Lord Gundwynd was the lowest on the list of likely villains-at least, on such lists as the merchant nobility might fashion. He had supplied the flying mounts and the elven guards, and his losses were enormous. On the other hand, the elven minstrels noted with considerable bitterness that Gundwynd had used his elven hirelings in much the same fashion that orcs deployed goblin troops in battle: to draw enemy fire and reveal position, buying time for the "more valuable" fighters to assess the situation. The elves were not claiming that Gund shy;wynd had orchestrated the ambush-not quite-but their opinion of the man and his methods was not far above that mark.
The Amcathra clan, dealers in fine weapons, lost some of the valuable swords and daggers fashioned by their craftsmen in Silverymoon, but the fine, upstand shy;ing reputation enjoyed by the Amcathra clan held too high a gloss to hold much tarnish.
Ilzimmer, on the other hand, suffered from a reputa shy;tion that had been quilted together from scores of small scandals. Boraldan Ilzimmer, the clan's patriarch and not a well-liked man, had expected to receive a small fortune in crystal and gems on the westbound caravan. Of course, after Myrna's rumors made the rounds, no one was certain how much of his stated loss was truly gemstone and how much of it was worthless bits of col shy;ored rock.
And then there was the Thann family, who seemed to have a finger in nearly every pie in the city, at least as far as the shipping of goods was concerned. Their loss, by all reports, was not great and was limited to their investment in this new mode of travel. It was an invest shy;ment, if indeed they had also informed and funded the bandits, that might have paid off quickly and hand shy;somely.
These speculations troubled Arilyn deeply. If she remembered her history, war among the families of Waterdeep was nothing new, and she did not relish the possibility of seeing old times return.
Arilyn sought Lady Cassandra in the crowd. The noblewoman was dressed in a shimmering silver-blue gown that suggested, but did not precisely imitate, a mermaid's scales. She looked as serene and collected as ever, and her demeanor gave no sign that she had heard the rumors at all, much less that they gave her any cause for concern.
On the other hand, Arilyn noted that the noble shy;woman gave her respects to Galinda Raventree at an unusually early hour. Arilyn followed the older woman to her carriage and slipped inside before the startled groom could bar the door.
"It's all right, Nelson," Lady Cassandra said in a resigned voice. She moved over to make room, pointedly eyeing the wings on Arilyn's costume. "Tell the driver to circle the block."
She did not speak to Arilyn until the creak and rumble of the carriage gave cover to their words. She batted aside a lazily drifting feather. "There is trouble in the Land of Faerie? Molting is often a sign of distress."
"Oh. Sorry." Almost glad for the excuse, Arilyn tore the annoying wings from her shoulders and impatiently flung them out the window.
"I trust this is important?"
"You tell me." She quickly apprised the noblewoman of the situation. Not once did Cassandra's expression give a hint of worry or dismay.
"The rumors are not entirely off target," she said cau shy;tiously. "Thann losses were not very great, that much is true, but it is inconceivable that one of the consortium partners betrayed the others."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"The answer should be obvious," the noblewoman said. "Consider our past-the devastation of the Guild Wars when the families battled in the streets. There is no clan so foolish as to believe they could succeed in such an endeavor, and so none would engage in so bla shy;tant a challenge. Only outsiders, those who attempt to wedge their foot inside the door, would attempt such a ridiculous thing."
"Not so ridiculous," the half-elf pointed out. "By all re shy;ports, at least two-score men and elves died in that am shy;bush. The cargo is gone. Some might call that success."
The noblewoman gave Arilyn a supercilious smile. "Rumors are like drunken men," she observed. "Most of the time they babble nonsense, but sometimes a truth slips out that would otherwise be unspoken."
"Such as?"
"Let us consider Elaith Craulnober. Few have dared accuse the elf lord before, or if they did, they often dropped their accusation before the Lords Council met for judgment. Those few who persisted in their suit were never able to trail the elf's misdeeds to the source. This time, however, Craulnober has overstepped, and the truth about him is being spoken aloud."
"That, I doubt," Arilyn said without hesitation. "I have known Elaith for several years. I certainly won't argue that he is without stain, but never have I known him to act so openly or foolishly. There is a reason why his misdeeds are so hard to trace. He is clever."
"So was the theft of the air caravan."
"I've seen better," the half-elf said bluntly. "The ambush required information and planning, but little cunning. I do not see Elaith's hand in this."
Cassandra affixed her with a look of cold incredulity. "You defend him?"
"I'm just trying to see all the runes on the page. There is something more going on than a single bandit attack. Danilo said that he told you Oth Eltorchul was killed by tren assassins. Elaith was recently attacked by similar assassins-in your villa."
The noblewoman's steady gaze did not falter at any part of this litany. "You hold Thann responsible for this, I suppose."
"Not yet," Arilyn returned, "but it is possible that Elaith might."
"I see your point," the woman allowed, "but that is all the more reason for him to take vengeance on one of our business interests."
The reasoning was logical enough, but Arilyn shook her head. "Do you know who died in that ambush? Elves, mostly. Among them were four young warriors not long from Evermeet. They were Eagle Riders and among the most respected elven warriors. Whatever else Elaith might do, whatever he might be, I cannot believe that he would condemn those lads to certain death."
"Why not? If there is any truth at all to the legends and tavern tales, Elaith Craulnober has slain hundreds in his misspent life and barely stopped to clean his blade."
"Never an elf," Arilyn persisted. "As far as I know, never that. I admit that might be scant virtue in this claim, but there is a pattern. Everything I know about Elaith Craulnober leads me to believe him guiltless in this matter."
Cassandra sat back and regarded the younger woman with an icy gaze. "You know what you are saying, of course. You are accusing at least one of the noble fami shy;lies of betrayal, theft, and murder. That is a very serious accusation."
The half-elf did not flinch. "Someone knew the cara shy;van route well in advance, and laid ambush. Someone is responsible for the death of those elves. It is my busi shy;ness to see that they pay for it. If for some reason I do not, Elaith Craulnober most likely will. For once, you should pay heed to what rumors say. Do not take either of us lightly."
The woman's lips twitched. "I am put on notice," she said with an unexpected touch of dark humor. "I sup shy;pose I ought to thank you for the warning."
"Don't bother. Just don't pass the warning along."
"Bargain made," the noblewoman agreed. "In any event, I would hardly put about the fact that my son's companion-a suspected assassin, as you have taken great pains to remind me-is hounding among the peer shy;age for a traitor. There is scandal enough without this returning to my door!" She gave Arilyn a wry, sidelong glance. "Is there any hope of turning you from this path?"
"None."
Cassandra nodded as if she had expected this. "In that case I, too, have a warning. Nothing good will come of this inquiry, either for you or for Danilo. If you must persist, keep your eyes open and your sword at hand, and see that you keep good watch over my son."