Dragon Soup, page 11
Perrin remembered some of these things from his days in Atreyo’s business.
Then he struck luck.
The next chapter in the book covered dragons and dragon meat.
It said,
Dragon meat is a highly aromatic dark-coloured meat of a soft texture when treated well. Properly treated, it is irresistibly delicious, but most people will find the interaction of the magic contained within it with their digestive system objectionable without prior treatment to leach it out. However, it is possible to remove enough of the effect of magic without destroying the magical taste, but that stops objectionable effects. It takes the application of skill but does not require proficiency with magic. It involves soaking the meat in vinegar and then treating the cuts overnight with a mixture of herbs. Well-treated dragon meat will render any meal irresistible.
Perrin stopped reading.
He remembered seeing the vats of olives in Laeticia’s kitchen. He remembered the unusual spicy smell of the concoction. It was vinegar. That was an unusual way of pickling olives, because he was sure that olives were normally soaked in salt water.
What if the dragon meat was underneath the olives?
Well, crap.
He hadn’t checked the rest of the vat’s contents. He’d never contemplated that he would need to do this. After all, that was why he had the magic sniffers. Except when the magic had been leached out, and the vinegar befuddled their noses.
Even if he had checked it, would he have found anything?
Out of all the things he’d usually find in kitchens, those vats stood out. And the raving reviews spoke specifically about the meat. And people did find the food irresistible. Even he had fallen victim to it.
He was convinced that the magic hid in the vat.
But how could he prove this?
According to the previous chapter, the smallest amounts of magic could be detected by adding pink salt to the solution.
Pink salt was not hard to get. You could buy it at most spice shops. Although it was also not all that cheap.
Hmmm.
The book also stated that dragons were hard to catch and the job of a dragon hunter was extremely dangerous, so the meat was expensive. It said dragon catchers would prefer to steal eggs, although that was also not without risk, because dragons were fiercely protective of their eggs, whether they were the female who had laid the eggs or not.
But, the book said,
It is possible to exert a reasonable amount of control over a dragon by using a thunderstaff. Even the adult dragon dislikes the absorption of magic caused by the thunderstaff and the creature tends to freeze up, allowing the only opportunity to restrain the animal one is probably going to get.
Interesting.
There was a device that absorbed magic? That was the first time he’d heard of it.
And now, after all that reading, it was high time for him to go to work.
He rushed through the streets only to reach the Bureau just in time. All the magic inspectors were gathered in the upstairs room, listening to Inspector Carbin, who stood at the front of the room in the company of the mayor, Tarlo Firello.
Perrin joined the back of the group, but still didn’t escape notice by Inspector Carbin, who raised her eyebrows at him.
She was talking about how the Dressmaker’s Fair was coming to an end, and they had just two days left of their altered schedules, but these were the most important days.
There was the Dressmaker’s Ball tonight and then tomorrow, the fair attendants would meet for a final gathering, a parade where display items would be for sale and a farewell speech would be held by the mayor.
The mayor then spoke about how the inspectors had done the city of Tamba proud. He must have been partying himself, because he looked tired, and twice he lost his train of thought in the middle of a sentence.
Today would be a long day, but the inspectors would be given a day off after the proceedings had finished.
Perrin was already looking forward to that. He hadn’t yet received a reply from the Dianello family about his proposal to have his claim paid out, so he would have to assume that the court case would go ahead and he needed to prepare for it. And possibly that they were hoping that he would be unprepared because he’d thought they’d reply to his letter.
Inspector Carbin finished the meeting with, “As you will know, many of you will have the end of your probation period coming up, and we need all of you to do your best to avoid embarrassing situations. Today and tomorrow will be our most challenging of the gathering. I want all of you on your best behaviour.”
Yes. Perrin didn’t need to be reminded.
Verbena met him when the meeting broke up.
“Hi, any problems?” she said.
“No, why?”
“Because you were late.”
“Oh. I was just… reading. I forgot the time.”
She laughed. “You’re so funny. Who has time to read in the mornings?”
Who indeed.
They had only two days of working together and Perrin felt a twinge of sadness about it. Verbena was a bit opinionated, but he would miss her no nonsense style.
“Just got distracted. There was a bit of trouble last night. I think the guy who stays in my landlady’s other room came into my room last night. I have no idea why, and she said it might be a mistake. Either way, the cage fell off the table and the magic sniffers escaped.”
“Oh, no!”
“Fortunately, the door and window were closed, and I found them in the cupboard and under the bed. But they did fight, and they were quite upset. The jacket didn’t survive, I’m afraid.”
“So that’s why he’s wearing a blue one and not the red one.”
“Yup.”
“I think this one fits better. What was his name again?”
“Fergus.”
She stuck her fingers through the bars of the cage and scratched the animal’s back. He stuck his little nose out of the straw.
“Hey, Fergus, fat boy.”
