Anna followed the brothers out of the castle, eyes on the ground as they approached Jarnvaror. She heard the rasp of scales as the dragon uncurled himself and extended his nose out to great Peter. She made herself look up at the others. Peter was just grinning at the dragon and explaining what they’d talked with the lord about. Andrew seemed to be looking through them, his face tight.

“So what are we going to do?” She asked, trying to straighten up. Andrew didn’t reply, but Peter looked back at her over his shoulder.

“We’re going to find a ship, aren’t we?” he asked.

“How can we do that without Lord Mac’Furiegh’s approval?” Anna asked.

Peter frowned. “Didn’t he say he was looking for volunteers?’”

“But he won’t give us a ship,” Anna grumbled. “So we might as well just fly home.”

Andrew shook his head. “He shouldn’t be able to tell us that,” Andrew said. “Remember, we’re still—technically—an envoy directly from the king and queen. Him sending us off that way should cause problems for him.”

Anna blinked. “Then… what?”

“I think,” Andrew said, finally turning to look at them. “That he actually meant exactly what he said. He doesn’t trust my idea enough to order someone to follow us. But if we can find someone with a ship who’s willing to follow the plan, we should be able to go.”

Anna felt her spirits start to lift. He was right, the lord couldn’t just discount them or their mission. And he hadn’t really vetoed the plan either, only given them a bit more work.

“Great!” Peter said. “So… how do we find one?”

Andrew shook his head. “I’ve been trying to think about that,” he said. “I’m sure there’s something there, but it won’t come to me.”

“You’re thinking to hard,” Anna said. She turned to face the two guards standing at the double doors leading inside the castle and gestured for Andrew and Peter to follow her. The guards watched them approach, and Anna looked up at them and asked, “Sir, are you aware of anyone – merchant or noble – who has more reason than anyone else to hate all the pirates?”

The guard crossed his arms in thought for a moment. “Well, there’s lots like that. But the one who hate’s ‘em most? That’s gotta be… Lady Nonell.”

Anna nodded. “Where could we find her?”

“She lives in an estate a few days from the city,” the guard began. Then he seemed to remember the dragon, and corrected himself. “Well, maybe an hour or two, for you lot. But she also has a city address for her business off the road to the south gate. Her family name is on a sign out front.”

Anna smiled at the guards. “Thank you!” she said. They nodded, and Anna turned back to the others. “Let’s go!” she said. Peter grinned and had them all get on Jarnvaror, who was content to carry them down the main road. In moments, they’d come to the building the guards had described.

“You two wait here,” Andrew said, addressing Peter and Jarnvaror. “Anna and I will go check to see if the lady is here.”

“In the middle of the road?” Peter asked.

Andrew paused, but Anna had already slidden from Jarnvaror’s back. Now that they had some direction, she was itching to keep moving. “I’m sure it’s fine, Peter,” she called up to him. “If we do take too long, you can always go and wait for us back at the castle.”

“That sounds so boring though,” Peter grumbled.

“Maybe Lady Nonell will be at her home out of town,” Anna said. “Then we’ll be right back out. Andrew followed her up to the door and stopped when she knocked.

“Glad to see you’re so enthusiastic about the plan,” Andrew said, sounding a little surprised. “Do you want to do the talking this time?” Anna felt a little jolt go down her spine. “Oh! Sorry, guess I’m just anxious to move on. But it’s your plan. You should explain it.” Andrew shrugged. Before he could reply, though, the door swung open, revealing a tall, thin man in black clothing.

“How may I help you?” the man said flatly.

“We’re looking for Lady Nonell,” Andrew said.

“On what business?” the man asked, a hint of exasperation creeping into his tone.

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“We have a plan for dealing with some of the recent pirate attacks we’d like to discuss with her,” he said. “We’re part of the envoy from Woadrok.”

The servant’s eyebrows rose, but his tone didn’t change anymore. “Very well. Follow me,” he said. The pair followed the black clothed servant inside and through a few halls lit by windows looking out over the city streets. He led them to a spiral staircase, and then to a set of double doors at the back of another wide hallway. “Wait here,” he said. Then he knocked on the door and entered.

A moment passed. Then, from inside, they heard the voice of a woman cry “What? Well then let them in!” and the door opened. Inside was a small parlor, glowing with late afternoon sunlight. Three sofas were set up in a U around a short table, on which sat a kettle and two cups of tea. A middle aged woman with curly brown hair stood and smiled at them. A man dressed in a simple violet tunic with a mop of blond hair drooping into his face looked over his shoulder at them.

