The Warrior Elf (48 page)

“I don’t know,” Rhianna said. “But if I go, and I go with the person she sends to find Eryn, I can guarantee you that person won’t harm Eryn.”

“I think Judith would realize that, don’t you?”

Rhianna shrugged. “You don’t seem to know how dangerous I can be. Are you sure she will?”

“I know what you’re capable of, Rhianna. And when I think of you as a warrior elf, I know you can take care of yourself. It’s when I think of you as a woman that I get into trouble.”

Rhianna laughed softly. “Thank you, I think.”

“Well, do you want to go with me?”

Rhianna nodded. “What time do you want me at the castle?”

“Chris told her I’d be there shortly after lunch.”

“You didn’t talk to her yourself?”

Kevin shook his head. “I was busy setting things up with Bianca before the meeting. That’s when Chris cornered Judith. The sorcerers don’t usually stay after the meeting’s over. Except for Rolan. He hangs around to see what he can overhear. Drives Damien up the wall.”

“Up the wall? Strange way to put it, but I like it.” Rhianna grinned. “I’ll be there before lunch.”

“By the way, dress down,” Kevin said.

Rhianna frowned. “Dress down?”

“You know, not like a warrior elf.” When she still looked confused, he added, “I know you’ll be armed, but most elves are whenever they’re not in North Amden. Just don’t make it obvious you’re a warrior elf.”

Rhianna’s frown deepened.

Kevin sighed. “Dress like you are now, not like you did for Norrie.”

“All right. But why?”

“Because I want to keep this whole mess quiet. If Master Sorcerer Myron and Warrior Elf Rhianna show up at Judith’s castle, the staff and all the townspeople will notice and rumors will run rampant. I’m going as Kevin, businessman from Omaha.”

“Omaha? Where’s that?”

“As far as I know, there’s no such place on Terah, which means no one will be able to use it to figure out who I am after we’re gone. With a bit of luck, the only people in Riordan who will know the true reason for our visit will be Judith and her second. I don’t want word of this getting out or it may cause all kinds of problems.”

“You’re right about that.”

When they got back to Doreen’s house, Rhianna asked, “Want to come in for a cup of tea?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’ve got to get back. I still have a few things to do this evening. If you get a chance, see if you can find out how Doreen would feel about housing a couple of children. If she’s not comfortable with it, we need to make other arrangements.” As Rhianna nodded and opened the door to head inside, he added, “Sleep well. See you in the morning.”

Chapter 27

April 12

Saturday morning when Rolan got to his office, a letter marked personal and confidential was sitting on his desk. He checked the seal on the back to make sure it was intact.

He broke the seal and opened the message. There was no heading, no signature, nothing but a time and date. April 17 at 9:00. Rolan noted the meeting in his calendar and leaned back in his chair. Now he’d get some answers.

Chapter 28

Eryn

Rhianna was at the castle by ten Saturday morning. She dropped by the office and then headed out to the stable to see if she could find Nikki.

Marshall had just come back from exercising one of the horses and was walking him around to cool him off. Nikki was lying on the grass near the stable watching.

“Hi,” Rhianna said as she walked towards Marshall. As soon as she heard Rhianna’s voice, Nikki jumped up and ran over to say hello. “Mind if I borrow Nikki? I thought we’d go for a walk through the woods.”

“She’ll enjoy that. I’ll be here until after lunch. Do you want to keep her longer than that?”

Rhianna shook her head. “I’m meeting Myron for lunch so we’ll be back before then.”

While they walked, Rhianna wondered how finding Marshall’s mother might change his life. She was fairly certain his mother would want to go back home, but did Marshall? He hadn’t lived in Farragon since he was a child, and he seemed to enjoy taking care of the horses, not to mention the way he felt about Nikki. Would his parents be willing to let him choose where he wanted to live? And if so, which would he choose?

Crossroads. Every life was full of them. She’d had a few in her life lately, too. One was deciding to leave Crinsor Run to watch over Landis. A second was coming to Milhaven. And she was afraid she’d soon encounter a third. When the problem with Rolan was over, should she return home or stay in Milhaven? And what would her parents say if she chose to stay?

