The Rain Wild Chronicles: The Complete 4-Book Collection. Robin Hobb
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Leftrin replied. He took a deep breath and when he spoke his words were slow and carefully considered. ‘Almost impossibly short notice. I need to know exactly what I’m agreeing to before I can give you any sort of an answer.’
Alise heard the speculation behind his reserved words. Malta’s tirade had revealed to him that he had the Council of Cassarick over a barrel. They had admitted that they had to act swiftly. If what Leftrin had told her about his ship was true, then his barge was the only vessel of any size that could accompany the dragons upriver. They’d have to pay him whatever he asked, or lose their window of opportunity. It was clear to Alise that they wished to have the dragons under way before either winter or Selden Vestrit returned.
The councilwoman looked trapped as her eyes darted from Leftrin to Malta. ‘We do have an offer to make you, Captain Leftrin. We wish to negotiate a charter with you. We’d like to hire your vessel as an escort ship for the dragons and their keepers. The Tarman would carry extra provisions for both the keepers and the dragons, and be transport and housing for our hunters. It would be the mother ship that the keepers’ smaller boats could tie up to at night, if needed. One of the hunters we have chosen to accompany you is an experienced explorer. In addition to providing meat for the dragons, he will construct a chart of the river and keep a journal of any noteworthy events. He will also represent the Council and is authorized to decide when the dragons have been appropriately settled. When he reaches that decision, he will let you know, and at that point you will turn back toward Cassarick.’
Malta interrupted with a sharp question. ‘If the keepers’ boats need to tie up at night to a floating vessel, then where are the dragons at that time, I’d like to know, Trader Polsk?’
The woman shook her head. ‘The need for a mother ship is a hypothetical need, Malta. We are simply making arrangements for every contingency.’
‘And the Council representative? Why is one necessary? Will not the dragons know when they are “appropriately settled” and release their keepers from service?’
A strange light had come into the Elderling woman’s eyes. They glowed, Alise realized. The set of her mouth proclaimed her anger, but there were other signs of it as well. The shimmering gold orbs that lit the room slowly began to shift their positions. Whatever had anchored them before gave way as the balls of light began to slowly but purposefully drift toward Malta. One Council member gave a brief huff of uneasiness but the others kept stony faces of indifference.
The chairwoman tried to speak calmly. ‘The dragons may not realize when we have reached a point where we have done all we can for them. This is sad, but true. So we have arranged for someone to accompany the dragons and provide an impartial evaluation.’
Malta spoke. ‘Impartial? A Council representative who is “impartial”? Perhaps a representative for the dragons should be assigned also, to see that the dragons are fairly treated and that our contract is observed. Have you considered arranging to keep your word to the dragon Tintaglia? As per the signed contract we made?’ The floating orbs ringed her now, leaving most of the rest of the room in dimness. The light from them glittered and ran over her scaled face and gleaming arms. She shone like a jewelled statue. Her eyes were as hard as faceted gems.
‘Has she?’ Trader Polsk hissed back at the Elderling. ‘Tintaglia has vanished and left us with a horde of hungry dragons to care for! What would you have us do? Keep them here on the very doorstep of Cassarick? It is not good for them or for us! Keeping them here will solve nothing. But there is the possibility that if we send them upriver, they may find a better location for themselves. Look how many of them have already died, and those who remain are in poor condition. Now is not the time to flaunt your powers to make us cower. You would better use your time to help us plan the best way to aid them in their evacuation. It is the best we can offer them, Malta. Surely you must see that!’
‘I see nothing of the kind,’ Malta retorted in a low voice, but there was a tattered edge of defeat in her voice. ‘I see that there is something here I do not know, something that propels the urgency of this expedition. Do any of you see fit to be honest with me?’ The lights around her dimmed, very slightly.
Trader Polsk ignored her words and pushed her advantage. ‘Have you heard from either your brother or the dragon Tintaglia?’
‘My brother is travelling, and all know how irregular the mails are from abroad. And I have not heard Tintaglia nor felt her touch in months. I do not know what her fate is. She could simply be far afield, or some terrible accident may have befallen her. I do not know.’ She sounded anguished. But her voice firmed as she went on, ‘But I do know that many Bingtown Traders gave their word to her that they would do all they could to help her offspring in return for her aid. Without her actions during our war with Chalced, Bingtown itself might have perished. She kept the Chalcedean ships from the mouth of the Rain Wild River. When we most needed her help, she was there for us. And now that she is away, will we abandon the young dragons to death, simply because caring for them has become a hardship? Has the word of a Trader come to mean so little to us in these kinder days?’ As she spoke, the light globes that surrounded her burned warmer. Light reflected from her, until she seemed the source of it rather than the recipient.
A silence, perhaps one of shame, followed her question. A few of the Council members exchanged glances.
Alise timidly broke the silence. ‘I was there. I was there, the night the dragon came to the Bingtown Traders’ Concourse. I was there the night the deal was struck. I heard Tintaglia speak, and young as I was, I was among those who signed our agreement with her.’ Her voice dropped as she added, ‘I was even there when Reyn Khuprus spoke out and demanded that Tintaglia help him find Malta, as a condition of that agreement.’ Her glance went from the startled Elderling to the Council. She drew herself up straight and summoned courage she didn’t know she had. She lifted her voice, willing it to fill the hall. ‘My name is Alise Kincarron Finbok. In addition to signing the agreement with the dragon Tintaglia, and thus having a vested interest in these decisions, I am one of the foremost experts on both dragons and Elderlings that Bingtown has to offer. I have travelled here from Bingtown for the express purpose of speaking with the dragons and learning more of their kind.
‘Since Tintaglia first appeared in our midst, I have devoted all my time to the studying and translation of every scroll or tablet regarding dragons and Elderlings that exists in Bingtown. When you speak of breaking an agreement with a dragon who had given you her true name as her binding word on it, I do not think you fully comprehend what you are suggesting. As Bingtown’s most knowledgeable authority on dragons, I do.’
As she drew breath, she shoved aside her doubt that any one in Bingtown would agree with her previous statement. No one else from Bingtown was here to contradict her. And she knew her words to be true, and right now that was all that mattered. She spoke on, decisively, listening in amazement to the words coming out of her own mouth. ‘I do not believe that the Traders’ Council of Cassarick has the authority to make this decision regarding—’
‘You have studied dragons and Elderlings.’ It was Malta the Elderling who so precipitously interrupted her. ‘In all the ancient scrolls you have studied, have you ever found mention of a place called Kelsingra? I believe it was an Elderling city.’
Alise felt like a sailing boat that had suddenly lost the wind from its sails. Malta’s question was so unexpected that she lost the chain of argument that she had wished to present to the Council. The news that they wished to ‘evacuate’ the dragons immediately had stunned her. From what Leftrin had told her on the boat, she had believed she would at least have her few days with them. Now it appeared that even that short time might be snatched away from her. For an instant, she had been filled with resolve to do or say whatever she must to win those few days back. But at Malta’s interruption, she lost the thread of her words and her courage. All her bravado suddenly fled. She glanced at the Council members, expecting them to be annoyed by Malta’s question. Instead, they seemed as focused on her answer as Malta herself did. Trader Polsk leaned forward, eyes fixed on her. Alise had all but forgotten the captain at her side, but now he reached over and set a reassuring hand on her forearm. ‘Go on. Tell them.’
It rattled