Dragons of the Watch (12 page)

She had to turn her head at an awkward angle and pull back in order to look at the dragon on her shoulder. Airon seemed to recognize the problem and moved out to the top of her arm. Now Ellie could look straight into the beautiful dragon’s eyes.

“How are we going to do this?” she asked.

Bealomondore rocked back and forth on his feet, a pleased expression taking over his features. “I suggest you sing.”

Ellie doubted that singing would help her understand when the dragons tried to mindspeak with her. But Bealomondore had suggested it, and she didn’t have any other ideas. He went to pore over the books in the rotunda. She and Airon settled at one of the child-size tables. Airon stood in the middle of the table, while Ellie sat comfortably in one of the four matching chairs. Tak claimed a cushion beside a fish tank containing no fish or water, just colored gravel in the bottom with a small castle and some shells.

Watching the little purple dragon, Ellie wondered what she thought of this experiment. Airon looked interested in her but hardly took on the role of teacher. Well, if Ellie wanted to know what the purple dragon was thinking, she had better learn how to mindspeak. She started by singing a simple lullaby that she had sung to younger siblings as she rocked them to sleep.

She repeated it several times. Airon joined on the second verse and sang along without words, at least not words Ellie recognized. The purple dragon’s intonations matched perfectly with her own, but the syllables sounded like nothing more than
dah
s,
lah
s,
mee
s, and an occasional
ray
. Tak nodded his head, not quite to the simple beat. He would go to sleep if she sang for any length of time. He always did at home when she sat in the porch rocker and crooned to a baby.

Ellie started again at the beginning of the song, and when she reached the end of the fourth verse, she continued with more lyrics she didn’t recall ever having heard before.

She frowned as she looked at her singing partner. “Did you know those verses? Because I certainly didn’t.”

Airon ducked her chin and then raised it to point to the ceiling. She sprang up and did a flip in the air and landed with her feet doing a
rat-a-tat-tat
on the wooden tabletop. Tak tilted his head and watched her with his yellow eyes.

Like a whisper in her mind, Ellie heard,
“Yes!”

She jumped to her feet and did her own version of Airon’s celebration dance. The purple dragon flew in circles above her head. Together they twirled out of the children’s section and through the many aisles of bookcases to the rotunda. Tak followed but refused to join in their exuberance.

When the three entered the round hall, Bealomondore stood with a book in his hand. “I heard you coming. I gather you’ve had some success.”

“I heard her. She told me more words to the song I was singing.” She came to a complete halt and lifted an eyebrow. “How did she do that? Not the mindspeaking, but knowing more words to a song I taught her minutes before.”

Airon flew to Bealomondore’s shoulder.

“All minor dragons collect information from the people around them,” he explained. “Singing dragons collect songs, as well as musical history. You might have heard the other verses, and the lyrics were buried in your brain. In that case, she dug the words out. Or she recognized something she had learned somewhere else and mined the information she had stored.”

Ellie smiled at her purple tutor. “It’s an interesting talent.”

“That’s only the surface,” Bealomondore said. “She can use her music to soothe anyone. She can mesmerize an assailant. Musical dragons have been known to unify dissenting crowds, bringing them to a common ground. Music, in their capable care, is medicine.”

“Oh!” Ellie clapped her hands together. “She can help reach the children.”

Bealomondore looked at the dragon and then at Ellie. “You didn’t hear what she just said?”

“No.” Her spirits fell. “She spoke, and I didn’t hear it? Have I lost the ability already?”

“Don’t be dismayed. It’ll take practice to get good at mindspeaking.”

Ellie went to Old One’s stack of books and sat on the floor beside them. The disappointment threatened to sweep her joy clean away. But that possibility could be thwarted. She chose to refuse the frustration and concentrate on improving her skill. She gave herself a lecture. This setback was no more taxing than getting to the goat barn and finding that she had to go back to the hills to find a stray member of the herd.

Tak came to her side and placed his head in her lap. She absent-mindedly rubbed behind his ears.

After a moment, she lifted her chin and asked, “What did she say?”

“She said, ‘We will practice, practice, practice until your mind’s ear is sharp. And
then
we’ll sing to the untamed masses.’ ”

Ellie smiled at the prospect of having a partner in reaching the children. She knew all too well that Bealomondore did not relish the task. She wanted to know more about Airon. Had she once lived outside this captive city?

“Has Airon ever seen an emerlindian with their pointed outside ears?”

She’d directed the question to the tumanhofer, but the dragon answered with a series of clicks and chittering.

Bealomondore nodded to Airon and turned to translate. “She says she has seen emerlindians, but it is the heart that opens the mind, not the shape of the ear.”

Ellie smiled at her two friends. “You know, I was determined to go to the royal wedding reception and the coronation. But if I had to be stuck someplace”—she tilted her head toward Bealomondore—“I’m glad it is here with you.” She smiled more broadly at Airon, who made noises she suspected were happy words. “And you.”

