The Bird and The Dragon

Captain Veringe's house had been decorated with expensive textiles colored in yellow, blue, and black, the Ronsilde Company’s colors. Souvenirs from the captain’s travels were displayed on the walls and stands. Pieces of dead technology from the past, preserved animals, and plants; all showed signs of exotic mutations. Among the items was a wooden disc filled with ainadu’s witchcraft. Jonathan identified the plate as a teaching tool with one glance, it was a list of the common mistakes in matrix connections.

Paintings and other conventional art were arranged among the exotic items to underline the captain’s cultivated taste. These looked like they were chosen by someone else and stood alone and lost among the artifacts from before the end of the world.

Some of the guests already knew Thomms and she and Jonathan were introduced by a stout gentleman with a bushy mustache. He introduced himself to Jonathan as Mister Monroe, a scientist, and a technology enthusiast. Monroe mentioned how he had followed Thomms' career with a keen interest and was soon deep in discussion with the woman. Jonathan found himself standing alone below the teaching material from his home country.

“An exhilaratingly exotic piece isn’t it?” a female voice said. “Captain Veringe is so brave to display such items. Do you know that the ainadu won’t let them be transported to the south?” The woman was Miss Leere.

“I have heard about that. But I can’t understand how the ainadu could prevent it. We do trade with them regularly.” Jonathan smiled while talking. Matrixes were not prevented from spreading, it would have been impossible. Instead, faulty and fake matrixes were produced intentionally to give wrong ideas to curious minds.

“But the ainadu do hunt them. Like they hunt the half-bloods. The ainadu prevent their secrets from spreading. We are so lucky to have brave and brilliant people who enable studying these artifacts.” Leere was impressed by her own words and Jonathan agreed readily. Such nonsense made his living in the South easier. In truth, there was no such thing as a half-blood ainadu. If the blood talked the language of the dragons its bearer was an ainadu and belonged to Agiisha. Blood’s ability to activate a matrix was proof of its bearer being blessed by the dragons, or so the faith said. Jonathan’s father had another opinion, for him the dragons were not gods, but powerful parasites or treacherous monsters.

“Have you heard about Veringe’s newest invention?” Jonathan asked.

“My dear husband has said very little, even if the captain is his good friend. Veringe has studied old technology for his whole life. Maybe he has awakened some ancient system and we can talk with the behemoths in the orbit.” Leere laughed like the idea was hilarious. Jonathan continued discussing with her while observing his environment.

The atmosphere in the room was eager and expecting but also forced. The ladies and the gentlemen tried to keep up an illusion of a social gathering while consuming the refreshments, but they were waiting for Captain Veringe to appear.

Jonathan understood there were competitors among the guests. It was odd, but the captain was known more as an individual than his company’s representative. The fragments of the evening’s discussions had revealed to Jonathan that Veringe both owned and financed his airship and the trading company had been an excuse for his adventures. Jonathan appreciated such a way of life; it was something he could have done should he have been interested in technology.

Jonathan was getting a new drink when a man walking past the door caught his attention. It was the guard who had checked them earlier. The man’s steps were hurried and Jonathan walked to the door seemingly observing a painting about an airship sailing over a shipwreck. The guard’s steps halted farther in the corridor and a short discussion was held in sharp tones, but Jonathan could not make out the words. He sipped his drink and hoped the evening would turn out to be an interesting one.

“Joanna, I was afraid I would find you drinking,” the navigator approached.

Jonathan giggled and turned to face the woman: “It is so exciting. Are you having a good time?”

“Probably too good as I left you alone. Have you met interesting people?”

“Maybe.” Jonathan stepped closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Why did Veringe invite these people if he worries about safety?”

“Despite all his achievements our host is missing respect among the scientific community. He is also getting too infirm to captain his ship. He is after recognition and maybe financial independence from the guilds and the companies.”

“But why he hates you?”

“He doesn’t. He suspects me to be an ainadu and wants the evidence to reveal it.”

“That is an odd conclusion from him.”

