The Dragon of Despair (34 page)

“Read letter?” she suggested, pulling the knife from the wood and stepping back to her place again.

Derian pulled the missive out, unfolded it, and then paused.

“We’re alone?”

“But for those little wild things,” Firekeeper assured him, “too stupid to fear a wolf. No human is near.”

Derian began without further delay, “‘From His Most Gracious Majesty, King Tedric…’”

“Yes, yes,” Firekeeper said. “We know who from! What it say?”

Derian, who had deliberately not skipped the formal opening in order to tease her, grinned and moved ahead to the text.

As previously agreed upon, you and Firekeeper shall proceed to the Norwood Grant, there meeting with Lady Archer and the other members of your expedition. After long and careful consideration, it has been decided that you may best serve our purposes by entering New Kelvin—at least initially—as yourselves and in your own form and guise.

The reason to be given for your traveling there will be that you go as agents for the Kestrel Duchy and the Archer Barony, both of which are interested in entering into a joint agreement wherein goods shall be imported from New Kelvin and sold not only in Hawk Haven, but also in Bright Bay. Baron Archer has been consulted on this matter and has given his enthusiastic approval. We expect equal cooperation from Duchess Kestrel and are writing to request such.

This explanation shall provide ample reason for nearly all members of your party to make the journey. Lady Archer and Lord Kestrel represent the interests of the Houses they will someday inherit. Lady Blysse is a member of House Kestrel. Derian Carter is not only favored by the patronage of Earl Kestrel, but is a representative of one of the most prominent firms offering transportation of goods and persons within the realm. Sir Jared Surcliffe is a healer, known for his interest in all types of medical lore. He would make a good advisor on the types and quality of medicinal herbs for which this consortium might trade. It goes without saying that a chaperon must be provided for the two young ladies. Wendee Jay not only serves admirably in that capacity, but also as a representative of Duchess Kestrel.

Derian stopped in his reading and grinned. “I bet that last paragraph was Sapphire’s doing. King Tedric would expect us to figure out the excuses for our going ourselves.”

Firekeeper flashed him an answering grin and nodded.

“Read!”

Derian complied.

Given your prior journey into New Kelvin and despite that journey’s rather sensational conclusion, not many should question any of those mentioned above being chosen for the task.

The attendance of Citrine Shield could raise some small question. We suggest that her presence, if at all possible, be downplayed. Wendee Jay has two young daughters; perhaps Citrine could be represented as one of these. However, whatever excuse you choose to manufacture, none of those with whom you do business should take much note of a child of nine.

Enclosed in this packet are letters of introduction to the staff of our embassy in New Kelvin. That Lady Archer and Lord Kestrel would call upon the ambassador and make their presence in the city known should raise no questions. Indeed, their failure to do so last winter could have raised more. Also included are documents for lines of credit that House Kestrel may convert into appropriate currency to fund your expedition.

Needless to say, there will be those who will wonder at your presence in Dragon’s Breath and who will suspect that you are interested in more than silk, glass, and medicinal herbs. However, their very interest in you may provide opportunities to learn some of those things we desire to know.

Derian concluded his reading and looked up to find Firekeeper poised, knife in hand. She threw it as his gaze rested upon her.

“When we go?” she asked, retrieving the knife and checking the blade for nicks.

“Tomorrow morning,” he said, “if you can hold on that long.”

Firekeeper nodded.

“I can wait—till tomorrow. Others know we come?”

“I sent a pigeon the very day of our meeting with the king,” Derian agreed, “giving my guess as to when we could depart.”

“Then they be ready to go when we get there?”

“Probably not immediately,” Derian said. “There will be packing and other preparation to make. Still, I doubt whether we’ll be delayed more than a day or two. Why are you so impatient?”

Firekeeper shrugged.

“Every day my feet wish to go west to my pack. The sooner they are tired from going other the best.”

Derian nodded. In many ways, he felt the same—though in his case his impulse was to drag his heels. He had spent much of the winter away from his family, and much of the spring and autumn before that. Now summer was being taken as well. It wasn’t so much that he liked the drudgery or the routine of Prancing Steed Stables, but that it was the one place he still felt he belonged.

Even there, though, he was being displaced. Damita and Brock were being trained to take over Derian’s routine. The stables themselves were changing in character, cartage being replaced by boarding other’s animals and by the sale of fine beasts. Still, home was home and if his own was threatened as Firekeeper so clearly felt hers was, Derian didn’t know how he’d feel about being told that the best thing he could do for those he loved was to leave them to their fate.

“We go in the morning,” Derian said. “I’ll meet you along the north road.”

Firekeeper nodded.

“Good then. Tomorrow.”

She turned, stepped into the forest’s edge, waved once, and, although it was broad daylight and Derian could have sworn he never took his gaze from her, was gone.

AS SOON AS
the carrier pigeon arrived bearing the news that Derian and Firekeeper would leave Eagle’s Nest on or about the twenty-sixth day of Bear Moon, Elise started getting her band ready for their departure into New Kelvin.

Wendee Jay, a traveling player in her youth, was of considerable assistance. Indeed, within a day of the message’s arrival, Wendee had taken over the preparations. Elise had other things demanding her attention.

Duchess Kestrel came to call, Edlin trailing at her heels. The young lord’s expression and the dusting of dog hair on his clothing eloquently showed that he’d been called from the kennels.

Elise sighed. She knew she would be glad to have Edlin along once they were on the road, but he was taking his preparation for the trip far less seriously than was Citrine. The little girl had acquired a good smattering of functional phrases and an even better vocabulary. She could identify the marks for the thirteen sodalities at a glance, even in their abbreviated form. All Elise could hope was that Grateful Peace was managing to tutor Edlin when the men retired to the gatehouse in the evening.

