Free The Dragon's Appraiser: Part One by Viola Rivard

CHAPTER ONE
     
    By the time she’d managed to free herself from the shackles, Madja was certain that there was no dragon.
    She’d never been one to believe in gods—least of all the gods that seemed to always favor the rich and privileged—but a small, fanciful part of her had always held out hope for Sevrrn’s existence.
    In ancient times, beggars and kings alike had come from far and wide to pay tribute to the dragon god. Like most children, Madja had often fantasized about infiltrating Sevrrn’s lair, if only to get a glimpse of the treasures it held. Apparently, she had never outgrown this fantasy, because even as the Kavesh guards spirited her away the night, she’d entertained one, hysterical thought: At least I’ll see the golden cavern before I die.
    But to her disappointment and relief, there was no treasure—at least, not where the guards had left her chained up as the sacrificial offering that she was. The small cavern was empty, save for the caged chickens, the half-empty oil lamp, and the cart of goods that she’d been left with.
    Standing for the first time in hours, Madja’s legs trembled as she made her way over to the cart. A thin beam of light filtered down from a fissure in the ceiling, highlighting the cart’s contents. Junk—not that she’d expected anything else.
    No longer worried about disturbing the dragon, Madja threw the items over her shoulder as she rifled through the cart. Sterling-silver rings bounced off the stone walls and rolled onto the floor. Cheap, ceramic dishes shattered into pieces, startling the chickens into a frenzy. Beneath a burlap sack of gilded pyrite, she found what she was looking for.
    Madja held the spoon up to examine it in the light. It wasn’t just the only genuine gold in the cart, but also the only genuine anything .
    For thousands of years, Sevrrn had protected Erda, the island nation Madja hailed from. Under the dragon god’s watchful eye, the island flourished. The few who tried to attack Erda were said to have died by Sevrrn’s inferno.
    But over the years, the attacks stopped coming and the people of Erda became complacent. The tributes became poorer and poorer as the wealthy denizens of Erda hoarded their valuables, unwilling to part with them for a dragon no one had seen for centuries.
    Grabbing the oil lamp from the cart, Madja inspected the shadowed areas of the room. On one side, a wide passageway led deeper into the mountainside. Humid air swept up from the tunnel, sticking to her face. On the other side of the room was a smaller passageway, the one she’d been brought down through by the guards.
    She had no doubt that they were still up there, waiting from a safe distance to ensure that she didn’t escape. If she went up now, they would catch her and bring her back, perhaps even binding her more thoroughly. It was a risk she couldn’t afford to take, and so she decided to wait until nightfall. No man would be brave enough to stand by a dragon’s lair in the darkness, especially after making such a poor offering.
    Madja paced for a while, mumbling her plan over and over to make sure that she had it straight. One of the large cargo ships currently docked in the cove was captained by a good friend of her late father. It was setting sail tomorrow, bound for a small Vrynesh trading port. Maybe she would make a home for herself there, or perhaps she would stay on the ship and see the world.
    Either way, she was going to need money—and a lot of it. She wasn’t so naïve as to rely solely on charity. Fortunately, there was a simple solution to her problems.
    For thousands of years, idiots had been throwing gold and valuables into Sevrrn’s lair. There was no telling what treasures awaited her if she could summon the courage to descend into the belly of the mountain.
    With the oil burning quickly, Madja didn’t have the luxury of time. She paced for a few more moments before stepping down into the warm passageway.
    ***
    Madja walked until