Sunset of Lantonne (75 page)

“Drop him, Raeln,” Ilarra ordered, marching over to him. “That is Nenophar.”

Raeln eyed Ilarra, then growled again at Nenophar. “He tried to walk in here like he belonged. Ally or not, a man should not be allowed to come into your room without permission,” Raeln told her over his shoulder, still not easing his grip on Nenophar.

“He can come and go as he wishes,” she insisted. “Do I need to remind you that you kicked in my door and attacked me, most certainly without my permission?”

Nenophar’s eyes glittered angrily for a second and he placed a hand atop Raeln’s wrist, ready to free himself if required. He looked to Ilarra, waiting for her agreement before he hurt Raeln.

Raeln was still not backing down, though he glanced over at Greth as the other man came back into the room and closed the door. Ilarra was less than pleased to see that he was putting more weight in Greth’s opinion than hers, though she was not entirely surprised.

“I will release you,” Raeln finally told Nenophar, bringing his nose almost to the point of touching Nenophar’s face. “If you give me a reason, you leave by the window. Do we understand one another?”

A smile crept over Nenophar’s face, making Ilarra’s skin crawl. It was anything but friendly, and Raeln seemed to see that as well, tightening his grip on Nenophar until the wall he pushed Nenophar against began to creak dangerously. For a moment, Ilarra thought Raeln might well shove Nenophar straight back through and into the hall.

“Boys, enough!” Ilarra told them, walking over and shoving Raeln to make him back away from Nenophar. “Both of you are being childish. If there is any bloodshed between you, I will incinerate you both. Given the way my thoughts have been twisted by the Turessians, do not test me, I may not be bluffing.”

Slowly, Raeln lowered Nenophar to his feet. The two stared at one another a while, challenging each other to make the first move. Then they finally both turned to face Ilarra. Greth sat down in a corner shaking his head at the whole scene. He seemed caught between amusement and the same disgust Ilarra felt.

“Where do you stand on finding the purpose of the Turessians in this city?” Nenophar asked her, occasionally glancing at Raeln as though he expected to be attacked again.

“Someone took it before I arrived, but Dorralt doesn’t have it. He’s still marching on the city, probably hoping he can find it when he arrives.”

That caused Raeln’s ears to perk and his attention went entirely to Ilarra. “The Turessian in Altis said they were looking for a staff here,” he noted, cocking his head. “I was going to tell you about it, but it sounds like you already know. That and letting the city know about the army were why we tried to hurry back to the city.”

“Try finding one specific piece of carved wood in a city. Knowing what it is helps less than you would think,” groused Ilarra, putting her head in her hands. “According to the staff-makers, carved staves are exceedingly popular this year.”

Coming over to stand beside Raeln, Greth added, “Therec was awfully proud of his new staff before we left. He kept it in his lap when he ate and got pretty antsy when anyone got close to him. I even heard one of the serving girls say he slept with the damned thing. It might not be the one you want, but I would’ve started there.”

“And you were going to mention any of that when?” asked Raeln, glaring at Greth.

“Humans always do crazy things. He’s Turessian of one sort or another, so I give him extra leeway for crazy. I didn’t really think it any stranger than most things humans do until she mentioned the staff. Two furless worrying about a stick makes me want to find the stick and beat answers out of someone.”

Greth then seemed to remember that Nenophar was with them. “Not that I have anything against you if Ilarra says you’re safe, but until you grow a tail, I’m going to always wonder how you manage to walk without falling over.”

Ilarra’s mind jumped to Nenophar’s true form and felt herself blushing at the secret she needed to keep. Quickly, she put a hand to her face and hoped Greth and Raeln would think she was merely embarrassed by Greth’s rudeness. Luckily, Nenophar seemed entirely amused by the remark, smiling slightly back at the man.

“If Therec has it, this is even more complicated,” Ilarra reminded them, deflecting the conversation from Nenophar. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I doubt I can get back into the keep without drawing far too much attention. We could sneak in, but I’m betting he’s got half of the tower searching for us after we all got away.”

“Before we left,” Greth added, “he wouldn’t leave the royal ward of the keep. It’s more than getting inside. We need to get a half dozen floors up without being seen. Getting out is a lot easier than back in.”

Ilarra looked to Nenophar, whose eyes glittered with humor, apparently anticipating her question. “No, I cannot get you there with my magic,” he answered before she asked, though she had been trying to find some way to ask him without mentioning transforming into a dragon. “The whole reason I needed you to leave the keep when we left was due to protections the original builders put on the place to shield against unwanted entry. Unless one of you can fly up to a window without being seen by a thousand people in the city, we will need to go through the doors.”

Greth snorted. “A flying wolf. That’d be the day. I’ll keep my paws on the ground, thanks.”

“We will need more than wings,” Nenophar added. “The two of you are filthy and will draw attention. I could smell those dead animals you wear as clothing before I had gotten halfway down the hallway. Even your weapons look as though you stole them from a corpse.”

Wincing a little, Raeln looked down at the rusted sword at his hip. “We actually did. Some from a dead dwarf and some from zombies along the way as we traveled.”

“Then you both need new attire and gear, or they will arrest you before they even know Therec is looking for you. Ilarra and I will be fine with our magic…”

“About that,” Ilarra interjected nervously, shrinking back as Nenophar gave her a penetrating stare. “I have no magic. I lost it, but it’s coming back slowly.”

