After lunch, it was time to stop letting things happen and get a better idea of the broader situation. Assistant Oxenden was an excellent sucker source. I just needed to find something time-consuming ‘with the investigation’ we could do together, and use the opportunity to ask a few questions. A few seconds thought produced an excellent candidate. If I’d been any sort of real investigator, I would have done something about it already.

“I would like to search through Candidate Bethany’s things,” I said to Assistant Oxenden. “We should at least investigate Candidate Shanelly’s claims. It will also give us a better understanding of the victim.”

Assistant Oxenden uncharacteristically frowned, but he went away to organise it anyway. It turned out that it would be permitted, but a female presence was required. Lilianna volunteered and I was more pleased than frustrated. Lilianna had been an excellent back up in asking questions. We walked down the stairs two flights to the rooms. When we got there, House Holder Fairbanks was standing outside the door, yelling into the room at Candidate Shanelly.

“House Holder Fairbanks,” said Assistant Oxenden. “This is most inappropriate.”

“I shouldn’t be barred in the first place,” he replied. “I have the right to protect Bethany’s belongings.”

Protect Bethany’s belongings, or remove Bethany’s belongings? Such as some inconvenient proof that Candidate Shanelly claimed existed?

“Protect them from what?” asked Assistant Oxenden.

“Everyone!” said House Holder Fairbanks. “I saw a boy come out from this very room earlier. We all know that the academy accepts all kinds of students. Who knows how many of them have had the idea to steal some unprotected belongings.”

Assistant Oxenden glared at him. “I guarantee you, House Holder, that no boy came out of these rooms. Our restrictions against that are working perfectly well. I’d thank you not to make such unfounded accusations.”

Ooh, House Holder Fairbanks had lost the privilege of being referred to by name. Someone was upset.

Assistant Oxenden continued, “Hearth Keeper Fairbanks will be welcome to collect Candidate Bethany’s belongings before you return home. Now, I must ask you to leave this floor. It is not proper for unrelated adults to be harassing our youngest students.”

House Holder Fairbanks flushed with offence and stalked away.

“He is a grieving father,” I reminded Assistant Oxenden gently, now that the show was over anyway.

Assistant Oxenden closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “You’re right. I should have handled that better. But he should not have been here.”

“Shall we proceed with the search?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Assistant Oxenden, dropping his hands. “Candidate Shanelly, our apologies, but do you mind leaving the suite for a time? My word that we will not enter your bedroom.”

“Of course,” she said with wide eyes.

She collected a few books and stepping around us out of the corridor. I’d wondered if we would have to shout directions to Lilianna while we stood at the threshold like House Holder Fairbanks, but Assistant Oxenden pulled out a hunk of keys that were chained to his belt. He clanked and clicked through them and selected one. He pressed his first choice to a small hole in the doorframe, rather than door. When that key didn’t fit, he tried again. Then again. It was not until he came back to retry the first one that it finally slotted in. We heard a grumbling, like the inner workings of a puzzle trap.

“There we go,” said Assistant Oxenden. “We can now enter. Hero Lilianna, I will be relying on you to confirm we’ve reset this when we leave.”

“I’ll remember,” she promised.

The suite that Candidates Bethany and Shanelly shared was about half the size of ours. The two bedrooms opened up into a single communal space, and the bedrooms themselves were smaller. But to my consternation, it did contain a magic bellpull. I looked around, and saw nothing personal. The scent of something like orange blossom was too thick to be natural. After a moment I tracked down the source to a little dragon figurine, ‘breathing’ smoke from its mouth. Cute. Also, an unfortunate confirmation that fire-breathing was within a dragon’s repertoire.

In her bedroom, Candidate Bethany had unpacked her belongings – or perhaps had her belongings unpacked for her. The room still looked bare. I supposed there was only so much she could have brought up via dragon. I moved to examine her books, leaving the clothing to Lilianna. I paged through the books, in a mild hope that a hidden page would fall out of them. Assistant Oxenden was, as directed, looking for ‘anything out of place’ in Candidate Bethany’s official documentation or writings.

Once we were into a rhythm, I started with a soft question. “House Holder Fairbanks made a reference to the ‘wrong sort’. I was curious as to what he could be referring to.”

“Ah,” said Assistant Oxenden. “Entrance to the academy is based purely on examinations. Now, most candidates do end up being part of the gentry. But every now and then, we get a student of more humble origins.”

Classist bastard. Got it. From the familiarity all four teenagers had displayed with each other, I assumed that no such humble person had been in our current grouping.

“I take it House Holder Fairbanks is himself solidly a member of the gentry?” I asked.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Assistant Oxenden nodded. “That’s what ‘House Holder’ indicates, in fact. I think he’s hoping to rise to nobility, if the dragon riders do well. His clan has the contract to provide our foods, and he’s very personally involved.”

“Can the less fortunate even afford to attend the academy?” asked Lilianna.

