The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (30 page)

Only the chuckling water of the
fountain could be heard and Simon wondered out loud where the rest of
the human refugees were.

“
Still in
bed, most of them,” Liliana told him with a smile. “We've
all been awake for the past twenty-four hours or more, worried about
a possible attack by those traitors we were warned of. Fortunately, a
short time before you and the king got here, we got word that the
danger had passed and we told everyone to get some rest. It's been
hardest on the few of us who have children, as you might have
guessed, but they'll be fine once they get some sleep.”

“
Come along,
my friend,” Malcolm rumbled in his rich bass voice. “We
have a designated meeting room set up and I think that we all would
welcome a chance to sit down and talk more comfortably.”

“
Sounds good
to me,” Simon replied with some relief. “I'm really not
as fit as I thought I was, plus these new boots that the dwarves made
are killing me.”

There was a general laugh from
everyone and the big man and Aiden led the way out of the square.

Simon found himself walking next to
Tamara and he looked at her curiously.

“
Shandon
said that some of you are thinking of leaving the city and heading
back to the surface. Is that true?”

The mage was wearing a somber, dark
brown robe; an unusual choice for her. The wand that Simon had
discovered in a hidden cache and given to her hung from her belt and
she stroked it unconsciously as she walked.

“
It's true,”
she admitted quietly, with a quick glance at the others. “But
let's wait until we are all sitting down before discussing it, okay?
Not everyone in the group shares the same opinion.”

“
Sure. No
problem.”

Malcolm led them through an archway
into a massive building with a rather grand hall. Torches lined the
walls and statues of mythical monsters and dwarven warriors flanked
them. The floor was covered with thick red carpets and the whole
place had a rather palatial feeling to it.

“
Good grief,
what is this place?” Simon exclaimed as he looked around,
wide-eyed.

“
Apparently,
this was once one of the royal houses,” Sebastian told him with
a laugh. “But that was centuries ago. As the dwarven population
shrank, this entire neighborhood was abandoned. The king ordered his
people to refurbish this whole section of the city for our use.
Bloody generous, I'd say.”

“
Wow. I
agree.”

Malcolm led them into what must have
once been a dining room. A long sturdy iron table stretched the
length of the room, big enough to seat at least twenty people around
it. Many chairs, fortunately made of wood instead of metal, and
covered with padded leather, were arrayed around the table and people
sat wherever they pleased.

While all of them found seats, Aiden
lit the torches that were hanging from brackets on the walls. Soon
the room was glowing brightly and everyone took a moment to relax.

Simon slipped off his boots, hoping
that no one would be offended, and sighed with relief. He could feel
the burning spots on his feet where future blisters were sure to
appear and he winced at the thought.

“
Are you all
right?” Liliana whispered.

She had sat down next to him and
appeared to be concerned.

“
Oh, I'm
fine. It's just that the boots that were generously provided by our
hosts were brand new, and breaking them in is going to cost me a few
blisters. It's no big deal.

She smiled sympathetically.

“
Well, still
better than stumbling around the hard stone streets in your bare
feet, I suppose.”

“
Exactly.
Like I said, it's not a problem. We all owe Shandon and his people so
much, minor irritations are just that; minor.”

“
Does anyone
want to start things off?” Tamara asked loudly a few minutes
later when everyone had settled into their seats.

“
Go ahead,”
Malcolm said as he lolled in his chair. “You can bring our
wizardly friend up to speed.”

Fortunately the dwarves built sturdy
furniture and the seat hadn't collapsed under him as the warrior had
sat down.

“
Is that all
right with everyone?” the mage asked.

There was a general nodding of heads,
so she stood up and leaned forward, resting her hands on the table.

“
Very well
then. Simon, first of all may I say how pleased I am to see you alive
and well after so much time. I think I speak for all of us in this.”

“
Hear,
hear!” Aiden exclaimed as everyone else agreed heartily.

“
Um, thanks
guys,” the wizard told them, feeling a little self-conscious.
“I feel the same way about all of you.”

“
Good. And
now that those sentiments have been exchanged,” Tamara
continued with a grin, “we can continue. Simon, you mentioned
something to me a few minutes ago that the king had passed on to you;
namely, that some of us are growing tired of cowering down here in
the depths of the world and want to head back to the surface and take
our chances up there.”

“
So he
said,” the wizard agreed.

“
Yes. Well,”
the mage looked around at the other leaders, “he was correct.
Sort of. You see, while we are safe enough living in Kingstone, at
least at the moment, we are powerless to do anything to help
ourselves.”

She paused and tapped the wand on her
hip.

“
When I say
we, I mean those of us who use magic. The common folks, even though
they've been Changed, don't seem to mind this life nearly as much as
we casters do. And not just Bastian and me either. Veronique, Sylvie,
Barnaby and the other mages from the Defiant are this far,” she
squeezed her thumb and forefinger together, “from packing up
and heading to the surface. And I believe that Liliana feels the same
way.”

“
I do,”
the paladin said firmly.

“
What about
Captain Martelli?” Simon asked. “She's not a magic-user
but she commands the crew of the Defiant, does she not?”

“
She does,”
Malcolm spoke up.

He sat up in his chair and it
squealed in protest.

