The Power of Gold Chapter 8

Alfrún worked up her courage and set off to find the Mead Hall. She was still learning her way around her new village, but the Mead Hall turned out to be very easy to find. It was the only building in town that had Night Furies resting on the roof.

She paused for a few seconds. Were any of those Night Furies asleep? It was hard to tell from ground level. If they were sleeping, then they probably wouldn't like it if she woke them up. Maybe she should come back at a better time? But when was a good time to catch Night Furies awake? "At night" seemed like a good answer. But they'd probably be flying at night instead of staying on the Mead Hall roof, so she couldn't get their attention that way. Could someone else introduce her to the dragons, so she wouldn't have to worry so much about saying the wrong thing and making a bad first impression? Naginatta might be willing, but she was a chief's daughter; she probably had more important things to do. Alfrún had learned some basic manners from her days as a servant to a wealthy jarl, but what was the appropriate way to approach a dragon? She had no ideas at all.

She was about to turn away in discouragement when one of the black dragons stuck his head over the edge of the roof and crooned at her. She had no idea which one it was (it was Faithful-brother, in fact), but she worked up her courage and asked, "Are you the dragon who wanted to go flying with me earlier today?"

The Night Fury shook his head and stepped away from the edge. A few seconds later, a slightly smaller dragon looked over the edge and bared her teeth. It took Alfrún a moment to realize that the dragon was smiling at her.

"Are you the one who wrote in the dirt by the forge today?" she asked hesitantly. The dragon nodded, then leaped off the roof, spread her wings, and glided down to land right in front of Alfrún, who started back in surprise. The dragon crouched and gestured with her head at her own back.

"Go flying? Right now? I don't think I'm ready for that," the young woman said, hoping that her terror wasn't too obvious. "I mean, you Night Furies are supposed to be as smart as people, right? I was thinking... maybe we could learn to be friends, and then try the flying stuff later, when we really trust each other?"

The dragon looked at her for a moment, then wrote,

I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.

"You're writing again. I can't understand you. Can you wait a minute while I find someone who can translate for me?" The dragon nodded, and Alfrún ran off. She returned after a few seconds with Chelsea, who was willing and able to read the dragon's runes for her.

"Do you have a name?" Alfrún asked.

I AM THING TWO.

"Thing Two?" Alfrún giggled in spite of her nervousness. "Is there a Thing One?"

THING ONE IS MY TWIN SISTER.
SHE STAYED ON BERK WITH
HER HUMAN FRIEND ANYA.
YOU ARE ALFRÚN, RIGHT?

"Yes, that's what they call me."

DO YOU WANT TO BE A
BURGLAR AND STEAL STUFF?

That seemed to be an important question around here, and Alfrún didn't want to give the wrong answer. "Well... everyone here expects me to learn how to steal things. I don't know anything about it, though. When I tried to steal things in my old life, I always got caught, and then I got beaten or whipped. I learned to stop trying. Can you understand if I say I'm not really excited about the idea?"

PERFECT! I'M NOT THRILLED
AT THE IDEA, EITHER.
I JUST LOVE TO FLY, AND
MAYBE PLAY TRICKS ON
PEOPLE WHO DESERVE IT.

Chelsea didn't seem pleased with either the girl's answer or the Night Fury's answer. Suddenly, the dragon flicked her ear flaps back and forth several times.

CAN YOU SCRATCH BEHIND MY
EARS? THEY ITCH LIKE CRAZY.

"Uhh... okay." Alfrún had never touched a dragon before. She nervously reached out and began rubbing behind the Night Fury's ear flaps. The dragon's scales were dry and firm, and not at all unpleasant to the touch.

HARDER, PLEASE.

Alfrún carefully applied her fingernails to the task. After a few seconds, the dragon began to relax. Her eyes went halfway-closed, her wings drooped, her tail went completely limp, and she growled at Alfrún. No, she wasn't growling; she was purring.

"Am I doing it right?"

THAT'S GREAT.
DON'T STOP.

Alfrún kept scratching. Her face slowly broke out in an incredulous smile. The Uglithugs, her former tribe, hated dragons almost as much as they feared them, and wouldn't go near them except to try and kill them. What would they think of her now? What would her former owner think? She was petting a dragon and making her happy!

Six leaned over the roof and watched the scene below her. She smiled. Maybe the two of them weren't flying together yet, but they were certainly pairing off.

o

Meanwhile, Bertha was being kept quite busy, even though she wasn't actually doing very much. The first group of Bog-Burglars who wanted to see the gold had been replaced by a second group, and then a third, and a fourth. As the primary keeper of her tribe's treasure house, she had to be present whenever someone went in, or even just looked through the door, so she had to stay at the treasure house and supervise while her tribeswomen filed by, gawking at their extraordinary new treasure. She could think of fourteen things on her to-do list that were more important than looking at people who were looking at gold.

