The Warrior Elf

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “It gets better,” Rigel said. “Jared told Doreen the contract obligated her to have three children within the first five years of marriage.”

  Alek let out a low whistle and Kevin shook his head. “Is he crazy?”

  Rigel laughed. “In my opinion, yes.”

  “I bet Doreen had a fit,” Chris said with a chuckle.

  “Not really. She didn’t cry or even yell, but she did tell him she wouldn’t marry him if he was the last man on Terah.”

  “What did he say to that?” Kevin asked.

  “Not much really. He told her it was her decision, but if she turned him down now, there would be no further discussion. But his mother wasn’t willing to let it go. She jumped up and started yelling at Doreen, saying if she didn’t agree to the marriage, they’d go to the district minister and get him to force her to marry Jared, that they had a contract.” Rigel glanced over at Kevin. “That’s when your name came into it. Doreen told Jared’s mother she’d already spoken with you and you’d assured her no one would be forced into any marriage, and she felt sure your word would overrule that of a district minister.”

  Kevin laughed. “I did say that, but only because she wanted me to order Jared to marry her.”

  “So why was she so angry if she’s the one who called it off?” Alek asked. “She looked ready for a fight when we got there.”

  “She’s convinced Jared and his business manager lied to both her and her father. She’s also none too pleased he’s taken the four boats. She was under the impression the contract said her father was giving Jared two boats as Doreen’s contribution to the marriage, but the other two were supposed to stay with her father. She’s not sure whether Jared changed the contract after her father was killed or if he just took them since there was no one to stop him, but she wants the boats back. I told her I doubted she’d be able to get them all back. She might be able to get two of them if the contract specified two and she could prove the other two belonged to her father, but since Jared offered to marry her and she’s the one who called it off, there wasn’t much way she’d get the two her father promised him in the contract. That’s what we were talking about when you got there.”

  Kevin nodded. “I doubt we can get any of them back for her at this point. So what are we going to do with her?”

  Rigel shrugged. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll have something figured out soon.”

  “I hope so,” Kevin said. “Thanks for taking care of her this evening, Rigel.”

  Rigel grinned. “It was my pleasure. Turned out to be quite entertaining.”

  Chapter 5

  Chris Gets Involved

  When Chris dropped by the office on his way to breakfast Wednesday morning there was a letter on his desk.

  Chris,

  I need to talk to you as soon as possible.

  Rhianna

  Chris fingered the note for a moment before opening his desk drawer and sliding it under the other correspondence he stored in there. Half an hour later, Chris had a full stomach and Kevin’s key. After telling Ariel he would be out of the office for a while, he went into Kevin’s office, turned the key, and left for Willow Canyon.

  Before Chris could pick up a mallet and hit the gong to let Glendymere know someone was there, he heard Glendymere say, “Good morning. You want to see Rhianna?”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “She’ll be out in a minute.”

  A few minutes later, Rhianna walked out of the cave. “Thanks for coming. Can we go someplace private to talk?”

  Chris raised his eyebrows. “How private? Rainbow Valley? Or the island?”

  “The island might be better.”

  Chris nodded and held out his arm. “It’ll be night there.”

  As soon as Chris and Rhianna got to the cave, Chris took down one of the glowstone torches and led the way to the room they’d set up as a sitting room. After he uncovered the glowstones in the lamps, he motioned Rhianna to a chair and sat down opposite her. “So? What’s up?”

  “I don’t know where to start,” Rhianna said.

  “Why not start at the beginning? That’s usually a good place.”

  Rhianna laughed and relaxed. “You remember last fall when we were in Milhaven? The day Saryn shot Marcus?”

  “Hard to forget.”

  Rhianna nodded. “That’s where it all began.” She told Chris about the humans tromping around North Amden searching for a red-headed woman and the stories being told in the process. “So, the Council of Elders is holding me responsible for the whole thing, and rightly so. It was my fault we were there in the first place. I asked Myron to set it up for Landis to follow a sorcerer around for a day to see what human magic could do. If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

  Chris shook his head. “No one could have foreseen what happened.”

