Finally, she and Seezle sat down on a couple of boulders under a scraggly dryfus tree.
“What kind of trouble is Holt in?” Kale asked.
“He’s been imprisoned, locked up. I think they threw the key away.”
“Why?”
“For kissing an echo’s daughter.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Seezle squirmed on the rock. “He really did a fantastic job of infiltrating their ranks until this girl caught his eye.” She sighed. “And I believe he wanted to save her from a life among these fanatics.”
“Very noble. Where is he, and do you think we can get him out?”
She nodded vigorously. “Not that it will be easy. He’s in a cell in the building that houses the headquarters for the Followers. They don’t appear to have any plans to execute him.”
“That’s a good thing. Maybe we could leave him there for a while.”
“But they aren’t feeding him.”
“What?”
“He gets one cup of water and a piece of bread each day.”
“All right, we go rescue him.”
Just before dark, Celisse and Greer flew to within half a mile from the outskirts of Arreach. They landed in a wide canyon with steep stratified walls. Lines of different-colored rock lay in layers, making jagged lines as far as they could see. Broken stones littered the floor. Obviously, some of the piles of rock had recently fallen from the cliff face.
I don’t know when Bardon will want to leave, Kale told Celisse. Stay close. And try to keep Greer from being seen as well.
She paused as her dragon griped about guarding Bardon’s older dragon.
It won’t be as hard as you think, Celisse. Greer admires you.
Kale chuckled at her dragon’s ruffled response. I think it’s perfectly clear what I mean. I mean he thinks you’re pretty. Just coax him to do the right thing and discourage him from scaring the townspeople.
The entire time she and Seezle walked, Kale worked on cleaning her hair, skin, and clothes.
“I’ll never feel clean without a bath,” she complained.
“You do look better.” Seezle giggled. “Now you look like you rolled in a mud puddle instead of looking like you bathed in a mud lake.”
“Thanks, I think.” Kale eyed the kimen in her sparkling clothes of yellow light. “I don’t suppose you have any tricks for cleaning up.”
With mischief in her eyes, Seezle patted her mop of unruly hair. “No, but I’m a wizard myself when it comes to styling a becoming hairdo. Want my services?”
Kale laughed. “No, thank you. I have enough trouble with my hair.”
Pat fussed as they walked to Arreach. Kale had never been able to put a precise name on Pat’s talent. While Gymn was a healing dragon and Metta was a singing dragon, Pat could fix things. If the job was too big for him to fix alone, he understood what the problem was and what should be done. His talent included knowledge of architecture and building expertise. He also calculated anything to do with numbers at lightning speed and did something he called stress analysis. Now he groused that he had not been allowed the pleasure of being at the scene of devastation to help.
Pat rarely expressed agitation of any kind. As he grumbled, Kale realized she had not once considered how useful he’d be in the situation at Arreach.
“I’m truly sorry, Pat. I’m at fault. I never thought how much you would enjoy working on the problems brought about by the earthquake. I forgot how gifted you are in precisely the manner that would aid the townspeople. Would you like to stay with the urohms and assist them?”
Kale sighed her relief when the brown dragon said he was only willing to stay until Kale and Bardon rejoined the quest to find the meech colony.
“Who’s going to interpret between the urohms and Pat?” asked Seezle. “I don’t think any of the urohms can mindspeak.”
“We’ll worry about that later.”
They saw the urohms in the village before they reached the outskirts. The giant men had set to work as soon as they arrived. The increase in activity impressed Kale as they moved closer. The appearance of outsiders to make their task easier must have energized the citizens. The road that had been littered with debris when she set off at noon was swept clean. People smiled and waved as she and Seezle walked by.
“They seem to be a happy lot,” said the kimen.
“They weren’t when I left.”
“They’ve got hope now.”
“That’s right,” Kale said. “The horrendous task before them does not seem so daunting. The urohms brought willing hearts and helpful hands to aid these people.”
Seezle agreed. “Tackling the impossible is always easier with friends.”