“He’s not fat, he’s healthy. You’re just jealous.”
She grinned. “Fat boy.”
“Have you picked up the schedule for today yet?”
Verbena hadn’t, so Perrin went to get it. They would again be patrolling the town hall during the parade. Perrin wondered if he’d see the mysterious wizard again. He wondered if he’d see Elro Katando or his brother, and if he could have a word about coming into his room last night.
Inspector Cabin gave him another penetrating look when he walked past her. Yes, he knew the magic sniffer looked scruffy, but the animal was plump and healthy, and once all this was over, he’d bathe and comb both animals so whatever ailment made the animal scratch and pull out its fur would be taken care of.
He left the building with Verbena.
Now that the gathering was coming to a close, major business deals had been sealed. The many visitors to the town were relaxing and hanging out in the inns.
First, Perrin and Verbena patrolled the town hall during the parade. Nothing untoward happened, and Perrin got to look at all the outrageous outfits when the models paraded them across the stage. Atreyo loved this kind of stuff. He saw several of Atreyo’s friends in the audience, all scribbling madly for items they’d bid on tomorrow. None of them acknowledged Perrin’s presence. They pretended they didn’t know him.
He did, however, see the mayor, and the mysterious wizard who had given money to Laeticia was sitting right next to him. Well, that was interesting. Did they know each other? It couldn’t just be coincidence, because whoever sat next to a person in power was never a coincidence. But it was so busy that Perrin couldn’t wait until they spoke to each other.
After the parade, they went outside to the market square, and he sent Verbena to grab something to eat and made use of the time to buy some pink salt.
The merchant packed the salt into a paper bag that was surprisingly heavy when it sat in his pocket.
Verbena returned with a couple of rolls, which they ate while strolling through town.
The streets were crowded with people walking slowly and talking to each other, spilling from the dining areas of eating houses. Many of them were in various stages of drunkenness, and it was difficult to walk through the street, especially with two people each carrying a cage with magic sniffers.
Perrin and Verbena went back to the town hall and inspected people who sat on the stairs and went back into the hall where the final party was in full swing. There would be a lot of sore heads tomorrow.
They found some minor magic in the garment display stands.
He and Verbena were not the only inspectors in the hall, all hanging around the garment displays. It frustrated him that everyone, but certainly Inspector Carbin, would know that there were bigger players in this magic game and none of this highly visible and annoying inspecting was doing anything to help the situation. As Dorella had already said, many of the eating house owners had no idea whether there was magic in any of the goods that they bought from third parties, like Dorella’s sweets and the cakes and teas. There was not much point attacking these people at that level, because they would never catch the ones who profited from all this.
But still, Perrin and Verbena made some discoveries and gave out some fines. Inspector Carbin was sure to be satisfied, and that was going to be important.
What would he do if he didn’t meet his probation? Dorella was very nice, but he doubted that she could afford to let him stay for free. He might have to leave the city altogether and work as a farm labourer. Except he was well past the age where he would be any good at that.
“Why would Inspector Carbin not want to keep you?” Verbena asked when he voiced his doubts.
“Why would she? I am the odd one out. You’re much younger and you’re not trying to be smart and talking back to her. She would like people she can tell what to do, people who shut up and don’t make smart comments.”
“But you know so much more. I’m sure she appreciates your experience. She would be mad not to extend your contract.”
But Perrin was in no way certain of this.
Chapter 15
It was rather late when work finally finished. Not all the crowds had gone home yet, but the revellers had left the town hall. The packing up and cleaning crews had moved in with brooms to sweep away the glass and other debris left by the crowds. The partygoers had dissipated into the streets of the commercial quarter of town. But many had returned to their accommodation to prepare for the journey home. Most of the people still in the streets or in the establishments were so drunk that not even the guards could move them to go home.
Perrin walked Verbena to the corner of her street in the harbour district, just to make sure that she got home safely. She said he didn’t have to, but seemed to appreciate it, nevertheless. In the short distance to Verbena’s home, the pair already attracted some wolf whistles and lewd comments.
After dropping off Verbena, Perrin took his cage home to be unburdened of its clumsiness. The tea room downstairs was shrouded in darkness. It was so late that even Dorella had already gone home to bed.
The door of the room on the other side of the hallway was still open. He wondered if one of the revellers on the street was this mysterious man.
He set the cage with the magic sniffers on the table. One of the animals was squeaking. They probably thought they were going to get food.
“Yes, I’ll feed you when I get back. I won’t be long.”
So things had come to this: he was talking to his magic sniffers.
He left the room after having made sure he locked the door.
Then he walked back to the main square. The streets were getting quiet. Many of the lamps had run out of oil and the city guards were urging revellers to move on.