“
But the
captain feels much the same about this situation as Tamara and the
other mages do.” He waited a beat. “Aiden and I agree
with them.”

Simon looked over at Aiden, who
nodded silently.

“
So how many
people, in total, want to leave Kingstone and seek the sun?”
the wizard asked all of them.

Tamara quickly tapped a count on the
table with her fingers.

“
I'd say
about fifty or so,” she answered. “Of course some people
waffle back and forth; wanting to leave one day and stay the next,
but fifty is close enough.”

“
Out of how
many total refugees?”

“
Around five
hundred, give or take,” Sebastian said. “We haven't done
a head count, but the dwarves tell us that our numbers have almost
reached that amount.”

“
Wow,”
Simon said. “Five hundred people. I remember when a regular
high school would hold a thousand kids or more. Now five hundred
sounds like a lot of us.”

Tamara's laugh was tinged with
bitterness.

“
I said
something similar to the king when we first arrived. We're an
endangered species, my friend; but if we are going to go out, then
damn it, I say we go out swinging.”

She seemed to catch Liliana's head
shake out of the corner of her eye and stared at her.

“
You
disagree?”

The paladin stood up and stepped away
from the table. There was a large painting hanging on the wall
showing a panoramic view of a battlefield; dwarves and monsters of
some kind were locked in fierce combat; and Liliana walked over to
stare up at it.

“
I don't
disagree with wanting to leave here,” she replied absently
while examining the battle scene. “But I for one do not intend
to 'go out swinging'. We need to win the battle against the darkness,
not be engulfed by it and destroyed.”

She turned around and looked at
everyone in turn, finishing with Simon.

“
We need a
plan of action, not empty rhetoric. Does anybody have one?”

The room became quiet and each of
them stared at the others, waiting for someone to answer. No one
seemed willing to speak up.

“
Yes, I
think we do.”

Startled, Simon turned toward the
doorway just in time to see two robed women enter the room. It took
him a moment to recognize them.

“
Veronique!
Hello,” he said as he quickly stood up. “And Sylvie. It's
great to see you both.”

“
I wish I
could say the same,” Sylvie replied with the merest hint of
smile.

She was gently holding on to her
sister's arm with one hand and seemed to looking from one person to
the next.

The sisters were both delicate with
pale complexions and large expressive eyes. Veronique kept her black
hair cut short. She wore a deep blue robe with a pale yellow mantle
on top of it.

Sylvie's hair was reddish-blond and
it fell below her shoulders. She was wearing a simple, light red
robe. Neither one wore any jewelry.

Simon chuckled at the mage's dry
humor. Sylvie was blind and had been from birth, but her blue eyes
looked straight into the wizard's as if she could see into his soul.

“
So, did
someone say they wanted a plan of action?” Veronique asked.
“Because if you do, I believe that my sister and I have an
idea.”

Malcolm and Aiden had been quick to
offer chairs to Veronique and Sylvie. And while they were being
seated, several men and women that Simon didn't recognize arrived
with jugs of cold water and tall glasses. One of the men said that
food was also being prepared.

“
We
appreciate that, Jackson,” Tamara said to the man. “But
please don't go to any trouble on our account.”

Jackson, a young, pleasant-looking
fellow with hair as bright as a freshly-peeled carrot, grinned at
her.

“
No trouble
at all. Actually Deborah, I mean Captain Martelli, insisted on it
when she heard about the meeting.”

He looked around cautiously and then
lowered his voice. Everyone could still hear him though, which seemed
to be his intention.

“
She's just
woken up and went on a bit of a tear when she heard that you were
meeting without her. She'll be over soon, so consider yourselves
forewarned.”

Tamara laughed and thanked him, and
everyone watched him and the other helpers leave.

“
Jackson's a
bit of a drama queen,” she said as she spotted Simon's confused
expression. “I guarantee you that Deb said no such thing.”

The wizard chuckled at the
information.

“
Well, I do
remember her being bold in her opinions, but not quite that
volatile,” he agreed.

Veronique had filled a glass of water
for her sister and now Sylvie held in both hands, staring down at it
as if scrying. If Simon hadn't known that she was completely blind,
he was have thought that she was seeing something in the clear
liquid.

“
We have
been doing a great deal of thinking lately,” the woman said
without preamble. “Ever since we arrived in this sanctuary,
actually. While we are grateful beyond words to our dwarven hosts, we
believe that humanity was never meant to live underground for an
extended period.”

Simon had forgotten how melodious her
voice was, and her Parisian accent made it even more pleasant. He
could have listened to her all day.

“
And for
myself,” she continued, “this city is less of a refuge
and more of a prison. I know that I should be more grateful; after
all, both my sister and my people have survived against all odds,
thanks to the dwarves. But,” she put down her glass and
clenched her hands into fists, “I find myself becoming more and
more angry by the day. This cannot continue, at least not for me.”

“
I don't
understand, Sylvie,” Liliana said as she looked from one sister
to the other. “Why is this place so hard on you?”

The mage sipped on her water and
remained silent. Veronique patted her arm reassuringly.

“
My sister,”
she said quietly, “is blind, as I am sure you all know. When we
were Changed, she was given a gift from the gods. Or at least that is
the way we see it. Not only were we both given the ability to use
magic, but Sylvie found a way to use the magic to see, for the first
time in her life.”