I woke up in an exceptional mood. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the dragons were trilling. Everything had lined up for me, and it was just a matter of counting down the hours to leave. I even enjoyed the porridge, finding a tart marmalade in the selection of jams that made the taste less cloying. It was a relief, since I needed to fill up on it. My packaged ‘lunch’ might have to last quite some time.
“Where were you last night?” demanded Branneth as I was eating.
“Harvesting night-flowering glories,” I said briefly. “For the dragons.”
“I’m sure,” he said. “You always have a reason, don’t you? Constantly disappearing off to suspicious and immoral places.”
Immoral places I snickered to myself. Like this very tame school for students was just packed with gambling and brothels.
“If you want to come with me tonight,” I said, raising my eyebrows – to my shame, I had never mastered raising one at a time. “Then you’re more than free. I’ve invited you whenever I could, if you remember. You can’t keep refusing to come and then acting like I was doing something suspicious because you weren’t there.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Branneth said, indignant enough to make the table shake.
Lilianna and I had eaten enough of our porridges that it was just a minor disturbance on the surfaces. Branneth, however, had the milk slop back and forth, over the top onto the table, and from there onto his lap. He cut off a word that I very strongly suspected was a curse. Naughty, naughty, Mister Immoral. I picked up my bowl to protect it from any further disturbances. It was just in time as Branneth pushed away from the table and stomped off to the bathroom.
I leaned across to Lilianna. “Do you think that if Branneth ‘accidentally fell from the viewing platform’, they would decide there was too much bad luck to have the bonding at all?”
Lillianna laughed, and then pretended to be have been disapproving all along. I grinned back. It was all I could think to help her. With luck, when I went missing, she would remember my hint without finding it actively suspicious. I finished eating rapidly, to be gone before Branneth finished cleaning up. I was almost skipping as I made my way down to the not-very-lower dining hall with my new backpack to pick up my packed lunch. It was an easy process, and no-one had any suspicions.
I was even more thrilled when I examined it. They had really exceeded my expectations. The packed lunch was what could be anticipated. The normal lunch fillings, but between two breads or crackers to make convenient sandwiches, with some additional crackers and a small cannister of water. But the real treat was the snacks. Cheeses, small whole fruits, honey cakes, and some actual beef jerky. Actual meat. That looked like meat. Foods that would last, and did not taste like mystery pâté on mystery bread. This would do me very well.
Then yet another stroke of luck by the time I got back. Branneth and Lilianna had gone out, with a note to say they’d been invited to visit the dragonets, and it was a ‘pity I wasn’t available’. If that was supposed to be some punishment by Branneth, it missed the mark entirely. I was thrilled to have the space to myself. I’d been feeling uneasy about how to say goodbye without saying goodbye, and now I didn’t have to. I didn’t even have to weather Branneth’s sarcastic comments about my business. I didn’t have to explain to Lilianna why I wasn’t inviting her. I was dancing to a tune I was approximating with an unvoiced whistle.
Packing was a balance. I’d regret anything that was too bulky or too heavy in a long trek. But equally, I’d regret not having pretty much everything, if I was in circumstances where I couldn’t replace it. And the very final consideration – I needed to maintain plausible deniability. Plan A was to find a way to live with either the Cammions or in the Empire. But Plan B was to hide out long enough for them to give up on the bonding, for the bonding happened without me, or even just into the following spring. If need be, I wanted to claim that I had accidentally fallen off a cliff, but miraculously survived. It had just taken some time to make my way back, and I’d been forced to play nice with the Cammions in the meantime. They wouldn’t believe me, of course, but they’d probably be willing to pretend in order to avoid the scandal. I wore one full set of robes and packed my mantle and waterproof cover. On top of that I packed the food, and my folder, with a copy of all the magical rituals we’d been taught.
Assistant Oxenden scared me when he stuck his head in the door. He didn’t come into my bedroom to notice what I was packing, thankfully. He just wanted to see if I needed anything relating to Candidate Bethany’s death. I assured him that I already knew who the killer was, but I had just one thing I needed to do before I revealed everything to everyone. I shouldn’t have done it. It was a completely unnecessary flourish. But it amused me to think of them blaming the killer for my disappearance as well. It really wasn’t any less than they deserved.
