Dragon Kiss (14 page)

Sixteen

T
he royal castle of Aridia had been built with thick walls and blocky towers to withstand the desert storms. Tall dunes had settled against the walls of Desidaria, making it almost indistinguishable from the desert itself. As Audun circled the city from a distance, he wondered if the presence of the dunes had helped or hindered the invading army.

In early evening Audun landed behind a dune not far from the main road into Desidaria. Burying himself in the sand so that only his face was exposed, he waited until the gates were closed and the caravans that arrived too late to gain entrance had begun to set up camp for the night. He was about to crawl out of the dune when he realized that anyone riding a magic carpet would be able to see him from above, so he waited until dark, when the traffic in flying carpets had died down, before he shook off the sand and turned into a human.

Careful to avoid the more heavily guarded camps, Audun slipped among the tents looking for groups that seemed to feel safe enough to relax and enjoy themselves. While the men sat by the fire drinking and telling stories in increasingly loud voices, Audun rifled through their saddle-bags until he found the clothes and coins he was seeking. He was sneaking out of the camp when he overheard a man telling the others about what life had been like under the old king.

“King Cadmus was fair, I’ll give him that much,” the man said in a gruff voice. “My brother worked in his kitchens for twenty years. He said Cadmus cared about his people and always made sure no one went hungry.”

“He had to,” said a man with a whiny voice. “He was stingy with his wages, despite his hoard of precious gems. Cadmus’s, brother, Dolon, pays better. I’m glad he’s king now. I’ve heard he’s hiring, which is why I’ve come looking for work.”

“Cadmus wasn’t stingy. He was careful with the royal treasury. Mark my words—Dolon’ll spend it inside a year.”

“You can bet Dolon won’t be spending his money on paying work crews to push the dunes back,” said the man with the gruff voice. “He’ll get King Beltran’s wizard to do it. He’s nearly as old as the last wizard we had and I’ve heard that he’s almost as powerful.”

“I have no stomach for wizards,” whined the second man, “but wizard or no, I’m going to get a job in the castle. It’s the best pay around and no one else is hiring. I heard Smugsby, the steward, is the man to see.”

“That’s right,” said a different man. “Just make sure you take him something good. The better the gift, the better the job.”

Some of the men left the campfire after that and Audun had to hurry to get out of their way. As he hid behind one of the tents with the clothes and coins he’d stolen, two men went past, talking in voices so low that no one, other than a dragon, could have heard them. “I don’t know much about King Dolon,” murmured one of the men, “but I doubt he’ll run out of money soon. His men contacted me last week to say that my nephew had been orphaned and I needed to come get him. It took me a few days to gather the money. They called it a gift for King Dolon, but for all their demanding ways and the amount of money they want, it’s ransom if you ask me.”

“Hush!” said the man’s companion. “You never know who’s listening these days.”

A few minutes later Audun was back behind the dune changing from the clothes he’d been wearing into ones that matched those of the other travelers. After tucking away the small sack of coins he’d stolen, he turned back into a dragon and buried himself in the dune once again. The temperature dropped and Audun drifted off to sleep, smiling as he dreamt of Millie.

Audun woke the next morning before the sun was up, but not before the caravans had already begun to break camp. He turned back into a human and slipped into line behind other travelers even as the gates were opening. The crowd surged forward, shoving Audun to the edge, near where a group of soldiers on horse back waited to enter. He was nervous at first, remembering how the horse had reacted when he arrived in the castle courtyard in Greater Greensward, but when nothing happened and the horses ignored him, he stopped worrying that the animals might give him away.

Intent on their own business, none of the people around him showed any interest in a boy dressed in a plain, brown tunic, dusty leggings, and the typical head covering of desert dwellers, which suited Audun just fine. He moved forward, shuffling one step at a time as the people in the front of the line were admitted. As he waited, he listened to the chatter going on around him. Most of it seemed unimportant, but he began to listen in earnest when he heard soldiers lolling by the side of the road mention missing children.

“You see these blisters?” one soldier asked of another. “The day after I got here they sent me with a patrol to look for Cadmus’s brats. I nearly died out there, it was that hot. My brain was cookin’, my skin was sizzlin’, and I got blisters poppin’ up like mushrooms on manure. The captain wouldn’t let us turn around until we found those kids, but they’d disappeared like magic had carried ’em off. We were out there a whole week.”

“Stop your bellyachin’, Narwool,” said the soldier behind him. “We’ve all been out in the desert. We know what it’s like. I was in the patrol that had charge of the wizard’s enchanted vultures that he sent out to look for the children. He had little crystals tied around their necks. I heard the old man could see through those crystals as if he was there himself, no matter how far or high the birds flew. Of course, those birds splattered gook on the crystals every time they ate. It was our job to keep the crystals clean. Do you know how revolting it is to clean up after a vulture? It was the worst job I’ve ever had.”

“They never did find those kids,” said the soldier beside Narwool. “I was there when King Dolon heard they were missing. I’ve never seen him that angry before. He hates those kids with a vengeance. Do you think he would have killed them if they hadn’t disappeared?”

“Those brats got out just in time, if you ask me.”

