It was a hazy day, late summer and blue-skied, and the morning chill had already burned off. It would be hot in the city, but Malik led the children up the winding street to the palace, where the air was clear. As they reached the first gates, Kai gazed down over Rivven.

  Isn’t it wonderful? asked Boneshadow’s voice in his mind, and Kai smiled.

  “Yes,” he murmured. Boneshadow might not be next to him, but they could stay connected and talk.

  The guards waved them through into the palace grounds, full of gardens, trees and the famous mazes that opened to the public one day every year. Malik led them to the servants’ entrance around the back, and inside.

  Kai was a little disappointed at first. There were kitchens, storerooms and servants’ quarters that seemed quite ordinary; wood and plaster, not gold and velvet. But the rooms bustled with people dressed in white outfits or long grey suits, and the kitchens were full of steam and clattering pots and the smell of wonderful food roasting over huge fires. It was like being inside a vast and complex machine.

  Malik led them to a dormitory, where they left their things, and then brought them upstairs, past the servants and sculleries, to the west wing of the palace. Placing a finger to his lips, he opened a small door and ushered them through.

  Beyond the door was a very grand room, with polished wooden floors and a high, vaulted ceiling. A large round table was placed in the middle, with three important-looking people sitting around it. Behind them were three smaller tables, overflowing with papers and books, wax and sealing stamps, and three clerks, writing frantically. The room was full of the sound of quiet talking and the scratch of pens against paper.

  As the children entered, the talking stopped and everyone turned. Kai felt suddenly very exposed, as if they’d walked into the wrong room by mistake. A man at the main table stood and strode towards them.

  He looked familiar, Kai thought. He was tall, with flowing blond hair, and was well dressed in a blue suit with gold trim, leather boots and pale, fine, calfskin gloves. Malik bowed as he approached, and the children copied him.

  “My lord,” Malik murmured.

  And suddenly Kai realised who it was.

  “Hello,” said Prince Harald. “Welcome to the palace.”

  “Thank you all for coming,” said Prince Harald. “Malik tells me you’re all well trained in your penmanship and clerk duties. Is that correct?”

  Among other things! came Boneshadow’s voice in Kai’s mind. She sounded amused. But Kai and the others were nervous and didn’t respond. Prince Harald smiled.

  “Anything you can manage will help,” he said. “And when our official clerks are feeling better, I look forward to telling them that children did their job!” He chuckled, and the children relaxed. Mira had gone rather pink, Kai realised, and Connor was gazing at the prince in admiration.

  “Let me introduce you,” said Prince Harald. “Here are the delegates: Lord Smale of Borolo and Captain Bright of Venn.”

  Lord Smale, a tall, thin, grey-robed man, gave them a slight nod and then returned to his notes. On the other side of the table, Captain Bright grinned at them. She seemed quite jolly, with rich red clothing and silver lace, and large gold earrings. She looked a little like a rich pirate.

  “We’ve been working on this treaty for two months now and everything is nearly complete,” said the prince. “You’ll be helping to record the details, make copies and so on.”

  He smiled again. “You can see how much work there is!” The clerks at each table glanced up briefly at this, and then went back to their frantic scribbling.

  Malik stepped forward and organised the children. Cara and Connor took their places behind Lord Smale, and Tom and Kai sat at the Venn table, behind Captain Bright. Erin, Mira and Ellis sat behind Prince Harald.

  Kai smiled at the Venn clerk. “Hello,” he said.

  The clerk looked up for a moment and, nodding distractedly, picked a page of writing from a stack and pushed it towards Kai.

  “Three copies,” she muttered.

  Kai and Tom glanced at each other. Tom shrugged, and Kai took the page. He got out his ink and quill, sharpened the nib with his penknife, and started writing.

  The afternoon was quite boring. The delegates argued, traded, and discussed obscure tax laws. Behind them, the clerks recorded everything they said, in triplicate. Prince Harald was the representative for Draconis and seemed quite comfortable, cheerfully smoothing arguments between the others.

