Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [110]
“Well, some positions are better than others,” the adviser murmured diffidently.
“But taking on the onerous ones for a time makes us all aware of our fellows’ feelings,” the attendant concluded wryly. “We believe that all those who are served should also spend time serving. Shall I see you to the door?”
“Yes, please,” Sasha said weakly, glad beyond measure that his usual habits of treating everyone well had reaped such a bountiful harvest.
He left the door he had come in through, after a friendly nod to the old man in the guardroom as he passed by. He found the two dragons enjoying the last of a bountiful meal in the fading blue of twilight, which eased a bit of his guilt at having left them for so long.
“Well, there you are at last!” Adamant said, gulping down a raw goose whole by tossing it up in the air and catching it like a trained dog with a treat. “They treated us like honored guests, so I assume they did the same for you?”
“Very much so,” he replied, and grinned. “She’s going to help us. She’s with the tunnel planners now.”
“Ha!” Adamant said with delight. “Then it was worth the wait!”
“You said that about the geese,” Gina said dryly.
The grey dragon laughed. “You’ll say that, too, eventually. Just wait a few years and you find out how hard it is to catch a goose when you’re our size.”
“Now wait a moment—” Sasha said, because by now his curiosity had gotten to the point where it was an unbearable itch that had to be scratched. “The things you keep saying make me think that Gina wasn’t always a dragon—”
“Oh I wasn’t,” the emerald dragon said cheerfully. “I was a human Champion for Glass Mountain. It’s a long story, but I exchanged places with Periapt, Adamant’s brother, so that he could be with his human mate and I could join this fine and handsome fellow as his.”
“Keep flattering me, wench, and I shall never get my head out of the clouds,” Adamant chuckled.
But Sasha was still blinking at the idea of a human becoming a dragon. “That’s—powerful magic.”
“Yes it is, and it couldn’t have been done without The Tradition practically breaking over us like a wave, and without human and dragon being willing to exchange places,” Adamant said, soberly. “And not without Godmother Elena. I don’t think there will ever be a piece of work that powerful again in our lifetimes. Certainly not in this part of the world.”
“Well I insisted on staying a Champion, and Adamant decided he wanted to be one as well,” Gina continued, nuzzling behind the charcoal dragon’s frill affectionately. “I was very glad of that. Time enough to settle down and have hatchlings when we are tired of flying to the rescue!”
“It does give us a certain amount of immunity from roving adventurers who want to make a name for themselves by slaying whatever dragon they happen to meet,” Adamant said dryly. “Besides, it means we become part of some amazing stories. Godmother Elena’s Champions do tend to get involved in unique situations.”
“That is like saying that the ocean is a bit damp,” Gina laughed, then sobered. “Well, we have accomplished one goal. Now we need to find that little horse you were speaking of. Have you the least idea where you might find him?”
Sasha sighed. Frying pan…. fire. “I last saw him around here, but he could be almost anywhere, I suppose.”
“Well, in that case,” said a low, growling voice with a tinge of laughter in it, wafting in from out of the darkness. “I suppose you are going to need a tracker again. You humans! So careless with losing your friends!”
Chapter 17
“Wolf!” Sasha shouted with joy, and flung his arms around the huge beast’s neck. “I am beyond glad to see you!”
“Piff,” snorted the Wolf. “A simple calculation made me realize I still hadn’t really repaid my debt to you. Nasty things, debts. Have a way of creeping up on you and jumping down your throat when you least expect them to. Thought I would hunt you down to deal with it, and lo! Here you are in my hunting grounds! Who are your large friends?”
Hastily, Sasha made the introductions. “First a Fox, now a Wolf,” Gina murmured to Adamant. “I expect