The Dream Spheres

Eighteen

"It all fits," Danilo said thoughtfully when they brought the matter before him. "That ring Isabeau had at the Eltorchul estate-was it like the one we found on the severed hand?"

"I had not considered that, but now that you mention it, the ring did look familiar," Arilyn admitted. "It was gold and had a pink stone."

"I'd wager that the ring we found was an illusion. The hand as well, no doubt." Danilo began to pace. "Remem shy;ber the state of Oth's study? The tables were overturned, the floors littered with broken pottery and common spell components, but the shelves, with their valuable vials and scrolls and boxes, were untouched."

"No wonder the Eltorchul family kept Oth's death a secret," the half-elf said. "But why would he wish to appear dead?"

"I can answer that," Elaith said softly. "Much of it, you already know, thanks to Myrna Cassalanter's tat shy;tling tongue. The illegal trade in and out of this city is carefully, secretly controlled. For many years, I have been building an empire of my own." He smiled faintly.

"I suppose it is a tribute to my success that I have finally been perceived as a threat. The seven families have been sending me warnings for quite some time now. Some are subtle, some not quite so."

"Such as the tren attack at the Thann villa," Arilyn said.

"That lacked subtlety," the elf said dryly, "but set your mind at ease, Lord Thann. That was not your family's doing. Naturally, it was hoped that I would assume it was and would strike back. This would have given the Thann family reason to join the others in their attempts to have me ousted."

"So the Lady Cassandra has no part in this?"

"I did not say that," Elaith cautioned him. "She may have no choice but to take action."

"What form will that action take?" Arilyn asked.

The elf was silent for a long moment. "I thought that I held the Mhaorkiira. I had reason to think so. I ar shy;ranged for certain people to use the dream spheres, and from them I gained information I used to take action against the two-city consortium."

"What kind of action?" Danilo said cautiously.

"I had nothing to do with your sister's death," the elf began.

"That was Oth," Arilyn said decisively. "If he can take the form of a cat, why not a tren? Of course Isabeau had reason to run from him-from what Elaith says, she stole from Oth not once but twice. She probably named Elaith from sheer spite. What of Belinda Gundwynd?"

"Ilzimmer, I suspect," the elf said wearily. "The path to that is rather convoluted. I had a fatal dispute with a mercenary captain, a retainer of the Ilzimmer clan. The killing blade was made by the Amcathra clan and was stolen during the ambush."

Danilo looked puzzled. "What has that to do with the Gundwynd clan?"

"It is common knowledge that the Amcathra family is not among the two-city consortium. That is why I sent you to Regnet," the elf admitted. "It was a diversion, nothing more. The Ilzimmers assumed, as I intended for them to do, that the blade was a sign from Gundwynd. After all, it was lost from their caravan. Its use to attack an Ilzimmer soldier-especially considering that the man was the caravan master-could be seen as a direct accusation. The death of Belinda was intended to be a warning."

"So were the attacks on Danilo and me," Arilyn said. "What of Simon Ilzimmer?"

Elaith's smile took on a hard edge. "That was my doing," he said without the slightest hint of guilt. "The woman was in my employ and dying from a wasting dis shy;ease of the lungs. A few illusions, a few well spent coins, and there are many who will swear that Simon Ilzim shy;mer was seen coming from her room."

"I cannot shed too many tears over such a man, but I do not approve," Danilo said heatedly. "Let's set aside the consideration of whether Simon's 'innocence' is gen shy;eral or specific. What about those who give testimony? I assume that they were chosen to implicate some other family and to further fuel the flames?"

The elf admitted this with a nod. "I will undo what I can. You said that you had words with Simon Ilzimmer that same day-do you remember the hour?"

"The bells of Ilmater's temple were ringing," Arilyn recalled.

"That answers all," Elaith said with satisfaction. "The hour is close enough. You can speak for him. That will help build favor between the Ilzimmer family and the Thanns. It will be easy enough to blame this on Oth. We know he has done murder in other forms. Why not claim that he took on the physical shape of Simon Ilzimmer?"

