Blazing Blunderbuss (Wyvern Chronicles Book 1) Page 8

  Alice finally turned her notice the boy who was following Hara, and asked, “Who’s that?”

  Hara glanced at the boy and realized she had hired him without even knowing his name. The boy stuttered for a moment, then flushed and finally said, “I’m Liam. I…I…I’m going to be…”

  Hara came to his rescue and said, “Alice, this is our new midshipman. Henry will appreciate getting out of the boiler room more often, and the food should improve with his mood.”

  Alice grinned and said, “He actually made soufflé today since he didn’t have to stoke the boiler. The cargo’s already loaded. We can go whenever you want.”

  Hara had no reason to stick around so she said, “Right away. Gideon had some visitors when I took him home. I think they might distract him long enough for us to get away.”

  Alice blinked in confusion and asked, “Gideon wanted to stay on the ship? I thought this whole trip was to get him home.”

  Hara said, “He wants more than a trip on the airship, Alice.”

  Alice frowned as she thought this over, and when she had finally figured out what Hara meant, said, “But what do you feel about it?”

  Hara sighed at the girl’s perception and said, “I’ll be nice this time, Alice, as you don’t know any better, but the truth is that it isn’t any of your business.”

  Alice flushed and quickly said, “Sorry, Captain. You’re completely right. It’s none of my business. Let me settle in the boy in the boiler room and I can report back to you about the cargo.”

  Since it was already loaded, Hara thought, she would take it, even if it was too good to be true. There would certainly be strings attached. Alice was a good soul, but she would learn soon enough that some things weren’t to be trusted, and a good deal was one of those.

  The boy leaned over the railing and said, “Man, this is high up.”

  Alice chuckled and said, “You haven’t seen anything yet. We’re low for docking. This beautiful beast can go a lot higher.”

  Hara said, “I hope you aren’t afraid of heights.”

  Henry yelled from further in the ship, “Hurry up, dinner is almost ready!”

  Hara said, “It might have to wait a short while. I want to head out first.” She turned to Alice and asked, “So where are we going, Alice?”

  Alice checked a piece of paper with the details of the delivery and said, “Kerak.”

  Hara closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Her lips moved in a silent prayer.

  Henry groaned and Alice asked, “What?”

  Hara opened her eyes and said, “It isn’t a very pleasant place to go. Not to worry. We’ll be there in under a week, and during that time I think I’ll show you how to read the smugglers’ code. We can avoid this in the future.” The string attached to this cargo wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t too bad.

  Kerak was a raiders’ town. They had been home to killers and assassins since William had conquered most of Europe and forced their kind to hide at the edges of the Empire. In those days, Kerak had been further away from the border than it was today. The violent elements there hadn’t got any tamer as so-called civilization got closer. It would be an interesting trip, but she had been there before and had survived.

  Hara rolled out one of the maps. She said, “These are in code. So you need to know the code before you can understand it. Here’s the symbol for the ports. Next to it shows what facilities they have.”

  Hara pulled a piece of paper closer and started drawing the symbols she was talking about and put translations beside them. “These ports are able to repair and deal with most issues in engineering. These ones here show where you can get guns.”

  She looked at Alice significantly and said, “You want to avoid any of these towns. To get the guns you have to run on the black market. There’s no law in these towns.”

  Alice blushed and said, “Is Kerak one of those towns?”

  Hara didn’t want to hurt the girl, but she needed to know if she was going to stay on the ship. “Yes. Here is Kerak.”

  The port was in the Middle East, in the area still under dispute after the last move by the Empire over a hundred years before. There was a delicate peace of sorts, but it could easily turn to full-out war. The men there tended to be as rough as the area they lived in.

  Alice asked shyly, “Is it really dangerous?”

  Again, Hara didn’t hold back. “Yes. So when we go there, no one is leaving the ship except those going with me. But Alice, that isn’t the issue. The deal sounded great? Well, there was a reason. Next time take someone else with you. They can help you see the tricks as you learn.”

  Alice sniffed and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t make any more deals.”

  Hara shook her head and said, “Don’t be like that, Alice. You’ll learn.” Besides, the last time Hara had gone looking for cargo, she hadn’t been able to get anyone to talk to her. Alice must have some special charm to get men to talk business with her.

  The wind caressed his skin. Gideon pumped his wings and thought that he really should do this more often. He had spent the last few decades playing with numbers in various universities around the Empire. He had forgotten what it was like to fly over the plains. The feel of the air and space around him. He had waited for it to get dark before he had set off, as he hated scaring the people with his form.

  He liked night flying the best. The sense of space was exponential. It seemed he was flying through universe itself. The only thing that compared to this feeling was when he was with Hara. The way she moved and her wit thrilled him like dropping from a height and watching the ground rush towards him.

  Gideon flipped a loop in the air as he flew. He wasn’t too far from the Blazing Blunderbuss and he was considering how angry Hara was going to be. She would see her trip to the city as pointless. Her eyes would probably spark. She also wouldn’t be shocked. She was far from stupid, and she would know he had wings and he would follow her. She would have picked her destination at the last minute to give him the slip. But he could smell her on the air. It wouldn’t matter which way she went; he would be able to follow her.