There were still a few guests in the dining room at the Traveller’s Rest, although many of the tables were empty. Elro Katando was there again, dressed in his green robe, talking to a group of his followers, judging by the way they listened to every word he said. His brother, huh? Perrin wondered if the man was with the followers. He couldn’t see, because they sat in a corner and some people had their backs to the door.
A waitress was mopping the floor, casting the group impatient looks.
While he waited outside, contemplating how best to go about his plan, Perrin spotted Laeticia at the door to the kitchen. She stood at the little table that would normally hold the booking register, counting her money. Two people came out of the kitchen and as they left the dining room, Laeticia handed them each a bundle of cash.
He waited until even more employees had left. There were still a lot of people walking past the inn, and he didn’t want to be recognised.
Elro Katando’s meeting of followers broke up and people streamed out of the front door in groups. He couldn’t see Dorella’s other guest.
They were all talking in excited voices.
“But how can he be so certain he’ll win?” a man asked.
“Didn’t you see the figures he showed?” his companion said. “He asked people at the fair and at the shows at night. People in this town want change. They’re sick of mealy-mouthed councillors who are so afraid to offend anyone that everything they say is utterly forgettable.”
“Yeah,” another said. “We want people with ideas and new initiatives.”
“Elro Katando can make that happen, mark my words.”
They walked down the street. Perrin couldn’t hear them anymore.
So Elro Katando had ideas, huh? And he could make election wins happen?
Did any of that not involve using illegal magic, like he obviously used for his fashion creations?
A street sweeper came past, collecting some of the rubbish the revellers had left behind.
With fewer people in the street, those who were there increased in visibility.
It was still too busy for his liking.
Next to the establishment was a narrow alley that led past the back of the shops.
This was where supplies came in and where the shops and eating houses put out their rubbish.
It was very dark in the narrow space between the buildings. A couple of rats scurried out of his way. He had to be careful where to put his feet so that he didn’t step in the disgusting puddles. The air was laced with the smell of rotting vegetables and other unmentionable things.
He walked past the side of the Traveller’s Rest to the back of the building, first past the dining courtyard and then the storage area. A brick wall lined the block, making it impossible for him to see into the yard.
From visiting the kitchens, he knew that the property was long and narrow, and that the supply storage area was at the back, where there was also a small courtyard used for storing large items and washing pans. This yard ended in the brick wall of the next establishment: the back wall of a shop facing the street behind the eating house.
Perrin dragged a rubbish bin to the boundary wall and climbed on top. Oof, that wasn’t quite as easy as it had been in his younger days.
It was a very long time since he had last done anything of the sort, and his jacket kept getting in the way. Once he stood on the bin’s lid and could see into the yard, he figured he was in the wrong spot, dragged the bin a bit further and added another bin so that he could climb on top of the wobbly structure and over the top of the wall. That was hard enough, because the top bore a row of spikes of the type that builders used to keep the seagulls from roosting on the wall.
They were also very good at catching one’s clothing.
Perrin had only one decent set of sturdy work clothes. All his other clothing was too dainty and would make him stand out.
He had to take the jacket off and tie it around his waist before he could swing his leg over and step onto the stack of crates on the other side—it was rather wobbly—and drop into the yard.
Phew. He hoped no one had heard him.
It was messy in the yard. A haphazard stack of empty crates stood in the corner, as well as some large pots filled with water and a bin full of scraps that smelled none too good.
A double door led into a dark room.
Perrin took a while to orient himself. This had to be the storeroom where he had come during his “inspection”. The back area behind the kitchen was not that big. The shelves were to the right, opposite the door, and the vat with olives stood on the ground next to the shelving unit.
He slipped under the shadow of the overhanging roof, listened for sounds close by, and when he heard none, went into the doorway.
He felt in his pocket for the packet of pink salt that he had brought.
The sound of voices drifted from elsewhere in the building.
Quick.
He lifted in the lid off the vat with both hands as quietly as he could—and stared into the dark fluid.
Well, crap. He needed to stick his hand in there to find whatever was at the bottom.
He rolled up his sleeve.
The fluid was cold, slightly oily and smelled strongly of vinegar. There were definitely a lot of olives in there. He moved his hands along, feeling the olives bump against his skin.
Wait. His fingers met something soft and slightly slimy.
Ew.
That had to be meat, right? It felt like meat. Now to find a small piece that he could take out and test, either here or, better still, somewhere safe.
He managed to tear off a small piece.
Ew. Ew.
There was a noise closer by—
He yanked the piece out of the vat and put it in his pocket—
And while he did that, the bag of pink salt dropped from the same pocket and fell with a splash into the vinegar.
Damn.
“Did you say something?” a male voice asked.
Oh, damn.
The footsteps were definitely coming in his direction.
He stared at the dark, oily fluid.
No time to rescue the situation.
Perrin placed the lid back onto the vat and crept back into the courtyard, and hid in the shadow behind the wall, his heart thudding.
