DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [39]
She opened her eyes and reached out to take Bardon’s hands. “They understand when people talk. It understood what the man said. It knew they would all die, but the next batch the man would have born in his laboratory would live. The man said so. And the woman laughed. It hated her laugh.”
Bardon patted her hand. “Do you have any idea where all this took place?”
“No, just that it swam away from the morning sun and toward the evening sun for many days.”
Bardon nodded, thinking the quiss must have come from somewhere in Creemoor. When they reached Ianna, he would have to get word to Paladin. Two things he wanted to relay. He’d write a report of the lone quiss boarding the Morning Lady. That would be astonishing in itself. But N’Rae’s encounter bewildered him. He knew Paladin would send warriors to investigate the facts. The squire couldn’t help but be skeptical of the quiss’s story.
How much of this plight of the quiss is true? I’d rather it all be the wild imaginations of a twisted mind. Amara does not need another evil army to combat.
He stood and looked down at N’Rae. She still wept, enveloped in Granny’s tender embrace. A string of principles streamed through his consciousness. Only a few seemed appropriate to comfort the young emerlindian. He wrestled with which ones to repeat aloud.
“‘Turn your thoughts to Wulder. Your praise will strengthen you.’ ‘Let not images of evil dominate your thinking. They distort the truth.’” He sighed, trying to think of words that would help in this situation, not words that applied to life in general. “N’Rae, dwelling on the misery of the quiss will weaken you. Paladin calls us to a quest. You must be physically and mentally ready.”
The words didn’t help him. Why should they help this girl?
He paused before leaving the room to pour hot water in the mug. Here he stood next to the shelf where the minneken sat at her table, nibbling on a piece of cracker and cheese.
“Thank you, Mistress Seeno, for alerting me to the danger.”
She cocked her head at him. “Didn’t believe me, did you?”
He smiled and considered how to answer. Before he had the right words in order, she laughed. “I didn’t believe my own eyes, so I guess I can’t blame you for being skeptical.” She shook her head, a big smile brightening her usually somber expression. “And I did enjoy seeing you wield that sword. My! You’ve been trained well. Couldn’t have done better myself.”
Bardon felt his eyebrows rise and brought them down again before the testy matron could see them. He tightened his jaw for a moment to block the laugh that threatened to burst forth. Sir Dar would counsel courtesy, and Squire Bardon had mastered the semblance of courtesy. “You have a sword, Mistress?”
“Of course.” She bristled. “What kind of a protector would I be if I had no sword?” She chewed on her cracker, swallowed, and took a sip of tea. “I also carry knives, darts, a bow and arrow, and all I would need for ministering to the wounded.”
This time he could not keep his eyebrows from shooting upward. And what kind of damage can you do to an enemy with a sword the size of a needle? He bit back on the discourteous question and chose one more suitable. “Where do you keep all that?”
She stirred her tea with a tiny spoon. “Oh, I have secrets, you know.”
Bardon remembered the cape she’d worn that night. “A moonbeam cape!”
Jue Seeno’s face twisted in disgust. “Yes, if you must know.”
“Where does one get the fiber to weave a moonbeam cape on the Isle of Kye?”
Jue Seeno stood and placed her tiny hands on her round hips. “Young man, Kye is a very civilized place. We have butchers, bakers, blacksmiths, lawyers, lamplighters, legislators, doctors, dancers, ditch diggers, schools, churches, and a university. We grow crops, manage businesses, and practice the fine arts. And in the woods, we even have moonbeam plants from which we take the fiber and manufacture cloth. It comes in very handy when an occasional bird of prey gets past the violent currents of air that buffet, and thereby protect, our shores.”
Bardon felt a twinge