letters of authorization to act on the behalf of two members who are too occupied with business to attend today’s meeting. I can cast their votes as I see fit. And if all of us here vote the same way, then we are a majority, with or without the others voting.”
“But you do not, I’ll wager, have such a letter from my brother Selden Vestrit. And, Trader Polsk, as he represents the interests of the dragon Tintaglia, I do not see how you can make any sort of a binding vote without his presence.”
“He is only one vote. Whether he agreed with us or not, his vote would not change the outcome.”
“He represents Tintaglia’s concerns. He speaks for the dragons. How can you finalize decisions about their fate without consulting him? The simple fact is that you cannot!”
The Elderling woman strode past them as she talked. Alise tried not to stare but could not help it. Everyone knew the story of Malta Vestrit. She had been involved with a failed kidnapping plot against the Satrap of Jamaillia. With him, she had been captured by pirates and ultimately she had been one of the forces to help forge a peace between Jamaillia and the Pirate Kingdom. But that was not what everyone remembered about her. She had been in close contact with the dragon Tintaglia just before she hatched from her case. Some said that was what had precipitated her change from ordinary Bingtown Trader girl to a woman who was obviously changing into an Elderling. Others said it had been a gift from the dragon. Both her fiance and her brother had been affected as well, and they, too, had been present at the hatching of the dragon. All of them showed similar changes.
“We attempted to include Selden Vestrit in this meeting, but he is not here nor in Trehaug. And we have been told that we cannot expect his return for at least four months. By then, we will be venturing toward foul weather, and another long wet winter with dragons churning the grounds around Cassarick into a quagmire. We have to act now. We cannot delay any longer simply to hear the opinion of a single member of the committee.”
“You are acting now purely because he is away from the Rain Wilds and unable to intervene on Tintaglia’s behalf.”
The grey-haired woman at the table looked beleaguered. Several of her fellows looked uncomfortable, but one at least expressed his annoyance by marching his fingers on the table’s edge. A young man with a flash of orange scales on his high cheekbones was obviously angry. He gritted his teeth as if to cage furious words. The head of the committee spoke. “You were with us when we went to speak to the dragons. You heard that they understood what we were proposing. You know that the largest dragon, the black one, agreed to our proposal to move them all to a better place. We even acceded to his demands for extra hunters to accompany the herd. Those hunters will be arriving any time now, and they will expect to leave immediately. Our meeting this morning is, in fact, to assure that we can meet the dragons’ expectations. Captain Leftrin, we summoned you here in the hopes of securing you and your barge to escort the dragons and their hunters up the river.”
Alise had to admire how deftly the woman had shifted her conversation from Malta to Leftrin. She was still trying to understand how it all fitted together. The dragons were to be moved from Cassarick? Hunters would accompany them? And possibly Captain Leftrin’s barge?
“This is very short notice,” Captain 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
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
