“Right.”
When they reached the reception area, Weldon was waiting for them. Chris sat back down while Caelan joined Weldon.
“All right?” Weldon asked.
Caelan nodded. “Is everyone here?”
“The last one just arrived. Are you ready?”
Again, Caelan nodded.
Then the two men opened one of the doors and disappeared down another hall.
For the next fifteen minutes, nothing happened. Then the door opened again and Eldwyn said, “The council members have requested that the Sister of Healing join them for a moment, please.”
Theresa stood up, took a deep breath, and followed Eldwyn through the door and down the hall. When they reached the end, Eldwyn opened the door to a large conference room. There was a big table in the center with sixteen chairs around the side. All but one was occupied.
Weldon stood up when Theresa entered. “Thank you for agreeing to speak with us, Sister. Would you have a seat, please?” He motioned towards the empty chair. After Theresa sat down, Weldon asked, “Could you tell us what you know about the incident involving Warrior Elf Rhianna and the human she injured?”
Theresa frowned. “I wasn’t out there when it happened, but I can tell you what I found when I went out a few moments later.” Weldon nodded, so she continued. “Marcus, a sorcerer, had been shot in the shoulder with an arrow. I know because I saw the wound, but from what I understand, if he hadn’t turned to shield my assistant, he would have been hit in the chest, which would have been a lot more serious.”
“So the other man shot first?”
Theresa nodded.
“And you say the man who was shot was a sorcerer? Why didn’t he use a shield to block the arrow?
Theresa couldn’t help but grin. “He should have, and he’d be the first to admit it was stupid not to. He hasn’t been a practicing sorcerer that long but he’s been a man for a long time, and he reacted as most men would when a woman they care about is in danger. He used his body to protect her.”
A few of the elves grinned, but most just nodded.
Theresa raised her eyebrows at Weldon, and when he nodded, she continued. “The man who shot him, Saryn, was lying on the ground with a broken leg and a dagger stuck in his shoulder. His wounds were painful, but not life-threatening.”
“Did you know this man?” Weldon asked.
Theresa shook her head. “To my knowledge I’d never seen him before. I know he’d never been one of my patients. He told me his name while I was treating him.”
“His leg was broken?” one of the elves asked. “How did that happen?
“He fell out of the tree he was hiding in,” Theresa said. “When Rhianna’s knife hit him, it startled him, so he lost his balance and fell.”
“How do you know that if you weren’t out there?” another elf challenged.
“Saryn told me while I was putting a splint on his leg. Marcus and Alek carried him inside and put him in one of my examination rooms. Saryn and I talked while I worked on him.”
“Did he tell you why he was hiding? Maybe he was trying to get away from Rhianna,” the same elf said, even more hatefully.
Theresa looked at him. “He said he’d picked out that tree because it gave him a good view of the backyard and he’d been up there for hours by the time they arrived.”
“You said his wounds weren’t life-threatening, but it’s our understanding he died.”
“He did, but not from his wounds. He died later that night at the jail.”
“Well, if not from his wounds, how did he die?”
“He was strangled.”
“How do you know that?”
“He was found in his cell the next morning hanging from the rafters by a knotted sheet. There’s no way he could have climbed up on his bed and hanged himself with a broken leg, plus the tea I prepared for him to ease his pain would have made him too groggy to do it even if his leg had been all right. Someone strangled him and staged it to look like he killed himself.”
“Do you know who was responsible?”
Theresa shook her head.
“So it may have been Rhianna,” the same elf who’d been asking all the questions said with a smirk. “It would take a lot of strength to hang a dead man. Not many humans are that strong.”
“It couldn’t have been Rhianna,” Theresa said.
“Why not? She has the strength.”
“Because she wasn’t there. She and Landis left Camden before Saryn was taken to the jail.”
“What do you mean they left Camden? Where could they have gone?”
“They were back home by then. Myron used his key to take them home right after he finished questioning Saryn.”
