The Dragons of Dorcastle Read Online Free PDF Page A

imagined a Mage would do that. The Senior Mechanics always said…y
ou
said that Mages didn’t care about people.”
    “I did not do it because I cared about you. You are nothing,” Alain said impassively.
    It did not take a Mage to see the resentment that statement aroused in the Mechanic. “Thanks.”
    “I do not understand.”
    “I’m being sarcastic, Mage. What’s your name?”
    Alain eyed her, trying to guess why the Mechanic had asked for that information.
    “If we’re going to depend on each other to live I deserve that much,” the Mechanic insisted. “And I need to know what to call you besides ‘Mage.’ ”
    His elders would be angry if they knew he was even talking to a Mechanic. They would be angrier yet if they knew he had accompanied her this far. Even though the elders, like all Mages, were supposed to feel no emotions, every acolyte learned to fear the anger the elders would never admit to.
    Many of those elders had also made clear their belief that he did not deserve to be made a Mage so young, despite his ability to pass the tests.
    And the elders had sent him here, alone, as if wishing for him to fail.
    The defiance he had kept carefully buried in recent years rose close enough to the surface to bring the words to Alain’s lips. “I am Mage Alain of Ihris.”
    “Mage Alain of Ihris.” The Mechanic studied him for a moment, her nervousness fading a bit as she examined him. Now, resting close to each other, he could see clearly how young she was. “Ihris is a long ways north of here. I’m Master Mechanic Mari of Caer Lyn.”
    “Caer Lyn.” Islands, to the west of the Empire. “That is also north of here.”
    “Not nearly as far as Ihris.” She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. “We need to keep moving, but I think we should rest a little longer. Climbing in this heat is very tough and we’ll kill ourselves if we push it too hard.” After he said nothing, the Mechanic opened her eyes to glare at him. “Well?”
    “What?” Did all Mechanics act in such strange ways?
    “I expressed an opinion. What is your opinion?”
    “It does not matter.”
    Her expression changed from disbelief to anger to resignation so quickly that he barely had time to recognize each emotion. “Fine. I’m in charge, then. Why does everybody always want me to be in charge? Have you ever been in anything like this situation before?”
    “No. This is my first contract.”
    She frowned this time. “Mine, too. What’s such a young, inexperienced Mage during out here by himself?”
    He knew no Mechanic would catch any bitterness leaking through his control of his voice as he answered. “My Guild has declared me a Mage, but being inexperienced, my price is less than that of older Mages. The caravan could not afford more.”
    “If you’re so inexperienced, they should not have sent you out alone to face this kind of danger!” Strangely, the Mechanic’s anger now seemed aimed at his own Guild’s elders.
    “The commands of the elders are not to be questioned.”
    What did her expression mean now? But her brief gasp of laughter did not sound like she was happy. “I never expected to hear something that made your Guild sound like my Guild.”
    This talk was treading onto dangerous ground. Guild secrets. If there were another Mage here…
    If there were another Mage here, he would never have spoken to this Mechanic. He would not have gone with her. He would never have known anything about her or any other Mechanic.
    If Mechanics were enemies as he had always been told, then he had a duty to learn more about them. And perhaps he would learn that this Mechanic, at least, was not an enemy. She did not act like an enemy. But she was not a Mage. What was she then? “Why are you here alone, young, inexperienced Mechanic?”
    She flushed slightly at the question. “I wish I knew all of the answers to that. I asked for some of those answers, but Senior Mechanics aren’t in the habit of giving explanations when