Home is a Treasure Beyond Price

Chapter 19

The cold river water sank an unpleasant chill into his bones as he scrubbed out the cooking pot with sand. Ever since his night in the open, it had gotten harder and harder to stay warm. Three nights in a drafty cottage hadn't helped. He would probably have succumbed to his annual winter cough without the restorative tisanes he brewed, and the warmth Cadence radiated. He might not say it, but he was grateful for Cadence staying close by ever since she'd noticed Nick wearing more layers around the cave.
<I think I'll follow you to the market today.>
Nick looked over his shoulder at where Cadence was curled up behind him on the pebbled shore of the river. "Alright," he said uncertainly. This was the first time Cadence had ever indicated any interest in going with him.
<How strong are your arms?>
"The stuff of legends." He lifted the small cast-iron pot partway before lowering it with a grunt. "See?"
Cadence made a dubious sound. <It'll have to do, I suppose.>
"Is there any reason why you're being so cryptic?" Nick asked.
<You'll find out soon enough,> Cadence said, in an even more cryptic manner.
Nick gave her a speaking look and finished rinsing out the pot. He lugged it back to the cooking area and left it inverted next to the circle of stones that ringed the campfire. "Shall we?" he said, after finishing up his chores, and tidying himself up.
<First, I need you to get something from that pack by the wall.>
Anticipation bubbled up in him as he hurried over to it. He'd been curious about its contents ever since he'd first noticed the large, misshapen pack tossed carelessly against the cave wall.
He pulled a tangle of dark, weathered leather out of the pack. When he had it laid out on the floor, the mess resolved itself into something that looked like a harness with wide baskets on each side.
His eyes widened. "Is this a saddle?"
<No,> Cadence said. <It is not a saddle. One does not saddle a dragon, Nick.>
He held back his smile at the outrage in Cadence's voice—clearly this was a touchy subject. "Then what is it?"
<It's a harness for you to hold onto when you r—when I carry you.>
"Oh." It didn't matter what Cadence insisted, he was going to ride a dragon. He was going to ride Cadence. She squinted at him through scaled eyelids. <You're not scared of heights, are you?>
"I don't think so," Nick hurried to answer. "But then I've never been higher than the loft in Theo's barn."
<We won't go too high then. Dress warm.>
And that was how Nick found himself screaming through the autumn sky, half in terror and half in exhilaration, clinging to Cadence with all his might. A special belt, attached to the harness by a thick braided leather cord, was wrapped securely around his waist. He was very very grateful for that belt.
<You're making my ears hurt, Nick.>
Nick ignored her and carried on screaming and laughing.
They landed near the outskirts of the village, Cadence bending her knees so that Nick hardly even felt the impact of touching down. He unclipped the belt with numb, trembling fingers, slid off Cadence's back in a controlled fall, and collapsed onto his back in the grass, exhilaration humming in his veins like quicksilver. A trip that took him over an hour on foot, they'd completed in under fifteen minutes. He'd—he'd been hundreds of feet up in the air, moving at a speed he hadn't even imagined was achievable, and seen the world in a completely new way.
He'd flown.
Theo would be so envious. He couldn't wait to see Theo so he could gloat. Eyes closed, he pictured the world sliding away behind them as he flew overhead on Cadence's back.
A shadow darkened his eyelids when Cadence leaned over him. He smiled when Cadence nudging at his shoulder with her snout.
<Did you survive?>
"Ask me in a few minutes."
Cadence huffed in amusement and nuzzled his hair before settling next to him.
When it felt like his heart was no longer trying to escape his chest, and his knees could support his weight, he got up and took out his basket from one of the panniers. Cadence shifted and shimmered like something seen through a heat haze on a hot summer day, and reformed into her human shape.
Nick pointed at her. "Where'd the harness go?!"
<It's magic, Nick. Whatever I'm carrying will remain with that form until I change again.>
The rich red silk of Cadence's royal blue dress set off her dark brown hair and her clear cyan eyes, while the long black leather belt wrapped around her hips showed off the way her shoulders narrowed to a thin waist. She had on black heeled boots, and Nick could make out the glimmer of sapphire earrings on her ears.