  Rhianna shrugged. “Maybe fault’s the wrong word, but it was my doing, so it’s my responsibility to fix it. In the letter Uncle Weldon sent my father he said Caelan will have to bring this up at the federation meeting in case things escalate. Weldon thinks it’ll go better for everyone if there’s a plan in place to deal with it before then.”

  “The meeting’s in three weeks, Rhianna.”

  “I know. That’s why I sent you that letter.” Rhianna took a deep breath. “There may be a way to convince Rolan there’s no reason to think Landis is in North Amden, but I’m going to need Myron’s help to do it.”

  “He’s the one who’ll have to answer for the humans in North Amden. I know he’d like to be able to say it’s being taken care of, so he’ll do whatever he can to help.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Rhianna said slowly, “and if the two of you can come up with another plan, I’m all for it, but this is the only thing we could think of.”

  “We?”

  “Xantha came up with the idea and my father thought it was the perfect solution. He’s all for it.”

  “You don’t sound like you’re all for it though,” Chris said slowly.

  Rhianna sighed. “Rolan sent men to North Amden because he thinks Landis is with me. The only time I was in Milhaven I arrived with Landis, stayed with her while she was there, fought the man who tried to kill her, and left with her. Anyone who saw us, and plenty of people did, would have assumed the two of us were together. And if she’s with me, and I’m an elf, we must be in North Amden.”

  Chris nodded. “It’s a logical conclusion.”

  “Unfortunately, it is. So Xantha said we need to convince everyone my connection is to Myron, not Landis, and I was only with her because Myron asked me to go along as extra protection.”

  Chris thought it over for a few minutes. “It might work. You’d have to spend a bit of time around the castle, be seen with Kevin, maybe Marcus too, Laryn, even Nikki.”

  “Nikki?”

  “Kevin’s dog, although dog might be stretching things a bit. She’s still got a lot of puppy in her.”

  Rhianna’s eyes lit up. “He has a pup?”

  Chris nodded and then frowned. “We’d have to have a good reason for how the two of you met. Guess we could use Duane for that. Maybe he should hang around the castle a little too, give a little credence to the story. Think he’d be willing to do that?”

  Relief flooded through Rhianna. Chris didn’t think the whole idea was crazy. It would be a lot easier to convince Myron to go along with it if Chris was for it. “Xantha had the same thought. He suggested Duane and I go for a visit this weekend.”

  Chris’s eyebrows crept up his forehead. “This weekend?”

  Rhianna nodded. “We’ve only got three weeks before the federation meeting. I doubt word will get back to Rolan that soon, much less to the men in North Amden, but I need to let Weldon know we’re doing something before the Council of Elders meet, and they meet before the federation does. And it would help Myron to be able to say the plan’s been underway for a while when he meets with the federation.”

  “All right. I’ll l
et Cryslyn know you and Duane will need rooms. Do you know when you’re coming? And how you’re getting there?”

  “As far as I know, Xantha’s bringing us. It was his idea. How’s Sunday morning?”

  Chris nodded. “You are planning to stay a while, aren’t you? If you want people to associate you with Kevin, it’s going to take more than a day or two.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Duane yet. I don’t know what his plans are.”

  “As long as he comes with you, it doesn’t matter. He and Xantha can leave, but you need to stay for a while, at least a week or two the first time, and you’ll need to come back before long.” When Rhianna frowned, Chris explained. “If you want folks to believe there’s a connection between you and Kevin, you’re going to have to show one. And that means the two of you are going to have to spend time together, be seen together, and one week or so won’t cement that idea in people’s heads.” Chris nearly grinned. If they started spending a lot of time together, things could get interesting, and Hayden could hardly blame Kevin since this was his idea.

