Dragon's Fire by Anne McCaffrey Read Free Book Online

bested you.”
    He caught the holder’s greedy look and knew that his deliberate mistakes in their previous conversations had convinced the holder that Moran was a pompous, overconfident fool. The holder glanced at the bulging purse Moran had carefully hung on his belt in plain sight to all. Of course, the holder had convinced himself that Moran’s purse was bulging with harper marks, a belief that Moran was careful to cultivate by the overprotective way he clutched at it.
    Fools and their money are soon parted, Moran reflected silently, remembering his early years at the Harper Hall.
    “Well, now, I’m sure you’re a fair man, Harper,” Berrin replied in a tone that told Moran that, in fact, Berrin was sure that Moran was a stupid man. “And I’d trust you to be honest with me if you knew something special.”
    Moran nodded affably.
    “So how about a wager for second place?” Berrin asked. Moran raised his hands, feigning nervous indecision. “Nothing much, say a mark or two?”
    Moran gave the holder a doubtful look.
    “Ah, go on, Harper,” one of Berrin’s friends called out from the crowd.
    “Well,” Moran began slowly, clutching at his bag, “perhaps a mark that Benden gets second.”
    “Benden? I’ll take a mark on that,” another man called from the crowd. Moran smiled to himself as he recognized the man as another of Berrin’s cronies. Privately, the harper was pretty certain that only half of the current crowd was working with Berrin, the rest being innocent but greedy gamblers hoping to exploit Berrin and the harper. Moran was quite certain that in the end he would take money from both groups and come out ahead. He had no qualms with that—there were hungry children at their camp who wouldn’t question how their bellies came to be full.

    Halla peered worriedly at her big brother as he slid on the slick ground. Jamal winced and bit off a curse after jarring his broken leg.
    “Are you okay?” Halla asked him. She helped him get up and made a face. “What’s that smell? It’s coming from your leg.”
    “It’s nothing,” Jamal lied.
    “Maybe you should see a healer,” Halla said.
    “Healers won’t see us, you know that,” Jamal replied. He waved Halla away. “You go over with the other children, you’re supposed to be watching them.”
    Halla sniffed, but dutifully headed off to a forlorn cluster of youngsters mostly younger than her own eight Turns. She turned to look back as Jamal disappeared once more into the Gather crowd and hoped that he would be okay.

    “Of course I’ll keep this our secret,” Moran promised the disconsolate wagerers as he collected his winnings.
    “That’s very kind of you, Harper,” Berrin told him feelingly, his words echoed by the worried nods of the other losers.
    “After all, it was all in good spirits,” the harper said, carefully fishing out a few quarter-marks to each of the losing bettors. After the losers thanked him for his graciousness, Moran returned to the miners.
    “Didn’t I say that Telgar would win?” Tarik declared, soundly slapping the harper on the shoulder. He peered down at him, his eyes shining with an avaricious gleam. “You’ve some marks for me, I believe?”
    “Indeed I do,” Moran declared jovially, handing over a two-mark piece that he’d just won as part of his other wagers. He leaned closer to Tarik and said in a softer voice, “And I hope you’ll find our other arrangement as advantageous.”
    Tarik’s face hardened for just a moment before he responded, “I’m sure I will. Indeed, I’m certain of it.”

CHAPTER 3

    Work and living drays do roll,
    Taking every long day’s toll.
    Bearing goods and bringing gifts—
    Traders working every shift.
    N EAR C AMP N ATALON,
AL 492.7–493.4
    F ollowing Master Zist’s instructions, Pellar snuck onto one of the trader’s drays and hid behind the barrels of goods intended for Camp Natalon. To increase his chances of avoiding detection, Pellar sent Chitter