The Dragons
Chapter Eleven
Dinah watched Samma disappear from view, her face shuttered. Then she met Marc's eyes, walking into his arms. "If she's any indication we need to get news as soon as possible," she said.
"Well, I think we can count on hearing about anything bad. Surely the Darrochs have spies that keep them informed, and I'm sure they'll let us know if anything is up," Marc replied. "Now what's really bothering you?"
Laz looked at them and put his arm around Anja, drawing her away saying, "You can show me the snow."
When they'd were beyond earshot Dinah sighed. "I feel like I just manipulated the hell out of her."
"I think she's very wise and knows a lot more than she's sharing. Maybe it's the other way round."
"Well, it's not like we were open about what we're here for. Nor do we know what Anja told her," Dinah said. "But parts of this seem to be coming together way too neatly, you know?"
Marc frowned. "Well, there is a very good grapevine among the worlds that most folks ignore. Perhaps it's been a lot more help than we know."
"Maybe," she said. "I wish we had our own information gathering network, though." She laid her forehead against his cheek. "We should maybe finish here as soon as we can. Scan everything we're interested in and work on it after we're gone."
"Good idea. I'll pass that on to Melly and Colin, although I'm not sure we won't need to use force to extract them from this library."
"Yeah. And while they're doing that, those flowers...what did you think when you heard that?'
"I wondered if it wasn't a sort of natural psychedelic, actually, but having sipped the tea, I don't think so any more. Still an interesting legend. Hopefully Anja can come up with a picture at least, and possibly some leaves so we can run an analysis."
"Wow. I hadn't gone there at all. But I would like to see a picture, maybe ask Kalie about them."
"Yes. I'd bet she'll know something."
"Doesn't it strike you as strange that a backwater place like this has a library like that? And that Samma knew what she did?"
"What strikes me as odd is that there seem to be no cities here. Some agrarian activity, the monastery, and not much else. On the other hand, if I wanted to collect a lot of information and protect it from the nosy, this might be a good place to keep it. Control of access."
"Maybe Kalie can find out from the dragons here about the sort of traffic coming in and out of here," Dinah said.
"Yes, that would be interesting. I'm betting they are pretty selective." Marc paused then added, "Of course, who would even think to come here? As you say, it is a backwater planet, with no real draw for anyone unless you know where to look."
She nodded. "Why don't we stroll and see if we can tell the difference between the public and private areas," she said.
"Sure. All Samma can do is toss us off the planet. Let's find Anja. I wonder how much she'd say."
"Let's shock the natives and kiss first."
"You are incorrigible," he muttered, but quite gladly kissed her, gently but thoroughly. Then they turned and walked arm in arm through the greeting room and out into the hallway behind it. "I wonder what Laz thinks of all this? Even more, I wonder why Anja left. And why she was here in the first place."
"We can add that to the list of things to ask her when we see her," she said. "Quinn says Snow says they're down by the pool behind the monastery. In that direction," she pointed.
They found a swept pathway and followed it, then took some rather worn and twisty stairs carved out of the living rock. At the bottom was a garden, now sleeping with a layer of snow over all of it. Anja turned as they came around a curve, the pathway hidden by a stone wall. The pathway ended in what must be a beautiful and serene view in the warmer weather, when the bushes that defined the naturally shaped pool would bloom.
Dinah smiled. "Converting him to a snow fan?"
Anja smiled. "If it would be warm snow, he'd like it," she said with a laugh.
"Anja," Dinah said, sitting down on a stone bench, "May I ask you a question?"
"Certainly," Anja replied walking over to sit with Dinah, leaving the two men standing together.
"This place is so beautiful and seems to fit you so well. Why did you leave?"
"I was apprenticed out to one of the Guilds of the unimensional worlds," Anja replied.
"You asked to do that?"
"No, it was arranged for me. I do not know who or why."
"Ah. Then how did you end up with the monks?"
"I did not .. fit in with the people I was apprenticed to. I begged them to release me once I had fulfilled the minimum of my requirements. They were kind enough to do so.'
"I understand not fitting in," Dinah said. "It must have been hard, especially after being left here and never knowing your parents. It is usual to leave babies here?"
"No. Yet I appear to be a native daughter. Or at least one of my parents was native. I have asked Samma many times what she knows, but she has not ... come forward with much in the way of information." Anja looked down at her hands. "I expect she was sworn to silence."
