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I COULD TURN AROUND at any time. That was the thing to remember, I told myself as I hurried to the tumble-down ruin where I’d stashed my gunny sack of things that morning - a ragged blanket, a long dagger and a tiny handful of things that were too inconvenient to carry around all day. I always kept the essentials on my person – fire starter, belt knife, a waterskin, a pot, and the only two coins I still possessed.
If I held on to that, it wouldn’t matter what trick the old man was pulling. I could just turn around and come home, no harm done. I grabbed the sack and hurried out of the alleyway and back toward the Hall. No one tricked the trickster and no one was going to trick Tor Winespring.
Not even that old musty dragon.
I heard that.
I kicked a rock in my surprise and hopped on one foot, cursing. That old devil had better get out of my head. I turned the corner out of the alley and ran smack into a man in a dark cloak. The set of eyes that turned to look at me swirled silver. I blinked and the swirl was gone. The man hurried away, leaving me gaping.
I was losing my mind. I was jumping at shadows. I needed to leave here before I went crazy.
I arrived back at the Hall breathless, but I managed a grin and a saunter when I caught sight of Hubric mounting Kyrowat. Castelan Ephretti stood in the street beside him, her guards gathered in a knot around her, peering in every direction at once.
“Here he is!” Hubric said with a smile. “Is that all boy?”
He pointed at my gunnysack and I dodged under the arm of a guard, slipping into the inner circle with the Castelan. All the guards frowned at me in unison. Did they practice that together? I could just imagine it. ‘On three ... one ... two ... three ... frown!’ Ha!
I handed Hubric the gunnysack.
“It’s all I trust in your care.”
Hubric raised an eyebrow. “We won’t be coming back.”
“Ever?”
“For a while at least.”
Ephretti spoke, finally. “Which is why I’ve come to see you off, Tor. I have a present for you.”
She handed me a cloth packet tied in string.
“Thanks, I guess. I don’t really need a tablecloth, though.”
Her wry smile told me the joke wasn’t very funny. What did she expect me to do? Break down and cry? Tell her that I looked up to her? Admit I was nervous about leaving? Skies and Stars ... she didn’t expect a ... thank you ... did she?
“I’ll miss you, too,” she said, hugging me suddenly. I patted her back awkwardly until her outburst was over. “Don’t sleep in the rain. Stay out of trouble. And for the love of the skies and stars don’t try your tricks on foreigners.”
“I’m not going to war,” I objected.
She sniffed like she was holding back tears. Skies and stars! If I stayed around her like this I might even cry. I coughed abruptly, frowning to prevent any emotions from leaking onto my face.
“Just be careful,” she said, pulling me in close so she could whisper in my ear. “That man who was eaten by ashes on the street today ... I heard a rumor he was looking for a boy with a wicked grin. Don’t come back here for a long time. Not until I find out what’s going on here.”
“Try to fix this dump while I’m gone,” I said, pulling back from her hug and trying to manage a cheeky grin instead of the terrified rictus my mouth was trying to form. I grabbed one of Kyrowat’s stirrups and pulled myself up onto his back.
“Are we done with the touching goodbyes?” Hubric asked as Ephretti gave me one last firm nod of encouragement. Was that a tear I saw her brush away as she turned back to the Hall? Of course not. She had work to do. Obviously. But couldn’t she have spared one more minute for a goodbye?
You don’t even know your own mind.
Great. And now I was being criticized by a dust-rug of a dragon.
Kyrowat launched into the air at the moment I thought that, leaving me scrambling to hold on. I wasn’t quite settled and definitely not strapped in yet.
“Skies and stars!”
When I chose a dragon, I’d choose one who wasn’t so bad tempered. One who was respectful and wanted to do things my way.
Was that laughter I heard in my head?
“Hang on!” Hubric called to me. “We won’t be there until just before dark. Make sure you buckle in. Kyrowat says a storm is coming and you don’t want to fall off.”
Like I couldn’t stay on the back of a dragon.
Kyrowat dropped suddenly and my belly dropped, too. He stabilized in the air and I hurriedly strapped in. I could feel a scowl forming on my face. So, he liked to play dirty, did he?
There was more laughter in my mind.
I didn’t think it was funny at all.