Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Three - Never Steal from a Dragon's Hoard

Cholondee was expecting us, I think. When we arrived in the rougher parts of town, and especially close to Cholondee's place, we found a bunch of grenoil hurriedly cleaning the buildings and streets.

There was a serious and concentrated effort going on to sweep away dust and polish things up. To my eye, as a professional cleaner, their efforts wouldn't be enough to make the city like-new. This part of the city was rough-rough, and it needed more than a bit of cleaning to shine, but it was certainly helping.

I kinda liked seeing it, actually. It was proof that Cholondee was actually trying to fix things up. If she really wanted to improve things, then diverting some funds towards renovations and maintenance would really improve the area by leaps and bounds.

That would be nice. Cholondee being a good influence on Port Royal would be a positive development. The city was already a nice place, but it wasn't a perfect place for everyone. With some effort, that could maybe change.

Or maybe the entire place would be burned down by an angry Rhawrexdee in a few hours? That was also entirely possible.

"What are you sighing about?" Amayllis asked.

"I'm worried that Rhawrexdee's going to be... very angry. I mean, he'd be right to be angry, but I'm worried that he'll burn the entire city down. Just breathe down fire on the whole thing. It's kind of apocalyptic, isn't it?"

Amaryllis shook her head. "Don't be silly, Broccoli," she said.

I perked up. "Oh?" I asked. Amaryllis was good at comforting sometimes, in her own rational way.

"Rhawrexdee is a blue dragon. He doesn't breathe fire. He'd rain down thunder and lightning and massive bolts of electric plasma. Though, I suppose that would eventually light the city on fire."

"Oh," I said. That wasn't exactly the kind of comforting thing I was looking for.

Amaryllis chuckled and bumped a shoulder against mine. "Don't worry yourself this much. You'll get ulcers. If buns can get ulcers."

"I think we can," I said. "We have human-ish stomachs, right?" I glanced down at my chest and wondered. I'd gained ears and a tail. Did I gain anything else? Did buns have organs like appendixes? Were my insides as changed as my outsides? "Has someone invented X-rays yet?"

"What?" Amaryllis asked.

"Ah, nevermind."

We'd made it to Chlondee's place in any case. The dragon herself was actually standing up on her hind legs in her yard, pointing some of her minions along with a large stick. They were carrying a big table which they set down, then Cholondee had them lift it up and move it a few steps to the right. Then back again.

There were chairs too, and a basket full of supplies nearby that looked like stuff for a small party, tablecloths and cutlery. "Oh, she's taking tea time very seriously," I said.

"Let's hope we don't ruin her mood too much, then," Amaryllis muttered.

I nodded along. The guards at the front of the compound saw us coming, but let us through without a fuss, which is about when Cholondee noticed us.

The dragon's eyes narrowed, and she twisted her head up to track the sun. "Watch! What time is it?"

One of the grenoil jumped, then fumbled out a pocket watch. "Twenty minutes to eleven, oh great punctual one!" he said.

"I am punctual," Cholondee agreed. "And also a dragon. Broccoli, Amaryllis, you're not punctual. Or dragons."

"Hi!" I said. I tried to sound chipper, but my worries were weighing me down a little. "We're early because there's trouble. Big trouble."

"You aren't cancelling, are you?" Cholondee asked. "I just bought this table and it cost me several gold pieces from my horde." She gestured a claw at the table, which was actually quite nice. All lacquered wood with a little pattern carved into the sides. The legs looked a bit dragon-y too.

"We're not," I said. "But we thought you should know. I went to Booksie's this morning. Someone broke into her shop."

"A thief?" Cholondee asked. She spun her head around to look at the grenoil gangsters. "Who robbed Booksie? Didn't I tell you what would happen if you did that? I'd give you to my brother as a snack."

"I don't think it was one of your people," I said quickly. There were two of your people there, guarding the front of the shop. They were doing their job. And I don't know if someone stole anything."

