Kendra seemed almost as interested as me, but we rode on. The river lay ahead, a wide bend with piers and docks on the inside of the bend where the current was less. Dock after dock lined the left side of the street, while pleasure houses of every sort the other. Ahead sprawled staging areas, warehouses, sheds, and storage.
Everything being unloaded seemed to go there for disposition, while everything leaving Dire waited for loading, as well as ship supplies, food, barrels of water, and kegs of ale waited in haphazard piles. Stacks of ropes, poles, boards, sails and a thousand other items were ready for loading, presumably after being purchased and brought from the warehouses.
Men shouted donkeys brayed, and women of all ages called for my attention. The noise deafened. People walked, jogged, and ran. Winches lifted cargo either to the decks or from them to the docks. More than thirty ships of all sizes were at the docks and piers, and not all the spaces were filled.
Kendra rode directly to a pier where cargo was being carried onto the ship by a line of men, each with a heavy sack over his shoulder. She climbed down and handed her reins to a young man who appeared eager to help—for a coin. I dismounted and did the same, as I said, “I will pay another to watch you. If you try to steal from us, you will never see another sunset.”
The idea I could now say things like that, and mean them, scared me. A glance behind revealed Lord Kent must have given up chasing us—for now.
Kendra said, “Loosen your sword.”
I followed behind and did as told. She walked across the loading area as if she owned it, and then out on the pier beside a ship. It sat alongside the pier, tied in several places. It was wide and round-bottomed. Only two masts stood on the deck, and great open hatches allowed the men to descend ladders with their heavy sacks.
A uniformed man stood at the end of a short ramp that connected the ship to the pier. Kendra motioned to the men with the sacks to slow while she stepped ahead, with me at her heels. The ramp bounced as we walked across to where a heavy-set man held a clipboard.
Kendra went directly to him. “Your captain?”
“That’s him,” he grunted and flicked his eyes to the stern, before making another mark on the clipboard.
Kendra headed for the captain, and he watched her approach with squinted eyes. He didn’t even glance my way. She reached out to shake his hand. He smirked and kept his hands to himself, an affront and insult in any language. He shouldn’t have done that to my sister.
She lowered her hand as he snorted in cruel amusement. She didn’t take her eyes off him as she spoke in a soft voice for my ears alone. “Put the tip of your sword to his neck and wait for my direction.”
He didn’t know her or me. Nor did he know that I had expected something like that from her and had been prepared from when first insulted by him. My sword was already whipping out and my wrist turning up, in the thrust position. The pommel came to my chin, the point touched the base of his throat. If he moved, he would die.
“Sir,” she said in the sweetest of voices, “perhaps we should begin again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“There is a man on your ship that I would very much like to speak with. I believe he is immediately below us.”
“The mage?” he grunted.
“That’s him.”
“Go on down and talk to him,” he growled, his eyes turning piggish as he held his anger inside. The instant my sword was lowered, his men would attack. Several were already edging closer.
I said, “Sir, it would be more convenient if you would have one of the eager young men who is getting too close to us fetch him for us. As for the others, you might want to tell them how sharp the tip of my blade feels and that they should give us some space. Just the slightest pressure would send this through your neck, and in case you haven’t noticed, my sister also has a blade held ready to gut you.”
His eyes dropped to the blade. Kendra held the sharp edge up, ready to slice across his stomach. He raised his voice, “Dom, go below and get that damn mage up here. The rest of you, who told you to stop working?”
They grumbled but backed off. A few didn’t return to work, and he shouted at them again. Then he looked at me. “Son, you can put that away. If you’re that serious about talking to the damn mage, you must have a good reason. I won’t stand in your way. I don’t like sailing with them, anyway.”
His eyes told me he told the truth. I placed my sword away.
He said, “Besides, he’s already paid me, and I don’t give refunds.”
I said, “I’m sure you won’t mind standing where you are until we’re finished?”
“I was here when you arrived and will be when you leave. Take your time.”
An older man stumbled from a small door, pushed by someone behind. His hair was gray, almost white, his clothing was a long, blue robe that drug the deck, and he was more than angry. He was ready to explode. If he had access to essence, I believe someone would have exploded in a ball of lightning.
It occurred to me that the rudeness shown to him indicated the others on the ship knew he had lost his powers. That came as a surprise. The dragon had barely flown away, so how did they know? And if they did, it seemed reasonable that everyone did.
On second thought, people hate mages. That’s why I hid my abilities. They love rumors of those people who have fallen from grace, no matter what their station. Mages without powers would be the fastest rumor to ever fly across the kingdom—or sail across the sea.
The old man straightened himself and tried to walk in a regal manner in our direction. We waited. He said, “Do you know who I am?”
It was not one of the royal mages from Crestfallen, so we did not. Kendra stepped in front of him. “Not who, but what. You are a mage.”
He pointed a finger at her. “Would you like to turn into a cinder?”
She hesitated, but I noticed a twitch of humor at the corner of her lips. She was waiting for something. “A few days ago, that would have scared me. Now, it does not. But speaking of threats, would you like to meet my dragon?”
She pointed. All eyes turned to the sky and the dragon flying to her. She said, “Damon, we really need to give it a name, don’t you think?”
He said in a flat tone, “You are the Dragon Queen.”
The captain backed off a few steps in sudden fear. I let him go.
She said, “Where were you going on this ship?”
He didn’t answer. His expression said he hated her and blamed her for his loss of power, all true.
Kendra said, “Captain, what are the ports of call for your ship?”
“Palmyra and back here. A regular run.”
“Palmyra? I don’t recognize that,” she said.
The captain said, “The largest port on the northern shore of Kondor.”
The last word said enough. The mage didn’t have the same features as us, but a quick look at several of the ship’s crew told a different story. She waved an arm, and the dragon changed directions and flew directly at us, losing altitude as it did.
She said, “Speak quickly or you will feed my dragon her noon meal. Why were you going to Kondor?”
The old mage was watching the dragon. In defiance, he spat at Kendra. The dragon roared as it believed Kendra attacked. It veered to avoid the ship's masts, and as it flew past the stern of the ship, it’s left rear leg shot out, and the talons speared the mage. It flew on, the mage twisted and skewered by the talons as long as my arm.
Every eye on the ship, pier, and probably port, watched the dragon pump its wings to fly higher and higher until it appeared no bigger than a crow. A smaller spot detached from the dragon’s foot and fell, and fell, tumbling and turning. Finally, it struck the water of the river with a splash of white.