Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [52]
“Here I am, Kale.”
Kale sucked in a breath as the woman stepped onto the path.
A cold smile crept over her mother’s beautiful face. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Kale forced her voice to leave her throat. “You called me.”
“Yes, it’s time to leave that riffraff with whom you travel.”
Kale’s neck muscles and shoulders tightened. “They’re my friends.”
Lyll Allerion gestured with an impatient wave for Kale to follow and started away without waiting. “They may be your friends, Kale, but you don’t have to follow them wherever they lead. Think for yourself for a change.”
Kale hesitated.
“Well, come on. I have to get you tucked away before my absence is discovered, and before your meddling comrades start looking for you.”
Kale licked her lips. Do I want to go?
She followed. Her mother’s heavy dress rustled. The blue and gold cloth of her elaborate gown shimmered. Each time her mother’s high headdress passed through thin shafts of light coming through the thick branches, the white material sparkled.
Kale examined her own practical outfit and Lyll’s spotless attire. Well, Mother’s not exactly dressed appropriately for a hike in the woods. At least my breeches don’t look out of place.
She hurried to catch up. “Where are we going?”
“There’s a secret room in the castle tower. You’ll be safe there.”
“Safe from what?”
Lyll Allerion stopped so quickly Kale bumped into her. She stepped back, expecting her mother to have a few critical words about being touched by her grubby daughter. Instead, Lyll paused and leveled an inquisitive eye at Kale.
“Risto, of course. What did you think?”
Kale looked at the creamy white skin of her mother’s hand. Rings with glittering stones encircled each pale finger. The fingernails curved to delicate points.
Kale clenched her dirty hands into balls and averted her eyes just enough to gaze past her mother to the woods beyond. A clear trail meandered into a thicker gathering of towering trees. A rising wind rustled the dry leaves on the ground and stirred up a spicy fragrance from the forest floor.
Just beyond where Kale stood with her mother, a puff of air laid bare a small patch of dirt. Shadows fell over the path, darkening the soil as if it were wet.
A hiss of movement reached Kale’s ears even as the wind eddied among the trees. Slithering out from behind a trunk, a vine grew at a phenomenal rate and headed for their feet.
Kale opened her mouth to speak, but her mother’s cold expression stopped her. Lyll’s manicured fingers squeezed Kale’s arm, then released her.
Her mother whirled around in a rustle of brocade and silk. “Come!”
“Wait!” cried Kale. The path had become a bog.
Her mother took one step and pitched forward, landing in a wallow of mud.
“Oh!” Kale stepped over the thick vine, a vine that had not been there a moment before. Bewildered, she hovered at the edge of the muddy patch and reached to help the older woman in her courtly gown.
Her mother planted her fists in the mud and pushed her face and shoulders up. “Don’t touch me!” She sprayed mud out of her mouth.
Kale put her hands behind her back.
Lyll raised up on her knees and struggled to her feet. She turned to face her daughter. Gray eyes glared out of her mud-coated face. Kale blinked and held still as if to avoid an attack from a wild animal.
The woman’s gaze dropped to the vine.
Without using her talent, Kale knew exactly what went through her mother’s mind. The vine didn’t belong. It didn’t match any plant growing in the forest.
The sharp caw of a blackbird broke the silence. A large ebony crow swooped between Kale and Lyll. The bird flew directly at Lyll. She threw her hands in front of her face and leaned back. The abrupt movement unbalanced her, and she toppled backward. The bird roosted on a branch above.
“Tut-tut. Oh dear. Tut-tut.” Twittering, it preened its shiny wing with a sharp yellow beak.
Kale placed a hand on the pouch that carried the unhatched dragon egg. She felt a thrum from within, and a light, giddy