“So you had your heart set on Ragar,” said Bealomondore, “and quite frankly, I had no idea of where I would be going after Ragar. I had the invitation to the Amber Palace to paint the portrait. My parents, who used to be ashamed of me, wanted me to come to Greeston and enter their circle of friends. That would have netted a bounty of commissions for more portraits.” He sat on a stack of books. “What’s left of the troops I fought beside in the war want to spiffy up their uniforms and gear to march in the coronation parade. I should join them. I didn’t finish my study of the kimen village—another place I’d like to go. And the Valley of the Dragons always holds an appeal. The stunning landscapes make it easy to get lost in capturing the beauty on canvas. Too many choices and none of them having that final, persuasive allure.”

He looked sad, and Ellie scooted to sit on a cushion close by. She leaned toward him and peered up at his downcast expression. “Couldn’t you do all of them, one at a time?”

“I could.” He averted his gaze, staring up at the skylight until she
thought he had forgotten her. A big sigh escaped him as he refocused on her. “I could, but I am ready to pick one thing, one place to get to know extremely well. Perhaps even one lady with whom to share the experience of settling down.”

“Surely among all the people you know there is someone who interests you.”

He tried to muster a grin. “There was one who caught my eye, but she was my good friend, and she never saw me as someone who could be more than that.”

“Maybe that’s where you should go. To renew the friendship? Encourage a romance?”

Now his full smile broke out, and the room felt lighter, easier to breathe in. Ellie leaned back and watched him.

His eyes twinkled, and he chuckled a bit. “No, I’ve moved on, and she’s moved on. She found someone who gives her that urge to build a nest and raise little ones.”

He straightened his shoulders and grinned. “Do you know what I would like to do?”

She shook her head.

“I should like to sketch you and Airon as you sing, as you practice.” He bent over to pick up a large pad of paper and a box that rattled. “I have the things I need. You two set up wherever you like. Try to stay in the light.”

Airon did an airborne somersault and flew to a chair across the room that soaked up the morning sun from the skylight.

Ellie followed and climbed into the oversize seat. She sat sideways with her back against one arm, while Airon sat on the other arm. Shy at first, she sang a slow song about cherries and chickens and cabbage. The artist took off his jacket and stood as he sketched. One arm held
the pad of paper, and he made bold strokes with the pencil in the other hand. He’d then sit and, with great concentration, make smaller marks. He drew several pictures from different angles.

Ellie longed to see them, but singing with Airon captured her attention. The songs varied from ballads to nursery rhymes to frolicking party melodies. They came to a short children’s song.

They repeated it several times, and Bealomondore joined in. Then they sang it as a two-part round until they achieved the desired effect. Next, Airon suggested they try it in a three-part round, and Ellie heard the mindspoken words. When they tried the harder version, Bealomondore and Ellie got their words all tangled up. Airon, of course, only sang in her style of syllables and didn’t have a problem. They ended up laughing, all three of them. They tried to start the song again but couldn’t make it past the third line before all three voices were on a different tune.

Ellie fell over onto the seat cushion. She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. Bealomondore was in a similar state, leaning against a table and holding his side.

“Hear now! What’s all this commotion?” A loud voice boomed from one of the balconies above that ran around the rotunda’s open space.

Ellie sucked in her breath and stopped laughing immediately. She squinted as she looked up, realizing by the angle of the sunbeams pouring in that it was noon.

“Who’s there?” asked Bealomondore. “We’re sorry to disturb you, sir.”

There was no answer. Ellie detected a slight movement. She jumped from the chair and scurried to stand next to Bealomondore.

“Did you see him?” she whispered.

“No, did you?”

“I saw something move. There. Beside that painting of horses.”

“Ah.” Bealomondore made a bow in the direction of the shadowed figure. “May I issue an introduction? This is Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl. I am Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore.”

He bowed. She curtsied.

No response.

“Do we have the pleasure of addressing Old One?”

“Go about your business,” came the loud, gravelly answer, “and I’ll go about mine.”

The shadow moved away.

“Wait,” called Ellie. “Please don’t go. We’d like to know you. Can’t you come down and talk to us? We could have tea.”

“Tea’s no good without daggarts, and there haven’t been daggarts for years.”

He shuffled off.

“Should we go after him?” asked Ellie.

“Have you seen the grand staircase?” Bealomondore shook his head. “He’ll have to come to us.”

As Ellie and Bealomondore walked to the butcher’s shop, Airon flew above them, circling back whenever she got too far ahead. Tak moseyed along, munching on plants from the flower boxes and poking his nose in piles of trash. They occasionally had to stop and wait for him to catch up.

“How long do you suppose Rumbard City has been under the wizard’s spell?” asked Ellie.