Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [106]
“One, two, three, four.” Both feet waggled above the horizon of the mattress in a quick flutter of activity.
“One, two.” The right foot, left foot performance repeated.
Kale sat up in bed, dislodging a snoozing Ardeo. Cold air hit her neck and shoulders. She shivered and pulled the covers back up to her chin. “Mistress?”
“Did I wake you, Kale? I’m sorry, but it’s a beautiful morning, and I’m feeling so much better.
“One, two. One, two, three, four.”
This is ridiculous!
Kale threw the covers back and grabbed her clothes. She pulled on her pants and exchanged her nightshift for a shirt. As she shoved one foot into a boot, she heard grunting. Her mother’s arms lay across the edge of the bed. In the next moment, she hoisted herself to a kneeling position and stayed there, watching Kale and panting.
Kale felt her eyebrows shoot up as she gasped at the sight of the old o’rant woman. Or rather, the woman who should have been old.
“You’re younger!” Kale exclaimed.
“Not as young as I used to be,” said Lyll as she struggled to rise. She began running in place as soon as she had her feet under her. “Nothing like a good night’s sleep to rejuvenate the old bones. Give me five or ten minutes, and we’ll see what a little exercise can do.”
Kale collapsed with a thud on her bed. She had one boot on and the other one in her hand. As she watched, the o’rant woman counted to a hundred, lightly prancing in the space between her bed and the window. Then she put her hands on her hips and bent at the knees. Her body descended, only to rise again a moment later. She repeated this action, counting to twenty-five. Next, with her hands clasped behind her neck, she twisted her torso. Then Lyll extended her arms straight above her head, bent at the waist, swinging her arms in an arc. Her upper body bobbed down behind the bed and sprang up again. The thick braid hanging over her shoulder swung like a pendulum.
Kale watched with fascination as Lyll Allerion became younger and thinner with each round of up-down motion.
“There now,” Lyll said, as she finally stood still and took a deep breath. “Getting back in shape takes more work the older I get.”
She strode over to her dress hanging on a peg. She stopped in front of the garment and seemed to be examining the material.
“A bit soiled,” she said.
The dress began to jiggle on its peg. Lyll left it to gyrate and crossed the room to a black bag. She pulled out a brush. Sitting on the windowsill, she undid her long brown braid and spent the next ten minutes brushing and rebraiding the gorgeous fall of dark, curly locks. Metta and Dibl watched with rapt attention. Gymn stretched on the pillow, rolled over, and curled his tail around himself, never waking. Ardeo climbed into Kale’s lap, but she saw that he, too, stared in fascination at the lovely wizard.
The dress on the peg ceased its lonely dance. Lyll finished tying a ribbon on the end of her braid, hopped off the sill, tossed the brush in the open bag, and returned to examine the dress.
“What color today?” She tapped a shapely finger on her chin. “I always travel light, Kale. One dress for day, and of course, a nightgown.”
As she spoke the dress faded from blue to white and then turned pink, starting with a blush at the hem that rose up the material until the shoulders and sleeves had taken on the cheerful hue. As the color changed, so did the texture of the cloth. A patterned brocade replaced the homespun cotton. Lace frothed out at the neckline.
“Now that’s nice,” said Lyll and took the dress off the peg. A plain white bibbed apron hung beneath. Lyll took it as well. “I won’t need this.” The apron transformed into a silk shawl of a deep rose.
Kale blinked and saw her mother was dressed, the nightshirt on the peg, and the dress and shawl on the woman. Dibl rolled so fast in his excitement he nearly missed a turn at the edge of the mattress. He swerved in time and circled the bed once more, this time rolling directly over Gymn. The little green dragon squawked a protest and went back