The Dragon's Prize (10 page)

Why did Velmar need so much protection?

Why had no one come to clean up the bodies?

“What the Hell’s going on here?”

“You know, I think that maybe we want to rethink our resupplying plan?”  Mira had one hand on her mouth as they walked toward the edge of the town.  She had some green in her cheeks and was keeping her eyes trained steadily forward.  The smell of the corpses was enough to make even Sandra gag.

“I don’t know.  We need food and feed for the horses if we’re even going to have a chance of reaching Riprock.”  Sandra had been looking forward to the idea of a warm bed for the night.  Suddenly, that thought filled her with dread.  “We might not stay the night, though.”

“I like that idea.”  Mira looked around at the piked corpses again and shuddered.  “Something is really off.  Should there be so many guards on?”

“No.”  They were nearly at the gate.  The closed gate.  No one came out to greet them.  “I count twenty four at least on the towers.  That's twice as many as the castle has on duty at one time.”

“Wow.”

“No kidding.”

“Who goes there!?”  The challenge came from the top of the towers.  Still no one came to greet them face-to-face.

“Candygram!”  Sandra shouted back.

“Sandra!”

“What?”  The guard’s head peeked over the edge of the tower.  He looked confused.

“We’re…”  Sandra was about to say travelers, then changed her mind.  “Royal guards!  Here on a mission from the queen!”  It was mostly true.

“I… what?”

“Come down!  I’ll show you!”  Sandra fished around in her pack and got out the note and the pouch.  They divvied the gold and gems between them, but the mark on the pouch would be useful.  Hopefully he wouldn’t be able to read, otherwise he would know that the note had nothing to do with a ‘royal mission’.

“Alright!  Wait one second!”

The guard’s head disappeared, and then they could hear heavy booted feet stomping down the stairs in the tower.  Now that Sandra was paying attention, many of the towers looked like new additions to the town.  They were wood and hide construction where the walls were solid brick and mortar.  Interesting.

Finally, a small person-sized door in one corner of the large gate opened and the guard approached.  Sandra presented the note and the pouch emblazoned with the queen’s symbol, but didn’t let go of them.

The guard made a good show of reading the note, but he clearly didn’t know what was written on it or he would have called them out.

“Hmmph!  You’re telling the truth…”  He looked up at them, surprised.  “You should see the mayor before you leave.  He’ll want to know all about your ‘mission’.”

“Thank-you, kind sir.”  Sandra flashed him a smile.  He harrumphed and headed back through the gate.

As he walked, Sandra noticed that he had the swagger of a seasoned warrior.  This was no lazy town guard, grown fat from lack of action in the hinterlands.  He seemed more like a mercenary or trained thug.  He probably wasn’t great with the sword, but he looked like he had killed with it.  This place just kept getting more and more interesting.

She wanted to leave.

But, they did have to resupply.  When the guard was out of the way, Sandra nudged Lightning forward through the gate and Annie followed.  Annie still preferred to walk in Lightning’s tracks, but Sandra had been giving Mira riding lessons as they traveled.  Mira wasn’t a master by any stretch of the imagination, but she could handle Annie in most normal situations now.

Inside Velmar was cheerier than the outside, though only barely.  There were no rotting corpses on pikes.  There were no people, either.  The ramshackle buildings huddled against each other, as if trying to bunch up for warmth, but there was no people moving around between them.  Windows were shuttered and doors were locked.  Small, greasy fires lined the street, sending a foul-smelling smoke into the air.

“It’s the middle of the day…”

“Shouldn’t there be people around?”  Mira nudged Annie closer, not wanting to be far from Sandra.  “Children playing?  Market?  I don’t hear anything!”

“I know.”  Sandra kept Lightning at a slow walk through the street.  All she really wanted to do was break into a run.  Leave this place, and never return.

“I guess we have to go see the mayor.”

“I guess so.”  Sandra kept one hand on the reins and let the other hand rest on the hilt of her sword.  Mira, who’d shown a great deal of proficiency with the crossbow in her hunting trips, loosened the straps on her crossbow.  If trouble came, they would not be caught unawares.

Inside, the town was much larger than it looked on the outside, but still small.  The entire thing wouldn’t even fill up the dock district in the capital.  It was easy to find the mayor’s house.  It was the large estate at the edge of the main square, the only fancy building in town.

The two of them stopped in the square before proceeding.  In the middle was a huge oak tree whose branches scraggled out across the entire square.  It towered so far in the air that Sandra imagined it was hundreds of feet tall.  Was that possible?  Did oaks grow that large?

The oak was entirely bare of leaves.

“I’m no arborist, but that doesn’t seem right.”  Sandra looked around.  No fallen leaves in the square.  No indication that the tree was even alive.

“After the field outside, this is almost normal.”  Mira let out a frightened sigh.  “Can we go?”

“I don’t think they’ll let us out without seeing the mayor.  And we need feed for the horses.”

“You’re right, of course.”  Mira patted Annie on the neck.  “You’re a hungry horse, aren’t you?”

“They don’t eat: we can’t ride.  Simple as that.”

“I know.  I know.  But if a horde of zombies swarms and eats us, we can’t ride either.”

“That guard didn’t look like a zombie.”  Sandra jerked her head back at the tower.  Of course, she’d been thinking the same thing.

“Details.”

“Let’s find the mayor.”

They approached the estate, which loomed over the town like an angry canker.  There were no lights in the windows, and in the soggy afternoon the entire place seemed to hunker down on itself.  The roof sagged, the shutters hung cock-eyed and even the siding seemed like it was ready to melt off.  The paint was weathered and much of the fine carving on the posts and walls was wearing away to nothingness.  Despite the richness and size of the building, it looked like it was caving in on itself.

