Chapter 13

Many of the city dwellers didn’t believe that the island still had dragons living on it.

For centuries, no one had seen a dragon in the lowlands (lands less than a klick above sea level), or even in the highland towns like Diamond Dale and Ruby Dale. Ricky knew that as the island’s people population had grown the dragons were not able to fight against the sheer numbers.

While they could remain invisible while they flew in daylight, they became visible when they landed to eat. Their numbers had decreased dramatically in the centuries before Ricky was born due to indiscriminate hunting by the royal Fayle.

When Queen Fleur had become the queen, half of the pride struck had out to claim another set of islands that they believed weren’t occupied by people. Queen Fleur had never heard from them again, so she had no idea if they survived or not. Since then, her pride had had difficulties rebuilding their numbers.

One reason the dragons still had a safe bolthole on the island was that Fayle Mountain was active and unpredictable. The uncertainty about Dragon Mountain also being active had kept the majority of prospectors and the curious away from the more mountainous regions that were away from the roads.

The fact that the primary mining ventures on the island were all located away from the centre of the island also helped. The mines were profitable and generally controlled by Fayle royalty who discouraged people trying to open new mines.

An interesting fact that few cared about was that if you drew a circle around the crossroads on a map at what would represent a radius of 100-klicks from the centre of the crossroads as a dragon would fly, you would be on Ricky’s land. Legally, the two tallest mountains and the area around the crossroads belonged to him.

The zone was called Seth’s Province on the local maps, to honour Ricky father. Most people thought the area was like a wildlife preservation zone because there was no villages, mines or farming development other than the roads and the shielded space of Ricky’s round-about.

Few remembered a rather nasty incident a hundred and forty-five years before that included a couple of royal princes, their people, Seth and the Dragon Queen Fleur. Fleur and Ricky’s father had forced the six Queens to create the province for the dragons to stop it happening again.

Seth was named as the hereditary ruler, or more precisely the caretaker of the dragons. As his only child, Ricky had inherited the mantle when his father died. At the time, it was the best that Seth could do to protect the dragons. As part of the deal, he even had to promise that he and Ricky would go to court for two years when he hit his majority of twenty-one.

But then again, that was a long time ago and another story. Ricky was just glad he didn’t have to pay taxes on the land, and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted with it. He did have to maintain the crossroads, but that wasn’t any great strain for a mage of his ability.

It amused him that if you took how the other provinces were ruled, he was a King. He’d laugh his non-existent socks off about being King Tricky Ricky on the odd nights that he got melancholy and tipsy. He couldn’t remember who had stuck him with his joke name of Tricky Dicky.

He did vaguely remember that it was when he was young and stupid, and while he was at his grandmother’s court. He’d tried to screw every member of the gentry that was willing, while he was there. He’d been a bit of jokester too, so it wasn’t surprising the name stuck.

Truth be told, in the low land provinces his real title was recorded in the book of Royalty and Rulers as King Rickard Merritt of Seth Province. Ricky hadn’t used his real name in the hundred years since his wife died.

He would have been equally surprised at being told that he really was a King. Even if his only subjects were thirty-odd cantankerous dragons. He did know that few people who were still alive would even know or remember his real name. Most would look for it in the history books.

His dad had called him Richard, and he did like that name while he was growing up. These days, however, he just introduced himself as Ricky and left it at that.

Ricky was of the opinion that if the people who entered his province went off the roads and went missing, they couldn’t blame anyone but themselves for being where they were not welcome. The fact that both mountain tops were isolated by some very harsh terrain meant no one would come to save you either. Unless he did know you were there and then he felt compelled to help.

Most of the guides from the dales refused to take people to landmarks within Seth’s Province, except for those that were close to the roads. They knew damn well that the dragons and a mage policed the territory that they considered theirs.

Mind you, some people did come just to see Ricky’s tree, simply because there was not another tree like it on any of the islands in the Tear Islands. Everyone agreed that his beernuts were the best, even if people who tried to harvest too many nuts or look for him, had a bad habit of falling out of his tree.

Ricky did like his privacy.

After checking the screen in the door, Ricky opened the door and ushered Micky into the yard.

Most of Kerr’s people were over near the four big tents that now stood in the clearing. It was between mealtimes, and most of them were simply resting and waiting to be told what to do next. Some were playing cards, others played Knuckles, and a few were in the tents sleeping or reading.

Ricky and Micky were able to make their way to the dais unmolested. They each carried a large sack of beernuts. They had just stepped into the centre of the metal ring on the top of the platform when someone called out, “Hoy! What are you two doing?”

Ricky decided that he didn’t wish to confront another magician at this point and quickly said the ‘Transference’ spell. He cussed at himself that he’d forgotten that a magical person could see through the invisibility spell he had used. He had probably just escalated Kerr’s plans.

The good thing was that unlike Ricky, few people knew how to use the magical portals on the islands. Fleur had told him that there was one in each of the six palaces. He had to grin because he could confirm that this was true. At least those times he had used the better invisibility spell.