The Warrior Elf

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “All I can promise is to take you to Bushwell and let you talk to Jared. Then we’ll see where things stand.” A moment later, he added, “In the meantime, if I were you I’d ask some of the women around here how to approach Jared. I don’t think your way will work. Now, I hate to rush you, but I’ve got another meeting.” Kevin stood up and walked around to the front of his desk.

  “When can we go?” Doreen asked as she stood up. “I need to get this settled.”

  “I have a meeting tomorrow morning, but I should be done by lunch. Want to go then? Or would you rather wait and go in the evening, after dinner?”

  “After dinner is better for a personal call, and at that time I shouldn’t run into his business manager.”

  “Fine. I’ll meet you here tomorrow evening,” Kevin said as he ushered her through the door. As soon as she was out, he shut the door and leaned against it. “I did not see that one coming.”

  Chris laughed. “Did you hear a ‘thank you for rescuing me’ anywhere in there?”

  Kevin shook his head. “If I were Jared, I’d run for the hills, but personally I hope he marries her and takes her off our hands. Now, what’s next?”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Hayden and Xantha arrived in Willow Canyon shortly after lunch Monday afternoon. Glendymere was waiting for them outside. “Good afternoon, Hayden. Xantha let me know you were nearby. What can I do for you?”

  “Sorry to disturb you,” Hayden said as he dismounted, “but I need to speak with Rhianna.”

  Glendymere mentally asked Rhianna to come outside. “She should be here in a moment. You seem troubled. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not yet, but I may need you before this is over,” Hayden said. “It depends on what she says.”

  Glendymere nodded.

  A couple of minutes later, Rhianna walked out of the cave. “Father? What are you doing here? Is mother all right? Has anyone been hurt?”

  Hayden shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. Everyone’s fine, but we need to talk. Now.”

  Rhianna’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

  “I got a message from the Council of Elders,” Hayden added.

  Rhianna’s eyebrows arched even higher.

  Glendymere gave Hayden a nod. “Why don’t you talk in Rainbow Valley? Sari and Taelor have finished for the day. You won’t be disturbed.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Hayden, Rhianna, and Xantha were at the cave entrance in Rainbow Valley.

  “Is this all right?” Rhianna asked. “Or would you rather go inside?”

  “Here’s fine.” Hayden handed Rhianna the note.

  After she read it, she closed her eyes and shook her head. “I had no idea.”

  “What happened?”

  “It was supposed to be so simple,” Rhianna began. “Just a quick trip to Milhaven and back.”

  “Why in the world did you let her go to Milhaven? You know Rolan’s searching for her!”

  “We were only there for one day. We thought we could get in and out before anyone noticed.”

  “And how did that work out?!”

  Rhianna felt her face flush.

  “Whose idea was it to go to Milhaven anyway?”

  “Actually, mine,” Rhianna said slowly.

  “Why?”

  “Landis has never lived around humans and she had no idea what human magic could do. I thought it might help her decide whether or not she wants to become a sorcerer if she could see what one does. The plan was for her to follow one of Myron’s sorcerers around for the day and observe. Simple as that.”

  “But why did you go?”

  “I went in case she needed me, and to be honest, I wanted to see what human sorcerers did, too.”

  “But if only Landis had been seen, no one would have connected her with us and we wouldn’t have Rolan’s men crawling all over North Amden making nuisances of themselves!”

  “I didn’t think about being seen,” Rhianna admitted.

  Hayden shook his head. “Did you throw a knife at that man?”

  Rhianna hesitated. “Yes, but he wasn’t an innocent bystander. He shot Marcus, the sorcerer, and I was afraid if I didn’t do something he’d shoot Landis, too. Even so, I didn’t throw the knife until he was taking aim.”

  “Did you kill him?”

  Rhianna shook her head. “I hit him in the shoulder. He did fall and break his leg when my knife hit, but we were in the backyard of a chapel. They took care of him right away. He would have been fine if someone hadn’t murdered him in his jail cell that night.”