Dinah saw the pain in her and cursed herself silently. "Anja, do you have any idea what it is that Samma knows but isn't saying?"
"Samma is very wise. I expect she knows a great deal. Are you asking about the symbols?"
"I don't think it was coincidence that she served the tea she did," said Dinah. "Also that library is remarkable for this place. It made me wonder if there was much off world traffic here, if people came here to use the library. There is the fact that the monastery appears to be both the cultural center of the planet and its political center as well. No cities or towns, just a small number of farms."
"It is true that there is not much here to interest off-worlders. In my childhood I only remember seeing a few visitors from off-world. I cannot say if there have been more recently, or indeed if there were before I was old enough to notice. As to the tea... look," Anja said, and pointed to the back of the bench. "The flowers are the symbol of the monastery. They are carved into the stonework, and decorate the temple and the zendo as well. The carving is such that it is a part of the overall carving so do not seem that obvious."
"Do you have any idea why it's the monastery's symbol?"
"I am told it represents hope and sacrifice. Beyond that... The flowers are fairly common here."
"Hope and sacrifice?" Dinah repeated looking at Marc. "Represented by a flower said to grow out of the blood of dragons. On a world peopled with dragons who lack the fervor to evolve present in every other dragon known practically."
"Snow has said they are awaiting a sign. Perhaps only they are more patient than other dragons."
"You mean separate from Kalie and the others?"
Anja cocked her head for a moment and communed with Snow. "He says yes. That they have a different task they must do."
"What is it?" Dinah asked, baffled.
"He will not say. He says when the sign is seen then the dragons will understand."
"Why am I not surprised," Dinah muttered.
Marc listening in, grinned. "They're dragons. Much like you, they have a plan."
"I don't have a plan," she snapped. "I just have good reflexes."
"And much like you, they tend to play their cards close to their chests," Marc added.
"So what now, my love?" Dinah asked. "Besides talking to Kalie and asking her to talk to Snow."
"Anja can you get us two things. Pictures of the flowers and some of the tea?"
Anja nodded. "I will do that."
"As for what now, let's go see Melly and Coli," Marc suggested as he put out a hand to help Dinah up.
"Well, I think we can count on hearing about anything bad. Surely the Darrochs have spies that keep them informed, and I'm sure they'll let us know if anything is up," Marc replied. "Now what's really bothering you?"
Laz looked at them and put his arm around Anja, drawing her away saying, "You can show me the snow."
When they'd were beyond earshot Dinah sighed. "I feel like I just manipulated the hell out of her."
"I think she's very wise and knows a lot more than she's sharing. Maybe it's the other way round."
"Well, it's not like we were open about what we're here for. Nor do we know what Anja told her," Dinah said. "But parts of this seem to be coming together way too neatly, you know?"
Marc frowned. "Well, there is a very good grapevine among the worlds that most folks ignore. Perhaps it's been a lot more help than we know."
"Maybe," she said. "I wish we had our own information gathering network, though." She laid her forehead against his cheek. "We should maybe finish here as soon as we can. Scan everything we're interested in and work on it after we're gone."
"Good idea. I'll pass that on to Melly and Colin, although I'm not sure we won't need to use force to extract them from this library."
"Yeah. And while they're doing that, those flowers...what did you think when you heard that?'
"I wondered if it wasn't a sort of natural psychedelic, actually, but having sipped the tea, I don't think so any more. Still an interesting legend. Hopefully Anja can come up with a picture at least, and possibly some leaves so we can run an analysis."
"Wow. I hadn't gone there at all. But I would like to see a picture, maybe ask Kalie about them."
"Yes. I'd bet she'll know something."
"Doesn't it strike you as strange that a backwater place like this has a library like that? And that Samma knew what she did?"
"What strikes me as odd is that there seem to be no cities here. Some agrarian activity, the monastery, and not much else. On the other hand, if I wanted to collect a lot of information and protect it from the nosy, this might be a good place to keep it. Control of access."
"Maybe Kalie can find out from the dragons here about the sort of traffic coming in and out of here," Dinah said.
"Yes, that would be interesting. I'm betting they are pretty selective." Marc paused then added, "Of course, who would even think to come here? As you say, it is a backwater planet, with no real draw for anyone unless you know where to look."
