Flint watched her, realizing that he was viewing the beginning of the metamorphosis of a spoiled little girl into an elf woman with great strength-if she'd only let herself show it. She jumped to her feet and resumed pacing.
"Why, Flint?" she asked. "Why would someone want to kill the Speaker's heirs? Not that I believe you for a moment," she hastily added.
"Greed," Flint suggested. "Vengeance. Insanity. Unrequited love. This isn't the kind of scheme someone comes up with overnight, you know. I'd guess the murderer has been working on this for years."
"Well, then…" Laurana faltered again. "Then he's probably someone we know."
"Well, certainly," Flint snapped. "What did you think?"
They glared at each other for a long moment, then Laurana looked away and softly said, "It won't help Tanis if we argue, you know."
Flint grunted. Then, more quietly, he asked, "How close is Tyresian in ascendancy?"
"To the Speakership?" Laurana looked surprised. "He's of the Third House. We are of the First."
"That leaves the members of the Second House?"
Laurana nodded absently. Flint pressed on. "How close is Tyresian in ascendancy, if he doesn't marry you?"
"Oh, about twelfth or thirteenth in line," she replied, then narrowed her eyes. "You don't honestly think it's Tyresian… Why, he's a member of the nobility!"
Deciding that Laurana still had a lot to learn about life, Flint abandoned the tack he'd been taking.
"How safe is Porthios?" he asked.
Laurana faced him again. "There are more than a dozen guards around the Grove. They can't see Porthios, but they could hear him if he called. I don't think anyone could sneak in, with them there."
Flint rose and strolled around the anteroom. Across the mantlepiece, Laurana kept a collection of whimsical dragon figurines. He picked up a golden one and examined it. "And Gilthanas will be with his regiment tonight? He'll be safe there, at least."
"Oh no, Flint," Laurana objected. "Gilthanas will be keeping a vigil at the Kentommenai-kath all night."
The phrase sounded familiar, but Flint had been exposed to a plethora of new elven terms in the past few days. "The Kentommenai-kath?"
"It's the spot overlooking the River of Hope, west of Qualinost," she explained.
Flint remembered; that was where he'd picnicked with Tanis and almost fallen to his death. "Gilthanas will have a guard with him, certainly," he said, bending one of the legs of the figurine. The softness of the metal proclaimed it to be pure gold. Laurana gently took the little dragon from him, straightened the leg, and returned the piece to the mantle.
"Gilthanas will have an escort from Qualinost to the Kentommenai-kath," she explained, seating herself again. "The guards will leave him, and he'll remain alone at the spot until sunrise. Then he will return to Qualinost alone, arriving for the final portion of the Kentommen."
Flint felt a hand of ice snake around his spine. "He'll be alone?"
Laurana's already pallid face became whiter. Her reply, when it came at last, was not a question. "He'll be in danger, won't he."
He waved her to silence and leaned both arms against the fireplace, staring into the flames. Finally, he turned and leaned over the chair where Laurana waited.
"Laurana," Flint said, "do you trust me?"
After a pause, she nodded. Her hair glittered in the firelight.
"Then listen," he said. "I have a plan."
Chapter 26
Two hours before Midnight a golden-haired figure in an aqua gown shot with silver threads appeared in the corridor outside Tanis's door and flashed a dazzling smile at the guard.
"Hello," she said, then hesitated prettily, a movement she'd been practicing in the mirror in her room for the past hour.
The guard blushed. Lauralanthalasa knew he'd seen her from afar before, of course, but he'd never been this close to the Speaker's daughter.
"Uh," he said. "Hello."
She smiled again. "Aren't you supposed to say 'Who goes there?' " she asked lightly.
The honey-blond elf, about Gilthanas's age, swallowed and grinned lopsidedly. "But… I know who you are," he whispered. "Um, so why ask?"
"Oh." Laurana let her eyelids droop, then gave him a sidelong glance. "That's very wise."
Her voice oozed admiration-just the amount that Flint had declared necessary. "The guard will never buy it," she'd argued, only the hour before in her quarters. "How stupid do you think the palace guards are?"
But the dwarf had insisted, saying only, 'Trust me. I've seen the way the elven lads watch you." She'd blushed. Flint had continued, "You'll knock the guard out of his ceremonial boots."
"Oh, Flint, don't be ridiculous," she'd snapped.
But now she wasn't so sure. The guard looked positively weak in the knees. Ascribing his reaction to a mild case of indigestion from a rich Kentommen feast, she said sweetly, "I need to see Tanthalas, please." She looked demurely away. ("Flint, he will never swallow this!" she'd protested. 'Trust me," the dwarf had repeated.)
The guard looked suddenly miserable. "I can't let anyone in."
Laurana let her features fall into disappointment. "Not even me?" she whispered. "It's so very, very important." She hoped her eyes were filling with the tears that Flint had declared crucial. But even more, she hoped she wouldn't giggle.
Now came the dangerous move. She reached forward quickly and plucked the large key-ring out of the guard's front pocket and smoothly slipped the key in the lock. "Oh, I'm sure it's all right," she said, letting a note of supplication enter her voice. "Here…"
But the guard reverted to training, grabbing her gently but firmly by her wrists and backing her away from the door. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I have my orders." He sounded sincerely regretful, to Laurana's surprise.
She took several tentative steps backward, drawing him farther from Tanis's door. "Oh, I just hoped…" She let her voice trail off and thought very hard about the pet kitten who had died when she was a little girl. Thankfully, she felt tears finally rise in her green eyes, and she blinked, causing one huge drop to slip down her cheek.
The guard, obviously feeling like a heel, released her wrists and watched as she stepped femininely away, dabbing her already dry eyes with a linen kerchief. Just as he turned to resume his post at the door, she stumbled and cried out. ("Not loud enough to bring anyone else into the corridor!" Flint had demanded. "Just enough to convince the guard and cover a bit of noise.")
The young guard was at her side in seconds, supporting her with an arm slipped quickly around her waist. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, my ankle," she whimpered, feeling like an idiot. "It's these shoes." ("Flint!" she'd protested. "I haven't worn these shoes in years!" "All the better to fall off of," he'd replied.) She whimpered again.
Behind the guard, a short figure with a rope ladder and a leather sack slung over one shoulder whisked around the corner, twisted the key to unlock Tanis's door, and slipped inside, leaving the key in the lock. The door would be unlocked now, Laurana realized, hoping the guard wouldn't try it when he returned the key ring to his pocket.
Laurana assured the guard that she would be able to make it back to her room. She thanked him profusely for his help. Then she walked slowly down the corridor and back to her room, trying to remember to limp.