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jungle, trying to remember if Menolly had ever said anything about fire liz-
ards tracing newly batched ones.
But fire lizards only knew what they'd seen, and he'd been undercover by the
time the winged rescuers had reached the lagoon area. The wherries' shrieks
would have masked any sound she'd made, and as Piemur plunged past thorn trees
and undergrowth, her cries became softer. Wea-
riness overcame the last vestiges of her shelling hunger.
Piemur was more aware of her contentedness than his rasping breath as he
continued to put as much distance between him and the kgoon, and possible
discovery, while light remained to guide him in the murky jungle.
In the same hour Kimi returned with a message from To-
ne, answering the Harper's query about young newcomers in the southern
settlement, the drum beat the news of Lord
Meron's death.
"Eight days it's taken him to die," said the Harper on the end of a long sigh,
"when Master Oldive thought one."
"Determined to disoblige us, I imagine," said Sebell, dis-
missing the man as he concentrated again on Toric's mes-
sage. "No one has applied to him for shelter. There's been no outburst from
the Weyr, which he's certain would have been made if a stowaway had been
discovered. But that doesn't mean," said Sebell hurriedly, raising his hand to
forestall Menolly's protest, "that Piemur didn't get there.
Toric says that the Weyr has been barred to his holders for the last sevenday,
but his fire lizards imaged a pile of strange shapes by the Weyrhold, so he
suspects that a ship-
ment has arrived from the north. They don't let the mere holders in the Weyr
grounds to celebrate. So if Piemur smuggled himself out of Nabol Hold in one
of the Old-
timers' sacks, he also got out of it and made himself scarce."
152
"Which is sensible of Piemur," said the Harper, idly twirling his wine glass
with one hand. His face was expres-
sionless, but his eyes moved restlessly with his thoughts.
"Piemur would undoubtedly deem it discreet not to come to the Oldtimers'
notice."
"At least not until that egg of his had hatched," added
Menolly. She had so hoped that Piemur would have gone to
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Toric. She was Certain he would know that Toric was friendly with the harpers.
She turned to Sebell. "Candler will let us know the instant the Other eggs
from the clutch have hatched, won't he?"
"Yes, he said he would," the journeyman replied, but then he made a face,
scratching his head. "But we don't know if that queen egg came from the same
clutch as the
Others."
"But we do know the others weren't green's eggs; they were too big. And that's
the only time scale we have to work with. I'm positive that Piemur won't
attempt to seek anyone out until that egg has hatched and he's Impressed. I
know I wouldn't if I were in Piemur's boots. Oh, I wish I
knew if he were all right." She beat her thighs with her fists at her
helplessness.
"Menolly," said the Harper soothingly, "you're not re-
sponsible for--"
"But I feel responsible for Piemur," she said, and then shot her Master an
apologetic look for interrupting him so rudely. "If I hadn't encouraged his
interest in the fire liz-
ards, if I hadn't filled his ears with the pleasures they bring, he might not
have been tempted to steal that egg and get himself into such a predicament."
She looked up because both men started to laugh, and she exclaimed with
exasperation at their callousness.
"Menolly Piemur has been getting in and out of trouble since long before you
arrived here," said Sebell. "You and your fire lizards calmed him down
considerably. But I
think you're right about Piemur not showing himself until
Impression's been made. And Toric is on the alert for him.
He'll show up."
"Meanwhile," said the Harper, rising from his chair and reaching for his
flying gear, "I'd best go and assist the new
Lord Deckter to secure his Hold."
153
Chapter 9
Afterward, Piemur wasn't certain why he had run from the dragonriders. He
seemed to have been running from or to something ever since his voice had
changed. In his panic, he supposed he aligned the Oldtime dragonriders with
Lord Meron, and he did not want to encounter anyone connected with Lord Meron
just then. Whatever, that night he plunged through the jungle until lack of
breath, the painful stitch in his side and the darkness forced him to halt.
Sulking to the ground, he rearranged his fire lizard comfortably and then fell
asleep.
Just as the sun was rising the next morning, she awoke him, snappy with
hunger. He eased the worst of her pangs and his own with fresh redfruit, cool
from the night air and succulently sweet. Then he turned north, to make his
way back to the beaches and fish for Farii, for that was the name he gave his
little queen. Pushing his way through the underbrush, he tripped over a
half-eaten runner beast carcass. Farii chattered with delight and ate flesh
from bone, humming at him in pleasure.
"You'll choke like that," he said, and proceeded to hack smaller pieces,
keeping about one knife slice ahead of her voracious appetite.
When Farii had curled herself about Piemur's neck, thoroughly sated, her belly
bulging, he sliced more meat from the dead runner. He figured the creature
must have been killed during Threadfall so the meat wouldn't as yet be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]