Dragons of the Valley - Donita K. Paul [103]
“Poetry?” asked Beccaroon.
A loud bark of laughter escaped her husband. “No, we shall need her peculiar brand of logic.”
“I pity the enemy,” said Bec.
“As you should.”
“Do we know where the statues are?”
“I do.”
“With Fenworth?”
“Of course.”
Sir Beccaroon squinted one eye at Verrin Schope. “And you know where Wizard Fenworth is?”
The sculptor looked offended, then winked. “Of course.”
40
Confusion
Sir Beccaroon followed Verrin Schope and his wife as they strolled into the inn. “I’m not sure I understand what I am to do,” complained Lady Peg. “Except what I am doing is for Wulder, my father, and the country.”
The wizard patted his wife’s hand as it rested on his sleeve. “Don’t worry, Peg. What you do naturally is enough to confound the wisest of strategists.”
Beccaroon admired her profile as she gazed adoringly at her husband. She had almost no wrinkles in her fair skin, and she radiated youth. Her stunning beauty turned heads everywhere. He loved to watch new acquaintances’ expressions change when she spoke. He didn’t quite understand what Verrin Schope hoped to accomplish but trusted his scheme would work.
Verrin Schope instructed the minor dragons to stay out of sight. Two flew to the roof of the Blue Moon, and two dived into his cape.
Inside the inn, Sir Beccaroon asked to be seated for noonmeal. Before his eyes could adjust to the dim light, he heard Lady Peg greet someone.
“I remember you,” she said. “We met in the village of Selkskin. Do you remember we walked together one day?”
Groddenmitersay answered, “Yes, milady, I do remember.”
“This is my husband, Verrin Schope, and our good friend, Sir Beccaroon of the Indigo Forest. It’s more of a jungle than a forest. Huge flowers, snakes, and tiny fibbirds. We live on the edge, where we can see the beauty.” She paused to take a breath and raise one finger. “But we do not have to deal with any unpleasantness, like rabbit-eating spiders.”
She shook her head. “Sir Beccaroon is the magistrate and takes care of other unpleasantness. Not spiders, of course. I don’t believe they would learn to eat cabbage instead of rabbits. The rabbits eat cabbage from our garden, and Bec has no jurisdiction over that either. But when our cow visited with some vagrants, Bec sent her home again. I don’t think he reprimanded the cow, because she really didn’t have much sense, so he must have talked to the scalawags. I suppose he spoke sternly, because they did mind him. You don’t mind if he sits with us, do you? I’m sure he doesn’t mind if you sit with us. Unless you are a vagrant or a scalawag. Of course, he doesn’t mix business with pleasure and if you’re—” She spotted the innkeeper. “We’d like a table now. We are very hungry.”
Groddenmitersay gritted his teeth behind the false smile he’d pinned on his face. They’d followed him. She threatened him with the law. She considered him to be no better than a scalawag or a vagrant. And she might have implied he was lower than a cow. He wasn’t sure about that.
Should he walk away or sit with them for noonmeal? What was her plan? It wouldn’t surprise him if she gave the orders and the other two were merely her henchmen.
No matter how clever the woman was, he would not be bamboozled. He could match her cunning deceit.
“I would be pleased to dine with you, Lady Peg.” Aha! He sounded just as ingenuous as she did. “Perhaps you or your comrades can tell me some news of this war.” That should pique her curiosity. “I’m a long way from home and don’t understand why my king would choose to invade Chiril. It seems we had an equitable trade agreement. Why cast that aside?”
Lady Peg made a face at the mention of war. Groddenmitersay cocked his head and waited. He’d caught her off guard with his pointed question. She would see he was more than a match for her subterfuge.
“War!” Lady Peg motioned toward the table where the innkeeper stood ready to serve them. “We don’t approve of war.”
She sat in the chair her husband pulled out for her.
Groddenmitersay sat on the opposite side of the table. “No