Draka

Think before you speak. Be polite. Don’t lie. Don’t promise anything you can't or don’t intend to deliver. Don’t speak out of turn.

Pray that Charisma does something for you.

Those words ran through my head. Then I remembered myself and realized that I was being rude to a very important person. “Apologies! The lady justice Sempralia, I assume? I was flattered to get your invitation. My friends have spoken well of you.”

She gave me a slight, amused smile. “I’m pleased to hear that. I thought I might have left them with a less than favorable opinion of myself. And you? What do you think of me?”

“Me?”

Don’t lie, Conscience reminded me. She wants to hear the truth.

I didn’t want to offend her, but if she could smell dishonesty, loved the truth as much as my family thought she did, and if she was as tough as she looked…

I spoke before I could chicken out. “Your reputation is good, and I appreciate how you’ve treated my friends. Fairly and with an open mind, as far as I know. But I don’t know you, and calling me a dangerous animal didn’t win you any points, I can tell you that much.”

“I can imagine not. Though I could excuse myself by pointing out that I was only making clear the perspective of the law.”

That was a cop-out answer if I’d ever heard one. If she thought honesty was so important, I hoped to get some out of her. “And you? If the law is so clear, what do you think of me? I don’t see how we can have a conversation if you don’t see me as a person.”

“A good point. In the interest of a friendly conversation based on mutual respect, then, let me say I don’t see how I could deny the personhood of anyone capable of protesting its denial. You may not be a human or, so far as I know, a citizen of any recognised state, but you are most certainly a person. Now, to answer your question: forming my own opinion of you is one of the goals I hope to accomplish this morning. It is one thing to be told about you, by my agents and by those who know you. It is quite another to see you, almost close enough to touch, and to speak with you. I don’t mind admitting that so far, I’ve been positively surprised!”

“Oh?”

“Yes! You are clearly far more intelligent than any dragon I’ve heard of, or seen described in the historical record. Your size leads me to believe that you are young, and so less likely to have had any unsurmountable negative experiences with people — forgive me, with humans. And considering that you first appeared in my awareness after quite publicly killing 13 of my citizens, you are far less brutish than I feared. You’ve made no attempts so far to posture or threaten me. These factors all lead me to hope that you are, indeed, as rational as your… friends indicated. Tell me, do you see yourself being a threat to my city or its people?”

“No,” I answered, quickly and honestly. “Not to anyone who does not try to harm me or mine.”

“Ah, good. Your… friends mentioned that you are quite protective of them. Most admirable.”

Something bothered me about the way she said that. “You paused there, again, when you mentioned my friends. Why?”

That earned me another amused smile. “Permit me to answer with a question: What do you know of human-dragon relations, historically?”

“Not great? Lots of murder, both ways?”

“Let us call it ‘conflict’. I don’t think the word ‘murder’ applies in this context. But that is quite a succinct summary, yes. It is a relationship that has been fraught with violence in both directions. But as it applies to the humans you associate with, there is also the historical prevalence of dragon cults.”

Ah, right. That.

“In every part of the known world, dragons have been known to surround themselves with loyal followers, who worship them and give them tribute. Some of these people are motivated by fear, hoping that by submitting, they will be spared. Others are drawn by the promise of wealth and power, setting themselves up as the dragon’s human representatives in whatever territory it carves out. Then there are those that desire protection, and those who simply worship the dragon as a representative of the gods, or as a god itself, like in old Tekeretek. So. What are you to the humans who follow you?”

That was one hell of a loaded question. It was one of those things that I knew perfectly in my gut, but had to think about to put into words. And what I arrived at reminded me of what Mak had told me. Don’t lie. Just say that you’d rather not say.

“I don’t think that I can answer that,” I said. “I hope that you understand. But I can tell you that while we’re important to each other, they don’t worship me. And while I definitely want them all to become obscenely wealthy, I’m not planning on that happening at the expense of the city of Karakan.”

“Is that so?” Sempralia’s smile faded. “Well, an honest answer, at least. And not in conflict with what they told me. Very well, I will hold you to that. Know that the city of Karakan will not tolerate any attempt to set up a parallel power structure within its borders. This is not a threat, merely a statement of fact. I don’t know how familiar you are with human societies and politics, but Karakan claims all inhabited land on this island to the mountains in the west, the northern forest, and to our southern border with Happar, which is another human polity. To be blunt, if you wish to set up your own territory to rule as you please, I suggest you do so outside of Karakan.”

That might be too late, depending on how far north they wanted to draw the line. Though I hadn’t actually challenged their authority yet…

“Understandable, and understood,” I said, which was completely true.

“Very good. I’m glad. Now, I began this meeting by saying that I wished to talk about the future. By that, I specifically mean that I wish to talk about how we, meaning yourself and the city of Karakan, can make each other’s futures brighter and more prosperous. I hope that this is something that interests you?”

