The hunter jerked a thumb toward the copper. “I’m talking about the dragon. There’s plenty there, for both of us. You help me kill it, and butcher it fast before the river claims the carcass. Then we load as much as we can in the boat, and we head back for Trehaug. I know people there, people willing to make a quick profit and not be curious about the source. I can go in during the dark of night and get everything we need for us to make a very comfortable trip down the river on a boat with a crew who won’t ask us any questions. Think about it. Everyone else is dead. Everyone will assume you are dead, which means you don’t have to share with anyone. There will be no pursuit and no questions. Just two very wealthy newcomers living a life of ease in Chalced.”

It was instinctive. He blocked the thought from the dragon’s mind as he would shield the eyes of a child from violence. He tried to. He wasn’t completely successful. He felt her anxiety rise as she sensed his agitation without comprehending the reason for it. She looked at the hunter, recognized him. Food? she queried hopefully.

“No food. Not yet,” he spoke aloud to her without thinking.

The hunter barked out a hoarse laugh. “And that’s what you’re bringing to the table, my little friend. You can hear her thoughts. And you talk back to the damn things. I can hear them a bit, but I try not to. Easier to be professional about these things if you keep a distance, I think. Though it explains how you got close enough to get as much as you did the first time. Impressed me, I’ll tell you. I’d been trying to figure out how to do it for days. And here some little Bingtown fop just goes ashore and takes what he wants.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sedric lied. It was a reflex. The hunter hadn’t mentioned the blood. Did he know about the blood? Did any of it matter anymore? The whole conversation was insane. He needed food and water and rest. He needed to know if the man was going to help him or not. He tried to sound as if he were not desperate. “Look, help me with the dragon and give me some of that fruit you have. Anything. I need to eat and rest. Then we can talk about what happens next.”

Jess cocked his head at him and said coldly, “No point to feeding you if you don’t intend to help me. And lying to me seems to be your way of saying you intend to keep it all to yourself. Though how you plan to make it work, I can’t see. Shall I make it easier for you? I was awake that night. I saw you come aboard all bloodied. Been in a fight was my first thought, though I hadn’t heard a peep of a row, and sound carries over water. But then, as you went up the ladder, I got a glimpse of what you were carrying. Glittery red, just like I’d been told. Dragon blood. And I was, as I’ve told you, very impressed. So I followed and in a bit I saw you come out of your cabin and throw your duds overboard. And that made it sure for me. Somehow you’d gotten blood out of a dragon and not been eaten or even caught. You were pretty savvy about hiding it, too. I went through your room more than once before I found your hoard. So. Let’s just admit we’re scoundrels and be honest scoundrels with each other…or as honest as scoundrels can be. We both shipped aboard the Tarman for the same reason. And I only shipped because I was promised that Captain Leftrin was going to grease things a bit for me, but I suspect his craze for that woman soured him on our kind of profit. Maybe he was hoping to keep everything for himself, woman, dragon parts to sell in Chalced, everything. Maybe you were the one who offered him a better deal. But the agreement was that he was supposed to help me, and in return, he was going to be well paid for his trouble. Very well paid.”

His voice faded for a moment as he stooped down in the boat. When he came up again, he had a coil of line in his hand. He scowled at it and set it out beside the knife.

“Instead that son of a dog tried to kill me last night.” He lifted his hand and felt about his throat gingerly. He growled and shook his head and went back to setting out his tools. “Double twist of fate, I suppose. That wave that hit kept him from strangling me, and I’m hoping it made an end of him. Love-blind idiot is what he is. Well, with a bit of luck, he’s dead. And you’ve got your luck—you’re alive.” He held up a small hatchet, frowned at it, and then with a thunk seated it in the log beside the line.

“Bad tool for the job, but you use what you have. A bit like our captain. Leftrin got greedy and lost it all. If he’d lived up to his end of the deal, he could have had the kind of money we’re going to have. Then the ugly old goat could have had any woman he wanted. Well, his loss is our gain. We’ll have it all. Wealth, power, and any sort of woman we want, once we get back to Chalced.” He leered at Sedric nastily, baring his little brown teeth, and added, “Or whatever you fancy.”