Sunset of Lantonne (77 page)

“What…what’s going on?” she asked, letting the knife drop.

Greth slapped it aside, sending it clattering under debris near the wall. “You grabbed me from behind,” Greth answered, touching his neck and pulling back his fingers with blood on them. “I couldn’t fight you—you were too strong. Before I could do anything, you had me down and that blade on me…”

“Greth,” Ilarra pleaded, tears coming to her eyes. “It’s not me…it’s…”

“I know, kid,” he replied, pulling her into a hug. “Those two will be back as fast as they can. Try not to go crazy on me just yet.”

Ilarra buried her face in his chest, crying uncontrollably as she thought about how close she had come to killing him. Raeln would never have forgiven her. Seeing his face when he returned to find his friend dead would have broken Ilarra—exactly what Dorralt wanted.

Time was running out.

“This is worse than any plan I have ever heard of.” Raeln flattened his back against the side of the keep wall. Nearby, a group of ten soldiers passed by, heading toward the barracks. “Pick any other doorNenophar. The front entrance is not even an option.”

“You underestimate me,” Nenophar replied, grinning. As he did, his facial features adjusted somewhat, changing his look enough that Raeln would never have recognized him. His build remained the same, but all the tiny details one used to recognize a person became a slight bit different. “Illusion is a specialty of mine. Try not to overreact when you see yourself.”

Raeln looked down at his hands and saw his fur coloration had changed dramatically, from the usual grey, white, and black to a dirty brown. Even subtle details like the smooth look of his fur had taken on a slight wave. He could not imagine any wolf looking quite like what he was seeing.

Wondering how great the change had been, Raeln looked around until he spotted a glass window. Shifting where he stood to look at himself, he felt his jaw drop as he saw what Nenophar had done to him. He still stood taller than most of the humans nearby, but everything about his appearance had changed. His chiseled wolfish features had been softened and his ears flopped about lazily. One minute he had been a wolf, the next Nenophar had given him the look of a mongrel.

“Before you object,” Nenophar said quickly, “I found the keep has no wolves on the serving staff anymore, after your departure. There are very few wildlings of any breed, but I did learn they have a dog wildling that looks similar to how you now do who is sent on chores outside the keep regularly. I could not make you look human without great effort. If I had tried, the disguise would have fallen apart the first time I spoke or had to do anything more complex than walk.”

“Small blessings there. I’ll take looking like a mutt over losing my fur any day.”

“You’ve lost nothing. This is old magic that plays on the minds of those seeing you.”

To test that, Raeln wiggled his ears, feeling them move as he remembered, but the reflection in the glass showed them flopping about like an idiot. When he opened his mouth, he realized the reflection even showed his tongue lolling foolishly out one side of his mouth.

“If you are ready and sure I have not somehow wronged you, we should go before the gate is fully staffed again,” Nenophar advised. “We only have a minute or two before more guards come.”

Raeln took a slow breath to calm his nerves and then followed Nenophar out into the street. They took their time walking to the open keep doors, despite Raeln’s desire to hurry. He knew the slow approach was far safer, but seeing four armed humans waiting for them made him worry they would be found out if they did not get past soon.

Leading the way, Nenophar passed into the keep without the guards saying a word, though they did scrutinize him. They paid far more attention to Raeln, though.

“Hey!” the nearest guard barked at Raeln, coming over to him. “You think I’m going to let you past like that? Get over here!”

Raeln froze, clenching his hands to keep them from shaking. He looked to Nenophar, but the man gave a subtle gesture with one hand as though to say, “Calm down.”

“C’mon, bend over,” the guard told Raeln, grinning. “Since when were you shy?”

Trying not to look entirely confused, Raeln bent at the waist slowly, until the guard reached up and scratched behind his ear. The man laughed and then waved Raeln on.

“Good boy. Get going before anyone knows you were out causing trouble with the tramps down on the south end of town.” The guard returned to his post. “See you tonight at the tavern?”

“Of course,” Raeln answered, praying that his voice was at least close enough that the man would not notice the difference. “See you tonight.”

Rushing to catch up with Nenophar, Raeln got as close as he could and whispered, “How did that just work?”

“I told you,” Nenophar answered testily. “The magic affects their minds. You might not look exactly like his friend, but close enough that he thinks he saw that man instead of you. I was more concerned about him touching you…he could have felt the tips of your ears through the illusion if he had tried scratching there instead. You were lucky.”

“I never want to do that again.”

“Getting so close to being discovered?”

“No, getting treated like a household pet. I’ve never had anyone pet me before. It’s humiliating to be seen as an animal.”

“I can only imagine,” said Nenophar, grinning as he led the way deeper into the keep’s halls. “Pretending to be something you’re not and feeling like the actions others take toward you are beneath you. It must be difficult.”

“You have no idea, elf.”

“No, of course not.”

Nenophar led them part way into the main hallway that led from the entrance to the first set of wide curved stairs to other floors, then stopped, looking around in confusion.

