Dragon Choir by Benjamin Descovich

Several tables were occupied by dice games; shine
and shell flowed back and forth with good-natured cheering and
jeering. Local farmers and labourers, fishermen and traders shared
jokes and recounted exaggerations of the day’s events.
    There was not
a Calimskan in sight, no one would recognise him here. He was free
to relax and make merry, to celebrate his escape and new
beginnings.
    As he scanned
the room for a place to sit, Elrin’s throat clenched. In a dim
corner alone at a table a woman sat staring at him with a look of
interest akin to a cat examining a sparrow. It was the dark-eyed
woman from Calimska. She smiled and he blushed; confused and
abashed. She was intoxicating, filling him with equal parts fear
and desire. What was she doing here? She helped him once; perhaps
she would again.
    He made his
way to her table through the crowd and took up a seat, removing his
cowl.
    Elrin
whispered in his best Jandan. “Are you following me?”
    Minni laughed.
“Should I be? Who are you anyway?”
    “ I’m Elrin.”
    “ That’s it? You shiners have longer titles than that.” Minni
smirked, holding back another laugh. “Oh, I see. Keeping your ink
up your sleeve. You must be in trouble.”
    “ I’m just Elrin, my father didn’t—” Elrin was annoyed at
himself. He was no good at keeping his secrets close. “Why should I
say? Who are you?”
    “ Minella, Minni, Witch, Wench, Reik, Jandan Spy. Your pick is
as good as another’s.”
    “ Are you really a witch and a spy? I don’t want to get mixed
up in anything.”
    “ Too late for that; seems you’re the politics of the day,
Elrin No Name.” Minni handed Elrin a notice. “Picked this off the
wall on the way in. Know anything about it?”
    It was a dead
letter, scrawled first in Calimskan then translated into Jandan.
Elrin shook his head in disbelief. “Why do I have a dead letter
against me? These are lies. I’m not a spy, nor am I a poacher.”
    “ A killer?”
    “ I suppose I am.” Elrin avoided her accusing eyes. “But, he
was trying to kill me. A whole bunch of them were.”
    “ So you ran?”
    “ I had to. No ink, no justice.”
    “ So you’re anti-guild then. You wanted the Guildmaster
dead.”
    “ No.”
    “ You just happen to quote the anti-guild mantra.”
    “ You’ve got it all wrong. I was just a messenger. Not
officially, I never got a guild tattoo, but that’s not the point.
Look, I overheard something I shouldn’t have, something about my
father and something about the power of gods. The Guildmaster had
his guards try to kill me. I got away, thanks to you. But, this
bounty, I’ll have to ... now I don’t know what to do. How do I
outrun that?”
    “ How about you start by pulling that cowl over your face.”
Minni eased her expression. “I tore this from the board out front,
doubt any here could read much anyway, but it only takes one and
word will spread. I’ve never seen a bounty so rich, with land and
title to boot. It’s got the Jandans all flustered, sending riders
and birds like it was the return of their Lord. Every bounty hunter
in Jando will be out to bag your bones.”
    Elrin followed
her advice, covering his face and sinking down into his seat. The
charges on the dead letter were as preposterous as the bounty was
exorbitant; the Guildmaster must be desperate to keep his
conversation a secret. If only Elrin could understand what they
were on about he might find some leverage.
    The front door
swung open and knocked against the wall. Three hard faced men,
heavily slung with weapons, muscled in. They scanned the room.
Their leader, a bearded man, spoke to the barkeep while the other
two questioned a table of sailors.
    Minni knocked
Elrin’s foot under the table. “The wolves are hungry. It’s time to
head off, before they catch your scent.”
    “ You go. You’re not safe with me.” Elrin tapped the dead
letter. “Not with this.”
    The bearded
bounty hunter tossed a purse onto the bar. The barman tested