On the other side of the boulder, the two girls found a lush, green valley. It was bowl-shaped and not very large, but flowers and grasses stood waist-high between the random clumps of bushes that dotted the valley floor. A squirrel, which had been sunning itself on a ledge near the entrance, leaped for a small tree as Cimorene and Alianora appeared.
"My goodness!" Alianora said, looking around with wide eyes. "This place looks as if no one but us has ever been here before. There aren't even any scorch marks on the rocks."
Cimorene blinked. Alianora was right. Lichens covered the weathered gray rocks that rose above the valley, and small plants grew in cracks and crevices that showed no sign of the touch of dragon fire.
"That's odd," Cimorene commented.
"Why?" Alianora asked.
"Those mountains aren't tall enough to keep dragons from flying over, and they're right in the middle of the dragons territory. So why haven't the dragons been here? They usually keep a close eye on everything that belongs to them."
"Maybe they have been here, but they never found anything to breathe fire at," Alianora said.
"Well, I'm going to ask Kazul about it when I get back," Cimorene said as she waded into the grass. "Why don't you take that side, and I'll look over here? We will cover more ground that way."
"First you'd better show me what I'm looking for," Alianora said apologetically.
"I'm afraid I couldn't tell feverfew from carrots if there was a dragon chasing me and my life depended on it."
Cimorene nodded, and they started off. They had not gone far when she saw a patch of the white button-shaped flowers she was looking for.
"Here," she said, showing them to Alianora. "This is feverfew. The younger plants are the best, the ones that haven't blossomed yet."
Alianora studied the leaves and flowers with care. "I think I'll recognize it now."
They cut some of the plants, leaving those that were blooming.
"You find the next patch," Cimorene said as they started off again.
"Let's try over there," Alianora said, pointing.
They found several more patches of feverfew, and gradually their baskets began to fill. "I think this should be enough," Cimorene said at last.
"Unless you think-" "Cimorene!"Alianora hissed, clutching at Cimorene's arm. "There's someone behind that bush!"
Cimorene turned.A dark line snaked through the grass where something large had bent and broken the plants in passing. "You're right," she said, and started forward.
Alianora hung back, still holding Cimorene's arm. "You're not going to go look, are you?"
"How else are we going to find out who it is?" Cimorene asked reasonably.
She shook off Alianora's hand. Quietly, she walked over to the clump of bushes and peered around it. Alianora followed with evident reluctance.
A man in blue and brown silk robes was crouched on the other side of the bush with his back toward Cimorene. He was stuffing saw-edged purple leaves into a small linen bag the size of Cimorene's hand. His hair was brown, and on the ground beside him lay a long, polished staff.
"Antorell?" Cimorene said in surprise.
The man snatched up his staff and straightened as if a bee had just stung him. It was indeed Antorell, and he did not look at all pleased to see her. He stuffed the linen bag quickly into his sleeve and said, "P-princess Cimorene! What brings you here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Cimorene said.
"Wizards go where they wish, answering to no one," Antorell said, waving his free hand in a lofty manner.
"Maybe outside the Mountains of Morning they do, but around here they have to check with the dragons first," Cimorene said.
"You know nothing of the matter," Antorell said, looking very put out.
"Cimorene…" Alianora's tone was doubtful. "You know this person?"
"I'm sorry; I should have introduced you. This is Antorell, one of the wizards I told you about. Antorell, this is Princess Alianora of the Duchy of Toure-on-Marsh. At the moment, she's the princess of the dragon Woraug."
Alianora curtsied, murmuring something polite and inaudible.
Antorell, who had stiffened in surprise when he realized that Cimorene was not alone, relaxed visibly. "Woraug's princess? That's all right, then.
Though he really shouldn't have sent you."
"But Woraug didn't-ow!" said Alianora. The "ow" was because Cimorene had hastily kicked her ankle to keep her from telling Antorell too much.
"Didn't what?" Antorell asked, frowning suspiciously.
"Didn't know you were going to be here," Cimorene said.
"Well, of course he didn't know!" Antorell said, looking annoyed.
"That's the whole point, after all."
Cimorene would have very much liked to ask him what the point was, but she was afraid it would make him suspicious again. "I don't understand," she said instead, batting her eyes at him.
"Of course not," Antorell replied in a condescending tone that made Cimorene's teeth hurt. "But it doesn't matter. I'm not annoyed with you."
"I'm so glad," Cimorene murmured.
Antorell gave her an oily smile. "In fact, there's no need for you to tell Woraug that you met me here."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Cimorene said with perfect truth.
"Excellent," Antorell said. "Then may I escort the two of you back to the path?"
Alianora looked hopefully in Cimorene's direction.
"But we can't leave yet," Cimorene said, opening her eyes very wide.
"We haven't picked any cornflowers or daisies." Behind her, she heard Alianora making a smothered, choking noise, as if she were trying very hard not to laugh.
"Daisies," Antorell said in a flat, incredulous tone. "You want to stay and pick daisies?"
Cimorene nodded vigorously. "And cornflowers, and flax, and all sorts of things," she said, waving her hand at the flowers blooming all around.
"They'll look so pretty in a bowl of water in the kitchen."
"I'm sure you're right," Antorell said. He looked as if he would have liked to object, but couldn't think of anything to object to. "Perhaps I could help you?" he said reluctantly.
"Oh, we wouldn't dream of keeping you," Cimorene said.
Antorell was clearly reluctant to leave the two girls in the valley, but Cimorene did not give him much choice. After another minute or so of conversation, the wizard was forced to go. He did not use a vanishing spell but trudged away on foot. Cimorene watched him until he was out of sight among the bushes, wondering whether he had some special reason not to use spells in the valley or whether he simply didn't know the right spells to make himself vanish.
"That's a relief!" Alianora said. "Why did you insist on staying when it was so obvious that he wanted us to leave? I was afraid he was going to turn us into toads or something."
"I wanted to see what he was up to," Cimorene said. "And I don't think Antorell is a very good wizard. He probably couldn't manage anything worse than a squirrel."
Alianora did not appear to find this very reassuring. Cimorene checked to make sure Antorell was out of sight, then went over to the place where he had been standing when she peered around the bush. At first she did not notice anything unusual. Then she saw a purplish plant oozing sap from the places where several of its spiky, saw-toothed leaves had been broken off.
"Look at this."
"What is it?" Alianora asked.
"I don't know," Cimorene said absently. "I saw a couple of other plants like this while we were picking feverfew, but I thought they were just weeds."
"Maybe it is a weed."
"A wizard wouldn't sneak into the dragons' section of the Mountains of Morning just to pick weeds. They don't even use herbs to cast spells, so what does Antorell want with this prickly looking thing?"
Alianora shrugged. "Maybe he needs it for something he can't do with magic."
"I wonder what that would be?" Cimorene reached out and carefully broke off a spray of leaves. She wrapped them in her handkerchief and put the packet in her pocket. "Let's see if we can find out whether he picked anything else."