I ‘warned’ Assistant Oxenden that I felt called to religious observance and would be taking my lunch privately. He looked so understanding that I felt a little guilty. I was reminded again that he took ‘our’ shared god very seriously, even if I didn’t. But under the circumstances, it was a major advantage that they put so much weight into religion. He’d give me the time without interruption, to avoid risking disrespect of our god. Perhaps all the way until supper. I certainly hoped so. The longer it took before they thought to look for me, the better. To give even more substance to the lie, I waited out the remaining part of the morning in the chapel, and even threw in a prayer. Everything had lined up so perfectly that perhaps it was a sign from my god.
> The official position of the Celestial Court of Discovery on the faith of His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, is ‘none of your business’. A very aggressive ‘none of your business’. We do not recommend making any enquiries yourself.
>
> The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I didn’t want a record of me crossing the bridge, so from there I walked down around the new section. I could already feel the difference in my body. I took my time as I climbed the hill, but even so, my legs and lungs were co-operating like I was strolling next to a river. Before I’d come into view of the old-section, I found a little patch of sun to wait in. I sat down against a rock, and the surface was pleasantly warm against my back. I watched a solitary bee bumble from flower to flower in a nearby bush, the wings a just audible hum underneath the calls of the dragons. I could hear the old-section clearly, and it was easy to tell when they headed off for lunch. The noise peaked and then dwindled as they disappeared down the stairs. I gave it a few extra minutes, then sauntered in.
The place was deserted. There was nothing to stop me as I walked into the changing room. I found a boring green harness robe in the stack and put it on, moving my white robes to the backpack. On top of that, I added a set of ropes and anchors, and a magic tool that would turn an anchor into something like an auto-belay. I was set up for the safest trip I possibly could. The area was still empty when I walked out. I didn’t have to hide at all when I exited through the door in the wall. As convenient to me as that was, I disapproved. They claimed they were constantly under threat from the Cammions, and they didn’t even have the most of casual of lookouts? It was unprofessional. I hoped they at least had some sort of magical replacement.
> As far as we can tell, they did have some magical protections, but nowhere near enough to disregard a look out entirely. It isn’t clear whether this was a one-off oversight or a habitual lack. Or indeed, whether His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, just failed to spot the one that existed.
The bonding grounds looked even better in the daylight than they had the previous night. They had really done an excellent job setting them up to be the perfect place for young dragonets to grow up. And I wasn’t the only thing to think so. Sometime in those short hours, a dragon had decided to lay their nest in them. I stared at the clutch of three eggs in desperate horror.
Were dragons like turtles, that laid their eggs and then ignored them? Or like crocodiles, where both parents aggressively defend them until they were well on their way to adulthood? Why did I not know this vital piece of information?
Okay, never mind, I just had to ignore them. Keeping my back to the wall, I edged slowly along sideways. Don’t breathe too loudly, don’t move too quickly, don’t sweat too strongly. That last one might already be a lost cause. It wasn’t that far. In a moment I would—
Too late.
I stared into the very aware eyes of a dragon as I desperately ignored my bladder. Good news, bad news. Good news, mama or papa wasn’t as big as the dragons in the pens. Bad news, it was much, much angrier.
I should have guessed. With how well things had been going, it was inevitable that something was going to go wrong. If I’d been a real Hero, this would be the moment I recognised it as the orange and yellow dragon I had rescued earlier on, and it would recognise me in return, and welcome me as a benefactor. But I wasn’t, and it wasn’t. It was instead a green and grey behemoth that more closely co-ordinated with my clothing than with my desires.
I controlled my breathing. We both wanted the same thing, I told myself – for me to leave. I would be fine. I would be fine.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
· Becoming a dragon rider Joining the official dragon rider forces
· Participating in bonding
Information gathering
· Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities
· - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private [not useful]
· - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four three days tonight, to fix injury
· Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they’re a better fit
· - Determine just how far heroic independence goes [useless]
· - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity
· - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn
· Track down itinerary [no point]
· Check safety / security of funicular [useless]
Opportunities
· Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 5 days] [not needed]
· - Walk out down dry river bed towards Cammions while everyone else distracted [doing!]
· Deliberately failed bonding [not an option]
Preparations
· Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour [done]
· - Use investigating embroidery as excuse? [Meeting planned with artisan] [done]
· - Use grey waterproof cloak [done]
· - Borrow green harness robe [done]
· Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible [useless]
· - Extend investigation
· - Imply maximum psychic pollution [useless]
· Acquire or fake travel documentation? [failed]
· Find way to transport food and water
· - Talk to House Holder Fairbanks about food [done]
· - Book a packed lunch for Monday [done]
· Acquire backpack [done]