“Who is Landis?” one of the older elves asked. “I’m confused.”
“I’m sorry,” Theresa said. “I thought you knew. Landis is Myron’s apprentice. Rhianna was her bodyguard.”
The older elf nodded.
“You say they were back home. Do you know where that is?” the antagonistic elf asked.
“Yes.”
The elf waited a moment and then asked, “So, will you tell us so we can check it out and make sure that’s where Rhianna was?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I tell you, it might get out, and if Rolan finds Landis, he’ll kill her.”
“She’s the girl Rolan’s men are searching for?” one of the other elves asked.
Theresa nodded.
The antagonistic elf leaned forward. “Then you need to tell us where she is.”
Theresa shook her head. “I can’t. That decision’s not mine to make.”
“She’s not in any danger from Rolan,” one of the other elves insisted. “He and his family are worried sick about her. They think she’s been taken against her will. All they want to do is make sure she’s safe. That’s why they have those men searching for her. That’s probably all the man in Milhaven was trying to do, return her to her family.”
“That’s right,” the antagonistic elf added. “If you’ll tell us where the girl is, we’ll arrange for her to see her brother and let him know she’s all right. Then he’ll call off his men.”
Theresa shook her head. “You’re wrong. Rolan wants to kill her.”
“How do you know? The man’s arrow was aimed at the sorcerer, not the girl.”
“Saryn’s the one who told me Rolan wants her dead. He said that’s why he was hiding in the tree. He said he was there to kill Landis.”
“Did you hear him say that? Or is that what you were told he said?”
“I heard it myself. I was in the room while they questioned him. He looked straight at Landis and told her she might not die at his hands, but she was going to die, that Rolan had sent assassins out looking for her and he wouldn’t stop until one of them got her, that Rolan wanted her dead.”
“Did the humans torture him to get this confession?”
Theresa cut her eyes over and pierced the elf with a look of disdain. “You don’t know much about Sisters of Healing if you could ask that question. There’s no way any sister would stand by and allow one person to torture another. Besides, there was no need. He was very forthcoming. He said Rolan was paying him to kill, not to keep his mouth shut, and he was angry enough to tell Myron and General Crandal anything they wanted to know. He said he’d been told to expect a sorcerer, which is why he shot Marcus first, but no one had told him a warrior elf would be there, too. He said if he’d known the elf was involved, he’d never have agreed to be the shooter. The only questions he refused to answer concerned the identities and location of the other assassins in the area, but he did say he was only one of many. And when he said he wasn’t going to answer something, no one pushed him, no one threatened him in any way. They let it go.”
The elf who’d been peppering her with questions shrugged. “Seems to me all the problems we’re having center around this girl. I’m not convinced she’s in danger, but I do think th
e men who are trying to find her are willing to kill anyone who stands in their way, human or elf. It’s none of our concern if she wants to leave home, but the least she could do is talk to her family and let them know she’s not being held captive.” Then he looked at Theresa. “I think we need to insist they surrender her immediately and let us take care of arranging for her to speak with her brother.”
“As you say,” Weldon said, “the argument between the girl and her family is not our concern. Our only responsibility is to determine whether or not Rhianna’s actions were in accordance with her oath. The girl she was protecting is Myron’s responsibility.”
One of the older elves nodded. “If returning the girl would get those humans out of North Amden, I’m in favor of it, but I agree with Weldon. That’s not the issue at hand right now.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Then one of the elves said, “I’ve heard all I need to hear to make a decision. How about the rest of you?”
Several of the other elves nodded, but the one who’d been asking all the questions frowned.
Weldon stood up. “Any more questions for the sister?”
Most shook their heads but no one spoke up.
“Would you care to question the sorcerer who was wounded? Or the bodyguard who witnessed the whole thing?”
Again, no one spoke up.
“How about Rhianna? Do any of you have any questions for her?” When no one spoke up that time, Weldon nodded and walked towards the door. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today,” he said to Theresa as he opened the door.
