Stormlight - Ed Greenwood [4]
."Simple quarters" Ergluth commented as Renglar let raw his chain of keys and swung the door wide. In the room beyond was a cot, a desk, a sideboard, and an armor stand. One wall of the room was all closets, a the seneschal waved to them.
"All the clutter goes in there, and I keep the place tidy out here," he said, and then grinned. The bolshield's gaze had already fallen to the map on the gleaming desk-of course. Every room in Firefall Keep was on it, with Renglars scribbled comments about needed repairs liberally adorning the layout. The seneschal laid a finger on one ink-outlined chamber.
"My Lord Athlan was found here, by a guard who's going to have to answer some hard questions from the mages. It's pretty clear the guard was passing through what we call the Haunted Tower-it does have some phantoms, plus the usual rats and bats, and is used-to meet with young Shayn-… ah, Lady Summerstar."
Ergluth carefully did not grin. "Yes," he announced to the world in carefully neutral tones. He stared down at the mapped heart of the Haunted Tower. "I think wine would be a very good idea."
The sideboard proved to contain a veritable arsenal of decanters. The seneschal soon steered a tall glass of Arabellan Dry into the boldshield's hand.
"To you, and to Azoun," Ergluth made the traditional toast.
"May one of us find his grave before the other Renglar made the accustomed reply, even more dryly than usual. He might have retired from the,Purple Dragons decades ago, but such habits weren't lightly forgotten. "I presume you see my problem at the proverbial single glance."
The Purple Dragon commander nodded. "Your er must be someone who knew the young lord" and the keep, too. Only someone familiar with both victim and ground could have found him there. too many corners for any light to give Athlan away. Your murderer dwells under this roof."
"Exactly," the seneschal said grimly, tirling his glass. With an absent astonishment, he realized it had somehow gone empty already. "But how long it will take our Happy Dancing Mages to see that I wonder? And how many innocent folk will they upset first?"
"If they tangle with the old dowager, Ergluth said dryly, "my money's on her."
Renglar grunted in rueful assent and refilled both their glasses. "The roaming apparitions and the endless little noises in the Haunted Tower ought to keep them occupied for a tenday or more."
"During which time, they'll near be-damned eat you out of turret and cellar!" The Purple Dragon commander chuckled, and drank deeply. Coming up for air, he looked into the depths of his glass and said, "Yet you have no choice. The war wizards must be called in. Shall I do it? That'll earn you their deep suspicion but save you the wrath of the Summerstars."
"Of Lady Pheirauze vou mean," the seneschal corrected with a smile. '"Nay I know my duty. Let the Summerstars detest me. I serve Pyramus first, the realm second, Athlan third, and the rest of the kin a poor fourth. Best they be gently reminded of that.
"If they want me to walk away from vale, I've a place where I can sit out my last years watching adventurers ride by; hear tales race around the realm and come back again, all twisted; make bad wine and protect the realm by drinking it myself… and chat coyly with ladies not so young as to be cruel when refusing me."
Ergluth shook his head. "You make retirement sound good. I've kin who'll wear my feet down to stumps dancing every night, and keep me awake until dawn with the noise of young bucks rushing my nieces off their feet"
"You're not still angry with Shaerl for deserting all to go to Shadowdale? I hear it' a beautiful place now that Zhent troops aren't trying to burn it down or overrun it every second tenday."
Ergluth waved a dismissive hand. "Nay, she was fun. It's the pompous court boot-lickers among my kin that drive me wild. Be glad you've no noble kindred to embarrass you half so much."
Truly, the gods felt I'd be better as a humble man" the seneschal observed. "I just sometimes wish they'd not had in mind a state quite so humble."
The boldshield