  Kai enjoyed clerk work, and his handwriting was reasonable. Tom, despite his large blacksmith’s hands, wrote neatly and quickly, keeping up with the discussions and treaty changes. Kai glanced at the other children. Ellis and Connor were doing fine, and so was Mira, although he knew her page would be covered in ink spatters and scribbling-out, because she often daydreamed and tended to draw little designs for machines in the margins. Cara’s handwriting was small and cramped, as if the letters were huddling together to keep safe. Only Erin was struggling – she didn’t like clerk work, and her face was red.

  At the end of the afternoon, Prince Harald clapped his hands.

  “Well, my lord, my lady,” he said. “I think that’s a good place to pause for the day, don’t you?” He beamed. “We have refreshments prepared, and entertainment for this evening.”

  The diplomats rose, bowed and left, and Prince Harald followed them. Malik came forward.

  “Well done, all,” he said. “Let’s get you fed, shall we?”

  They followed him to a space near the kitchens, where the servants sat and ate. It was full of cheerful conversation and jokes, and when the children appeared the adults shuffled up on their benches and made room. Kai’s hand ached from all the writing and he was covered in little splashes of ink.

  After dinner, Malik returned them to their dorm in the palace and went off to finish his own work. It was still early, and upstairs they could hear music and dancing, but that was for the diplomats, and the lords and ladies.

  “What do we do now?” asked Tom.

  Ellis started scribbling in his notebook, mapping out the parts of the palace they’d seen so far.

  “Has anyone been inside the palace before?” asked Kai.

  “Once,” said Cara. She didn’t explain.

  “I came close,” said Tom. “The first time Ironskin and I flew. We chased the other dragon, the one that had started the fire, remember? It came up to the walls, and then just disappeared.”

  “Perhaps it returned to the dragon world?” asked Ellis, but Tom shook his head.

  “There was someone on its back. It must have landed somewhere.”

  “So maybe it sneaked into the palace somehow,” said Erin. “Through a secret entrance. Hey, it could still be here!”

  “Maybe,” said Connor, stroking his chin.

  No one said anything for a few seconds. They looked at each other. And then…

  “We should look for it,” said Erin.

  Tom grinned. “Yeah!”

  “Um, are you sure?” asked Mira. “I don’t know if we should be out of our rooms.”

  “Well, everyone thinks we’re just kids,” said Connor. “We can explore, and if anyone catches us we can just pretend we were playing.”

  Ellis looked up from his drawings. “It would be good to see the lower levels of the palace,” he said thoughtfully.

  I’m not sure about this, said Boneshadow’s voice in Kai’s head, and Kai frowned. He wasn’t sure either; it seemed a risky thing to do on their very first evening. But everyone else was enthusiastic, and he didn’t like to let them down, so when Tom asked him, “What do you think?”, he shrugged.

  “OK,” he said. “Sure.”

  Ellis showed them his notes. “These are the levels of the palace I know about. Tom said the dragon came up to the east side, under the wall, here. So perhaps there’s a way in, down these corridors?”

  “Well, let’s go and see,” said Connor.

  They crept out of the dorm. Above them, somewhere in the palace, the entertainments were still going on and the corridors were dim and empty. Cara and Ellis led, heading downwards. The corridor became darker, and felt older, and finally ended at what seemed like a solid wall.

  There was no one about. Cara closed her eyes, and with a swish her dragon Silverthief appeared. Silverthief could spot hidden things, and now she sniffed around, then padded quietly to one brick.

  “There’s something strange here,” she growled.

  Mira came forward now and summoned her dragon, Flameteller. Flameteller also had a special ability – he could sing to machinery, and hear the machinery sing back. He listened, and then started to croon in a soft, silken voice, like smooth wheels turning.

  A section of the wall slid open.

  The children looked at each other, half nervous, half excited. The space beyond was almost pitch black and Connor lifted a burning torch from the corridor wall. By its light they could see steps leading down.