Audun would have liked to have heard more, but the crowd had moved forward and it was finally his turn to pass through the gate. Three soldiers guarded the entranceway, yet only the oldest turned to look at Audun. The other two were more interested in talking to a pair of young women who didn’t seem interested in leaving.

“So what do we have here?” demanded the soldier. Audun’s breath hitched in his throat and he gazed at the man blankly, wondering how he could possibly have known that the young dragon masquerading as a human wasn’t what he seemed. But then the soldier added, “Why are you here, boy—business or plea sure?” and Audun exhaled in relief.

“I’m looking for a job,” he said, glad he had heard the men talking the night before. Obtaining a job in the castle would be the best way to get inside and would give him a legitimate reason for being there while he looked for the girl.

“Do you have a trade? What is it you do? Nobody is going to employ a boy your age who doesn’t have any skills.”

“I’m going to see the steward, Smugsby, at the castle. I understand they’re hiring.”

The soldier nodded, suddenly looking bored. He held out his hand and grunted, then seemed annoyed when Audun didn’t respond.

The woman in line behind Audun bumped him with her basket and whispered, “Don’t you know anything, boy? Give him a coin. There’s some of us what’s in a hurry.”

Audun fumbled for the small purse in the folds of his tunic. He had no idea how much the coins were worth, so he hoped the one he took out would be enough. The old soldier grunted when he saw it, and glanced at his companions, who were still talking to the young women. When they didn’t look his way, he tucked the coin into his own pocket. Giving Audun a slightly more respectful look, he nodded and let him pass as the woman behind him shuffled to the front of the line.

Although Audun could see the castle towering above the much shorter buildings of the city, the streets were laid out in such a confusing way that he kept finding himself in dead ends and roads that looped around to take him back to where he’d started. As a dragon he would have spread his wings and flown straight to the castle, but now he had to walk wherever he wanted to go and he wasn’t used to it. Soon his feet hurt and his legs ached, neither of which had ever happened to him before.

The area around the gate had been crowded, but the farther he went into the city, the fewer people he saw. Many of the buildings had been damaged or destroyed by fire. Abandoned possessions, broken and trampled into the mud around some of the larger, more prosperous-looking homes, gave evidence of looting. The few people that he passed hurried away once they saw him returning their gaze.

After a time Audun heard voices; he followed them to a square, empty except for women who were hauling buckets of water from a well. The castle was so close now that it blocked half of the sky. He could make out the damaged battlements, but they weren’t in as bad shape as he’d expected.

If the group of women hadn’t been there, he might have gotten a drink from the well, but he was still too self-conscious about posing as a human to want to start a conversation. He was about to continue on to the castle when he thought he saw Owen, the boy he had rescued from the roc, crossing the far end of the courtyard.

“Owen!” he yelled, drawing all eyes in their direction.

The boy stopped and stared, appearing stricken at hearing his name. Audun started toward him, but the boy took off, running into one of the alleyways that led from the courtyard. Audun had become adept at walking with human legs and feet, but running was another matter. After taking only a few running steps, his feet went out from under him and he sprawled on the smooth cobblestones. The women laughed at his clumsiness, making him feel even more self-conscious.

“Walk much or just practice a lot?” shouted a girl nearly his own age.

Peals of laughter rang out and Audun’s face reddened. He was never going to be able to pass as a human long enough to find the girl. Scrambling to his feet, he fled the courtyard, forgetting about following Owen as he made his way to the castle once more.

A crowd had already gathered by the time Audun reached the entrance to the castle, and once again he had to stand in line. Fortunately, only a short time later a guard led the job seekers into the castle, where he left them in a room too small for their numbers. While some of the men began to argue over the few available benches, Audun took a seat on the floor. Even in human form, he was taller than most, and stronger than all of them. He could have won any fight with ease, but dragons rarely fought unless it was over something of great importance.

Audun hadn’t been there long before he recognized the voices of some of the men from the night before. They were talking about the jobs they hoped to secure even as they were led one by one to meet with the castle steward. Only a handful of hopeful faces remained in the room when it was Audun’s turn.

A pinch-faced little man led him down the corridor to another room, where two men sat behind a wooden table looking tired and bored. His escort said, “Master Smugsby, sir, here is the next applicant,” then waited while the larger of the two men set a scrap of meat on a platter, licked his greasy fingers, and nodded. The nervous-looking assistant seated beside him took a sheet of parchment from a pile and glanced up at Audun, his quill pen in his ink-stained hand.

Smugsby, the steward, looked as if he’d never denied himself anything. A golden chain gleamed from the folds of a tunic made of deep red fabric embroidered in threads of blue and yellow. Each finger of the hand resting on his bulging stomach bore a glittering ring and when he burped he patted his mouth with a delicate lace handkerchief. Be-hind him rested a treasure trove of bags and boxes, evidence of the applicants who had visited the room before Audun.

“What’s your name, boy?” Smugsby asked Audun, as the other man dipped his pen into a pot of ink.

“It’s Audun, sir,” he replied, glancing at the man who had begun to scratch on the parchment with the pen. “I’m from the north.”

Smugsby snorted and said, “I don’t care where you’re from, boy, just what you can do for me. What jobs have you had in the past?”