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plans, remaking plans.
A small smile lifted the corner of her mouth. She felt a little better. She tipped the mug to her lips. The
hot, sweet tea felt good in her mouth.
Dar, why did you tell me to cut off the mordakleeps tails? Why did that kill them?
Mordakleeps have hundreds of gills on the tips of their tails. A foot or so from the tip are their lungs.
Mordakleeps must keep the end of their tails in water all the time, or they suffocate. Fortunately for them,
they have very long tails that stretch even longer. Unfortunately for them, if the tail is severed from the
body, they die instantly.
How did you learn all these things?
I like to learn. I listen. And I figure any bit of information that comes my way is not by accident. Paladin
has a way of giving his servants what they need.
He teaches you?
Oh, yes. Dar drank from his cup and smacked his lips. Kale knew Leetu would have frowned at him.
She didn t want to think about Leetu.
I thought you had to go to The Hall, she said.
To learn? Dar looked genuinely surprised. No, Kale, Wulder is everywhere, therefore His lessons are
everywhere.
I know Wulder made all things, and Pretender tries to copy His work. But I didn t know Wulder is
everywhere. How could that be?
You re thinking of Wulder as having a body and moving from place to place. Dar stood and pivoted in
a circle with his arms outstretched.
Wulder is everywhere. You can see His power by recognizing His work. When a flower opens, that s
His work. When the stars twinkle at night, that s His work.
He paused, facing her. He let his arms fall to his sides. Look at me, Kale. Right now, I am standing with
Wulder all around me. I m under His protection, within His will, standing on His pledge. And Wulder is,
at the very same moment, in me.
Me, too? asked Kale.
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Yes. Dar knelt in front of her, his earnest face only inches away.
She looked into his dark brown eyes and saw strength and peace. She wondered at his patience with
her. Often her marione masters gruffly explained things they thought she should already understand.
Dar winked before he continued, his funny face serious and yet cheerful at imparting what must be old
knowledge to him. So many people don t know who Wulder is or what He s capable of doing. Their
ignorance doesn t make Wulder less of a being; it makes them less. Until they know, they can t be
whole.
He leaned back and sighed, spread his arms out in a gesture of explanation, and continued, It s so
simple, Kale. Everything hinges on His willingness to be involved with our world. When a mountain
stands instead of tumbling down, He s holding it there. If He were to leave& Dar shook his head. If
He were to leave, all that He holds in order would spin out of control. But He will never leave.
How do you know?
He made a pledge& and He sent Paladin.
You must think I m awfully stupid.
No, Kale. How can you know things that haven t been told to you? Where you lived, no one knew the
things you are destined to know. You re special, Kale. Wulder s guiding you on a special path.
I don t know if I want to be special, Dar.
Dar grinned, put down his empty mug, and pulled out his flute. Yes, you do, Kale. I want to be special,
Leetu wants to be special, you want to be special. Wait until you meet Paladin.
Why? What difference will that make? And besides, someone like me is not likely to meet Paladin.
Under Dar s breath, the flute let out a short, happy trill of notes. A mischievous grin stole over his face.
Should I tell her? he asked no one in particular. Then he blew a light warble from his silver fife.
Yes! I want to know!
Kale pressed the egg hard against her chest until the smooth roundness of it hurt. She reached with her
talent and gasped as she encountered a wild rhapsody in Dar s mind. His joy flowed from him and
washed over her. With so much excitement buzzing through her, she could no longer just sit. She jumped
to her feet and stood awkwardly for a moment like a marionette just before the puppeteer moves her
strings.
Then the music lifted her and directed her steps. At first it felt as if someone else was helping her keep
time to Dar s melody. Someone else controlled each leap and pirouette. Gradually, she knew she was
the one responding to this extraordinary elation. She danced around and around the bower.
Dar s jubilant song poured out through his silver flute. It filled the air and flowed into Kale s heart.
Within the rhythm of the music, she embraced freedom, freedom to respond to the presence of Wulder.
Out of the shadows of the trees came kimens. First one and then three, then six, and then a dozen. Light
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as down feathers, they swirled in and out of the branches, around Kale and Dar. They fluttered in the
dappled light of sunbeams filtered through layers and layers of intertwined cygnot branches.
Kale paused to watch the dizzy dance spiraling around her. She d seen kimens occasionally in River
Away. Then they were dressed in greens and browns, the floating material of their clothing fluttering with
each breeze. These dancers wore pale colors glimmering with a special light that for moments rippled in
rainbow hues before gleaming white, silver, yellow, and gold.
Kale looked down at her moonbeam cloth cape. It too had taken on the wondrous colors. She lifted the
egg high above her head and rejoined the dance. Nothing was more important than expressing the
celebration sweeping through her heart, her veins, her whole body.
She became aware of the kimens singing. Their voices blended with the notes of the flute. She wanted
to understand the phrases, but she didn t recognize the language. She wanted to sing the song, but she
didn t know the words. Still, nothing dampened her joy. She danced.
The melody soared and then calmed. Like autumn leaves floating on gentle zephyrs, the dancers drifted,
skimmed, fluttered, and settled on the cygnot floor.
With her eyes closed, Kale lay still. The last notes of heavenly music faded and floated away through the
branches above. She breathed rapidly and deeply, but her body was not tired. She listened to the leaves
rustle, or was it the kimens tiny breaths? The sound faded, and she knew without looking that the
delicate creatures had left the arbor.
She could feel her own heartbeat, the thump, thump in a vein in her neck, the steady pulse in the palm
of her hand.
Her eyes flew open and focused on the egg.
Dar, she called. He lives. The egg is hatching. Dar, come quickly.
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