  Hayden frowned. “Murdered him? In a jail cell? In Milhaven?”

  Rhianna nodded.

  “Bet General Crandal wasn’t too pleased about that.”

  “No, from what Myron said, he certainly wasn’t.” Then Rhianna frowned. “You know General Crandal?”

  “I’ve known him for years, through Badec. He’s a good man.”

  “Oh,” Rhianna said quietly. “I keep forgetting you knew Myron’s father.”

  “And his grandfather.” Hayden sighed. “I didn’t want you mixed up in this to start with. If you’d listened to me and stayed in Crinsor Run, none of this would have happened.”

  “You were afraid I’d get hurt, but I haven’t. I defended myself and Landis. I think it was a good thing I was there.”

  “If you’d stayed home where you belong she never would have been in Milhaven, the man wouldn’t have shot the sorcerer, and there wouldn’t have been any reason for you defend anyone!”

  The look Rhianna gave her father could have melted lead.

  “Now we’ve got one big mess on our hands and Crinsor Run isn’t safe for Landis or Taelor anymore.” Hayden paused and took a couple of deep breaths. “I’ll grant you that you didn’t cause all this trouble on purpose, but it’s still your doing, so it’s up to you to clean it up.”

  “But I don’t know how to do that,” Rhianna said as her face paled.

  “Talk to Myron. It’s his fault, too. He should have known better than take either of you to Milhaven, but especially you. Everyone who saw you knew you were an elf, and where do elves live? North Amden! You gave Rolan a target, Rhianna. If this keeps up, we’ll be at war with the humans before long. You read the letter. This is serious. Get it fixed!”

  “If I may?” Xantha interrupted. Hayden and Rhianna both looked at him. “I may have a solution if anyone’s interested.”

  Rhianna nodded while Hayden crossed his arms and leaned back a bit.

  “Make it clear to everyone in Milhaven, including Rolan’s spies, that Rhianna’s connection is to Myron, not Landis.”

  Rhianna frowned. “But my only connection with him is Landis.”

  “That doesn’t matter. If everyone believes you and Myron are involved and you were with Landis as a favor to him, they’ll stop trying to find Landis through you.”

  A slow smile spread across Hayden’s face. “That might work.” Then he turned to Rhianna. “Do it.”

  Rhianna’s frown deepened. “We wouldn’t have met if not for Landis. How could we be involved? What are you talking about?”

  “You’re Duane’s sister, and everyone who’s been around Milhaven for any length of time knows Duane and Badec were friends, and if they were friends, it stands to reason Duane would be friends with Myron too, and as Duane’s sister, naturally you would know Myron. In fact, I think it would be a good idea for you and Duane to visit him, maybe this weekend.”

  “I guess I could know him, but why would he ask me to go with Landis?” Rhianna asked slowly.

  “You’re a warrior elf,” Hayden said. “Who better to safeguard someone?”

  “But why would he ask me? His asking me doesn’t make sense unless he and I have some connection separate from her.” Rhianna shook her head.

  “You’re a woman, he’s a man. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure that one out,” Xantha said with a hint of a chuckle.

  Rhianna’s eyes popped wide open as her jaw dropped. “You want us to pretend to have
that type of connection? To like each other?”

  As Xantha nodded, Rhianna shook her head, slowly at first and then vigorously.

  “You’re a warrior elf, sworn to do whatever is necessary to defend North Amden and any and all elves, aren’t you?” Hayden asked.

  “Yes, but...”

  “No buts. You need to see to it that everyone in and around Milhaven is convinced the only reason you escorted Landis was because he asked you to.”

  “And since they had a bad storm the night before and he was going to be busy taking care of damage, it’s even more believable that he’d turn to the woman he’s courting to ask for help.”

  “Courting?!”

  Hayden nodded. “Courting.”

  Rhianna swallowed hard. “Who’s going to talk to Myron and get him to agree to all of this?”

  Hayden lifted his eyebrows and looked at Rhianna. “You. And do it as soon as possible. This needs to be taken care of.”

