“I don’t doubt it in the least.”
“Well, just so that it’s clear, because I was worried about how it might be misinterpreted. I always try to do everything as well as I can, and it’s true that sometimes I have minor accidents because I get nervous and all that, but in general I do everything pretty well.” She was talking so fast that she was tumbling over her own words.
“I know. You’re very good, and I’m glad you’re back in Gondabar’s service. It’s an important post. You were saying about the rumors …”
“Ah yes.” Nilsa brought her mouth close to his ear again. “Luckily my job also lets me find out the rumors going around in the palace and the capital. Apparently there’s trouble in the north. Serious trouble.”
“With the Wild Ones of the Ice?”
“That’s right, but it seems to be more than that, because King Thoran has been in meetings several times with Mage Eicewald. There was shouting involved, according to some of the Royal Rangers, and that’s not a good sign. When Thoran gets carried away by his temper it’s because something serious is afoot, or at least that’s what they say at court. I didn’t want to give you bad news the moment you got here, but I think it’s better for you to know, in case it’s got something to do with you.”
“You were right to tell me. I hope it’s got nothing to do with me, but it’s true, I’d rather know and be prepared than be caught by surprise and not know how to react.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
“How are things in the capital? How are you?”
“Everything’s fine. A lot of work, though. I don’t have any chance to stop. You ought to see how many messages I have to carry and the number of Rangers I have to see who’re passing through between missions. It’s non-stop.”
“Yeah, I can see they’ve got us all very busy.”
She jabbed her thumb at the tower behind her. “Pigeons, owls, crows and messengers go out day and night from here.”
“Any news from the rest of the group? I haven’t heard from any of them, although that doesn’t surprise me, considering I’ve been lost in the fields and mountains of Norghana on one mission after another.”
Nilsa smiled. “Well, I have got some,” she said, and looked mischievously at him.
“Come on, don’t be like that, tell me what you know.”
“I’d better not do it here,” she said, and looked unobtrusively around her. “Besides, I’ve got something to show you. Let’s go to the tower, somewhere quiet and discreet.”
Lasgol was intrigued. “Okay, then.”
Nilsa took him inside the Rangers’ tower. He thought she was going to take him to one of the rooms on the ground floor which were set aside for those Rangers who were passing through, but he was wrong. She set off up the wide spiral staircase, and he thought she wanted to take him to report at once on the third floor, where Gondabar had his office. He was wrong again, because she went on up the stairs, very fast. This did not surprise him particularly, as she rarely did things at a normal speed, and almost never at any that implied calm. They passed several Rangers on guard on the different floors, but when they saw Nilsa they did not even make any move to halt them. They seemed to know her well, her and her races.
“Where on earth are you taking me?” Lasgol asked. He was beginning to be out of breath.
She laughed. “You’ll know when we get there.”
“Well, we certainly haven’t done that yet …” he said. His thighs were beginning to feel the hundreds of stairs.
“Don’t lag behind,” she teased him.
Lasgol saw her red hair and Ranger’s cloak appear and disappear with every turn of the stairs as they went up.
“Is there … any reason why we have to run up the stairs … at this rate?” he complained.
“Well, of course, a very important one.”
He frowned, waiting for the reply he knew was coming. “What?”
“Because I love to race upstairs like this,” she said, and laughed as she disappeared above him.
Lasgol rolled his eyes. “You don’t say …”
Nilsa went on until she reached the pigeon house, and stopped there. They were one floor below the topmost one. Lasgol, panting, stopped at the door and saw Nilsa inside it with fifty or so of the birds which the Rangers used for communication.
“Isn’t it amazing? Look at these beauties.”
Lasgol looked at the crows, pigeons, various kinds of owls, ravens, hawks and falcons in their cages and perches, and nodded as he recovered from the ascent.
“They’re wonderful.”
“They certainly are. I often come here. Although I don’t stay long.”
“Why not?”
“I love them, but it smells terrible.” She indicated the floor of the pigeon house, which was covered with bird droppings, and shrugged.
Lasgol grinned. “Yeah, it’s usually the case. So why have you brought me all the way up here?” He suspected that it was not just to show him the Rangers’ beautiful birds.
Nilsa pointed. “Look who’s come,” she said. Lasgol followed her finger and saw an angry-looking owl.
“Milton!” he cried delightedly, and went over to make a fuss of him.
“He arrived a few days ago.”
“I’m very happy to see you, Milton,” Lasgol said, and stroked his head gently. The owl’s feathers were soft and beautiful. “You’re very handsome,” he whispered. Milton clicked his beak, but allowed himself to be petted.
“He always lets you stroke him,” Nilsa complained. “The rest of us can’t even get close.”
“That’s not true. He lets Gerd do it too.”
“That’s true, but only the two of you. It’s not fair.”
Lasgol smiled. He searched for a message on the bird’s leg, but found none.
