The Silver Mage - Katharine Kerr [181]
“Citizens!” Jahdo called out. “Stand back! On the morrow morn we’ll be gathering up on Citadel, and then will you hear what his highness shall tell us.”
Calonderiel pushed his way through the retreating crowd and reached Dallandra’s side. He, too, looked weary to the bone. He threw one filthy arm around her shoulders and squeezed, then let her go.
“What’s the mood in the town?” he said in Elvish.
“Not panicked,” Dalla said, “which is the best thing I can say. Most people are resigned to leaving. A lot depends on what Dar says on the morrow.”
“It’s going to be a splendid speech. He’s been working on it ever since we left the alar. Devaberiel helped him.”
“Dev’s here?” Dallandra stood on tiptoe and craned her neck, but she could catch no sight of the bard. “At his age—”
“Yes, the long days in the saddle were too hard on him.” Cal finished her thought. “Two days out he turned back, but by then, Dar had the ideas he needs.”
“Wait! Dev rode back by himself?”
“Of course not! I sent a man back with him. Besides, the alar was following us along, so the two of them probably only spent one night out alone.”
One of the archers strode up to Calonderiel to ask him a question about pitching their camp. Dallandra looked up at the torn gray clouds and used them as focus. When she thought of Devaberiel, she saw him sitting in front of a tent and talking with Carra. She broke the vision with a small sigh of relief.
Although Jahdo invited the prince to stay in his house up on Citadel, Daralanteriel insisted on camping on the commons with his men. Grallezar, however, did accept Jahdo’s hospitality.
“I be too old for all this sleeping on hard ground,” Grallezar said. “Still, I do feel that my place be here. I do wish the townsfolk to see that they may trust Gel da’Thae, though not Horsekin.”
After the evening meal, Jahdo left the house to meet with his fellow council members. Dallandra nursed Hildie’s baby, then left the house to go speak with Arzosah. She found the black dragon lying on the roof of the ruined temple, facing west and contemplating the red-and-purple streaks of sunset clouds. As Dallandra picked her way through the fallen stones, Arzosah wiggled around to face her.
“I wanted to thank you,” Dallandra said, “for guarding the prince.”
“You’re most welcome,” Arzosah said. “Do you want me to stay here for another day or two?”
“No, there’s no need. No doubt your hatchlings want to see you.”
“So I’d hope, though I must say, hatchlings can be wretchedly ungrateful at times! Be that as it may, I’ll be off with the dawn on the morrow.”
Later that night the Council of Five sent messengers through the town to announce a meeting—a council fire, as custom called it—some hours after dawn. As soon as the sun rose, workers carried the planks and beams of the Chief Speaker’s platform out of the council house and began to assemble it, a solid wood structure wide and long enough for twelve people to stand upon it. Jahdo and Dallandra stood to one side of the plaza and watched the work go forward.
“Dar needs to speak, of course,” Dallandra said. “And Grallezar wants to say a few words as well. Cal and I should probably stand with Dar.”
“That be true, to show that the prince, he does have a retinue,” Jahdo said. “Grallezar may wish to have one of her guards as well, that fellow Drav, mayhap. I shall be there, and Cleddrik, for he be the only Chief Speaker Penli has, though he be not much of one.”
“You may want to add a couple of the men of the town militia.”
“That I shall do.”
Jahdo was about to say more when a louder drumming sounded over the hammering of the workmen. Arzosah flew up from the temple and circled the plaza once. She roared out a farewell then headed off north.