“The outside of the keep gave no indication of the complexity of the inside,” he mused aloud, eyeing the stairs. He turned in place and looked at the other set of stairs. “Why would they need more than one staircase? They all go up, which is where we need to go, but…why two? Was this place designed to confuse invaders?”

“One for servants and one for guests of rank,” Raeln explained, pointing to the stairs on the left. “We go up the servant entrance. You can’t possibly have spent time around any major city and not seen things set up this way in any noble home.”

They stopped talking briefly as a group of serving women passed by on their way toward the laundry, judging by the baskets they carried with them.

Once the women were far enough away that they could no longer hear him, Nenophar said, “You were correct earlier. Those assigned to work at laundry would have been easier to make disappear without notice.”

“That was not what I was saying,” Raeln insisted, keeping his voice low. “I meant you should have stolen clothing from the laundry, not killed the people working there.”

Nenophar nodded slowly and pointed at the steps. “I suppose that is an option, too. Shall we continue?”

“Can I lead the way?” Raeln asked. “I have been here before and had to learn most of the keep’s floor layouts while Therec held us here There wasn’t a whole lot to do other than explore, fight with Greth, or get yelled at by Ilarra.”

Nenophar smiled broadly. “Lead on. I was hoping to find a map or capture someone who knew the layout and torture them until they gave us directions, but using your knowledge is better.”

Raeln took to the stairs and tried not to let his dread about traveling with Nenophar overwhelm him. He hurried in hopes that the exertion would help him forget how much danger they would be in if Nenophar talked with anyone at all. If nothing else, Raeln wanted to be sure he stayed ahead, in case there were servants at the top of the steps. The last thing he needed was the elf killing someone.

Thankfully, when Raeln got to the next floor, the halls were as empty as those below. He waited for Nenophar, sniffing to get a feel for the type of people that most frequently passed by the area. He could smell oiled metal and sweat, likely guards and servants. Neither was too much of a concern as long as Nenophar maintained their disguises.

When Nenophar did finally walk up beside Raeln, he began looking around. “I had expected more difficulty,” he explained. At the far end of the hall, two servants hurried past, and Nenophar watched that direction long after they had gone. “Is it always so empty in here? Having a house this large with so few occupants seems very impractical.”

“This is not normal at all. The last time we were here, the first few floors were packed with people.” Raeln began to notice, despite the recent scents, the floors were filthy. Dust covered the few furnishings along the walls. Even the stairs they had come up were covered with several days of grime. “We need to be very careful. There might not be many servants in the halls anymore. Something’s changed.”

Taking the lead again, Raeln led them down several halls and then up to a series of rooms that had housed the serving staff the last time Raeln had been in the keep. Most of the rooms stood open and very few scents presented themselves. The place was very nearly abandoned.

Growling and punching the wall near him, Raeln said, “Our disguises won’t work. They’ve sent most of the servants away for some reason. We need to look like guards.”

“Not an option for you. The city guards are all human or elven. If you are willing to split up, I can attempt to blend in as one of them and head for the higher floors.”

Raeln was about to dismiss the idea when he realized Nenophar was sniffing at the air. Thinking he had missed something so obvious even an elf could even smell it, Raeln took several deep breaths, but could not identify anything unusual.

Finally, Nenophar noticed his confused look. “I need to investigate something. There is no way I can bring you along. I am sorry, Raeln. I should be able to find you within the hour. Hide yourself if need be.”

While Raeln tried to object, Nenophar turned and ran back toward the stairs, leaving him standing in the servants’ wing of the keep.

“And that is why I stopped listening to Ilarra years ago,” Raeln muttered. “Elves are too flighty and unpredictable.”

Raeln flattened against the wall when he heard approaching footsteps from the direction opposite of where Nenophar had gone. He realized any attempt to hide only made things worse and stepped back to the middle of the hall, trying his best to look like he belonged by walking toward whoever was coming.

Seconds after Raeln had passed the first few rooms, with his head low to keep from drawing any extra attention, a young human man in servant’s clothing came around the corner, stopping abruptly as he did.

“What are you doing?” the man demanded, going wide-eyed and staring at Raeln. “Are you trying to get yourself thrown out? He’s coming down now!”

Raeln froze, trying to think of what he could or should do. He checked back the way he had come, but Nenophar had not returned.

“C’mon!” the man said, grabbing his arm. “Hurry!”

Almost dragging Raeln behind him, the man took them toward the stairs, heading down. Just before they reached the top step, someone came down the nearby stairs leading higher into the tower.

“Stop right there,” a voice called out, and both Raeln and the serving man came to an abrupt halt.

“You are in so much trouble,” the servant whispered. “Don’t drag me down with you.”

Raeln gauged his surroundings and decided he could probably escape down the stairs if trouble got too bad. There would be more guards on the bottom floor by then, but he felt confident he could either hide within the keep or overpower a handful of the soldiers if he surprised them. Satisfied that he had some semblance of a plan, he turned in place, keeping his head low in case he was being addressed by someone important.

As Raeln came around, he realized there were five people approaching, not the one or two he had expected. Peeking quickly up before lowering his head further, Raeln realized he had gravely overestimated his odds of survival.