The elf admitted this with a nod. "I will undo what I can. You said that you had words with Simon Ilzimmer that same day—do you remember the hour?"
"The bells of Ilmater's temple were ringing," Arilyn recalled.
"That answers all," Elaith said with satisfaction. "The hour is close enough. You can speak for him. That will help build favor between the Ilzimmer family and the Thanns. It will be easy enough to blame this on Oth. We know he has done murder in other forms. Why not claim that he took on the physical shape of Simon Ilzimmer?"
Danilo started to protest, then gave up with a sigh. "We have to find Oth before we can accuse him of anything. The question is, how do we proceed?"
"I see several possible paths, none of them very attractive," the elf said. "We could turn this matter over to the Lords of Waterdeep, but these accusations would be hard to prove, and that might only deepen the animosity between the families. We could let the families settle this among themselves and hope that the bloodletting is minimal. This is the course I myself prefer, but for the fact that you and the princess are in line for reprisal."
Danilo grimaced. "Or?"
The elf's smile was cold and ruthless. "We could serve up Oth to the two-city families--but first, we will have to find and stop him."
"Not easy to find a dead man who can change his appearance at will," Arilyn pointed out.
"It will be easier than you think," Elaith said. He took the red crystal from his pocket and flipped it onto the table. "Oth has been sending information to me through this-things he wants me to know. He wants all three of us dead and he is trying to entrap us. Let's oblige him."
"I've heard better plans," Danilo said dryly, "but please, continue. This can only improve."
Elaith reached out and tapped the stone. "In two nights there will be a massive, coordinated tren attack against members of both the Thann and Ilzimmer clans."
"Why would Oth do that?"
"Several reasons. These families have longstanding rivalries. They will believe that the attacks come from their rivals and will continue to act upon them. They will fight until both are weakened. At some point, the other families will step in and settle the matter."
"Why would Oth want to create problems among these families?' Danilo wondered.
"The Eltorchul fortunes are fading," the elf reminded him.
"No wonder," Arilyn put in. "New tunnels don't come cheap. Neither do the services of tren assassins."
"Or magical research," Danilo added. "The cost of developing the Dreamspheres must have been ruinous."
Elaith shook his head. "The cost would be a small thing compared to the profit Oth could make if he could worm his clan into the two-city trade. Using the Dreamspheres, Oth could learn enough bits and pieces of the illegal trade to make a convincing bid. Fortunately," the elf said grimly, "he failed in his most ambitious ploy. He drew me into the Dreamsphere trade, no doubt hoping that I would he tempted to use the devices myself and thus betray secrets that I entrust to no man. If he accomplished what the seven families could not do, and handed them both my ruin and my fortune, the other families would welcome him into their midst with open arms."
Danilo and Arilyn absorbed this. "There are still a number of loose threads," Arilyn said. "It is clear that the peerage does not embrace elves, but the Eltorchul family seems extreme in their dislike."
"Oth is an arrogant man," Danilo explained. "The thought that some magic might elude his grasp is deeply offensive to him. You should have seen his face at the Gemstone Ball, when he asked me to teach him spell-song magic."
"That is well said," the elf agreed. "A number of years ago, Oth tried to purchase elven spells from the priests at the Pantheon Temple. He was truly rebuffed."
"Sibylanthra Dezlentyr was a mage," Arilyn pointed out. "Is it possible that she, too, rebuffed Oth? Perhaps he was working on the Mhaorkiira back then. If he thought that she understood too much of his intent, he might think it necessary to silence her."
Elaith looked startled, then grimly angry. "I would say it is very possible."
"That fits, as well," Arilyn mused. "She was most likely killed by poison. Diloontier deals both in poisons and the services of tren—clearly, Oth has some contact
with the man. That could also explain the attack on Myrna Cassalanter."
"No, that was my doing," Elaith said candidly. He shrugged off their incredulous stares. "She had it coming. Who do you think ordered the attack outside of Regnet's house?"