Kale followed her bond with Bardon to find him. He sat with the rest of the questing party around a dying cookfire and rose to greet her.
“We’ve waited to make any final decisions until you arrived. Now that the urohms have arrived we will move on.” He kissed her cheek. “Seezle, I am happy to see you, of course, but I fear you bring bad tidings.”
Seezle joined the circle and sat beside Sir Dar. “Only that Holt is in trouble.” She explained concisely what had occurred and Holt’s precarious situation.
Regidor put his hand on Gilda’s before she had a chance to speak. “We will continue to the Northern Reach.”
Gilda smiled smugly. “We will travel without the riding dragons. It will be good to arrive at our destination unencumbered by the populace of this culture.”
Kale pressed her lips together and turned to the next member of the party to proclaim his intentions.
Brunstetter looked around the circle. “I will stay here and supervise the urohms in their reconstruction of the village.”
Seezle clapped her hands together. “That settles that problem.”
The urohm nobleman frowned at her. “What problem?”
“Pat wants to stay and help, but who would communicate with him? If you are here, you can communicate through Foremoore.”
Brunstetter nodded. “Pat’s help will be greatly appreciated.”
Lee Ark and Sir Dar decided to go with Regidor and Gilda. Kale and Bardon would return with Seezle to rescue Holt.
“What about the children?” asked Kale. “Toopka and Sittiponder will want to go with you, Sir Dar.”
The doneel shook his head. “I don’t think so. They are enamored with the children here in the village. The game of finding treasures amid the rubble and finding the correct owner has them enthralled.”
“Is it safe?”
“Thanks to the poles Gilda devised, it is.” Sir Dar stood. “We’ve had our dinner, but I don’t believe you and Seezle have eaten. Let me get you something.”
They all turned toward a sudden commotion from the village.
“Under cover for you,” Regidor shouted at Kale. “A swarm of those dreaded black dragons is coming.”
Kale covered herself with a shield and saw Regidor add a second layer over hers. The clear protective shells muffled the sounds from without. She could see well enough, though. What she saw made her breath catch in her throat.
A moving mass blackened the northern sky. This horde of tiny dragons blanketed the hills as far as one could see from east to west.
Villagers ran ahead of them. Even inside her shelter, Kale could hear screams of terror. Brunstetter ordered his men to direct the crowds into gullies, hollows, and any low-lying areas. Bardon, Gilda, and Regidor stayed beside Kale. Sir Dar and Lee Ark grabbed torches from the back of a wagon. They dunked the point wrapped in heavy cloth into a bucket of kerosene. The general handed one to Bardon. Holding the wooden bases, they poked the soaked tips in the fire. The torches burst into flame.
Kale saw Seezle cover her ears and drop down behind a makeshift table of wooden boxes Sir Dar and Gilda used to prepare food. Her protective shell vibrated with the sound of ten thousand flying dragons. The people around her standing guard scrunched their faces as if in pain. But the look of hatred on Gil
da’s face hid any discomfort she might feel.
Kale’s eyes widened. Gilda, why didn’t you take shelter?
The meech tossed Kale a glance that would have withered turnips, but she did not answer.
The first dragon hit the invisible shield and fell to the ground, then another and another. Kale lost sight of her comrades outside as a curtain of moving black bodies surrounded her shelter. Despite her confidence in the protective cover withstanding the onslaught, Kale fell to her knees, wrapped her arms around her body, and bent over.
Just outside the shell, the dead and wounded dragons littered the ground until piles of them leaned against the shelter. They varied in size, some no bigger than her thumb and none bigger than the palm of a child. Their skin glistened but did not have individual scales like the dragons Kale knew. The awful creatures looked amazingly fragile. The crumpled bodies of those who had run into the shield had no life at all. Those who were injured rapidly expired. Those blasted by flames from the two meech dragons and those burnt by the torches shriveled up like pieces of paper.
At last, the attack ended as the horde continued on. Both shells dissolved, and Kale stepped into Bardon’s arms. The acrid smell of smoke filled her nostrils and burned her lungs. Her eyes watered.
