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Well, I’ll tell you one thing, Piemur is not in this Hold.**
“How could he have gotten out?” asked Sebell. “I was Just beyond the ramp all night. Even if I didn’t see him, Kimi would have.”
They had reached the Lord’s apartments now, and Candler opened the door, gesturing them to precede him.
“What’s that smell?” asked Menolly softly, grimacing in distaste.
“Smell? Oh, you get used to it. Disgusting, I know, but it has something to do with Lord Meron’s illness. We try to mask it,” and Candler gestured to the sweet candles alight in containers about the room. “I often think that it’s only justice,” he added in a careful whisper, “for the suffering he’s given others, but it’s a terrible way to die.”
“I thought Master Oldive had given him …” Sebell began.
“Oh, he has. The strongest there is, according to Berdine. But the medicine only dulls the pain.”
The doors to the next two rooms were open, and the harpers could see the clusters of men standing about, in silence, all avoiding each other’s gaze. Suddenly, in the third room, there was a brief flurry as the Harper appeared at the door to the Lord’s private room.
“Sebell 1” Master Robinton’s calm request carried clearly, and everyone turned to watch the Journeyman hurry to his master’s side. “Please send a drum message to Lords Oterel, Nessel and Bargen, and to Weyrleader T’bor. Would they please attend us here at Nabol immediately. Double urgency on the beat, please.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sebell with such unexpected vigor that Master Robinton gave him a mild second look. But Sebell turned on his heel and walked swiftly out of the apartments, motioning as he passed them for Candler and Menolly to come with him. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier, Menolly. If Piemur got out of the Hold and is hiding somewhere in the hills, he’ll surface to a drum message aimed at him. Lead us to your drumheights, Candler.”
The big message drums needed only to be uncovered, Sebell stood for a moment, beaters poised over the taut hide as he composed his message. The opening roll boomed across the valley, the urgent measure following as the last echoes died. Then Sebell, eyes half-closed in concentration,
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beat out the recipients’ names, the Harper’s request, and the urgent measures once again to insure immediate reply and attention. Menolly positioned herself at the -window then, ears straining to catch the pass-along roll from the next drumheights.
“There it is from the east,” she told the two men. “What’s wrong with the northern listeners? Still asleep? Ah, there they are.”
“Candler, any chance of some food?” Sebell asked the Hold Harper. “We’d best wait here for replies.”
“Yes, let’s eat here where the air is clear,” said Menolly, with a shudder as she thought of the thick, distasteful odor in Lord Meron’s rooms.
“Of course, of course. I apologize for not offering sooner.” Candler was away down the stairs.
Sebell picked up the sticks again and beat a quick measure. “Apprentice. Report. Urgent.” He waited a few breaths and then repeated the measure.
“If he’s anywhere between here and Ruatha or Crom, he’ll hear that,” Sebell said, carefully replacing the drumsticks on their hooks before he joined Menolly at the win-dow.
Her face was sad and her brows constricted in a tiny frown as she gazed across the huddle of cots below the Hold ramp and over the disorganized Gather square, still tenanted by those unwillingly held over by the emergency. Few sounds wafted to their ears at this height, and the scene was unrealistically calm.
“Don’t fret over Piemur, Menolly,” Sebell said, trying to sound more lighthearted than he felt. “He has a knack of landing on his feet.” He smiled down at her, allowing himself the luxury of putting his arm lightly about her shoulders.
“Except when the steps are greased!” Menolly’s voice had an angry edge, and he gripped her shoulder reassuringly.
“Look at it this way: just see how that misadventure has worked to his advantage. He’s got out of the drumheights and acquired himself a queen fire lizard egg. For all we know, he may meet us at the Hold gates with it, smiling in that ingenuous fashion of his, when you and I know he’s as devious as Meroni”