As soon as she walked out, Weldon shut the door and went back to his meeting.
Theresa walked slowly up the hall to the door to the reception area. She took a deep breath, shook her head to loosen her shoulders, opened the door and walked over to the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. Chris looked at her and raised his eyebrows, but she didn’t have a clue how she’d done, so she shrugged and leaned back in her seat.
Time had dragged for Rhianna while Theresa was in the room with the council, but after she returned, it slowed down so much Rhianna wondered if it had completely stopped. How much longer could this go on?
After another interminable wait, the door opened again. Eldwyn looked at Rhianna. “The council is ready to see you now.” Then he looked at Chris. “The council has also requested your presence. If you would come with me?”
Rhianna followed Eldwyn down the hall with Chris close behind. When they reached the meeting room, Weldon motioned Rhianna to the chair Theresa had used. Then he motioned for Chris to have a seat in the chair he’d been using.
After they sat down, Weldon nodded to one of the older elves who stood and said, “Rhianna, it is the opinion of this council that you acted in accordance with your oath as a warrior elf. We hope you never find yourself in the position where you have to defend yourself or others again, but we have every confidence that if you do, you’ll act wisely.”
Weldon turned to Rhianna and held his hand out. “Thank you for coming today.” After she shook his hand, he turned towards Chris. “We realize you are not here in an official capacity, but as you are Myron’s assistant, we’d like for you to deliver a message for us.”
Chris nodded.
“Ask him to find a way to rid North Amden of those troublesome humans. They’re becoming quite annoying.”
Chris tried hard not to grin. “He’s aware of the problem, and I assure you he’s working on it, but if he went to Rolan and demanded he recall his men, Rolan would be even more convinced his sister’s in North Amden and he’d redouble his efforts. Please be patient and give Myron time to redirect Rolan’s attention.”
Weldon sighed. “We’ll try.” Then he turned back to the council members and said, “Unless someone has something else they’d like to ask one of our guests...” He paused a moment to see if anyone said anything. When no one did, he added, “This meeting is adjourned.”
As the elves filed out of the room, Caelan stepped to the side and waited until he, Weldon, Rhianna, and Chris were the only ones left. Then he walked over to Chris and said, “Myron does realize I’ll need to inform the federation about the problem we’re having with the humans in case there’s a confrontation later, doesn’t he?”
Chris nodded. “And he agrees it needs to be brought up, but he thinks his plan has a much better chance of success if no one knows the details.”
Caelan nodded. “That’s fine with me. I don’t plan to make an issue of it, but I didn’t want to catch him off guard.”
“He can say he’s working on a solution. Hopefully no one will press for more.”
“They won’t if I don’t,” Caelan assured him. Then he glanced towards Rhianna as he took out his key. “I’m glad things went well for her today. I was one of her trainers. I didn’t think she could have done what those men said she did. Nice to know I was right. See you Friday.”
After Caelan left, Chris followed Weldon and Rhianna out the door and down the hall to the reception area. Weldon looked at Marcus, Alek, and Theresa. “Thank you for coming here today in support of my niece. It’s nice to know she has friends who would go to that much trouble for her. Please give Myron my best.”
As Weldon headed back to his office, Chris took out the key and held out his arms. “Time to go home.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Rather than drop Theresa off at the chapel, Chris took everyone back to the castle. He felt sure Rhianna wanted to know what had been said in that room as bad as he did.
Kevin was pacing around the reception area when they arrived. As soon as he saw Rhianna’s face, he relaxed. She was smiling. Things had gone in her favor.
“So, how did it go?” he asked the group in general. “Did they talk to all of you?”
Marcus and Alek shook their heads as Chris said, “The only one they talked to was Theresa. They didn’t even question Rhianna.”
Kevin raised his eyebrows at Rhianna. “Seriously? They didn’t ask you anything at all?”
Rhianna shook her head. “They talked to Sister Theresa and then they called me in and said they’d decided my actions were justified. So I guess things went well.”
