Cassiopeia's Gold

Chapter 3

Spider watched the large convoy enter the city from a tall balcony in Catrina's Inn. Most of the citizens of the capital were watching the return of the King's army carrying in the hoard of dragon gold, as well as the dragon herself, throughout the city streets. Chants and cheers greeted the army, while Spider inwardly scowled at such a patriotic display.

So much for good news...he thought, then turned away from the balcony and headed back inside.

In the room, Grant was sleeping on the bed, drooling all over the pillow. Jonas Stick was also here, idly playing with a case of cards on the table. He looked over when Spider came back from the balcony.

"Anything interesting happen' out there?" he asked, again, irritating Spider. Stick wasn't a friend so much as he was Grant's friend and, therefore, was only somewhat useful to Spider. He promised to get Spider and Grant into a certain noble school on scholarship, with limited papers to boot, but so far all he had managed to do was annoy Spider with his constant questions about what had happened out in the Caverns of Gold.

"Nothing but garbage, Stick, I'll tell you that. People are still parading around like the war ended or something."

"Well, they're happy the King's men succeeding in bringing down that dragon, or girl, I don't know-"

"It's a girl. I saw-" Spider stopped there, when Stick's eyes lit up in a way that told Spider he was playing right into his hands, talking about what he had seen yesternight, when he had specifically promised to not say a word to anyone besides Grant. He didn't know what the King would tell people in the coming days concerning the girl, but until then, it was best to keep it all under the table, in case someone found out that they had been there too.

"Anyways," Spider went on, sitting down at the table, "When can you get us into the school?"

"I still need to talk to my pa about the scholarship, but it should all work out in time for next week. You'll have to make sure you keep up your studies though-I don't want no trouble for getting you in on fake scores. That said, you'll be on the way to a true mage once you get in. I can't supply the clothes-or the books-but something should arrive at the Inn soon. Some special papers, I think, and a special card they use over there."

"Good." Spider nodded, smiling at the thought of entering school once more in his life. He didn't think the studies would be that hard-true, he hadn't been in school for quite a while, but Spider had a plan if things should go south.

A sudden, loud snore made its way over to the table, and both Spider and Stick looked over to Grant, still snoring away on the pillow. He was out cold since they arrived back in the city. He hadn't been awake to see the rest of the King's men arriving back in the city.

"Well, I guess I better be off." Stick shuffled the deck of cards back into his pocket, "Look's like Grant's not waking up anytime soon. I'll see you later, Spy, to finalize things."

"Sounds good." Spider helped Stick out the door, then turned to look out the balcony again.

It was nearly night again, the sun already setting on the horizon in the distance. He took out of his pocket the coin he had taken from the dragon hoard. It was glittering gold, with a small crest in the center. He didn't recognize the sign but figured it must be ancient. That was the way of all dragon gold...ancient coins from civilizations long lost.

A loud horn signaled Spider back to the cheering people down on the streets. Even in the glum gutters, people sang about riches brought back to the kingdom, hoping that they too would get a part of the gold.