Danilo started to protest, then gave up with a sigh. "We have to find Oth before we can accuse him of any shy;thing. The question is, how do we proceed?"

"I see several possible paths, none of them very at shy;tractive," the elf said. "We could turn this matter over to the Lords of Waterdeep, but these accusations would be hard to prove, and that might only deepen the animos shy;ity between the families. We could let the families settle this among themselves and hope that the bloodletting is minimal. This is the course I myself prefer, but for the fact that you and the princess are in line for reprisal."

Danilo grimaced. "Or?"

The elf's smile was cold and ruthless. "We could serve up Oth to the two-city families-but first, we will have to find and stop him."

"Not easy to find a dead man who can change his appearance at will," Arilyn pointed out.

"It will be easier than you think," Elaith said. He took the red crystal from his pocket and flipped it onto the table. "Oth has been sending information to me through this-things he wants me to know. He wants all three of us dead and he is trying to entrap us. Let's oblige him."

"I've heard better plans," Danilo said dryly, "but please, continue. This can only improve."

Elaith reached out and tapped the stone. "In two nights there will be a massive, coordinated tren attack against members of both the Thann and Ilzimmer clans."

"Why would Oth do that?"

"Several reasons. These families have longstanding rivalries. They will believe that the attacks come from their rivals and will continue to act upon them. They will fight until both are weakened. At some point, the other families will step in and settle the matter."

"Why would Oth want to create problems among these families?' Dan wondered.

"The Eltorchul fortunes are fading," the elf reminded him.

"No wonder," Arilyn put in. "New tunnels don't come cheap. Neither do the services of tren assassins."

"Or magical research," Danilo added. "The cost of developing the dream spheres must have been ruinous."

Elaith shook his head. "The cost would be a small thing compared to the profit Oth could make if he could worm his clan into the two-city trade. Using the dream spheres, Oth could learn enough bits and pieces of the illegal trade to make a convincing bid. Fortunately," the elf said grimly, "he failed in his most ambitious ploy. He drew me into the dream sphere trade, no doubt hoping that I would be tempted to use the devices myself and thus betray secrets that I entrust to no man. If he ac shy;complished what the seven families could not do, and handed them both my ruin and my fortune, the other families would welcome him into their midst with open arms."

Danilo and Arilyn absorbed this. "There are still a number of loose threads," Arilyn said. "It is clear that the peerage does not embrace elves, but the Eltorchul family seems extreme in their dislike."

"Oth is an arrogant man," Danilo explained. "The thought that some magic might elude his grasp is deeply offensive to him. You should have seen his face at the Gemstone Ball, when he asked me to teach him spell-song magic."

"That is well said," the elf agreed. "A number of years ago, Oth tried to purchase elven spells from the priests at the Pantheon Temple. He was firmly rebuffed."

"Sibylanthra Dezlentyr was a mage," Arilyn pointed out. "Is it possible that she, too, rebuffed Oth? Perhaps he was working on the Mhaorkiira back then. If he thought that she understood too much of his intent, he might think it necessary to silence her."

Elaith looked startled, then grimly angry. "I would say it is very possible."

"That fits, as well," Arilyn mused. "She was most likely killed by poison. Diloontier deals both in poisons and the services of tren-clearly, Oth has some contact with the man. That could also explain the attack on Myrna Cassalanter."

"No, that was my doing," Elaith said candidly. He shrugged off their incredulous stares. "She had it coming. Who do you think ordered the attack outside of Regnet's house?"

Danilo massaged his temples. "Let us come back to that at a later time. I take it that you know where the attacks will be."

"I do." Elaith sighed in deep and profound frustration. "Unfortunately, I do not have enough men to counteract these attacks. Oh, there are many in my employ, but none whom I trust in this matter. The shipment of dream spheres I acquired in Skullport is no doubt a paltry thing compared to Oth's store of them. I would wager that dream spheres have made their way into the hands of every man, woman, and monster seen frequenting my establishments or taking payment from me."

The elf fell silent for a moment. "The only people I trust are in this room. I know of none others."

"I do," said Arilyn suddenly.

