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‘We kept the Bingtown Traders’ Council separate before,’ Keffria offered.

These people were swaying her, but something, she felt, must be held back for Selden.

She could not stand by and let being a Bingtown Trader become merely an empty title.

‘Could not we do that again? Have one Council where all landowners vote, and a separate one for the Bingtown Traders only?’

Sparse Kelter crossed his arms on his chest. The woman beside him looked so like him, she must be some relation, Keffria decided. ‘Do that, and we all know where the true power would remain,’ he said quietly. ‘No leashes. A fair say in Bingtown.’

‘We’ve heard what you ask, but not what you offer,’ another Trader spoke.

Keffria admired the way he had side-stepped Kelter’s observation, but at the same time she wondered what they were doing.

What was the sense of asking any of these questions?

No one here had the power to make a binding decision.

Sparse Kelter spoke again. ‘We offer honest hands and strong backs and knowledge, and we ask the same. Let us stand on an equal footing with you to share the work of rebuilding Bingtown. We offer to help defend her, not just from pirates and Chalcedeans, but from Jamaillia itself if need be. Or do you think the Pearl Throne will let you slip its leash and speak not a word to rebuke you?’

The full realization of what they were discussing suddenly settled on Keffria. ‘We are talking about separating Bingtown completely from Jamaillia? About standing on our own, alone, between Jamaillia and Chalced?’

‘Why not?’ Devouchet demanded. ‘The idea has been broached before, Trader Vestrit. Your own father often spoke of it privately. We will not have a better chance than this. For better or worse, the Satrap has perished. The Pearl Throne is empty. The birds we’ve had from Jamaillia speak of civil unrest, rioting by the Jamaillian army over unpaid wages, an uprising by the slaves and even a Condemnation of State from the Temple of Sa in Jamaillia.

The Satrapy is rotten. When they discover that the Satrap is dead, the nobles there will be too busy scrabbling for power in Jamaillia to pay any mind to what we do.

They have never treated us as equals. Why not break free now, and make Bingtown a place where folk begin anew, all men standing on an equal footing? ’

‘And all women, too.’ She must be Sparse’s daughter, thought Keffria. Even her voice echoed his in tone.

Devouchet looked at her in surprise. ‘It was but a manner of speaking, Ekke,’ he said mildly.

‘A manner of speaking becomes a manner of thinking.’ She lifted her chin.

‘I am not here simply as Sparse Kelter’s daughter.

I’ve a boat and nets of my own. If this alliance comes to pass, I’ll want land of my own.

Three Ships folk know that what a person has for a mind is more important than what is between their legs.

Three Ships women will not give up our place alongside our men simply to say we are part of Bingtown now. That, too, must be understood.’

‘That is only common sense,’ Grag Tenira asserted smoothly. He smiled warmly at the Three Ships woman as he added, ‘Look about this table, and see who speaks here. Bingtown has a long tradition of strong women. Some of the strongest are seated here today. That tradition will not change.’

Ekke Kelter leaned back in her chair. She returned Grag’s smile easily.

‘I just wanted to hear those words spoken aloud here,’ she confirmed.

She nodded to Grag, and for an instant, Keffria wondered if there was an understanding between them.

Had Ekke spoken her piece knowing that Grag Tenira would take her side?

Did Grag Tenira count her, Keffria, as one of those strong women?

But as swiftly as her interest had been piqued, it faltered.

She took a breath and spoke her thoughts.

‘What do we do here? We talk of agreements, but none of us has the power to make these agreements binding on all Bingtown.’

Her own mother contradicted her. ‘We have as much power as anyone in Bingtown these days. More than the Traders’ Council has, for we do not fear to wield it.

They dare not meet without asking Serilla’s opinion.

And she dares not give it without looking to Caern.

’ She smiled grimly at her daughter. ‘There are more to us, Keffria, than just those you see here. More could not gather for fear of drawing attention. One of the Council heads sides with us; he told us of the secret meeting. After tonight, we shall not fear to gather openly. Our strength comes from our diversity. Those of us who were made slaves have an intimate knowledge of the New Traders and their holdings. The New Traders hope to hold what they have taken with folk they have tattooed. Once the Tattooed are freed, will they fight for their masters? I doubt it. When the New Traders are stripped of their slaves, their number is greatly reduced. Nor do they defend home and family as we do; their homes and their legitimate families are in Jamaillia. They have brought their mistresses and bastards to share the risks of living on the Cursed Shores, not their legitimate heirs. With Jamaillia in a civil uproar, the New Traders won’t get help from that quarter.

Many will rush back to Jamaillia to defend ancestral holdings there.

‘There are also the pirates to consider. Eventually, Jamaillia may send an army against us to master us once more, but first it must make its way through the Pirate Isles. Well do I know to my own sorrow that that is not an easy journey these days.’

‘Are you saying the New Traders are no threat to Bingtown?’ Jani Khuprus asked incredulously.

Ronica smiled bitterly. ‘Less of a threat than some would have us believe. Our first danger comes from those within our town who seek to corrupt the Traders and our ways. Tonight, we will defeat them. After that, the real danger will come from the usual source: Chalced. While Jamaillia is fighting internal battles and we chase one another through the streets with swords, Chalced has the opportunity to sweep in and subdue Bingtown.’ Again, her gaze swept the folk seated around the table.

‘But if we rally ourselves, we can stand them off. We have trader ships, liveships, and the working vessels of the Three Ships families. We know our waters better than anyone else.’

