Firekeeper Saga - Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart Part 44

Listening as she licked the bean gravy from her fingers, Firekeeper thought that the last sentence sounded as if it were addressed to someone else, but though she looked at every face, she couldn't figure out for whom the words were meant.

When they left the next morning, the mules were somewhat more heavily burdened than they had been on arrival, their panniers stretched out with fresh booty.

Wendee Jay had insisted that they must reward themselves for their victory. Though the trade goods and dry foods were a poor subst.i.tute for the liver-stealing, belly-swelling gorge and romp that usually followed a good hunt, Firekeeper had seconded her with enthusiasm. Surely there should be some celebration!

The bandits had not been wealthy, but the best from their h.o.a.rd was worth carrying away. Firekeeper carried soft fox pelts and folded squares of silk over to where Derian packed them away. There hadbeen jingling sacks with small bits of jewelry and coins, too. She'd tried a bangle on herself, liking how the metal flashed in the clear winter light, but it slowed her hand, so she put the trinket by until a special occasion arose.

They found the pa.s.s clear-suspiciously clear, as if the bandits might have shoveled and packed in antic.i.p.ation of making a fast escape with their new possessions. Even so, they traveled for the best part of the day before reaching the place where this road intersected the north/south trade road that would take them into Dragon's Breath.

A town had grown up where the two roads met and Firekeeper was impressed and-though she would have died rather than show it-intimidated by the three-and four-story stone buildings.

Firekeeper remembered her first view of West Keep, where Derian had begun her education in human ways, how the towering stone building had seemed like a living creature made all of stone. She remembered how terrified she had been when she had first visited Eagle's Nest, the single event that had most solidly driven home to her how very many humans there were and how insignificant she was among them.

But now she considered herself sophisticated in such matters. She had seen three cities-if you included the twin towns of Hope and Good Crossing-and had dwelt in two different castles. She didn't want to be impressed any longer with the ma.s.sive structures humans could make out of stone and wood.

She didn't want to, but she was.

It helped that Elise was open in expressing her own awe and wonder, that Wendee pointed to the sculptures with unfeigned glee, recognizing in their shapes familiar figures from the plays she had acted in years before.

The men affected to be less impressed-at least at first. The encounter with the bandits had made them grim, as if determined that no threat would escape their vigilance. Edlin was the first to break, forgetting to rein in his mount in his astonishment at seeing set into the side of some public building a cut-gla.s.s window so elaborate that it made the ones in his father's study seem prentice work by a very uncertain hand.

The vendor whose cart Edlin narrowly missed shook a fist at him, showering the young man with invective that turned into smiles of pride when Edlin grimaced apologetically and pointed to the window by way of explanation.

And this was just in a town a day's ride from the capital!

The next day they reached the vicinity of Dragon's Breath too late to go inside the walls, but, as with Eagle's Nest, a city had grown up outside the official wall. They found rooms in a-for New Kelvin-friendly inn. The owner condescended to tell them that their first duty in the morning was to register with the city guard.

"It is to your own protection," he explained laboriously in Pellish. "Foreigners not have manners and do stupid thing. You register as foreigner, guard tell you how not to break law and custom. If you do then, they be more forgiving because you have try to be civilized."

"Well!" Wendee said, drawing in her breath with an indignant snort. "Really!"

Elise nodded. "It's as if they expect us to spit on the carpets."

"And let the dogs p.i.s.s in the hallways," Edlin agreed. "If I'd brought any of the hounds with me, by thebuzzing-winged Hummer, I'd be tempted to do just that. Imagine!"

Firekeeper frowned.

"I think is good," she said. "They tell us how to be."

Five sets of eyes turned to stare at her quizzically-six, when Elation, who had gone to sleep on the back of Derian's chair, opened her own golden-rimmed eyes to study the wolf-woman.

Firekeeper struggled to explain.

"Is this," she said. "When I do as wolf do, Derian tell me is bad manners. So though I think wearing s.h.i.+rt in hot and sticky summer is as stupid as a late-summer-born pup in winter, I do to be polite."

She looked sternly at them, asking them to accept the magnitude of her sacrifices in the cause of good taste.

Derian grinned at her.

"And these days," he said, "you even let someone else finish their meat before stealing the bone-what amazing tact!"

Firekeeper grinned back at him.

