The Rain Wild Chronicles: The Complete 4-Book Collection. Robin Hobb
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‘So you’ve said,’ Captain Trell replied, and his voice warned of patience wearing thin. ‘You may recall you were told that we do not often take passengers, only cargo. Usually those who ride with us are family or friends. They’re well aware of Paragon’s quirks. I do recall that Trader Finbok was quite insistent that she had to book immediate passage.’
Alise tightened her grip on Sedric’s arm. She wished only to go back to her tiny stateroom. Her vision of herself as an intrepid explorer braving new experiences and acquiring firsthand knowledge of dragons was fading. She felt sure that if Sedric had not been by her side, she would have fled. Or worse, burst into tears. At the thought of it, her eyes began to sting. No. Oh, no, please, not now.
Perhaps the threat of breaking down in front of strangers gave her courage. She drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders and with all her might pretended that she was as brave as she wished she were. ‘Hatchlings,’ she said quietly. Then she firmed her voice and spoke with more force. She pushed a smile onto her face as well. ‘I regret that I upset your ship, sir. But I would be extremely interested if you could share any news you have of the “hatchlings” as you call them. Paragon said that I should not think of them as dragons. I find that an extraordinary statement. Can you clarify what he meant by it? Have you yourself seen them? What did you think of them?’ She stacked her questions one on top of the other as if building a wall to protect herself.
‘I haven’t,’ the captain admitted.
‘I have,’ his wife said quietly. She turned and walked slowly away from them all. As Alise stared after her curiously, she turned and silently beckoned for them to follow. She led them to the captain’s quarters, invited them inside, and closed the door.
‘Would you care to sit down?’ she asked them.
Alise nodded silently. The sudden hospitality was a bit confusing, but also welcome. The confined room was a setting more familiar to her than the open deck. She immediately felt more comfortable. The stateroom was not large but was still impressive. It was efficiently designed and simply furnished, but every item in the chamber was of excellent quality. Shining brass and richly gleaming wood welcomed them. A chart table dominated the room. A compass rose inlaid into the table top was formed from various shades of wood. Heavy damask draperies curtained off a bed in one corner of the wood-panelled room. Scattered about the room were small artefacts that were obviously of Elderling make. A small mobile of fish hung near a window. As the light touched it, the fish ‘swam’ in the air, changing colours as they did so. A fat green pot with a gleaming copper spout sat in the middle of the table. Alise felt as if she had just stepped into the drawing room of a wealthy Bingtown family rather than a stateroom on a ship. She took her offered seat and waited as the others joined her at the table.
Althea smoothed a few stray strands of hair back from her face. She glanced at her husband. Captain Trell had not joined them at the table, but leaned on the wall by a small window, watching the shore slip by. ‘Paragon helped escort the serpents up the Rain Wild River. He accompanied them as far as he could, and had the highest of hopes for them. He was deeply and bitterly disappointed when they emerged as pitiful shadows of the dragons they should have been. Not one of them was near Tintaglia’s size. Since then, they have grown, but still are stunted.’
Althea picked up the pot on the table, hefting it to check if it still held water. ‘Will you have a cup of tea?’ she offered as she set it down again, as if they were indeed in a Bingtown drawing room. She stroked an insignia on the side of the kettle, an image that looked rather like a chicken with a crown. Almost immediately, the pot gave a small rumble and steam began to waft from its spout.
‘Priceless!’ Sedric exclaimed. ‘I’d heard a few such Elderling kettles have been discovered, but none seemed to come to the Bingtown market. It must be worth a fortune.’
‘It was a wedding gift, from family,’ Captain Trell said. ‘Quite a prize. It requires no fire to heat the water. And of course, on a ship, fire is always a concern.’ He had visited a sideboard and now brought a tray laden with cups and a teapot to the table. Althea took over the hostess duties. It was odd to watch her shift from her mannish abilities on the deck to the delicate business of measuring tea into a pot and setting out cups all round. Alise abruptly felt that she glimpsed a possible life that she had never known existed. Why, she wondered, had she never even considered making her own way in the world? Why had marriage or spinsterhood seemed her only choices? She only realized she was staring at Althea when the woman returned her a slightly puzzled glance. Alise immediately redirected the conversation with a question.
‘But Paragon has never seen the new dragons?’
Althea shot her an odd glance. ‘Of course not. The river is too shallow to permit him to venture that far. A great deal of effort went into making that part of the river passable for the serpents. It was not as successful as it could have been, and winter storms and floods in the years since then have mostly destroyed those works. The banks of the river, as you have seen, are marshy and difficult to walk on. The forest is dense and unfriendly to creatures of that size. So the dragons have never moved from their hatching place.’
‘But you went to see them?’
‘Yes. At Paragon’s request, I went. And also because I wished to visit my niece, Malta.’
‘Malta Khuprus? The Elderling queen?’
Althea smiled more broadly. ‘So some name her, though she is not queen of anything. It was a fancy of the Jamaillian Satrap to title Reyn and her as the King and Queen of the Elderlings. In reality, they are both of Trader stock, just as you and I are, and not royalty at all.’
‘But they are Elderlings!’
Althea started to shake her head, and then shrugged instead. ‘So Tintaglia the dragon called them. And they have both physically changed over the years to resemble, more and more, the images of Elderlings that we’ve seen unearthed from the ancient Rain Wilds cities. But Malta was born just as human as I am, and Reyn, though marked as many of the Rain Wild Traders are, was not extraordinarily different. That’s no longer the case, of course. Our family has watched both of them, and Selden Vestrit, my nephew, change substantially since they encountered Tintaglia. It’s my thought that exposure to the dragon was what started their changes. All three have grown taller. Malta is remarkably tall for a woman of my family now. And more beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with human beauty. When she goes uncloaked and unveiled, she reminds me of a jewelled statue come to life. Tintaglia has told them that they may enjoy much longer life spans than ordinary humans. But for all of that, Malta is still Malta.’ Althea sounded as if she almost regretted that fact. Quietly she added, ‘And I think she and Reyn would trade away all their Elderling glory for one healthy baby.’
‘But the dragons?’ Sedric interrupted to demand. ‘Are they really so deformed and mentally deficient? Is it possible that we have come all this way on a useless quest?’
Alise felt doubly annoyed that he had interrupted Althea’s revelations about the only living Elderlings and that he sounded so hopeful her expedition would come to nothing. Althea folded her hands on the edge of the table and considered her rough brown knuckles before she spoke.
‘They are not like Tintaglia,’ she said quietly. ‘None of them can fly. We started up the river escorting one hundred and twenty-nine serpents. Fewer than half successfully cocooned and hatched. And now there are left, what? Fewer than seventeen when last I heard.’ She glanced up and met Alise’s desperate gaze. For a moment, sympathy shone in her eyes. ‘I wish it had been otherwise, if only for Paragon’s sake. It was tremendously important to him that the serpents reach their cocooning grounds. Despite what he said to you, I believe the heart of a dragon still resides in this ship. He longed to restore his kind to the skies; it would have given great meaning to his own fate.
‘But the creatures I saw when I visited Cassarick were pathetic, malformed things. It is telling that Tintaglia seems to have completely abandoned them. Dragons do not pity the weak, but let them meet their fates. The Rain Wilds folk who live closest to them are rapidly losing all sympathy for them. They are unruly and dangerous, intelligent but