Talking To Dragons

by Patricia C. Wrede

I got up and walked over; so did Shiara. Morwen had me stand next to the stove, holding the sword across the front of my chest so that the tip of it rested on the pot of water. Shiara was behind me, with one hand on my right arm just above the dried vine. It took a while before Morwen was satisfied with our positions, but finally she stepped back. “Very good. Stay just like that until I’m finished, please.”

  She reached inside one of her sleeves and brought out a silver knife. She dipped the knife in the pot of water, then began muttering over the plants she was holding. Immediately, all the cats jumped down onto the floor and formed a half circle around the stove, with Morwen and Shiara and me in the middle. They just sat there with their eyes glowing and only the tips of their tails moving in tiny twitches. Suddenly, there was a sizzling noise from my right; the water was boiling.

  Morwen gave a shout. Then she held the plants high over her head and said loudly:

  “By the darkness of the stone’s heart,

  By the silence of the sea’s tears,

  By the whisper of the sky’s breath,

  By the dawning of the star’s flame,

  Do as I will thee!”

  Just as she finished she threw the plants into the boiling water.

  There was a big puff of steam from the pot that smelled of herbs and magic and gingerbread, and I sneezed. The steam spread out around me and got thicker. It smelled more and more like herbs and magic and less and less like gingerbread. My right arm started to ache, and my left arm started to tingle. The ache got stronger, but it stayed where it was; the tingle spread. In another second or two I was tingling all over, except for the arm that was aching.

  By now the steam was so thick I couldn’t see anything, but I could still feel Shiara’s hand and the vine Morwen had tied around my arm. For what seemed like a long time, nothing else happened. Then one of the cats yowled. I saw Morwen’s hand, the one holding the silver knife, come out of the mist. “In the King’s name!” Morwen’s voice said, and the knife cut the vine from my arm and pulled away.

  My sword flashed once, very brightly. Most of the steam settled on my right arm and turned black. The ache started to creep upward, and something that felt like lightning or wind ran up my left arm and down my right one. I heard Shiara gasp. The black steam stuff dropped off my arm into a slimy blob on the floor. Finally, my right arm stopped hurting, and my other arm stopped tingling, and everything felt normal again. I let my breath out and looked around.

  Morwen was looking in my direction with an expression of extreme distaste. “That,” she said, “was an exceptionally nasty wizard. He deserves what’s coming to him.”

  ”What’s coming to him?” Shiara asked.

  “I don’t know, but he certainly deserves it,” Morwen said. “Anyone who would keep a spell like that in a staff...” She shook her head and looked down. “I do hope it doesn’t disagree with the cats.”

  I followed her gaze. The cats had formed a small mob and were playing with something I’d rather not describe in detail. I looked up again very quickly and took a step backward. I bumped into Shiara and remembered that Morwen had said not to move until she was finished. “I’m sorry,” I said to both of them.

  “It’s quite all right; you can sit down again now,” Morwen said. “And if you don’t want to put your sword in your sheath, you can lean it against the wall. You won’t need it anymore, for the time being, at least.”

  I followed Morwen’s instructions and sat down at the table again. I didn’t realize until I reached for the gingerbread that although my right hand felt better it didn’t look any better. I didn’t have time to worry about it, though; Morwen was already standing by my chair with some oily looking salve and bandages. She worked on my hand while I ate gingerbread and cider left-handed. We finished about the same time, and I thanked her.

  “You’re welcome,” Morwen said. “Now, perhaps you would explain how you got into such an uncomfortable situation? I have a general idea, but I would appreciate a few details.”

  I told her about the wizard and the elf, and then Shiara explained how the staff had exploded.

  “Of course the staff exploded!” Morwen said severely. “That sword doesn’t like wizard’s staffs; nearly everyone knows that, or ought to. Next time, make sure it’s sheathed before you touch one.”

  “I knew it!” Shiara said angrily. “That elf was trying to get Daystar hurt!”

