DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [79]
Jue Seeno lost her footing on his shoulder, grabbed a hank of his hair, and hollered. “Watch it! I’m not used to riding on a giant’s shoulder.”
Bardon slowed to a stop. “I think we’re safe here for the moment.”
The minneken scrambled back to her perch next to his ear.
A broad root buckling up out of the ground provided Bardon with an adequate seat. “May I lift you down from my shoulder, Mistress Seeno?”
“Make a fist, and I’ll sit on it,” she commanded.
He clenched his fingers against his palm and placed his hand close to where she stood. She hopped on and settled herself. Bardon rested his elbow on his knee and held the minneken at eye level.
“There are a few questions I would like to ask you.”
She tilted her head at him, and he noticed the feather in her hat was bent, and the hat itself sat at an odd angle. As if she noticed his attention to her headgear, she reached up a hand and straightened it.
“I’m afraid,” he said, “that your feather is broken.”
She made a moue and shrugged her shoulders. “The fortunes of war.”
“How did you disable the guard?”
“I jumped on the brute’s shoulder and pierced his eardrum with my sword. One quick jab with a twist, and then I jumped clear as he fell.”
“Your strategy certainly was effective.”
“Yes.” She smirked. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t believe I will underestimate you again, Mistress Seeno.”
One tiny, whiskered eyebrow went up on the little minneken’s face. “Oh, I think you will.”
Annoyed, Bardon bit back a response. The little woman certainly knew how to irritate him. “When emotions strangle you,” Sir Dar would say, “stick to business.” “Do you know what part of the country this gateway has led us to?”
“Creemoor, near the eastern seacoast. I overheard two of the bisonbecks discussing how long it would take to deliver our friends to Chellemgard. The captain of their unit said he had orders not to move from this spot, and he wasn’t going to. He did send a report of the capture to his superiors.”
“Did you hear how long it would be before they had a response?”
“They consider themselves to be forgotten out here and like it that way. Several of the men discussing it were quite irritated that their captain insisted on following procedure. If anyone pays attention to their report, the answer should come by tomorrow.”
“Do you know why they’re here? Gateways aren’t usually guarded.”
Jue Seeno shook her head. “No mention was made of the purpose of their watch. They said it was an easy duty, and they didn’t want to lose it.”
Bardon’s doneel mentor had impressed upon his young squire that noticing the unusual could save his life. He remembered Sir Dar pointing out a number of anomalies in a visiting dignitary’s entourage. “Always take note of that which is out of place,” Sir Dar had instructed him. “Why does the man travel without proper escort? Why did he not bring his own secretary?” On that occasion, Sir Dar had uncovered political trickery and avoided entanglement with a deposed leader of a neighboring principality.
Bisonbeck guards on a remote gateway set off alarms in his mind, but he couldn’t figure out why. Right now it was important to rescue his friends from danger.
His eye fell on the frumpy, furry creature preening herself on his fist. He never thought he would be depending on a minneken for aid, let alone one so disheveled, but he now trusted Mistress Seeno to be a valuable ally.
“Your moonbeam cape has hollows,” he said.
She wrinkled her brow, and her whiskers quivered. “What makes you think that?”
“Your parasol has disappeared.”
She hunched one shoulder. “It is fortunate for you that I am well prepared.”
“Do you have a plan to free our comrades?”
“No, but I can slip into the camp and cut the ropes that bind the prisoners when you give the word.”
“Now I’m in charge again?”
“You have always been in charge, Squire Bardon.”
“Right.” He stood. “Where do you want to ride?”
“Where are we going?”
“To observe and evaluate the enemy’s camp.”
“A pocket. Your shoulder is precarious when you dip and dodge through