45
BREAKFAST
Master Meiger strode into the common room of the tavern with three distinguished gentlemen of the district at his back. “We’ll have no more riffraff entering River Away and upsetting the order of our lives. The council has met, and we have decided to request that you and your comrades leave our peaceful hamlet immediately. Today!”
The three men behind him nodded their heads.
The companions around the breakfast table stopped eating and looked to the official representatives of the village and the outlying community.
Kale recognized all of them. She’d worked in their homes. I wonder if they count me as one of the “riffraff.”
The four marione men had prepared themselves for this confrontation by dressing in their best. They didn’t look as if they had been up all night, discussing the best course of action. But Kale knew that was standard procedure for accomplishing anything through the council. They loved to meet and would debate matters for countless hours.
Lyll’s voice entered Kale’s mind. “Don’t be harsh, Kale. These men are concerned for their families. And they don’t know what’s at stake. Remember, they treated you well. Extend the same courtesy to them tenfold.”
Kale studied her mother’s face, serene and gentle. To herself she admitted she had never been harshly used. The mariones treated me fairly. Their own children didn’t get warm-hearted praise, and so I didn’t either.
She examined Master Meiger and his friends, trying to be more objective. The men were not wealthy, but they’d put on their grandest garments to carry out this important mission. Although they still looked countrified, Kale found their determination made her proud. This surprised her.
But it shouldn’t. These families gave me a home and taught me to be self-sufficient. They did their best for me even though I’m an o’rant, not a marione.
The tree at the head of the table snorted, shook with vigor, and rose. By the time Fenworth stood, he’d regained the semblance of a man.
“You see!” Meiger’s voice echoed in the open space of the nearly deserted tavern. “That’s just the sort of thing we don’t do around here.”
Wizard Fenworth marched around the table. His staff hit the wooden floor with resounding thuds. He certainly didn’t appear to be an old man leaning on a walking stick. He looked more like a warrior approaching the front line.
Chief Councilman Meiger stepped back, but only one step. He squared his shoulders and visibly mastered his trepidation. Kale suppressed the urge to mindspeak to her former master. She wanted to say, “Good show!” but knew a voice in his head would completely discombobulate him.
Fenworth towered over the marione men, and Kale thought he’d deliberately added a few inches to his stature. His hat, the point of which never stood straight up, brushed the rafters.
“You dare oppose me. Do you know who I am? I am Fenworth, bog wizard. Do you think to cast me and my party out of your lowly establishment?”
Councilman Meiger’s face hardened. “Yes, we’ll not be bullied, whether you be bog wizard or king.”
Fenworth growled, and this time Kale knew for sure he was casting a spell, for his hat pressed against the blackened beams of the ceiling. The marione men tilted their heads back to look up at the enraged wizard. But none of them faltered. If anything, they looked more stubborn and ill-tempered than before.
Fenworth growled again, and a fog seeped from under the hem of his robe. It rolled across the floor, covering the worn wooden planks. “And who among you do you think can force a great and ancient wizard along with six mighty warriors to leave? Ha! Your words are empty.”
Meiger stiffened. “You can strike me down, but there be three behind me, and unseen to you are fields of workers, strong of arm and purpose. You’ll not overrun this land without a fight.”
A hiss reverberated through the room, Fen shrunk to his normal size, and the fog scudded out the open kitchen door.
Fenworth smiled at the angry mariones and nodded sagely. “Just what I wanted to hear, my good men. You’ll do.”
He put his arm around the cautious chief councilman’s shoulders and called to Dar. “Sir Dar, take these fine gentlemen into our circle of confidants. We shall need men such as these in the trying days ahead.”
Tilting his head down to Meiger, the wizard spoke out of the side of his mouth in a whisper loud enough to be heard on the streets. “Dar is an ambassador from Wittoom. A high lee general, in fact. But traveling incognito.”
Dar came forward and bowed to the men. “It is my pleasure to enlist your assistance. Your knowledge of the territory and its resources shall be invaluable.” He paused to look each one in the eye. “Shall we discuss defense strategies against the impending invasion, gentlemen?”