“The academy counts as training for the dragon riding force,” explained Assistant Oxenden. “It doesn’t cost anything. Not anything more than the years of service for the good of the empire that our students are trained for, anyway.”

A cunning scheme occurred to me. If I was the type to be worried about humble-born dragon riders getting thoughts above their station, then the academy was the weak point. The academy was being bled dry for funding. A few suggestions that they begin charging tuition fees to make up the difference, and ‘the wrong sort’ would be forced out without ever having to admit the intentions. That might reduce the social or legal expectations of service, but every scheme had weak points.

Lilianna followed on with another personally relevant question. “What kind of services do dragon riders usually provide?”

“Besides providing defence against the thunderstorm owls?” asked Assistant Oxenden. “A bit of everything. Harvesting spires, as you’ve already seen. For riders still in the force, battlefield assistance. Reconnaissance. Navigation. Transporting emergency messages and deliveries.”

“And riders not in the force?” I asked.

“Oh,” said Assistant Oxenden with a hand wave, “much the same skills, just for trade rather than battle. There’s racing as well, of course. One of the biggest races of the year is today, in fact. Was today, rather, it should be over already.”

Dragon racing turned out to be exactly what it sounded like, just in the air and with hoops to pass through instead of lanes to follow. Betting on it was the high point of the social calendar and was entirely legal. That surprised me, although it shouldn’t have. The god of gambling had a very prominent placement in the pantheon. We carried on sorting through Candidate Bethany’s things. I exhausted the possibilities of the books and moved on to examining behind paintings and under rugs. Between Lilianna and I, we kept the conversation going.

Most of the information from Assistant Oxenden was interesting, but not actionable. The capital city was a port city, but it dealt mostly with trade along the rivers and coasts of the kingdom itself. There were brief windows in spring and autumn respectively when ships could safely travel to or from the next continent in the opposite direction from the empire, and that brought in the most expensive luxuries. There was no legal trade with the empire, but goods did leak through, and the government mostly turned a blind eye. Travel into the area controlled by the Cammions was unpleasant and hazardous, but not illegal. There wasn’t reliable water, there were wild beasts, and the Cammions themselves were dangerous savages. I took the last with a grain of salt, but the first two were legitimate hurdles.

I asked, “Are there any sort of registration documents required when travelling within the Enduring Lands?”

“Yes,” said Assistant Oxenden, “of course. Otherwise, how would anyone know if the person wasn’t just a rogue travelling to avoid their crimes?”

“What type of documentation?” asked Lilianna. “It’s all so very different from what I’m used to. I find it hard to imagine.”

Having her join us was one of the biggest pieces of luck I’d had since arriving on this world. Exactly the question I wanted to ask, but didn’t want to raise suspicions with.

“It depends on who it is and why they’re travelling,” said Assistant Oxenden. “Gentry and merchants have permanent documentation to identify them. Other people travelling on business or study would have a letter of introduction from the corresponding business or school. In case of disaster, the government will issue anyone affected with a resettlement certificate. Religious quests are granted a questing record from the relevant church.”

“How do dragon riders travel?” I asked, trying to sound purely curious and not desperate.

“All members of the force have official government books. Before we go on leave, the appropriate orders are stamped into them. After we have completed our service, we return to using the normal gentry identification. Ah, if a rider isn’t a gentry already, they get some honorary perks, and that’s one of them.”

It was odd how things echoed. I remembered that my own world had something similar, providing pilgrims with passports that would be stamped at every station on the pilgrimage. In later years the stamps had become more of a souvenir, but at points they served as proof of authenticity to cross borders and enter cities.

> A pilgrimage is a type of quest that involves travelling to a series of specific destinations and undergoing some sort of hardship, for the purpose of banking larger than normal amounts of grace.

Not that any of that helped me. I had no intention of serving years before getting a handful of perks.

Lilianna shortly announced she was done, and I had run out of places to pretend to explore myself. Assistant Oxenden likewise confirmed he saw nothing suspicious. If there was anything to prove that Candidate Bethany had cheated, either we were too inexperienced to spot it, or it had already been removed. House Holder Fairbanks might have been unpleasant to Candidate Shanelly, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t assisted him – for Candidate Bethany’s sake, if nothing else. Perhaps it was worth a conversation with him further. The fact that he handled food shipments was purely coincidental.

Memo to Self

Stuff to avoid

· Becoming a dragon rider Joining the official dragon rider forces

Information gathering

· Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities

· - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private

· - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days

· Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they’re a better fit

· - Determine just how far heroic independence goes

· - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity

· - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn

· Track down itinerary [no point]

Opportunities

· Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 days]

· - Walk out down dry river bed towards Cammions

Preparations

· Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour

· Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible

· - Extend investigation

· - Imply maximum psychic pollution

· Acquire or fake travel documentation?

· Find way to transport food and water

· - Talk to House Holder Fairbanks about food