Dragons of Spring Dawning - Margaret Weis [129]
“You know why,” he answered briefly.
“Laurana, of course,” Kitiara said.
Tanis shrugged, careful to keep his face a mask, yet fearing that this woman—who sometimes knew him better than he knew himself—could read every thought.
“You came alone?” Kitiara asked, sipping at the wine.
“Yes,” Tanis replied, returning her gaze without faltering.
Kitiara raised an eyebrow in obvious disbelief.
“Flint’s dead,” he added, his voice breaking. Even in his fear, he still could not think of his friend without pain. “And Tasslehoff wandered off somewhere. I couldn’t find him. I … I didn’t really want to bring him anyway.”
“I can understand,” Kit said wryly. “So Flint is dead.”
“Like Sturm,” Tanis could not help but add through clenched teeth.
Kit glanced at him sharply. “The fortunes of war, my dear,” she said. “We were both soldiers, he and I. He understands. His spirit bears me no malice.”
Tanis choked angrily, swallowing his words. What she said was true. Sturm would understand.
Kitiara was silent as she watched Tanis’s face a few moments. Then she set the glass down with a clink.
“What about my brothers?” she asked. “Where—”
“Why don’t you just take me to the dungeons and interrogate me?” Tanis snarled. Rising out of his chair, he began to pace the luxurious room.
Kitiara smiled, an introspective, thoughtful smile. “Yes,” she said, “I could interrogate you there. And you would talk, dear Tanis. You would tell me all I wanted to hear, and then you would beg to tell me more. Not only do we have those who are skilled in the art of torture, but they are passionately dedicated to their profession.” Rising languorously, Kitiara walked over to stand in front of Tanis. Her wine glass in one hand, she placed her other hand on his chest and slowly ran her palm up over his shoulder. “But this is not an interrogation. Say, rather, it is a sister, concerned about her family. Where are my brothers?”
“I don’t know,” Tanis said. Catching her wrist firmly in his hand, he held her hand away from him. “They were both lost in the Blood Sea.…”
“With the Green Gemstone Man?”
“With the Green Gemstone Man.”
“And how did you survive?”
“Sea elves rescued me.”
“Then they might have rescued the others?”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I am elven, after all. The others were human.”
Kitiara stared at Tanis long moments. He still held her wrist in his hand. Unconsciously, under her penetrating gaze, his fingers closed around it.
“You’re hurting me …” Kit whispered softly. “Why did you come, Tanis? To rescue Laurana … alone? Even you were never that foolish—”
“No,” Tanis said, tightening his grasp on Kitiara’s arm. “I came to make a trade. Take me. Let her go.”
Kitiara’s eye opened wide. Then, suddenly, she threw back her head and laughed. With a quick, easy move, she broke free of Tanis’s grip and, turning, walked over to the table to refill her wine glass.
She grinned at him over her shoulder. “Why, Tanis,” she said, laughing again, “what are you to me that I should make this trade?”
Tanis felt his face flush. Still grinning, Kitiara continued.
“I have captured their Golden General, Tanis. I have taken their good-luck charm, their beautiful elven warrior. She wasn’t a bad general, either, for that matter. She brought them the dragonlances and taught them to fight. Her brother brought back the good dragons, but everyone credits her. She kept the Knights together, when they should have split apart long before this. And you want me to exchange her for”—Kitiara gestured contemptuously—“a half-elf who’s been wandering the countryside in the company of kender, barbarians, and dwarves!”
Kitiara began to laugh again, laughing so hard she was forced to sit down and wipe tears from her eyes. “Really, Tanis, you have a high opinion of yourself. What did you think I’d take you back for? Love?”
There was a subtle change in Kit’s voice, her laugh seemed forced. Frowning suddenly, she twisted the wineglass in her hand.
Tanis did not respond. He could only stand before her, his skin