"Who know what thing is to New Kelvinese people what is s.h.i.+rt to wolf? You not know either."

Edlin blinked. Despite his evident admiration of the wolf-woman, he was the one who still had the most trouble understanding her manner of speech. Wendee, perhaps owing to her practice in making sense of the chattering of small children, had far less trouble.

"You do have a point," she admitted. "And the law is the law."

"I wonder," Elise mused in the tone she reserved for purely philosophical points, "what they would do if we didn't report and then later broke some local ordinance. Could we plead ignorance and thus avoid punishment?"

"Let's" said Doc dryly, "not try that."

He looked away quickly then. Firekeeper was getting tired of the prolonged mating dance between him and Elise. She'd be glad when spring arrived and they got down to business.

She wondered if there would be anyone for Doc to fight. Elise's father, maybe? He seemed to take the place of the One Male in her pack. Did humans even do such things? Hadn't Sapphire and Shad mated out of season?

Firekeeper frowned and bit her lower lip. Impulsively, she started to ask, then remembered how carefully everyone was avoiding discussing an attraction that was obvious-at least where either Doc or Elise might overhear. She resolved to wait and ask Wendee or Derian when the others weren't near.

The next morning as the sun was rising the wolf-woman strolled out of the small stable in which she and Blind Seer had been sleeping. As their own horses and mules were the only animals present, this had been reasonable-even wise, for no one would trouble their gear when the big "dog" was known to be on guard.

She bent over, tousling the bits of straw and hay from her hair, wondering if she could possibly get Derianor Wendee to draw her a hot bath. The idea was attractive, so she straightened up, eager to make her request before Wendee had a chance to get involved with something else.

Her movement was interrupted in midstretch as she saw the skyline ahead of her. Dragon's Breath rose two or three times larger than Eagle's Nest, a multilevel sprawl that ascended up the mountain slopes.

Gla.s.s caught the light from the rising sun as it slid through gaps in the Sword of Kelvin Mountains.

The awe Firekeeper had felt the day before when they had arrived in the outlying town was nothing to the wondering fear that filled her as she looked at this city that was her destination.

Colors the rainbow never dreamed of adorned walls and doorways. Domes of beaten copper or faceted gla.s.s caught the sun's light, granting it polish and refinement. Brick and stonework shaped intricate patterns that teased the eye as if leading it through a maze.

For a moment, Firekeeper had a hint of what the world must have been like in the days before the Old Country rulers vanished back into their own lands. She understood the terrible power the Royal Beasts had combated-and had retreated before. Then that revelation mercifully retreated, and she was left instead with a sense of vastness and desolation.

So many buildings! So many people! How in all of this was she to find Lady Melina s.h.i.+eld?

And how-even if she found her-was she to steal anything at all from out of this ma.s.sive human stronghold?

Chapter XXVI.

As eager as Firekeeper was to find lady Melina, steal the three items, and hurry back west, her first glimpse of Dragon's Breath transformed her impatience into care-rather as a wolf who has scented what she thought was a solitary deer might pause to reconsider her tactics when she realizes that what she has surprised is a rutting buck with a twelve-point rack. While Derian, with Elise as translator, undertook the tedious and confusing task of registering their party as foreign traders, Wendee and Doc were put in charge of finding them a place to stay.

Edlin was a.s.signed to grooming their a.s.sorted beasts, a job he did with something like good grace. His role in saving them from the bandits had helped make him one of their number, but he was aware that he was an interlope, and was eager to prove his continued worth.

Edlin hinted to Firekeeper that he'd enjoy "Little Sister's" company down in the stable, but Firekeeper wasn't about to encourage his puppyish affection. With Blind Seer ghosting behind her, she joined Doc and Wendee.

The innkeeper had loaned them one of his sons, a youth with enough of both languages to act as a translator in case Wendee's New Kelvinese wasn't sufficient. In turn, Wendee's New Kelvinese was sufficient to a.s.sure that the boy didn't distort their needs for his own gain.

The innkeeper's boy led them immediately from the quieter fringes of town to a secondary market area outside the ancient walls. Inside the main walls-as in Eagle's Nest-stabling for the horses and mules would be prohibitively expensive. Moreover, the boy explained, that part of the city had become the purview of the sodalities. Very rarely did any building come up for rent, and the market there welcomed only the products of the sodalities themselves.Firekeeper followed a few steps behind the rest, trying not to show her terror at being surrounded by this sprawling city. She took some comfort from knowing that Blind Seer was trailing them, seeing how well he could conceal his presence from the daylight world.

