Fire Dragon - Katharine Kerr [93]
“How very odd of you!”
“It is, truly, but then, I'm a very odd man.”
She considered him a moment more, then laughed.
“Very well, and my thanks,” she said. “I'd be a churl indeed to turn down a gift, and especially such an intriguing one. I'm forgetting my hospitality as well. Will you dine with me?”
“I'd be honored, my lady, but I was hoping to reach the Wmmglaedd ferry by nightfall, and so I'd best be on my way.”
When he left, Evandar rode west for the look of the thing, but once he was out of sight of the dun, he doubled back east. Just at twilight, he reached the farm where he'd stolen the horse. In the conniving dusk, he turned it back into its pasture, then walked on the twilight back to his country and the mothers of all roads. How long had it been, he wondered, since Dallandra had sent the gnomes to fetch him? Too long, he told himself, and he headed north for Cengarn.
Dallandra had just begun to fear that Evandar had met with harm by the time he finally arrived in Dun Cengarn. Out behind the broch complex stood a little kitchen garden, deserted this time of year and far enough away from the dun's stores of iron—weapons, implements, and suchlike—which caused him great pain. Just at twilight of a day that had seemed almost warm they sat together on a small bench amid the mulched herbs.
“I need to discuss plans with you,” Dallandra said. “It's a long road to Cerr Cawnen, and so I was wondering—”
“Of course,” Evandar said, grinning. “I'll take you by the mother roads. I'm surprised you can't open them yourself.”
“I can to some extent. I can slip through when I need to, but I can't keep the gate open long enough for more than one person to come with me.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it took me a good hundred years or so to learn the trick myself. But never fear. Just send the gnomes to fetch me.”
“Very well, then, and my thanks. How fares Salamander, do you know? Rhodry was asking me about him the other day.”
“The news isn't good. His mind still wanders terribly. Which reminds me. Some while ago I received a vision that showed him sailing into Cannobaen come the height of summer. I'm not sure what this means. Would you and Devaberiel be welcome there? So you could meet his ship, I mean.”
“I should think so. After all, the lady of the dun there is Salamander's niece. And, for that matter, Devaberiel's granddaughter.”
Evandar blinked at her.
“A niece,” Dallandra said, “is the daughter of your brother or sister. Rhodry was her father, you see, and so Salamander's her uncle under Deverry law, even though he's but a half brother. And since Devaberiel is Rhodry's father, then he's her grandfather.”
“And isn't that a useful thing?” Evandar said, smiling. “I'm glad that Deverry folk take their kinships so seriously.”
“Well, and don't the People cherish ours as well? I've never heard of a race who spurned their kin. How could anyone survive without kin and clan?”
“I seem to remember that you walked away from a husband and a little son.”
“Yes, but for the sake of you and your little daughter.”
“So it was.” His smile vanished. “Did you do the right thing, my love? Or did I seduce you into something wrong?”
“I thought it was right myself, at the time. And I still do.”
“Good. This is splendid news, about Rhodda's kinship ties. It gives me exactly what I need to fulfill the omens.”
“What? What are you planning now?”
“Only what's best for Ebañy and his wife.”
“Indeed? Your plans have a way of turning out to have really wretched consequences. I wish you'd tell me what you have in mind.”
“It's simple enough. I've arranged him passage on a ship coming from Bardek to Cannobaen.”
“Oh. There shouldn't be any harm in that, then.”
And yet she felt a dweomer warning, a bare touch of the usual cold. No harm lurked in Evandar's plans, but they were going to bring trouble with them. When she started to ask him more, he smiled at her and disappeared.
• • •
Up in the Rhiddaer, to the west of the Deverry border, spring came earlier than usual that year—a good omen, or