"Make more sense, then," Cholondee said. "Did someone rob from Booksie or not?"

I shook my head. "I think someone robbed Booksie. She's missing. The door was broken, and sh--" I was cut off by a loud slam and cracking noise that made me jump.

Cholondee's claw was through the table, and she was glaring hard at me. "Someone stole Booksie?"

"Maybe?" I said. "It looks that way."

Chlondee looked down at the table, then glared at that too. "Someone bring this back. It's defective," she said. "Let them know that I'm a repeat customer, and also a dragon, and that I want a refund or a better table."

I felt really bad for whichever poor carpenter had made the table.

"You haven't told my brother yet," Cholondee said. It wasn't a question. "That's smart. He would be very angry."

"Yeah," I said. "We were worried about that. But I think he also deserves to know, even if it might be, ah, a little dangerous?"

Cholondee hummed. "Yes. I'll tell him. I suppose this means tea is cancelled."

"Not cancelled," I said, "Just postponed! We'll have tea, and bring Booksie with us too, once we find her! We just need to find her first."

Cholondee whipped her head around to the nearest group of grenoil gangsters. "Search the city," she growled. "Every alley and every shop. Ask everyone if they've seen Booksie. I want every living soul in Port Royal to know that she's missing, and the consequences if she isn't found."

The grenoil snapped to attention, then darted out to do as Cholondee asked.

"Our friend, Caprica, is asking the sylph embassy already," I said. "We should have their help soon. And I think we should ask the Exploration Guild too."

"We're going to need to organise," Amaryllis said. "If this becomes a properly large search, we need to centralise our efforts to find her. Just sending people all over without a clue is only going to cause more chaos. If we organise, then we'll also have a lot more pull. We'll be able to close the city's gates and have everything that leaves the city inspected before it leaves."

"Are you volunteering?" Cholondee asked.

Amaryllis stood a little taller. "I suppose I am. You could find worse than me. I have some experience with organisational roles, and I'm familiar with your group, the sylph, and the Exploration Guild. Not to mention... Booksie's a friend."

Cholondee nodded. "Very well then. I am not suited to paperwork, because I am a dragon. You do that part. Broccoli, have you told the Exploration Guild about Booksie yet? Can they help?"

"I think they can. There's a lot of people really good at finding stuff there. I'm sure they won't mind helping us find Booksie!"

Cholondee nodded. "Go then. I'm going to go tell my brother. You lot, listen to Amaryllis. We will have tea later."

Cholondee's wings rose, then came down with a hard beat that almost flung me off my feet. In moments, she was rising above us, wheeling around towards the upper parts of the mountain.

"Well, at least she's taking this seriously," Amaryllis said as she patted herself down. "Are you heading to the guild right away?"

"I guess I should," I said. I moved over to Amaryllis and gave her a quick hug. "Don't let all the power go to your head. I'll see you later!"

Amaryllis snorted, then pushed me off. "Go! The quicker we move, the quicker we save Booksie."

I nodded, then bounded out the front gate. The urgency of everything was pushing me to move faster and faster, until I bounced up and onto a rooftop. It was probably not legal to travel by roof-hopping, but it was much faster, and at the moment, speed trumped legality.

The wind whooshed past my ears as I leapt from one rooftop to another, the rough tiles flashing beneath me, every footfall launching me forward with a pulse of spent stamina. The city's unique smell, of fresh mountain air and fresher sewage, filled my senses as I made my way towards the Exploration Guild.

Once I was closer to Guild Row, I dropped down onto the street, then took off running on the sidewalk, charging towards the guild.

I burst through the doors, making a few members jump, and it took me a moment to collect enough air to apologise.

"H-hi," I said to the receptionist. "I need... Mathilde... now."

"She's in a meeting," the receptionist said. She was looking me up and down, and I imagined that I was a little dishevelled.

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. Emergency." I took a deep breath. "If we don't do something now, the city will be in big, big trouble!"

***