The Dream Spheres

His eyes were bright and blurred as he took a gold ring from his small finger, upon which was engraved the horse and raven of the Tha

Thirteen

How long Danilo stayed by his sister's side, he could not say. Time slipped into a meaningless haze. He was vaguely aware of Arilyn's low, musical voice as she explained matters to the half-ogre, who apparently had appointed himself Lilly's personal protector.

"I knew it," the tavern guard said, his voice suspiciously gruff. "Fine girl—too good to have sprung from this swamp. Too bad you took your time coming for her."

Danilo rose and faced the half-ogre's accusing glare. "I will not gainsay you, sir. Permit me to do for her what little service remains. If you have servants to spare, can you put them at my disposal? I intend to take her home," he said firmly, "but not like this."

The half-ogre nodded and then hollered for someone named Peg. A thin, dark-eyed girl crept into the room and began to tend to Lilly with a sister's care. Other servants set off on errands, declining Danilo's offer of coin as they gathered their last gifts for their lost friend.

Arilyn took his arm and guided him down to the tavern. Danilo waved away the bottle that the half-ogre, who was apparently the owner of this establishment as well as the guard, sent to his table. It was effort enough to push away the dark haze of grief and regret when his wits were clear and whole.

Their host had no such reservations. The massive tavernkeeper slumped at a table littered with empty mugs, morosely staring into the dregs of his latest cup and looking like a man whose last light had gone dim.

Finally Peg came downstairs and bade them come. Lilly was lying at peace, clad in the simple white gown that one of the serving girls had given her.

"A scarf is needed," the girl said in a dull, dazed voice as she regarded the wounds on Lilly's throat, "or flowers, maybe." She nodded wordless thanks when Danilo placed several silver coins in her hand, and she walked on leaden feet from the room.

"Tren," Arilyn said softly, nodding toward the four slash marks. "The width and spacing of the claws tell that tale."

The unspoken question hung heavy in the air. Neither of them cared to give words to it or to contemplate what had kept the reptilian assassins from completing the task in their usual fashion.

"A nobly born mage, an elven rogue, a half-elven woman, and now Lilly," Danilo murmured. "Where is the pattern to it?"

Arilyn held up a small, glowing sphere. "I found this in Lilly's room. If it was Lilly who had the kiira, the money she got for it is long gone."

He quickly took the dream sphere from her and slipped it into his boot. "Better this not become common knowledge. I will find whoever did this, but the fox is more cautious when he knows the hound has found the trail. Was there anything else in the room that might help?"

The half-elf hesitated. "A bit of parchment. A note of some sort, I suppose, but it was too sodden to unfold, much less read. Lilly must have reached for it in her last moment and drowned it in her own blood."

"What secret did she protect?" Danilo murmured as he studied his sister's still face. "Who absorbed her last thoughts?"

The half-ogre came to the door. "All is ready," he said gruffly. He shook aside offers of help and carried Lilly himself to the waiting carriage.

The closed, flatbed carriage moved with somber pace to the Tha

"How dare you bring this tawdry matter to my door?" she demanded.

Danilo ignored her—probably the first time this slight had been offered the lady—and looked over her shoulder to address his father. "My lord, Lilly was in danger. You must have known that, yet you represented this to me as a minor nuisance. Now the girl is dead. Your daughter, my sister. I am sorry for any pain this may cost you, my lady," he said to Cassandra, "but this matter should have come to light long ago."

Before she could respond, the family steward blew into the room like a storm-tossed scarecrow. Arilyn had never seen the servant in such dishabille. His shirt was untucked, the sash and emblem that proclaimed his position was askew, and the strands of his sparse sandy hair stood up like bits of straw. A slight puffiness of his upper lip lent his mustache an asymmetry that, on any other man, might have been mistaken for a wry and roguish grin.

"Lord Gundwynd to see you, Sir, Madame," he a

"Not now, Yartsworth," all those present said in rare and perfect unison.

"He is most insistent," the steward observed, gingerly touching his fingertip to his swollen lip.

Cassandra took note of this, and her indignation rose to another stage. "Show him in."

The small, gray man burst into the hall. Before he could sputter out a word, Lady Cassandra bore down on him like a prevailing wind.

"This is beyond the pale, Gundwynd! You might mistreat your own servants and suffer no ill for it, but do not presume to abuse any person in my employ."

Lord Gundwynd fell back a step, some of the wind knocked from his sails, but quickly recovered his pique. "Your choice of words is telling," he said coldly. "You have heard of my trouble, but then, who has not?"

"Tha

"If only the loss ended with the ambush!" he exploded. "All the elves in my employ have left. Do you know how difficult it is to find riders for aerial steeds? As if that weren't enough, there is the threat that all those of elven blood in the city—and beyond, for all I know—will refuse to use Gundwynd transport and will not buy or sell goods carried by my family. Elves are few enough, thank the gods, but this scandal could mean my ruin!"

"My sympathies," Danilo said in flat, ironic tones. Arilyn noted that he shifted a step closer to her, wordlessly—and perhaps without thought or design—declaring his allegiance.

The lord whirled on him. "You will be sorry soon enough! I would not be surprised to hear that this whole affair is somehow your doing, you and that elf you keep company with. This one too, for all I know," he added, looking wrathfully at Arilyn. "Well, the truth will come to light. I will bring suit against Tha

A long moment of silence followed this pronouncement. Lord Rhammas turned so pale that Danilo feared he might faint.

Cassandra took a step toward her husband, as if her near presence might serve to bolster him. "Idle threats, Gundwynd. You have too much to lose to take such action."

"My family faces ruin, disgrace! If it comes to that, do you think I care who falls with me? I will know how this came about, mark me."

Danilo saw a pattern emerging. According to Bronwyn, the dream spheres had left Mizzen's shop the very day Gundwynd's caravan returned to Waterdeep. She had reported to him the malfunction of her bag of sending, and the small crystal orb that had remained in the magic bag. Lilly, who had sold a ruby stolen from the caravan, had had a dream sphere in her possession when she died. It seemed certain to him that the answer to his sister's death was entwined with this string of events. Without thinking of possible consequences, Danilo reached into the hiding place in his boot and took out the dream sphere Arilyn had found in Lilly's room.

"Were there any such items among the lost cargo?"

Lord Gundwynd's face turned a deep shade of puce, and his eyes slid guiltily toward the suddenly wary Cassandra. He puffed and hmmphed for a few moments, then admitted there had been.