Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [114]
She raised blazing eyes to the sea-elf's face. "Where did you get these?"
"From the severed hand you asked me to retrieve," he responded, puzzled by her vehement reaction.
"And you didn't see fit to mention them?"
"You asked only for the hand. I did not think gold and gems would serve your purpose, else i would have given them to you," Xzorsh said.
Liriel threw up her hands in exasperation. Yet she had no time to vent her ire, for it was possible she held in her hands the clue to Ruathym's troubles. Luskan was a rich and powerful port-perhaps powerful enough to command the forces that were arrayed against the island. The problem would be to convince anyone that this might be so.
"i've got to get back," she said abruptly.
The elf caught her arm when she turned. "Three men are stranded on a small island not too far away-some of the seal hunters Hrolf set adrift. I promised them i would send a boat for them."
Liriel sniffed and pulled free. "And who will ask for this boat-you or i? You just broke out of their prison, remember? They think you and your friend conjured the magic that ruined a good door and a whole lot of ale, and they're not too happy about any of it. Show up in Ruathym, and one of those axe-happy villagers will chop you into fish bait before you can say two words. Me they avoid, or treat like an unweaned child. They might have listened to Fyodor, but he's away." But even as she spoke, her gaze skimmed the pebble-strewn shore. "Can you sail one of those small boats?" she asked, pointing.
When he nodded, the drow immediately began wading toward the shore. She made her way to a trim little craft and held both hands out, palms down. Xzorsh saw her lips move, and then the boat rose into the air-just a bit-and floated silently off the beach and out over the water. The boat settled down beside him, so gently that it barely made a ripple. From the shore, Liriel cast a look over each shoulder and then indicated with emphatic gestures that he should leave at once.
Xzorsh hesitated for only a moment. Theft was not part of his creed, yet he saw no other way to rescue the men than to borrow this boat for a time. As he raised the sail, he vowed he would see the boat returned to its owner as soon as possible. He pulled taut the lines and set the little boat on an eastward course.
it occurred to him, some time later, that Liriel had not answered his request for teaching. The sea-elf's shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. At least she had not said no. For now, at least, he still had his dreams.
As Liriel hurried back to the village, she debated who best to approach with her information. The men of the Eltmaid might support her; after all, they had been attacked by three warships led by a High Captain of Luskan. Yet she doubted anyone had recognized the man, or they surely would have spoken of it. Hrolfwould certainly listen to her and, with the help of the ring she held in her hands, he could almost certainly convince the other villagers. But Hrolf was not here.
Who, then? ibn was entirely out of the question. The scheming first mate would probably try to turn her efforts against her. Bjorn? Of all the men aboard, the young artist had been most accepting of her-even admiring, in a shy sort of way. Yet he was a mere lad, and a rather frail and scrawny one at that. Liriel had noticed that in Ruathym