Elfsong - Elaine Cunningham [63]
Lucia yawned delicately, patting at her parted lips with the tips of her fingers. "Don't be tiresome, Hodatar. Future fish kings shouldn't stoop to blackmail," she chided him, her derision cloaked in genteel tones. "But Garnet tells me that you've been a good ally, and she would like to see you succeed in your study of magic. As a wizard, you'd be even more useful to our cause. I've a talisman that will increase the power of your spells." She slipped a hand into a pocket of her gown, then she paused and bit her lower lip, acting if she'd spoken before thinking and was now reconsidering her action. "Of course, it might be dangerous to one who lacked knowledge," she added hastily.
"A risk I will gladly take!" the merman said. He sank low into the water, and then with a quick thrust of his tail sprang out at the noblewoman.
Lucia Thione was ready for him. She yanked a curved dagger from her pocket and sank it deep into his underbelly, ripping downward through scales and flesh as if she were gutting a trout Hodatar. fell heavily onto the wooden floor, his mouth gaping in shock and pain as he clutched at his spilling entrails.
The noblewoman watched the merman's death throes with an impassive face. When the treacherous Hodatar lay still, she stooped by the water and splashed some of the briny liquid over her dress. Standing, she raked her fingers through her hair repeatedly, reducing the elegant ringlets to a tousled mass of chestnut curls. Finally she took her money purse and scattered a handful of coins on the floor to make it appear that the merman had tried to rob her and had died in the struggle.
When Zzundar returned, the noblewoman threw herself into his arms, babbling helplessly that she hadn't meant to kill Hodatar. She sobbed against the guildmaster's broad chest allowing him to smooth her hair and murmur inane platitudes about the gods, the fates, and the right of any woman to protect herself from thieves and scoundrels. After a suitable interval she looked up at Zzundar, giving him a small grateful smile and declaring through her tears that she couldn't bear to be alone that night.
As Lucia had anticipated, the guildmaster was too entranced by this turn of events to question her story. Nor did he think to ask how she knew that a strong undercurrent caused by the morning tides would carry the body far into the harbor.
Hodatar himself had told this to Garnet and Lucia had tested the theory with the body of Larissa Neathal's maid. Zzundar was not the only guildmember enchanted by Lucia's elegant beauty, and it had been a small matter to arrange access to the merdock for two agents of the Knights of the Shield. Of course, she had paid that man in a coin far less personal than that she was using to purchase Zzundar.
She cast a sidelong glance at the guildmaster and repressed a sigh. She was not adverse to using her charm and beauty to serve her own ends, but she bitterly resented doing so to further Garnet's vendetta against Khelben Arunsun. As she accompanied Zzundar out of the guildhall, Lucia wondered what more the half-elven sorceress might demand of her.
Eight
Astride her magical asperii, Garnet sped through the sunrise clouds on her swift journey northward. Far below, she could see the spires of Silverymoon gleaming in the soft pink light, and the sight filled her with dark satisfaction. More than three moons had passed since she had last visited the wondrous city and cast the spell that bound the bards to her will. They had done their part admirably, and would soon prove the power of bard-craft.
From the vantage point of her wind-riding mount, Garnet spotted a narrow brown ribbon, the main trade route leading east from Silverymoon to Sundabar. She sent a silent command to her horse. The asperii