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His head jerked up, and he looked at her intently for a moment. Then he sighed, grinned,
and helped himself to two daggarts before passing the plate to the librarian.
Dar sat at the head of the table. He wrapped his fingers around his drink as if to warm his
hands.
“First, I would like an account of the fight at The Horn.” His eyes shifted immediately to
her. “Kale?”
“Some of the men took exception to Regidor.” She paused, not knowing how to describe
the way Regidor goaded the men into the fight.
Dar’s eyes moved to the lehman. “Bardon?”
“When the men challenged Regidor, he revealed his identity and instigated the fight.”
Dar’s eyes narrowed. “And what provoked you, Regidor?”
Kale had grown so accustomed to the unusual pupils in Regidor’s eyes, she hardly
noticed them. But now the black pupils narrowed to a thick line running down the center
of each green iris. The green glowed as if a fire burned within. Kale tensed, wondering if
the meech would explode once again.
“They talked of dragons, among themselves and in the stupid rumination of their drunken
minds.” Regidor’s deep voice rumbled like thunder announcing a wild storm still some
distance away. “Dragons are to be blamed for every ill of society. Poisonous slander.
Malicious lies. These men plot to murder dragons working side by side with the high
races. Their words inflame the fears of ignorance. Kill. Destroy. Maim. Imprison. These
are their solutions to a nonexistent problem. Crush the eggs. Slit the throats of newborns.
Burn the carcass of any slain dragon. Bounties have already been offered in Northern
Trese. The slaughter has begun.”
Kale tried to stem the panic flooding her. The minor dragons left their dessert and
crawled into her arms where she cradled them, holding their fragile bodies as if to protect
them from this unseen danger.
“Fools,” barked Librettowit. “For centuries Amara’s economy has depended on
cooperation between the high races and the dragons. The dragons have always been
unselfish in their willingness to facilitate the production and marketing of goods. How do
these vigilantes propose to conduct business after they have annihilated our worthy
friends?”
“Yes.” Dar spoke with ponderous gravity. “This narrow-minded propaganda is poisoning
the thinking of too many people. The problem escalates by careful planning. Rabble-
rousers spread these venomous ideas. And the dragons themselves act in an irrational
manner that strengthens the rumors.”
Kale cuddled her three dragons. “What are we going to do?” Not even Dibl passed
encouragement to her worried mind.
“I have news from my meeting tonight,” said Dar. “We can at last leave this depressing
city and go in search of the meech dragon. We have a definite lead.”
They leaned over the table toward the doneel.
“One wagon of itinerant merchants has been noted to have been in each location where
an outbreak of radical dragon behavior has occurred. The meech dragon must be traveling
with this band of thieves. They sell elixirs, potions, balms, and concoctions to heal,
relieve, and assuage any problem you could name. Of course, it’s all a sham. I believe
their poison harms men’s minds as well as their bodies. We shall track down these
swindlers and see what they carry in their wagon besides chicanery.”
“First,” said Regidor, “we have another issue to discuss.”
All eyes turned to the meech dragon. Kale picked up the suppressed anger emanating
from her friend. She cast a glance at Bardon to see if he, too, recognized the danger. The
lehman’s body tensed. He pushed his chair a foot away from the table. His focus
remained on Regidor’s stern expression.
The dragon glared at the doneel. “Dar, you will not lie to us again.”
“Lie?” The doneel clenched a fist. “Explain this accusation.”
“You told us that you were going into a back room to play cards.” Regidor paused. He
ground out his next words. “You were not playing cards.”
Dar nodded. His fist relaxed. “I see your concern, Regidor. I’ll explain.
“I entered the game of cards, hoping to pick up some useful gossip. However, one of the
players was the first mate from the frigate Breedoria.
“I knew that a messenger had intended to board the ship in Dascarnavon. So I asked the
first mate if they had taken on a passenger from that port. He said they had, but the man
was ill. I excused myself from the game and went to the Breedoria. I boarded and found
our informer was not ill but wounded. He gave me the news I have shared with you.”
Dar’s cold delivery of the facts made Kale shiver. She did not like this stern, controlled
man who had taken the place of her fun-loving friend.
Librettowit slammed his empty mug down on the table. “Good news and bad. Good that
we finally have a clear direction for this quest. Bad that we must leave the relative
comfort of this house to pursue the reprobates. I prefer my library to the wilds of Trese.”
He rose from his chair. “I propose we pack in the morning and leave as soon as the
dragons are summoned.”
He shuffled out of the room, shutting the hall door with a thud. Kale saw a quiver of a
smile play on Dar’s lips. She relaxed a bit.
“The wilds of Trese?” she asked. “I was raised in River Away in Trese. The countryside
consisted of farmland and forest, very tame forest with hardly any wildlife you would call
wild. No grawligs, no blimmets, no mordakleeps. In fact, the seven low races are
considered to be a fable by most of the citizens of Trese.”
Dar chuckled. “Anyplace that has no libraries, no bookstores, no institutions of higher
learning is considered uncivilized and wild to our tumanhofer.”
“Summon the dragons?” Bardon’s eyes glinted with excitement.
“Yes, Celisse and Merlander will fly to meet us, then carry us to our destination.”
Kale’s heart skipped over the dread of their quest and landed with joy at the prospect of
being reunited with the two dragons.
“To bed, then,” said Dar.
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