Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [17]
“Yeah, me too.”
“What are we going to do when we catch her and the dog?”
“Same thing we’ll do when we catch that wee man.”
“Eat ’em?”
“Yeah, eat ’em.”
“Let’s go.” Bealomondore started to climb out of the drawer.
Ellie grabbed his coat sleeve. “Is it safe?”
“Yes, they’ve gone for noonmeal.” He went over the edge and disappeared. She heard a thud and then his voice. “Hand me the goat.”
Ellie hoisted Tak over the side and into Bealomondore’s waiting arms, then climbed out with a little assistance from the tumanhofer.
“I left my belongings in the fountain circle. Can we go get them?”
Bealomondore gave a humorless laugh and shook his head. “We may be able to gather your things as time goes by, but the hordes claim everything they find. And they’re all in the circle now eating.”
Tak stamped his hoofs on the wooden floor.
“He wants to go out,” said Ellie.
Bealomondore led the way. “You mindspeak with the goat?”
His back didn’t tell whether the tumanhofer joked or asked a legitimate question. She liked it better when she could see his face while he spoke. On the other hand, his sincere expression had her believing everything he said. Perhaps it was better not to see his kind eyes while she debated whether he was trustworthy.
His comment was odd. No one she knew had ever claimed to mindspeak. Maybe he meant something else.
“Talk without words, in your mind?” she asked.
He nodded without looking back.
Mindspeaking! Ellie had learned over the past day and a half that the rules of Chiril didn’t seem to apply to Rumbard City. Of course, she’d heard of mindspeaking, but only in stories. Those tales arose out of wizards and dragons, rarely sighted even in Chiril. This tumanhofer had answers. He had experience in this strange place. She wouldn’t scoff at the things she found absurd. She was going to remain respectful to get as much information from him as she could.
Cautiously, she phrased her question and chose a neutral tone of voice. “Mindspeak with an animal?”
He paused at a place in the wall where a crack let in sunbeams. Nudging a loose board to the side, he peeked out.
“All clear.” He removed two boards, stepped through, then handed Ellie out. “Don’t trip on that baseboard.”
Tak hopped through the hole. Ellie waited, glancing up and down the alley, while Bealomondore returned the boards.
When he finished and brushed his hands on his pant legs, she asked again. “Do you mindspeak with animals?”
“Only dragons.”
Ellie pulled in a breath, but it did nothing to tamp down the sudden anger that surged through her. All her good intentions scattered before the familiar feeling of being teased by rascally brothers. “That’s enough!”
Bealomondore’s eyes widened as he spun around to face her. “What?”
“I know it’s obvious that I’m a country girl, but I’m educated. I don’t know what pleasure you derive from throwing ridiculous statements at me, but I don’t appreciate it. I’m lost and scared and late.” She struggled to keep her tears at bay. “I was supposed to meet my aunt and uncle in Bellsawyer. We were going to the coronation and the royal wedding reception.”
“Now that’s a coincidence. So was I.”
For a moment, Ellie’s ire cooled. “You were? You haven’t always lived here?”
“It seems like forever, but I’ve only been here two months.”
“Why were you going to Ragar two months before the festivities?”
He hesitated. “I know Paladin and Princess Tipper. I was asked to do the wedding portrait.”
Ellie stared at the tumanhofer. He painted? Did he really know royalty? He looked earnest, but no one knew royalty. No one! Well, she guessed somebody had to.
Bealomondore tilted his head toward the end of the alley. “If you want to see the horde at feeding time, we have to get moving. We don’t have a lot of time to get there.”
He turned and hurried away.
Tak gave her a look that said, “Come on,” and fell in line behind the tumanhofer.
Ellie couldn’t think of exactly the right word to describe the fickle goat. She’d raised him from a bottle-fed kid and had never had any