Danilo massaged his temples. "Let us come back to that at a later time. I take it that you know where the attacks will be."
"I do." Elaith sighed in deep and profound frustration. "Unfortunately, I do not have enough men to counteract these attacks. Oh, there are many in my employ, but none whom I trust in this matter. The shipment of Dreamspheres I acquired in Skullport is no doubt a paltry thing compared to Oth's store of them. I would wager that Dreamspheres have made their way into the hands of every man, woman, and monster seen frequenting my establishments or taking payment from me:'
The elf fell silent for a moment. "The only people I trust are in this room. I know of none others."
"I do," said Arilyn suddenly.
Danilo nodded slowly, understanding what she intended. "The elves from Tethyr came expecting to fight at your side if need be. There are other elves in the city. They might be recruited to this cause."
Elaith snorted. "Forgive me, but you do not understand the elven mind. Most of Waterdeep's elves are gold or moon folk like Arilyn and myself. Who would they follow? A band of forest elves, who to them are nothing but unknown savages? Or a half-elf? Or a rogue such as myself? The elves of this city know of my reputation," Elaith said, "and more than one of them has suffered vicariously because of my deeds. They will want no part of this. They have no reason to trust me, even less if they hear that the Mhaorkiira Hadryad is involved. No, I am sorry, but the People in this city have no reason to unite under any of those banners."
"Send out messengers," Arilyn said with grim certainty. "Gather all the elves you know do the rest."
* *
Lady Cassandra regarded her youngest son with uncertainty. "No more flaming books?"
"Just a simple warning, Mother. I have come to the end of the path, and you should know what I have found."
She nodded as if she had been expecting this. Danilo told her what he had learned.
"I did not order the tren assassinations," she said in a tight, worried tone, "but if this comes to light no one will believe it and the Thann family will be anathema. How much more so, after the battle between the families is over?"
"It will not take place," he said adamantly, "at least, not in any way that touches Thann. For once, stay your hand and let someone else handle the problem. Take precautions to protect the family, but keep all your retainers out of this."
Cassandra did not agree, but neither did she disagree.
After a moment, Danilo spoke the one question to which he must have an answer. "Arilyn and I have shared the elven handfasting. We have bonded in rapport. She wears my ring, and we intend to marry. Know that she has my first and deepest allegiance. She is worthy of that and more."
"That I never doubted," the woman murmured. "Then tell me why you have been so opposed to our union."
For a moment Cassandra looked weary, almost fragile. "You and Arilyn might have children. It is possible that one of them might be half-elven in appearance. That would raise questions."
Danilo nodded encouragement.
"When you spoke of your elven heritage, I thought you knew, but after the first moment of surprise passed, I realized that Khelben must have passed along some tale of distant ancestry. The son of Arun had a half-elven father. However, there is a closer tie."
She took a long breath. "I was born before my father came to Waterdeep. My mother died in childbirth, attended by none but my father. He remarried soon after. The Khelben whose name the archmage borrows was born of that union, and I always called
his mother mine. Very few knew otherwise. None living know that she was half-elven."
"You were ashamed of this," Danilo said in wonder.
"Not so, but you have seen how the nobility regards those of mixed blood." She swept a hand toward the well-tended estate. "See what I have done. The family business was in utter disarray when I married your father. I have earned this place for myself. None of my family—not even those who have the magical gifts I so notably lack—have achieved nobility. It is what I have. It is what I am."
A faint tremor underlay the cool tones. Danilo considered it long and well before he spoke. "I have no desire to take this from you, lady."
She shook her head. "Without the two-city trade, all is lost. I am not speaking merely of fortune. Do you think the others would let Thanns survive, if we attempted to remove ourselves from this alliance?"
Danilo had already considered that. For good or ill, this was a secret he would never speak. "Thann will survive," he said.
Still Cassandra was not content. "What do you propose to do? And how will this not come back to our door, if it is known that you are involved?"
