Talking to Dragons (22 page)

“All right,” I said uncomfortably. Cottlestone turned away, and I watched him melt into the crowd of dwarves. I wasn't sure what I'd found out, except that I didn't like people bowing to me. I found myself hoping that the rest of the dwarves wouldn't imitate Cottlestone.

“Did he say they're almost finished?” asked Shiara from behind me. “Wonderful! I can't wait to get out of here.”

I turned. Shiara was standing, holding Nightwitch in the crook of her left arm. Her right arm was covered from her fingers almost to her shoulder in something smooth and gray and shiny. She looked a little white, but that might have been the torch light. “Well, what are you staring at?” she demanded.

“I wasn't staring,” I said. “I was just checking to see if you were all right.”

Darlbrin stepped up beside Shiara and bowed. “Not quite all right. But not bad, not bad at all.”

“I wouldn't call a broken arm ‘not bad,'” Shiara said sourly.

“Oh, I didn't mean that!” Darlbrin said hastily. “I was referring to the mending.”

“I'm sure you did a very good job,” I told him. “And I really appreciate it.”

“I suppose I do, too,” Shiara mumbled. “Thanks.”

“It isn't really mended yet, you know,” Darlbrin said with a touch of anxiety. “People aren't as easy to fix as ax handles. It'll be a month before you can take the sheath off.”

“Yes, I know. I've had a broken arm before.” Shiara scowled at the sheath.

“Then you're very welcome!” The dwarf beamed. “Happy to be of service!”

Shiara snorted, but quietly. Darlbrin didn't notice. He bowed to each of us and went off to help the rest of the dwarves finish clearing the tunnel. I looked at Shiara. “I didn't know you'd broken your arm before.”

“That's because I didn't tell you about it,” Shiara said. She looked at me for a minute, then sighed. “I was stealing apples from the Prince's gardens and fell out of the tree, all right?”

“Oh. What prince, and why were you taking his apples?”

“The Prince of the Ruby Throne,” Shiara said after a minute. “He had a house and garden just outside town, and he never picked any of the apples. He just left them to rot. And I was hungry. So I sneaked over the wall and climbed the tree, but there was a big snake in it, with wings. So I fell out of the tree and broke my arm, and the snake went away.”

“Shiara,” I said, and stopped. She obviously had no idea what she had almost done. I sighed and changed what I was going to say. “Shiara, the Prince of the Ruby Throne raises magic apples. All kinds of people have been trying to steal them for years and years, but he's a very powerful sorcerer, and there are hundreds of spells protecting his gardens.”

“That must be why he was so upset,” Shiara said in a tone of sudden enlightenment. “I'm pretty sure he was the one who told the Society of Wizards about me. I
thought
it was a lot of fuss to make about a few apples.”

I looked at her for a minute. “I don't want to be nosy or anything, but I'd really appreciate knowing if there's anyone
else
who's mad at you.”

“I don't think so,” Shiara said, frowning.

“Good. I don't think I want any more people chasing us. Particularly people with powerful magic. It wouldn't be so bad if you could use your fire magic.”

“She can!” said the dragon, and Shiara and I both jumped and turned around. “She burned the dragonsbane, and she can make her hair burn.”

“When did
you
see Shiara's hair burning?” I asked. The only time I'd ever seen Shiara's hair on fire was when she'd gotten mad at me right after we'd met, and the dragon hadn't been there then.

“Just a few minutes ago,” the dragon said. “You were fighting that dessert thing, so you might not have noticed.”

I looked at Shiara, and she blushed. “I was trying to do something to the quozzel. I thought it would work because it worked on the dragonsbane.”

“It worked on the dragonsbane,” I repeated slowly. “And that first wizard, the one who made a water monster out of the stream—you did something to that monster, too. That's at least twice that you've made your fire magic work properly. Can you think of any others? Maybe we can figure out why it happens.”

“She used it at the invisible castle,” the dragon offered. “The one where that
other
fire-witch lived.”

“I did not!” Shiara said. “I didn't have time. We ran into the castle, and she came out, and
bang!
I was a statue.”

The dragon sat back, looking smug. “You said you wanted to know what the castle was, and then you did. That's fire magic, isn't it?”

“I suppose it is,” Shiara said slowly.

“Then that's three,” I said. “Can you think of any more? Before you came to the Enchanted Forest, for instance?”

Shiara frowned and was silent. “No,” she said finally in a very positive tone. “Those are the only times I've ever gotten my magic to do what I wanted it to, ever.”

“So it's only been happening since you came to the Enchanted Forest,” I said.

“And met you and got bitten by that stupid sword,” Shiara added, and stopped. We looked at each other for a minute.

“Not again!” I said. I thought for a minute. “It can't be the sword alone, or you would have been able to do something to the quozzel. There has to be something else, too.”

“Like what?”

“I don't know. Did you do anything differently when it worked?”

“No.”

“Well, then did you do anything differently right before it worked?” I said. “There has to be some—” I stopped, remembering. “Oh,” I said.

“What is it?”

“I think I know what makes your magic work.” I didn't think Shiara was going to like it much, but I couldn't just keep quiet about it. “I think you have to be polite to people.”

“That's
stupid!
”

“It makes sense,” I said. “You apologized to me after we got out of the hedge, and then when the first wizard came along your magic worked against the snake thing. You were nice to the Princess because you felt sorry for her, and right after that you knew about the invisible castle. And you said thanks to Suz and apologized to Telemain, and then you made the dragonsbane burn.”

“But that other fire-witch wasn't polite!” Shiara objected.

“I didn't say
all
fire-witches have to be polite to people before their magic will work,” I said. “I only said
your
magic works that way. And I'm not positive. I mean, it could be something else.”

“Well, I'm not going to go around being nice to people just so I can do magic!”

“I don't think it would work, anyway,” I said unhappily. “I mean, I don't think you can just say things. I think you have to really mean them. 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 goodbye, 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 minutes' 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.