  Connor stepped forward and the others followed, into the dark. Kai’s heart thumped. They crept down to a wide space made of huge slabs of stone, covered in lichen. Water dripped and small stalactites hung from the ceiling. A wisp of cool air curled past them, and the scent of firewood.

  Ellis looked around, making notes in his book. “I had no idea there was anything here,” he murmured. “This must be nearly the oldest part of the palace. It might even be what was here before the palace.”

  “There are bars here,” said Erin. Her voice sounded loud and echoey.

  Kai looked ahead. She was right. Old bars, covered in rust but still strong and thick. A cage of some sort, he thought. He stepped forward and his foot scuffed against something. Reaching down, he picked up a leather pouch. It had a strange symbol on the front – a small fish on a triangle, with a crown above it. There was a heavy object inside it, like a bottle.

  The leather’s dry, said Boneshadow.

  Kai frowned. Then he looked round the cavern, at the damp walls and stalactites, and realised what she meant. The pouch should be wet like everything else, but it wasn’t. Why not?

  It can’t have been here very long.

  “I think someone’s been here recently,” Kai whispered to the others, holding up the pouch. “Look!”

  But then a noise came from the other side of the bars. It was a snuffling, a growling, and then a heavy thump, coming nearer.

  Kai stared with the others. Should they run? But it was too late – the sounds were almost on them, and in the glow of Connor’s burning torch he saw something stomping towards them…

  A dragon.

  The dragon was twice as tall as Kai, and solidly built. It was red, with green ridges along its snout, and its eyes gleamed gold. Near the top of its neck were strange flaps of skin, like gills on a fish. They fluttered as it breathed. Its breath was a long rumble, almost like a growl.

  For a moment, the children just stared. Then Kai stepped forward.

  “Hello,” he said, smiling. “I’m Kai.”

  The dragon peered at him, and then at the others. It seemed suspicious.

  “It’s OK,” said Tom, beside Kai. “We’re dragonseers. Look, this is my dragon, Ironskin.”

  He closed his eyes and the large, dark-red shape of Ironskin formed next to him. She bowed.

  “Well met,” she said. “I am Ironskin. This is my human, Tomas.”

  “Wait,” muttered Connor. “If the dragon’s here, its dragonseer must be around.”

  The children and their dragons looked about, worried. But then Cara said, “No – look!”

  She pointed to a large chain necklace hanging from the dragon’s neck. It held a jewel pendant, glimmering green in the dim light.

  “That’s an emerald,” she said. “Remember when we found the dragon Jadeheart? He had a jewel like that. It has special magic, to keep a dragon in the world even when their dragonseer isn’t around.”

  As Cara spoke, the dragon sniffed at Kai and Tom and Ironskin, and its nostrils flared. Its behaviour was strange, Kai thought. He’d met many dragons, and he liked to study them. Most were quite talkative. Closing his eyes for a moment, he concentrated and Boneshadow appeared. She studied the flaps of skin on the creature’s throat.

  “Are they for swimming, do you think?” she mused. “Like gills, for breathing underwater?”

  Kai wasn’t sure. They were quivering – in fact, the dragon’s whole body was trembling.

  Connor turned to Tom. “Is this the dragon you saw?”

  Tom nodded. “I think so.”

  “Hello?” tried Connor. “Can you understand us?”

  “Why is it trapped like this?” asked Mira.

  Kai had a nagging feeling they were forgetting something. He glanced around the cave but there was nothing there – just ancient flagstones, blackened with soot, and plain walls. The dragon was breathing hard now, its sides moving, and through the slits in its throat Kai thought he saw a glint of something, yellow and red.

  “Hoi!” bellowed Erin. She stepped forward and banged the bars. “Can you hear us, dragon?”

  “Stop, you’ll scare it!” said Mira. And the creature did step back, for a moment. Then it advanced, and opened its mouth as if about to speak.