“Lost?” demanded Nenophar, pushing past Raeln to march right up to Ilarra. “How could you lose your magic? Magic is not simply left in a cupboard by accident.”

“Remember how I used too much and couldn’t do anything for a few days?”

“I do. I also remember telling you never to do that again.”

“Dorralt attacked me. I had to cut myself off to keep him out before he made me kill anyone.”

All three men’s eyes went wide.

“I’m fine,” she hurriedly added. “I couldn’t find any way to get out of his control, so I severed all of my ties to magic. It’s temporary, but until it comes back, I have nothing.”

Nenophar grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand up. He took one glance at her broken nails and dirty fingers with their scabbed cuts from living in squalor for weeks and let her hand drop. “When you say all of your magic…” he started to ask, letting the question trail off. He clearly was unsure whether Raeln and Greth were allowed to know the specifics of her condition.

“I mean all of it,” Ilarra repeated. “It’s been a couple weeks, and I’m just starting to be able to feel magic again. If I’d been any more thorough cutting off my magic, I’d be dead. I’d be lucky to fumble my way through the card tricks my father called magic when I was a child.”

“I can still do those, if it helps,” Raeln joked, but closed his mouth when Greth punched him in the arm.

“This complicates things,” Nenophar told the group, rubbing at his jaw nervously. “I feel we should wait until Ilarra recovers before we do anything further. If we don’t, we’re depending on these two louts against an army of Therec’s men, all of whom have at least some degree of skill with weapons. Magic was our only advantage.”

“Then you can go in with one of us ‘louts’,” Raeln told Nenophar gruffly. “Take me. I was taught to fight beside a wizard. Whether that wizard is Ilarra or you, I can help. We can’t wait around for her to recover. The undead are days away from the city, if that far.”

“They will take longer than that after recent setbacks,” Nenophar noted offhandedly. “I do agree they are too close, though. I believe someone pushed them back a good ways and bought us some time.”

“Something,” interjected Raeln. “Giant flying lizard nearly killed us when it attacked the undead. One more thing to worry about.”

Nenophar studied Raeln, looking to Ilarra as though he were debating whether the man was even worthy of consideration. Finally, he nodded and patted Ilarra’s shoulder. “I will see about getting them proper clothing for this region,” he said while looking at Raeln. “If you have no concerns, Ilarra, I will take your man into the keep and assess the situation. We will not engage Therec even if he does have the staff we need, but will come back and formulate a plan. Should he not have it, at least we have eliminated one critical location.”

“Are you okay shopping for wildlings?” Ilarra asked him, trying to imagine a dragon window-shopping for people he barely knew.

“That depends on the city. I have no currency from any lands still producing coin…will they take gold nuggets? Most human and elven lands seem to.”

Ilarra’s jaw dropped as Nenophar produced a palm-sized lump of gold from his pouch. With the pouch open, she could see three or four more where that had come from. “Nenophar,” she said softly, noticing that Greth had become abruptly interested in the conversation—almost dangerously so. “The common currency here is a small copper coin. Lands are bought and sold with bags of silver. What you are holding is enough to buy most of the lands surrounding Lantonne.”

The man gave her a confused look and placed the gold back in his pouch. “Why would the people of this city believe they can own land? Do they not follow the philosophy that what they have the ability to defend is theirs by right? I had believed that was why elves kept to such small houses.”

“I think you’re confusing them for my people,” Greth told Nenophar, though his eyes stayed on the pouch. “Elves and human buy and sell land the way most people pay another person for food. You’re lucky you don’t have to worry about elven ways…”

“How odd for them to act like that,” remarked Nenophar absently while Ilarra grabbed at his sleeve, trying to keep him from talking. “We elves, that is. Where I come from, they act different, I’m afraid.”

“And that’s where?” Greth pressed, his eyes darting over Nenophar’s clothing. Ilarra noticed his hand subtly move toward the weapon at his hip, and Raeln did the same, mirroring Greth. “Your accent is Lantonnian. Your clothing and hair are their style, too. One might think you’ve lived here a while. What I don’t recognize is your scent—you don’t have one. I’ve noticed Ilarra has that same problem.”

Stepping between Nenophar and the two wildlings, Ilarra raised her arms to stop them. “He’s a friend,” she reminded them. “I know what you’re thinking. He’s not a Turessian spy. I can promise you that. Please don’t ask for more than that, though.”

“Ilarra, have you seen the Turessians?” Greth demanded, though he did take his hand away from his weapon. “They don’t all have tattoos and dark clothing that screams ‘I’m a necromancer.’ Some of them look like people you know…and may well be people you’ve known. He could very well have been turned by them.”

“No, he couldn’t have,” she insisted. “You need to trust me. There are few people I can be sure of, but he’s one.”

Raeln finally relented and relaxed, then touched Greth’s shoulder to draw his attention. They stared at each other a moment, conversing without words, before Greth snarled and walked away.

To Ilarra, the exchanged looks reminded her of how her father and mother would silently argue with their eyes if they did not want her or Raeln to hear them bickering. That thought amused her even as she worried that, sooner or later, Greth might pick a fight with Nenophar…a fight she knew he would lose horribly. She had no desire to see him torn apart, and she knew that was likely how things would end if he did attack.

Nenophar finally broke the silence. “I will go and collect what we need. Your man and I will go into the keep tonight when the guard changes.”

“Be careful,” she warned, grabbing Nenophar’s hand. Tapping her temple with a finger, she added, “If anything happens to you…”