"Given the pong of trash and night soil," the wolf said, "even though cold has deadened some of the reek, I should not alert the duller noses. We will be helped in that the New Kelvinese limit the numbers of herbivores on the streets during the day-fewer to catch my scent and be properly terrified."

"And the dogs?" Firekeeper had asked. "These people do keep dogs."

"I'll growl 'em to silence," the wolf replied confidently.

Firekeeper knew that in reality Blind Seer was no happier than she about their surroundings, but like her he had changed since their first venture into what humans persisted in calling "civilization." Moreover, he had promised to help her in the undertaking the Royal Beasts had laid upon her, and he could not do that from outside Dragon's Breath.

Elation, as usual, was gone on some business of her own. She might be following Derian; then again, she might be hunting out some of the winged folk-perhaps the very crow who had followed Lady Melina north.

Actually, as they twisted through the streets, Firekeeper began to have a sneaking suspicion that Blind Seer could have walked openly at her side with Elation perched on his back and no one would have noticed. Even to her, limited as her exposure to human customs had been, the people of Dragon's Breath seemed weird.

The stories Wendee had told along the road had prepared her somewhat for the wide use of face paint, but she decided that no mere tales could have prepared her for the reality of the wildly colored faces-or for the smell of the preparations used to achieve the effect.

There didn't seem to be one single preparation in use, but many involved oils and dyes that had quite strong odors. Spices, nutmeats, flower petals, pulverized minerals all mixed together into an olfactory storm that made Firekeeper struggle not to pinch her nostrils shut.

And then there was the clothing. Much of it resembled the long straight robes Wendee had purchased in Gateway-although more brightly colored. Sometimes two or three such robes had been layered over each other to provide protection from the cold. Other pa.s.sersby wore long coats trimmed in fur or brilliant tapestry brocades.

These, however, were the comparatively normal New Kelvinese.

Firekeeper nearly lost sight of her companions the first time a truly exotic figure paraded past. It was a man-at least it seemed to be male-clad all in bronze-colored tights. These tights were not merely formfitting. They were padded so that the man's limbs had more form, so they were exaggeratedly defined. Stylized muscle groups along the man's arms, legs, and chest had been worked out with careful anatomical detail; his p.e.n.i.s protruded before him like a spear, b.a.l.l.s swaying below with every stride.

The man's face had been stained reddish-bronze, his eyes rimmed in black, his nose tip painted so that it appeared to spread across his face in an oddly bovine fas.h.i.+on. The enormous headgear he wore continued the illusion. Flaring ears and long bronze horns created the impression-even for Firekeeper, who usually saw reality and had difficulty seeing mere art-of a bipedal bull.She swiveled around as the man went by and saw that his outfit included a tail that, rather than dragging limply on the ground behind him as she might have expected, bounced and waved like a natural tail of flesh and bone.

What astonished her almost as much as the bull-man was that no one else seemed to notice him, no one but herself, Wendee, and Doc. Even the innkeeper's son, who was young enough that he should have been delighted by such a colorful figure, pa.s.sed the bull-man without slowing, pausing only when he realized that he had nearly lost those he was intended to guide.

After they had threaded through the streets for a bit longer, Firekeeper realized why these exotic figures raised no comment. Many they pa.s.sed on the crowded streets in this part of town could have rivaled the bull-man in complexity of costume and pure gaudiness of finery.

Within the next hour Firekeeper saw so many wildly attired figures that she finally didn't bother to turn and stare after each one. There were people dressed as birds or beasts, people dressed as the night sky in robes set with mirrors, people parading beneath amazing hats-some so large that they required support yokes resting on the wearer's shoulders.

Nor were the domestic animals immune to the general pa.s.sion for costuming things as what they were not. The horses wore-at the very least-horns jutting from their foreheads or antlers on their headstalls.

Their coats had often been colored some unusual shade. Firekeeper had a sudden insight to where the dyes once used to color Princess Sapphire's Blue must have been bought. She wondered if Lady Melina had been inspired by her youthful visit to New Kelvin.

