Dragon Precinct

Chapter One "What are you doing here?"Lieutenant Danthres Tresyllione of the Cliff's End Castle Guard asked the question of her partner, Lieutenant Torin ban Wyvald. She was being confronted by a sight she'd never seen in their ten years of partnership: Torin arriving in the office before her. The only times he'd ever even gotten in at the same time as her was when they came together. Otherwise, he was always late for their twelve-hour shift."I work here," Torin said in reply, the white teeth of his wide grin shining through his thick red beard. The beard obscured most of Torin's face, as did his mane of red hair, which extended past his shoulders. All Danthres could truly see were his long, aquiline nose and his twinkling green eyes. Early on in their partnership, she had realized that, no matter what Torin's mood might have been, his eyes always had an amused look, as if he knew a joke that he wasn't quite ready to share with the rest of the world."That is the rumor, yes."As Danthres spoke, a seven-peal chime rang all around them in the air, marking the time as seven in the morning, and the official start of the day shift, which would last until nineteen. The Brotherhood of Wizards had set up the timekeeping system, as well as the spell that rang out each hour with what everyone referred to as the "time-chimes." Danthres had never understood why they codified it so that the day began in the middle of the night -- sunup made much more sense to her, especially since their shifts were concurrent with the rise and fall of the sun. She had added that to the ever-growing list of things that annoyed her about the practice of magic.While the chimes rang, the other four detectives in their shift entered from either the west-wall door, which connected the squad room to the rest of the castle, or from the pantry. Danthres gave Lieutenants Dru, Hawk, and Iaian a nod each. She didn't bother to acknowledge Iaian's partner, Amilar Grovis, as doing so might lead to actual conversation with the young lieutenant, something that was guaranteed to turn her stomach.Torin said, "I had todeal witha domestic."Danthres frowned. "You got a call? Why wasn't I -- ?""I didn't say I got a call, I said I had to deal with a domestic. The couple downstairs have taken their arguments to a new level -- and a new time frame. I was woken out of a sound sleep three hours before sunup by their fighting, which involved both screaming and the throwing of breakable objects."Smiling, Danthres asked, "Did you bring them in?""No, but I made several threats along those lines should they ever wake me up again.""Given what you're like first thing in the morning, that probably included a great deal of growling.""Indeed." Torin's grin returned. "Let's hope it works.""You know, you could just move in with me and be done with it. I certainly have the space." As she spoke, Danthres removed her brown cloak and hung it on a peg between the one holding Torin's own cloak and the empty one that Hawk never used, preferring to drape his cloak on his chair. The earth color symbolized their rank, with the gryphon crest of Lord Albin and Lady Meerka showing that they were assigned to the headquarters of the Guard, located in the eastern wing of the castle at the outskirts of Cliff's End, the city-state that constituted the Lord and Lady's demesne. Danthres liked the color, as it held dirt well."Danthres, we see each otherat leasttwelve hours a day. I like the idea of having a place of my own.""Well, at least come home with me tonight, spare yourself the bickering neighbors."Torin laughed his hearty laugh. "I think I've sufficiently intimidated them into quiet for a few days, at least. But I may still take you up on that offer." He stood up from the large wooden desk that the partners shared, gathering up a dozen or so scrolls. "In any event, I thought I would take advantage ofDeCandido, Keith R. A. is the author of 'Dragon Precinct', published 2004 under ISBN 9780743467704 and ISBN 0743467701.