  “Not necessarily,” Morwen said. “He may simply have been trying to make sure the wizard found you again. If you’d taken the pieces of the staff with you, he would have had no trouble catching up with you once he got himself back together, and of course the first thing he’d do would be to look for his staff.”

  “If that elf wanted the wizard after us, why’d he get rid of the wizard in the first place?” Shiara objected.

  “I doubt that he did,” Morwen said calmly. “It’s really more the sort of thing the sword would do. I wouldn’t depend on it in the future, though, particularly since you haven’t really learned how to use it yet.”

  I wanted to ask more questions about the sword, but I was pretty sure Morwen wouldn’t answer them if I did. “What if the wizard couldn’t find his staff when he came back?” I asked instead.

  “Wizards always know where their staffs are. And it’s almost impossible to keep wizards away from their staffs for any length of time. One can slow them down a bit by putting the staffs somewhere hard to get at, but they usually manage in the end.”

  “That’s why Mother hid Antorell’s staff!” I said.

  “I shouldn’t wonder,” Morwen murmured. “Now, I strongly suggest that you rest for a while, Daystar, and while you are doing so I will talk with Shiara in the library.” She stood up and nodded to me.

  Shiara frowned and opened her mouth, then looked at me. “All right,” she said. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, then changed her mind at the last minute.

  Morwen went to the door, followed by Shiara and most of the cats. I saw the room of books again before the door closed behind all of them. I went over to a bench that used to have three cats on it before they went into the library with Morwen, lay down on it, trying to be very careful of my bandaged right hand, and fell asleep almost immediately.

  When I woke up, it was late afternoon. I could tell by the way the sunlight slanted in through the windows. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, except for the black-and-white cat that had led us to Morwen’s house. It was sitting in the middle of the table, washing its tail.

  “Hello,” I said. “And thank you very much for bringing Shiara and me here.”

  The cat looked up briefly, decided I was uninteresting, and went back to cleaning its tail. I shifted a little; the bench was hard. I wasn’t quite ready to sit up and start looking for people yet, though I felt much better. Then the back door opened—this time it was the door to the yard—and Morwen came in.

  “You’re awake; good. Shiara has been waiting for you.” I sat up just as Morwen saw the cat on the table. She frowned at it. “Child of Scom,” she said sternly, “you are not allowed on the table.”

  The cat looked at Morwen. Morwen looked at the cat. After a minute, the cat jumped down to the floor, where it did its best to pretend that the floor was exactly where it had wanted to be all along. Morwen shook her head.

  “You’ll have to excuse the Grand Inquisitor; he knows he did me a favor when he brought you here, and he’s inclined to take advantage of it. I would have sent Cass, but I was afraid you wouldn’t pay attention to her.”

  “Cass?”

  “Cassandra.” Morwen nodded at a small grey cat that I hadn’t noticed come in with her. “She has much better manners than Quiz, but she tends to be overlooked. Nobody overlooks Quiz.”

  I looked at the cats. They both ignored me. I looked back at Morwen. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet for— for fixing my arm.” I wasn’t really sure what else to call whatever she’d done.

  “Don’t thank me until you tak
e the bandages off tomorrow,” Morwen said. “Time enough for thanks if it’s healed properly. Not that I have any doubts, mind, but it’s better to be sure.”

  “All right, I’ll wait, then,” I said. “Did you say Shiara was waiting for me?”

  Morwen went over to the stove. “Yes, I did. She’s out by the garden,” she said over her shoulder. She reached up and lifted a large kettle down from a hook on the wall.

  “Thank you,” I said. I got up and opened the back door.

  There was a room on the other side, with a bed and a large bookshelf and, of course, a cat. I shut the door and tried again. This time it was the library. Morwen had more books than anyone I’d ever heard of. I shut the door and looked back at Morwen.

  “How do I get out to the garden?” I asked.

  “Through the door,” Morwen said without turning. “Just be firm; sometimes it’s a little contrary with strangers, but it won’t last long.”

