Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [48]
Under Xzorsh's direction, the Ruathen sailors returned the slain elves to the sea. Far beneath the waves, sea folk from the nearest settlement awaited to take them to the distant city they had once called home. Sittl, Xzorsh's partner, had arranged all, and he awaited the ranger now in the depths. The other ranger would not come near the Elfmaid-his distrust of humans ran too deep.
At the moment, Xzorsh could hardly blame him. There was evil below the waves as well as in the world of humans, but the young sea ranger was deeply shaken by the brutal, senseless nature of these deaths. He was also troubled by the brief conversation he'd had with the drow. She had pulled him aside, told him of the strange fate that had befallen the spirits of the elves at the hands of some unknown sorcerer. Apparently she'd hoped he might be able to shed some light on the matter. But to Xzorsh such use of magic was horrifying and utterly beyond his understanding. He left the humans and their disturbing drow passenger as soon as possible to seek the familiar comfort of his friend's presence.
But Sittl's mood was even darker than his own. "i often think the world would be better if Umberlee took every human that so much as stuck a toe in the water," he said grimly in the clicks and whistles of the sea-elven dialect. "And i will never understand why you spend so much time and concern on that pirate!"
Xzorshsent him a strange look. Sittl knew ofhis pledge. To sea elves, a pledge was an immutable bond! "Hrolf saved my life," he reminded his friend.
"So you have told me many times, but that was before we met. You were little more than a child then!" Sittl retorted. "The debt was paid in full long ago!"
"How can you say such a thing?" the ranger marveled, aghast that the practical, reliable Sittl could harbor such blasphemous ideas.
His partner turned aside. He did not answer for a long moment, but his mottled shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh, sending an eloquent rift of bubbles floating upward. "One of the females was once my lover. The dead child was mine," he said flatly. "Forgive my harsh words against the human pirate; i am not myself."
Xzorsh reached over to clasp his friend's shoulder. "i'm sorry. If you had told me of your loss, i would have spared you this task."
The elf shook his head. "We have our duties," he said, and when he turned back to Xzorsh his face was composed. "What must we do now, to honor your pledge?"
"The others will see to the slain People. We two watch over Hrolf and his men. I need your help, for one of us must keep Hrolf's ship in sight, the other ensure that the two men who seek the seal hunters come to no harm. I cannot help but think," Xzorsh said slowly, "that the Elfmaid is in grave danger. There are forces at work that i do not yet understand."
"The drow?"
"Perhaps," the ranger said, and it was his turn to avert his eyes. This was as close to an untruth as ever he had told. Xzorsh did not trust the drow, but she knew magic and he did not. He would have to depend on her help to fmd and free the spirits of the slain sea elves. It was an impossible alliance and the most dangerous task he had ever considered.
Why then, Xzorsh wondered, did the very thought of it fill him with elation?
Three days passed, and neither the crew of the Elfmaid nor ibn and Fyodor in their smaller boat caught sight of the adrift sailors. The two vessels tacked back and forth across the warm waters of the River, crossing paths repeatedly as they searched for the small boat. At last ibn decided the effort was in vain.
"Theyre not on the River anymore, that's what," the first mate proclaimed. "Umberlee took 'em, and that's the end of it. We might as well get back to the ship."
Fyodor gave reluctant agreement. He hadn't particularly enjoyed the company of the taciturn sailor, but he hoped the time away from the ship had tempered ibn's wrath against Liriel. The mate had not once brought up the matter. Fyodor took that as a good