Read Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun Online
Authors: Margaret Weis
hanced her good looks, although, Tas thought, she doesn't have
quite the same prettiness she had when I came back here for
Caramon's funeral the first time. Her hair shone with the same
silver sheen, her eyes glinted with the same gold, but the gold
lacked warmth, the silver was dull and tarnished. She looked
faded and tired.
She's unhappy, too, Tas realized suddenly. It must be catching.
Like measles.
"That will be Palin now!" Usha said, hearing the front door
open and close. She sounded relieved.
" And Jenna," Tas mumbled, his mouth full.
"Yes. Jenna," Usha repeated, her voice cool. "You can stay
here, if you like, er . . . Tas. Finish your oatmeal. There's more in
the pot."
She rose to her feet and left the kitchen. The door swung shut
behind her. Tas ate his oatmeal and eavesdropped with interest
on the conversation being held in the entry hall. Ordinarily he
would not have listened in on someone else's conversation, be-
cause that wasn't polite, but they were talking about him when he
wasn't there, which wasn't polite, either, and so he felt justified.
Besides, Tas was starting not to like Palin very much. The
kender felt badly about this, but he couldn't help the feeling.
He'd spent a considerable amount of time with the mage when
they were at Laurana's, relating over and over everything he
could remember about Caramon's first funeral. The kender
added the usual embellishments, of course, without which no
kender tale is considered complete. Unfortunately, instead of en-
tertaining Palin, these embellishments-which shifted from story
to story-appeared to irritate him to no end. Palin had a way of
looking at him- Tas-not as if he had two heads, but more as if
the mage would like to rip off the kender's single head and open
it up to see what was inside.
"Not even Raistlin looked at me like that," Tas said to him-
self, scraping the oatmeal out of the bowl with his finger. "He
looked at me as if he'd like to kill me sometimes, but never like)
he wanted to turn me inside out first." I
Usha's voice came floating through the door ". . . claims he's
Tasslehoff . . ."
"He is Tasslehoff, my dear," Palin returned. "You know Mis-
tress Jenna, I believe, Usha? Mistress Jenna will be spending a few
days with us. Will you make up the guest room?"
There was a silence that sounded as if it had been mashed
through a sieve, then Usha's voice, cold as the oatmeal had grown
by now. "Palin, may I see you in the kitchen?"
Palin's voice, colder than the oatmeal. "Please excuse us, Mis-
tress Jenna."
Tasslehoff sighed and, thinking he should look as if he
hadn't been listening, began to hum loudly to himself and
started to rummage through the pantry, searching for something
else to eat.
Fortunately, neither Palin nor Usha paid any attention to the
kender at all, except for Palin to snap at him to stop that infernal
racket.
"What is she doing here?" Usha demanded, her hands on her
hips.
"We have important matters to discuss," Palin answered eva-
sively.
Usha fixed him with a look. "Palin, you promised me! This
trip to Qualinesti would be your last! You know how dangerous
this search for artifacts has become-"
"Yes, my dear, I do know," Palin interrupted, his tone cool.
"That is why I think it would be best if you left Solace."
"Left!" Usha repeated, astonished. "I've just come back home
after being away for three months! Your sister and I were virtual
prisoners in Haven. Did you know that?"
"Yes, I knew-"
"You knew! And you didn't say anything? You weren't wor-
ried? You didn't ask how we escaped-"
"My dear, I haven't had time-"
"We couldn't even come back for your father's funeral!" Usha
continued. "We were permitted to leave only because I agreed to
paint a portrait of the magistrate's wife. She has a face that would
have been ugly on a hobgoblin. Now you want me to leave again."
"It's for your own safety."
"What about your safety?" she demanded.
"I can take care of myself."
"Can you, Palin?" Usha asked. Her voice was suddenly
gentle. She reached out, tried to take hold of his hands in her
own.
"Yes," he snapped and snatched his crippled hands away,
folded them in the sleeves of his robes.
Tasslehoff, feeling extremely uncomfortable, wished he could
crawl inside the pantry and shut the door. Unfortunately, there
was no room, not even after he'd cleared out a space by stashing
several interesting-looking objects in his pockets.
"Very well, if that's how you feel. I'm not to touch you appar-
ently"-Usha folded her arms across her chest-"but I do think
you owe me an explanation. What is going on? Why did you send
this kender here claiming to be Tas! What are you up to?"
"We're keeping Mistress Jenna waiting-"
"I'm sure she won't mind. I am your wife, in case you've for-
gotten!" Usha tossed her silver hair. "I wouldn't be surprised if
you had. We never see each other anymore."
"Don't start that again!" he shouted angrily and turned away
toward the door.
"Palin!" Usha reached out her hand impulsively. "I love you!
I want to help you!"
"You can't help me!" he cried, rounding on her. "No one
can." He lifted his hands, held them to the light, the fingers
crooked and turned inward like the claws of a bird. "No one
can," he repeated.
More silence. Tas recalled the time he'd been a prisoner in the
Abyss. He had felt very alone then, desolate and unhappy.
Strangely, he was feeling the same now sitting in his friends'
kitchen. He lacked the spirit to even give the lock on the silver
cabinet a second glance.
"I am sorry, Usha," Palin said stiffly. "You are right. You de-
serve an explanation. This kender is Tasslehoff."
Usha shook her head.
"Do you remember my father telling the story about how he
and Tas traveled back in time?" Palin continued.
"Yes," she answered, her voice tight.
"They did so by means of a magical artifact. Tasslehoff used
that same device to jump forward in time so he could speak at
Caramon's funeral. He was here once, but he overshot the mark.
He arrived too late. The funeral was over, so he came back a
second time. In this instance, he was on time. Only everything
was different. The other future he saw was a future of hope and
happiness. The gods had not gone away. I was head of the Order
of White Robes. The elven kingdoms were united-"
"And you believe all this?" Usha asked, amazed.
