The Dream Spheres - Elaine Cunningham [127]
Danilo did not answer at once. He sidestepped a pair of street urchins who thundered past in a race as old as Waterdeep itself. The boys rolled a pair of old barrel hoops down the street, sticks in their hands and grins on their dirty faces. Their carefree innocence drew Dan's eye, and for a moment he watched them and wistfully recalled the comfort of long-held illusions.
"Your words are hard to accept," he murmured.
"I could be wrong," Arilyn said. She hesitated, then added, "It would explain why your mother was so concerned when Lilly was linked back to the Thann family after her death."
It occurred to Danilo that perhaps Cassandra had fallen short of the full truth. "Lilly was linked to the Thann family before her death. That is why she died," he said with sudden bitter conviction. "It was a strike against the family. The killer was removing a pawn."
"Yes, but Lilly evidently saw the danger coming. Why else would she go to your father, when she had never made any claim on him before? Until that time, none of you knew her as family."
"Someone else did. Someone she knew well, confided in."
They considered this in silence. "I have been thinking about the manner of Lilly's death," Arilyn said after a while. "By all appearances, she was slain by a tren assassin, but the killer did not… follow the usual tren custom."
His lips thinned to a grim line at the inference. "Yes? So?"
"What if the killer wasn't a tren? What if he only appeared to be, and took this guise either to displace suspicion, or from twisted sport?"
Danilo looked sharply at her, understanding at once her reasoning. "Twisted sport," he repeated slowly. "By any chance, was Simon Ilzimmer at Oth's presentation the night of the Gemstone Ball?"
"Possibly. His cousin Boraldan was there. I heard several voices I couldn't name. One was very deep, with a bit of a rumble to it that almost hinted at dwarven speech."
"That does sound like Simon. Would you recognize that voice if you heard it again?"
"I think so," she said shortly.
Dan smiled faintly. "Judging from your expression, you would rather take another stroll through the city's sewers."
She did not deny his words. Actually, they expressed her feelings rather well. Among her contacts in the city were a number of women who worked in the taverns and bathhouses. After some of the stories she'd heard about the Ilzimmer lord, she could hardly imagine herself sipping wine and making polite conversation.
Danilo seemed less bothered by the prospect. They went directly to the small, brooding manor that was home to Simon Ilzimmer. The bells in the nearby Temple of Ilmater tolled solemnly as Danilo left his card with the servant. Arilyn idly counted the rolling peals, wondering as she did why anyone would devote his life to so dreary a creed as that of the God of Suffering. By the time the call to worship faded into silence, the servant returned with word that Lord Simon would receive them.
At first glance, Simon Ilzimmer did not fit his dark reputation. He was a tall, broad man who appeared to be no stranger to the disciplines of sword and horse. His manners were faultless, and he received his guests with every courtesy. He and Danilo sipped warmed zzar and chatted about mutual acquaintances and recent events with apparent candor and good humor.
Despite his genial manner, he was indeed one of the merchant nobility who had attended the meeting in the Thann villa. Arilyn easily recognized the deep, resonant voice. Now that she faced Simon Ilzimmer, she found the man exceedingly difficult to read. Indeed, she doubted that he was entirely sane. There was an emptiness to his eyes, an utter lack of connection between his words and any discernible emotion. On the other hand, she sensed the seething energy of the man. His gaze seemed to skitter away without actually moving, and he had a sort of brooding intensity about him that reminded her of the portentous quiet before a sea squall. It was as if he were two men, one altogether too controlled, little more