  I turned back, trying to decide how to be firm with a door. I opened it again; it was still the library. I closed it, wondering how long it would take me to get to the garden. I didn’t really want to spend the rest of the afternoon opening and shutting Morwen’s door, but I couldn’t think of any other way of doing it. I sighed and opened the door again.

  This time it worked; the door opened onto three steps going down into the yard. I went through it quickly, before it could change its mind. Shiara was sitting on a stone bench by the comer of the house. She looked a lot happier than she had earlier, but all she would say was that she’d been talking to Morwen.

  “Morwen’s nice,” Shiara said. “She’s been showing me some things. And she’s going to give me a kitten.”

  “That’s nice,” I said. Actually, I wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to have a pet with us while we wandered around the Enchanted Forest. On the other hand, if it was one of Morwen’s cats, it would probably be able to take care of itself.

  Shiara and I sat and talked for the rest of the afternoon. I discovered that somehow she and Morwen had decided that we would be spending the night here. Shiara was very pleased about it; evidently Morwen had promised to show her some interesting magic. I wasn’t sure we should stay, even though I liked Morwen. It felt a little strange to be staying with someone neither of us had ever met before. I had to admit, though, that it sounded a lot better than trying to sleep out in the open. We were still arguing about it when one of the cats came to bring us in to dinner.

  6

  DINNER WAS SOME sort of stew; it didn’t look like much, but it smelled and tasted awfully good. Morwen had made a large pot of the stuff. Half of it she put in a big pan and set on the floor for the cats; Shiara and I ate most of the rest of it. By the time we’d finished eating, we had somehow decided to spend the night with Morwen and the cats.

  I was a little worried, at first, about what to do with the Sword of the Sleeping King. I didn’t want to leave it leaning up against Morwen’s wall all night. Finally, I decided to keep it with me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Morwen, but Mother had given the sword to me and it was my responsibility. Once that was settled, I started wondering where Shiara and I were going to sleep.

  I shouldn’t have worried. Morwen had several extra bedrooms behind her magic door, and she simply put each of us in one of them. By that time I was starting to wonder how many rooms she had in her house and where she kept them all when they weren’t needed. That isn’t the sort of question you ask people in the Enchanted Forest, though, so I didn’t.

  Besides, I was tired again. As soon as Morwen showed me to my room, I stuck the sword under the bed and went to sleep. I couldn’t think of anything else to do with it, but I was pretty sure the sword would be safe. I was right, too When I woke up in the morning, there was a cat asleep on top of it.

  After breakfast, Morwen took the bandages off my hand. The burns were gone and it felt fine, but she insisted on examining it carefully before she finally decided it was all right. When she was finished with my hand, she helped me get my swordbelt on. The sheath was dry, so I put the sword back in it. While I was doing that, Morwen produced a couple of bundles and a small black kitten with one white paw. She gave Shiara the kitten and one bundle and turned to me.

  “This is for you,” she said, handing me the other bundle. “It should make your travels a little easier. Now, come outside.”

  Morwen opened the front door and went out onto the porch. I let Shiara leave next and started to follow her, but one of the cats darted in front of me and I nearly tripped. I had to grab for the doorframe to keep my balance.

  “Watch out!” Shiara said, then, “Daystar! What’s the matter?”

  I almost didn’t hear her. I was staring down at my sword. My hand had brushed it when I’d tripped, and I’d felt the tingling again. Only this time there was even more of it. I reached over and took the hilt in my right hand. The rumbling tingle hadn’t changed, but the buzzing tingle and the purring tingle were considerably stronger than they had been, and they’d been joined by a brisk vibration I hadn’t felt before. I concentrated on the new feeling, trying to figure out where it had come from, and found myself looking at Morwen.

  I looked back at the sword. I hadn’t let go, and my arm was still tingling. I tried to pick out one of the other vibrations. Suddenly I was feeling mostly the purring tingle and looking out into the woods. I blinked and tried again. This time I got the buzz, and I was staring at Shiara. Suddenly I understood.

  “It’s magic!” I said.

