DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [89]
“Bromptotterpindosset,” he said as he raised the water goblet to his lips and sipped. “I know Sir Dar’s interested in the maps you acquired on the Herebic continent.”
“He is?” He turned to find his host in the room, locating him conversing with Granny Kye. “I’ll just visit with him now, since our time tomorrow will be short.” He bustled off.
“Thank you,” said Jue Seeno.
“It was my pleasure.”
“The man loves to hear himself talk. He lectured me on prejudice, and in truth, I agree with the man. But I felt like he wanted me to realize how much knowledge he had of all the persuasions of the many cultures he has visited. I didn’t really appreciate his topic when it was merely a showcase for his theories.” The minneken sighed and sat in her chair, making herself comfortable and picking up her needlework. “My opinion on the subject is based on Wulder’s teaching.”
“The subject was prejudice? He mentioned that at the table. It must be on his mind.”
“He’d taken a more narrow subject, actually.”
“He had?”
“Yes, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise to set the man straight.”
“And the narrowed subject was…?”
“Your ears.”
Bardon felt his eyebrows shoot up.
“Your ears reveal your mixed heritage.” Mistress Seeno wove several strands of bright thread together. “Some people scoff at halflings, but why?”
Good question. Why? Bardon reached for a candy mint in a bowl beside the minneken’s chair and placed it in his mouth instead of answering.
“Because misinformed people equate the creation of a mixed race with Pretender’s creation of the seven low races.”
Bardon nearly choked. He sipped from his water glass as Jue Seeno went on without even a glance at her uncomfortable audience of one.
“Wulder does not forbid intermarrying among the seven high races. Of course, some mixes would not work for obvious reasons. Urohms and kimens, for instance.”
With difficulty, Bardon swallowed and carefully placed the glass on the hearth ledge.
“The point is that men, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to make a law that Wulder did not deem worthy of putting in the Tomes. So you have prejudice, founded on misconception and pride.”
Mistress Seeno carefully tied off her thread at the end of the row. When she had examined the work and turned it over to bind the edge, she said, “I don’t believe Wulder looks down on the seven low races.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t see it written in the Tomes.”
“But the Tomes were written before the emergence of the seven low races. How could there be revelation of how they would stand in Wulder’s eyes?”
“Wulder is Creator of all.”
“Not the seven low races!”
The minneken lifted an eyebrow but said nothing.
Bardon lowered his voice. “Pretender created the seven low races. They are a travesty of natural beings.”
“I believe that Wulder allowed the creation of these unnatural beings.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Either He is Wulder and in control, or He is not. I believe He is. Since He is Wulder, and the low races were created with His knowledge, then they will ultimately serve His purpose. Nothing Pretender does is done without the overseeing of the Creator. In the end, Wulder will use what Pretender has created for evil to do something good for all.”
Bardon paused. He searched for something to say. “I think you have a greater faith than I do.”
Jue Seeno stifled a sudden laugh in her throat. “I am just older, my boy, just older. Give your faith time to grow, be strengthened by adversity, refined by trial and error.”
Later, in his chamber, he had trouble sleeping. N’Rae’s ability to attract males, without a proper education as to what to do with them once she had them hovering around her, bothered him a great deal. Jue Seeno’s theories about Wulder’s involvement with the future of the low races puzzled him. When he finally did doze off, he slept fitfully.
The corner of his bed sank under a weight. Immediately awake, he lay still.
“It is I, Paladin. You need not fear. Sit up, Bardon. We must talk.”
His candle sizzled, and a flame sprang from the darkened wick.
Bardon pushed back the covers and sat