Scrapplings Children of the Dragons by Amelia Smith

Author:Amelia Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction: Fantasy
Publisher: Split Rock Books
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11: The Tongues of Anamat

They came from all directions, the commoners, the nobles, and traders from across the salty waves. As the year’s longest days lit the sky, they wore out their traveling shoes on the mountain passes to buy new ones in Anamat, to celebrate the journey between the worlds, to greet one another, and perchance to witness the magic of Anara’s blessings.

– The Chronicles of Theranis

For the next few days, when the others were taking their midday rest, Darna followed the Cerean sailors around to the taverns and helped them make sense of Anamat. She showed them which places on the harbor had the best stew and ale and translated for them, using a lot of sounds and hand gestures to fill in. She picked up their words as fast as she could, but four days wasn’t much time. Still, it helped her remember what she’d learned before and she added a dozen or so new words most days. She even sold the Cerean sailors some scrap and spliced rope. She tried to ask them if they’d seen a Cerean boy around, but they didn’t seem to understand the question, no matter which language Darna used.

On the second day, near dusk, she spotted Giri around the west end of the harbor. He disappeared into a blind alley. He wasn’t there when Darna walked by a short while later. He must have gone into one of the side doors of the warehouse there. Was he sleeping in a merchant’s warehouse? Darna waited for a while, but it was late and she was hungry, so she gave up and headed back to the bridge. It sure looked like some merchant was keeping a place for Giri. Very strange.

Other than that, Darna didn’t see Giri or Elna for a few days, just as they had planned. Darna kept to herself except for going to the breadline with the others, and her midday meals with the Cereans. She returned to the bridge late and didn’t talk much if she could avoid it. She told herself that she didn’t care what Giri and Elna were doing.

When the new moon came, they met again at the palace temple, at the usual time, and got back to business. Darna hadn’t found any other good foraging spots, so they went back to the dump.

It seemed as if Nira had called off her patrols, taken in by Darna’s absence, thinking she’d won back her turf. Then again, maybe she was just busy with other things over in Pannen’s territory. The scavenging was good. Darna didn’t like the idea of Nira gloating over her triumph, but she wasn’t there, and Elna’s bruises had faded. She seemed almost cheerful, walking along with Giri. In the afternoon, they learned that the markets hadn’t changed. They could barely sell anything more than small bits and pieces to the farmers outside the West Gate. In any case, they were saving the best for the next Cerean trader.

The moon turned another quarter.

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