Regidor patted her on the shoulder. “Whatever did you do, my dear, to invoke the wrath of those horrid beasts?”
She shook her head, unable to join him in his light banter.
The villagers arose from their hiding places. In eerie silence they made their way back. Several looked askance at Kale. A few others widened the circle they made around the questers.
Sir Dar twisted his lips in a look of disgust. “They’re blaming you for this latest hazard that has come upon them. It’s a good time for you to leave.”
A burly marione walked slowly by, his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a line of anger.
Kale nodded to Sir Dar. “Seezle will show us to the gateway tomorrow. Right now, walking into Paladise, a village of fanatics, doesn’t look as dangerous as staying here.”
Gilda crossed her arms. “Isn’t there a principle about the heat of the fire versus the cold of snow?”
“‘A sensible man,’” said Bardon, “‘does not step out of the snow into the fire.’ Or do you mean, ‘One does not need to sit in the oven to cook a meal, nor lie in the snow to chill a drink.’” Bardon smiled at the meech lady. “Or there’s the one—”
Kale giggled, partly from the inanity of Bardon spouting principles, but mostly from relief. “Enough, Bardon. I think the stepping out of the fire was the one Gilda remembered.”
“Ah, but there are perhaps a hundred principles that deal with hot and cold and the danger of any extreme.”
Kale tried to concentrate on her husband’s voice. She felt odd, as though her body were moving away from itself. “You know, Bardon, I think I’m going to faint.” The edges of her vision became black, and the circle tightened, so what she could see became smaller and smaller. “Yes, I am going to faint.”
32
FACTS OF LIFE
Bardon sat as close to Kale as he could without shoving her off the log they were using as a seat. She still looked pale, but she shoveled in Sir Dar’s stew as if she felt fine.
“Do you want me to refill your cup?” he asked.
“I am really all right,” Kale protested for the fourth time. “I had a very busy day. A new egg, a sand-shifting crater, grawligs, and black dragons, remember? I was hungry. Sir Dar hadn’t fed me yet. Inside the shield is very stuffy. I fainted. I’m all right.”
She handed him the empty cup. “Yes, thank you. I’d like more tea, but not so much sugar this time.”
Bardon joined Gilda at the fire, where a tin kettle kept water warm.
“Is she all right?” asked the meech.
“She says she is.”
“I’m glad you’re taking her back to a more civilized area. The next part of our trip will be rigorous. Of course, when we join the meech colony, then the hardships will be a forgotten inconvenience.”
He poured hot water over tea leaves in a one-cup teapot and set it on the table. “Has Woodkimkalajoss told Regidor the location?”
“Yes. This afternoon.” She shrugged. “He didn’t want me there. When I saw them talking and came over to see what was going on, he’d already finished.” She sipped from her teacup, one salvaged by her band of village children. The handle had broken off during the earthquake, and the saucer didn’t match, but they both were china, not ceramic. She pinched her thin lips into a moue. “The old man does not interest me as much as a good cup of tea. I shall be glad when our journey is over. Regidor says it will be no more than six days’ travel.”
Bardon nodded, wondering exactly what they would find at the end of this quest. He smiled at his friend’s wife. “We will join you there as soon as we are able.”
In the morning, Kale and Bardon left before the sun shone over the eastern horizon. Greer and Celisse waited for them in the canyon. Bardon didn’t mind riding bareback, but Kale took the time to fashion another harness out of light vines. All the minor dragons except Gymn and Pat accompanied them. Just as Celisse beat her wings to rise into the sky, two dark spots appeared, coming quickly.
“Kale, wait,” called Bardon. “What are those?”
She put her hand over her eyes, squinting. “Just Gymn and Pat. I wonder why they’re coming.” She concentrated for a moment. “Ah, they’ve decided to go with us. Sittiponder has said his voices tell him they will be needed.”
“Voices!” Seezle giggled, but Kale and Bardon ignored her.
