DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [16]
“Where’s Greer now? Is he fishing again? Does he eat huge quantities of fish?”
“Once he’s sated, he doesn’t eat again for up to a week. Right now he’s flying just because he enjoys flying. He’ll come if I call him.”
“Can you mindspeak with him no matter where he is?”
“Mindspeaking doesn’t work over a long distance.” He stopped and looked down at her again. Her endless questions annoyed him, and yet he felt protective of her. Her sweet expression softened his usual reserve. “You had best go back and help your grandmother and Mistress Seeno. Do you have any more questions before you go?”
“Just one.” She hesitated. “I noticed right away. Well, when the snake was dragging you toward the lake, and you were all wet.”
Bardon frowned. What had she noticed?
N’Rae looked up at him, her blue eyes wide with wonder. “Your ears,” she said. “You have emerlindian ears. Why do you hide them with your hair? Why is your hair brown? How old are you? Why don’t you have an emerlindian name?”
6
ONE PART OF BEING PREPARED
Bardon watched Greer fly out over the western rim of the high mountain valley. He turned on his heel and marched back to the cabin. The ladies, true to their word, were ready in just under an hour. He entered the cabin, closed the front door, and opened a trapdoor in the floor. He had already deposited their few bundles at the bottom of the ladder. Granny Kye went down first, followed by N’Rae carrying Jue Seeno’s travel basket. Bardon stepped down, closing the trapdoor behind him.
Common blue lightrocks embedded in the stone walls lit the small room, making N’Rae’s pale hair gleam azure. A ripple of distortion outlined the gateway. The first time he’d seen the phenomena, he had thought his vision was impaired. A ring of prismlike lights encircled the entry. Outside them, he could see the wall. He could see the same stone wall in the center. Even through the odd lights, he could make out the cellar foundation. But he knew that once he entered the gateway, he would leave rock and mortar behind. He would travel hundreds of miles with only a few steps.
The cellar’s musty air filled his lungs, and he longed to get this part of the journey over with.
N’Rae bounced on her toes, eager to go.
He frowned, remembering the curt words he had hurled at her to cut short her stream of personal questions. He’d caused the hurt that had washed over her face. Her look of confusion had added fuel to his anger, and he’d barked an order for her to return to the cabin.
N’Rae had not mentioned his ears, nor his rudeness, since. She had not sent one look of recrimination his way. She merely sloughed aside what he could not and resumed her cheerful demeanor.
Now she tilted her head at the gateway, looking a lot like her grandmother as she pursed her lips. “Will it feel the same, or will it be easier?” she asked.
Bardon frowned at the portal to Norst. “In my experience, it has to do with the size of the gateway. This one is rather small, so the feeling of being squeezed should be quite profound.”
“I’ve been through this one before,” N’Rae explained. “I meant, does it get easier each time you travel through gateways?”
Bardon shook his head. “No. It doesn’t.”
Methodically, he tossed their belongings through the passage. Each bundle hung suspended for a moment in the light-infused air, then disappeared.
When the last pack had traveled to the tavern in the city of Norst, Bardon turned to the eldest of their group. “Would you like me to go first, Granny Kye?”
Her dark brown eyes met his, and he knew she saw through his assured demeanor and understood his anxiety. Bardon relaxed a mite when he saw her tilt her head, a gesture N’Rae often mimicked.
“Please, Squire Bardon, go first.” The old granny’s mellow voice filled the cramped cellar. “It will be good to have you greet us on the other side.”
He nodded to her, then to N’Rae, and strode through the opening. For one moment the sticky air clung to him,