“You’re the envoy from the capitol?” the woman asked, gesturing for them to enter.

“We are,” Andrew said, giving her their names. “We’re here to help deal with the Wisps the Pirates are using. We were told you in particular had a problem with them.” Anna glanced over and saw the blond man raise an eyebrow at that, but he made no move to introduce himself.

“Ah, well, who doesn’t in this region?” she said, offering her hand for both Anna and Andrew to shake. “But, yes. I own almost a third of the trading ships in the city right now. Not many of them are able to make it far before they are hit by the pirates. You say you have a plan for that, though?”

Andrew nodded. “I assume you’ve heard of the dragon that arrived in the city earlier?”

“I’m sure they’ve heard of that as far as the border,” the blond man muttered.

“Oh, hush, Zech,” the lady Nonell said. “This is an old friend of mine, and a business partner. We’ve actually been talking about ways we could increase security on our ships.”

“A few extra men probably aren’t going to help you that much against the Wisps,” Anna said.

The lady nodded, her expression turning sour. “No. It certainly hasn’t. I can’t imagine how they got those creatures on board in the first place.”

“Well, magic,” Andrew said. “They have a mage who is supplying the Wisps and probably means of controlling them to the various pirate crews. We intend to capture him.”

The blond man barked a laugh. “Good luck with that,” he said. “Our fleet hasn’t managed it. Whenever we sail to catch them, they disappear from that island of theirs and spread out over half a dozen more. They have informants throughout the city who let them know any time a fleet goes out to look for them, and they always vanish after that.

“What if we send one ship out tonight though?” Andrew asked.

“One ship?” Nonell repeated. A thoughtful expression came over her face. “One ship sent that fast might escape notice. But what would it do?”

Andrew explained his plan to use the dragon as a distraction while they searched for the mage with a much smaller team. The lady listened, nodding as Andrew described lord Mac’Fureigh’s response. She chuckled. “That old sea lion wouldn’t be too happy about a plan like this,” she said. “It relies on that beast of yours far too much.” Anna felt her heart sink. She almost missed Nonell’s next words. “But it’s probably the kind of thing we need to try, at this point. Nothing else has been working.”

“Are you sure, my lady?” Zech asked.

Lady Nonell nodded. “Afraid so. I’ll write a note for you to take back to Lord Mac’Fureigh, saying I’ll provide a ship and crew, and requesting a few of his fighting men to accompany you.”

“Thank you,” Andrew said.

“No, thank you,” the lady replied. “If all goes well, we won’t have to worry about these blasted pirates for a while. What more could I ask?”

“Glad to see you have your spirits back, my lady,” said her companion, Zech. The noble woman just shrugged as her serving man brought her some paper and ink for writing out her message.

When she was done, she held it out for Andrew to take. “Hurry, though. You were right that a plan like this won’t work unless you set out tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“Thank you,” Andrew said, bowing his head.

“Get a move on!” Lady Nonell snapped.

Outside, Peter was still waiting with Jarnvaror. A small crowd had gathered around to stair at the dragon. A few children, not much younger than Peter, were the only ones brave enough to approach. As she and Andrew got closer, she could tell Peter was telling them what it was like growing up able to talk to the dragons.

“They’re not really interested in people ever,” he was saying. “Maybe our big animals, sometimes, but they’ll leave them alone if we ask.”

“If he asks,” Andrew called, cutting off his brother. “They won’t understand what you kids are saying. If you don’t have someone like him with you, they’ll probably just get confused and annoyed. None of you want to deal with an annoyed dragon.”

The children’s faces fell. Peter smiled at them. “Well, looks like it’s time to start work again,” he said. “He’s probably right, though. Stay safe, kids!” Peter waved, and most of the kids took that as dismissal, though a few were reluctant to move away. Peter turned his attention back to the others. “Anyway, did you guys talk to the noble lady?”

Andrew nodded. “We’ve got a ship. Let’s get back to the castle and tell Lord Mac’Fureigh.”

As she climbed back onto the dragon, Anna looked at the house once more. She saw Lady Nonell watching from out one of the windows. Behind her, she could make out her blond companion. The man looked up, and she met his eyes for a moment.

Halcyon’s influence flowed over her. She blinked and looked down at the blue light of her bracelet, confused. His influence pulsed over her a few times, then faded back to normal. She looked back at the house, and saw the noblewoman and her companion both waving them off. Nonell called for them to hurry.

“What’s going on?” Andrew asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know,” Anna said. “Halcyon sensed something. But… I just don’t know what.”

Then the dragon bounded into the air, returning to the castle at the center of the city.