Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [105]
When she had finished recounting tales of the two doneels, she talked about two of the emerlindians she had met, Leetu Bends and Granny Noon. Then she told of Brunstetter and Lee Ark. Carefully she avoided any mention of where these people were now. And she didn’t spell out how they worked for Paladin either.
The woman stroked Kale’s hair with her hand. “There. Your hair is dry enough to sleep on now.”
“Thank you.” Kale took the brush from her hand and laid it on the bedside table.
“Will you tell me about the other woman who said she was me?”
She jerked around to look into the kindly eyes of the older woman. She sighed. “The dragons told you.”
Lyll smiled. “Yes.”
“She’s not like you at all. And I don’t like her very much.”
“All this Gymn and Metta have told me. They also said she is elegant, refined, and beautiful.”
Kale nodded and looked down at her lap.
“Would you like to be elegant, refined, and beautiful, Kale?”
She bit her lip. “Yes,” she answered after only a moment.
“But?”
“I don’t want to be like her. She’s hard and cold and…”
“There are some things that pass from one generation to the next. You have your father’s build, strong and lean. You also have my hazel eyes and curly hair. If this other woman were your real mother, you might find that you have the same shape of hands, or arch in your eyebrows, or a dimple in the cheek. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you would be cold and hard.”
“If you are my real mother, who is she?”
“I have an idea about that, but first I would like you to be convinced that I am your real mother.” She spread her hands in a helpless gesture and shrugged. “But I have no way of doing that.”
“Paladin would know.”
“Yes, he would.” Lyll yawned and covered her mouth with a sturdy hand.
“Wulder knows.”
“Yes, and in time, He will make it clear to you.” Lyll leaned back and pushed down into the covers, resting her head on the pillow. “Do you want to sleep in this big, soft bed with me? There’s plenty of room.”
“No, that’s all right. I’m used to sleeping on a pallet. I’ll be comfortable over there.”
Kale left the warmth of the downy mattress and thick quilts. She snuffed the two candles in the room and padded in sock-covered feet to the darkened corner. Snuggling into the smaller bed, she called the dragons to her.
“Oh dear,” said her mother.
“Can I get you something?” asked Kale.
“No, it’s just that, well, does Ardeo glow all night?”
Dibl gave a little hiccup of laughter from his place beside Kale’s head. She giggled. “Yes, he does. There’s no way to put him out. I don’t mean put him out like you would a cat or a dog at night, but to put him out like you would a lantern. He can crawl under my covers if the light bothers you.”
“I thought it might, but it’s rather comforting, isn’t it? I think I’ll like having his shining presence in the room.”
Kale agreed. Gymn stood up, turned in a circle, then settled down again on her shoulder. She knew why he was restless.
“Mistress?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like Gymn to sleep with you? You’ll feel better in the morning if he does.”
The woman sighed. “Yes, Kale, I would like that.”
44
MORNING SURPRISES
“One, two. One, two, three, four. One, two. One, two, three, four.”
The chant penetrated Kale’s sleepy brain and roused her from a wonderful dream about visiting a palace in Wittoom where Dar was the principal chef. If she allowed herself to wake up, she would miss the banquet.
“One, two. One, two, three, four. One, two. One, two, three, four.”
Kale opened an eye to view her mother’s bed. Sunlight made a path across the crumpled linens. Dust motes danced above. Metta sat on the far edge and hummed a tune that matched the beat of the unexplained counting. Gymn lay curled up in a comfortable ball on one of the pillows. But no woman lay on the downy mattress.
With both eyes open and her lethargic body propped up on an elbow, Kale watched two feet appear and disappear from the other side of the larger bed.
“One, two.” A right foot bobbed up, toes pointing to the ceiling.