how she had followed us. We hadmade good time to make it to Sutrium in a day, so she could not have kept up on foot. She must have been in the wagon the entire time.
“Won’t go back,” she added mulishly, as if she feared she had not been clear enough.
Since there was no question of simply sending her back, I might have reassured her, but she must not be allowed to think she had won.
“This is a bad thing you have done, Dragon,” I said sternly. “I am very angry. Dameon will be terribly worried about you.”
Dragon adored the gentle Empath guildmaster who had taken her under his wing. With a stricken look, she burst into noisy tears and choked out that she had left a message with Louis Larkin to say she had gone to visit some of her animal friends. That mollified me slightly, for no one would worry overmuch to begin with. At least she had not gone away completely heedless of the trouble it would cause. Everyone would assume she was sulking over our departure for a little while, and since she had fended for herself alone for most of her life, no one would think of finding her and forcing her back to Obernewtyn too soon. But we would have to send a message back as soon as possible.
Dragon was staring at me with a woebegone expression. I put my arms around her thin shoulders with a sigh, knowing there was no use in trying to treat her as if she were any other disobedient novice. Despite her beauty and incredible illusion-making Talent, only the thinnest veneer of ordinary human behavior lay over the wild, half-starved waif I had coaxed from the Beforetime ruins outside Aborium.
And the truth was, had I not been so preoccupied with my own thoughts, I would have felt her clumsy coercive manipulationsand sent her back long before we had reached Sutrium.
“Surely yer nowt goin’ to let her gan away wi’ this?” Matthew demanded.
“No, I’m going to turn her over to the soldierguards to teach her a lesson,” I said sarcastically, wondering at the extent of his reaction. Did he think I would blame him for her presence simply because she’d grown attached to him? “What’s done is done. Now let’s move.”
Dragon promptly turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him.
“Enough,” I said firmly. “Lud knows how many tales will be told tomorrow about a gypsy wagon lurking in a side street. I think we have done enough to get ourselves noticed. Now let’s find the safe house. Get the wagon turned around, Matthew.”
The farseeker obeyed begrudgingly. Dragon’s eyes were huge with apprehension when I turned to face her. “Not go back,” she begged. “I won’t send you back,” I promised. “We’re going to the safe house now to see Kella. You remember Kella?” Dragon’s eyes warmed and she nodded eagerly. “Good. Now you must be very quiet or else the soldierguards will stop us. Can you do that?”
This time she nodded solemnly. “Quieter than Maruman stalking a squeaker,” she vowed.
Hearing his name, the cat stretched luxuriously and peered down at us, his good eye glowing in the darkness.
“Maruman, will you keep her/mornir quiet?” I sent.
Mornir
was the name the animals at Obernewtyn had given Dragon. It meant “brightmane.”
The old cat assented and began to wash himself industriously. I looked at the gypsy. Her breathing was labored, hereyes sunk into their sockets. If she did not get help soon, she would die in spite of Roland’s sleepseal.
Well, I could do no more than I was doing.
Cautioning Dragon again to stay quiet, I climbed out of the wagon, pulling the curtain to the cabin shut behind me. The lane ahead was empty, and it was still raining hard, but it was too much to hope we had not been noticed. I remounted Gahltha, and we retraced our steps as swiftly as we could, but it was full dark before we reached the small trading market that Domick had described as the nearest landmark to the safe house. In the daylight on a good day, it would doubtless be a pleasant spot to
“Won’t go back,” she added mulishly, as if she feared she had not been clear enough.
Since there was no question of simply sending her back, I might have reassured her, but she must not be allowed to think she had won.
“This is a bad thing you have done, Dragon,” I said sternly. “I am very angry. Dameon will be terribly worried about you.”
Dragon adored the gentle Empath guildmaster who had taken her under his wing. With a stricken look, she burst into noisy tears and choked out that she had left a message with Louis Larkin to say she had gone to visit some of her animal friends. That mollified me slightly, for no one would worry overmuch to begin with. At least she had not gone away completely heedless of the trouble it would cause. Everyone would assume she was sulking over our departure for a little while, and since she had fended for herself alone for most of her life, no one would think of finding her and forcing her back to Obernewtyn too soon. But we would have to send a message back as soon as possible.
Dragon was staring at me with a woebegone expression. I put my arms around her thin shoulders with a sigh, knowing there was no use in trying to treat her as if she were any other disobedient novice. Despite her beauty and incredible illusion-making Talent, only the thinnest veneer of ordinary human behavior lay over the wild, half-starved waif I had coaxed from the Beforetime ruins outside Aborium.
And the truth was, had I not been so preoccupied with my own thoughts, I would have felt her clumsy coercive manipulationsand sent her back long before we had reached Sutrium.
“Surely yer nowt goin’ to let her gan away wi’ this?” Matthew demanded.
“No, I’m going to turn her over to the soldierguards to teach her a lesson,” I said sarcastically, wondering at the extent of his reaction. Did he think I would blame him for her presence simply because she’d grown attached to him? “What’s done is done. Now let’s move.”
Dragon promptly turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him.
“Enough,” I said firmly. “Lud knows how many tales will be told tomorrow about a gypsy wagon lurking in a side street. I think we have done enough to get ourselves noticed. Now let’s find the safe house. Get the wagon turned around, Matthew.”
The farseeker obeyed begrudgingly. Dragon’s eyes were huge with apprehension when I turned to face her. “Not go back,” she begged. “I won’t send you back,” I promised. “We’re going to the safe house now to see Kella. You remember Kella?” Dragon’s eyes warmed and she nodded eagerly. “Good. Now you must be very quiet or else the soldierguards will stop us. Can you do that?”
This time she nodded solemnly. “Quieter than Maruman stalking a squeaker,” she vowed.
Hearing his name, the cat stretched luxuriously and peered down at us, his good eye glowing in the darkness.
“Maruman, will you keep her/mornir quiet?” I sent.
Mornir
was the name the animals at Obernewtyn had given Dragon. It meant “brightmane.”
The old cat assented and began to wash himself industriously. I looked at the gypsy. Her breathing was labored, hereyes sunk into their sockets. If she did not get help soon, she would die in spite of Roland’s sleepseal.
Well, I could do no more than I was doing.
Cautioning Dragon again to stay quiet, I climbed out of the wagon, pulling the curtain to the cabin shut behind me. The lane ahead was empty, and it was still raining hard, but it was too much to hope we had not been noticed. I remounted Gahltha, and we retraced our steps as swiftly as we could, but it was full dark before we reached the small trading market that Domick had described as the nearest landmark to the safe house. In the daylight on a good day, it would doubtless be a pleasant spot to
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