She nodded. "Why don't we stroll and see if we can tell the difference between the public and private areas," she said.
"Sure. All Samma can do is toss us off the planet. Let's find Anja. I wonder how much she'd say."
"Let's shock the natives and kiss first."
"You are incorrigible," he muttered, but quite gladly kissed her, gently but thoroughly. Then they turned and walked arm in arm through the greeting room and out into the hallway behind it. "I wonder what Laz thinks of all this? Even more, I wonder why Anja left. And why she was here in the first place."
"We can add that to the list of things to ask her when we see her," she said. "Quinn says Snow says they're down by the pool behind the monastery. In that direction," she pointed.
They found a swept pathway and followed it, then took some rather worn and twisty stairs carved out of the living rock. At the bottom was a garden, now sleeping with a layer of snow over all of it. Anja turned as they came around a curve, the pathway hidden by a stone wall. The pathway ended in what must be a beautiful and serene view in the warmer weather, when the bushes that defined the naturally shaped pool would bloom.
Dinah smiled. "Converting him to a snow fan?"
Anja smiled. "If it would be warm snow, he'd like it," she said with a laugh.
"Anja," Dinah said, sitting down on a stone bench, "May I ask you a question?"
"Certainly," Anja replied walking over to sit with Dinah, leaving the two men standing together.
"This place is so beautiful and seems to fit you so well. Why did you leave?"
"I was apprenticed out to one of the Guilds of the unimensional worlds," Anja replied.
"You asked to do that?"
"No, it was arranged for me. I do not know who or why."
"Ah. Then how did you end up with the monks?"
"I did not .. fit in with the people I was apprenticed to. I begged them to release me once I had fulfilled the minimum of my requirements. They were kind enough to do so.'
"I understand not fitting in," Dinah said. "It must have been hard, especially after being left here and never knowing your parents. It is usual to leave babies here?"
"No. Yet I appear to be a native daughter. Or at least one of my parents was native. I have asked Samma many times what she knows, but she has not ... come forward with much in the way of information." Anja looked down at her hands. "I expect she was sworn to silence."
Dinah saw the pain in her and cursed herself silently. "Anja, do you have any idea what it is that Samma knows but isn't saying?"
"Samma is very wise. I expect she knows a great deal. Are you asking about the symbols?"
"I don't think it was coincidence that she served the tea she did," said Dinah. "Also that library is remarkable for this place. It made me wonder if there was much off world traffic here, if people came here to use the library. There is the fact that the monastery appears to be both the cultural center of the planet and its political center as well. No cities or towns, just a small number of farms."
"It is true that there is not much here to interest off-worlders. In my childhood I only remember seeing a few visitors from off-world. I cannot say if there have been more recently, or indeed if there were before I was old enough to notice. As to the tea... look," Anja said, and pointed to the back of the bench. "The flowers are the symbol of the monastery. They are carved into the stonework, and decorate the temple and the zendo as well. The carving is such that it is a part of the overall carving so do not seem that obvious."
"Do you have any idea why it's the monastery's symbol?"
"I am told it represents hope and sacrifice. Beyond that... The flowers are fairly common here."
"Hope and sacrifice?" Dinah repeated looking at Marc. "Represented by a flower said to grow out of the blood of dragons. On a world peopled with dragons who lack the fervor to evolve present in every other dragon known practically."
"Snow has said they are awaiting a sign. Perhaps only they are more patient than other dragons."
"You mean separate from Kalie and the others?"
Anja cocked her head for a moment and communed with Snow. "He says yes. That they have a different task they must do."
"What is it?" Dinah asked, baffled.
"He will not say. He says when the sign is seen then the dragons will understand."
"Why am I not surprised," Dinah muttered.
Marc listening in, grinned. "They're dragons. Much like you, they have a plan."
"I don't have a plan," she snapped. "I just have good reflexes."
"And much like you, they tend to play their cards close to their chests," Marc added.
"So what now, my love?" Dinah asked. "Besides talking to Kalie and asking her to talk to Snow."
"Anja can you get us two things. Pictures of the flowers and some of the tea?"
Anja nodded. "I will do that."
"As for what now, let's go see Melly and Coli," Marc suggested as he put out a hand to help Dinah up.