The navigator looked at her untouched drink. “I know things about the ainadu and excel at my work.” A smile drew new lines among the old scars on her face. “My veins don’t carry one drop of that blood. But I know the movements of air and water and how they develop over time. I have also twice declined Captain Veringe’s offer to join his crew. He says I keep secrets because I have no journeymen under me.”

Jonathan nodded and smiled like tipsy Joanna would do. Thomms’ description could be understood as a description of ainadu’s powers.

A thin man leaning on a walking stick stepped in clapping his hands demanding attention. The guests murmured pushing closer and the change in the mood told that the host had finally arrived.

“Dear guests! I hope you have enjoyed the refreshments.” Veringe started his speech with a broken voice like he was having trouble with his throat. Jonathan noticed something green in Veringe’s eyes, a hint of the planet's invasion inside the man’s body. “The invitees please, follow me. I trust you will enjoy what I am going to present to you. There is entertainment for your companions in the drawing room. Music and such, something more interesting than an old man talking.”

There was scattered applause, the side doors of the room opened, and about half of the guests followed Veringe through them. Thomms squeezed Jonathan’s shoulder. “Behave.”

“Sure.” Jonathan considered joining the crowd but decided against it when he spotted a soldier standing by the door. About ten other guests stayed with him, they were the respectable upper-class people or people who wanted to be such, and Jonathan considered them boring.

A lady dressed in blue, Veringe’s adult daughter, guided the guests to the drawing room. There were huge windows towards the house’s patio and a piano. Jonathan chose the sofa that was farthest from the instrument. An adolescent girl was going to play, and all the signs pointed towards a boring show. Besides, Jonathan hated all the pianos, for they reminded him of his childhood and his father’s habit of playing. The dark-haired man who had been introduced as Josue and whose hairdo artistically hid his misshaped ear sat beside Jonathan.

“Lovely to meet you again this soon. Is there more of that somewhere?” Josue said pointing at Jonathan’s glass. Jonathan smiled timidly and nodded toward the serving table. The location of alcohol was always competing with the potential escape routes and the presence of armed persons from Jonathan's attention.

Veringe’s daughter, Mrs. Shin gave a short speech about the financial and moral support the trading company provided for the talented. The girl started to play. Jonathan tried to act like he was listening, but his thoughts wandered, and his eyes scanned the guests and windows. The collar of his dress was too tight, and Jonathan was sure that the man beside him saw through the wig, the make-up, and fillings and was interested in him. The girl played on and Josue filled Jonathan’s glass from the bottle he had seized.

Movement in the patio awakened Jonathan from his thoughts. Two -no, three- guards were walking there, checking the windows. Light reflected from a second-floor window that was slightly ajar. Suddenly the guests applauded, and Jonathan joined them.

Jonathan had a feeling that it was time to move on. A potential intruder in the house was not an immediate danger to the navigator, but Jonathan wanted to check the situation. Besides, more music was planned as two teenage boys approached with stringed instruments. Jonathan gave his glass to Josue and stood up. Josue let his fingers linger on Jonathan's hand.

“I’ll return soon. I’ll have to powder my nose,” Jonathan said.

“May I escort you? This building is a maze.”

“No need, thank you. But could you maybe operate the decanter this way? I smell cognac.”

Josue set Jonathan’s glass to the side table and smiled treacherously. “I would love to.”

Jonathan followed the route Veringe had used. The doors opened to a staircase of white wood rising to the second floor. A view from the window confirmed he was on the part of the house whose walls and windows the guards had earlier scrutinized.

Cold air was flowing from below a door. Jonathan opened it and stepped inside holding a drink he had picked on his way through the main hall. The room was empty, but its window was prodded half open.

Jonathan looked around but everything seemed to be in place. He was in a library and the walls displayed more of the captain’s souvenirs. The items here depicted such sights and scenes that would be risqué choices to display in the public. On impulse, Jonathan tested the inner door and found it locked. Jonathan took a few pins from his wig and opened the simple mechanical lock with them. Its mechanism was heavy in its movements like it was dirty or had been opened earlier without the proper key.

