Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [114]
“Shh!” hissed Lady Allerion. She looked over her shoulder at Kale. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you, Kale.” She cast a look of disapproval at Regidor and Bardon who were still smirking. “We’ll just have to assume that some of us were not as intent on doing our jobs and didn’t need a warning.”
Kale grinned at Bardon’s look of chagrin and Regidor’s thin-lipped grimace as she returned to her position.
“Where’s the meech?” asked Toopka, her head still pushed into the bushes. “I don’t see the meech.”
“I think our meech is now coming out of the wagon,” said Lyll.
The five became silent. Kale pulled her lips between her teeth and held her breath. A tall woman dressed in a deep purple gown descended the steps. A round hat with a wide brim covered her head. A dark blue scarf draped over the hat, completely covering the woman’s head and shoulders. She wore gloves and carried a small, beaded reticule.
“Well,” said Toopka. “Where’s the meech?”
Regidor answered with a whisper of air, “That is the meech.”
“He’s a girl meech?” Toopka turned unbelieving eyes to interrogate her elders. “How can he be a girl?”
“Maybe it’s a disguise,” suggested Bardon.
“No,” said Regidor. “He is a she.”
Lady Allerion eyed her companions. “Let’s gather information before they realize their ring of containment has been penetrated. Kale, you take the woman. Bardon, the two men. Regidor and I will concentrate on the meech. Do not forget to protect your own mind before you delve into theirs.”
Kale asked for Wulder’s protection and claimed her status as His servant searching for truth. The woman’s anger smacked Kale, and Kale had to mentally back up and approach more cautiously.
“When did that man stop listening to me? If he’d done what I’d told him, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Don’t deal with that sleazy wizard. Don’t take in that unnatural creature. Have we sold any potion? Not hardly! Not enough to cover our expenses. Yet he thinks we’re going to be covered in money and living in a castle when we finish this ‘job.’ What job? Carting her all over the country?”
The younger of the two men had unhitched the horses. He constantly turned his eyes to the meech but continued to do his chores. The older man got a padded chair out of the wagon and then placed it in the shade. The woman pulled supplies out of a hidden cupboard beneath the barrel house.
“Look at those men. Like father, like son. Crazy men! Obeying orders she doesn’t even speak.”
Kale glanced over at the female meech sitting motionless in the shade. A breeze stirred the scarf veil. The urge to know what the mysterious figure contemplated tempted Kale to abandon the angry woman and explore the meech’s thoughts.
Toopka sighed. “Aren’t we going to do anything?”
“Yes, we are,” answered Lyll.
Toopka’s ears perked up.
Lyll turned away from the scene of the wagon and its load of villains. “We’re going back to the tavern and report to Wizard Cam and Dar.”
Toopka’s shoulders slumped. Kale suppressed a giggle when she saw Regidor’s shoulders do the same.
With Lyll in the lead, the comrades crept out of the wooded area and circled the village to enter from the other side. They found Dar and the two wizards sitting out on the benches in front of the tavern.
Kale furrowed her brow in puzzlement. Knowing the councilmen of River Away, she couldn’t imagine Dar had been able to bring them to a decision this quickly. Dar lifted a hand in greeting as they approached.
“No, Kale,” he said. “They are not convinced, but Librettowit has taken over for me for the time being. He’s giving them the history of the problem.”
Kale planted her fists on her hips and turned to Lyll. “Does he read my mind?”
Lyll laughed, a hearty laugh unlike the musical tinkle of the other mother’s. “I can’t answer that. I will say doneels are not known to be mindspeakers, but are renowned for their diplomatic skills. I imagine their success in diplomacy stems from an acute discernment of others’ temperaments.”
Wizard Cam laid a hand on the sleeping wizard next to him. “Fen, wake up, old man. We have news of the culprits.