'If she has spoken a word, I haven't understood it. All I've heard is, well, dragon noises.'

Almost as if in response to his comment, the dragon released a rumble of sound. She swivelled her head to face the dragon. 'Please, I beg you, let me have a moment with my friend! He cannot seem to hear you.'

When Alise met Sedric's gaze again she shook her head in woe. 'I'd heard that there were some who could not understand clearly what Tintaglia said, and a few who could not even perceive she was speaking at all. But I never thought you would be so afflicted. What are we to do now, Sedric? How will you record our conversations?'

'Conversations?' At first he'd been annoyed at her childish pretence of talking to the dragon. It was the same annoyance he always felt when people greeted dogs as 'old man' and asked 'how my fine old fellow has been'. Women who talked to their cats made him shudder. Alise, as a rule, did neither, and he'd thought her calls to the dragon had been some new and unwelcome Rain Wilds affectation. But now, to insist that the dragon was speaking to her and then to offer him her pity - it was too much. 'I'll record them just as I would log your conversations with a cow. Or a tree. Alise, this is ridiculous. I'll accept, because I must, that the dragon Tintaglia had the ability to make herself understood. But this creature? Look at it!'

The dragon writhed its lips and made a flat, hissing noise. Alise went scarlet. The young Rain Wilder beside the dragon spoke to him. 'She says to tell you that although you may not understand her, she understands every word you say. And that the problem is not in her speaking, nor even in your ears, but in your mind. There have always been humans who cannot hear dragons. And usually they are the most arrogant and ignorant ones.'

It was too much. 'Keep a civil tongue in your head when you address your elders, girl. Or is that no longer taught here in the Rain Wilds?'

The dragon gave a sudden huff. The force of her exhaled breath blasted him with warmth and the stink of the semi-rotted meat she had just eaten. He turned aside from her with an exclamation of disgust.

Alise gave a gasp of horror and pleaded, 'He does not understand! He meant no insult! Please, he meant no insult!' An instant later, Alise had seized him by the arm. 'Sedric, are you all right?' she demanded of him.

'That creature belched right in my face!'

Alise gave a strangled laugh. She seemed to be trembling with relief. 'A belch? Was that what you thought it? If so, we are fortunate that was all. If her poison glands were mature, you'd be melting right now. Don't you know anything of dragons? Don't you recall what became of the Chalcedean raiders who attacked Bingtown? All Tintaglia had to do was breathe on them. Whatever it was she spat, it ate right through armour. And right through skin and bone as well.' She paused, and then added, 'You have insulted her without meaning to. I think you should go back to the ship. Right now. Give me time to explain your misunderstanding of her.'

The Rain Wilds girl spoke again. She had a husky voice, a surprisingly rich contralto. Her silver gaze was both unsettling and compelling. 'Skymaw agrees with the Bingtown woman. Whether you're my elder or not, she says you should leave the dragon grounds. Now.'

Sedric felt even more affronted. 'I don't think that you have the right to tell me what to do at all,' he told the girl.

But Alise spoke over his words. 'Skymaw? That's her name?'

'It's what I call her,' the girl amended. She seemed embarrassed to have to admit it. 'She told me that a dragon's true name is a thing to be earned, not given.'

'I understand completely,' Alise replied. 'The true name of a dragon is a very special thing to know. No dragon tells her true name lightly.' She treated the dragon's keeper as if she were a charming child who had interrupted an important adult conversation. The 'child' did not enjoy that, Sedric noted.

Alise turned back to the hulking reptile. The creature had ventured so close that it now towered over them. Her eyes were like burnished copper, glittering in the sunlight. Her gaze was fixed steadily on him. Alise spoke to the creature. 'Great and gracious one, your true name is an honour that I hope one day to win. But in the meantime, I am pleased to give you mine. I am Alise Kincarron Finbok.' And she actually curtsied to the creature, bobbing down almost into the mud.

'I have come all the way from Bingtown to see you, and to hear you speak. I hope that we shall have long conversations, and that I shall be able to learn a great deal about you and the wisdom of your kind. Long has it been since humanity was favoured with the company of dragons. What little we knew of your kind has, I fear, been forgotten. I would like to remedy that lack.' She gestured toward Sedric. 'I brought him with me, to be our scribe and record any wisdom you wished to share with me. I am sorry that he cannot hear you, for I am certain that if he could, he would quickly perceive both your intelligence and your wisdom.'

The dragon rumbled again. The young keeper looked at Sedric and said, 'Skymaw says that even if you could understand her words, she thinks it likely you would be unable to comprehend either her intelligence or wisdom, for plainly you lack both.'

Her 'translation' was obviously intended to insult. The girl's eyes, silvery-grey, darted toward Alise when she spoke. If Alise was aware of her animosity, she ignored it. Instead Alise turned to him and said quietly but firmly, 'I'll see you when I return to the ship, Sedric. If you don't mind, would you leave your lap-desk with me? I may try to write down some of what we discuss.'

'Of course,' he said, and managed to keep the bitterness and the resentment from his voice. Long ago, he thought to himself, he'd had to learn to speak civilly even after Hest had publicly flayed him with words. It was not so hard. All he had to do was discard every bit of his pride. He'd never thought that he would have to employ that talent with Alise. He thrust the lap-desk at her, and as she took it was almost pleased to see her surprise at how heavy it was. Let her deal with carrying it about, he thought vengefully to himself. Let her see the sort of work he'd been willing to do for her. Perhaps she might appreciate him a bit more. He turned away from her.

Then, with a sudden lurch of heart, he realized there were things inside that lap-desk that he emphatically did not wish to share with Alise. He turned hastily back to her. 'The entire secretarial desk will be too heavy for you to use easily. Perhaps I could just leave you some blank paper, and a pen and ink?'

She looked startled at this sudden kindness and he suddenly knew that she knew he'd intended to be rude when he'd burdened her with the whole desk. She looked pathetically grateful as he took it from her and opened it. The raised lid kept her from peering inside, but she didn't seem to have any curiosity about it. As he rummaged inside it for the required items, she said quietly, 'Thank you for your understanding, Sedric. I know this must be hard for you, to come so far on such a great adventure, and then to find that fortune has excluded you from the best part of it. I want you to know that I think no less of you; such a lack could afflict anyone.'

'It's fine, Alise,' he said, and tried not to sound brusque. She thought his feelings were hurt because he couldn't communicate with the animal. And she felt sorry for him. The thought almost made him smile and his heart softened toward her. How many years had he felt sorry for her? It was odd to be on the receiving end of her pity. Odd, and strangely touching that she'd care if his feelings were hurt.

'I've plenty of work to do back on the boat. I trust you'll be back for the evening meal?'

'Oh, likely much before then. I shan't stand here in the dark and quiz her, I assure you. Today I'll be happy if we just get to know each other well enough to be comfortable. Thank you. I'll try not to waste your ink.'