Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [124]
He paused to rub his hands together, as if warming them. He then rested one on each knee. “Wulder was not pleased.” His hands rubbed forward and back several times before he uttered another word. “And Wulder, in His infinite wisdom, gave me the task of maintaining the city until only those children who were under six at the time remained. It would seem Wulder agreed that the urohms required discipline, as I had determined, but discipline given by the master, not the servant. Over the years, the people grew old and died off, quite naturally. You mustn’t think they chafed terribly under my reprimand. They seemed very content.”
He grimaced. “I must confess, that irked me even more. I’d devised retribution for their folly, and I seemed to be the one chastised most heavily.”
He smiled again at his audience. “The children are beginning to stir. I must be succinct.”
Bealomondore and Ellie surveyed the still unmoving crew. An eye twitched on a girl, and a lip curved a little on another. None of the children stirred significantly.
“Where was I?” asked the wizard. “Oh yes. The adult population dwindled until only the librarian walked the streets. At that time, Humbaken Florn was charged with seeing to the children in the city. I continued my service by providing sustenance and such that is needed, still trapped under the city. Humbaken’s response to the call was to barricade himself in the library. He seemed to suffer most. And you would think that finally I would get some satisfaction as he endured penance.”
Wizard Pater shook his head sadly and rubbed one hand across his face and down his beard, giving the chin hair a firm jerk. “No, I felt sorry for him. So I bottled his memories as well.”
A giggle behind them brought Bealomondore and Ellie around to face the children.
Another giggle answered the first, then snickering bounced from one child to the next.
Through his laughter, Cinder remarked as if he had a mouthful of food, “I can hardly move my lips to talk.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
That set off another round of snickering.
“I got my toe to move,” one child reported with glee.
Now claims of movement of different body parts were conveyed with more titters and giggles and chuckling.
Ellie smiled at the wizard. “They don’t seem to have been harmed by your cease-action command.”
Wizard Pater’s eyes twinkled. “They never are. Of course, I haven’t used the command for eons. I used to teach at The Hall in Amara.”
“A university?” asked Bealomondore. “I think Fenworth mentioned The Hall.”
The old man’s eyebrows lifted. “Fenworth? Fenworth is here?”
“Yes, along with his librarian, Librettowit. Although by this time they may have returned to Amara.”
“Oh, I hope not. Fenworth can help us dissolve the bottle around the city. He is quite a master of our trade. Not the Master, of course, but very knowledgeable in Wulder’s ways.”
Two of the children managed a step forward with one leg. Cheers broke out among the others.
The wizard stood. “All right, children. Listen to your wizard, and all will be well.” He pointed down a hallway on the side of the room. “I’m going to take the grownups down that hall and serve tea. As soon as you are able, follow along, and I’ll have cakes and daggarts and candied fruit for you.”
“And punch?” asked Porky.
“Definitely punch,” answered the wizard. “Now come along as soon as you’ve worked out your kinks, and don’t go into any of the rooms along the way. Come straight to the kitchen. You can’t miss it. It smells dandy, like roast and gravy, rolls and butter, cinnamon, licorice, and vanilla.”
As he mentioned the spices, the scents floated through the room. Several of the children expressed their appreciation with a word: “Yum.”
“Follow me,” said Wizard Pater.
Bealomondore glanced into the rooms as they passed, seeing spaces that looked like the entryways to homes. Typical tumanhofer furniture declared the residents’ race.
He stopped at the opening of a smaller door and pulled Ellie back to peer inside. Shelves lined a long, narrow storage