  “Of course it’s magic,” Shiara said. “It’s supposed to be a magic sword. So what?”

  “No, I mean that’s what it does,” I said. “The Sword of the Sleeping King finds magic!”

  “Among other things,” Morwen said in a satisfied voice.

  “Finds magic?” Shiara said skeptically.

  “That’s what the tingling is,” I said. I was completely sure of myself, though I didn’t know why. “Different tingles mean different kinds of magic, and the tingles get stronger when the sword gets closer to the magic.” I looked at Shiara. “No wonder it gave me such a jolt when we both touched it at the same time.”

  Shiara had been reaching for the hilt, but she pulled her hand back hastily. “If the sword finds magic, how come I couldn’t feel anything until you touched it? And if the tingles are the way it finds things, why can’t you feel them all the time?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. The tingling was fading again, the same way it had when I’d held on to the sword before, so I let go of the hilt.

  Morwen was considering me through her glasses; I couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her expression. Finally she nodded very slightly. “I see. There is considerably more to you than I had thought, Daystar,” she said in a thoughtful tone.

  I was still trying to figure out what that statement meant when Morwen turned away. “However, it is time for you to be going,” she went on briskly. “I suggest that you head north. You see those two trees? Walk straight between them and keep going until you get to a stream; then follow the stream. You’ll get to something eventually, and you should be able to figure out what to do from there.”

  My eyes turned in the direction Morwen was pointing. It was the same way I’d been looking when I’d been concentrating on the purring tingle from the sword. I looked back at Morwen.

  “Exactly,” Morwen said.

  “What?” said Shiara.

  “Let’s go,” I said. I was feeling a little unsettled by the whole thing, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Shiara scowled at me, but she didn’t insist on an explanation right then.

  We said good-bye and thank you to Morwen and started walking toward the trees. Shiara carried the kitten for a while, but pretty soon the kitten decided it wanted to walk. We slowed down a lot after that, until the kitten got tired enough to let Shiara pick it up again without scratching her.

  Shiara and I spent most of the walk talking. I hadn’t realized how little she knew about the Enchanted Forest
, and I wound up telling her a lot of things. Like explaining about being polite to people, and why you shouldn’t promise things without knowing what they are first.

  Morwen hadn’t told us how far away the stream was, and eventually I started wondering when we were going to get to it. I was also curious about where we were going. I was thinking about that when I noticed that the trees we were walking past were larger than the ones I’d seen the previous day. At least, I thought they were larger. I studied them as we walked, trying to decide whether it was my imagination or whether they really were larger. I was just getting ready to mention it to Shiara, when I heard a cough. I stopped and looked around.

  “Ahem,” said a voice.

  This time I located the speaker. It was the little gold lizard, Suz. He was sitting on a branch at just about eye level, watching me.

  “Oh, hello, Suz,” I said. Shiara was looking around; I nodded toward the lizard and said, “Shiara, this is Suz. You remember, I told you about him. Suz, this is my friend, Shiara.”

  The lizard ignored the introduction and continued staring at me. “Why,” he demanded in an aggrieved tone, “didn’t you tell me Cimorene was your mother?”

  “You didn’t ask,” I said.

  Suz looked at me reproachfully. “It would have saved me a great deal of trouble if you’d mentioned it,” he said severely.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know it mattered.”

  “You didn’t?” Suz ran down the branch and peered at me. “No, you really didn’t! How amazing. I can’t understand how it happened.”

  “What are you talking about?” Shiara said.

  The lizard appeared to see her for the first time. He leaned outward in Shiara’s direction and I thought he was going to fall off, until I saw that his tail was wrapped tightly around a sturdy twig on the far side of the branch. “You’ve brought someone with you? Dear me, this will never do. Who is this?”

  “I’ve already introduced you once,” I reminded him. “You weren’t listening.”

  “You did? Yes, of course, you did. How perfectly dreadful.” Suz ran around the branch very fast, and for a minute I was afraid he was going to try and stand on his tail. I was sure he’d fall off if he did; the branch wasn’t very wide.