was in charge of her except herself. It was made worse by the smug look on Greft’s face. She ground her teeth. In less than two days, she’d gone from being mildly infatuated with Greft and flattered by his attention to actively disliking him. She knew he was manipulating the situation, but could not seem to escape his puppet strings. Now everyone would think she was at odds with Tats, when she wasn’t. Or at least, didn’t want to be. Jerd was looking at the ground but Thymara knew she was smiling. Tats was turning aside from her rather stiffly and there was nothing else to do but follow Sedric. Even he seemed aware of the awkwardness as she walked away with him.
‘I didn’t mean to cause you any problems,’ he apologized.
‘You didn’t,’ she said shortly. Then she took a breath and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. That came out wrong. Honestly, you didn’t cause any problem. Greft is the problem, and sometimes Tats. Greft wants to be the leader of the dragon keepers, so he just acts as if he is and hopes everyone will fall into line. And it’s so infuriating that some of them do! The truth is, no one was put in charge among us; we’re all free to do our own jobs. But Greft is very good at causing discord among those who refuse to concede to him. Like Tats and me.’
‘I see.’ He nodded as if he actually did.
‘Usually Tats and I get along very well. Then Greft came along, and he just seems to enjoy making trouble. And manipulating people. Sometimes it seems that if he can’t make us do what he wants, he focuses on making us as miserable as possible. At first, I thought he liked me. He behaves as if he can’t stand for me to have a friend, like it makes him less important. It’s almost as if he tries to drive a wedge between Tats and me. Why are some people like that?’
She hadn’t expected him to have an answer, but he looked startled, as if she had asked him something of great significance. When he answered, his words came slowly. ‘Maybe because we let them be that way.’
Sedric felt as if he’d been hit in the back of the head. Twice. First by the glimpse of the extraordinary young man who’d seemed to dispute his right to ask Thymara to translate for him. He’d never seen such a person, at least not unveiled and unhooded. Most people marked as strongly by the Rain Wilds as Greft was went veiled. But Greft didn’t. Was that a defiance of custom, or had they travelled far enough up the Rain Wilds River that the locals no longer cared what outsiders thought of them?
There had been a definite reptilian cast to his features that somehow only lent power to his presence. His blue eyes had gleamed like polished lapis lazuli beneath his finely scaled brows. The austere lines of his face reminded Sedric of a sculpture, save that this was no cold stone. He was closer to an animal than anyone Sedric had ever met. He’d felt he could almost smell him, as if the dominance Greft sought to assert were a musk emanating from him. Even his voice had held an inhuman tenor, a hum that reminded Sedric of a bow drawn across dark strings. The scales repelled him and the voice attracted him. No wonder the girl at his side was so agitated by his presence. Anyone would be.
Even Hest. He and Hest would have collided like antlered bucks battling for territory. Even as that thought occurred to him, the girl had asked that telling question. It had snapped a stinging realization into his mind. Hest didn’t like him being friends with Alise. Hest didn’t want him to have conversations with her or have opinions about her. She was supposed to be something he’d surrendered to Hest, a part of his past he’d given to the man when he suggested that marrying her would put an end to his problem with his parents. He didn’t like thinking of all the implications of that. He pushed aside the thought of other friendships he’d neglected for Hest’s, even how he’d alienated his father by taking the position with Hest rather than striking out on his own or following his father into his business.
He forced himself to focus on the business at hand. He glanced over at the annoyed girl stalking along beside him. ‘I’m sorry I created problems for you.’
She snorted in amusement. ‘Oh, you didn’t create them. They came with who I am, and multiplied when I signed a contract to do this. That’s all.’ She cleared her throat and he could almost see her wrench the topic to one side. ‘Why is Alise awake so early for this?’
‘She’s eager, I suppose. Once we start to travel, I suspect she’ll have little time for chatting with the dragons.’ That wasn’t the truth. He’d wakened Alise and suggested to her that she attempt an interview before the day’s travel began. She’d been very willing, appearing fully dressed only a few minutes later. He was hoping against hope that they would both have all they needed before the dragons actually departed. That hope was fading now, but this was his final chance. If the results of this morning’s ‘interview’ were as lacklustre as what she’d recounted to him last night, perhaps he could persuade her that she’d learn more by remaining in Cassarick for a few days and studying the ruins there. If luck favoured him, perhaps they’d still find a way to connect with Captain Trell and journey home on Paragon.
‘Or it could be that she’ll find she has far more time than she can actually fill. I suspect this expedition is going to take a lot longer than they told us it would. I don’t think anyone actually knows where we are going, and the folk who aren’t going with us don’t much care, as long as we take the dragons with us when we leave.’
Sedric thought that summed it up nicely, but it hardly seemed kind to say so. He tried to find a way to herd the conversation back to something he’d overheard earlier. When inspiration didn’t strike, he simply pushed it there. ‘So. In addition to the blue dragon, you’ll be taking care of a silver one?’
‘So I said,’ she admitted. She sounded as if she regretted it now.
‘Tats said the dragon was injured? Something about his tail?’
‘I haven’t taken a close look at it, but he has some sort of wound there and it looks infected. The dragons are fairly immune to the acidity of the river water, as are the water birds and fish. As long as their hides are intact, they do fine. But the water eats away at open sores. So we need to clean the injury, bandage it well, and somehow make sure he doesn’t get his tail in the water if we have to do any wading. And I consider it very likely that we will.’
Alise and the blue dragon were walking by the river. The dragon made her seem tiny. He knew that Thymara had spotted them as well, for the girl quickened her pace. He deliberately walked more slowly, holding her back. What he had to say to her was not for Alise’s ears. ‘I’ve always had an interest in animals and medicine, and dragons in particular. Perhaps I could be of some assistance in helping the poor thing.’
Thymara shot him a startled look. ‘You?’
It rather stung. ‘Well, why not me?’
‘I just … well, you can’t even understand them when you hear them speak. And you’re so, well, particular. Clean, I guess I mean. It’s hard for me to imagine you dealing with a muddy dragon with an infected tail.’
He put a smile on his face. ‘You’ve only just met me, Thymara. I think you’ll find there’s a lot more to me than meets the eye.’ That at least was true!
‘Well, I suppose if you want to help, you can. But first I’ll translate while Alise talks to Skymaw. I don’t think that will be for long, for they’ll be bringing the dragons’ food soon, and I know Skymaw will want to eat just as much as the others. But after they’ve been fed, I want to check on the silver and see what I can do for him.’
‘Perfect. I’ll gather my equipment and come with you then.’
‘Equipment?’
‘I’ve some basic medical