  “He’ll never go along with it, not in a million years.”

  “He’ll have to. The federation meets in three weeks, and this will come up. Things will go a lot better for him if he has a plan in place for taking care of it peacefully. You don’t want Glendymere to get involved, but he will if it seems war is imminent. I imagine Myron would rather avoid that as well.”

  Rhianna turned to Xantha. “Can’t you talk to Myron? Explain this to him? After all, it’s your plan.”

  Hayden shook his head. “It’s not his mess, it’s not mine. It’s yours.” Then, as he mounted Xantha, he added, “I’ll tell Weldon you’ll take care of this. Give Landis our love and tell her and Taelor we’ll be thinking of them.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  For several minutes after Hayden left, Rhianna didn’t move. She hardly breathed. She didn’t have a prayer of convincing Myron to go along with that plan, and even if he did, they’d never pull it off. There was no way anyone who was around them for more than five minutes would ever believe they liked each other, not in that way.

  As the shock wore off, Rhianna’s brain clicked on. She needed Chris. He was the only person she knew who could convince Myron to agree to do it, and she could talk to Chris. He’d understand the position she was in. He’d help her. And she needed to talk to him before she and Duane showed up on Myron’s doorstep.

  Rhianna all but ran up the trail to Wildcat Mountain and then down the other side to Willow Canyon. Glendymere was back inside by the time she got there, so she followed the tunnels to his sleeping chamber. He was curled up against the far wall, but he wasn’t asleep. His eyes fluttered open when she walked in.

  “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

  Glendymere nodded.

  “Where’s Landis?”

  “She went up to the house. I think she was looking for you.”

  Rhianna nodded. “Something’s come up. I need to talk to Chris.”

  “Chris? Not Myron?”

  “No, I need to talk to Chris as soon as possible. When can he be here?”

  “Myron could bring him out when he comes next Sunday.”

  Rhianna shook her head. “That’s too late. I need to talk to him before the weekend.”

  Glendymere tilted his head. “I’ll see Myron tomorrow morning. I can ask him to bring Chris here on his way to the canyon lands Thursday. Or if you need to see him sooner than that, I guess I could fly you to Milhaven.”

  “No, I don’t want to do that. I guess Thursday will be all right. I hate going through Myron though.”

  “Well, you could write to Chris and tell him you need to see him. He might get Myron’s key and come on his own if you do that.”

  “That’s a good idea, thanks.”

  As Rhianna turned to leave, Glendymere said, “I sense something’s troubling you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Rhianna turned back towards the dragon and slowly shook her head. “Not right now, maybe later, but thanks for offering.”

  As she turned and walked away, Glendymere gave in to his curiosity and peeked into her mind. After a quick scan, he gave a faint nod and settled back down for his nap. The situation in North Amden could become a serious problem if they didn’t get it stopped soon, but the solution they’d come up with could become quite entertaining. The hint of a grin accompanied a little puff of smoke. Quite entertaining indeed.

  When Rhianna left the cave, she followed the trail up Wildcat Mountain. Landis was waiting in the clearing in front of the house.

  “What happened?” Landis asked. “Where did you go?”

  “Father wanted to talk to me,” Rhianna said slowly. “He got a letter from Uncle Weldon.”

  “From Weldon? Or from the council?”

  “Both.”

  “What did he want?” Landis fell in step beside Rhianna.

  “Can we talk after dinner? I’ve got something I need to do.”

  “Sure,” Landis said, puzzled. “Is everything all right?”

  “Not really, but we’ll talk later. Tonight, after we’ve gone to our rooms.” Rhianna opened the front door. “I’ll see you later.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Gwynn had eaten dinner by the time Hayden made it back to Crinsor Run, but she’d kept a plate in the warmer for him. While she set it out, she asked how things had gone with Rhianna.

  “I think we’ve come up with a solution. Rhianna’s not too happy with it, but I think it’s a grand idea.”

