Page 5 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
I smiled back and again nodded in greeting but kept moving. All in all, life was peaceful. Calm. Relaxing.
If I ignored the jackals on the other side of the market. Gritting my teeth as the raucous laughter of their leader cut through all the other sounds, I headed for Darius’ to show him what I had. The elder man’s trinket shop was my favorite, and I always paid him a visit when I came to town, even if I wasn’t selling.
Cutting through the narrow passage between two tents, I nearly ran into a dragon just coming around the corner.
“Shit, sorry, Dillon,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”
The dragon shifter in question, a tall man with a shock of short black hair on his head, smiled. “Not to worry, Rhyse,” he said politely. “In a hurry?”
“Not really,” I said, exchanging nods with Isaac and Sven, the two other dragons who were always at Dillon’s side. “Just in my own world, you know how it is.”
Dillon smiled. We weren’t exactly friends, but he was always friendly, which was something I couldn’t say about most of my kin.
“Hah, that I do, Rhyse, that I do. Please, after you.” He swept an arm in front of him.
I smiled and crossed the path. “See you later.”
“You as well,” he said, continuing down the row of stalls before stopping at a wood carver to admire a beautiful piece carved from one log that depicted a dragon breaching thesurface of the sea, its wings tucked to its side and its tail fading into the water beyond.
I paused to appreciate the beauty of the craftsmanship before ducking under the low swinging sign and entering the shop that was my destination. Darius’ place was a true building, not a makeshift stall. I eyed the rows of beautiful shells lining one side and the tiny bits of gold and fancy mirrors, all products fished out of the sea at one point or another.
“Rhyse!” Darius eased himself off his stool as I approached, lowering himself gingerly to the ground. It happened to all dragons eventually. He had to be pushing almost a century in age, though nobody was sure. Given the slightly longer lifespan of a dragon to a human, he was probably an equivalent of eighty-five or so. But after a while, dragons often quit keeping track. It just didn’t matter.
“Darius,” I said, gracing him with a true smile. I didn’t enjoy people very much, hence my infrequent trips to town, but Darius was an exception.
I extended a tanned, weatherbeaten arm and shook his hand, marveling at the strength still present in his grip.
“Good to see you, my boy, good to see you,” Darius muttered. “How are you? It’s been, what, two weeks?”
“Three and a half, by my count,” I said, clapping him—gently—on the shoulder. “But who’s counting.”
He laughed. “Well, then, you must have something good for me.”
“A few things,” I said cryptically with a laugh. “Though I’m hoping you might have something for me.”
“Are you buying?” Darius asked, bushy white eyebrows rising in surprise.
“Information.”
“Well, that could be pricy.” He winked at me.
I laughed. There was a reason I enjoyed coming to Darius’. Laughter wasn’t a big part of my life otherwise. “I’d heard rumor that peace with the humans had come. Is that true?”
“Bah,” Darius said, waving a hand. “That’s no fun. I thought you wantedinformation. Yes, the sovereign signed a deal yesterday, by my understanding. A ceasefire with some terms or something. I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to that. Details aren’t my strong suit.”
An explosive laugh erupted from me like a bark. Darius was one of the sharpest dragons I knew.Nodetail got past him. If he didn’t know, it was because he didn’t care to. Still, if a ceasefirehadbeen signed, then perhaps that would explain why the sovereign had sent a message ordering me to report to her at the palace that afternoon. She wanted to know if I had any results. Unfortunately, I feared I would disappoint her.
“Respect your elders, boy,” Darius admonished at my laughter, waggling a finger at me even as he grinned. “Now, show me what you’ve got.”
I hoisted my net onto his table and laid it out so he could see what I had. A little brown box. The locking mechanism attached to it put it as several hundred years old.
“Pretty chest. A little waterlogged, though,” he said, poking at the wood that was starting to wear away.
“A little,” I agreed before pulling back the lid to show him the encrusted gold coins within. “But these still look good, don’t you think?”
Darius locked eyes with me. “You found a new ship,” he said slyly.
“Did not.” It was a lie but so blatant of one that Darius wasn’t offended. He just chuckled and took some of the coinsout to examine. They weren’t exactly rare but nor were they commonplace.