“Oh, yeah, sure! But I’ve gotten the impression that most people would not be very happy to know that their government was, I don’t know, ‘consorting’ with a dragon.”

“Very true. So let’s not discuss this under false pretenses. In a void, I would have likely given in to those of my more short-sighted colleagues who wished to see you hunted down. This is not due to any personal animus, though your existence, and especially your presence, do cause me some concern on principle, no matter how well we have gotten along so far. But for the sake of popular peace and acclaim, you see.”

“That’s one hell of a way to start a negotiation,” I muttered.

“Indeed. Rest assured, however, that nothing happens in a void. And I believe that your appearance here can, with correct handling, be an opportunity for both yourself and the city of Karakan. Tell me, Draka, what is it you want in life?”

That was a big question. But I knew myself well enough that the answer was easy. “Peace. Safety. Companionship. And, since I’ve been told that you can see right through deception: Silver, gold, and anything else that glitters.” I shrugged without a shred of self-consciousness. “I am a dragon, after all. But mostly peace, when I choose it. I want to be able to live my life, freely and without hiding.” I couldn’t stop some bitterness from creeping into my voice. “I thought I’d gotten there, five weeks ago, but your conversation with my friends put a stop to that.”

The look Sempralia gave me was shrewd and calculating. “What would you be willing to do in exchange for some level of protection or recognition?”

Don’t agree to anything you can’t deliver, I reminded myself. “Lots of things, probably. But you wouldn’t be asking that if you didn’t already have something in mind. Just tell me what you want.”

“Very well. If the city of Karakan were to recognise you, there would be political considerations. Do you understand what I mean by that? Yes? Good. And not only when it comes to our allies in the Sareyan League, or our trading partners. You understand that public perception must come first, do you not? It is entirely impossible for the council to give you any kind of support if there is no public support first. Despite what some people may think, rulership is an illusion, sustained entirely by the belief of those being ruled. There are many things we can do that the people would simply accept. But if we were to throw our lot in with a dragon, without the people having already accepted you, we would face a public uprising. It would be chaos. Blood in the streets.”

“But…?”

“But.” That amused little smile came back. “If you were to be seen selflessly aiding the good people of Karakan… if word went out about a dragon aiding our brave soldiers in the south, for example, well, that would change things.”

“I know about the refugees from the north,” I said. “But I thought the situation in the south was getting better.”

Sempralia actually gave a bark of laughter at that. “You are truly far better informed than I could have imagined. I suppose all the time you spend with your friends at that inn they bought has been spent productively.”

I bristled at her words, the casual way she revealed that she knew where I’d been living half the time for the last month. She must have picked up on it, because she raised her hands apologetically.

“Your friends are entirely too honest for the kinds of things they’ve gotten involved in, Draka. I even told them during our meeting that I had them followed. I can’t imagine why they would have thought that was a one time occurrence. Yes, I know that you have been coming and going. But you have kept an admirably low profile, and so I have no objections.”

Her words were calm, and on the surface they seemed like a peace offering. She was telling me something she knew, and asking nothing back… yet. But if she had the inn watched, what else did she know? Did she know about Simdal or Tark? Was she waiting for the perfect moment to let slip that she knew that the Tespril sisters had both gone in, and that Zabra hadn’t come out yet?

How much did she know about me? I forced myself to relax. Play it cool. Volunteer nothing.

“It’s convenient,” I admitted. “I like it there. I can sleep comfortably, I can see my friends easily, and there are these long, thin fish I like that you can buy by the crateload at the fishing docks. Yes, I spend a lot of time there. But I thought that I had been more careful.”

“Oh, don’t be cross. I would not employ the people I do if they were not extremely good at their jobs. Like Kalder and Maek, here.” She nodded to the shiny man and the scribe next to her, both of whom had somehow faded from my consciousness as we spoke. “I could walk through the poorest part of the city wearing nothing but my finest jewelry, and as long as I have Kalder by my side I wouldn’t have a care in the world. Except possibly catching cold, I suppose. And Maek fluently captures every word we speak, every intonation, with annotations and other commentary. Believe me, a lady justice’s investigators are no less skilled than her guards or secretaries. Ah, but I digress. My apologies. We were speaking about how you might be seen to aid the city, were we not?”

“Yes?” She had me off balance with her comments, but that seemed to be where she’d been going. “It sounded like you were going to make me an offer.”

“Quite so, and it’s simple. As a show of good faith we would like you to help us find how Happar’s forces are distributed along the border. We are not asking you to put yourself in danger, merely to do some scouting for us. Nothing that you’ve not already done for the Grey Wolves.”

Again, she just casually announced her knowledge of something that was supposed to be secret. Though, frankly, that was Rallon's problem, if it was a problem at all. For all I knew he’d been keeping the council in the loop from the beginning, and had just thought it best not to tell me.