"Rest your mind on that," he said. "I have allies no one will connect with this noble house or any other."
She considered that, then let out a short, humorless laugh at the irony of the situation. "Do what you must, my son." She hesitated, then gave him a smile that was genuine—all the more so for its self-mocking edge. "Sweet water and light laughter until we meet again."
The traditional elven farewell surprised him, then left him feeling both confused and deeply touched. He did not understand this woman and would never find his way through the many layers and convoluted passages of her mind. This much he knew: she had given him her blessing, in words she knew would be meaningful to him. He took her hand and kissed her fingers, then turned and walked swiftly from the hall to prepare for the battle ahead.
The gathering at Greenglade Tower was far from cordial. Danilo soon realized that Elaith's assessment of Waterdeep's elves had been distressingly on the mark. Some of these elves had recently been evicted from the tower and were none too happy to learn that Elaith had given that order.
Nor were they willing to follow him. The mother of the elf who was slain at Belinda Gundwynd's side angrily demanded to know if Elaith had anything to do with her son's death. "Tell me, my lord," she said with bitter mockery, "was this part of your vendetta against the noble clans?"
Before he could speak, Arilyn stepped forward. She placed a hand on her moonblade. "All of you know what this is. You know it cannot shed innocent blood, and that it can never be used to harm the People. If the task Elaith Craulnober asks of us is a right and true path, if the elf himself is worthy of our loyalty, the sword will honor him. If he falls, you will follow me. Will you accept that?"
There were many doubtful faces, but a murmur ran
through the crowd as a tall male stepped forward from the small knot of forest elves. Danilo knew at once who the elf was. Arilyn had spoken of her friend Foxfire as a warleader. This elf moved with the fluid grace of a warrior. Danilo had seen leaders before who possessed that quiet, indefinable strength that flowed like an aura, who inspired confidence in those around them. Never had he seen one who possessed this quality in such ample measure. If that were not proof enough, there was the elven naming custom in which given names were taken from an elf's skills or appearance. Foxfire was aptly named, for his long russet hair had the gloss and color of a red fox's pelt. Danilo noticed as objectively as possible that the elf was possibly the most strikingly handsome male of any race he had ever beheld.
Foxfire took a band from his arm and tossed it at the moon elf's feet. It was a ritual Danilo had read of—no doubt the band carried the insignia of Foxfire's position as warleader.
"I will honor the moonblade's decision, and my people with me," he said in musical, deeply accented Elvish. The forest elves rose and came to stand behind him. Of course, they could not know that the moonblade's magic had been unreliable, even contradictory.
At that moment Danilo understood what Arilyn was doing. Fear rose in him like a tide. As if she sensed this, she turned and met his eyes. Gone was any hint of reserve. Her heart was in her eyes, and Danilo had no doubt that it was his. Nor did he doubt that this last, supremely honest gaze might well be her silent farewell.
Arilyn spun away and turned to Elaith. She drew her sword, raised it in challenge.
White-faced, the elf drew his weapon and mirrored her salute. There was no fear on his face, though he clearly expected to die. Danilo suspected that he wished for death. The answer Elaith sought from the Mhaorkiira had never come, but death by moonblade's decree
would lay to rest the question that had haunted his soul. Danilo marveled at the unlike pair, the incredible courage of both elves.
Arilyn raised her sword for a powerful two-handed blow and brought it whistling down. She never got close.
A terrible flash lit the room. For a moment, Danilo's horrified gaze perceived the outline of skull beneath Arilyn's face, the bones in her arms. Then the vision was gone, and the half-elf lay on the floor. Her hands were blackened. Her eyes were open and staring, but she was utterly still.
Before Danilo could move, Elaith threw aside his sword and dropped to his knees. He balled one fist and pounded on the half-elf's chest. He struck again, and then again. Instinctively Danilo moved to stop him, but Foxfire caught him and held him back.