  Gideon saw the ship in the distance. It had a few running lights lit as it moved through the air. Grinning, he approached cautiously. He didn’t grab onto the ship as he usually did when he was in dragon form. Instead, he positioned himself above the ship and changed to human form.

  Gideon dropped onto the envelope holding the gasses which kept the ship afloat. He slid down the side and caught one of the ropes and brought himself to a stop. He hung there for a moment, grinning. It didn’t take long for him to make his way onto the deck and to sneak further into the ship.

  Instead of going to his room, he made his way to the stateroom. It was time to move things forward a bit more, especially because Hara had returned the kiss in his apartment. She had been timid, but there had been heat there. She had felt it like he had. He could have pushed it then if only there hadn’t been company. But he would be patient. He had the time after all.

  When he got to Hara’s stateroom, the only one there was the metal flying creature. The clockwork dragon slept in a small hollow on the bed. He wrinkled his nose at the creature. It lifted its head and trilled at him.

  Gideon crouched down so he was close to the creature. He would not call it a dragon. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Let us get this clear. Hara is going to be my queen. You make her happy, so you’ll remain in her life, but you will not hinder me.”

  The creature trilled, and it must have understood somewhat because it uncurled itself and moved off somewhere else to sleep.

  Eying the bed, Gideon grinned. Sass had always suited him before. He wasn’t about to stop. Hara was going to be mad with him anyway, so he might as well make it interesting.

  Hara was exhausted. They hadn’t been able to afford more people to help them load the supplies, so earlier in the evening she had pitched in with the others. They had done a good job to get it all on board, but only Henry had known how to load cargo, and he had
been cooking. It meant moving everything around before they could get any real height.

  An airship that wasn’t loaded right could tip in the stronger breezes higher up in the atmosphere. They had all pitched in to move things quickly, but it meant her muscles now ached.

  Hara didn’t turn up the light in her cabin. She would just fall on the bed and sleep, she was that exhausted. Henry had served cheese and crackers for a late supper, but she hadn’t complained. She had been too tired to even eat. Alice was taking the night watch. Alice was feeling a bit guilty.

  Hara regretted making Alice feel guilty for picking a dangerous cargo. She was young. This wouldn’t be her last mistake and Hara certainly had made her own. She would talk with her in the morning. At least she had gotten them a cargo.

  Hara stripped off her leathers and ran a hand through her loosened hair. She sat on the edge of her bed, but it wasn’t for long. She jumped to her feet when she sat on something which shouldn’t be there.

  Gideon grunted and rolled over. “Hey, sweetheart.”

  Hara went to the light and turned it up so she could see Gideon sleeping in her bed.

  She growled. “Gideon!”

  He sat up in bed and she was shocked to see he didn’t have a shirt on. She turned because she didn’t want to see what he wasn’t wearing as he sat up. She could feel a blush on her cheeks. She was mad at herself as he didn’t have anything she hadn’t seen before. She had been disguised as a boy for most of her life.

  Hara said, “Put some clothes on, Gideon.” She could hear the rustle of cloth but determinedly stared at the wall.

  He asked, “Are you sure you don’t want a peek?”

  She rolled her eyes and said firmly, “I’m not going to speak to you while you’re half-dressed.”

  Gideon said, “Are you sure you’re going to speak? I was so sure you would yell. I was looking forward to a heated argument. You’re very pretty when you argue.”

  She spun to glare at him. Gideon grinned at her as he said, “Wow, I really did think that comment would get you riled up. Are you going to yell at me?”

  He had pants on but he still hadn’t put on a shirt. Hara blushed and turned away again. He was very well formed for a mathematician, although she wondered if that was just a trick dragons could do to make them look appealing in their human form.

  Gideon said, “You can turn around now. I have clothes on. Though I have to say, it would have been a much more interesting conversation if I’d been naked.”

  When Hara turned around he was sitting on her bed, dressed at least. She ran a hand through her hair and asked, “What are you doing here?”

  He leaned back on the bed and said, “I told you. I want you to be part of my collection.”

  Hara frowned. “No matter how you explain that being in your collection is not slavery, I still can’t stop the shiver that goes down my spine every time you say it.”

  Gideon cocked his head to the side and studied her for a long moment. He shifted further onto the bed and patted the blankets next to him. “Sit, we can talk.”

  For a moment Hara contemplated yelling at him and throwing him literally overboard. In the end she decided she would be grown up about it, and would sit on the bed with him and talk it out. She told herself it had nothing to do with the fact that Gideon was good looking. Or that despite him being annoying she was happy he was back.

  “I’m not keen on being in your collection,” Hara said as she took a seat, tucking her knees up under her chin.

  He asked casually, “Is it just me or something else?”

  Hara shook her head. There were so many things wrong with that question, she wasn’t sure where to start. “My dad is a con artist. He made me realize you can’t trust anyone. Mostly men. I don’t want to belong to anyone. My father always used me and I escaped. I don’t want to go back to that. Do you understand?”