But just looking at the gold inside the treasure house soon grew tame. Her people wanted to see the gold outside, where the sun could shine on it and make it look glorious, so she had to drag a couple of the big lumps outside for a while. Then her people wanted even more; they wanted to touch it. Then they wanted to lift a lump and see how heavy it was. At that point, Bertha said, "Enough!" and locked up the treasure house. People were soon grumbling. Gold fever was slowly taking hold among the Bog-Burglar tribe, and Bertha needed a cure.

She spoke to her counselors, the older Vikings who had been around and seen it all. They had no wisdom to offer in a situation like this; none of them had ever seen that much gold in one place, so they had no ideas on how to handle it. Her daughters had no ideas, either. Almost as an afterthought, she mentioned the problem to Six.

THAT'S AN EASY ONE.
BRING OUT THE GOLD SO
THE PEOPLE CAN SEE IT
AND TOUCH IT, BUT PUT
DRAGONS ON GUARD.

"And what happens if the dragons fall in love with the gold, like all the people are doing?" Bertha fussed.

Six laughed.

WHAT WOULD DRAGONS DO
WITH GOLD? SIT ON IT?
TRY TO BALANCE IT ON THE
TIPS OF OUR NOSES?
WE LIKE LOOKING AT PRETTY
THINGS, BUT WE NEVER
TRY TO KEEP THEM.

The chief thought about that. "If that's true, then dragons would be the perfect guards, not just for the gold while it's on display, but for the whole treasure house. But don't you Night Furies have other things that you need to be doing?"

THERE ARE 37 DRAGONS
IN THIS NEST, AND ONLY 5
OF US ARE NIGHT FURIES.
THE OTHER DRAGONS WILL
BE GLAD FOR SOMETHING
USEFUL TO DO.

"Okay, that makes sense. But most of my people aren't completely used to dragons yet. If I put Nadders on guard duty, won't they scare some people away?"

WHAT IF THEY DO?
YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE WHO
IS BRAVE AND WHO ISN'T.
THAT'S GOOD FOR A CHIEF TO KNOW.

"True. I suppose we could try it," Bertha said doubtfully. "I mean, our original agreement didn't say anything about using dragons as security guards, but if you're willing to make the arrangements, it might be a good solution to the problem."

THERE ARE VERY FEW PROBLEMS
IN THIS LIFE THAT CAN'T BE
SOLVED BY GETTING A DRAGON
INVOLVED IN THE RIGHT WAY.
THAT'S WHAT MY FATHER SAYS.

"I'll have to remember that," Bertha said.

They worked together to implement the solution. The Night Furies used their blowtorch-breath to burn a ring about forty feet across in a pasture near the treasure house. A team of trusted Bog-Burglars brought out the lumps of gold and set them inside the ring. Then Six called for volunteers among the dragons, and told them, "Your job is to stay near the circle and guard the shiny yellow metal. The humans are allowed to look at the metal, touch it, and pick it up for a short time. But if they take the metal outside the circle, you must stop them."

"If they do that, should we hurt them?" a Nightmare asked.

"If they're moving slowly, then give them a warning shot," Six answered. "If they ignore the warning, or if they're running away, then do whatever you have to do to get the gold back inside the circle. This stuff is pretty for us to look at, but it is very, very important to the humans who live here. Oh, and one more thing – the human chief, and any people who come with her, are allowed to take the gold out of the circle." She didn't want the dragons to flame the chief when it was time to put away the gold for the night!

"You will each be on guard for about four hours; then the next dragon will take your place, so you aren't stuck watching yellow metal all day long. One of the Night Furies will check up on you from time to time, to make sure everything is okay. Are there any other questions?" There were none. Six told each dragon when they were expected to stand guard, put the first dragon on duty, and stepped away to see how well the system worked.

The answer was "extremely well." The presence of a dragon on guard duty quelled any larcenous thoughts that the Bog-Burglars might have harbored. There was only one incident on the first day; someone picked up a lump of gold, it was heavier than she realized, and in her attempts to avoid losing her balance without dropping the gold, she put one foot outside the circle. The dragon on duty (it was one of the Gronckles) immediately charged in that direction with a menacing growl. The unwitting offender broke all speed records as she stepped back into the circle and put down the gold, then raised her hands to show that they were empty. The Gronckle snorted indignantly and returned to her resting spot. After that, no one went anywhere near the edge of the circle with gold in their hands.

In spite of the intimidating guards, there was a steady stream of Bog-Burglars who wanted to see the gold again, and touch it, and look at it some more. Chores were not getting finished; meals weren't ready on time; the social structure of the tribe was coming unraveled, thanks to those inert lumps of shiny metal. Chief Bertha finally had to put her foot down.

"The gold is going back into the treasure house for the rest of the day, and that is where it's going to stay until tomorrow," she announced. When her statement was met with scowls and grumbles, she added, "But I'll make it up to all of you when Trader Johann arrives."

"When is that going to happen?" someone called.

Bertha smiled. "According to a report I just received from the dragons, he'll be here this afternoon." The dragons' willingness to serve as scouts was already paying off.