Instead, Kale mindspoke to her husband. “If we ask what she means by that, she’ll become evasive.”
Right. I don’t want to contemplate a slippery Seezle.
Gymn and Pat joined Kale. Seezle directed the larger dragons to a riverside where a grove of dryfus trees hid the gateway. From there they stepped into Wizard Namee’s tower.
“A bath,” Kale exclaimed. “That’s the first thing I want. A real bath.”
Seezle laughed and ran ahead. As Bardon and Kale came to the top of the stone steps, the kimen returned with the doneel housekeeper.
“Welcome, Lady Kale, Sir Bardon. I have the same bedchambers you used the night of the ball available for you.”
“Thank you, Mistress Orcutt,” said Bardon. “We won’t be staying long, but we would appreciate a place to clean up. You’ve heard of the earthquake along the northern border?”
“Yes, a platoon of urohm workers came through the gateways here yesterday.” She motioned for them to follow her. “Wizard Namee will want to see you. He’ll be sitting down to breakfast in an hour. Will you join him?”
“Yes.”
“I have friends to visit before then,” said Seezle. “I’ll meet you in the dining hall.” She zipped away, her clothing leaving a blur of light as she whisked through the corridor.
After bathing and changing clothes, Bardon and Kale descended the grand staircase. Kale gave up on their soiled outfits and pulled new ones from her cape. Her hair hadn’t quite cooperated, but Bardon thought his wife looked beautiful, as she always did.
The double doors to the dining hall stood open, and Bardon heard a familiar voice. “Your father is here.”
“And Mother!” Kale hurried down the last few marble steps.
Sir Kemry came to kiss her cheeks as soon as they entered the room. “You are carrying a new dragon egg,” he said. “Tell us where you found it. I do believe we’ve uncovered most of the dragons’ nests these past five years.”
Lady Lyll nudged her husband aside. “I’m more interested in my grandchild.”
Kale’s eyes popped wide open.
“I thought so!” declared Bardon. The vague uneasiness he’d had about his wife’s health disappeared in a flood of joy.
“You thought so?” Kale turned on her husband. “How could you think so? I didn’t think so.” She turned back to her mother. “I can’t be pregnant. I know how
pregnant women behave and how they look and all of that. I helped pregnant women keep up with their housework when I was a village slave. And Gilda has been an intense example of pregnant and crotchety.”
Lady Lyll cupped her hand around Kale’s cheek. “You helped marione women, Kale. You are an o’rant. Our gestation is similar but not the same as a marione’s or any of the high races. Each has its own peculiarities. And as for Gilda, well, she has her own row to plow.” She clasped Kale’s hand. “Come, eat breakfast. Wizard Namee has sent word he shall be late.” She tugged her daughter with one hand and waved the other dismissively. “Some matter of business.”
Bardon escorted his wife and mother-in-law to the table where Lyll and Sir Kemry had already started their morning meal. Then he went to the sideboard to dish up a heaping plate of food for Kale and a smaller one for himself.
Kale’s parents spoke at the same time.
“Tell me about the egg,” said Sir Kemry.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be a mother,” said Lyll.
They tried again and succeeded in overrunning each other’s words.
“A minor dragon, of course. Are you going to quicken it?”
“Let’s figure out the date the baby will come.”
Bardon came to the table with the two plates. He set one in front of Kale and sat down with the other.
“I shall be the impartial third party and decide which topic will get our attention as we eat.” He sipped his tea. “I choose the baby.”
Lyll rubbed her hands together, a gleam in her eye. “When did you have your first symptom?”
“I haven’t had any.” She shook her head. “None,” declared Kale with a firm voice.
Bardon leaned forward to look around his wife to his mother-in-law. “She began to be a bit grouchy after the new year.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Kale. “I’d have the baby by now.”
“A marione would have the baby by now,” said her mother. “A doneel would have the baby by now. But not an o’rant, dear. It’s a shame you haven’t been around more of your race. But you did have Taylaminkadot in your home when she went through her gestation period.”