Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [136]
Fenworth looked at her for a long moment. “Inside. I’ve tried to understand your reasoning, but you are thinking like a tumanhofer. When Librettowit pulls that trick, it always bamboggles me.”
He rubbed his hand down his beard. Ellie watched to see what would crawl out and was disappointed when a reptile head poked through the shanks of hair and then pulled back.
“Quite possibly you should ask your questions of him, not me. Where is he? Shouldn’t he be here? I seem to remember him going on about studying Tuck.”
“Yes,” said Ellie, “that’s another reason we need to wait.”
“I’m here! I’m here!” Librettowit rounded the corner, carrying a portfolio of papers. “Let’s go.”
Bealomondore squeezed with the arm he had around Ellie. She squeezed back. The tales she’d heard about swirling were disconcerting. She closed her eyes as the room seemed to whirl around her. Random sounds punctuated the roar of wind: cattle mooing, a crack of thunder, a child crying, and someone singing, not very well.
The odd sensations ceased, and she opened her eyes. Children sat at the long dining hall tables. Wizard Pater read as he ate, his face buried in the pages, unaware of their arrival. The minor dragons flew from their perches and did circles above their heads, chittering a happy melody. Tak bleated and ran to greet Ellie. She let go of Bealomondore and wrapped her arms around the goat’s neck.
She looked over his body at the children. They smiled and waved in between scooping spoonfuls of soup into their mouths. She wondered what this spell was called.
Librettowit was already making notes, examining the architecture and sketching things of interest.
“Pater,” said Wizard Fenworth. “It’s been centuries since I’ve seen you.”
The trapped wizard lifted his head from the reading and slowly took in his visitors. He smiled, closed the book, and got up. “Do you require sustenance? We have a fine pot of green stew.”
“No, no,” said Fenworth. “We’ve come to dissolve the bottle. I will need a few things from you, but I think we can manage it. My librarian brought along some notes on bottle cities and the dissolution of such.”
Ellie looked up at Bealomondore and whispered, “He thinks they can manage it? Bealomondore, are we stuck in the bottle again?”
Bealomondore shook his head. “They’ll take care of it.”
As the children finished eating, they got up, took their dishes to the kitchen, then walked quietly to the door leading to the big hall. Once beyond that door, they shook off the spell.
Toady gave a leap, twisted in midair, and came barreling back into the room. She threw her arms around Ellie. “Don’t go away again. He makes us behave!”
“We’re all going to get out of here, and there are urohm parents waiting to take you to a new home.”
“Really?” She jumped up and down, then tore out of the room to inform the others. “We’re going to have parents!”
The last boy at the table finally emptied his bowl. He got up and moved to the kitchen as if he were being led to his own execution. Ellie wondered if he had to do the dishes. But he deposited his bowl in the sink. He made his trip to the door of escape with his shoulders slumped and his chin on his chest.
“Yawn?” Ellie said as he passed.
He didn’t respond, but she thought it was because of whatever spell Wizard Pater had used to influence his behavior.
When he crossed the threshold to the other room, he turned and looked at Ellie, Tak, and Bealomondore. Ellie smiled at him, and he slunk back into the room to stand before them.
“Do you know who Wulder is?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
Ellie and Bealomondore answered in unison, “Yes.”
“Wizard Pater told me lots about Him.” He paused and shuffled his feet. “Do you think there’s going to be parents who will take me?”
Ellie’s heart hurt. She put an arm around the tough leader of the gang. “Yes, I think so.”
Yawn didn’t look at her. He studied Tak. “Do you think we could find parents who can forgive like this Wulder does? I think I’m going to need parents who know