Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [98]
"Nameless triggered it with-" Grypht began.
"Music," Alias interrupted.
Grypht nodded. "The bard cast a tongues spell with it. Since my own tongues spell will wear off shortly, it would be helpful if you could speak saurial. The bard sang eight notes. I'll try to hum them-"
Alias waved to Grypht to be silent and closed her eyes. "I know what to do," she said. It was almost as if she could hear Nameless instructing her: "To cast a tongues spell, sing an A-minor scale…"
Alias sang the scale, at the same time concentrating on the strange saurial tongue. The stone glowed yellow in her hand; then the glow traveled up her arms and surrounded her whole body. Alias was suddenly aware of a myriad of scents wafting from both Grypht and Dragonbait. She could not only smell the scents, but also taste them as well. Then, unexpectedly, the air filled with noises, too-high-pitched whistles and clicks that complemented the scents.
"It seems to have worked. Tell me it worked," Grypht said to Alias in saurial.
He gave off a scent like chicken soup, which the swordswoman realized indicated impatience.
"But I don't just smell you," Alias said in saurial. "I hear you!"
"Smells merely convey emotions, emphasis, intonation-" Grypht began to explain.
"But the words are clicks and whistles!" Alias completed the thought for him.
"Why couldn't I hear them before?" she asked with puzzlement.
"Your ears normally don't work as well as ours," Grypht said with a shrug.
Dragonbait reached up and tapped Grypht's elbow. "High One," the paladin addressed the wizard, and Alias realized that the name "Grypht" was the closest human approximation to the saurial words for "High One," though whether it was the wizard's name or title she could not tell.
"I would like to speak with my sister," Dragonbait said, issuing a scent like basil, which Alias realized indicated he desired privacy.
"Champion, there simply isn't time," Grypht replied. "We have much to discuss before the spell Alias cast wears off."
"The tongues spell cast from the stone is permanent," Alias said.
Grypht looked at the swordswoman in disbelief. "You must be mistaken. You do not understand magic. It takes a tremendous amount of power to make a spell permanent," the wizard explained.
Alias shrugged. "You're right. I don't understand magic, but I know this spell is permanent."
Grypht still looked doubtful. He nodded to Dragonbait. "Have your talk," he said, "but speak quickly." The saurial wizard turned away and walked off, taking Akabar and Zhara and Breck with him.
Alias was left alone with Dragonbait. The swordswoman looked down at the ground and shifted her weight nervously onto one leg. She could no longer shut out the paladin's words now by turning her back on his signing fingers, and the memory of how she had done so filled her with embarrassment.
"Sister," Dragonbait said, "will you accept my apology now, if I offer it in my own language?"
Alias could smell the saurial's sadness and tenderness. She could smell and taste something minty, too, an emotion she'd never sensed in Dragonbait. It was remorse. He was really sorry, and there was no way she could deny it.
Yesterday, Alias thought, I told Morala that I would love Finder no matter what secret he told me, yet I would have left Dragonbait without even giving him a chance to explain. How could I be so cruel and unforgiving? The swordswoman put her hands on the paladin's chest and started to weep.
"You are right to complain that I treat you like a child," Dragonbait said, stroking the brand on her right arm. "I am overprotective and domineering. I was afraid you'd be angry, so I said nothing about Zhara, though I could smell that she was your sister immediately. Then I made matters worse by bringing Zhara along without asking you, because I did not want to argue with you. I just did what I thought should be done. I took your property and gave it to her without your permission. I am no better than a thief."
"Much worse," Alias said, looking up