DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [23]
N’Rae walked up to the kindia and put her hand on the animal’s cheek. “She’s glad to see you.”
“Me? I’m the culprit who ruined her day yesterday.”
“No.” N’Rae protested with a vigorous shake of her head. Mig objected to the flying locks of blond hair. She backed away from the stall door.
N’Rae reached toward the frightened kindia. “It’s all right, girl. Come back to me. I’m sorry I startled you.”
Mig stood indecisive for only a moment before sauntering back and pushing her head against the emerlindian’s hand.
“She is happy to see you. She counts you as the one who brought her in out of the cold, provided her with fresh water and good food, and the man with strong hands, who rubs her coat.” N’Rae sighed. “She is so very content.”
Mig relaxed her neck, and her head hung close to N’Rae’s face. The emerlindian put her forehead against the animal’s broad nose.
“What are you doing?” asked Bardon.
“Gathering images. She doesn’t think in words, but in patterns of pictures.”
“You’re mindspeaking with an animal?”
“You do it with Greer.”
“That’s different.”
“Shh!”
Bardon stood silently for a while, then sat on a bale of hay. Occasionally, the beast would toss her head, but she lowered her face to N’Rae’s again each time. He watched the silent interchange. N’Rae’s concentration fascinated him, and the kindia’s apparent response to the girl amazed him. He had seen the meech dragon, Regidor, do incredible things, and Kale had shown Bardon talents of the mind that defied explanation. He wondered how extensive this communication was between beast and young woman. Did it come close to what happened between Greer and him?
Once N’Rae had patted Mig, told her she was a good girl, and turned away, Bardon sprang to his feet.
“What did you two talk about?”
She shook her head. “We didn’t talk. We just understood.” N’Rae raised her hands, then let them drop. “It’s too hard to explain. Let’s go see the others.”
“They’re wild.” Bardon followed her quick steps out of the barn into the paddock. “And dangerous.”
“We’ll see.” She started toward the far side of the fenced area where one kindia grazed alone. “I think I understand the pattern of their thoughts. I’ll try to show them what Mig already knows about the inside of the barn. They may want to join her without going through the struggle first.”
“That would suit me. If it weren’t for Granny Kye’s medicinal tea, I’d be back at the inn, stretched out on a bed.”
N’Rae gestured for him to stay behind and approached the lone kindia. She stopped ten feet from where it stood. It raised its head from grazing and stared toward the fence, refusing to look at this woman who invaded its territory. Its ears twitched, the only signal that the kindia disliked the presence of a person.
Bardon watched N’Rae’s back. She seemed to be doing nothing more than breathing, a deep and slow rhythm. In a few minutes, the beast turned and looked at her. Then it trotted to where she stood and lowered its head, just as Mig had done in the barn. N’Rae stroked its cheeks and neck with both hands. Bardon held his breath as she turned away from the kindia and led it right past him and toward the barn. He fell in step beside her.
“What did you do?” he whispered.
“I gave him the images Mig had given me.” N’Rae’s face beamed. “Once he’d seen the wonders of the barn, he gave up his independent desire to stand out in the cold, eating grass and drinking muddy water.”
“You convinced him with mind pictures?”
“I didn’t do much convincing.” She reached up to pat the kindia walking sedately beside her. “He’s intelligent enough to accept a better life.” She grinned at Bardon. “You still have to ride him.”
Together they put the saddle and bridle on the patient kindia. Bardon rode the circumference of the field twice and then into the barn. They chose a stall next to Mig, removed the riding gear, groomed the kindia, and gave him food