(eng) Pamela Dean - Secret Country 03 by The Whim of the Dragon

Author:The Whim of the Dragon [Dragon, The Whim of the]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

IT was the fourth day of the journey south. Ted was tired. He had not had enough rest since they started, what with setting up camps, and tearing them down; and Randolph’s being in a hurry without saying why; and the toll taken by perplexing a conversations. It was a good thing the setting sun was shining in his eyes, or he would be asleep where he sat and the perspicacious horse would be plotting its revenge.

Ted sat up with a start, and the perspicacious horse twitched and stretched its neck hopefully. West. Why were they riding west? The road went south. The domains of the Dragon King were south of the Hidden Land—weren’t they? The army of the Hidden Land had traveled south to fight the Dragon King, but its aim had been to get out of its own territory, not necessarily to get into the Dragon King’s. Maybe the Dragon King’s domains were west, and he had missed a crossroads, being so sleepy.

“Ruth?” he called.

Ruth, a little ahead of him, looked inquiringly over her shoulder and then slowed her horse until they were riding abreast. She looked tired and pale herself. This morning, when she could have been helping them strike camp, she had wrestled her crazy hair into a knot at the back of her head and crammed somebody’s straw hat over it. It made her look older and a little silly. Nor could Ted see the point of the arrangement; the weather was cooler than it had been the day before. He tried to remember how Lady Ruth had looked in the land of the dead. He thought she had worn her hair down, but couldn’t be sure.

“What do you want?” said Ruth, patiently. Well, at least that wasn’t a reaction of Lady Ruth.

“Why are we riding west?” said Ted.

Ruth smiled faintly. “Andrew says it’s misdirection disguised as sorcery.”

“I suppose that means it really is sorcery.”

“Probably. He says Randolph is doing it, though; I wasn’t sure Randolph was allowed to do sorcery anymore.”

“This does seem more serious than making the rain stop.”

Behind them, Stephen and Dittany were involved in some discussion that created a great deal of laughter. Ahead of them, Randolph rode alone, his hood up and his shoulders tired; ahead of him, Andrew and Julian were talking earnestly, while the breeze blew their hair about; and ahead of them, Jerome rode by himself, and rather faster. Ted realized that the character of the plain had changed. The grasses were shorter, and the land went up and down like a sine wave. It was all scattered with clumps of trees and gleams of water. And on the far edge, below the reddening sun, where yesterday the flat land had met the flat sky, there was a tiny, irregular line of purple.

“Ruth. Mountains.”

“I saw them yesterday,” said Ruth.

“This may be the way to the Gray Lake, but isn’t it taking us the long way around for the Dragon King?”

“They said the Gray Lake was on the way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.