Eastward Dragons Read Free Page B

might that be?” Oppen asked, his voice maintaining the diplomatic level for which all Guild translators were renowned.
    “He is old and clearly anticipates dying on the expedition,” Biho interjected.
    Havil drew a slow breath. He knew of the Guild Lord’s impetuousness, as well as his distaste for dwarves, which Biho believed himself to disguise far better than he actually did, but it was simply bad form to interrupt a man of Jarom DyZhokar’s rank and experience.
    Though the sleight was once more directed at him, Jarom merely continued speaking as if he had not heard Biho’s interruption. “I fully expect to make my way safely to the Dragon Kingdoms. As safely as the rest of the expedition, at least. Once we have arrived there I ought to be able to conduct whatever trade is necessary and determine what valuables the Dragon Lords have to offer the Commonwealth. In stating that I might not return, I meant only that I am indeed an old man possessed of a longing for his ancestral homeland, so there is some possibility that I might seek to purchase a retirement in the dwarven lands to the northeast of the Rainbow Falls upon the return leg of our expedition.”
    “Not an unreasonable proposition,” Havil said, before Biho could interrupt again.  
    “Indeed,” Oppen said, settling back in his chair.  
    “Yes, yes, and I am certain that Havil will make his way westward when he grows weary of peddling spices and wine. Let us get back to the point of today’s momentous gathering,” Biho said, sitting up and drumming his ponderous fingers on the top of his desk. The light of seven different gemstones glittered from his rings and cast dancing patterns of different colors on the far wall of the chamber.  
    Havil grimaced. Of course, Biho did not limit his prejudices to dwarves, or even to the city’s large elven population.
    “Now, as I am sure you two have deduced, our esteemed colleague Oppen will be leading this expedition to the forgotten east. He might not have as much experience in leading trade expeditions as either of you gentlemen, or even the other companions who will accompany you on this journey, but he certainly has more diplomacy in his eyebrows than either of you do in your whole body.”
    “How many will be in the trade delegation, Biho?” Jarom asked. Havil could not be certain if the old dwarf had intentionally dropped the Guild Lord’s honorific or if he was merely speaking plainly, now that they had entered the meat of the conversation.
    “Five, perhaps six guild representatives. The rune scribes are trying to leverage their way into the expedition, but the King has insisted that direct knowledge of magical technology be restricted on the expedition, which is why we will explicitly not be traveling with any representatives from the New Tower. My contacts within the palace inform me that we may even have a Warden traveling with us on the expedition, with the explicit mission of preventing any knowledge of Commonwealth dream magic from being transmitted to the Dragon Lords.”
    “Do we know whether the Dreaming phenomenon extends to the forgotten east?” Oppen asked.
    “It would not be called the forgotten east if we knew explicitly what to expect, now would it?”
    “I mean only…”
    “You mean only that you wish to know the unknowable. This is not a matter of diplomacy, Counselor Ralva. There are no intermediate gray regions of what we may or may now know. All that we know about the eastern lands is that they worship dragons, which no credible living soul can claim to have seen in generations, and that all paths by land or sea have been closed for nearly as long.”
    “Forgive my ignorance, Lord Erdenech, but what closed those trade paths?” Havil said.  
    Biho turned his attention away from the beleaguered translator, whose expression remained completely composed, and said, “The sea routes were frequently pillaged by drakes throughout the fifth and sixth century. As the guilds