  “Fire!” shouted Boneshadow suddenly. “Kai, they’re for making fire!”

  The flaps of skin opened, the dragon drew a mighty breath and Kai realised the red-yellow he could see was a flame, burning inside!

  “Down!” he yelled.

  “RRRRRROOAAAAAAAARRRRR!”

  A blast of fire burst from the dragon’s mouth!

  “Arrrrrgh!” shouted the children, scrambling back. Ironskin leapt forward and closed her eyes, and the air in front of her shimmered, stopping the flames as if they had hit a glass shield. Kai realised she was using her shielding power – but even so, he felt the heat scorch his face.

  The creature stopped, and glared at them. It opened its mouth again and shrieked, so loud they had to put their hands over their ears. It was a horrible sound, full of fury, but no words.

  “Stop!” tried Tom. “We’re not here to hurt you!”

  “Get away from it!” shouted Connor. “It’s insane!”

  They fled up the steps, with the creature’s shriek echoing behind them. Mira’s dragon Flameteller sang at the secret panel again, slamming it closed, and then the dragons faded back to their own world. The children raced back through the corridors, but Cara suddenly stopped.

  “Wait!” she hissed. “Someone’s coming!”

  She dragged them into a hidden recess. Kai was shoved against the wall, and he heard a noise of breaking glass and felt a sharp pain in his hand.

  “Ow!”

  “Shh!” Cara put a finger to her lips. The children stood in shadow.

  Footsteps echoed down the corridor and guards ran past. They wore black uniforms, with a silver flame embroidered on their sleeves, and they carried halberds with razor-sharp tips. Connor frowned. Cara waited a few seconds after they passed, and then nodded to the others.

  Connor said, “Those weren’t the usual King’s Guards. Did you see their uniforms?”

  “Come on,” said Cara. “Before they return.”

  They slipped away, back to their dormitory and safety.

  “Phew!” said Erin, grinning. “That was exciting!”

  “Too exciting,” said Connor. “Why did you bang on the bars like that? You scared it!”

  Erin snorted. “It wasn’t scared, it was crazy! And you were still trying to talk to it.”

  A sharp pain flared in Kai’s hand again, and he realised he was still holding the little leather pouch that he’d found in the cavern. A shard of green glass had poked out of it and cut a nasty gash into his palm.

  What is that? asked Boneshadow, in his mind.

  Carefully, Kai opened the pouch. Inside was a bottle, smashed, with no label. It seemed to have been full of something, but the liquid had soaked into the leather and all over his hands. It was deep blue, and it had mixed with the blood on his hand.

  You should clean that right away. Boneshadow sounded worried, and Kai nodded. He went to one of the bowls of water given to them for washing but, to his surprise, by the time he reached it the strange liquid had almost gone, and there was only a thin cut on his palm.

  “Are you OK?” asked Mira, behind him.

  “Yes,” he said, peering at the cut, which seemed hardly anything now. “I’m fine.”

  “So what do we do?” asked Connor.

  “We should tell Malik,” said Mira. “And Berin.”

  “We’ll get into trouble,” said Cara.

  “Maybe.” Tom shrugged. “But I’ve never met a dragon like that. Someone here in the palace is looking after it, feeding it… And Connor’s right – those weren’t normal palace guards.”

  “Maybe we should go back,” said Kai. He suddenly felt full of energy. “Take another look, now the guards have gone?”

  Everyone looked at him in surprise. “I don’t know,” said Mira cautiously. “Perhaps we should wait.”

  The others agreed. Kai shrugged. His palms were itching slightly, and he scratched at them.

  “Well, let’s tell Malik tomorrow and see what he says,” said Tom. “We should get some sleep tonight.” He grinned. “After all, it’s back to more exciting clerk work tomorrow!”

  Everyone groaned, but nodded, and they settled down. It took Kai a while to get to sleep; he stared into the dark for ages, still feeling that strange, wide-awake energy. When he finally drifted off, he was still scratching at his palms.

 

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