“Well, now!” Chief Councilman Meiger looked uncertainly at his cohorts.
“It won’t hurt to hear what he has to say,” said one.
“We could discuss it,” said another.
All four men nodded.
Chief Councilman Meiger ushered Dar and the councilmen out of the room.
Fenworth clapped his hands together. Leaves rustled as he walked back to the table.
“Now that’s done. First thing on the list for the day crossed off.” He nodded to Librettowit. “Make note of that, Wit. Number one—recruit an army. Done.”
“Why do we need an army?” asked Toopka.
Fenworth patted her on the head. She grimaced and ducked. The wizard did not seem to notice but moved on around the table. “Once we dissuade the dragons from aiding Risto,” he said, “Risto is going to be a bit put out.”
Fenworth sat down and surveyed the platters of food left over from the others’ breakfast. “Seems a bit of a sloppy way to serve a meal. But no matter. I’m starved. Feel like I haven’t eaten in days. Thought I heard a drummerbug. Turns out it was my stomach. Pass the muffins. Pass the juice. Thirsty, too. I could drink a lake. No offense intended, Cam. Cousin Cam’s a lake wizard, you know. Pass the eggs. Is that sausage?”
He bit into a muffin. “What’s next on our to-do list? Ah! I remember. Confront the wagonload of scalawags, and unmask the villain meech. Gives me a hearty appetite just thinking about it.”
Lyll passed him the butter, and as he took it, he looked at her closely.
“Don’t I know you, dear girl? No, don’t tell me. I’m excellent at remembering faces. Names are a bit of a bother. But I’ll get it. I will.”
He slathered butter on his bread, took a bite, chewed, and twisted his face in a thoughtful expression.
“Almost got it,” Fenworth announced and stabbed a sausage with his fork. He held the link aloft and waggled the fork back and forth as he thought. “Got it! Lyll of the Mountains. Married Kemry Allerion of the Hills. Some say she married beneath her, but of course, that was just nonsense.” He polished off the rest of the sausage. “Kemry is a worthy wiz. Excellent Dragon Keeper. Haven’t heard much of him lately.”
“Risto has him,” Kale blurted out.
Wizard Fenworth quit chewing and leveled a serious eye in his apprentice’s direction. He pointed his empty fork at her and used it as he would have shaken a finger.
“Tut-tut, dear Kale. Risto may think he has Kemry, but I daresay he doesn’t.”
She was surprised to see Lyll nod her head in agreement.
Fenworth fed a crumb to a bird that landed on his shoulder. “Now tell me about this expedition to Creemoor where we’re going to see who’s dropping those ugly spiders on cities.”
Librettowit harrumphed. “Already did that one, Fen.”
“Really? Did you mark it off the to-do list?”
“No.”
“Well, no wonder I didn’t remember. But I do now. Rescued lovely Lyll. Only pardon me, dear girl. Tut-tut, you weren’t looking nearly so well then as you do now. Almost didn’t recognize you.”
“Sir?” Bardon interrupted. “Can we hear what happened in Creemoor? Who was responsible, and did you catch them?”
“Most certainly.”
Bardon and the others waited expectantly. Fenworth buttered another muffin, took a big swig of purpleberry juice from a tall tankard, and smacked his lips.
Should I remind him of Bardon’s question? The trouble with Fenworth is you never know if his thinking is going to go in a straight line.
Just before Kale opened her mouth to prod the old man, he spoke, “Crim Cropper and no.”
Lyll giggled. Fenworth glared at her, but she just smiled in return, then turned to the younger members of their party. “Shall we take a walk, children?”
She pushed her chair back from the table. “It only took Bardon and Dar a couple of hours on horseback to return from where they spotted the villains. It will take the heavy wagon a great deal longer to get here.”
She looked at Bardon. “I think I can tell you what you wish to know.”
Bardon stood abruptly, made polite excuses for leaving before the others were finished, and followed Lyll Allerion out of the building.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Toopka, grabbing both Regidor’s and Kale’s hands. “She said ‘children.’ I bet that’s anyone under a couple of centuries old. Let’s go.”