Chap. 141 Arson

Chap. 141  Arson

"By the egg, K'ndar, these are gorgeous," Lizard said, hefting two of the rough opals.

His caravan was parked in a small meadow ten kilometers from the weyr. His horses, unharnessed, were taking advantage of the thigh high grass.  Raventh landed a good ways from them, not wanting to spook them. The horses, after lifting their heads to gauge his intentions, concluded Raventh was harmless, and went back to grazing.

Lizard had made his way out to where Raventh had landed. His fire lizards had promptly landed on the brown dragon and, together with Siskin, began to scratch him in three different spots. Raventh responded with eyes spinning a blissful blue.

"Careful, you'll put him to sleep," K'ndar said to the lizards.

I'm already there Raventh groaned in ecstasy. K'ndar laughed.

Lizard grinned, then turning the rocks over and over, turned serious.

"Where did you get these?"

K'ndar dropped his eyes, remembering the promise they'd made to keep the location secret.

Lizard knew immediately that he shouldn't ask.

"Ah, that's not a good idea, lad, to tell me. The less I know, the safer I'll be," he said.

He handed the opals back to K'ndar.

"I'm glad I parked here," he said, "no one around save us, no one to see those," he said. K'ndar nodded in agreement. He appreciated the solitude.

"Done any more braiding? I can always sell your chokers, they're very popular," the trader said.

"No, sir, I've honestly been too busy. But I was thinking of having you sell these opals."

Good. That thought had hit his mind within seconds of seeing them.

"I've not done much trading in gems, I can tell you, but I do know a good trader who'd likely give you a decent price for these, especially as they're 'raw' and uncut. I'm assuming you're not interested in a barter or trade?" Lizard asked.

"No," K'ndar said, gratefully, "I really have no need of anything right now. Money would be the best, I think."

"I agree, and it will mean a nice commission for myself," Lizard said.

"It's a deal, then, and please, don't say who and where you got them."

Lizard grinned. "That's a given, son. I never reveal my sources if I can at all help it, unless of course it's something like Benden wine or something readily available. These are definitely NOT readily available. I think I've seen this type of gem only once before, and not this big."

He looked K'ndar over.

"You look fit, lad, like you've been outside all summer," he said.

"I have been, although the last two, three weeks was involved in harvest. My first day was spent baling hay. I don't think I'd ever want to do THAT for a living," he said.

Lizard laughed. "Aye, I saw lots of folks in the fields on my way here. I agree, it's hard, hot work. I saw plenty of dragons parked in the waysides. First time I ever saw that. Dragonriders doing that sort of work, that's new," he said.

"No more thread means no excuses to miss the work," K'ndar said, "but the rest of the time it wasn't bad, I helped harvest klah bark."

"Ah, working in the forest had to have been cooler than out in the middle of a hay field, what? Thanks for coming, by the way. I limped here, the hub broke about five kilometers back. What road there is in pretty bad shape, and that one wheel, it hit a rock just the wrong way." He sighed. "It's been a long while since I've been out this way, but I knew this meadow is left wild and that grass would be high for my team. Everything else has been harvested or cut," he said.

"Come, want some klah? It's been fresh brewed," he asked, turning and leading the way to the caravan.

"No, thanks, I'm still smelling the klah bark I cut for two weeks," K'ndar said.

Lizard laughed. "How's it going with your lizard?" he asked, as they pushed through the grass towards the caravan parked in the shade.

'Oh, wonderful. He's just great, I'm really enjoying having him. He's not a pet, anymore, he's like a little kid, almost," K'ndar said. "He's smart as a whip, picks up a lot of things quickly. It's handy to have him, even for more than transmitting messages."

Lizard  pulled two folding chairs from inside the wooden structured caravan, and sat down on one of them.

"These are nice, where did you get them?" K'ndar asked. He'd never seen folding chairs before. They were cunningly made, of tree limbs that somehow seemed to fit or fold without interference.

"Traded for them a couple months ago. Nice, what? Far more comfortable than sitting on one's arse, no matter how soft the rocks," he said.

K'ndar looked at the caravan. "This is new, isn't it?"

"Aye, well, new to me. Lots more room, than my old wagon, with the canvas cover. Even with a wooden door, it didn't keep the weather out. This 'un? Keeps me dry in the rain, always a plus," Lizard said. 

"Did you trade the old one off?"

Lizard shook his head.

"Nay, someone torched it out of spite," he said.

"WHAT?"

"Aye, luckily for me, it was empty of anything of value, pretty much. I had taken a ship to Tillek Sea Hold, with a wagon load of cheese hoping to sell it to Tillek Hold. Some yokel met me in the seaport, me right off the ship with my team as they warped the wagon off. He wanted to know what was in the wagon. I said I was selling cargo on a contract so I had nothing to trade. Wouldn't tell him what was in the wagon. He was wanting to see inside, but I wouldn't let him. He insisted we trade, but didn't say what he had, and there was nothing in his wagon. He kept insisting it was all  'back in camp', didn't I want to follow him there?"