‘You are still talking about a single city-state standing against all of Chalced. And possibly Jamaillia.’ Another of the Bingtown Traders spoke.

‘We might hold them off for a while, but in the long run they could starve us out. We’ve never been completely self-sufficient.

And we must have markets for our trade goods.

’ He shook his head. ‘We must retain our bond with Jamaillia, even if it means compromising with the New Traders.’

‘There must be some compromises with the New Traders,’ Ronica agreed.

‘Not all will simply leave. Compromises should include trade agreements with Jamaillia for fair and open trade. But those compromises must be on our terms, not theirs. No more tariff ministers. No more tariffs.’ She looked around the table for support.

‘Not compromise with New Traders. Ally.’ Startled eyes turned to Keffria.

She could scarcely believe it was herself speaking, yet she knew her words made sense.

‘We should invite them to stand with us tonight when we break into Serilla’s secret meeting with the Council heads.

’ She took a breath and crossed a line. ‘Ask them, boldly, to break with Jamaillia, stand with us, and take up our ways. If Bingtown is to be one, then we must be one today. Now. We should send word to that friend of Davad’s…

what was his name? Mingsley. He seemed to have sway with his fellows.

’ She firmed her voice. ‘A united Bingtown is our only hope against both Chalced and Jamaillia. We have no other allies.’

A daunted silence followed her words.

‘Maybe the dragon would help us.’ Selden’s piping tenor voice was startling.

All eyes turned to her son, sitting so straight on his chair. His eyes were wide open, but he looked at no one. ‘The dragon could protect us from Jamaillia and Chalced.’

An embarrassed silence fell. Reyn spoke at last, his voice heavy with emotion. ‘The dragon cares nothing for us, Selden. She showed that when she let Malta perish. Forget her. Or rather, remember her with contempt.’

‘What is this about a dragon?’ Sparse Kelter demanded.

Gently, Naria observed, ‘Young Selden has been through a great deal of late.’

The boy’s jaw firmed. ‘Don’t doubt me. Do not doubt her.

I have been carried in her claws, and looked down on our world.

Do you know how small we truly are, how pitiful are even our greatest works?

I have felt her heart beating. When she touched me, I realized there could be something beyond good and evil.

She…transcends.’ He stared, unseeing. ‘In my dreams, I fly with her.’

A silence followed his words. The adults exchanged glances, some amused, some pitying, some annoyed at this interruption to their business. It stung Keffria to see her son treated so. Had not he been through enough?

‘The dragon was real,’ Keffria declared. ‘We all saw it. And I agree with Selden. The dragon may change everything.’ Her words shocked them but the look Selden gave her was worth it. She could not recall the last time her son had looked at her with such shining eyes.

‘I don’t doubt that dragons are real,’ Sparse hastily interjected. ‘I saw some myself, a few years back when sailing far to the north. They flew over, like jewels winking in the sun. Buckkeep mustered them against the Outislanders.’

‘That old tale,’ someone muttered, and Sparse glowered at him.

‘This dragon is the last of her kind. She hatched in the collapsing ruins of the Elderling city, just before the swamp swallowed it,’ Reyn stated. ‘But she is no ally of ours. She is a treacherous and selfish creature.’

Keffria looked around the circle of faces. Disbelief loomed large. Pink-faced, Ekke Kelter suggested, ‘Perhaps we should return to discussing the New Traders.’

Her father slapped the table with a broad palm.

‘No. I can see now that I need the whole telling of what went on in the Rain Wilds. Long have we been kept ignorant of what is up that river. Let this be the first sign of openness from the Bingtown Traders to their new allies. I want a full telling of this dragon tale, and how Malta Vestrit and the Satrap perished.’

A heavy silence followed his words. Only the turning of their veiled heads revealed that Reyn and his mother conferred.

All the other Traders at the table kept the silence of their ancestors.

It was a mistake, Keffria knew. But even knowing that, she could not change it.

The Rain Wild must choose to reveal itself, or remain hidden.

Reyn leaned back. He crossed his arms on his chest.

‘Very well, then,’ Sparse Kelter declared heavily. He set his wide, work-reddened hands to the table and pushed his chair back to rise.

Selden glanced up at Keffria, gave her hand a quick squeeze, and suddenly stood beside his chair. It did not make him much taller, but the look on his face demanded recognition. ‘It all began,’ Selden’s young voice piped, ‘when I told Malta I knew a secret way to get into the Elderling city.’

All eyes went to the boy. He met Sparse Kelter’s astonished gaze.

‘It’s my story as much as anyone’s. Bingtown Trader and Rain Wild Trader are kin.

And I was there.’ The look he gave Reyn defied him.

‘She’s my dragon as much as yours. You may have turned on her, but I have not.

She saved our lives.’ He took a breath. ‘It’s time to share our secrets, so we can all survive. ’ The boy’s glance swept the table.

With a sudden motion, Reyn threw back his veil.

He pushed back his cowl as well and shook free his dark, curly hair.

He looked with shining copper eyes from face to face at the table, inviting each of them to stare at the scaling that now outlined his lips and brows and the ridge of pebbled skin that defined his brow.

When he looked at Selden, respect was in his eyes.

‘It began much farther back than my young kinsman’s memory,’ he said quietly.

‘I suppose I was about half Selden’s age the first time my father took me to the dragon’s chamber far underground. ’