  “But what happened? Where were they seen? Why were they around humans? How did this whole thing get started, and did she really kill someone?”

  Hayden chuckled. “They were in Milhaven. Landis wanted to spend some time with a practicing sorcerer. Not a bad idea all in all. Rhianna’s actually. But some of Rolan’s men spotted them. Neither Rhianna nor Myron took that possibility into account when they set this thing up. Sort of stupid of them if you ask me, but they’re young.”

  “So what happened with the man?”

  Hayden took a few bites of his food and sipped his scog. “He shot the sorcerer and was taking aim at Landis when she threw her knife.”

  “So she did kill him,” Gwynn said softly.

  “No, she didn’t,” Hayden said around mouthfuls. “She hit him and knocked him down. He broke his leg in the fall, but they were at a chapel and one of the sisters patched him right up. He was fine, until someone murdered him in his jail cell that night. He died, but not because of Rhianna.”

  Gwynn exhaled a long sigh. “Thank goodness. I’d hate for her to have to live with that.”

  “Better to live with having killed a man than have to live with the fact someone you were protecting died because you didn’t. Her reactions were right. And she’d have been completely justified if she’d aimed to kill instead of aiming to wound.”

  “I know. I’m just glad she didn’t have to.” Gwynn filled Hayden’s mug back up. “So what’s this solution you came up with?”

  “If they can convince the people in Milhaven, including the men spying for Rolan, that Rhianna was with Landis at Myron’s request, there’s no connection between her and Landis. And if there’s no connection between them, there’s no reason to think Landis is with the elves, which means there’s no reason to think she’s in North Amden, so Rolan will call off his men.”

  “And how are you going to do that?”

  “Duane and Xantha are going to take Rhianna to the castle this weekend and she and Myron are going to pretend he’s courting her.”

  Gwynn’s mouth dropped open. “You want them to act like Myron’s courting her?”

  Hayden nodded. “When people see her going around with Myron, they’ll think they’re involved with each other, so when he needed someone to watch over Landis, naturally he asked her.” After a swallow of scog, he continued. “It’s just pretend, Gwynn. It’s not like they’re going to get married.”

  Gwynn closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “Oh, Hayden. You have no idea what you’ve done.”

  “What do you mean? I’ve averted a possible
war with the humans, Gwynn. That’s what I’ve done.”

  “But at what cost?” Gwynn asked quietly.

  Hayden frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “We could lose our daughter, Hayden.”

  “No we won’t.” Hayden leaned over and put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Rhee can take care of herself, and she’ll be with Myron. He won’t let anything happen to her. Besides, no one’s interested in her. It’s Landis they want, and when they figure out Landis isn’t with Rhee, the humans will leave North Amden and things can get back to normal.”

  Gwynn sighed. “There are a couple of problems with this plan of yours. First, a lot of the humans, especially the ones on the council, are going to strongly object to the idea of the Master Sorcerer courting an elf. But the bigger problem is they might end up getting married.”

  Hayden shook his head. “They won’t take it that far.”

  For a moment Gwynn stared at the table top. Then, without lifting her eyes, she asked, “Have you ever noticed the way he looks at her?”

  “No, can’t say I have.”

  “Hayden, he looks at her the same way you look at me. He’s in love with her, and she’s half in love with him. It won’t take much to push her over the edge.”

  Hayden shook his head and laughed. “She’s not in love with him! She doesn’t even like him! Whenever he’s around she’s irritable and ill-tempered, and all they do is argue. She can hardly stand to be in the same room with him. There’s no way she’s going to fall in love with him.”

  Gwynn slowly shook her head.

  “Well? Am I wrong?”

  “You’re right about the way she acts,” Gwynn said slowly, “but you’re dead wrong about what it means.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Landis went to her room after dinner to wait for Rhianna. She waited, and waited, and waited. Finally she opened her door and looked towards Rhianna’s room. The door was shut. With a shrug, she walked down the hall and opened Rhianna’s door. Rhianna was stretched out on her bed, staring at the ceiling.