Before she knew it, they’d walked a full loop and were back at the stable. Marshall was putting a saddle on another horse.

“Looks like we got back just in time,” Rhianna said as she and Nikki walked up.

“I wasn’t going far,” Marshall said, “just a few turns around the pasture. But since you’re back, we may take the trail along the river. Want to go for another run, Nikki?”

The dog, who had been drinking water out of the trough, trotted towards Marshall.

“Have fun,” Rhianna said as they started down the road. Then she headed back to the castle.

During lunch, Rhianna asked Kevin if he’d given any thought to Marshall’s reaction to seeing his mother and the effect it would have on his future.

Kevin nodded. “He’s a free man. As far as I’m concerned, he can stay here with us, but it has to be his choice. I know one thing though. If he leaves, I won’t be the only one who’ll miss him. Nikki will be heartbroken.”

Rhianna nodded. “Watson, too. That horse adores him. Actually, from what I can tell, they all do. Here’s hoping he decides to stay.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After lunch, Kevin went upstairs to change clothes. He put on his gray off-duty tunic, pulled on an old, dusty pair of boots, and used a slim leather belt at his waist. He tucked his sorcerer’s pendant inside the tunic along with the chain that held his keys. Then he pulled out the cape he’d worn while they were traveling and put it on.

Rather than walk through the castle dressed like that, he used his key to go straight to his office. When he emerged from the energy field, Rhianna started laughing.

“What?” Kevin asked. “I told you I wasn’t going as myself.”

“I know,” she said between chuckles.

“Well, are you ready to go?”

Rhianna bit her lips to stop laughing. “Are we going straight to the castle?”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t want anyone to know we arrived by key. We’ll go a little ways outside of town and walk from there.” He walked over to the map of Terah hanging on his wall and pointed to a small dot. “This is where she lives, in Grayford.”

“How are we going to find her castle?” Rhianna asked, looking at the small dot.

Chris took a sheet of paper out of a folder and handed it to Kevin. “I asked Judith to have someone sketch a map of Grayford and mark where her castle’s located. You can use this once you get to town.”

Kevin looked at the map for a few minutes and then looked back at the map of Terah. “If we go here,” he pointed at the top of the dot, “we should be close to the castle when we get to town.”

Rhianna looked at the sheet of paper in Kevin’s hand and back at the large map. “Don’t take us too far out or it’ll be late afternoon by the time we get there.”

Kevin took out his key and asked, “Ready?”

Rhianna put her hand on Kevin’s arm.

“We’ll be back before long,” Kevin said to Chris. “Have the pages set out some refreshments, and see if you can find Marshall. It might be a good idea to have him close by when I get back with his mother. I imagine she’ll want to see him first thing.”

Chris nodded as Kevin turned the key.

When they got to Riordan, they were on the edge of a forest. Kevin set up his seeing eye and checked out the area. “The town’s not far. It’s bigger than Milhaven. There are maybe a dozen shops along the main stretch and a few scattered off to the side. The castle’s down the second road on the right.” Then he closed his seeing eye and looked at Rhianna. “Ready?”

She fingered the handle of her dagger. “Anytime you are.”

“Remember, call me Kevin, not Myron.”

“Got it.”

The two of them walked in silence until they reached the road to the castle. “This way,” Kevin said as he turned right.

Judith’s castle was similar to the one in Milhaven. The building was made of stone, but it was four stories high with towers at each of the four corners, and four wide steps leading to the front door. When they reached the top step, the guard standing in front of the door asked, “Do you have business at the castle, sir?”

Kevin nodded. “I have an appointment with Sorcerer Judith. My name is Kevin, from Omaha.”

“Very good, sir,” the guard said as he continued to block the doorway. A second guard slipped behind him and went inside. A few minutes later, the second guard stepped back out and held the door open. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you to her office.”

The first guard stepped out of their way, but as soon as Kevin and Rhianna cleared the doorway, he shut the door behind them. As the second guard led them through the entrance way, everyone in the immediate area watched them walk by. Before they reached the door to Judith’s office, the air was buzzing with whispered questions.

The guard knocked on the door and stepped to the side.

A moment later, Preea, Judith’s second, opened the door. “Welcome,” she said as she stepped back to let Kevin and Rhianna enter. As she shut the door behind them, Preea asked if they’d like any refreshments.

