Elminster's Daughter - Ed Greenwood [93]
She was running in midair, now, treading hard on nothing at all, as she floated backward toward where she'd been. She knew how comical she must look yet kept on running. Spells were mind-tiring-everyone knew that-and this Caladnei would have to set her back down sooner or later. If she was already moving fast and got a little lucky, she could-just mayhap-manage t-
"Narnra, answer me: How do you hear news and gossip in Waterdeep?"
Narnra spat out a wordless snarl of rising frustration and kept right on running.
"Narnra?"
"Drownyou, mage! Blast and burn and rot you! I don't care about your questions or your nasty little plots or the oh-so-fair kingdom of Cormyr! Just let me go! "
"To steal in our streets," Caladnei said softly. "I think not."
"Perhaps worse than that," Rhauligan put in, holding up a handful of Narnra's daggers. At the sight of them the Waterdhavian shrieked in rage and darted a hand down the front of her breeches, to pluck forth a tiny knife from a sheath over her most private of places, and hurl it furiously at him.
Rhauligan sprang sideways, for her throw had been well-aimed-and Caladnei's mouth drew into a hard line.
The next thing Narnra knew, she was greeting the far wall of the chamber, hard enough to slam the breath out of her. She struggled, sobbing for air, and found herself pinned firmly against the dark paneling by nothing she could see at all.
Another blue-white star, winking and dying…
"How do you hear news and gossip in Waterdeep?" the Mage Royal asked again. Her magic relaxed just enough to let Narnra breathe, and the thief gulped in great shuddering lungfuls of air.
"Narnra?"
"Wizard, can't you tell I don't care about any of this? Go mount a dragon somewhere, and leave me be!"
"Narnra-"
"Caladnei," the Waterdhavian mimicked, in exactly the same tone the Mage Royal had used, "go stuff yourself. If you please."
The Mage Royal's magic thrust Narna back against the wall again, pressing so hard on her that she couldn't lift her ribs to draw breath. She fought silently, twisting and writhing on the paneling, until all too soon the world started to go dim, and drift____________________
The force eased, letting her gasp for air again. Narnra stared over the heads of her tormentors and panted, drawing in precious air.
In chill shadow, a blue-white star goes out…
"Sweet wind," she murmured, quoting a Waterdhavian harbor song.
"What's that?" Caladnei asked sharply.
"Sweet wind, come again," Narnra recited the line between gasps, eyes meeting those of the Mage Royal. "Blow me away, far beyond pain."
The Mage Royal took a step closer, and Narnra noticed with surprise that she'd been crying. Recently. "Narna, please tell me this," she said softly. "How do you get to know rumors and what happens, all over Waterdeep and in Faerun all around?"
"Caladnei," Narnra replied, just as softly, "I keep my mouth shut and my ears open. Even when tyrant mages slam me about with their spells."
In the sudden thunder of unseen force that plucked her from the wall then slammed her back against it again hard enough to rattle her bones and her back teeth, Narnra thought she heard Rhauligan make the briefest of chuckles.
Forlorn and drifting, another star flickers… and goes out…
"Even then?" Caladnei asked softly. "How stubborn, thief, are you?"
Her magic snatched Narnra from the wall and slammed her back against it again, hard enough to make a wood panel groan in protest. Narnra's limbs bounced helplessly against the wood. She whined like a dog for breath, fighting against the building pressure.
Silently, a fifth blue-white star flares-and is gone…
Harder and harder the magic pressed her-only to relax when she was once more on the shuddering edge of sinking into insensibility and let her cough and choke and groan for breath.
"How, when in Waterdeep, do you get to hear gossip and news from afar?" Caladnei asked calmly.
Narnra shook her head.