Midnight Quest (15 page)

She had never in her life been around a dog before, so wasn’t sure how to talk to him. Hesitantly, she phrased it the way she would talk to a child. “Um, can you get down? I want to get out of bed.”

Instantly, the dog stood up on the mattress before lightly jumping to the floor. Relieved, Jewel threw the covers back and swung her legs over. The skin on her shins felt the brush of fur and she froze, toes grazing the bare wood floor. “He’s right next to me.”

“Eh, he be quite keen on no being far from you.” Rialt’s voice held speculation. “There be a collar on him. Sarvell, can you read it from your angle?”

“No, not really…wait, that’s Elahandra’s symbol!”

Jewel froze, feeling lightheaded for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

Reaching out, she found the dog’s coat and then brushed up until she found a collar made of sewn leather and cool metal. With her fingers, she traced it around.
There
. Engraved into the metal was indeed Elahandra’s symbol. The five interlocking rings were unmistakable.

Either this dog belonged to someone of her Order, or… She bent her head in prayer.
Elahandra, do you know who this dog belongs to?

“I certainly do. He belongs to you.”

ME?!

“Indeed.”
An undertone of laughter richened her words. “
Jewel, my sweet child, do you think I don’t know how difficult traveling is for you? I recognize the challenges you are facing. While Rialt and Sarvell certainly do everything they can to help, they don’t always know what you need. This little fellow does. I trained him myself. He will be your constant and loyal companion.”

She recognized the gift for what it was—a reward for her willingness to go. Tears pricked her eyes but she fought them back.
Thank you.

“You are very welcome. His name is Bortonor, by the way. Oh, and don’t worry…he and your other guards will come to terms eventually.”

Jewel frowned, feeling suspicions grow.
What do you mean “come to terms?”

With a mischievous laugh, the presence of her goddess disappeared.

“Jewel?”

Still frowning, she turned toward the sound of Sarvell’s voice. “He’s a gift to me from Elahandra. She said that he is trained to help me.” The fact that these three wouldn’t get along in the near future…she wouldn’t mention just now. “His name is Bortonor.”

The dog let out a soft wuff before laying his head in her lap. Considering the size of his head, that meant that he filled her lap. “Um…just how big is he?”

“Bigger than you,” Rialt answered bluntly. “He looks full grown, he does.”

Bigger than her?! Focusing, she put both hands on his head and started investigating, trying to develop an idea of what the dog looked like. His head was large, certainly, with a wide brow that trailed down into a round snout. His ears seemed to flop instead of stand straight up. She could feel serious muscle under all of the fur as she trailed her hands down a deep chest, sloping back, and powerful legs. The only thing completely soft was a thick tail. The tail wagged as her hands trailed over him. “He likes my attention, doesn’t he?”

“This breed does,” Rialt informed her. “They be a mite independent, mind, and he will no smother you with love, but they like affection. You will no find its equal in intelligence, courage or devotion. He be a good gifting.”

Thank heavens Rialt was so very familiar with the breed. She wouldn’t have the first clue on how to go about caring for him.

“Intelligence, eh?” Sarvell drawled. “Is that why he’s looking at me in that weighing manner?”

“Eh, just so. He be trying to decide if we be friend or foe.”

Jewel didn’t like the implications of that. “So what if he decides you’re foes?”

“He will no let us within arm’s reach of you.”

“Alright, Rialt, then how do we convince him we’re friends?”

“That will take a few days,” Rialt answered dryly. “In the meantime, Jewel will have to do the talking. He will no trust a word we say.”

Oh…dear.

Chapter Ten

Bortonor turned out to be even more of a godsend than Jewel first realized.

He did indeed know what she needed when she needed it. Whenever she stood up to go anywhere, he would nose his way under her hand so that her palm rested on his head. With that touch, he would guide her to wherever she wanted to go. He displayed a keen intelligence that made him several times smarter than some people she knew. When she spoke, he knew what she meant.

She discovered another nice perk when she descended the stairs for breakfast that morning. With this massive dog at her side, people gave her a wide berth. The taproom had just as much of a crowd as it had the night before, but Bortonor encouraged them to back up and give her room to move. She could hear people muttering to each other as she passed, most in curiosity but a few in blatant worry.

