'I'll go with you,' Boxter offered, and Harrikin was already coming to his feet.

'No. Thank you,' she replied. She strode off into the darkening forest in the same direction Tats had gone.

Abruptly, Greft leaned close to Thymara. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset your beau like that. But someone had to tell him how it really is.'

'He's not my beau,' Thymara blurted out, shocked that Greft would think such a thing. Then she abruptly felt as if she had somehow betrayed Tats with that denial.

But Greft was smiling at her. 'He isn't your beau, hey? Well, well. What a surprise.' Then, he raised one eyebrow at her and leaned closer to ask with a smirk, 'Does he know that?'

'Of course he does! He knows the laws. Girls like me can't be courted or married. We aren't allowed to have children. So there's no sense having beaus.'

Greft looked at her steadily. His eyes, blue on glowing blue, suddenly softened with sympathy. 'You've been so well schooled in their rules, haven't you? That's a shame.' He pressed his narrow lips together, shook his head and gave a small sigh. For a time he watched the fire. Then when he looked back at her, his thin mouth stretched in a smile. He leaned closer to her, setting his hand on her thigh to speak right by her ear. His breath was warm on her ear and neck. It sent a shiver down her back. 'Where we are going, we can make our own rules. Think about that.'

Then, smooth as a snake uncoiling, he rose and left her looking into the flames.

Day the 2nd of the Grain Moon

'Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders

From Kim, Keeper of the Birds, Cassarick to Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown and Detozi, Keeper of  the Birds, Trehaug

Keeper Erek and Keeper Detozi, when this position was given to me I was told firmly that the messenger birds were to be used only for official Council business, although Traders may be allowed to pay for the use of them for private messages. It was emphasized to me that Keepers have no special status that allows them to send messages for free. This, it seems to me, would include appending personal messages to official communications. I have no desire to report you for violating these rules, but if evidence of personal correspondence reaches me again, as it did by chance this time, I shall report you to all three Councils, and I am certain you will be liable for the expenses of all the free messages you have sent. Respectfully, Keeper Kim

CHAPTER TEN

Cassarick

By the time they reached the main dock at Cassarick it was almost too dark to see. Even the mosquitoes had given up for the night. The lanterns hung on each corner of the barge illuminated little more than the preoccupied faces of the polers as they endlessly plodded past her. There was a hypnotic quality to watching their circling dance on the deck. She still found it amazing how easy it was for them to propel the barge upstream. When she had spoken of it to Captain Leftrin, he had grinned and said something about a very sophisticated hull design.

Alise had stayed out on the deck, well bundled against both the night chill and the insects that descended with darkness. The stars overhead had been distant and yet brilliant. Her first sight of the lights of the town had made her gasp in awe. Like Trehaug, the newer settlement of Cassarick was strung and strewn through the treetops above the river. The yellow lamplight shone from windows through a lacy network of branches. At first they looked like a scattering of stars caught in a net, but as the barge moved steadily closer, the lights grew larger and brighter.

'Won't be long now,' Captain Leftrin told her on one of his frequent visits to her perch. 'Ordinarily, we'd have stopped for the night an hour ago. But I know how anxious you are to get here and meet your dragons, so I've pushed my crew a bit today. I'd hoped we would dock while it was still light, but no such luck for us. So I suggest that you spend another night with us here, and make an early start of it tomorrow.'

Sedric had come out on deck and joined them. In the dark, neither of them had noticed his soundless approach, and they both jumped when he spoke. 'I do not think we are that tired. I think a bit of extra effort to find an inn that offers hot baths, soft beds and a gentle wine with a warm meal would be worth it.'

'You won't find any of that here,' Captain Leftrin warned him. 'Cassarick's a young settlement yet; most of the folk who work here live here, and visitors are few. There's little call for an inn. Oh, if we'd arrived while the sun was in the sky, we might have found a family that would give you a room for the night. But after dark, well, chances are you'd just go from door to door and find nothing. You'd have to climb a lot of steps in the dark. Or use a basket hoist, if you could find one that was manned and you were willing to pay the fee.'

Alise nodded at his reasoning. 'There's no sense in packing up all our luggage and setting out in the dark in the hope of finding a hospitable family. One more night aboard the Tarman won't hurt us, Sedric. In the morning, you can look for lodgings for us while I speak to the local council about the dragons.' It seemed a solid arrangement to her. The boat was not palatial, but it was comfortable enough. The food was plain but nourishing. Captain Leftrin might be a bit rough around the edges, but his efforts at gallantry were flattering in their sincerity. She enjoyed his company even if Sedric obviously found him provincial. Several times that day Sedric had given her long-suffering glances at the captain's extravagant compliments to her, and once he had smothered a laugh over the man's efforts to be charming. She'd been surprised that it offended her when Sedric found the captain a cause for amusement. It seemed unkind and petty of him.

And flattering.

She tried not to dwell on that thought, but could not help herself. Leftrin's attentions to her had taken her completely by surprise. They had made her uncomfortable at first, and even suspicious. But in the last day, she had become convinced his admiration of her was sincere. She could not deny the thrill of pleasure that went through her at the thought of this rough, masculine river-captain finding her attractive. He was so unlike any other man she had ever met. His company made her feel that she was truly adventurous, even reckless in undertaking this trip. At the same time, his evident strength and competence made her feel safe. She had indulged herself in his company, telling herself that it was only for a short time and that she had no intention of being unfaithful to Hest. She only wished to enjoy, for a time, that a man found her pretty.

Then Sedric had reacted to him in a way that she could only construe as protective. It had shocked her. And stirred to new life her ancient childhood infatuation with him. Even before he had blossomed into such a gloriously handsome man, he had fascinated her. He'd paid attention to her when no other boy would have looked at her, with her wild red hair and thick freckles and flat bosom. He'd been kind. Oh, how she had dreamed of him, her best friend's big brother, being more than kind to her. She'd twined their initials on her lesson papers, and stolen one of his riding gloves. It had smelled like him, and she both blushed and laughed to recall how she had kept it under her pillow, and smelled it every evening before she went to sleep. She could not recall now what had become of it, or when she had given up her dream that someday he would turn to her and admit that he loved her, too. Was it possible that he had once cared for her? Was it remotely possible that in some corner of his heart, he still did?

Oh, it was a silly fancy, as silly as her timid flirtation with the captain. Silly and absolutely delicious. And what harm could it be for her to imagine, just for a day or so, that two such different men could find her attractive? Hest had, for years now, made her feel so dowdy and stupid and boring. In the light and warmth of the captain's regard and Sedric's protectiveness, she felt like a flower stirring back to life.