  Gideon watched her for a long while, then said, “All I ask for is the chance to prove to you I’m not like your father.”

  Hara looked at him with a critical eye and asked, “And what does that entail?”

  Gideon grinned and said, “Sticking around.”

  She rolled her eyes. She flopped back onto the bed and said with a sigh, “Fine, you can stay, but that doesn’t mean anything, all right?”

  Kerak was a sprawling town. It really could have been classed as a city if it had bothered to go through the paperwork to be classified as such. Landing in the port had been a simple affair.

  There were a couple of roughs running the port, but although they were gruff, they were fair. She knew if they broke any of the rules the port authorities wouldn’t be so fair then. She had Gideon and Henry to carry the trunk. It was light, but awkward.

  Hara had looked inside even though there was a very complicated lock on it. She had worried it was drugs, and if that had been the case she would have taken it back to its owner and told them to go shove it. She was amused when she found it was filled with spices. Rare and exotic and really-difficult-to-acquire spices, but only innocuous spices. She was pretty sure they were stolen, but then so was her ship. She really couldn’t be all high and mighty and moral when it came to stealing.

  Hara was leading the way with the notes Alice had taken from the client. She knew Kerak vaguely. She and her father had hidden out in one of the taverns here. Her father had been running away from an Empire noble he had conned into buying a mine which didn’t exist.

  Seeing the place now that she was older, Hara was shocked her father had brought a child here. The streets had women of ill repute on every corner. The men swore and cursed loudly. Hara thought her father probably had been oblivious to the behavior of the residents of Kerak.

  Hara noticed a person watching them. He looked familiar, but she had stayed here for a while and it might be someone she had known from her past. She dismissed him easily.

  The tavern where they were to meet the clients was at the end of the street. A quick signal to the innkeeper and they were led to a private room at the back. Gideon put the trunk down and settled on top of it.

  Hara said to Henry, “Head back and grab some supplies. We should be along shortly.”

  She said the last bit a little louder, because the door was open already and the people they were supposed to meet had arrived. Henry ducked past the clients as they entered, and returned to the airship.

  Their clients were the typical overly muscled men she had expected to be picking up stolen goods. She stood next to Gideon, who was inspecting his nails in an overly casual way. He would not seem like the most dangerous person in the room.

  One of the clients motioned to the trunk with his head and asked, “Is that what we’re here for?”

  Hara placed her hands on her hips and said, “That depends if you brought the money.”

  The leader didn’t answer. He motioned for his men to move forward. She didn’t wait. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at him.

  Gideon said, “Wow, that escalated fast. I really did think there would be some posturing, a few insults maybe.”

  The other men pulled out their weapons and pointed them at the two of them. The tension was thick as people pointed guns at each other. The clients couldn’t decide if Hara or Gideon was the dangerous one, and kept changing their target. Hara didn’t move, her aim directed at the leader.

  Hara said, “We can all leave here without holes in our pretty flesh if you can provide us with what we are due.”

  The leader said, “I could just kill you. And take what we want.” He wasn’t a very bright smuggler if he thought this was the way to do business. If he continued this way it would only be a matter of time before he was adorned with extra iron himself.

  Hara motioned with her gun to indicate that her gun was aimed at him as she said, “But I would shoot you first. Not anyone else. Just you. Now, are you going to give the order for me to be shot and for you to die?”

  There was a tense silence, then the leader motioned to one of his men. The man
placed a small purse on the ground.

  Hara asked Gideon, “How much is there?”

  He didn’t even leave his seat on top of the trunk as he said, “Fifty gold coins. All in brass and copper and one ceramic penny. Do they still use ceramic pennies here? How archaic.”

  Hara ignored his extraneous comments. The amount was exactly what they had been promised. She didn’t question how he could know how much money there was. Dragons had their own tricks.

  Hara said, “Pick it up, Gideon. We’re leaving.”

  Gideon hopped off the trunk and picked up the purse. He tucked it away and came to stand behind her. He asked, “Are you going to shoot him?”

  “Not now. But…” She raised an eyebrow. The leader motioned to his men and they put down their guns. She did as well. She tipped her head to the man and said, “Enjoy your loot. Come along, Gideon.”

  They stepped out of the room.

  A man leaning against the wall outside said, “I was just about to come in and rescue you, baby girl.”

  Hara frowned at the man, then realized who he was. “Talen?”

  This was the man she had seen outside and had thought familiar. He had been an ex-convict who had worked with her father. He was mostly a thief who broke into houses to find out things about people. He used to steal things, but he said that was too easy, so he had gone into stealing information instead.

  Talen moved away from the wall and approached her. He gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. She pulled away when she heard Gideon’s growl behind her. He was a dragon, after all, and he might do something stupid like attack her old friend.

  Hara asked, “What are you doing here, Talen?”

  Talen shrugged. “Getting stuck in this two-bit town. I saw you had a ship and I thought I could bum a ride out of this place. Well, at least to a place where people aren’t trying to kill me.”

  She shook her head slightly, not at all surprised someone was trying to kill him, and said, “Talen, I don’t think I can find a town this side of the world where there’s no one trying to kill you.”