The Warrior Elf (26 page)

“Simple. You’re visiting a friend while I catch up on some paper work.”

Rhianna smiled. “See you around three.”

After Kevin left, Rhianna reached for the door knob and then stopped. She didn’t live here anymore. Or did she? Should she knock? Or just walk in? While she was trying to figure out what to do, the door opened.

“I thought that might be you when I saw the flash of light,” Ashni said as she looked over Rhianna’s head and glanced around the yard. “Has Myron gone back already? He usually stops by for a moment when he comes.”

“He needed to get back to the castle, but I’m sure he’ll come in for a minute when he picks me up this afternoon.” Then Rhianna grinned at Ashni. “It’s so good to see you. I feel like I’ve been gone for years.”

Ashni smiled. “I think Landis feels the same way. She was sure you would come today. She went back to her room after breakfast rather than go down to the canyon. I think she is waiting for you.”

Rhianna nodded and headed towards the hall. Before she disappeared into the back part of the house, Ashni said, “I hope you will stay for lunch. I have made some of your favorite dishes, just in case you came by for a visit.”

Rhianna grinned again. “I’ll be here until around three. Thanks, Ashni.”

Landis heard Rhianna’s voice and jerked the door open before Rhianna could get halfway down the hall. “Well, it’s about time you showed up!” she said as she rushed out and grabbed Rhianna in a quick hug. “I’ve missed you so much! You’ve been gone forever, a whole week.”

Rhianna laughed and followed Landis back into her room. “It’s been strange not waking up to your grumbling every day.”

Landis picked up her pillow and threw it at Rhianna. “I do not grumble. Fuss maybe, but grumble? Never.” Then she sat down on her bed. “Now, tell me. What’s it like living in the castle? What do you do all day? Do you see Myron much? Or does he stay in his office? Have you gone down to Milhaven? What’s been going on?”

Rhianna laughed. “This is what I needed, a good dose of you. How are things going with Glendymere? Have you managed to connect with your life force?”

“Finally, but it’s harder than any of the others.”

“No wonder he left it for last then, but how’s it going? Are you going to be able to draw enough energy to make it worth it?”

Landis shrugged. “I can draw some, but not much yet, certainly not enough to fill two balls, but that’s not what I want to talk about. My life hasn’t changed. I still get up every morning, go down to the cave, work all day, come back up, go to sleep, get up the next morning and do it all over again. It’s boring, and since I don’t have you around to entertain me anymore, you’ve got a lot to make up for, starting now. I want to hear everything you’ve done, and I want details. Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”

Rhianna paused and then started with her arrival and took Landis through everything that had happened, at least as far as she could remember. When she got to finding a box tied up with a bow sitting on her dresser Tuesday evening, Landis’s grin spread from ear to ear.

“Myron bought you a present?” Landis asked, eyes shining. “That’s so romantic!”

Rhianna nodded and took the dagger Kevin gave her off her belt and handed it to Landis.

Landis fingered the dagger, tracing the intricate carvings in the metal. “It’s beautiful. Did he have it made for you?”

Rhianna shook her head. “It was in Tolliver’s, the dry goods store. I was looking at it Monday while we were there.”

“So he knew you wanted it?”

“I don’t think so, at least not from me. He was talking to the owner of the store while I wandered around looking at the different sections. When I saw the dagger, I did stop and pick it up to look at it more closely, but I doubt he noticed.”

“Did you pick up any others?”

Rhianna shook her head. “No, I looked at several but this was the only one that interested me enough to check out its balance.”

“He noticed. There’s no way he went back and got the exact one you were looking at by chance.”

“Unless the lady who was helping out in the store noticed,” Rhianna said thoughtfully, “although I think by the time I got to the knives, she’d figured out I wasn’t going to buy anything and was straightening up some shelves.” Rhianna shrugged. “Not that it matters how he ended up getting it. The point is he made the effort to go back and get me something. I’m sure whoever was in there spread the word, which is why he did it.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Landis said. “Maybe he got it for you because he likes you.”

Rhianna shook her head. “We’re just playing our roles.”

“Well, did you at least thank him for it?”

Rhianna laughed. “Did I! The next morning when I went to breakfast, I stopped by his chair, kissed him, and told him thank you.”

“You kissed him?” Landis asked, her eyes wide. “In the middle of the dining room?”

