Lydia, standing safely out of the way, gave a sharp laugh. “Nothing like a good old-fashioned tavern brawl for a diversion. Come on, Kevin, let’s get out of here.”
She slipped out through the tiny kitchen, Kevin close behind her, struggling past harried servants who were heading out into the brawl armed with dubs and broom handles.
Hey, where had Lydia gone?
“Out here!” the woman called, and the bardling scrambled out the narrow window after her. “Now you know why I’m always scouting for ways out of places! Come on, let’s put some distance between ourselves and those guys.’’
More running, Kevin thought wearily.
They made it all the way back to the shabby square. The bardling sank gladly to the lip of the dry fountain, panting, the lute an awkward weight on his back. He shifted it around in front of him, leaning on it. “Think we’re safe?’’
Lydia straightened, listening to nothing but silence. She shrugged. “For the moment. By the time old Empty Eyes fights his way out of that tavern, our trail’s going to be cold.”
We hope. “Now what do we do?”
“Look for the others, I guess, and—’’
“There you are!” a shrill voice snapped.
Kevin glanced up to see the fairy fluttering fiercely overhead. “Hello, Tich’ki!”
“Never mind ‘hello, Tich’ki!’ I’ve been flying all over the city. Where the hell were you two?”
“Hunting rats.” Lydia grinned. “Learned a lot from them, too.”
The fairy landed lightly beside her. “And nearly got bit by them, I see. Oh yes, I heard all the fuss. What’s the matter, the guards weren’t good enough for you? Robbing a councilman wasn’t exciting enough?”
“Ah, you’re a fine one to scold! It wasn’t me who set that inn on fire back in Elegian—”
“An accident. I never knew the spell would backfire like that.”
“—or dropped the chamber pot on the mayor’s head in Smithian.”
The fairy grinned. “Nearly tore a wing lifting the thing. Worth it, though.”
“Besides,” Lydia added, “you know I didn’t rob Selden. Not exactly. Look, Tich’ki, you were there! It was a game of cards, that’s all. He wasn’t any more honest than me.”
“Tell that to the guards.” The fairy glanced sharply from one human to the other—”You reek of excitement. Haven’t just been eluding guards, have you?”
“Uh, no,” Lydia admitted. “We seem to have gotten somebody’s gang after us, too.”
“Huh. And you tell me to keep out of trouble? Tell me, just how do you plan to get out of Westerin?”
Lydia shrugged. “We’ll think of something.”
“We can’t leave without the rest of our party,” Kevin cut in.
“Sure, but they could be anywhere.”
“They’re both still in the city.” Tich’ki restlessly folded and refolded her wings. “Wouldn’t have left without their horses. And those horses are still here. I checked.”
Kevin straightened, hands tightening on the lute case—”Tich’ki, you’re friends with Naitachal.”
—Well ...”
“All right, all right, maybe you’re not friends. But at least you two must have something in common. I saw you doing those card tricks together.”
“What’s this?” Lydia asked, eyebrow raised.
Tich’ki’s dusky skin flushed. “He asked me. What was I supposed to do? Tell him he wasn’t bright enough to learn?”
“Teaching him tricks, eh?”
“Card tricks!”
“Of course.”
“It’s true!”
“And was that all you were doing, hmm?”
“Lydia, that’s ridiculous! Look at the size of me! He’s more than twice my height!”
“Why, Tich'ki! Aren’t your people wonderful shape-changers? I should think you could be any size you want to be.”
Kevin stared from Lydia to Tich’ki. “I don’t understand you two! We’ve got all sorts of people out to get us—How can you possibly waste time in—in banter?”
They both looked at him in surprise. Lydia shook her head. “Would anything be changed if we acted like scared little kids?”
“No, but—”
“Morale, Kevin, got to keep up morale. Just as,” she added slyly, “Tich’ki was keeping Naitachal’s morale up.”
Cornered, the fairy took to the air. Still blushing, she yelled down,
“You know I don’t date outside my species!”
“Since when are elves and fairies separate—”
“All right! All right! I’ll go look for him. You stay here.”
As the fairy darted up and away. Lydia murmured a bemused, “Card tricks?”
“That's all it was, really,” Kevin said.
“Oh, I figured that But how often do I get a chance to rib a fairy?” All at once she frowned. “Eh, I know I said something about keeping up morale, but this hardly seems the time for a song! Why are you taking out your lute?”
“I’m going to try something.” Kevin paused, one hand caressing the polished wood. “I only hope it works.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a song that’s supposed to draw someone you know to you. I’m going to try it on Eliathanis.”
“You don’t exactly know him.”
“Well, no. But he’s an elf after all. Even if I can’t manage the whole force of Bardic Magic, he should have enough innate magic to sense something.”
“Always assuming he wants to listen.”
“If the song works properly, he ... uh ... won’t have a choice.”
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Only hope you don’t call up Empty Eye from the gang as well. He’s an elf, too. More or less,” she added in distaste.
“Oh. Well.” Kevin hadn’t thought of that. “It ... should work only on Eliathanis.” I hope.
Bending over the lute, the bardling tuned it carefully, then took a deep breach and began his song, trying to picture the White Elf and only the White Elf, hearing the coaxing strains soar out and out ....
The bardling came back to himself with a start, startled to realize he didn’t know how much time had passed. It must have been quite a while, because his fingers were weary and his throat was dry. “What, Naitachal!”
The Dark Elf bowed wryly. “Surprised to see me? Returning was the only way I could get that fairy to stop pestering me!”
“Huh!” Tich’ki said indignantly. “You were the one who kept asking me questions!”
“And you were the one who wouldn’t answer any of them.” Naitachal grinned. “I confess; Tich’ki kept after me till she’d roused my curiosity.”
“I’m sure,” Lydia murmured.
Kevin nearly choked. But then the urge to laugh faded as he realized: “I guess my song didn’t work.”
“Oh, it did!” an angry voice snapped, and the bardling shot to his feet. “It did, indeed!”
“Eliathanis!”
“You just would not stop pulling at my mind! I was in the middle of learning some important information, and you—’’