Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [90]
Kale blinked. Oh, that’ll be just great. The only thing to make this trip better would be if my mother showed up.
Dar winked at her. “And Fenworth will be there as well. He and his companions have rescued your mother.”
38
LEGEND OF THE PAST
In the morning, Dar went out to arrange transportation while the others gathered their belongings. Soon a freighter knocked on the door to speak with Librettowit. The tumanhofer hired the man to take boxes of books to a ship in the harbor. The ship would take the cargo south, around the coast, to be delivered to a friend who lived just outside The Bogs. Librettowit’s first thought had been to fly the parcels by greater dragon, but the freighter said the dragons had been unreliable of late.
Toopka skipped around trying to be helpful but actually getting in the way. She hadn’t liked being cooped up in the city, and she chattered incessantly about the quest, which would be exciting, and Prushing, which was not.
“It’s dreary!” she said.
“But Toopka.” Kale packed a chest with their clothing. “You were born in the city.”
“This city is different. Vendela’s pretty, and most of the people are nice. Here everything is gray and ugly, and most of the people are cranky. Do you suppose they’re cranky because they live in a gray world?” She climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged with a pillow in her lap.
Kale thought it over. She certainly hadn’t been as happy here as she had been in Vendela. Could it be that the atmosphere of Prushing had affected her mood? Or was it because she felt they were not making progress in their quest? No matter how often Librettowit said their preparation was important, the delay felt like wasted time. Maybe the grayness enveloped more than just the city.
“Grayness could make people cranky,” she admitted.
Toopka sighed. “That seems wrong—to let a gray place make your insides gray too.” She rolled over on the bed, propping her chin on her fists. “And I think that the gray insides are too sad to try to make the gray outside any different. So the gray outside stays the same or gets grayer, and the gray insides get grayer too, and pretty soon there’s no hope for anything bright and pretty.”
“Yes, I guess that could be true.”
“And,” said Toopka with eyes growing big, “that’s why Vendela was different. If I had a fight with someone like Master Tellowmatterden, by the time I’d walked two blocks, I would see flowers and pretty painted carts and people smiling. Then Master Tellowmatterden would have been kind of covered over with better things.”
“Does all this have a point, Toopka?”
“Yes.” Toopka sprang up on her knees and bounced on the bed. “I’m glad we’re going to the country.”
Kale chuckled, but her own thoughts were not as cheerful.
I’m glad to leave Prushing, but I don’t know if I want to go to River Away. I guess it won’t be so bad. After all, I’m not a slave anymore. I have an important job. I’ve even met Paladin, and no one in River Away has.
Kale stopped folding Toopka’s small tunic and stared at her hands. She no longer did daily chores at different houses in a small village. At that time, her palms had been callused and her skin dry and rough. A new callus showed how diligently she had been practicing with her small sword.
As a slave, she had nails that were always cracked, chipped, and stained. Now smooth white ends peeked out over her pink skin.
Granny Noon told me to remember I’m not a slave anymore. Won’t Mistress Meiger be surprised? I’m not shabby anymore, either. I’m taller and stronger and smarter, too. And not only that, I’m coming to save River Away from the destructive influence of Risto. I’m not a slave. I am the Dragon Keeper. Between Regidor and me, the wayward dragons will be rescued.
She lifted a shirt from a peg on the wall.
Mother told me I had a destiny. I’m an Allerion. Mother’s brave and does wonderful, courageous things right in one of Risto’s castles. And she’s beautiful.