The Dragon’s Throne 1

Chapter 3

   Anna stood beside Eleanor, waiting for the Mayor to appear, her anxiety growing.  The Mayor’s assistant had entered the stage, asking for everyone to be quiet and have patience.  And just as quickly as he walked on stage, the little man was gone.  And still no Mayor.

“Do you suppose he died while he was waiting for us?” Eleanor asked in a hushed whisper.  “He always says that he’ll die before such and such happens.  Maybe that finally happened.”

“Hush,” Anna said, giggling at her friend.  “Be nice to your uncle.”

“I would, if only he could be the kind of uncle who deserved it.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Anna laughed.

A murmur went through the crowd, and the Mayor finally made his appearance, stepping out onto the stage and waiting for the crowd to settle.

“See, he’s fine,” Eleanor said.

A young man in front of them turned around, shushing Eleanor with an annoyed look on his face.  Eleanor smiled sweetly at the young man, ignoring his request for Eleanor to be quiet.  Anna elbowed her friend gently, even though she was amused by Eleanor’s antics. Born with more privilege than most, she was the most down to earth person that Anna knew.  She wouldn’t change her friend for anything in the world, but keeping the noise going would only force Mayor Freeman to wait longer to speak.  And they would be there longer than they needed to be, which was already too long.

The Mayor cleared his throat several times before he started, looking more uncomfortable than Anna had ever seen him.

“As you know, there was a fire in the forest this week; one which came dangerously close to our village.  It was dealt with and there will be further actions to make sure that we remain safe here, and that the Freeman Treaty remains in place for decades to come.”

“How charming,” Anna whispered.  “I didn’t know that he had named the treaty after himself.”

Eleanor covered her mouth, silencing a laugh as the Mayor continued, droning on for what seemed like forever.  It was the same, tired political speech about how Mayor Freeman had ensured the safety of Aldeians, negotiating peace with the dragons regularly.

“The time has come to meet with the king, and I assure you that we will remain free and safe under my leadership.  You’ve trusted me since I founded this village fifty years ago, and that trust is still well-placed.  As planned, Festival will open tomorrow, going on for two days in the Neutral Zone as it always has.  The only difference this year is that we have to consider safety in a way that we haven’t had to in the past.  There is no word on who set the fire in the forest, though we are certain it was set by dragon flame.  In light of that, please do not leave Festival with anyone that you don’t know, and travel in pairs.  The king has assured me that the dragon who is responsible has been dealt with, but I have no other information on that, and I’m not entirely sure the danger has passed.”

“What about a martyr!” someone yelled out.

Mayor Freeman waved the thought away.

“I met with the king at the last Festival in the Spring and he assured me that our two villages are the same as they always were.”

“How can you be sure that it’s true?” another shouted.

“The King and I have always had open lines of communication.  None of that has changed.  If it does, I expect to hear it from his mouth and not through the rumor mill.  If anything changes, I will let everyone know.”

So, we’re just supposed to wait until our fearless leader tells us to be scared, Anna thought angrily.  There was no way that she was going to trust anyone that blindly.

Mayor Freeman spoke ad nauseam, going over much of the same rules that had always been part of the village life.  It wasn’t just about dragons; the woods were full of dangerous wild animals, including some that had escaped from defunct zoos.  There was no way to know what was hiding in any given part of the wilderness of northwestern America, which was a fact that Aldeians had lived with all their lives. She wasn’t really sure why Mayor Freeman was harping on it now.

“Tomorrow morning, we will set up for Festival, and follow the rules I laid out.  Anyone caught breaking those rules will be removed and locked up for their own safety.”

The Mayor looked around the crowd, but Anna knew that he couldn’t see anyone and he was doing it purely for intimidation.  Mayor Freeman ruled inflexibly, and he treated his constituents like hapless children who would die without his guidance.

“Lastly, and of some importance to Festival, the tax levied by the Dragon King has been raised.  Instead of ten percent of your profits, it will now be fifteen percent.”

“Fifteen percent?” Anna muttered in outrage, her voice drowned out by the dozens around her, who had the exact reaction she did to the news.

“Fifteen percent is a small price to pay for our safety, and we are living in the Kingdom of the WereDragons.  They were kind enough to give us a village of our own, the least we can do is submit to their demands.”

Anna inhaled sharply, angry that the terms had been changed the night before Festival.  Now, she was two dresses short of the money that she would need to survive the winter without touching what was saved in her room.  She didn’t want to touch that money unless she had to, and it looked like she would unless she could get someone to barter with her for custom clothing.  It was a long shot, but she had to make a killing at Festival and sell every last piece of clothing and every doll, or there was no way she was going to get what she needed.

The urge to let loose the tears that threatened was strong, but she pushed it back.  She wasn’t going to let herself get emotional.  She would find a way to survive, even if that meant building smaller fires in the hearth and cutting back on her food.  She would find a way.

Anna looked up, shocked to see that the Mayor was leaving the stage without giving anyone the opportunity to ask him for clarification.

“Is he just going to run off the stage like a coward?” Anna hissed.

“It looks that way,” Eleanor said in disgust.  “I can’t believe he just mentioned the tax now.  He met with the Dragon King last month.  There is no reason that information should have been saved for the night before Festival.”

They followed the crowd as it made its way back to the houses on the outskirts of the village, flowing around Anna and Eleanor as they walked along the dirt path in the soft glow of lanterns and moonlight.

When the crowd dwindled and it was just Eleanor and Anna, Eleanor sighed heavily.

“Are you going to be okay with the tax hike?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Anna admitted.

“I can give you some money,” Eleanor said. 

“It’s alright.  I’ll find a way to make it.  It’s about time I learn to split wood and plant my own food anyway, right?”

“But you can’t plant your own food now.  Mama and I have been canning for weeks.  There’s nothing to plant that will go through the winter.  I’ll bring some cans tomorrow.  Mama won’t miss one or two, and we never finish all the food we have stored.”