Johann's arrival always disrupted the normal flow of work in the tribe, but everyone expected that. He docked in the harbor at around three o'clock in the afternoon, bearing his usual wild assortment of trade goods, along with tidbits of information that he would reveal in exchange for a small fee. The tribeswomen and men lined up to take their turns looking through his inventory for something that they needed.

Alfrún watched from the dock. She had no money, so she couldn't possibly buy anything. She didn't see much on Johann's ship that she could use anyway. She was familiar enough with Trader Johann; when he visited the Uglithugs, she was usually drafted to carry the goods that her slave-master bought. The idea of acquiring some of his goods for herself was an alien one.

Cami was almost the first in line. She picked out a small dagger, balanced for throwing; she could never have too many of those. She also got a bolt of black cloth to make herself a second burgling costume, and a set of lightweight boots that would be much quieter in action than the usual Viking hobnailed variety. Johann thought out loud as he totaled up her purchases.

"That's twelve silver for the dagger," he said, "plus three for the scabbard. The cloth is ten coppers, and the boots are five silver each. That comes to, umm…"

"Twenty-five silver and ten copper," Alfrún called out.

"That's right," Johann exclaimed after a moment, surprised.

"I thought you couldn't read or write," Cami said accusingly.

"I can't," said Alfrún, "but I can do the numbers. I don't know how, and I don't remember when I learned it. It's just something I'm good at."

Johann nodded. "Young lady, if you will keep track of the numbers for me, then I will reward you for it at the end of the day."

"I will!" she said as she climbed aboard. She was more interested in doing something useful than in earning a reward. For the rest of the afternoon, as one Viking after another made their selections, all the items were set aside in a pile, and Alfrún kept a running count of how much the tribe owed the trader. Johann checked up on her math from time to time, and found that she made no mistakes. She even corrected him when he was about to undercharge himself by two silver pieces.

As the sun was sinking low, Bertha joined the line of purchasers. She chose to be last in line; it was important to her that everyone saw her as a fair chief who didn't abuse her position of power. She got herself some well-made leather gauntlets that, once they'd been properly decorated, would be a fine addition to her outfit for ceremonial occasions. Then she asked Johann how much the tribe had spent.

"Three hundred and sixty-six silver coins, and twenty-five coppers," Alfrún told her.

"You can do numbers in your head? That's impressive. How much is that in gold?" the chief asked. Alfrún's brow furrowed as she did some division in her head.

"Gold?" Johann asked, suddenly very interested.

"That would be about twenty-seven full-sized gold coins, give or take a few coppers," the young woman announced.

"Excellent," Bertha decided. "Cami, go to the treasure house and cut off a chunk of gold that weighs about the same as twenty-seven gold coins." She turned to the Vikings who were waiting on the docks. "You weren't happy when I put the tribe's gold away, and I promised I'd make it up to you when Johann came. I keep my promises. Everything that you just bought will be paid for out of the tribe's treasury, not out of your own money bags." As the Vikings began to cheer, she shouted, "When we suffer, we suffer together, and when we get rich, we get rich together!"

Then she turned to Alfrún. "What did you buy today?"

"Nothing," she said sadly.

"That's unacceptable," the chief said firmly. "I don't like seeing my tribeswomen walking around in rags. It reflects badly on the tribe's leadership. Go pick out something nice for yourself."

Alfrún shook her head. "I've never owned anything nice. I wouldn't know what to do with something nice if I had it."

"Ahh, but, fair lady," Johann cut in, "I did promise you that I would reward you for keeping track of the numbers, did I not? Please select something for yourself. You have certainly earned it."

When Alfrún shook her head again, Bertha said, "Fine. Then I'll pick something for you." She turned and began poking through the trader's ample stash of women's clothing. She picked out two dresses that looked like they'd fit Alfrún. One was made of plain homespun, with a white cotton liner so it would be warm and comfortable; Bertha threw in a dark-green sash to add some color. The other dress was made of deep maroon fabric with a white lace-up in the back and fur trim around the neckline, sleeves, and hem. It would not have looked out of place on a chief's daughter. Indeed, the only reason Naginatta hadn't bought it was that she was still too short to wear it.

Bertha waited for Cami to return from the treasury, paid for everything, then placed the dresses in Alfrún's arms and said, "There you go. Now you have something for everyday wear, and something for special occasions. Get rid of those old thrall-rags and burn them! Your new tribe has paid for everything, as a sort of 'welcome to your new home' gift. What do you think?"

Alfrún looked at the folded dresses in her hands, then buried her face in them and wept.

Johann didn't stay the night, even though he was welcome to do so. Like most Viking men, he just wasn't comfortable in a tribe that was run by women. He bought a meal from their Mead Hall, took it back to his ship, and sailed away into the moonlight. He had other destinations in mind; there was more trading to be done, and with the Bog-burglars' payment in his strongbox, he could fill his ship with the things Vikings liked to buy. There was also more information to be bought and sold. Because information didn't take up any space in his inventory, he liked that kind of trading best of all.

One fact that he sold to multiple customers was that the Bog-Burglar tribe had suddenly become very rich in gold.