Well, I know THAT old trick. I might look stupid but I surely am not, so I just let him talk as I set out. He just wanted to help me, you know? Said he pegged me as a Southerner, and didn't I know how badly the folks in the area would cheat me for being one?  Best to trade with him, you know, 'brotherhood of traders' and all that rot. Just follow him to his camp, he had plenty of room and good ale, he'd make it worth my while.

 I just said I'd take my chances, it's not possible that EVERYONE in Northern is a cheat.  He kept working on me until he realized I was headed for Tillek Hold, then he peeled off and disappeared."

He took a long pull at his mug.  

"But…you're not a southerner, not..well, you don't talk like us. You have a northerner's accent." K'ndar said.

"With YOU? Aye. You're right. But with him?  I saw him right away as a shyster." His accent suddenly changed to one that sounded like he was from somewhere Southern. "Accents, K'ndar, are useful. I can turn it on, and I can turn it off." He switched to a far Northeast accent, sounding Bitran with a miner's tinge to it. "Best to not let a shyster know anything more about me than what I want him to know." Lizard said.

K'ndar laughed, clapping his hands in appreciation.

"Now, ordinarily, I just might have gone with him, but…my gut…he talks to me. Minute I laid eyes on him I knew he was a wrong 'un.  That and…well, he didn't know it, but not only had I  spent many years in the Tillek Holdings, but after a few kilometers, I recognized his wagon, from a man I knew years back when I was a kid transporting wine casks for Tillek Hold. I didn't know if that man had sold the wagon to him, but it just felt bad, and I've always trusted my gut when it says something's not right here. I had a feeling that wagon had been stolen and what happened to the owner, I don't know. I hoped I'd find out when I got to Tillek Hold.

By the time I got everything harnessed up and headed out, it was getting dark. And things are dicey, these days, after dark. So I stopped at a fairly large cothold about ten kilometers from Tillek Hold. I used to deliver wine to the cotholders. I was lucky, K'ndar. They remembered me. Even as late as it was, they insisted we unload the cheeses. I didn't argue. I've learned to listen to the locals, no matter how remote a hold, or how small, the locals know more about what's going on in their own locale than someone passing through. 

So we unloaded the cheeses into one of his caverns, then they invited me in for dinner, a shower, and a real bed. Of course I put my team up in their stable with a good feed and fresh water. Had to leave the wagon out a ways from their cavern, there wasn't any room for it, what with their own wagons still needed for harvest.

I came out the next morning to find my wagon had been torched. Right down to the axles, which, if they'd been wood, would have been ash, too. If I'd been lazy, they would have stolen the cargo first, or maybe the whole wagon, but I've taken to chaining up the wheels when I'm not going to be around the wagon.  

 Some traders don't bother to unload their cargo, especially if they're out in the wild instead of at a hold. But as it was, all the arsonist got was the stuff I'd left, some clothes, some harness, tools, that sort of thing, then they burned it to let me know I'd pissed them off.  

I was left with the cargo, my team, my lizards, and the clothes on my back, so I didn't lose much. I had plenty of money, I never leave that in my wagon. Never.  Still, it grinds my soul," he said.

K'ndar shook his head. "Any idea who did it? That shyster?"

"No idea, K'ndar, but I'd bet a weeks feed it was, or his partners. Because, the same shyster shows up the next day, just 'happened' to be driving past the cothold when he sees me next to the smoking pile. He just stunk of guilt but was smirking.  

Oh, that's a shame, you poor lout, he says to me,  but it just so happens I want to sell this here wagon, now that you don't have one, won't be cheap, though," he said, just as brassy as can be. The cotholder came up and ran him off, saying, "can you prove yours isn't stolen?" That made the shyster back off, had a "real trade down the road".

  Then the cotholder told me  that there'd been a man in the area who'd had his wagon stolen and him beaten pretty bad. Never caught the thieves, and he didn't have any idea where that man was, now. 

"We loaded my cheeses up on the cotholder's wagon and took it to Tillek Hold and sold them all. I cut the cotholder in on the deal for his kindness, gave him one of the smaller cheeses. He was so embarrassed about my wagon being burnt, but he did right by me. The folks at Tillek Hold, they remembered me, too, and after gulling me for what I'd done years before, still, they spotted me a cask of their second best wine. That I gave to the cotholder, too. 

So I had a pouch full of marks and no wagon. I was suddenly sick of North, so I turned around, rode my horses back to Tillek Sea Hold, found a ship that was loading for Southern, and came right back."