Murder in Cormyr - Chet Williamson [76]
"Very well, master." I made myself smile and nod, and managed to get down a few bites of griddle cakes and sausage, but I could not get my questions out of my mind.
Lindavar was the first to leave at midmorning, by which time a gentle rain was falling. Benelaius and his former pupil bade each other an affectionate farewell, Lindavar climbed into the carriage, and we were off, with my master and Kendra waving good-bye.
As I turned my head and saw Benelaius and Kendra standing there, looking perfectly natural together under the umbrella he was holding, I realized that I didn't know if Benelaius had ever been married, or had a woman in his life. There was much I did not know about him, and a few things that I must either learn about or go mad.
Lindavar and I spoke seldom on our journey. What little he did say had to do with thanking me for all my legwork. "Were it not for you, Jasper," he said, "I fear that Ghars might be a town of the dead today."
That was excessive praise, and I told him so, but I did not mention what was bothering me. That was for Benelaius's ears only.
The rain kept everyone in Ghars indoors, except for the few who were overjoyed at the sheer novelty of it. The council was deep in its meeting, and I saw none of the honored, and nearly murdered, visitors. I wondered if Barthelm would apprise them of how closely their lives had hung in the balance, but then decided that he would not. Telling your guests that they had narrowly missed suffering a slow and painful death is not the best way to impress them with the hospitality of your town.
I waited with Lindavar in the soft rain until the coach for Suzail arrived, and we said a friendly good-bye. "Look after Benelaius, Jasper," he said, taking my hand. "He's a great man, good and wise, but he needs someone like you. And thank you for your hospitality as well as his. It was… an interesting stay."
He grinned, climbed into the coach, and gave me a wave as it rolled away toward Suzail and the College of War Wizards.
I drove the carriage back to the cottage as quickly as the horses could go, and when I put Jenkus and Stubbins in the stable, I noticed that Kendra's horse was gone. Inside, I found Benelaius alone, seated before the fireplace on the chaise in which Kendra had slept, and absentmindedly stroking the cats that had settled on his lap. He scarcely seemed to notice me when I came in.
"Has the lady left, then?" I asked him.
"Left?" His voice was faraway, and when he looked up at me, so were his eyes. "Oh, yes, she has." He touched his cheek, as if remembering something soft and foreign that had rested there. "She had to ride on. Heading for Anauroch, I believe. Something about a lost city filled with jewels." He gave a bittersweet smile. "I've had a full life, Jasper, but sometimes I realize that there are things that I have missed."
He inhaled sharply, as if clearing his head. When he looked at me again, his gaze was now on me and nowhere else, and he smiled and spoke crisply. "Did you get Lindavar offtoSuzail?"
"Yes, the coach left promptly. He's on his way back."
"Good, good, and with a much greater reputation than he had previously. This little affair should make some of the more hidebound wizards in the college look at him as more of an equal. And what's more, he did it with his wits. Not a bit of magic."
"And did you do it with your wits, too, master?"
He cocked his head as if I'd just made a jest he didn't understand. "I beg your pardon."
"Something's wrong and you know it," I said. "You knew last night when I mentioned a piece of the puzzle that didn't fit. What about the-"
"The pills," he said, smiling benignly, "of course." My mouth fell open for an instant, and I shut it again. "I knew that you were certain to realize that piece didn't fit. I trusted, however, that you would remain silent and let us play it out, and you did."
"Tobald was out of pills the morning Grodoveth