Elfsong - Elaine Cunningham [52]
The whisper of silk interrupted the sorceress's dark thoughts. Garnet looked up. Lady Thione was poised in the arch of a trellis. This evening the noblewoman was clad in a gown of clinging violet silk, covered with an overdress of quilted satin. Her hair was bound with a velvet snood, and her delicate aquiline features were composed and self-satisfied.
"How does the city?" Garnet demanded, massaging her aching hands.
"Poorly, thanks to you," Lucia Thione responded cheerfully. "Your musically inclined monsters have been preying on farmer folk and travelers. The merchants' guilds have hired mercenary bands to go out against these monsters, as have the Lords of Waterdeep. Even with these precautions, a smaller crowd is expected for the Midsummer Faire. This is matter of much speculation and discontent among the tradespeople and merchants. The crop failures have created a hardship, but for those who can afford the high prices, produce and goods are coming in by sea."
"A hardship?" the half-elf repeated. "What then would constitute a catastrophe?"
Lucia hesitated. "A disruption of commerce."
"Ah, Waterdeep." Garnet's smile was hard. "Well then, see to it."
"Have a care how you speak," the noblewoman said in a tight voice. "I do not take orders like some serving wench."
"Of course you do. You serve the Knights of the Shield, and they have assured me that you will cooperate in my plan to remove Khelben Arunsun from power."
"So you have said. How do I know this to be true?" Lucia demanded.
Garnet spoke a name, and the woman paled. The sorceress had named a Knight of high position and dark power, the man to whom Lucia herself reported. "He sends his regards," Garnet added casually.
"We will increase our activities against the city," she continued. "I have some influence with the local merfolk- you'd be amazed at how much music and discontent lies under the sea. We will also remove more of the Lords of Waterdeep to increase the demands on Khelben Arunsun and his powerful associates. Give Lord Hhune the names of three lesser-known Lords. Although Hhune's methods are crude, he has the resources needed to handle the matter quickly."
"Hhune is still in the city?" Lucia asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice. Hhune made no secret of his ambition, and nothing would please the Tethyrian merchant more than taking Lucia's place in Waterdeep.
Garnet shot a sidelong glance at the noblewoman. "What of it? Your superior said I might use any resources at his command. Hhune is a guildmaster in his native land, and he is adept at organizing and recruiting. I have him trying to establish local guilds for Waterdeep's thieves and assassins. He is unlikely to succeed, but it gives the Lords of Waterdeep one more tiling to worry about. Now, which Lords' names are you giving to Hhune?"
Without hesitation, Lucia Thione named three business rivals, not knowing or caring whether any of them sat among the Lords of Waterdeep.
"Good." Garnet nodded with satisfaction and rose from her seat. Her horse came cantering from a remote corner of Lucia's garden, in response to a summons the noblewoman could not hear. The sorceress secured her harp to the saddle and hoisted herself onto the horse's back. "I must travel north for a few days. There I will gain an additional power to use against Khelben Arunsun, and on the way I shall dispatch another of Waterdeep's Lords. I leave the city in your capable hands, and expect to find all in order upon my return."
Lucia caught her breath as the white steed rose straight into the sky. Like a tiny comet it streaked away toward the north. "An asperii," she whispered, realizing anew the extent of the sorceress's power. Suddenly Garnet's last words to her seemed less a compliment than a warning.
*****
The cookfire burned low. and one by one the members of Music and Mayhem drew away from the central fire, wrapping themselves in cloaks or travel blankets. Soon the only sounds were the crackle of the outer fires, the distant chirping