As soon as they were settled in the parlor and refreshments had been served, Duchess Kestrel produced a letter bearing, Elise saw to some surprise, the seal of House Archer. She experienced a momentary flurry of fear. Had something happened to one of her parents? Had Baron Archer withdrawn his permission for her to go into New Kelvin?

The last seemed all too possible. Although the common people thought of the nobility as solidly supporting the king and his policies, Elise knew how much jockeying for position and precedence went on behind the scenes. House Wellward and House Kite, for example, had long been rivals. No matter how much they smiled and exchanged cordial words in public, the bite of that rivalry was there. Had something happened to make Baron Archer decide he needed to show his own House’s strength?

Duchess Kestrel’s initial words relieved Elise of her fear.

“It seems,” she said, her inflection holding a touch of humor, “that after long negotiations carried on this winter, the Barony of Archer and the Duchy of Kestrel are entering into a joint trade venture.”

Edlin looked completely confused.

“I say!” he said. “What?”

Momentarily, Elise felt as flabbergasted, though she fancied she hid it better. Then revelation dawned.

“Our reason for going to New Kelvin!” she said. “That’s marvelous.”

She felt a touch of chagrin as she realized that part of her enthusiasm for the plan was that she needn’t chop off her hair—at least not yet.

“That is so,” Saedee Norwood replied, looking at her grandson with some resignation. “Baron Archer has written me on the king’s behalf. Although the plan originates in a need for subterfuge, Baron Archer is actually quite enthusiastic about it. He points out that as the Barony of Archer shares a river border with Bright Bay we could set up a trading post there without needing to bring in other interests, as we would if we were to use the established crossings at Hope or Broadview.”

Elise smiled, knowing her father’s ambitions for their land and pleased that she would be serving them along with the king’s interests.

“And you, Your Grace,” she asked politely. “Are you interested?”

“Very much so,” the duchess replied. “We have been less able to exploit the White Water River crossing at Stilled than we might since the one at Plum Orchard, being farther east and so closer to both Port Haven and Broadview, has dominated trade. This could work to our great advantage, especially with Bright Bay opening up as a market.

“However,” the duchess continued, “this does create a small difficulty. We will be giving out that this is a plan that had been in the making since you, Elise, so kindly agreed to stay with our family this last winter—a visit that was interrupted by events of which we all are too aware. That means that both you and Edlin should be well acquainted with the exports of New Kelvin. You should be able to judge the quality of both glass and silk with some ease, and to handle bartering and related negotiations.”

A look of pure loathing was spreading over Edlin’s features.

“Grandmother!” he said. “I say, that’s a bit much!”

“It is indeed,” Duchess Kestrel agreed. “However, Derian Carter and Firekeeper should not arrive here for at least another six or seven days. Much can be done in that time. I took the opportunity to speak with Grateful Peace regarding his knowledge of these things and he says that his education is limited, his service first being as an Illuminator and then as a member of government.

“There are, however, members of my own household who have handled such trade for us, admittedly on a smaller scale and only in the Gateway to Enchantment. I will delegate one of these to teach you what he can and to supply you with texts that you can study as you travel. The tutor I have in mind is closemouthed and quite willing to imply—if asked—that the education has been under way since last winter.”

Edlin didn’t protest further. He must have known that there was no way—short of his being eliminated from the expedition—to escape. Elise, while dreading the intensity of the projected course of study, actually found herself looking forward to it. She had always enjoyed tales of foreign lands and foreign doings, and this promised her more of both.

SEVERAL DAYS
into this tutorial, when Elise’s mind was spinning with information on dyes and weights, weaves and tensile strengths, Grateful Peace made a formal call on her in her private chambers.

Unusually, the slim, somber man radiated tension. Elise was reminded of a bow strung too tightly and hoped that she would do nothing to make that string snap.

“Lady Archer,” Grateful Peace began, “if I might have some of your time…”

Elise gestured him to a chair.

“Please, be seated. I’ve been going over what I’ll need to know in order to trade for silk and my head is spinning. I thought I knew quite a bit—my mother and I prefer to shop for our own fabrics when possible—but I find I know nothing at all.”

Peace smiled, but his expression remained strained.

“Perhaps I can aid you in this matter,” he said. “I know little about fabric, but I know much about people.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “I want to go with you into New Kelvin. I know that King Tedric did not include me in the plans you and he initially designed. At first this seemed wise. However, much of this last moonspan I have spent talking about my homeland, teaching its language, dwelling there in spirit if not in body. I am…”

He faltered and Elise spoke:

“Homesick?”

“I believe that is the term,” Peace agreed a touch ruefully. “Although my dear wife is long dead and we had no children, I did leave siblings behind. I would see them and my nieces and nephews. Duchess Kestrel and the family Surcliffe have been kindness itself, but I desire to see the multihued attire of those who throng the streets of Dragon’s Breath, to see faces decently adorned in paint and tattoos, to eat food spiced after the manner of my land.”

Confronted with Peace’s passion, Elise oddly felt herself the older, though the New Kelvinese must be her senior by more than thirty years.

“You do realize that you will be in tremendous danger,” she said, adding, though she felt herself cruel to do so, “and so a danger to us. What news we have gathered from New Kelvin marks you a traitor, more despised than any of us. What we did cannot be declared openly without bringing shame to the Dragon Speaker and his allies. Your desertion of your place is excuse enough to revile you.”