Depths of Madness - Erik Scott De Bie [26]
Lord Divergence ran his fingers through her raven locks. She shivered. They stretched out their thoughts with the softest chant of magical power, and…
Nothing.
Gestal had expected as much. Through that sapphire amulet, he could not see into her mind. Nor could he divine her location or watch her from afar. Only through the eyes of others-or his own-could Gestal see her.
He could take it now, but why? He enjoyed her pretensions.
Gestal smiled. This trifle added to the game.
CHAPTER Six
Twilight awoke in a groggy murk. Sometime during the night, she had slipped once again into the sleep of humans. In that unnatural chaos, she had experienced dreams as humans do-uncontrolled, nonsensical visions that would have frightened her to wakefulness had she not been used to them. Most of the dreams had been nightmares-as usual. She had wanted desperately to awaken, but as always, she had not. And some dreams, even stranger, had been the kind she hadn't wanted to wake from.
Many of those visions had centered on the young Liet Sagrin, of all folk.
She sniffed and rolled her eyes. Barbaric. Enjoyable, but simply barbaric.
Twilight dismissed the dreams as more of the unpleasantness she encountered with greater frequency than others in her profession. Most elves, she well knew, never slept more than twice or thrice in as many centuries, but Twilight was not like most elves.
Like most, though, she desired to eat at sunup-and, of course, to relieve herself.
As she made her careful way into a chamber removed from the huddled band in order to do just that, Twilight met Slip coming from the other direction. The little thief, wearing her mace and a dagger that she had apparently found somewhere, smiled when she saw the elf.
"Good morrow!" the halfling said brightly.
"Yes," Twilight managed. The halfling wandered alone? "What are you doing?"
"Oh, just a morning walk." Slip's smile didn't fade.
Twilight's suspicion did not fade either. "A morning walk," she repeated.
"Absolutely!" said Slip. "Nothing gets the vim and vigor flowing like a good jaunt around the meadow"-she looked around-"er, crypt. Anyway, We take them all the time back in Crimel. Gets the body ready for the day, and makes breakfast at the Tumbling Troll taste even better!"
"Crimel," said Twilight. "The village in Luiren?"
Slip blinked. "You've been there?"
Twilight's suspicion deepened. "I've heard of it," she said, truthfully. "I've passed through the Shining South."
Slip nodded. "Have you heard of Arvor Brightbrows?" she asked gleefully.
"No," said Twilight. "A relation?"
"He's me da-the march warden of Crimel," said Slip brightly. "And Denrin Lightstep Brightbrows? Revered Nurturer Hubin Sharpears?"
Twilight shrugged.
"Me brother, silly!" she exclaimed. "An' me second cousin, thrice removed! He's a priest o' the Matriarch."
Finally. Someone Twilight knew, of the divine variety. Yondalla, mother of the halflings. Slip's mistress.
"How about Nola Treestump?"
"Your mother?" Twilight guessed.
"The quirky druid who's spent too long in the woods!" Her eyes rolled and Slip scoffed. "Obviously." "Obviously," Twilight said.
Something flickered across Slip's face. "Have you heard of Reeman Lightspinner?" she asked softly. "Though his full name would be Reethelmanath Ballufguts Bumper Lightspinner the twenty-sixth."
"Ah, no," said Twilight. "I've not." She raised a brow. "A halfling? With such a name?"
"A gnome," Slip said wistfully. "From Lantan. A magician- well, illusionist-brilliant. He and I were handfasted." Her face turned up at the ceiling and softened.
That caught Twilight by surprise-a halfling, bound to a gnome? She had heard of humans and elves mating-experienced it on more than one occasion, in fact-but the little folk? Curious.
"I see," said Twilight. "You 'were' handfasted?"
A cloud passed over Slip's eyes then. "It didn't work out."
"Oh." She ached suddenly for Lilten-his companionship, his wonderfully smothering embrace-and she shook her head to