Rhianna nodded. “Sure did, in front of everybody, including Duane.”

“Oh no,” Landis said with a laugh. “What did he say?”

“Nothing right then, though he did glare at Myron, but he had plenty to say later.”

Landis put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. “What did he say?”

“He said if I want people to believe I’m interested in Myron, I need to kiss him like I mean it, not like he’s my brother.”

Landis burst out laughing. “Tell me you didn’t kiss him on the cheek.”

Rhianna grinned. “I did.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “We were in the middle of the dining room! What was I supposed to do?”

“Kiss him like you meant it!”

“Not in public,” Rhianna said, still shaking her head. “I’d have embarrassed both of us. As it was, he turned a nice shade of red.”

“He blushed when you kissed him?”

Rhianna nodded.

“I can hear it now, everyone saying you’re the woman who stole the Master Sorcerer’s heart.” Landis broke into giggles. “Have they started planning the wedding yet?”

Rhianna slapped at Landis’s knee. “Stop it. Do you want to hear about the rest of my week or not?”

“Sure, but tell me, did Myron kiss you back?”

Rhianna shook her head. “But he got me back the next night when we had dinner at Laryn’s.”

Rhianna described the show Kevin had put on for Shana’s benefit and then went on to their lunch at Dara’s. They were having so much fun Rhianna didn’t want to spoil it by mentioning the Council of Elders. She figured if Landis knew about it, she’d worry, so Rhianna decided to wait. She’d tell her when it was over and done with.

All too soon, Ashni called them to lunch, which was a quick meal as the only ones there were Ashni, Rhianna, and Landis. Sari and Taelor were in Rainbow Valley with Theresa, and Blalick and Macin were moving a herd of cattle from one pasture to another.

After lunch, Rhianna asked Ashni to tell Kevin she’d gone to see Glendymere. Then she and Landis walked down the trail to Willow Canyon. As soon as Rhianna rang the gong, Glendymere told her he was awake so she could come on in.

“Are you enjoying your visit at the castle?”
Glendymere asked.

“It’s been interesting, and mostly fun,” Rhianna said, “but I miss being here.”

“Sure you do,” Landis teased.

“I do, and I worry about you, about the little things, like are you taking enough breaks, are you working too hard, or worse, are you slacking off.” Rhianna turned to Glendymere. “That’s why I wanted to see you. Is she doing all right? Do I need to get back here and take care of her?”

Glendymere studied Rhianna for a moment, and then shook his head.
“No, she’s doing fine. She’s making good progress, but she’s not overdoing it.”
Kevin had told him what was going on and he could see it was worrying her, but if she chose not to mention it, he wouldn’t either.
“So, tell me about Milhaven. How’s the plan going? Have you and Myron been able to convince everyone there’s something going on between the two of you?”

Rhianna laughed, and spent the next hour telling Glendymere some of the things that had happened during her week at the castle, including her lunch with Dara and her suspicion that she was a matchmaker.

“It makes sense, but I don’t know her, so I can’t say one way or the other,”
Glendymere said.
“What did Myron say when you broached the subject with him.”

“It caught him by surprise, and to be honest, I don’t think he even wants to consider it. Chris thought it was possible though. When she was there last fall, Dara asked a lot of the men around the castle whether or not they were married. But since Myron’s a likely candidate if she is a matchmaker, I can’t say I blame him for not wanting to believe it.” Rhianna laughed. “Could be interesting to watch though.”

Glendymere snorted and a puff of smoke drifted up above his head.
“Wonder who she has lined up for Myron.”

“I’d say Katrin, but if so, she’s way off base. There’s no way Myron would ever be interested in someone like her.”

Landis raised her eyebrows. “You must have gotten to know him pretty well to know that.”

“Not really,” Rhianna said. “Sometimes you just know. Katrin’s the type of woman who clings, who wants attention all the time. The only female who’s going to get that kind of attention from Myron is Nikki.”

Landis frowned. “Who’s Nikki?”

Glendymere snorted again.
“His dog.”

“Myron has a dog? What kind? How old is she?” Landis asked.

While Rhianna was describing Nikki, Kevin walked into the cave.

“Speaking of Nikki, she wants to go visit some of her friends and wanted me to ask you if you’d like to go with us.”

Rhianna turned towards Kevin and said, “Sure. When?”

