Elaith simply let go.
The soldier staggered back, too late realizing his mistake. Elaith crossed his arms and pulled twin knives from the sheaths on his forearms. He advanced with the speed of a striking snake, and slashed both blades across the man's unprotected throat.
Rhep's sword clattered to the wooden floor. He sagged against the wall, his mouth working as he tried to form a final curse. Crimson bubbles formed at the corners of his lips. Will and spirit and life itself faded from his eyes, leaving nothing but hatred. The elf watched until even that dark light went out.
Elaith glanced at the fine daggers in his hand. They were Amcathra daggers, the best human-made weapons in the city. Without hesitation or regret, he hurled first one weapon and then the other into the former Ilzimmer soldier.
"Let them make of that what they will," the elf murmured. He turned and melted into the shadows, pondering with great satisfaction the course this action would spawn.
Fifteen
The unlikely trio—the human bard, the half-elven fighter, and the ghostly shadow—wandered through the city for the better part of the morning. Finally Danilo called a halt on a rooftop garden, a place far above watchful eyes and visible to none but the griffon riders who circled lazily against the clouds. He hoped the legendary vision of the eagle-headed beasts was not so keen that it could discern the shadowy elf woman who stood beside Arilyn, resting on an equally shadowy sword.
"I have to find whoever killed Lilly," Danilo blurted out.
Arilyn gave him a long measuring look. She turned away, propping her elbows against the garden wall. "Have I tried to dissuade you?"
"No. No, of course not, but you must let me continue alone."
The half-elf straightened up and affixed him with a challenging gaze. "Forget it."
He shook his head and took the small, glowing sphere from its hiding place in his boot. "Don't you see? Something is disrupting magic. It has to be these dream spheres."
His eyes shifted to the far edge of the roof. Thassitalia was all but gone now. Only a faint outline remained, invisible when he looked at it directly. "I've been carrying this sphere with me since the day Lilly died. As a result, the magic of your sword has been seriously disrupted."
"So are your spells. That's what happened the night of the Thann party. Oth brought some of his dream spheres to pitch them to a group of wizards and merchant lords."
"I took one from Isabeau," he added. "Yes, I understand that now."
She took a step closer. "I am more than my sword," she said firmly. "You are more than your magic."
He regarded her with a faint smile. "You've always said that there was too much magic in Waterdeep. It seems we may have the opportunity to do without it."
"Let's get to it. We'll assume that Lilly was mixed up with the bandits who ambushed the air caravan, and start there."
They worked their way across the city's rooftops toward the Gundwynd manor. As they approached, Danilo caught sight of several detachments of the Watch milling about, conspicuous in their green and black leather uniforms.
They climbed down to the street and walked up to the manor.
"No one in, no one out," announced the grim-faced woman who stood at the side gate.
"What happened here?"
The Watchwoman gave Danilo a quelling look. "Move along, sir. The Gundwynd family is not receiving visitors at present."
Danilo turned toward Arilyn, but she had disappeared. He nodded politely to the Watchwoman and went on his way, circling the walled villa as he observed the placement of trees on that street. He stopped two blocks down, then sat under a stately oak.
Several moments passed before he heard a faint rustling in the branches. He glanced up as Arilyn climbed to the lowest branch and dropped lightly to the ground beside him.
"Well?" he inquired.
"One of the servants found Belinda Gundwynd, the youngest daughter, dead in the stables. She was with an elven groom, the only person of elven blood who remained in the family's employ. Seems he had a personal reason for staying around. Rumors have been circulating about Belinda and her lover. The servants overheard the family fighting over it. They were forcing her to give him up. The family is claiming that her death was a lover's pact."
"You don't believe this."
She shot him an incredulous look. "The servants who found them said that the bodies were in the hay, not dangling from the rafters."
"Still, is that reason to conclude that the Gundwynd family is wrong?"
"It's reassuring to know that you haven't strangled anyone lately," Arilyn said dryly. "The task demands considerable strength and will. Hard to do, when you're being distracted, and I'd say that being strangled yourself is a bit of a distraction. They could hardly manage to kill each other and die at the same time."
"They would need a bard's timing," Danilo agreed. "So the Watch is not buying the Gundwynds' story, I take it."
"They are not hearing anything but the Gundwynds' story. The servants who told me the tale were encouraged not to talk. Let's move on—there's a Watchman over there who's starting to take note of us."
As they walked, Danilo struggled to sort through this. Like Arilyn, he doubted that Belinda Gundwynd and her lover had contrived their own deaths.
Then who? The Gundwynd family, motivated by the nobility's bias against alliances with elves? If that were so, then Danilo had lived his entire life among creatures more vicious than tren.
"They eat their own," he murmured. "It's a matter of honor."
Arilyn sent him a sharp, concerned look. "Do you really think that's what happened?"
"The possibility is hard to ignore. If I can suspect my own family of attempting to rid itself of elven alliances, why not the Gundwynds?"
"That doesn't account for Oth," Arilyn pointed out.
"No. No, it doesn't, and this will only deepen the scandal regarding Gundwynd and the elven folk. This could mean the end of the Gundwynd fortunes." Danilo stopped short as his mind replayed the angry confrontation between Lord Gundwynd and Lady Cassandra.
"It could mean the end of the Gundwynd fortune," he repeated. "The death of Belinda and her elven love gives substance to every rumor spoken against the family. Who would have reason to do such a thing?"
"One name comes to mind," Arilyn said. "Someone who saw elves die in the ambush and who might want Gundwynd to suffer for it."
Danilo shook his head. "Not Elaith," he insisted. "It simply does not make sense."
"It might not need to," she pointed out. "Remember, he may have the Mhaorkiira. In the past, those who fell under the dark gem's power acted in twisted ways that made sense to no one but themselves."
"It's possible," he allowed. "Certainly some people will believe it to be true, but Lord Gundwynd will not. He will look elsewhere for blame."
"Oh?" she said cautiously.
"Thann, Ilzimmer, Gundwynd, Amcathra," Danilo said, ticking off names on his fingers. "Four families sponsored the ill-fated caravan. All suspect each other of betrayal and ambush. Perhaps the tren are not the only creatures who take vendetta against attacks on their clan."
Arilyn nodded slowly, following his reasoning. "If so, none of these recent wounds are self-inflicted."
"If so," he added, "then the time of the Guild Wars could soon be upon us once again."