  Rhianna’s shoulders fell. “I guess, but I need to spend time with Landis, too. I can’t abandon her now. She’s come so far, and she’s doing so well...”

  “And you can. We have a key. But you need to spend a lot of time around the castle, let the staff get used to seeing you there, to having you around. They’re the ones who’ll spread the word you and Kevin are involved.”

  Rhianna wrinkled her nose. “There’s that word.”

  “What word?”

  “Involved.”

  “Well? Isn’t that what you want people to think?”

  “I guess so.” Rhianna sighed. “This is going to mess up Myron’s life. Do you think he’ll go along with letting everyone think he’s involved with me?”

  “He’ll have to. It’s his problem as much as yours. Now, do you want to explain it to him, or do you want me to?”

  “I’d rather you do it. I don’t think I can. I feel bad enough about shoving this down his throat as it is. If I have to ask him to do it, I’ll never get the words out.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Chris said. “Now, was there anything else?”

  Rhianna shook her head.

  “Then I guess we should be on our way.” Chris uncovered the glowstone on the torch, covered the glowstones in the lamps, and led the way back out to the ledge. After he put up the torch, he took out the key. “Back to Willow Canyon?”

  Rhianna nodded. “And Chris, thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Chris got back to the castle, Kevin asked him if everything was all right.

  Chris nodded. “I’ll tell you about it tonight.”

  “Nothing urgent then?”

  Chris shook his head. “Have you heard anything from Doreen this morning?”

  “No, why?”

  “Just wondered if she’s come up with a new plan yet. Should be an interesting one.”

  Kevin laughed and pointed to a fresh stack of messages. “Several letters came in this morning. Since you weren’t here, Ariel dumped them on me. Want to go through them?”

  “Sure. Hand them here. I’ll bring the ones you need to deal with back in a minute.”

  A little while later, Chris came back in with half a dozen letters in his hand. “These are yours. And the top one’s from one of your sorcerers, a transfer request.”

  Kevin read through the letter from Darwyn, the district sorcerer of Lormere. According to his letter, his sole reason for wanting a transfer was the weather. He said the district minister and captain were easy to work with, the few people who lived there were friendly and always willing to help anyone who needed it, the jobs he did for the district weren’t particularly difficult, and the townspeople who hired him were prompt and generous with payment. He’d been the district sorcerer for ten years and could give the position his highest recommendation, especially if the new sorcerer was part yeti, but as for him, he’d had all the ice and snow he could stand. All he wanted was someplace warm. Was there anyone anywhere who would be willing to switch? He’d even be willing to take a pay cut to get out of the cold.

  Kevin couldn’t help but laugh as he read the letter, but he wasn’t sure there was much he could do to help, at least not anytime soon. No one had requested a transfer or put in a letter of resignation since he’d taken care of the transfers that had accumulated while his father was sick. Right now, there were no positions available.

  Kevin got up and looked at the map of Camden on his wall. Lormere was as far north as you could go in west Camden, and between the winds coming from the North Pole and the snow coming off the lakes, it wasn’t just cold, it was frigid. He shook his head. He’d hate to be stuck up there, too.

  After he sat back down, he wrote to Darwyn asking him to list the skills necessary for the position and whether or not a novice sorcerer could handle it. He said he didn’t have any openings right now, but he’d try to move him as soon as something became available, hopefully before next winter.

  He wrote a note on the top of Darwyn’s letter for Chris to file it in the transfer request folder and drop a reference note in the applications folder. If a vacancy did come up, maybe he could let Darwyn take the vacancy and hold a competition for Lormere.

  The rest of the morning mail was routine, but it took him until lunchtime to finish. While they were eating lunch, Kevin asked Chris if there was anything scheduled for that afternoon. When Chris said no, Kevin handed him the key to Terah. “I’m going to take Nikki up to Kyle’s for a visit. If something comes up, come get me. Otherwise, I’ll see you at dinner.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After they’d gone upstairs that evening, Chris told Kevin about the humans trampling all over North Amden, the tales they were spreading, and that the Council of Elders were holding Rhianna responsible for putting an end to it all.