Kevin shook his head. “Is Judith available?”

Preea walked across the office to another door. She knocked once and opened it. “Judith, Myron’s here.”

Judith stood up and walked around her desk to greet Kevin. “Welcome to Grayford, Myron.”

“Good afternoon, Judith. May I present Rhianna?”

“Welcome, Rhianna,” Judith said. Then she looked at Kevin. “Chris said you needed to see me on a personal matter and led me to believe you’d rather no one know you’re here. I’ve given my pages the afternoon off so we can meet in private. I take it you don’t object to Preea’s presence?”

“Not at all,” Kevin said. He glanced at the table and chairs on the other side of the reception area. “Mind if we have a seat?”

“Of course,” Judith said as she and Preea led the way.

Once they were seated, Kevin said, “I had to see Damien about something a few months ago, so Chris wrote him a note telling him when I’d be there. Big mistake. One of his pages opened the message and word got out. I’m afraid my visit put a lot of people to a great deal of trouble. I didn’t want that to happen here.”

Judith smiled. “It’s usually easier for us to go to you.”

“But we need to be here for this conversation, and I’d appreciate it if you and Preea kept it to yourselves.”

Judith nodded and waited for Kevin to proceed.

“I don’t know if you knew him, but you had a young man working in your stables a while back, Marshall.”

Judith’s eyes opened a little wider. “Has something happened to him?”

“No, he’s fine. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. He’s taking care of our horses now.”

“Thank goodness.” Judith sighed. “He was such a nice young man. He was ready to manage his own stable and I didn’t have a place to put him. His mother’s still here and I’d have hated to tell her he’d been hurt, or worse.”

“Well, his mother’s why I’m here.” Kevin looked at Preea and asked, “Could you please go get her?”

Preea looked at Judith, who frowned and said, “I don’t understand. Why do you need to see Eryn?”

“I’ll explain in a moment, but please, let Preea and Rhianna go get her.”

Judith’s frown deepened, but she nodded at Preea.

After Preea and Rhianna left the room, Kevin said, “I need to ask her a couple of questions, but if she’s who I think she is, she’s the daughter of a warrior elf.”

Judith’s mouth dropped open. “But that would mean...”

Kevin nodded. “That she’s an elf.”

“Are you sure?”

“If Dougan’s her father, yes.”

“But she doesn’t have red eyes,” Judith protested.

“Her mother’s human.”

“So she’s half-elf.”

“But on her father’s side, which makes her legally an elf.”

Judith shook her head. “I had no idea...”

“I didn’t much think you did. I doubt the slavers who captured her did either.”

Judith frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“She’s alive.”

For a moment Judith looked puzzled. Then her cheeks paled. “They would have killed her had they known.”

“And Marshall too, and everybody from that village.” Kevin paused. “The last thing slavers want is a band of warrior elves coming after them, and they would have if they’d known who was responsible.”

Judith paled a bit more. “Should I expect a visit from some angry warrior elves?”

Kevin shook his head. “That’s why Rhianna and I are here today, to handle this as quietly as possible.”

Judith sighed. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a cup of coffee.” As she stood up, she looked back at him and asked, “Can I get you one?”

“No, thank you,” Kevin said.

After Judith sat back down with her coffee, the two sorcerers waited in silence for Preea and Rhianna to return with Eryn. When Preea opened the door to the office, she ushered Eryn and Rhianna in and pulled the door shut behind her.

Eryn looked at Kevin, then at Judith. “You wanted to see me?”

Judith looked at Kevin. He turned to Eryn and asked, “Would you tell us about your father?”

Eryn sighed, pulled out a chair and sat down. Preea took hold of her arm to pull her back up, but Eryn reached up and knocked Preea’s hand away. “Relax, Preea. In five minutes I’ll either be dead or a free woman, but either way, I’m not your slave anymore.”

Preea’s eyes widened and her mouth started to open, but Judith silenced her with a quick shake of her head.

Eryn glanced at Rhianna. “That explains why you’re here, and since you are, I’m probably not going to end up dead.” She looked back at Judith and asked, “How did you figure it out?”