Blade fled in a clatter of stones down to the river, where he intended to translocate at once before anything more happened. A large dark shadow sailed above him as he ran. He looked up and saw, to his surprise and joy, Callette coming in for a neat landing by the river. “Hey!” he shouted, joyfully crunching toward her. “I thought you’d gone to Aunt’s house!”
Callette settled her wings and took a drink from the rushing water. “I did,” she said, “and then to the University. I can go much faster if I come down for a rest every ten miles. Dad said to meet him here, but I got here first. But he’s only about half a mile or so away now. They were chasing some soldiers who were trying to run away when I went over. They won’t be long.”
“Thank goodness!” said Blade. “You wouldn’t believe how many people are waiting here to complain to him!” He meant to go on and pour out to Callette all the events of the day, but he stopped because he could see Callette was upset about something. Her wings kept rising, and her tail lashed on the gravel. “What’s the matter?”
Callette looked up and around and ruffled her crest feathers. “Blade, can you do me a favor? Can you get two of those people who’ve never seen me before and bring them over here? I need to ask them something.” It was an odd request, but Blade supposed Callette had her reasons. She had reasons for everything she did. He nodded and started back for the benches and the hampers. Most of those waiting there had clearly never seen a griffin before. They had all turned to stare at Callette. “Honest people!” Callette called after him.
That probably cut out at least half of them, Blade thought. And King Luther had met Kit when Kit and Dad took the pigs over to perform at his palace last year, and although the Chief Werewolf looked honest, Blade did not like him at all. Nor that bard standing up there on the hill. Blade chose the Horselady, on the grounds that this would stop her going on at the man from Chell City, and Titus because he liked Titus.
He was astonished at their reaction. When he interrupted the Horselady by taking hold of her fringed doeskin elbow, the lady said, “Really? I’m honored!” and clearly meant it. Titus said, “Oh, marvelous! I’ve always wanted to meet a griffin!” Both of them crunched down toward Callette with Blade as if he had offered them a real treat.
Callette examined them with one eye and then with the other. “Good choice,” she told Blade.
“How can we help?” asked Titus.
“I want to know if you think I’m beautiful at all,” said Callette.
“You certainly are. You’re superb!” the Horselady said, even more vehemently than usual.
“You’re quite the most beautiful being I’ve ever been privileged to meet,” said Titus.
“And you’re a lovely mover! Trust me!” added the Horselady.
“Thank you, both of you,” Callette said happily.
Blade was even more astonished. Callette was just familiar brown Callette to him, his more-or-less twin sister, who had hacked her way out of her egg while Blade was being born. Mara always said she never knew which of them had eaten most or cried loudest. But the Horselady seemed quite sure, and Titus must have been surrounded by beautiful things all his life. Callette was beautiful. Fancy that!
He had to leave the three of them talking beside the river because the first of the soldiers began arriving then, streaming among the trees that grew between the riverside and the moor-land, with a terrible crunching and clattering. Blade had to move the benches, the hampers, and the people, and get some of the people to move the horses and the camel, to give the soldiers a free passage to the camp. By the look of them, the soldiers were in an even meaner state of mind than they had been in this morning. Blade was afraid someone could get hurt. But before any accidents could happen, Kit came swooping in over the trees to make sure the front ranks behaved. The waiting people stared at Kit and stared again at Don, flying back and forth to herd the soldiers who came next. The air was full of wingbeats and the clacking of feet on stones while the soldiers streamed on, up into their camp, where Kit swooped down to seal them in. The dogs, cows, and geese arrived next, herded by Shona, who was also leading the horses, including Beauty and Pretty, while the owls flew in above. This all caused more staring. When Derk finally arrived, he caused the greatest sensation of the lot, because he was riding Scales again. It was quite impressive, even to Blade, who knew Derk was only doing this to frighten the soldiers.
The sensation lasted only moments. After that almost everyone surged toward Derk, shouting to be heard. Barnabas went past Blade at a rolling run, crying out, “I can explain! I can explain everything!” The bard, too, mounted his horse and rode that way with the rest. But instead of joining the crowd around Scales, he turned aside and rode up to Shona. As Shona dismounted from Nancy Cobber, he handed her a scroll with a large seal dangling from it and then rode away without a word to anyone.
Shona put Nancy’s reins under her arm and unrolled the scroll, looking mystified. She looked at what was inside. She went pale. Then she dropped Nancy’s reins and threw herself onto the shaly ground, screaming and crying.
SIXTEEN
BLADE WONDERED HOW his father did not scream and cry, too. As Blade rushed across the shale on his way to Shona, everyone around Derk was shouting and the Horselady’s voice was coming out over the top like a descant. She had hold of Beauty by her halter. “And this mare is overtired! Look at her!”
“’M all rhight! ’M fhine!” Beauty was protesting as Blade got to Shona.
Kit got there at the same time, in a spurt of stones. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Shona’s face was in her arms, buried in her hair. Shaking with sobs, she simply held the hand that was clutching the scroll up to Kit. Callette and Don arrived as Kit read out: “‘The President of Bardic College hereby informs ex-student Shona that she has broken our express command not to assist in any way with Pilgrim Parties or Pilgrims. Had the ex-student condescended to attend at our College, she would have learned that all bards are now forbidden to have any dealings with these tours. She is accordingly hereby expelled from our College and forbidden to perform as a bard in any manner henceforth.’”
“I didn’t know!” screamed Shona. “No one said! What shall I do? I don’t have a career any longer, and I can’t live without music!”
Kit was shaking with rage. Feathers and hair stood up i
n a ridge all down his back. “I’ve a good mind to go after that fellow and pull his head off!”
“That won’t help,” said Callette. “Come and comfort her.”
Kit raked the shale furiously with all ten front talons, but he moved around opposite Callette and settled head to tail with her, enclosing Shona in a warm feathery nest. Shona just lay there between them and cried desolately. Blade had never seen her—or anyone else—so horribly unhappy. It stunned him. He could not think what to do.
“Horses,” Don said to him. “Feed dogs, quick supper, avians in hampers.”
Blade nodded. It was a relief to have things to do.
By the time they were daring the geese into hampers, Derk’s face was hanging in harassed folds, but he had sorted out most of his visitors. Barnabas was sitting sulkily over a mug of coffee, Scales had flown away north to speak to the purple dragon, and Derk had assured the priests, with complete honesty, that he had made no arrangements whatsoever to have a god manifest, even a fake one. He had assured Umru that they would not have battles in his country. He had promised to discuss the whole matter of battles with Titus, King Luther, and the Chief Werewolf tomorrow, and he had agreed to go to Chell and to take a look at the Emir later. But the Horselady was still at his elbow, haranguing him.