Talking to Dragons - Wrede Patricia Collins - Страница 37

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You meant it when you apologized to me, and when you were nice to the Princess, and when you were talking to Telemain."

"Oh, great," Shiara said disgustedly. "I bet this is all that stupid sword's fault." She glared at me for an instant, then turned her back.

I sighed.

"Excuse me, Lord Daystar," said a voice by my elbow. I looked down, and the dwarf bowed.

"Don't do that," I said.

"Certainly, my lord," she said, and started to bow again, then stopped and looked confused. "The tunnel is clear. You may continue your journey whenever you wish."

I looked around. The pile of rocks that had been blocking the tunnel was nearly gone. A few boulders were left along the sides, but there was plenty of room to walk through, even for the dragon. "Thank you very much," I said. "But I really ought to tell you: I'm not a lord."

The dwarf smiled tolerantly. "Of course not, my lord. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"I'd appreciate it if we could borrow one of your torches," I said.

"Our lamp got lost in the cave-in."

"We would be pleased to offer you a torch," the dwarf said. "You can leave it by the exit, and someone will get it later. The exit isn't far."

We gathered up what we could find of Morwen's bundles, and the dwarves did some more bowing. One of them handed Shiara a torch. She grumbled a little because she had to put Nightwitch down in order to take it, but she was the only one of us who could carry it. I had the sword in one hand and the key in the other, and the dragon couldn't hold a torch. Fortunately, Nightwitch didn't seem to mind walking. We thanked the dwarves and said good-bye, and they all bowed again, and finally we started off.

The tunnel started slanting upward almost as soon as we were past the cave-in, and shortly after that we stopped seeing side passages.

Eventually we came to a wide flight of stairs that curled around and around until all of us were dizzy. Just when I didn't think I could climb anymore, the stairs ended against a hard, rocky surface, like a trapdoor made of stone.

I shoved against it, but it didn't budge. "It's too heavy."

"Really?" said the dragon. "It doesn't look so bad."

I looked down at the dragon, who was last on the stairs because neither Shiara nor I had wanted to be behind it if it slipped. "It probably isn't too heavy for you. Why don't you try it?"

The dragon agreed, and Shiara and I squashed ourselves against the side of the stairs so it could climb past us. There were a couple of minute's worth of grunts, and the dragon's tail whipped back and forth, which made Shiara and me retreat farther down the stairs. Finally there was a loud noise like extremely rusty hinges, and the dragon started moving upward. A moment later, it stopped. "Uh-oh," it said.

"What's the matter?" Shiara called.

The dragon didn't answer, but it moved out of the way so we could climb up. Shiara and I got to the head of the stairs at almost the same time and looked around.

We were standing at the top of a small rise. The sun was starting to set, but there was still enough light to see the castle clearly. It was quite close, not more than a few minutes' walk from where I was, and it fascinated me.

At first, I thought it was made of something shimmery, like mother-of-pearl; then I realized that it wasn't the castle that was shimmering, it was something around the castle, like a giant soap bubble. I was still trying to figure out what it was when Shiara poked me, and I looked down.

There were approximately two hundred dragons sitting on the ground around the little hill we were standing on. Watching us.

I swallowed hard, and for a moment I wished I were wearing my sword instead of carrying it under my arm. Every dragon from inside the Enchanted Forest had to be there, and quite a few from the Mountains of Morning as well. They were spread out in all directions, so I couldn't even see the ground.

The forest encircled the castle at a distance, and there seemed to be something wrong about the trees. I couldn't tell what, though, and besides, I had other things to worry about right then. Two hundred dragons, for instance.

I stepped forward and bowed carefully in all directions. One of the first things Mother taught me about dragons was that they expect a new arrival to make the first move. They always allow you one chance to convince them that you're too polite or too important to eat. I didn't think I could convince two hundred dragons that I was particularly important, especially since I didn't believe it myself, so I was going to have to rely on being polite. I took a deep breath.

"Sirs and madams, I apologize most profoundly for intruding upon you in this fashion, and I hope we have not inconvenienced you in any way," I said, trying not to shout while still talking loudly enough for all the dragons to hear. "Nevertheless, I offer you greetings in the name of myself and my companions, and I wish you good fortune in whatever endeavors are most important to you."

The dragons stirred briefly, then settled back again. After a moment, an old gray-green male slid forward. "We greet you and wish you well," he said. "May we know your names?"

I bowed again, the half bow of respect for a dragon of great age and uncertain status. "I thank you for your greeting," I said. "I am called Daystar, and my companions are Shiara and Nightwitch. This young dragon has graciously accompanied us for part of our journey."

Since some of them presumably knew the little dragon already, I didn't have to introduce it.

I didn't ask for the dragons' names. It's perfectly acceptable not to, and I didn't feel like standing there through two hundred introductions, especially since the dragons would expect me to remember them all.

"Well met, Daystar," the old dragon rumbled. "We've been expecting you since early this afternoon."

"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting," I said. "We had problems with some wizards, and a cave-in, and a quozzel, and I didn't really know you were all here."

"Of course not. Telemain only told Kazul yesterday that you were coming. Silly way to do things, making everyone gather in such a hurry."

He looked at me for a minute, then nodded approvingly. "Well, come along; no sense wasting any more time. You might as well bring the girl and the cat, too. This way."

Our dragon lifted its head. "What about me?" It looked much smaller next to the full-grown dragons all around us, and it sounded considerably younger as well.

"You had better keep quiet," the older dragon said indulgently.

"You're in quite a bit of trouble already. I wouldn't make it worse if I were you."

"I don't have to keep quiet!" our dragon said. "I found a princess, even if I did decide not to keep her, and I fought a knight and bit a wizard. I can talk if I want to!"

The crowd of dragons shifted again, very slightly. Shiara shivered and held Nightwitch closer. I thought about wiping my hands on my tunic, but I didn't want to look too nervous. The older dragon just stood and stared at our dragon, which finally shook its head and settled back, watching the crowd below us with a sulky expression.

The old dragon smiled slightly. "What do you think?" he asked the crowd of dragons behind him.

All of the dragons roared at once. I couldn't tell what they were saying, or even if they were saying anything, but the old dragon nodded again and looked at the little dragon. "You'll get your wish, then.

Well, don't just stand there."

I nodded and stepped forward as the old dragon turned. Shiara followed behind me, very closely, and our dragon came behind her.

"Where are we going?" Shiara whispered to me.

The old dragon looked back over his shoulder, and his eyes glinted with amusement. "You're going to see Kazul."

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