The Dream Spheres - Elaine Cunningham [125]
"So are your spells. That's what happened the night of the Thann party. Oth brought some of his dream spheres to pitch them to a group of wizards and merchant lords."
"I took one from Isabeau," he added. "Yes, I understand that now."
She took a step closer. "I am more than my sword," she said firmly. "You are more than your magic."
He regarded her with a faint smile. "You've always said that there was too much magic in Waterdeep. It seems we may have the opportunity to do without it."
"Let's get to it. We'll assume that Lilly was mixed up with the bandits who ambushed the air caravan, and start there."
They worked their way across the city's rooftops toward the Gundwynd manor. As they approached, Danilo caught sight of several detachments of the Watch milling about, conspicuous in their green and black leather uniforms.
They climbed down to the street and walked up to the manor.
"No one in, no one out," announced the grim-faced woman who stood at the side gate.
"What happened here?"
The Watchwoman gave Danilo a quelling look. "Move along, sir. The Gundwynd family is not receiving visitors at present."
Danilo turned toward Arilyn, but she had disappeared. He nodded politely to the Watchwoman and went on his way, circling the walled villa as he observed the placement of trees on that street. He stopped two blocks down, then sat under a stately oak.
Several moments passed before he heard a faint rustling in the branches. He glanced up as Arilyn climbed to the lowest branch and dropped lightly to the ground beside him.
"Well?" he inquired.
"One of the servants found Belinda Gundwynd, the youngest daughter, dead in the stables. She was with an elven groom, the only person of elven blood who remained in the family's employ. Seems he had a personal reason for staying around. Rumors have been circulating about Belinda and her lover. The servants overheard the family fighting over it. They were forcing her to give him up. The family is claiming that her death was a lover's pact."
"You don't believe this."
She shot him an incredulous look. "The servants who found them said that the bodies were in the hay, not dangling from the rafters."
"Still, is that reason to conclude that the Gundwynd family is wrong?"
"It's reassuring to know that you haven't strangled anyone lately," Arilyn said dryly. "The task demands considerable strength and will. Hard to do, when you're being distracted, and I'd say that being strangled yourself is a bit of a distraction. They could hardly manage to kill each other and die at the same time."
"They would need a bard's timing," Danilo agreed. "So the Watch is not buying the Gundwynds' story, I take it."
"They are not hearing anything but the Gundwynds' story. The servants who told me the tale were encouraged not to talk. Let's move on-there's a Watchman over there who's starting to take note of us."
As they walked, Danilo struggled to sort through this. Like Arilyn, he doubted that Belinda Gundwynd and her lover had contrived their own deaths.
Then who? The Gundwynd family, motivated by the nobility's bias against alliances with elves? If that were so, then Danilo had lived his entire life among creatures more vicious than tren.
"They eat their own," he murmured. "It's a matter of honor."
Arilyn sent him a sharp, concerned look. "Do you really think that's what happened?"
"The possibility is hard to ignore. If I can suspect my own family of attempting to rid itself of elven alliances, why not the Gundwynds?"
"That doesn't account for Oth," Arilyn pointed out.
"No. No, it doesn't, and this will only deepen the scandal regarding Gundwynd and the elven folk. This could mean the end of the Gundwynd fortunes." Danilo stopped short as his mind replayed the angry confrontation between Lord Gundwynd and Lady Cassandra.
"It could mean the end of the Gundwynd fortune," he repeated. "The death of Belinda and her elven love gives substance to every rumor spoken against the family. Who would have reason to do such a thing?"