Part Five

"She removed her armour, washed herself in a stream, and put on fresh clothing prior to entering Bokorinin, but still a stench was about her, and people gave her strange glances and stepped aside as she approached the town hall, the bag with the grim trophies slung over her shoulder.

"The guards let her enter the hall, where the mayor and council were ready to receive her. 'You slew the beast, then?' the mayor asked, holding a hand over his nose. 'And do you have its head in that bag?'

"She sighed. 'I did kill the beast, but am afraid I could not bring its head here. Vigoyorr turned out to be rather larger than he looks, I of course being the first to have encountered him close-up. The entire head is much too big and heavy…'

"The major sniggered.’I should have guessed! A girl like you would not have the strength. We should have sent a big, strong man …'

"Narlesha fumed. 'You did send no less than fifty-seven big and strong men, and every single one got roasted to a crisp by Vigoyorr! But I said that I did kill it, and here is the proof – not a head, to be sure, but look.' She opened the bag; the eyes rolled over the floor and the forked tongue flopped out limply.

"Everyone looked at the gruesome items besmirching the shiny floor, those closest taking a step or two back in horror. The mayor quickly exchanged a glance with his council before answering, stroking his beard. 'Um, well, eyes? I would say, when forced, that those are too big for … well, for anything but a dragon … forked tongue, too … I would allow, the dimensions of that rule out any mere lizard or snake … if I must concede that these indeed come from Vigoyorr, at most they prove that the dragon is blind and with an incapacitated sense of taste, but not dead, not necessarily, not by way of rigorous and incontrovertible demonstration …'

"Narlesha mightily strove to maintain her composure. 'My dear sir, and how do you propose that I succeeded in removing these parts from a living dragon, leaving it alive and yet standing here before you unscathed?'

" 'Now, now my dear child,' the mayor said with syrupy voice, 'there is no call for rudeness. We shall send a party to affirm the status of the dragon in question; if I must be fully honest with you, to speak for myself, I do not doubt that you killed it. And if you did indeed do so then certainly you performed a fine service for this city. But our deal was for the head of a dragon. As you did not fully honour your side of the agreement, for the sake of propriety … you see, we have many dealings and cannot afford a reputation of being easily taken advantage of … in short: to show our gratitude, if indeed Vigoyorr proves to be dead we shall, and this we agree upon freely, we shall allow you to retrieve the totality of the items of treasure you yourself contributed as a lure, and as much again as a gift …"

"Narlesha arched her back and looked down the full length of her nose at the mayor and council. 'Such generosity! I'd still rather have my fifth. If indeed you so much want the dragon's head, I shall go back and get the help of a friend with a horse and if you would give us a few days, we'll haul it down here.'

" 'Well … if it's a matter of you and a friend and a horse bringing the head … our deal was for you alone. I'm afraid we'll have to re-negotiate …"

" ' Re-negotiate? I can tell what you're after, I wasn’t hatched from under a bickerkeef! All right, so let us ponder the case. First, let me remind you that I am the daughter of a free merchant while you are mere contracted officials. A pity on this city for electing ones such as you to order its affairs! Second, may I emphasize that indeed I am the slayer of Vigoyorr. Which means now you should fear me at least as much as you feared him. So then: my new proposal is: I take it all and you try to stop me.'

Narlesha the Dragonslayer Archive

Willem

09.06.14 Front Page

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