Jewel kept her hand tangled in her guide’s fur and a pleasantly blank expression on her face. “Bort, do you see an empty table?”

The dog gave a soft wuff, as if in confirmation.

“Lead me there, then.”

He did so, pressing his head against her midriff to stop her from bumping right into the table. She patted him on the neck before letting go, reaching out with her hands to find the edge of the table and the location of the chair. When she felt the smooth wood, she traced it about for a moment to outline the shape in her mind before maneuvering into it.

“Well,” Sarvell said as a chair scraped across the floor, “He
is
good. Of course, I’m not surprised Elahandra knows how to train a dog.”

Jewel chuckled at that. “Neither am I. What should we order for him, anyway? Dogs eat meat, don’t they?”

“The kuvasz likes sweet bread, too,” Rialt put in with a slight creak of wood as he settled into a chair to her right.

“Let’s see what the cook has to offer, shall we?” Sarvell turned and called out for a serving girl, then placed an order for breakfast.

As they waited for food to arrive, Jewel focused on getting more information about her new companion. “Rialt, will he be able to keep up with us on horseback?”

“Eh, no worries. They be as fast as a trotting horse. If we break out into a full run, he might fall behind a bit, but will catch up quickly enough.” The table creaked as someone leaned their weight against it. “Jewel, a word of warning: this breed is the sensitive sort. He will react well to praise and badly to blame. Just his name in a scolding tone is enough to correct him. Never do more than that.”

Wise words and ones that she needed to remember. “Alright. What else?”

“Now, they be known to be very protective of children. In his eyes I think you qualify, since you be smaller than him. Do no be surprised if he overreacts to threats near you.”

“What, like you do?” Sarvell asked in blatant amusement.

Rialt gave a huff of annoyance at the question but didn’t answer. Jewel’s head cocked a little to the side as she considered it. Actually, now that Sarvell mentioned it, the Ramath and their dogs did have certain similar personality traits…

“Just feed him when we eat, give him lots of praise and attention, and you have no a thing to worry about,” Rialt finished with a firm tone.

The serving girl arrived at that point and set down plates with a distinct clap on the table. Jewel frowned at the quick and hasty steps the girl made as she skittered to the other side of the table. “You don’t need to be nervous of him. He’s a gentle dog.”

A long, taut pause. “All the same, miss…”

Jewel just sighed and let that battle go. “Which plate is his?”

Sarvell reached out and grasped her hand, pushing the edge of a plate into it. “This one.”

“Thank you.” Jewel reached out and found Bort’s head with her other hand. To no one’s surprise, he sat as close to her as he could. “Bort, back up a bit so I can put your plate on the floor.”

The dog instantly moved back a foot, his nails scraping slightly against the wood floor as he moved. As Jewel lifted the plate and bent to put it down, she could smell day-old bread and some sort of smoked beef. He waited for her to sit up again before digging in, making happy munching sounds as he consumed his breakfast in quick bites.

Satisfied, Jewel focused on her own breakfast of soft bread, boiled eggs, and some sort of tart fruit that she didn’t recognize.

“Jewel, do you have a better idea of where the crystal is?” Sarvell asked.

“It’s getting clearer,” she answered after swallowing a bite. “Perhaps another three days travel away? That’s a guess. It might be farther than that.”

“Still, it’s closer than I feared it would be.” Sarvell sounded encouraged by her response.

“Are there no legends about Bryn’s crystal?” Rialt asked, the sound of bread being torn accompanying his words.

“No, not that I know of. The only thing I ever heard about it is that our crystal disappeared the same year that Ramath’s did.”

“I suppose that no information is better than conflicting information,” Jewel allowed dryly. “And it doesn’t matter much anyway. We need to head more southeast now, instead of true south.”

“Well, I’ll get the horses saddled, then.”

~*~*~*~

“Dog.” Rialt’s tone had a strained patience to it, as if he were fighting to keep himself from snapping. “I do no mind you being protective of our lass, but you canna be so contrary.”

Bortonor, not agreeing, let loose another growl.

