The baron had dismissed Marasa from the chamber earlier, when he’d sent the servants away, but she had refused to leave. She was obviously an old friend—a supporter, rather than a vassal.
“Both clerical magic and wizardry have failed to locate my daughter,” the baron told Arvin. “But Lady Dediana has informed me that you can work a different kind of spell—one that requires neither spellbook nor holy symbol. She said it might circumvent whatever is preventing Glisena from being found.”
Before Arvin could respond, Marasa interrupted. “I doubt a sorcerer can part a veil that Helm himself has failed to rend.” She stared at Arvin, a challenge in her eyes. It was clear from the derisive way she’d used the term that she disapproved of sorcery.
Arvin met her eyes. “I’m not a sorcerer,” he told her. “I’m a psion.”
“What’s the difference?” she asked.
“A sorcerer casts spells that draw upon magic that is woven into the world. A psion uses mind magic. We tap the energies of the mind itself. If the magic of the Weave were to unravel tomorrow, sorcerers and wizards would lose their spells, but psions would continue to manifest their powers.”
Marasa nodded politely but appeared unconvinced. “What spell will you cast?” the baron asked. Arvin was acutely aware of the broken dorje in his pack. Without it, he had to rely on his wits—and the one psionic power that just might be of use—in order to find the baron’s daughter. “We call them “powers,’ not “spells,’ Lord Foesmasher. There are many I could choose from,” he continued, waving his hand breezily in the air, “but I’ll need to know more about the circumstances of your daughter’s disappearance in order to determine the best one to use. When was the last time you saw Glisena?”
The baron sighed heavily. He stared the length of the room, past the tapestries that commemorated his many skirmishes with Chondath, past the trophy shields and weapons that hung on the walls. His eye settled on a half dozen miniature ships that sat on a table near the far wall, models of the galleys Hlondeth was helping him build. For several moments, the only sound was the crackling of the fire in the hearth behind him. “A tenday ago,” he said at last. “We dined together, spent the evening listening to a harpist, and Glisena took her leave and retired to bed. The next morning, her chamber was empty. High Watcher Davinu was called in to recite a prayer that should have discerned her location but was unable to. It’s as if Glisena was spirited away to another plane of existence.” His voice crackled. “Either that, or she’s….”
Marasa touched his arm. “Glisena is still alive,” she said. “Davinu’s communion told us that much, at least.” She turned to Arvin. “But she seems to be shielded by powerful magic, which leads me to believe she didn’t leave willingly. She was kidnapped, most likely, by agents from Chondath. They—”
“There have been no demands,” Foesmasher interrupted, “from Wianar, or anyone else. My daughter left here of her own accord.” He stared broodingly at the wall.
The cleric gave an exasperated sigh. It was clear she had ventured this theory to the baron before—with the same result.
“Lady Marasa, I believe Baron Foesmasher is right,” Arvin said, breaking the silence. “Lord Wianar does not have Glisena.”
“How do you know this?” Marasa asked.
The baron, too, turned to stare at Arvin.
Arvin took a deep breath. “Does the name Haskar mean anything to you?”
The baron’s eyes blazed. “Haskar!” he growled. “Is that who has my daughter? By Helm, I’ll have his head.”
Arvin raised a hand. “Haskar doesn’t have Glisena. But he knows that she’s missing. He’d like to find her so he can sell her to Lord Wianar.” He turned to Marasa. “So you see, lady, it appears that Lord Wianar doesn’t have Glisena. If he did, Haskar wouldn’t have made him the offer.”
“How do you know all this?” the baron asked.
Arvin told him about the events of that morning. He emphasized the reward he had been offered, adding that he’d rather receive “honest coin” for his work. He was careful, however, to avoid any mention of his ability to listen to others’ thoughts, making it sound instead as though he had tricked the man into giving him the information. The baron seemed like a straightforward, honest man, but there might come a time when Arvin needed to know what he was really thinking.
Marasa listened carefully to Arvin’s report then shook her head. “The fact that Haskar’s rogues want to offer Glisena to Chondath means nothing,” she said. “Lord Wianar might have kidnapped her without the rogues’ knowing it.”
“The fact remains,” the baron interrupted, “that there have been no demands. Chondath is silent.” He turned to Arvin. “You’ve done a good morning’s work, but now comes the true test. Can you find my daughter?”
Arvin took a deep breath. “Of course, Lord Foesmasher,” he said in a confident voice. “But I need to know just a little more about what happened on the night of her disappearance. Did you entertain any guests that evening?”
The baron’s eyes bored into Arvin’s. “If you mean to ask if Ambassador Extaminos was here, the answer is no. Nor were any other guests present. It was a… quiet evening. Just Glisena and myself.”
“And the harpist,” Marasa noted. “She may have been a—”
“The harpist is a regular guest of this household and well trusted,” the baron growled, “as are the servants who attended us that evening.”
Arvin knew little of royal households, but he’d spent two months in the home of the wealthy uncle who had cared for Arvin briefly after his mother had died. There had been a constant flutter of servants around his uncle—servants to help him dress and undress, to carry his parcels, to turn down his bed and place a draught of fortified wine on his bed table each night. In summer a servant stood over his bed while he slept, waving a fan to keep him cool. Arvin’s uncle had little privacy—a princess of a royal household would have even less.
“Have you questioned Glisena’s servants?” Arvin asked. “The ones who attended her bedchamber that night?”
“No servants attended her on the evening she disappeared,” Foesmasher said. “Glisena’s head pained her. She said she could not bear even the slightest noise and dismissed them from her chamber.”
“Her head pained her?” Arvin echoed. A wild notion occurred to him—that Zelia might have planted a mind seed in the baron’s daughter. Arvin had stripped that power from Zelia six months ago, but she may have regained it since. That would explain what she was doing in Sespech—she may have been stopping at Riverboat Landing on her way back from Ormpetarr, rather than on her way to the city. It would also explain Glisena’s sudden disappearance.
Then again, he reminded himself, it might be a simple elopement he was dealing with, after all. No need to jump to conclusions… yet. “Was this the first time your daughter complained of a headache?” he asked.
Foesmasher shook his head. “Glisena had been feeling unwell for several days.”
“How many days?” Arvin asked sharply. A mind seed took time to blossom. If her headache had begun seven days before her disappearance…
“Several days,” Foesmasher repeated. He gave an exasperated sigh. “What does it matter? Her illness had nothing to do with her disappearance.”
“Glisena had been unwell for nearly a month,” Marasa told Arvin. She turned to the baron, “You should have summoned me.”