Free Alice's Dragon (The Challenge Series) by Stephanie Beck Page A

Her pots and pans reflected the light around the room.
    She moved her heaviest copper kettle aside and added her pay to the pile of shimmering coins in the secret hatch underneath. The money she and her foremothers saved would serve her well should Rusty burst into flames. After putting the pot back in place, she proceeded with her evening routine. Her shield needed to be shined and waxed, floors swept, torch re-thatched.
    She burned the midnight oil far longer than planned, but with a clean cottage and her supplies ready for playing with Rusty, she fetched a glass of wine before stretching out on her bed. If life were all about cash, she’d be a lady of leisure. Too bad she needed constant occupation or trouble found her. She snuggled into her pillow. Trouble had been more fun when her mother and grandmother lived.
    Being a dragon charmer came with the sort of zaniness most people shied away from. Her mother had found a bed buddy by hanging out in pubs on the mainland twenty-six years earlier. Alice groaned and demanded her mind stop already. If she didn’t do that, she thought . When thinking, she noticed the things missing from her life.
    Alice shoved her fingers in her ears to drown out the circuitous mental shouting. The noise didn’t come from outside, but inside. The trick still worked though, and after a few more minutes, she closed her eyes.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    The ship bobbed and swayed, but Bade maintained his footing on the poop deck and grinned when land came into sight. For months he’d traveled, the Isle of Aden in his mind.
    Through weeks on horseback, and entirely too much time at sea, the world of his books gave his heart hope he’d find success in his mission so far from home.
    “Master Bade, we’ve arrived,” the captain called.
    He should have learned the captain’s name, but the man didn’t encourage much conversation let alone the friendly sort.
    “Thank you.” Bade kept his eyes on the harbor, watching for magic and finding…sunken piers and dead fish.
    “It be the warm season,” the captain said. “Too hot in the coves and the fish cook themselves. It’s a might stinky.”
    “Might” didn’t cover the stench of rotting carcasses. So much for magic. Bade shored himself up and gathered his belongings. His father, the king of Bulgaria, had sent supplies to last years, but Bade only brought his most prized possessions, tucked close at all times.
    People milled about the dock, many scowling at the ship. The prevailing fashion resembled the practical slacks and sweaters of his homeland. One especially bearded fellow stepped forward when the hands lowered the gangplank.
    “Well,” he said. “Been a while since we had visitors, but I reckon my men still know how to unload. What’s your cargo?”
    The captain stepped forward. “This bloke’s junk. It’s below board. My men will get it ashore.”
    “Can’t interest you in a few days docked?”
    The captain scowled. “I’d sooner spend my coin where the lasses are lovely, the beer flows, and I won’t be set afire by a dragon.”
    The mention of dragons made Bade listen harder while the crew unloaded his cargo into the waiting hands of the stevedores.
    “Well now,” the oldster said. “We have ourselves a charmer, no sense worrying. The girl is working up on the hill with Rusty right now. He won’t bother you none.”
    Bade spun to face where the man pointed and his heart froze. A giant red beast with a wingspan at least five times his height towered on its four legs, circling a tiny woman. He grabbed his sword and ran for the hill.
    “For crying out loud,” the man said. “She has it handled. It’s what we pay her for.”
    Bade ignored him, racing over the rickety dock to a narrow, pitted main street which ran straight to the base of giant cliffs. He mounted a long set of crumbling stone stairs, the sounds of growling and giggling getting louder. He didn’t know what a dragon charmer did, but Bade recognized an