  “How can they blame her? It’s Rolan’s doing,” Kevin said.

  “I know, but as far as they’re concerned, if she hadn’t been seen with Landis, it wouldn’t have happened, therefore it’s her fault, or at least her responsibility.”

  “No more than it’s mine for bringing them here.”

  “Which is why you need to help her get this mess sorted out.”

  “How?”

  “There may be a way. The only reason they think Landis is in North Amden is because she was seen with Rhianna both here and in Milhaven. Everyone assumed Rhianna was here because of Landis.”

  “Well, she was. She came with Landis. She left with Landis. Landis is why she was here.”

  “I’ll agree that those are the facts, but facts are subject to interpretation. What if we give everyone a more interesting explanation for her presence here?”

  “What are you talking about? What other explanation could there be?” Kevin asked in exasperation.

  “What if she was here because you asked her to be here? What if she was with Landis as a favor to you because you couldn’t be?”

  “Why couldn’t I have been with Landis? What would have stopped me?”

  “The storm that blew through the night before. You had your hands full that day cleaning up the mess.”

  “That’s right. I’d forgotten about that.” Kevin thought for a moment. “Okay, that would explain why I couldn’t be with her, but why in the world would I ask Rhianna to fill in? How would I even know her if it weren’t for Landis?”

  “She’s Duane’s sister, the same Duane who was friends with your father. Apparently the two families have been friends for a long time. Carrying on in that tradition, of course you’d know Rhianna.”

  “All right, I can see that, but why would I go to her and not someone like Warren? Or Darrell?”

  “Well, Darrell was busy. As for Warren, if you’d brought him here he’d have spent the day working, same as you did. He would not have been babysitting Landis.”

  “But why would I have asked Rhianna? What would have made me th
ink of her?”

  “Well, for one thing, she’s a warrior elf, which makes her an excellent choice as a bodyguard. For another, it would seem perfectly natural for you to ask your girlfriend to cover for you in a pinch.”

  Kevin’s eyes shot open. “Girlfriend? You want people to think she’s my girlfriend?!”

  “You have to admit it puts a new slant on everything that happened that day.”

  “There’s got to be another way!”

  Chris raised his eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

  Kevin’s initial shock gave way to dismay when he couldn’t come up with an alternative plan. “But how does that get Rolan’s men out of North Amden? That’s what we’re trying to do, right?”

  Chris nodded. “If you and Rhianna can make it clear to everyone around here, both in the castle and in Milhaven, that there’s something going on between the two of you, word will get back to Rolan that Rhianna’s tie is to you, not Landis. The only reason he has men searching North Amden is he thinks Landis is hiding among the elves because she was with Rhianna. The stories about an abduction and Saryn’s death are the excuses they’re using for being there. Those stories will fade as soon as Rolan calls off his men.”

  Kevin laughed, but it was humorless. “That’s almost funny given that the only link between Rhianna and me is Landis.”

  “But that’s not what you need people to believe, Kevin.” Chris leaned back in his chair and gave Kevin time to digest everything. “This thing is going to come up at the federation meeting. Weldon all but guaranteed Caelan will bring it up, and things are going to go a lot better if you can say you’re fully aware of the situation and measures are being taken to convince Rolan and his men that they’re wrong.”

  Kevin looked long and hard at Chris, but he didn’t say anything for a bit. Then he asked, “And how are we supposed to convince people there’s something between me and Rhianna? I don’t think it would work for me to walk up to Rolan and say, ‘Oh, by the way, Rhianna’s my girlfriend. That’s why she was with Landis.’”

  “Telling people won’t do any good. They need to come to that conclusion for themselves, and word of it needs to get back to Rolan through his spies.” Chris grinned. “At least we know who they are now.”