Elfsong - Elaine Cunningham [59]
The dragon snorted. "You're too late. I traded it for a song, you might say, and not a particularly successful one at that considering that you three are the first to respond to it."
"To whom if I might ask?"
"One matter at a time, if you please," Grimnosh returned. "I will give you that information as a reward if you can answer my riddle. Agreed?"
Vartain inclined his head graciously. The dragon tapped at his fang-studded jaw as he reflected, and the metallic click of talon against tooth was a discomfiting sound. Finally, Grimnosh cleared his throat-emitting as he did a small puff of gas redolent of overripe eggs-and gave this puzzle:
"King Khalzol's kingdom is long gone. Take five steps to the site of his grave: The first means to think over, The second is over your thoughts, The third means one of something, The last must be stronger than anything, The whole reveals everything."
"Now tell me, why did King Khalzol's subjects bury him in a copper coffin?"
Silence hung over the clearing for a long moment Danilo nudged the riddlemaster and leaned close to his ear. "Because he was dead?" the Harper suggested, sotto voce.
Vartain shot a scathing glance at the young man. "Leave these matters to me," he hissed in a fierce whisper, and he turned to face the dragon.
"This is a classic conundrum, in which a one-word answer is given, piece by piece, in several related riddles," he announced aloud. "It is an elegant conundrum, to be sure, and unfamiliar to me. Nevertheless, here is its solution:
"What is to mullbut to think over? Speaking quite literally, what lies over men's thoughts but their hair?The word 'a' means one of something, as in 'a pomegranate.' A hold,or fortress, must be stronger than any force brought against it. Put together, one obtains the site of King Khalzol's grave: Mulharahold,a city to the south of the Mountains of Copper. The copper coffin, of course, is the clue that confirms the conundrum's answer." Vartain fell silent his chin lifted in a expectant pose.
The dragon examined his claws with a satisfied air. "I rather thought you'd say that," he rumbled.
Vartain reached out to claim the scroll, but the dragon batted the man's hand away with a flick of his tail "Humans are always in such a rush," he purred. "The answer to the question 'Why did his subjects bury King Khalzol in a copper coffin?' is far simpler that you would make it, and I regret to say that the reason had nothing to do with his grave site. They buried him, dear riddlemaster, because he was dead."
"He ain't the only one," muttered the dwarf.
"But strictly speaking, your puzzle was not a simple riddle," Vartain protested in an aggrieved tone. "It was a conundrum!"
Morgalla huffed, exasperated. "But it was a conundrum," she mimicked softly. "That'lllook good on yer headstone, if'n a mason alive can spell it!"
With two claws, the dragon picked up Vartain by the back of his tunic. He examined the dangling riddlemaster thoughtfully, then with the knuckles of his free paw he shined the man's bald pate as if polishing an apple. The effect was chilling, the intention obvious.
"Wait!" Danilo shouted. He quickly offered Grimnosh the second challenge. "If you fail to answer the riddle I put to you, we go free, with the scroll our only treasure. But if you succeed, I will remain here in your employ for the remainder of my life."
"Hmmm. It would be nice to have a musician on hand," Grimnoshtadrano mused. He held Vartain out at arm's length and considered him. The dangling riddlemaster's pot belly and bowed, skinny legs lent him all the dignity and appeal of a captured frog. "And on the whole, this one looks rather unpalatable." The dragon dropped Vartain, who disappeared with a grunt into a thick bank of ferns.
"The riddle is in song form," Danilo began, picking up his lute.
"Really! How droll." Grimnosh settled down like a watchful cat, propping his