"He does right," the warleader said softly.
Danilo realized the truth in it. He nodded to show that he understood, then put aside the elf's restraining hands and went to kneel beside his love and his elven friend. For several moments he could do nothing but watch as Elaith continued his brutal ministrations.
Arilyn suddenly drew breath in a sharp gasp. Her eyes shut as she struggled against the pain of her burns. When she had mastered herself, she opened her eyes and regarded the somber, watching elves.
"You have your sign," she said in a faint, ragged voice. "Do as the elf lord bids you."
A forest elf came forward, a small female, brown as a wren. "Go with the others," she told Danilo brusquely. "I am a shaman and will heal her." She looked to Foxfire to help her move the wounded half-elf. The warleader shook his head and nodded to Danilo.
Danilo carefully eased Arilyn into his arms and followed the shaman out of the room. "You expected that to happen," he said softly.
She nodded once, with great effort, and turned to
Elaith. The moon elf followed at Danilo's side, his eyes intent on Arilyn. His inscrutable calm was gone, shattered by the sacrifice his "princess" had made for the elven folk, the family of her human love, and for him.
"You did not get the Mhaorkiira, but you have your answer," she said. "Are you content?"
An expression of wonder suffused the elf's face. "All these years," he marveled. "The things that I have done. I am beyond regret—beyond redemption, or so I thought."
"Sometimes the difference between a rogue and a hero," she said carefully, "comes down to who is telling the tale. Ask these elves who I am. They will speak of the moonblade. Ask humans, they will say assassin. It could be the same for you."
"You're talking too much," scolded the shaman.
Arilyn's eyes drifted shut. "Needed to be said."
Danilo left her with the fierce little elf woman and returned to the main hall. Since Elaith did not seem to want to discuss what had just happened, he left that conversation for later and sought out Foxfire.
"That was a noble gesture," he said. "A rare kindness to offer a stranger."
The forest elf gave him an enigmatic smile. "I have seen you before, once, in a battlefield near my forest. Arilyn called all the elfshadows from her sword. Yours was among them."
"No longer. That bond is broken."
"Changed," Foxfire corrected. "Never broken. She has need of you."
This surprised Danilo. "How so?"
"Arilyn is courage. Never have I seen
an elf who embodied courage so completely. However, she is half-elven, and so there are some qualities she lacks. Music and light laughter—these are as important to the elven soul as starlight. These she finds in you. See that you give them to her, and I will always name you a friend."
There was truth in these words, and also the answer
Danilo had long sought. He raised one hand in the elven pledge. Foxfire laughed and extended his hand for the salute that human comrades exchanged. They clasped wrists, then joined the others in preparation for the battle to come.
Arilyn and the forest elves took to the rooftops. It felt odd, but amazingly right, to be back in the familiar company of her friends. The band took to the new challenge with ease, making their way across the uneven line of roofs as surefooted as squirrels.
They crept up to the Thann villa and circled the place where the tren attacks were to come: the garden shed with the false door that led into the tunnels. They got this in their sights and waited.
The night was dark, with a slim, fading moon and a thick mist. When the tren emerged from the shed, they blended into the shadows. Even to Arilyn's heat-sensitive eyes, they were little more than a cool blur.
"No one but elves would have seen them," the half-elf mused as she fitted her first arrow to her bow. "Oth wasn't expecting this."
At her side, Foxfire nodded and raised his bow. On his signal, all six elves fired.
The arrows dove in like silent, deadly falcons. A faint, rumbling cry drifted up to them, a sound that was abruptly and wetly silenced.
"We got at least one," Arilyn said.
"Two," the forest elf corrected. "There are three more. We should pursue?"
"No need. Listen." There was a faint hiss as the surviving tren dragged their slain kin beyond range. "They eat their own rather than leave evidence of their presence," she explained.
Foxfire shook his head in disgust. "All the same, some of us should stay here. You go along with the others."
The Dream Spheres Page 33