Kevin looked at Theresa. “What did they ask you?”
“They wanted to know what happened and how serious his wounds were. When I explained they weren’t life-threatening, they wanted to know why he was dead, so I had to explain how he was murdered.” Theresa frowned. “I’m not sure they were convinced he didn’t do it himself, but they did accept that his death was not a result of his injury at Rhianna’s hands.”
“Thank you for taking your time to go. I do appreciate it,” Rhianna said as she looked at each person who’d gone with her. Then she turned to Kevin. “I’d like to freshen up and go see my parents. I’m sure they’re worried.”
Kevin nodded. “I’ll be in my office whenever you’re ready to go.”
After Rhianna left, Kevin thanked Marcus and Alek again and offered to take Theresa back to the chapel.
When Kevin and Theresa reached the back porch of the chapel, Theresa said, “Before you go, I need to talk to you.”
“Here?”
Theresa shook her head. “Let’s take a walk.”
When they were out of earshot, Theresa said, “Most of the elves on the council were non-adversarial, but one was really aggressive with his questions. He reminded me of one of those lawyers on TV. I felt like he was trying to trip me up, to get me to say things to hurt Rhianna. I don’t know if it’s his job to cross-examine witnesses, but if not, she has a serious enemy and I thought you should know about it. I don’t know who he was, but he wasn’t one of the older elves. He was about the same age as Rhianna’s uncle. By the way, did you know her uncle would be there?”
Kevin nodded. “His name’s Weldon. I’m not sure, but I think he’s the chairman of the council. I know he has an office in that building.”
“He ran the meeting, but he didn’t ask me any questions himself.”
“He
probably wanted to stay out of it since it was about his niece.”
Theresa nodded. “But anyway, I wanted you to know about that other guy. Several times he implied we were wrong about Saryn’s intentions, that he was here on a rescue mission. Then, towards the end, when he couldn’t get me to say anything against Rhianna, he said the elves should insist we surrender Landis to them and let them arrange for her to meet with her brother. He said if they could talk, everything would get straightened out.”
Kevin grimaced. “They’d get worked out all right. She’d end up dead.”
“I know, but several of the other elves said if returning her would get the humans out of North Amden, they’d be in favor of it. You need to do something about Rolan’s men before the elves start looking for Landis, too.”
“I’m trying.”
“Well, try harder,” Theresa said. “I’m not sure what was behind that one guy’s attitude, but he’s dangerous.”
“Thanks,” Kevin said. “I’ll tell Rhianna’s father and let him take it from there.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Rhianna was ready to go to Crinsor Run when Kevin got back from Milhaven.
“Are you in a hurry to get back or can we stay for dinner?” Rhianna asked. “You know Mother’s going to invite us.”
Kevin smiled. “I’ve cleared everything off my calendar for this evening except walking Nikki, but she’s flexible. She’ll wait until we get back.”
“Where is she?”
“With Chris.”
“He won’t mind?”
Kevin shook his head. “Cameryn’s already asked if she can take her out after dinner, and they’ll be gone at least an hour. And besides, Nikki’s no trouble. Marshall makes sure she gets plenty of exercise during the day.”
Rhianna put her hand on Kevin’s arm and soon they were in Hayden’s backyard. When they went inside, the table was set and Gwynn was stirring something on the stove that smelled so good Kevin’s mouth began to water.
Rhianna frowned. “Mother, why’s the table set? It’s the middle of the afternoon.”
“For us, but for you it’s time for dinner.” Gwynn turned her back to the stove and clasped her daughter’s hands. “I doubt you ate much lunch today. You must be starved.” Then she glanced at Kevin and saw the longing in his eyes as he stared at the stove. “Looks like someone else is ready to eat, too. Go call your father and get washed up.” She dropped Rhianna’s hands and turned back to the stove. “Now scoot. I’ll have dinner on the table in ten minutes.”
The Warrior Elf Page 23