Home is a Treasure Beyond Price

Chapter 8

It was just past noon when he got back to the cave, weighed down by his bags and his purse of money.. When he walked in, he found Cadenza having what appeared to be a staring contest with a large raven perched on her bookstand.
<Oh good, you're back,> Cadenza said without taking her eyes off the raven. <Come along, come along. I need your hands.>
A smile tipped up one corner of his mouth at Cadenza's voice in his head. He set his basket down on the table and rubbed his aching arm while he studied the raven. There was a large black vial strapped to the raven's back, partially disguised by its black feathers. He guessed he was supposed to remove it. The raven eyed him as he edged closer.
<Don't worry, Nick. It won't hurt you. Not if it knows what's good for it.> This last was addressed to the raven, which gave a mocking caw in reply.
"I don't think it's scared of you, Cadenza," Nick said, as he approached the raven, hands held up to show his good intentions. "And who says I'm worried."
<I'm not blind, Nick,> Cadenza said, sounding amused.
The stubborn creature refused to show its back to Nick, so he was forced to unfasten the vial with the raven's sharp, glossy beak far too close to his eyes for comfort. As soon as the vial came free, the raven—and Nick would swear on this—flared its wings and cawed just to spook him. Trust dragons to use ravens instead of the more standard, and docile, messenger pigeons. Stepping back hurriedly, he popped open the cover of the vial and pulled out a roll of parchment.
Cadenza watched him closely, every line of her body tense with anticipation. Nick bit back a smile and took his sweet time laying out the letter on the book stand; unrolling it with great care, opening it up where it was folded down the center of its length and pressing the crease flat, and smoothing out the ragged corners.
<Inefficient hands get eaten,> Cadenza said in a peevish tone.
Nick snickered. "Then you'll have to find someone else to put up with you." He pinned down the corners of the letter with stones while Cadenza crowded him from behind, hot breath ruffling Nick's hair.
The letter was covered in tea-colored stains, and the penmanship could best be described as a script font. It was signed, Marissa and Sombra. While he was reading out the letter, he caught one reference to flying, so he guessed that they were dragons too. He got out of Cadenza's way, or rather he was nudged out of the way by an impatient dragon, and went to put away his things.
< Nick,> Cadenza said a few minutes later. <Come help me write my reply.>
"'Please, Nick'," he muttered under his breath. "'Thank you, Nick.'" He scrounged up writing materials, sat at the table, and began to transcribe Cadenza's words.
After a few paragraphs of what seemed a lot like gossip, Cadenza gave Nick a sly look. <'An interesting thing happened a few days ago.'> When Nick narrowed his eyes at Cadenza.
<Go on Nick, write that down.>
Nick gripped the pencil and wrote.
<'The nearby village gifted me with a most unusual tribute. I have decided to keep him rather than eat him, as he seems a useful sort, if rather quarrelsome.'>
Nick could feel Cadenza watching him as he wrote. On principle alone, he refused to rise to the bait, instead concentrating on keeping his handwriting even. After a moment, Cadenza huffed a laugh and finished off with her farewells to Marissa and Sombra.
<Sign your name on the letter, Nick,> Cadenza instructed, after Nick had finished writing Cadenza's name. <They'll want to know who wrote it.>
Was there a furtive amusement in Cadenza's voice, like Cadenza knew something he didn't? He studied the dragon, but Cadenza's face gave nothing away. It was probably his imagination. With a shrug, he wrote his name next to Cadenza's.
He rolled up the letter and put it into the empty vial. "Is Marissa the dragon, or Sombra?"
<Sombra.>
So it was Marissa who'd written the letter. He filed that knowledge away. Perhaps he would ask her for tips on working for a dragon. Nick sent the letter off with the raven, then sat down to his lunch.
He peeked at Cadenza while he chewed determinedly on a slice of stale bread. "Can you toast bread?"
Cadenza didn't look up from where she lay on her nest of blankets. <No.>
"Oh. That's disappointing."
That got Cadenza's attention. <What I can do is incinerate bread. And the person holding it. I can demonstrate if you'd like.>
Nick swallowed. "Ah, no... no, thank you. I'll take your word for it."
He chewed his way through the last bite of bread and decided he'd put it off long enough. "When I was at the market, the squire came to see me. He asked if—if you'd prefer someone else to help you. I can see how that'd be better for you; you could get someone stronger and fitter to help you." Returning to his cottage, with its empty larder and missing coins, would probably not end well for him, but he would if that was what was best for the city.
< Nick.>
Nick looked up from the crumbs he'd been corralling into a tiny circle and found himself the focus of Cadenza's intent gaze. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he straightened in his seat.
<Are you trying to renege on our bargain?>
There was nothing threatening in Cadenza's tone, but Nick couldn't help being very aware of needle-sharp fangs, jet black claws, and about twenty-odd tonnes of dragon. He got to his feet, slowly and carefully. "No. As long as the city is protected, that's all that matters to me. If you want me to stay, I'll stay. If you want someone else, I'll go." For some reason, the thought of someone else moving into the cave in his place to help Cadenza annoyed Nick, like a burr trapped against his skin.
Nick's heartbeat sounded very loud in his ears as Cadenza continued to study him. Finally, she said, <I see no reason to change our arrangement. You will remain here and I will continue to honor the terms of our bargain.> she waited for Nick's nod before turning back to her book. <You should also tell this squire person that I will not appreciate anyone showing up here uninvited.>
Relief flooded Nick at the reprieve he'd been given and he sat down, knees gone shaky. "Alright, Cadenza."