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"Show me." I held out my hand while Aden dug around in his pocket. The man pulled out a scale identical to the one I gave Dex to give to Viva, but with no hint of power left in it. It could have come from the creature hunted only days before, but I couldn't be sure.
Had someone from the residence given this directly to Aden, or had they sold it? The man in black could have bought it from any number of traders in the Vault, but I suspected otherwise.
I handed the scale back to Aden, who tucked it back into his pocket quickly and with obvious relief.
"Let him go," I said.
"Are you sure?" Kerina was one of the few who got away with questioning my orders. She did it more than she probably should, but I wouldn't call her out in the middle of the docks.
"I'm certain." I nodded.
She stepped back and put her blade away.
"Thank you, sir." Aden bobbed his head repeatedly in a series of awkward bows.
"Stay out of trouble," I advised. "Get out of the city and buy a farm somewhere." Anywhere the man in black wouldn't find him if he wanted to rid himself of a witness. We should probably throw him in a cell for his own safety, but we couldn't keep him and his family there indefinitely. Not to mention anyone else who might have been paid to watch or ambush us.
"Yes, sir. I will sir." Aden bobbed again and hurried away.
"Has it occurred to you," Kerina said slowly, "that maybe this is about you?"
I frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," she counted the points off on her fingers, "the attack on Viva happened while you were there. Then there was the dragon and now this. Who have you irritated?" She smiled and added, "Recently."
I shook my head and almost let myself smile. "Plenty of folk, I'm sure, but none I can think of specifically. Apart from you." I gave her a speculative look.
She laughed. "If you did anything to upset me, I would just tell you. No need for subterfuge. Unless, of course, I was up to something and needed a distraction so you wouldn't notice."
"Do you?" I asked.
She tapped the side of her nose. "That's for me to know."
I sighed softly. "There's room in the cell beside Urla."
Kerina pouted. "You wouldn't."
"I would if I thought you were up to something. Fortunately, I don't. No more than usual anyway." I scanned the crowds, which had thinned since we arrived. That wasn't surprising, people often found other places to be when knives started to fly. Wise of them, especially after the dragon's appearance earlier.
"Thanks," she said dryly.
I responded with a distracted, "You're welcome. You don't really think the dragon has anything to do with this, do you?"
She toyed with the end of her plait. "Not unless someone has learned to control them. People have tried since the gods created people and dragons, but as far as I know, no one has succeeded. Yet."
"That's true, they have. I wonder if Viva…"
"You wonder what?" she prompted.
"I wonder if she could move a dragon."
"What would that achieve?" Kerina frowned.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But such a power would be formidable. An army of dragons."
"A person could conquer kingdoms with it. Or empires."
"Or a continent," I said softly.