But it didn’t take more than a few small logical steps to connect us, did it? My family were all friends with several of the Wolves. With Garal, Lalia, Rib and Pot all staying at the inn off and on, and Sempralia knowing that I did so as well, I could easily imagine her having simply called Rallon to a meeting and asking him directly. And I didn’t see him lying to her.

Still, it was just as likely that she didn't actually know anything, and was just fishing. And I wasn’t going to confirm or volunteer anything if I could help it.

“I’m not against it,” I told her. “But what would I get in return? As a gesture of good faith, that is.”

“Rumors and hearsay.” The amused little smile was back. “If you help us in the south, we can make sure that word of your deeds become public knowledge. We could not recognise you, of course, but rumors are easy enough to start. For example, word might spread that a black dragon has been known to attack Happaran raiders, but sparing and freeing their prisoners. Who could object to that? Or that the same dragon has been seen attacking and killing bandits, while leaving Karakan’s loyal retained mercenaries unharmed. Such tales may sound far fetched, but they will take root here and there, I’m sure. And if our soldiers in the south are already primed with such rumors, and they should happen to see you coming and going from their camps while not causing them any problems, that might be helpful as well, I imagine.”

“How do you even know about that?” I muttered, half to myself.

“People talk. When mercenaries talk about a large, flying lizard attacking bandits and seemingly protecting the tall, dark young woman guiding them, that is interesting. When a group of citizens from various devastated farming communities do their patriotic duty and report what they know, and careful questioning finally draws out that they were set free from their captors by a large, flying lizard that spoke to them, that is very interesting. And I have very good agents bringing me information. You don’t think that I am only interested in matters of law, do you?”

“Clearly not. So I do you this favor in the south, you begin to stealthily work on my image, and if everyone is satisfied we take it from there? Easy as that?”

“As easy as that.”

I looked at her. I took in her scent. Citrusy perfume and age, paper and silk. There was interest and curiosity on her face, together with a lot of calculation. Though, in someone who’s whole life had revolved around handling people for who knew how many decades, what her face showed might be entirely up to her. But there was no fear that I could detect with any sense. Almost everyone, Herald and recently Mak being the exceptions, feared me to some degree. Not everyone was wary around me; they may not even acknowledge that they were scared. But their bodies gave them away, and I instinctively read the little cues that told me that they knew that they were, in the grand scheme of things, prey. Even Tark, for all his bravado, had smelled of fear at the end.

Sempralia didn't. Not at all.

“You’re interesting,” I told her. “Why were you so ready to meet me, face to face? Why do you want to work with me?”

She looked at me thoughtfully, the amusement entirely replaced by something more serious. “I see an opportunity in you. There are good reasons, historically, why I should be wary of a dragon, yes. But you defy expectations. You should be arrogant and demanding, but you are not. Your friends have made claims about you that I found hard to believe, but they made them with absolute conviction. And there are some problems facing the city which I believe that you are uniquely suited to… perhaps not solve, but attempt to ameliorate at the very least. Let me be blunt. I want to believe that we can work together. That you can be trusted to help us. But I cannot tell you why until I actually trust you.”

“Huh.”

It was perhaps not the most draconic, or even dignified, reaction imaginable, but it was an honest one. Sempralia quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise waited patiently as I mulled over her words. She told me something important, there. Calculated to manipulate me, perhaps, but probably true. They needed me. Or my cooperation would make things easier for them, at least. But she couldn't tell me why until we trusted one another, so it must be big.

Did I have some leverage?

“I’ll do your scouting mission,” I told her. “As a gesture of good faith, like you said. I think I’ve already done plenty, but I’ll play along. If you just want me to fly along the border I’ll need a map. More, and I’ll need details. From some… military person, I guess.”

“Wonderful! You would of course meet with general Sarvalian at the border before undertaking to do anything. Shall we—?”

“But beyond that, we’ll have to hammer out some terms. Official recognition, no matter what, is non-negotiable. So is protection for the inn while I’m away. We’ve had some trouble lately, and I can’t leave unless I know that my friends are safe. Other than that I’d prefer if you worked it out with Mak. Lady Drakonum, I mean. I trust her to have my best interest at heart.”

She didn’t look at all perturbed by me cutting her off with my demands, though that could of course just have been her controlling her facial expression.

“Making something ‘non-negotiable’ is rarely productive, and it is rarely as non-negotiable as the one making the demand believes. But if that is what you wish, I would be delighted to speak with lady Drakonum again.”

“In that case, are we done? You know how to contact me. Send me some specifics about this mission you want me to carry out, and I’ll see to it as soon as I can.”

“I suppose that we are. Thank you again for meeting with me. I hope that this is the beginning of something profitable for all of us. And, one more thing before you go…” Sempralia said the last part with obvious hesitation, like she thought that she shouldn’t but couldn’t help herself. It was odd, coming from her. Mildly endearing, even, and I wondered what she might want.

“Forgive an old woman her rudeness, lady Draka, but… may I touch you?”