Elfsong - Elaine Cunningham [16]
"How are we to acquire this scroll?"
"According to the ballad," Wyn replied in a didactic tone, as if they were discussing nothing more pressing than dry theory, "you must answer a riddle, read a scroll, and sing a song. That is clear enough. When you have accomplished these tasks, you may demand from the dragon whatever treasure you wish. Obviously, you will ask for the scroll itself. Since it is mentioned in the ballad, andsince the ballad first appeared when the bards were enspelled, it is reasonable toassume that the scroll was devised by the spellcaster we seek. Ifthis is so, the archmage can use it to discern the spellcaster's identity."
Dan cast his gaze toward the ceiling, but he spoke patiently. "Let's say, just for argument's sake, that after we answer the riddle the dragon will keep his word and hand over the scroll. Ignoring the unlikeliness of that possibility, ponder this: What happens if we guess wrong?"
"I imagine the beast will attack," Wyn said, no concern at all in his voice.
"Yes, I imagine that, too," Dan said with exaggerated patience. He turned to Khelben and said in a low tone, "Before I run screaming from this tower, perhapsI should meet that other bardic adventurer you spoke of? The fighter?"
"I left her in the kitchen," Khelben said and sighed. "If she's typical of her kind, she's no doubt emptied the pantry cupboards and started in on my spell components."
Danilo blinked. "Don't tell me: our peerless fighter is a halfling?"
"No. She's a dwarf."
To Danilo, this new revelation was as great a surprise as any other of the evening's oddities. Dwarf females were but rarely encountered away from clan and hearth, and those who did travel often let their beards grow so that they might pass as males. "A dwarven bard," he mused, shaking his head. "What brings this most unusual person to us?"
Khelben stood and took a piece of rolled parchment from his belt. He handed it to Danilo. "This is all I know. Come; I'll introduce you."
The archmage asked Wyn to wait for their return, then he opened the door leading into a chamber that served double duty for dining and giving audience. Danilo rose and followed the archmage, scanning the parchment as he went It was a letter from the wizard Vangerdahast, court advisor to King Azoun of Cormyr.
"Vangerdahast says that he located a bard of sorts whose gifts, such as they are, remained unchanged by this mysterious spell." Danilo sniffed. "Well, that's a rousing endorsement if ever I heard one."
He turned back to the parchment and read aloud. " 'A dwarven entertainer, known as Morgalla the Mirthful, she is a veteran of the Alliance War and a native of the Earth-fast Mountains, where she met and befriended the Princess Alusair. The dwarf has been plying her trade in Cormyr for nearly three years. In King Azoun's name, I request that you show his daughter's friend all courtesy, and add the dwarf to your number for this most appropriate quest. Morgalla is, in my opinion, precisely what the Harpers require.'"
Danilo raised skeptical eyes to his uncle. "Isn't it nice of Vangerdahast to be so helpful. At the risk of sounding petty, I have to say the good wizard's motives strike me as being just a bit suspect"
"For once we agree." Khelben paused, his hand on the latch of the kitchen door. "I haven't had much time to speak with the dwarf. Let's see what my colleague has sent us."
Khelben swung open the door. His kitchen was as unique as the rest of Blackstaff Tower. One side of the room was taken up by several shelves of rare potted herbs. These were bathed by a faint green light that came from no apparent source, and they filled the room with a woody, pungent aroma. Some