Darkvision - Bruce R. Cordell [46]
"No!" It was a woman, but not the one Iahn was expecting. She wasn't a plangent. Iahn breathed a small sigh of relief.
The woman didn't struggle in his grip. Instead, she pulled her hood down over her face again. She said, "I am not your enemy."
Ususi turned and rushed back.
Iahn said, "I don't know if you are my enemy or not. Why were you following us?"
"I watched you enter and leave the Body Shop, the first people I've seen from outside Vaelan to do so. I wanted to warn you to stay away from there-if you take the crystal, you'll never be the same!"
Ususi interjected. "The same?"
The woman shrugged. "Different… not yourself."
"What's your name?" asked Iahn.
"My name is Eined Datharathi."
CHAPTER TWELVE
The door opened, and carts filled with delicacies rolled into the room, pushed by kitchen staff.
As was customary for Datharathi family council meetings, exquisite foods were brought up from the kitchens to fortify the hearts and stomachs of meeting-goers. One cart bore stacks of engraved plates, slender wooden utensils, goblets, and linens. Two more carts were covered with platters of food. Warian was suddenly hungry as he noted sliced clary peppers, salted ham shavings, curried nuts, pale cheeses, and many plates filled with masterfully cut slices of raw fish on rice. More platters bore fried breads, fruits sliced into fanciful shapes, apples in cream, and a tureen of thick fish soup.
Warian recalled that this was an aspect of Datharathi Minerals that he didn't altogether detest. He got up, grabbed a plate, and loaded up on all his old favorites.
His uncles, aunts, and cousins, who hadn't had to go five years without being feted with such a glorious spread, gave the food little notice.
Xaemar asked Zeltaebar, "Zel, please tell me where Eined's run off to! You've pulled enough money out of discretionary funds to find an entire family. One woman hiding in Vaelan shouldn't be able to elude you."
Warian cursed mentally, stuffed a handful of salted ham shavings into his mouth, and interrupted Zeltaebar's explanation. "Wait. Zel told me Eined was kidnapped."
Xaemar looked nonplussed. "I sincerely doubt that. I think the girl absconded."
Warian put down his plate, eyeing it somewhat regretfully. But the conversation demanded his undivided attention. He threw an accusatory glance at Zeltaebar.
Zel spread his hands. "We don't know what happened to her. She could have been kidnapped, whether Xaemar thinks so or not."
"Doubtful," said Xaemar.
"Let me get this straight," Warian said, "You think she ran off on her own? Why would she do that?"
"The girl is ill," said Xaemar. "Not physically. Mentally." He tapped his temple with one finger by way of demonstration. "Over the last few years, she has become more and more unbalanced, more paranoid. I think she finally suffered some sort of nervous breakdown."
"Paranoid about what?" It wasn't like his no-nonsense sister Eined to entertain paranoid fantasies.
"Us!" broke in Aunt Sevaera, her voice incredulous. "The poor thing started making wild claims against her own family. Of course, her claims didn't seem too different from the kinds of things you used to say, Nephew." She fixed him with a reproving glare.
"I used to say you were all cold-hearted gnomes who cared more about money than anything else. Is that the kind of thing she said?"
"No," answered Zel. "Well, not just that. She thought the crystal was cursed. She liked to tell people that those who exchanged their flesh for Datharathi crystal would never sleep without nightmares again. She thought the crystal threatened the sanity of those who accepted it."
Warian tipped his head back slightly, absorbing Zel's words.
Xaemar continued. "Zel describes the situation accurately. She was fixated on Datharathi crystal and the Body Shop."
"Any truth to what she was saying?" asked Warian. In his own recollection, he couldn't recall an increase in bad dreams since he'd received his artificial arm.
"Of course not," replied Xaemar with a dismissive hand wave. "But truthful