Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [78]
“Gain control,” insisted Bardon. “But let’s still ask Librettowit and Dar for any wisdom they can give us.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I think we can learn to manage the ability, given enough time.”
“And we should have some time here. Dar says we will gather information about anything unusual happening in the countryside.”
She shook her head. “Why can’t we just be out in the countryside where things are happening? Why sit in this dismal city when we could be out tracking that meech?”
“Prushing is the best place to collect tales and gossip since much trade comes through here. We can pinpoint the other meech’s whereabouts by watching for a pattern.”
I don’t like it. I’d rather be doing something.
“We have plenty to do. We aren’t nearly ready to proceed. We must prepare.”
You sound like Librettowit.
“Not such a bad thing.”
She smiled at the lehman across the table. They had entered into a conversation by mindspeaking naturally. If Bardon weren’t such a pain in other ways, she could enjoy him. She clasped her hands together, trying to keep her nervous fingers still. “What did you think of Regidor’s fighting skill?”
“Spectacular.”
She nodded. “Surprising.” She moved a basket of fruit from the side of the table to the center. She picked up a parnot, turned it over in her hands, and then returned it to the basket. “I think it upset him. He was quiet all evening.”
“Maybe that monk business is rubbing off on him.” Bardon grinned at her, and she noticed a lock of dark hair had fallen forward, out of place.
She looked away. “When are we going to work on fine-tuning our mindspeaking abilities?”
“Tomorrow.”
The next day, Dar took on the persona of the butler and hired servants to come in the afternoon and work through the evening.
The band of comrades soon fell into a routine. In the mornings, Dar, Bardon, Kale, and Regidor sparred in the courtyard, perfecting their skills and learning from one another. When Dar suggested the regimen, Kale offered no resistance. Still smarting from Bardon’s assessment of her attitude, she determined to show him she had discipline.
Regidor continued to mature at a phenomenal rate. He grew to a foot taller than Bardon and soon outmatched both Dar and the lehman in hand-to-hand combat.
In the afternoon, the servants roamed through the house doing their chores. Librettowit left the house with Dar, and they sought information from the upper class as well as the merchants and academicians. Librettowit used his letters of introduction and his ability to tell a good story to garner social invitations. Dar visited the taverns where the upper echelon of servants took their afternoon break.
After noonmeal, Regidor retired to his quarters along with the minor dragons. The hired help never caught a glimpse of the “monk” during his meditations each afternoon.
Kale and Toopka worked alongside the servants and gathered news. Bardon talked to the maids and occasionally helped with heavy lifting, but as the sheridan he did no housework. Kale thought again how oddly females behaved around Bardon. And it wasn’t just the young, giggly maids. The older housekeeper and the cook blushed when Bardon spoke to them.
Also, during the long afternoons, Bardon and Kale sequestered themselves in Regidor’s chambers and practiced mindspeaking. Kale demonstrated for Bardon the things that Leetu Bends had shown her. The more she remembered and practiced these exercises, the more her own proficiency grew.
Regidor grew enthusiastic about their endeavors and joined them. He constantly thought of new twists for the old techniques. Some of them were outrageous, and if Dibl were in the room, the results were pushed to absurdity. The meech dragon “confused” Kale’s tongue so that anytime she tried to say something, the only thing that came out of her mouth was, “I’m a rapid rabbit.” She convinced Bardon his pants were soaking wet through a series of mental pictures that made him think he had spilled a jug of water. He would laugh at their antics, but the serious lehman never instigated