No one came to stop them as they approached the door and there were no guards posted anywhere, so Sandra just shrugged and knocked.

Waited.

Waited.

No one came.

She knocked again.

This time she could hear desultory footsteps on the other side of the door and someone half-heartedly shouted “coming!”

They waited another full minute for the footsteps to reach the door and then an eye slit in the front of the door slid open and two grey eyes stared out at them.

“Go away!”

The slit slammed shut again.

“Wait!”  Sandra couldn’t believe someone would spend all that time walking toward the door just to shout at them.  “The gate guards told us to come here.”

The slit opened.

“Hmmm…”  The eyes looked the two of them up and down.  Sandra felt slimly, like she should go and wash the grime of that gaze off of her.  “You look new to town.”

“We are.”

“Why are you here?”

“Well!”  Try to avoid the feeling of the eyes on her, Sandra struck a dramatic pose and drew out the pouch with the queen’s emblem on it.  She didn’t dare use the note here, as the mayor or anyone who worked for him were far more likely to be literate.  “I’m a royal guard on a mission from the queen herself, and this is my squire!”

One of the eyebrows raised.

“Since when does the queen give a shit what happens in Velmar?”

“Hold your tongue!”  Sandra tried to act like a snotty noble guard would act.  She wasn’t sure if she was managing it.  “The queen will not be disparaged like that.  And I will not divulge the purpose of my mission to anyone but the mayor himself.”

“Well, aren’t you special.  Go away!”

The eyes attempted once more to slam the slit shut.  Sandra was faster, and jammed a dagger into the slit so that the blade slithered just beside the person’s head and blocked the shutter from closing completely.

“Listen.”  Her voice dropped a few octaves, from friendly to dangerous.  She heard the person on the other side swallow audibly, and she could almost imagine an adam’s apple bobbing up and down.  “We are in need of feed for our horses and supplies for ourselves.  There is no one around in town and the gate guard said to come here.  You will let us in.”

“I…”

Sandra wedged her fingers beside the dagger and dragged the shutter open.  The person on the other side tried to resist, but he was not nearly as strong as she was.  She brought her eyes level with his, with only the door separating them.

“You will let us in.”

“Right!  Right.”

This time, the bolt on the door clicked and slammed open.  Then a bar on the other side was removed.  Then a chain.  Another dead bolt.  A pad lock.  Sandra stared at the door in surprise.  It was very locked.

Finally the lock in the knob clicked and the door opened.

The interior of the estate was entirely the opposite of the exterior.  While outside it was the picture of neglect and poverty, inside it was opulent and almost gaudy.  The man inside was an aging butler with wispy grey hair and a growing hump.  He was the one that had, moments ago, been so rude.  He was the one who now looked at her with a mixture of fear and respect.

The interior of the hallway was filled with elaborate furniture.  Made of expensive woods, carved with reliefs done by master craftsman and inlaid in gold, Sandra didn’t think she would make enough in a lifetime to afford even a single piece.  Lush tapestries hung all along the walls, and hanging from the ceiling were ornate golden sconces containing glowing witch lights.  Sandra’s mouth was gaping open and she didn’t care.  Not even the castle had so much wealth on display in such a small space.

“Well?”  The man gestured impatiently for them to enter.  Sandra stared at the plush carpet with trepidation.  Her boots were muddy from travel and she was afraid of staining something so incredible.

“Our horses?”

“Yes, yes.  Leave them with the boy.”

“The… oh.”  Sandra turned to see a small boy round the corner of the estate.  He was not young, just small… Sandra could see his ribs in stark relief on the inside of his shirt, and he looked like malnutrition had stunted his growth.  His clothes were little better than rags and his hair hung in dirty strands from his face.

Still, when he saw Lightning his face lit up and he ran up to the horse in obvious excitement.  Lightning whinnied with pleasure as the boy grabbed him with a big hug, and the horse stamped his approval.

That was good enough for Sandra.  She handed the reins to the boy and gestured for Mira to do the same.

Annie was also fond of the boy, and he took her reins just as eagerly.  Without saying anything, he lead the two horses out around the side of the estate to what Sandra hoped was their stables.  She looked back to the butler and couldn’t hide the disdain on her face.  Despite his age, his frame hung with extra weight from rich and plentiful food and his clothes, while aging, seemed like they were made of fine silk.  How could he afford to live like this when the stable boy was merely scraping by?

“If you’re going to judge me, I can close the door again.”

He walked toward the door, one hand out as if to close it.  Before he reached it, Sandra vaulted the stairs and stood proud on the doormat inside, her own hand on the door.

“We’re seeing the mayor.”

“Yes.  Fine.  You said that already.”  Glaring at her, he proceeded into the house.  “Follow me.  Leave your boots in the mudroom.”

Sandra looked around.  Indeed there was a small portion of the entry hallway that seemed devoted to shoes and coats of all kinds.  The floor was not covered in expensive carpets and was instead bare wood, with traces of dirt and mud on it.

Feeling better about not messing up the fancy carpets, Sandra stepped inside and took off her boots.  Mira stepped in after and did the same, closing the door behind her.

“You’re comfortable with this?”  Mira asked with one boot in her hand.

“Hmm?”

“Well, I mean, if we have to run out of here fast it’s maybe not great to have to stop and put our boots on.”

“Oh.”  Sandra couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that.  Of course, she hadn’t really been expecting trouble in the mayor’s house either.  “Good point.  Still, I don’t want to ruin that nice carpet.  Do you?”

“I guess not.  We have gold, though.”

“Somehow.”  Sandra laughed.  “I don’t think twenty gold will cover the cost of that thing.”

“Point taken.”  Mira finished taking off her boots, and then they both hurried to catch up with the butler.  He had not waited for them while they were talking and was almost at the end of the hallway.