LITMIR.BIZ

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go is under their own power. By foot. And to where? That’s something I haven’t been fully told yet. Only that it’s upriver a way. The why is pretty easy; everyone in the Rain Wilds knows that the dragons have become more than nuisances at Cassarick. They’re a real danger to the workers in the buried city, and to the inhabitants. Hungry, bad-tempered, and some of them aren’t too bright. Not bright enough to know they shouldn’t bite off the hand that feeds them, if you take my meaning. I don’t know how they’ve persuaded the dragons to leave, but they have. If they can get a crew together to sort of herd them along, they’ll move them out of there as soon as they can.’

      She’d felt faint. What if she arrived only to find that the dragons had already been sent away? What then? She’d found the voice to put her fear into words. To her surprise, the captain had grinned up at her recklessly. ‘Well, ma’am, that’s what I come to tell you. See, I’m part of that crew they’re trying to put together. And near as I can tell, if I say no, well then it’s not going to happen. That Council may not know it, but there’s no other barge on the river that can go as shallow as my old Tarman. No other barge will take on that contract. Now, up to now, I’ve just been talking to myself, figuring out how much money to hold out for. But if it comes down to it, I may put another condition on it, and that’s that you’ll have a chance to talk to the dragons before they depart. So. What do you think of that?’

      She was dumbfounded. ‘I’m surprised that you’d trust me with such a confidential matter. And I’m even more astonished that you’d do such a thing for a relative stranger.’ She leaned on the arm of her chair and lifted the netting from her face to look down into his. ‘Why?’ she asked, genuinely puzzled.

      He shrugged and his grin became bashful. He looked away from her. ‘Guess I just like you, ma’am. And I’d like to see you get what you come so far to get. What can it hurt to make them wait a day or three?’

      ‘I don’t think it could hurt them at all,’ she said. Gratitude and relief welled up in her. ‘Captain Leftrin, I’d be pleased if you’d call me Alise.’

      He glanced back at her then, a boyish flush of pleasure on his weathered face. ‘Well, I’d be more than pleased to do that!’ Then he’d looked away from her and almost visibly shifted the topic. ‘Fine night, isn’t it?’ he’d observed.

      She’d let the insect netting fall to shield her own blush. ‘The finest night I’ve experienced in a long time,’ she replied.

      When he’d excused himself and left the deckhouse roof she’d found herself giddy as a girl. He liked her. Liked her so much that he’d put a major contract at risk. She tried to think when any other man had actually said to her, ‘I like you.’ She couldn’t recall any instances. Had Hest ever said that in his early ‘courtship’ of her? She couldn’t recall that he had. And even if he had, from him it would only have meant that she suited his purposes. When Leftrin said it, it meant that, for no other reason, he’d put himself at risk for her. Astonishing.

      And when he returned, but a few moments later, with thick sweetened coffee in heavy earthenware mugs, she had thought it the most delicious brew she’d ever shared with anyone.

      The rustic conditions of life on the barge had not lost their charm for her. It seemed exotic and a bit dangerous to sleep in the captain’s bed with its thick wool blankets and gaily pieced patchwork cover. The room smelled of his tobacco and was littered with the implements of his profession. She woke to sunlight on the cunning fish chimes that hung at his window. And it secretly thrilled her that, at any hour, he might tap on the door and ask permission to enter to retrieve his pipe or a notebook or a fresh shirt.

      The barge moved slowly but steadily against the current. It stayed to the shallows at the edge of the river where the flow was less strong. Sometimes the crew manned sweeps and sometimes they used long poles to push it along. It seemed like magic to her as the wide heavy ship prevailed against the river’s steady push. On the first morning, the captain had placed a chair on the roof of the deckhouse for her so that she could take in all the sights and sounds of their journey. Sometimes Sedric joined her there, and she took keen pleasure in his company when he did, but Captain Leftrin had actually been more constantly at her side than he was.

      Captain Leftrin was full of tales of the river and the ships that traded on it. Rain Wilds history had changed in his telling of it, and she fancied that she now better understood how the Rain Wild Traders thought of themselves. She had come to enjoy the picturesque members of the crew, right down to the affectionate Grigsby. She’d never had a cat as a pet, but was rapidly becoming fond of the beast. She’d wondered what Hest might say to such a request, then suddenly resolved not to make it. She’d simply get herself a cat. That was all. It was strange, she thought, how a little rough living made her feel so much more in control of her life. So capable of making her own decisions.

      So Leftrin’s suggestion of one more night aboard the Tarman pleased her. Sedric had sighed and rolled his eyes. She’d laughed aloud at his doleful expression. ‘Let me have my adventure while I can, Sedric. Soon enough, too soon for me, it will all be over. We’ll both be back in Bingtown, and I don’t doubt that I’ll have a soft bed, hot meals and warm baths the rest of my life. And little else in the way of excitement.’

      ‘Surely a grand lady like yourself doesn’t lead as boring and sedate a life as all that,’ Captain Leftrin had exclaimed.

      ‘Oh, I fear that I do, sir. I’m a scholar, Captain Leftrin. Most of my days are spent at my desk, reading and translating old scrolls and trying to make sense of what they tell me. This chance to speak to real dragons was to be my one real adventure in life. After what Captain Trell and his wife told me about them, I’m afraid it will be far less rewarding than I thought it would be. But, what is so funny? Are you mocking me?’

      For Captain Leftrin had broken into a hearty boom of laughter at her words. ‘Oh, not at you, my dear, I assure you. It’s the idea of Althea Vestrit dismissed as “Captain Trell’s wife” that is a rich jest for me. She’s every bit as much a captain as Trell is, not that the Paragon needs a captain at all these days. There’s a liveship that has decided to be in charge of himself!’

      Sedric broke in on their conversation. ‘Surely there must be some sort of lodging available here? Even a humble one would be welcome.’

      ‘None that I’d say was fit for a lady, there isn’t. No, Sedric my friend, I’m afraid you’ll have to tolerate my hospitality for one more night. Now if you’ll excuse me for just a bit, I want to confer with my tillerman. There’s a tricky bit of river before Cassarick, where they tried to build those locks for the sea serpents the year they came up the river. Didn’t help the poor creatures much at all, and they’ve been a hazard to navigation every since.’ And so saying, he left his perch on the railing and descended to the deck. He quickly vanished from sight in the darkness.

      Alise looked up at the lights of Cassarick growing closer. Sedric spoke quietly in a sour voice. ‘I can’t wait to be off this stinking tub.’

      She was startled at the venom in his voice. ‘Do you truly hate it that much?’

      ‘There’s no privacy, the food is primitive, the company one level above socializing with street dogs, and my “bunk” reeks of whoever last slept in it. I can’t bathe, shaving is a challenge, and every piece of clothing I packed for this expedition now smells like their bilge. I didn’t expect to be comfortable accompanying you on this journey, but I didn’t think we’d descend quite this far into squalor.’

      Alise was struck dumb by his vehemence. Sedric seemed to take her silence as condemnation, for he seethed on, ‘Well, you cannot pretend to enjoy it here, even if you’ve a smelly room all to yourself. That pirate shows you no respect at all. Every time I turn around he’s leering at you, or calling you “my dear” as if you were some tavern wench he was set on impressing. He spends more time perched up here beside you than he does running his ship.’

      She found her tongue. ‘And you think this is inappropriate? Or that my behaviour is reprehensible in this?’

      ‘Oh, Alise, you know better than that.’

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