The room was dark and the curtains were closed. There was a drawing table, a cabinet, and another table covered with mechanical parts and associated tools. The table was overseen by a portrait of a man with bushy eyebrows holding a helmet on his arm. Jonathan guessed him to be one of the olds and his protection had been prayed by pushing silvery pins in the portrait’s frames.

The curtains drew Jonathan’s attention. He set his glass on the table and raised the cloth to confirm his suspicion. On the floor lay a dead man, his upper body stripped naked. Jonathan observed the dead with curiosity, he was familiar with such sight.

The deceased carried the tattoos of the Ronsilde Trading Company. He was probably a soldier. There was a cut in his brow, and he was killed by a single thrust that had flown neatly between his ribs and reached the heart.

Jonathan considered what Joanna would do and counted hysterical screaming among the options. That would cancel Veringe’s presentation and bring the navigator here, but it was pointless. Whoever had done the murder was not hunting the navigator. Jonathan dragged the curtain back to hide the body, picked his drink, and walked out keen to see what additional turns the evening had in stock. He was not afraid, because violence and bloodshed were the tools of his trade.

Jonathan was stepping back to the corridor when a distant burst of laughter stopped him. Veringe’s visitors were somewhere close. Jonathan tried to locate the noise when his instincts alerted him. He pivoted on his heels and raised his glass between him and the potential attacker. But it was just the man he had left downstairs. Josue backed a step on the stairs and held tightly to the handrail to prevent himself from falling.

“Joanna, I guessed you would be here.”

“Josue? Did you follow me?” Jonathan said. He felt no spark towards this man, but his presence created a great cover for his sneaking.

“After the duet, they prepared for a new piece, and I decided to follow your cue to evacuate myself. I was wondering if you had found better drinks.” Josue took the glass from Jonathan’s hand and sipped. “What do you say, shall we have a little adventure? Veringe’s private collection is quite a sight. I could show it to you.” Josue winked and prepared to open the door to the library.

“Aren’t you being missed?” Jonathan walked towards the next door.

“Annike is with your navigator and Veringe’s technical wonders will keep them entertained. They don’t even remember our existence.” Josue followed Jonathan and took hold of both the door handle and Jonathan’s hand. “That is just a servants’ room.” His breath smelled of alcohol when he pressed close to Jonathan. Jonathan considered the bonus and malus of an elbow placed on Josue’s ribs but decided to play his chosen role.

“I’d love to be entertained by those wonders,” he said softly leaning against Josue.

“I’d love to entertain you. We might…”

A floor creaking made the two men startle. Jonathan pressed the handle and the door opened. They went to a tiny room with a bunk bed, a cupboard, and a table. Josue closed the door smiling. Jonathan returned the smile but for different reasons. Steps and discussion were coming closer.

“It was nothing. Just imagination; the old man says he likes the fresh air,” a man said in the corridor.

“He is paranoid,” another man answered.

“I would be paranoid if I had to work with that tech. It is possessed.”

“You are possessed. They are memories from the better time.”

“I mean the ainadu stuff.”

“Captain says they are safe and sterile.”

“You saw with your own eyes what happened when it was connected to that generator. They carry the ash curse like everything coming from the north.” The voices disappeared to the stairs.

A hand touched Jonathan’s bottom. “Okay sugar, the route is clear. Let’s get entertained.”

Jonathan chuckled softly and peeked outside. The corridor was abandoned. He emptied his glass and left it on the table. “Did you get hold of that decanter?”

Josue took hold of Jonathan’s waist and dragged him close. “Oh no, I didn’t. But our host won’t deny us access to his liquor storage.”

“How generous of him! Are you a regular guest here?”

Josue guided Jonathan to the corridor. “Only when Annike tries in vain to cultivate me. But the collection is fancy, and your presence makes it worth my while. How about your navigator, are the rumors about her true?”

“Oh, she is a handful.”

“Maybe you will recommend me to her.”

“Maybe I will.”