Danilo nodded slowly, understanding what she in shy;tended. "The elves from Tethyr came expecting to fight at your side if need be. There are other elves in the city. They might be recruited to this cause."

Elaith snorted. "Forgive me, but you do not under shy;stand the elven mind. Most of Waterdeep's elves are gold or moon folk like Arilyn and myself. Who would they follow? A band of forest elves, who to them are nothing but unknown savages? Or a half-elf? Or a rogue such as myself? The elves of this city know of my reputation," Elaith said, "and more than one of them has suf shy;fered vicariously because of my deeds. They will want no part of this. They have no reason to trust me, even less if they hear that the Mhaorkiira Hadryad is in shy;volved. No, I am sorry, but the People in this city have no reason to unite under any of those banners."

"Send out messengers," Arilyn said with grim cer shy;tainty. "Gather all the elves you know. I'll do the rest."

Lady Cassandra regarded her youngest son with un shy;certainty. "No more flaming books?"

"Just a simple warning, Mother. I have come to the end of the path, and you should know what I have found."

She nodded as if she had been expecting this. Danilo told her what he had learned.

"I did not order the tren assassinations," she said in a tight, worried tone, "but if this comes to light no one will believe it and the Thann family will be anathema. How much more so, after the battle between the fami shy;lies is over!"

"It will not take place," he said adamantly, "at least, not in any way that touches Thann. For once, stay your hand and let someone else handle the problem. Take precautions to protect the family, but keep all your retainers out of this."

Cassandra did not agree, but neither did she dis shy;agree.

After a moment, Danilo spoke the one question to which he must have an answer. "Arilyn and I have shared the elven handfasting. We have bonded in rapport. She wears my ring, and we intend to marry. Know that she has my first and deepest allegiance. She is worthy of that and more."

"That I never doubted," the woman murmured.

"Then tell me why you have been so opposed to our union."

For a moment Cassandra looked weary, almost fragile. "You and Arilyn might have children. It is possible that one of them might be half-elven in appearance. That would raise questions."

Danilo nodded encouragement.

"When you spoke of your elven heritage, I thought you knew, but after the first moment of surprise passed, I realized that Khelben must have passed along some tale of distant ancestry. The son of Arun had a half-elven father. However, there is a closer tie."

She took a long breath. "I was born before my father came to Waterdeep. My mother died in childbirth, at shy;tended by none but my father. He remarried soon after. The Khelben whose name the archmage borrows was born of that union, and I always called his mother mine. Very few knew otherwise. None living know that she was half-elven."

"You were ashamed of this," Danilo said in wonder.

"Not so, but you have seen how the nobility regards those of mixed blood." She swept a hand toward the well-tended estate. "See what I have done. The family business was in utter disarray when I married your father. I have earned this place for myself. None of my family-not even those who have the magical gifts I so notably lack-have achieved nobility. It is what I have. It is what I am."

A faint tremor underlay the cool tones. Danilo con shy;sidered it long and well before he spoke. "I have no desire to take this from you, lady."

She shook her head. "Without the two-city trade, all is lost. I am not speaking merely of fortune. Do you think the others would let Thanns survive, if we at shy;tempted to remove ourselves from this alliance?"

Danilo had already considered that. For good or ill, this was a secret he would never speak. "Thann will survive," he said.

Still Cassandra was not content. "What do you pro shy;pose to do? And how will this not come back to our door, if it is known that you are involved?"

"Rest your mind on that," he said. "I have allies no one will connect with this noble house or any other."

She considered that, then let out a short, humorless laugh at the irony of the situation. "Do what you must, my son." She hesitated, then gave him a smile that was genuine-all the more so for its self-mocking edge. "Sweet water and light laughter until we meet again."

The traditional elven farewell surprised him, then left him feeling both confused and deeply touched. He did not understand this woman and would never find his way through the many layers and convoluted pas shy;sages of her mind. This much he knew: she had given him her blessing, in words she knew would be mean shy;ingful to him. He took her hand and kissed her fingers, then turned and walked swiftly from the hall to prepare for the battle ahead.