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Bardon spoke slowly. Regidor should have left us a message by now, as well. We should meet up with
him and all the others this afternoon. He was to designate a location. He opened his eyes. This feels
good but is wasting time.
Let me hear what father said at the end of his message, and then I ll change the weave to tell us if
Regidor has used the device.
Her father rambled on about various aspects of the dragons she had entrusted to him. None of the news
troubled her. In fact, she felt great relief and reassurance as he related each detail of normal daily routine.
By the time she d reached Bardon s shoulder, the message ran out.
He opened his eyes again and winked at her. Can I persuade you to get Regidor s message? Please?
She moved to gather up the talking gateway, and as she suspected, Bardon sat up on the side of the bed.
Kale tsked at him. You should let me do the other side.
I m better. I want to see Regidor.
She set the gateway on the bedside table. I can t get over the fact that I can move this thing from place
to place and it doesn t unravel. She adjusted a strand. I m going to leave a message for Father first,
since that gateway is already open. She fine-tuned the threads and left a message asking if he knew
anything about the Followers and the black dragons. She described both in detail, and when she finished,
she couldn t help but compare them as equal threats to the peace of Amara.
Bardon didn t comment on her intuitive leap of understanding. Instead, he urged her again to pick up
Regidor s message. She glanced his way and saw lines of fatigue around his mouth. Perhaps on this
journey they would find something to keep the stakes at bay.
Her husband dressed as she worked on the weave.
Hello, Regidor s voice boomed into the room, startling Kale. I m leaving the same message to
everyone.
His unusual green eyes with long narrow pupils looked steadily out of the portal.
He looks like he can see us. Kale touched the woven frame. This is the oddest contraption.
Today, Gilda and I will be at Danns Crossing at the fork of the North and South Hierson. If you don t
join us there, I will leave another message as to where we propose to stop tomorrow evening. Danns
Crossing is the only place we will linger, though. Gilda is anxious to reach the north country.
Bardon kissed the top of Kale s head. I m going out to talk to Garmey.
I heard him leave the house earlier.
He ll be in the barn or in the fields. He s a good farmer.
As Bardon left the room, the dragons slipped out in search of the children. They were greeted with
squeals of delight. Bardon reached back to close the door. I don t think the boys are that happy to see
me.
At their age, would you have wanted to play with a stuffy old knight or playful dragons of almost every
color?
Bardon tilted his head. Probably I would have wanted to follow the knight, not expecting him to play
with me. In fact, I think I did follow the knights around The Hall, but I was a tad older than these sprites.
He smiled at her. Can you be ready to go by the time I get back?
After I see you eat breakfast, yes.
Bossy woman. He closed the door.
Kale lost no time changing into the riding habit she most often wore while traveling. She straightened the
covers on the bed, suspecting Elma would wash the linens before someone else rented the room. She
picked up the things she had used the night before and tucked them into the hollows of her cape before
joining her hostess in the common room.
Dibl had instigated a game of hide-and-seek with the boys. The dragons hid, and just as the boys were
about to discover a dragon, the little trickster would jump out and scare the seeker. Tallidah rolled on the
floor, laughing and declaring at the same time that the dragons didn t play fair.
I have something for you, said Elma, wiping her hands on her apron and going to a cabinet. She pulled
out a short, squat pot made of fired clay. It s ointment for your husband s stakes. He has em, don t
he?
Kale nodded and took the medicine.
I thought so. My grandda had em. This is the only thing that helped. She reached in her pocket and
drew out a worn piece of paper. Here s the recipe written in my own grandma s hand.
I have paper. Kale took the brown-edged sheet and sat at the table. I ll copy it.
I ve got it learned by heart. I don t use the words anymore.
But you treasure it because of your grandma. I ll write it down, and that way I can ask you questions if I
don t understand something.
You and your husband are so nice. Why is that?
Kale looked up from her attempt to decipher the faded handwriting. She smiled. I was just thinking how
nice you are to give me this. I think it feels good to offer kindness and have it accepted. We get in the
habit of feeling good like that and don t want to stop.
A shadow crossed Elma s face, and she glanced out the window. Some people don t accept a word of
blessing or an act of charity.
No. Kale wrinkled her brow. But that s when persistence pays off. All those times when whoever
didn t count your offerings as worthy she tapped the tabletop with a finger for emphasis I think
Wulder counted it three times. Once for doing it, once for not reacting with bitterness, and once for
determining to repeat the kindness. You shouldn t be forced by someone else to give up what gives your
heart pleasure and Wulder s heart pleasure too.
Elma grinned at her. Phew! That was quite a mouthful. Is it in those principles from the Tomes that
Garmey has been talking about?
Yes. Do you read the Tomes? Kale pulled paper and pen from her cape and began to write out the
instructions for the ointment.
No, no. Garmey don t much like it that I can read, and he can t. He says the Followers are going to
teach him to read. For the time being, they tell him a principle and he learns it. And they tell him what it
means and he learns that, too.
And then he teaches it to you and the boys?
Oh no. We aren t to learn em until he gets up to a higher level. Then we can join him on the path to
righteousness.
Kale s hand stilled over the page. Elma, that isn t right.
Garmey says it is, and he s the one s been going to the meetings. She put her hands on her hips and
looked askance at Kale.
Elma, Bardon doesn t believe these Followers are following Paladin s instructions.
The marione snorted. They wouldn t be called Followers if they weren t following.
That s true, but who are they following?
Paladin, of course.
Not if Paladin doesn t recognize them.
Elma pulled out a chair and sat across the table from Kale. What do you mean?
Suppose many years from now, you wake up in the morning and your husband is away on a trip, but
your two sons and a stranger are sitting at the table waiting for the morning meal.
Elma leaned her arms on the table and watched Kale as if she expected a trick from her guest. So?
So the three younger men all call you Ma and all say they re your sons.
That don t make it so. Only Tallidah and Zepzep are my sons.
You can tell by looking at them that the third one is not your son?
Of course I can. I m not dimwitted.
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