"I do," Palin said stubbornly. "1 believe it because I have seen
the device, Usha. I've held it in my hands. I've felt its power.
That's why Mistress Jenna is here. I need her advice. And that's
why it's not safe for you to stay in Solace. The dragon knows I
have the device. I'm not sure how she found out, but I fear some-
one in Laurana's household may be a traitor. If so, Beryl may al-
ready be aware that I have brought the device to Solace. She'll
send her people to try to-"
"You're going to use it!" Usha gasped, pointed her finger at
Palin.
He made no response
"I know you, Palin Majere," Usha said. "You're planning to
use the device yourself! To try to go back in time and . . . and. . .
who knows what else!"
"I've only been thinking about it," he returned, uneasily. "1
haven't made up my mind. That's why I needed to speak to Mis-
tress Jenna."
"You planned to speak to her and not to me? Your wife?"
"I was going to tell you," Palin said.
"Tell me? Not ask me? Not ask me what I thought about this
insanity? Not ask my opinion? No." She answered her own ques-
tion. "You intend to do this whether I want you to or not. No
matter how dangerous. No matter that you could be killed!"
"Usha," he said, after a moment, "it's so very important. The
magic. . . if I could. . ." He shook his head, unable to explain. His
voice trailed away.
"The magic is dead, Palin," Usha cried, her voice choked with
tears. "Good riddance, I say. What did it ever do for you? Noth-
ing except destroy you and ruin our marriage."
He reached out his hand, but this time she was the one who
pulled away. "I'm going to the Inn," she said, not looking at him.
"Let me know if . . . if you want me to come home."
Turning away from him, she walked over to Tas. Usha looked
him over long and hard. "You really are Tas, aren't you?" she
said, awed.
"Yes, Usha," Tas said miserably. "But I wish right now I
wasn't."
She leaned down, kissed him on the forehead. He could see
the unshed tears shimmer in her golden eyes.
"Good-bye, Tas. It was nice to see you again."
"I'm sorry, Usha," he wailed. "I didn't mean to make a mess
of things. I just came back to speak at Caramon's funeral."
"It's not your fault Tas. Things were a mess long before you
came."
Usha left the kitchen, walking past Palin without glancing at
him. He stood where she had left him, staring at nothing, his ex-
pression dark, his face pale. Tas heard Usha say something to
Jenna, something he couldn't quite catch. He heard Jenna re-
spond, but he couldn't catch that either. Usha left the house. The
front door shut with a bang. The house was silent except for
Jenna's restive pacing. Still Palin did not move.
Tas reached into several of his pockets and at last located the
device. He removed some string that had become tangled around
it dusted off the lint from his pocket and some crumbs from a bis-
cuit he'd meant to eat two days ago.
"Here, Palin," Tas said, holding out the device. "You can
have it."
Palin stared at him, uncomprehending.
"Go on," Tas said, pushing the device at him. "If you want to
use it like Usha said you did, I'll let you. Especially if you can go
back and make things the way they're supposed to be. That's
what you're thinking, isn't it? Here," Tas said insistently and ~
gave the device a shake, which caused its jewels to wink.
"Take it!" Jenna said.
Tas was startled. He had been so intent on Palin, he hadn't
heard Jenna come into the kitchen. She stood in the doorway, the
door partially ajar.
"Take it!" she repeated urgently. "Palin, you were worried
about overcoming the geas laid on the device, the spell that
would always return the device to the person who uses it. Such
a geas would protect the owner if the device was ever stolen or
lost but if the device is freely given, this act may break the
geas!"
"I don't know anything about gewgaws," said Tas, "but I
know that I'll let you use the device if you want to."
Palin lowered his head. His gray hair fell forward, covering
his face, but not before Tas had seen the pain that contorted and
twisted it into a face he did not recognize. Reaching out Palin
took hold of the device, his crooked fingers wrapping around it
lovingly.
Tas watched the device go with something akin to relief.
Whenever the device was in his possession, he could always
hear Fizban's voice reminding him in irritable tones that he
wasn't supposed to be off having adventures. He was supposed
to go back to his own time. And while this adventure certainly
left a lot to be desired as far as adventures go-what with being
cursed and having to see Usha cry and discovering that he
didn't like Palin anymore-Tas was starting to think that even a
bad adventure was probably better than being stepped on by a
giant.
"I can tell you how it works," Tas offered.
Palin placed the device on the kitchen table. He sat there star-
ing at it, not saying a word.
"There's a rhyme that goes with it and stuff you have to do to
it," Tas added, "but it's pretty easy to learn. Fizban said I had to
know it so that I could recite it standing on my head and I could,
so I'm sure you probably can, too."
Palin was only half-listening. He looked up at Jenna. "What
do you think?"
"It is the Device of Time Journeying," she said. "I saw it at the
Tower of High Sorcery when your father brought it to Dalamar
for safekeeping. He studied it, of course. I believe he had some of
your uncle's notes regarding it. He never used it that I know of,
but he has more knowledge about it than anyone now living. I
never heard that the device went missing. However, as I recall,
we did find Tasslehoff in the Tower right before the Chaos War. He
might have taken it then."
Jenna eyed the kender quite sternly.
"I did not take it!" Tas said, insulted. "Fizban gave it to me! He
told me-"
"Hush, Tas." Palin leaned across the table, lowered his voice.
"I don't suppose there is any way you could contact Dalamar."
"I do not practice necromancy," Jenna returned coolly.
Palin's eyes narrowed. "Come now, you don't believe he's
dead. Do you?"
Jenna relaxed back in her chair. "Perhaps I don't. But he might
as well be. I have not heard a word from him in more than thirty