Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [22]
She wanted to argue, but weariness from her illness cloaked her with despair. A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away, checking to see if Bardon had noticed. Fortunately, he had stopped next to a large knothole window and stared out.
Kale closed her eyes again, hoping she could sleep. She tried to remember what her dreams for the future had been when she lived in River Away as a village slave. Surely it had been something about growing up and getting married and having a home of her own. She remembered wanting a kitten.
Never had she wanted special talents. She never dreamed of walking hundreds of miles to go to the biggest, most important city in the realm. Paladin and Wulder were only names people used in storytelling. Now she’d been to the capital city and a lot of other places as well. She’d met Paladin and experienced Wulder’s presence on more than one occasion. She’d met people from each of the seven high races and more creatures from the seven low races than she ever wanted to meet.
Somehow, she was no longer a slave, but a leecent. She had a destiny, which once she thought was thrilling, but now she often thought was uncomfortable. Having Paladin claim you as his own meant you had to deal with grumbly wizards and tumanhofers, hard-nosed lehmans, precocious meech dragons, and street urchins. Being a slave was simpler.
She had no desire to cope with Regidor’s needs, Bardon’s stiffness, and Toopka’s odd perception of right and wrong. Kale was supposed to go to The Hall and train for service to Paladin. Instead, she went on quests, had adventures, got attacked by Creemoor spiders, and ended up in a wizard’s castle in The Bogs with too much going on to learn anything!
“Kale?” Bardon’s voice interrupted her list of complaints.
“Hmm?” Maybe if she acted as drowsy as she felt, he would go away.
“He was there. Do you remember seeing him?”
She opened her eyes. “Who?”
Bardon whispered the name. “Paladin.”
Kale shivered in response to Bardon’s reverent tone. In the past, when she’d met Paladin face to face, she, too, had been awed by his presence. “Where?”
“In the gateway.”
“That’s impossible. A gateway is too narrow. You step in. You step out. There isn’t enough room to meet someone.”
“He was there.”
Bardon turned to look at her, and when she saw his face, she believed him.
Several emotions caught her by surprise. A touch of anger made her clamp her lips together.
Why didn’t Paladin wait until I could talk to him? He’d know how much I want to see him again.
Through her nose, she took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
When I met Paladin, I felt wonderful. Bardon looks worried. She sent him a cross look, but he had turned away again. What’s the matter with him?
She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice when she spoke. “What happened?”
“He put his hand on my shoulder, and I could breathe. He touched your head, and I could see you were breathing again.”
“What did he say?”
“That you would live. That we had work to do.”
Kale watched Bardon’s face and realized he was laboring to keep that blank mask covering his emotions.
Is he excited? Scared? No, Bardon wouldn’t be scared. Maybe nervous, but not frightened.
“Is that all?” she asked.
Bardon sighed. “No.”
She waited only a moment. “Well, are you going to tell me?”
“He told me to be courageous. That Wulder is always with us—and some other things just to me.”
Kale lay quietly, wondering what she should say.
Bardon cleared his throat. “He said to trust him.”
She nodded.
“He said to trust you.”
Her eyes grew big, and she smiled.
“Kale?”
His tone of voice wiped the grin from her face. “What?”
“He knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That I’m afraid. Not just afraid, right then, of going through the gateway, but afraid of leaving The Hall. Afraid of doing something different from the way I’d planned to spend the next few years.”
Kale gasped. “Me too! Oh, Bardon, that’s funny!”
“Funny?” His face clouded over, and he gave her a dark look.
“Yes! Don’t you see? We’re so