Oxen with intricately curling horn sheaths hauled carts covered in bells and streamers. Even the dogs-though they encountered few of these-were adorned with things that glittered and flashed. Only the birds were, by and large, untouched by the human pa.s.sion for decoration and seemed drab and plain by contrast.

Within a few hours after noon, Derian and Wendee had located a landholder who seemed interested in renting a portion of her premises to them.

She was a fat woman with rolling chins that effectively disguised the location of her neck. Because of the New Kelvinese custom-fairly universally observed as far as Firekeeper could tell-of shaving the front of her head to a point just above the tips of her ears, the woman appeared to have an extremely large head-or at least a vast expanse of face.

This face was stained bright pink, the color of certain late flowers-the flowers that must compete for the attention of bees who have been jaded by the entire spectrum of spring and early summer. Her eyebrows were stained a darker pink, as were her lips. The blue eyes that confronted the world from this wash of rose were startling in contrast.

Somehow, Firekeeper whispered to Blind Seer, I expected them to be red, like those of a rat seen at night.

The wolf snuffled his agreement. "At least her gown is green. More pink and I would think we had opened a door into the sunrise."

"I am," the pink-faced woman announced haughtily, "Hasamemorri."

She spoke Pellish with a formality that suggested that she had learned it much as Elise had learned New Kelvinese, from books and tutors rather than from daily use.Wendee said something in New Kelvinese, doubtless a request about the property they had been told Hasamemorri had to rent.

Hasamemorri raised a carnation-pink eyebrow, possibly, Firekeeper thought, considering their previous encounters, at Wendee's archaic phrasing. Wendee, however, had learned it was better to show at least some knowledge of the local language. The locals were either amused or flattered. They took not being told that one among them spoke New Kelvinese-as the trio had learned at their first stop-as an insult.

Hasamemorri said something else. Though she didn't invite them inside, Firekeeper saw her relax slightly.

"Curious about us," Blind Speaker commented. "And she has stabling for the horses. This time I checked."

Firekeeper nodded thanks. They'd wasted a long hour negotiating with a promising landholder only to learn too late that although he owned stable s.p.a.ce it was currently leased out. She didn't pa.s.s the news on to Wendee. Wendee had learned enough to ask early on.

Wendee continued to speak in New Kelvinese for another phrase or so; then she switched to Pellish.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," she said. "I can't say what I need to in your fine language."

"I doubt," Hasamemorri replied fairly amiably, "that the texts of the great playwrights contained the words you need for discussing a rental. Would you and your companions come within?"

Doc nodded acceptance. Firekeeper spoke quickly before anyone could accept for her.

"Please, Wendee, Doc-I want to stay out here and watch the people."

Wendee gave a quick glance toward Hasamemorri, but the pink lady seemed pleased rather than offended.

"Let the child remain without," she said grandly. "Come into my parlor."

A cup of something hot and smelling lightly of mint was sent out to her. It wasn't tea, quite, but it wasn't alcoholic, so Firekeeper sipped it as she watched the New Kelvinese go by. She tried to think how she would paint herself if she were to pa.s.s as a New Kelvinese. None of the designs she saw appealed to her, but the imagining amply amused her.

Doc and Wendee emerged in good humor.

"We have a place and at a decent rent, too," Wendee said as they walked briskly back to the inn. "It turns out that Hasamemorri has trouble with arthritis or something in her knees."

"Nothing that losing a few hundred pounds wouldn't help," Doc muttered.

"And Doc made much of the pain recede," Wendee continued blandly. "In return for his continued services, we're to have the entire ground floor-Hasamemorri prefers the upper apartments. There's a kitchen we can share and she'll even loan us a maid once a week and allow us to combine our laundry with hers for a small additional charge."

Much of this information rushed through Firekeeper's mind as water would over a rock. Still she grasped the essentials.

"And the horses and mules?" she asked, just to be safe."There's a good stable out back," Wendee a.s.sured her. "We have to supply our own feed and labor, but that's no trouble."

"Good," Firekeeper said. "Now we can find Lady Melina. People will hear of Doc and come to us with stories."

"I doubt it will take long for us to get a line on her," Wendee agreed optimistically. "Right, Doc?"

Doc, perhaps contemplating an undefined period of time during which he must daily contemplate Hasamemorri and her abused knees, replied with unaccustomed fervor: "I sincerely hope so!"

Arrival in dragons breath dispelled the last of the cloud that had clung to Elise since the bandit attack.