<Nick? What's wrong?>
Nick blurted out the first thing that came to mind that wasn't his hopeless attraction to Cadence. "Whatever you're carrying, you said." He thought for a moment. "Would that include me?"
<No. Nothing living.>
"So if you change while I'm on your back?"
Cadence tilted her head. <I actually don't know.> A slightly manic light entered Cadence's eyes and she leaned closer. <Do you want to try?>
Nick was actually tempted for one brief, mad moment, then he shook his head. "No," he said with a shudder. "Imagine if we ended up all mixed up together."
<Somebody must know,> Cadence mused with a faraway look in her eyes. <Surely someone's tried it before.>
"Never mind mad experiments," Nick said. "Let's go."
When they arrived in the market square, the atmosphere was subdued and silence rippled out around them as they walked. Cadence's clothes marked her out as a woman of wealth, and in the crowd of homespun people , she stood out like some fantastical exotic bird with scarlet plumage. She walked at Nick's shoulder and didn't seem to notice the whispers that broke out around them, and the way everyone's eyes followed him. Not that Nick could blame them; he'd already gotten caught staring too many times on the walk to the market. He felt like his blush had taken up permanent residence on his cheeks.
He stopped at his usual stalls and made his purchases and pretended that there wasn't a dragon in human form beside him.
<You can buy more, Nick. I can help you carry whatever you might need.>
"Oh, I forgot about that."
Ryan froze in the middle of handing Nick his bread and gave him a wild-eyed look. Nick swallowed a sigh at his lapse. Hopefully people wouldn't think Nick was hearing voices.
"Ah..." the cashier man gave Cadence a nervous glance before looking back at Nick. "About the dragon."
Nick froze in the act of placing the bread in his basket. "Yes?"
"I, um." He looked around. The people around them became engrossed in whatever they were doing, although they made sure to do it quietly enough that they could hear what was being said. "We saw it flying this way. Is it—Will it come here?"
"No." Nick didn't like having to lie, but he didn't want to cause a general panic, either. And it was sort of true, since he was really only asking about Cadence's dragon form.
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"Do you know where it is?" The man asked.
The dragon form, Nick reminded himself. "Not exactly." Which was also true.
<What a fine liar you are,> Cadence said with sly amusement.
It would serve Cadence right if Nick stepped on her foot and left a nice muddy shoe-print on that fine leather boot.
"Oh, well. Thank you," the man said with a smile. "It's good to see you safe and well."
Halfway to the butcher's stall, Cadence went as still as stone. A woman named Sammy, who was walking behind them, made a startled sound and hurried past with a nervous nod at Nick.
Nick looked about, wondering what had caught Cadence's attention. "What is it?"
Cadence ignored him. She cast about like an animal scenting the wind, then turned and stalked towards the tavern which lay just off the market square. Nick hurried after him and almost walked into his back when Cadence came to a sudden stop. He peeked round Cadence's shoulder. Hells and damnation. At one of the tables under the tavern's roofings sits Ruiz, Gomez, and a few of the men who hung about with them.
Ruiz studied Cadence, taking particular note of her rich clothing and the whimsical ear-piercing. "You have a problem, friend?" When Nick stepped out from behind Cadence, a canny wariness entered Ruiz's eyes.
"Twice now you've left my companion to die." Cadence's voice was flat and grating, devoid of its usual warm smoothness.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ruiz's tone skirted the edge of insolence, too cunning to antagonize someone as obviously wealthy as Cadence.
"You left him in front of my cave to be eaten."
At the word 'cave', everyone at the table tensed up, and the people nearby got up and began backing away. Gomez was expressionless as always, but the other men at the table looked like they wanted very much to be someplace else.
Ruiz's facade of confidence wavered for a fraction of a second. "Your cave?" he said, determinedly casual. "I didn't leave Nick for you, I left him for the dragon. I did it to save the village." He threw his arms wide and looked around, canvassing the onlookers for support. "And it worked, too." None of them would meet Ruiz's eyes.
Cadence smiled. A cold, cold smile. A smile with far too many needle-sharp teeth. Teeth meant for rending and tearing. The teeth of a predator. The teeth of a dragon.
Everybody at the table shot upright and lurched back a few paces, making the bench tip over with a crash. Nick sucked in a shocked breath but when he blinked, Cadence's teeth were back to normal.
