“Oh, I see. I’ll open the other one then. Do you need to… Ah!!!”
Nebora’s scream resonated throughout the room, making Cassandra almost drop her basket. She turned around to see what was wrong, only to discover that the big window Nebora had tried to open, now had a wall of scales blocking it, with a red eye moving around in the middle.
Cassandra rushed to Nebora’s side, making sure she was alright, but it was hard not to laugh. Krai’s big muzzle was trying to get inside, and the dragon was making odd growls; its eyes looking around.
“No, no, you’re too big!” she scolded. “What are you doing…?”
She could only imagine what it was like from the outside. Had it tried to climb up the Castle to get to the tower? Its head was still too big for the window, though it kept trying to maneuver around to fit through. Cassandra felt helpless.
“You’re too big! Oh, come on…”
She tried to push its muzzle away, until it was completely out. It kept looking at her though, with a disappointed look. Next to her, Nebora was still trying to stop her legs from trembling and get back up. Cassandra helped her, trying to ignore the loud growls.
“I can’t believe that dragon! It scared the shit out of me!”
“Do you think the whole tower could collapse…”
“It should be fine, it’s not the first dragon to live here. None of them tried to actually get inside though! Let’s just hope its Master will call it back soon. I don’t think I can work if it keeps popping up at every window!”
“Can he call from so far?”
“What? Oh, yes. Dragon tamers have some special bond with their dragon. Even if our Lord was all the way back at the Palace, this one would fly to him anytime he needs him.”
Cassandra was completely astonished at that fact. She had never heard about any of this before. The dragons were considered deities here. It was already very rare for anyone to be able to spot one, as they always stayed with their Masters.
Ignoring the annoyed growls, she closed the window where Krai was lurking.
“I had no idea…”
“That’s normal, they don’t leak much information about the Palace to the outside. Here, Our Lord doesn’t really care, I guess. Come on, let’s finish quickly here, that big red eye is creeping me out...”
Krai eventually got bored and went away long before they were done cleaning the room. The dragon had probably gone to hunt somewhere. When they got back downstairs, it was nowhere to be seen.
The two women went to the kitchen, where Prunie and Marian were sorting out vegetables. Cassandra walked up to them, taking what looked like a carrot from the basket.
“Is it fresh enough?”
“Not really,” said Marian with a sigh. “But it’s hard to get fresh ones around here. The closest farmer is still quite far away.”
“Why is no one cultivating the soils around the Castle?” asked Cassandra.
She had wondered this while flying over the land, too. Aside from scattered houses, the whole area around the Castle was pretty much deserted. She kept looking at the vegetables, but no matter how she looked at them, they just weren’t very good. Especially not when compared to what she had seen in the Capital.
“They say the soil is not good for cultivating here.”
Cassandra frowned. Her native land was much worse than this, yet they still had always been able to provide for themselves. The vegetables gathered in the baskets were definitely ones that fit warmer climates though, like the Capital, not what they should have been growing here.
“What about the pastures? The livestock?”
Next to her, Nebora sighed.
“Cassandra, the livestock were not too happy to be here, they left ages ago. Did you forget? We have the biggest predator flying around the area!”
Cassandra was still thinking about the farming problem that night as she cooked with Patrina and Nebora. The food they were slicing and mashing wasn’t so bad, but it wasn’t particularly fresh either. With no proper farmers around to tend the land and provide food, no wonder the whole area was deserted.
“What about trading then?”
“You’re thinking about that again?” sighed Nebora. “Trading is what we do. Usually we can only buy at the nearest village, but it’s two hours from here using the horses.”
