Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [44]
“Why did He send them to a barren land?”
“Punishment for disregarding His power and His will.”
Ellicinderpart tilted her head and wore a thoughtful expression. “So He interacts with His ‘people’ more than Boscamon?”
“Since Boscamon does not exist, then of course He does.”
Tak came and nudged Ellicinderpart’s arm. Absent-mindedly, she pinched off a piece of bread and fed the morsel to her goat.
Det reminded them of the long journey. They put their trash back in the box and stowed the extra food in Bealomondore’s satchel. Det led them quickly out of the center of the city, where they would be most likely to run into a band of children. Once they felt safe enough to slow their pace, Bealomondore engaged Ellicinderpart in conversation, learning about her family, her siblings, her many aunts and uncles, and the farm that had been in her father’s family for many generations.
“I find it odd,” he said, “that there is no legend of a city of giants in the land. Your family has been in the area for almost as long as the city has been in the bottle, yet no one tells tales of its existence.”
Ellicinderpart’s face brightened at the topic. “Did you see dragon posts before you came to the glass wall?”
“I did.”
“No one has ever mentioned those monuments to me. No one talks about the city, the urohms, or the stone dragons.”
Bealomondore offered his hand to help her over a rough bit of pavement. The cobbles shifted underfoot, and he didn’t speak until they passed the obstacle.
“I’ve read of other standing stones. They’re typically said to be centuries old, which would fit our theories about Rumbard City. And they typically have their origins shrouded in mystery. Something so obvious in the countryside should garner interest and be honored with at least an oral tradition of history.”
Ellie broke in. “No! No one has said a word about dragon stones. My family often goes to the festivals within walking distance. Among all the singing of ballads and stories of lore, I have never heard anything about the city or the standing stones.”
“It is my opinion,” said Bealomondore, with a finger in the air for emphasis, “that something prohibits the populace from recalling anything from the past. Such was the case in the accounts I read. And more interesting is that even when the local people acknowledged a standing stone in their vicinity, they failed to recognize the significance of these monuments. More often than not, they forgot these oddities are among them.”
“I think I’ve missed something. What is the significance of the standing stones?”
“My point exactly! We don’t know!”
Ellicinderpart shivered, even as they walked in the warm sun. “That doesn’t seem natural, does it?”
“No, and neither does a city in a bottle. I would say that either Wulder Himself or one of His wizards cast the spell that is Rumbard City.”
“Wizards are connected to Wulder?”
She looked at him with curiosity. Bealomondore hesitated. How much could he tell her without sounding like a fool? So many times when he tried to explain what he had learned about Wulder, people thought it foolishness. But those who knew Wulder marveled at the miraculous and didn’t discount the wonders Wulder had performed. Bealomondore would spend many years with Ellicinderpart, one way or another, so he made the choice to feed bits of knowledge to her in little portions.
“Yes, they derive their skills from an intimate knowledge of the way Wulder designed the world.”
“We don’t have wizards in Chiril, just stories about such men.”
“We do have wizards now. And some wizards are women. At least Librettowit, Fenworth’s librarian, says there are female wizards in Amara. In Chiril, Verrin Schope is a wizard. Paladin is somewhat like a wizard, but apparently more. And Fenworth, if he hasn’t traveled back to Amara, is a wizard.”
“The stories have good and bad wizards, so is Wulder good and bad?”
“No, men are good and bad. Sometimes, when people are given a lot of responsibility, they use the power to make themselves even more powerful. A principle in the Tomes says, ‘He who