"What the hell are you?" Ruiz demanded, the whites of his eyes showing.
"A dragon," Cadence said in a low and dangerous voice.
There was the sound of more benches overturning and stifled screams as people rushed out of the tavern. Only the four of them remained in the tavern courtyard now. So much for not causing a panic, Nick thought.
After a few shocked seconds, Ruiz said, "You can turn into a woman?" He whistled in amazement. "Well then, I don't see what you've got to be mad about. Looks like you like our little gift just fine. Hells, you should be thanking me."
"And the second time? Should I thank you for that too?"
Nick looked back and forth between them. Second time? His hands curled into fists as his suspicions about that night were confirmed. "It was you," Nick said to Ruiz. "That night. You were the ones who robbed me."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ruiz ignored Nick and addressed Gomez without taking his eyes off Cadence. "Right?"
Gomez nodded once in agreement.
"You attacked him, stole his purse, and left him to die." Cadence's eyes were cold and flat. "I could smell you on him." He looked at Gomez. "You too." They took an involuntary step back at the menace in her voice.
Nick wasn't even halfway to taking a step forward when Cadence had Ruiz by the throat. How had Cadence moved so fast? Nick hadn't even known it was possible for anyone to move that fast.
Gomez charged at Cadence, but was stiff-armed in the chest and thrown back several feet into the tavern wall. He slid down and lay crumpled where he fell.
Cadence lifted Ruiz off the ground, high enough that his feet dangled in mid-air, and slowly began to squeeze. Ruiz clawed at Cadence's wrist, but it was useless. "Cadence!" He lunged forward and grabbed her forearm. "Don't do this," he said quietly, filled with a terrible conviction that Cadence would strangle Ruiz to death in cold blood unless he did something. Every breath Ruiz drew sounded like agony, the ugly, wheezing sound all too familiar to Nick.
<No one hurts what's mine.> Cadence's focus remained fixed on Ruiz, who was starting to turn a mottled purple.
The chill in Cadence's voice was terrifying. "Don't do this," Nick repeated. Sure, he wanted to punch Ruiz, had been about to, in fact. But that would cause nothing more than a fat lip if he was lucky enough to land the punch. Cadence though... "There is no justice in this." He tugged at Cadence's arm. It didn't move an inch.
"Yeah," Ruiz choked out. He sucked in a breath. "Listen to—"
"Shut up, Ruiz," Nick snapped, without taking his eyes off Cadence.
"Who said I seek justice." Cadence watched Ruiz struggle for breath with cold, flat eyes, her face as remote and beautiful as the graven soldiers who guarded the temple doors.
"I won't stand by and let you kill a defenseless man." Nick set his jaw and got ready to stomp on Cadence's foot, kick her shins, anything that might distract her. "Please. Let him go."
Finally, finally, Cadence turned her head enough to meet Nick's eyes. After a long moment in which Nick didn't even dare to blink, Cadence opened her hand and let Ruiz fall to the ground.
Cadence watched dispassionately as Ruiz coughed and retched and massaged his bruised throat. Angry red marks in the shape of a hand were already visible on his neck. "If you ever come near him again," Cadence said, smooth as a blade, "you or your friends, there will be nothing left of you to bury. Do you understand me? I have your scent, I will find you wherever you hide."
Jaw clenched, resentment in every line of his body, Ruiz nodded.
"Good," Cadence said. "You should leave now."
Ruiz held Cadence's gaze for a moment before he looked away. Nick took his first easy breath as Ruiz walked off with a little extra swagger in his gait. Ruiz could be called many things, but coward was not one of them.
Now that the danger had passed, Nick could admit to the dark thrill he'd felt watching Cadence deal with Ruiz and Gomez. Cadence had moved with a direct and brutal efficiency that had made Nick's mouth go dry. With a sigh, he looked around the courtyard. It was empty save for them, Gomez, who was still unconscious on the ground, and the disarray left by the fleeing customers. The market square was just as deserted, nothing left but empty stalls and abandoned wares.
He looked at the solitary loaf of bread in his basket. "I guess I won't be buying sausages after all."
Cadence stopped glaring after Ruiz. <I'll fly you to the next village,> she said, showing no regret of what she'd done.