“As soon as we take Theresa back to Milhaven, unless you’ve got something else you need to do.”

Rhianna told Landis and Glendymere goodbye and said she’d see them soon. Then she took Kevin’s arm. “Guess we need to go. Can’t keep Nikki waiting.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Half an hour later, Kevin, Chris, Rhianna, and Nikki were in the middle of Kyle’s front yard surrounded by dogs, some small, some large, and some huge. Although the barks were more excited than warning, the noise was deafening.

Nikki ran off to join in the fun as Rhianna fell to one knee and cuddled the little ones, rubbed ears and bellies of the large ones, and exchanged bear hugs with the huge ones. She was so preoccupied with the dogs she didn’t notice Kevin and Chris slip away to join Kyle near his front door.

“Figured it was friends when I heard the racket,” Kyle said. “They weren’t loud enough for strangers or vicious enough for enemies.”

“You have enemies?” Kevin asked, his eyes on Rhianna.

“We all have enemies, Myron, but I was referring to threats to the dogs. We have a few mountain lions in these hills, but most of them are too smart to tangle with a pack of dogs. Skunks are a different story. They’ll march right up to them, turn their tail, and spray. Nothing will scatter dogs faster than seeing that tail go up. Once they’ve been sprayed they don’t want any part of it again. Horrible odor, and it takes forever to get it out of their coats. Closest I’ve ever come to killing an animal was a skunk who got a bunch of puppies too young to know better. Really hated that guy by the time I got those pups calmed down.”

Chris couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of one lone skunk scattering a whole pack of dogs.

“Not funny, Chris,” Kyle said. “You try getting that stink out of the house after a dog gets sprayed. I’ll come get you next time it happens.” Kyle nodded towards Rhianna. “One of Hayden’s?”

“You know Hayden?” Kevin asked without taking his eyes off Rhianna.

“And Gwynn, and Duane, and Shelandra, and a few of the others. Even met Pallor a couple of times. I think he’s Hayden’s nephew though, Weldon’s son.” Kyle tilted his head towards Rhianna again. “Isn’t she the baby of the family? Rhianna? Or something like that?”

Kevin nodded.

Kyle watched Kevin watch Rhianna and a slow smile spread across his face. He glanced at Chris and raised his eyebrows. When Chris gave a slight nod, one corner of Kyle’s mouth curved up and he turned his attention back to the elf. “Makes a pretty sight, doesn’t it? A good-looking woman surrounded by loving dogs. I could stand here all day watching them.” He cut his eyes over at Kevin.

Kevin nodded. “Sure could.” Then Kevin frowned.

“What?” Kyle asked.

“She’s got a rough day coming up tomorrow. She’s been summoned to appear before the Council of Elders,” Kevin said softly. Then he explained the situation.

“So you’re going with her?” Kyle asked.

“Along with everyone who can vouch for her, except Landis.”

“It’ll be fine.” Kyle put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Weldon’s a reasonable man. Most elves are. They’ll listen to her.”

“If they don’t, they’ll listen to me,” Kevin said with an edge in his voice.

“Don’t go looking for a fight,” Kyle said as he glanced at Chris.

“I’m not looking for one,” Kevin said, “but I’m not running from one either. They’re not going to punish her for protecting my people. I won’t allow it.”

Half an hour later, Rhianna made her way over to the men. “Yours?” she asked Kyle as she motioned towards the dogs.

Kyle nodded. “I’ve got more, but they’re the ones living here right now.”

“Where are the rest of them?” Rhianna asked.

“Scattered about.” Kyle opened the door for them to go inside. “Some are working on nearby farms and a few live in nearby towns. Most are within easy riding distance, but one’s living at the castle in Milhaven.”

Rhianna smiled. “Nikki?”

As Kyle nodded, Kevin shook his head. “No, Nikki’s mine.”

“On loan, nephew, on loan.” As he led them towards the kitchen, he heard a scratch at the front door. “And speaking of Nikki, do you want to let her in? She hasn’t said hello yet.”

Kevin stepped back to the front door and opened it. Nikki flew through the door followed by half a dozen dogs, all headed for Kyle. After a thorough greeting, Kyle said, “It’s not time for dinner yet. Go on back outside and play. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

The dogs drifted back towards the door and stood there waiting for someone to let them out.