Blood of Dragons

In the midst of the general cacophony, Alise saw the Chalcedean prisoners come to their feet, lift the length of anchor chain that joined them, and begin their dull shuffle to the gangplank. Their heads were bowed. One man was muttering something in a low voice, perhaps a prayer. As they neared the gangplank, one at the end of the line began shouting frantically and trying to pull away. The other men looked at him, grim-faced, and then two of his fellows seized him and dragged him along.

‘Sit down. Not ready for you yet,’ Hennesey told them irritably. His lower lip was still bruised and swollen, and his tone plainly conveyed his dislike for his charges. But if they understood that he spoke to them, they gave no indication. If anything, they stepped up their pace. Trader Candral was now shrieking almost hysterically that it was all a lie, he had never betrayed the Rain Wilds, while the Jamaillians were trying to out-shout him with their badly accented accusations of piracy and kidnapping.

Alise divined their intention a moment too late. ‘Don’t let them!’ she shouted, even as the first four Chalcedean captives stepped up onto the gangplank. And then off, into the river.

Connected by their chains, the others followed them, some willingly, others not. Hennesey and Skelly caught hold of the last two, but the weight of the chained men and the pull of the current snatched them out of their hands and into the water. The grey river closed over the last man’s scream, cutting it off as if it had never been.

Silence cloaked the dock.

Skelly stared, stricken, at her empty hands and scratched wrists. The last man had not wanted to go into the river.

‘No one could have stopped that,’ Hennesey told her. ‘And it was probably a better death than they would have faced back in Chalced.’ A muttering began from the shore. Before it could rise any louder, Leftrin stepped to his ship’s railing. ‘Dragons are on their way to attack Chalced, to punish them for hunting dragons! Send word to Bingtown that they must be braced for retaliation.’

A breathless quiet followed his words.

Tillamon shocked everyone when she lifted her voice. ‘And perhaps Cassarick and Trehaug may wish to consider well what happens to cities that harbour dragon-killers!’

Day the 21st of the Plough Moon

Year the 7th of the Independent Alliance of Traders

From Kerig Sweetwater, Master of the Bird Keepers’ Guild, Bingtown

To Erek Dunwarrow of Trehaug

Erek, old friend, this is not an official notification. It will take the Guild Masters here a month of dithering before they can decide to take the action, but I am sure it will be approved. Your name is almost the only one that has come up to fill the recently vacated post of Keeper of the Birds at Cassarick. Kim had risen to control his own coop and oversee those of his journeymen. There will be fewer birds and journeymen under your supervision than in your Bingtown post, but I feel it will be every bit as difficult a task. It is a large responsibility and to be honest, you will be stepping into a shambles of dirty coops, unhealthy birds, poorly kept records and undisciplined apprentices.

So, of course, I consider you precisely the man for the job!

But if, by any chance, this is not something you would take on, please notify me immediately via a Dunwarrow carrier, and I shall withdraw my advocacy of you.

Not likely, say I!

With pride in my former apprentice,

Kerig

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Chalced