fastened to the sacks with strong stitches. A drawstring at the top closed them, a poor solution if it should rain because everything inside would get wet, but we were in a desert, and I realized I shouldn’t judge by the needs here and not at home, nor as a fugitive in a foreign land. We should be happy to have whatever was inside them.
“Don’t bother with an inventory until we’re away from here,” Flier said. “We’re not safe, yet.”
“Are they searching for us?” Kendra asked, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice.
Flier said, “No. It’s worse than that. I’m told they have patrols outside the city searching for anyone sneaking in or out of Trager. There are patrols outside to prevent people from fleeing over the Vin Pass.”