It wasn’t nice of her, but Jewel couldn’t help but giggle. It had taken only a few minutes to saddle the horses and pack up some food. Sarvell was already mounted, ready to go. But when Rialt reached out to lift her on the back of the horse, well…Bortonor stepped forward, blocking him, and let out a snarl that said to keep the distance.

Rialt tried reasoning, trickery, and bribes…to no avail. Bortonor failed to be moved by any of it.

Jewel, who really should have been trying to help with the situation, instead found it hilariously funny to listen to Rialt argue with Bortonor like he was human and not a dog. Of course, with Bortonor giving growls and short barks in return, it actually
did
sound like an argument in progress.

Bortonor let out another bark, the sound low and deep.

“Oh, a fine gentleman you are!” Rialt snapped irritably in return. “Letting a lady,
your
lady, walk the whole way.”

Bortonor let out a soft whine. Jewel stifled another laugh behind her hand as the dog started caving.

“You be here to protect her, be you no?” Rialt challenged archly. “And a fine job you would be doing, if you made her walk just for
your
convenience.”

Another soft whine that transformed into a low groan. To Jewel’s ears, it sounded like defeat. She patted him on the head. “It’s alright,” she soothed, biting back a smile. “You can run alongside and be right next to me.”

He let out a soft whine in the back of this throat. Clearly, this reassurance didn’t sit well with him, but he couldn’t find a good way to argue his point. Jewel found herself grateful that he didn’t possess the ability to actually form words. Otherwise they’d probably still be arguing at the end of the day.

With this sorted out, Rialt put both hands around Jewel’s waist and lifted her to the back of his stallion. She held on firmly to the pommel as he lifted himself behind her, the saddle shifting a bit from side to side under his weight. With familiar ease, she leaned back against him as his arm came around to gather up the reins. With a tap of the heels, they moved off.

Jewel’s ears were tracking all of the sound around her. At this hour of the morning, the place bustled with farmers bringing in their products for morning market, people going to work, and travelers departing for the road. With all of the noise, she couldn’t hear the click of Bortonor’s toenails as he walked. Frowning, she turned her head slightly and strained. No, she still couldn’t hear him.

Rialt apparently noticed her actions as he queried, “Lass?”

“I can’t hear Bortonor,” she admitted with a growing frown. “He’s right next to us, isn’t he?”

“Eh, on our right side. Do no worry, he will no be more than a foot from you.”

“I’m actually worried that he might be run over,” she admitted frankly, her frown only easing a hair. “The streets sound overrun with traffic.”

“Well, there be a bit of breathing room still,” he assured her. “But do no worry about your furry friend. People be giving him a wide birth.”

Well, as long as people didn’t hit him. She didn’t want everyone to be afraid of him of course, but she preferred that over him being hurt because of someone’s carelessness.

When they finally cleared the city’s outskirts, she breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back against Rialt’s broad chest. As the morning passed, the air grew warmer with a gentle breeze stirring the fine hairs on her skin. The scents around her changed as well, from the crisp smell of frozen earth to the softer, tangier aroma of sunbaked dirt and greenery. She found it perfectly soothing. So soothing, in fact, that the idea of a mid-morning nap tantalized her.

Aside from a break at noon for a quick meal, they rode straight south. Travelers on the road were few and far between and it became easier for Jewel to hear Bortonor. His breathing had a distinct rhythm as he ran alongside. It did not sound labored in any way, and she listened for any sign of it. But it seemed that Elahandra had anticipated his need for stamina and trained him in this regard as well. He kept up with perfect ease.

They stopped for the night in a clearing off the road. Jewel, as usual, took over the task of cooking while the men saw to the horses and set up camp. Bortonor served as a guide whenever she stood up for any reason but otherwise seemed content to lay on her feet. Jewel knew full well that he chose to conquer her feet so that he could discourage her from moving. But since he also served to keep her warm in the cooling night air, she didn’t complain.

At dawn they returned to the road and continued heading south. As they grew closer, Jewel directed them toward the east. She could feel the sun blazing directly overhead when the quick trot of the stallion under her legs slowed to a walk. “Is something ahead?”