The Dream Spheres - Elaine Cunningham [140]
"Not completely. I doubt Elaith is responsible for poisoning Myrna."
Danilo looked at her in surprise. "Really."
"Elves seldom use poison. Elaith's methods, though twisted, are still elven."
"Twisted?" he prompted.
She told him her suspicions that Elaith killed the broker down in Skullport in order to acquire the missing dream spheres. "The mark of an elven sword was unmistakable. One of the men had been dissolved into mist. Elaith is competent in magic, and he has a vast collection of magical weapons. It is the sort of thing he would do."
"But Myrna said she received payment in elven coin."
"What of it? That, more than anything, leads me to believe that Elaith is being set up. He isn't that stupid."
"No, he isn't," Danilo agreed, "but that makes him all the more dangerous. He will not take kindly to this treatment. It's possible that some of the recent events are his vengeance against the noble families."
They considered this in silence. A courtesan was dead, and Simon Ilzimmer had been blamed. The death count did not end there: Belinda Gundwynd and her elven love. Oth Eltorchul.
Lilly.
"And this is the elf I am pledged to defend," Danilo said softly. "Once, he asked me to prove his innocence. I have to find the truth of this, no matter where it leads. I owe him that much, for the honor he once did me."
Arilyn nodded and started for the gate. "We might as well get on with it.
* * * * *
Isabeau waited until Arilyn and Danilo were well out of sight, then sailed up to the door of Myrna Cassalanter's mansion as if she were a regular visitor.
She found Myrna pale, but unusually calm. The reason for this, the woman explained, was her new diversion. She showed Isabeau a wooden box filled with small crystal spheres.
Isabeau knew all about them-knew more than this silly woman could begin to suspect-but she listened with quiet contempt as Myrna spoke glowingly of using purchased magic to live a fantasy.
She, Isabeau, was determined to carve out her own.
The dream spheres were not the way. She saw that now. If they had already found their way into the homes of Waterdeep's wealthy and powerful, she had little hope of retrieving enough of them to turn a profit.
There was another way. Risky, certainly, but Isabeau saw in it her only chance.
She selected the largest, brightest globe from the box and took note of the greedy, territorial expression that leaped into Myrna's eye.
"I would like to try one of these wonders," Isabeau said. "Will you choose one for me?"
Myrna all but leaped for the powerful, expensive globe in her visitor's hands. "That one is for my own use. Any of these others you may have."
"We could perhaps share," Isabeau suggested. "You to your dream, and I mine? A pleasant respite to break up the day."
Her hostess nodded avidly. Once her guest was settled with a lesser magical dream, she took the powerful dream sphere for herself.
Isabeau waited until the woman was deep into the magical trance. She rose quietly to her feet and tipped the box of dream spheres into her pocket. Then she carefully unclasped the necklace from the entranced woman's neck and added it to her loot.
The larger and brighter the sphere, the longer and more powerful the dream. Isabeau had learned that much, but she took no chances. Moving as silently and swiftly as a dervish's ghost, she picked the chamber clean of any valuables and fled while the woman was still deep in her dream.
Isabeau had had no idea that gossipmongering paid so well-with the coins and jewels she had taken from this single theft, she could easily buy and bribe her way into distant Tethyr.
Elated at her success, she all but ran from the mansion and climbed into the waiting carriage. If the driver was surprised to hear that she wished to go directly to the South Gate, he did not state his opinion. An extra gold coin went a long way toward ensuring discretion. If she were careful, and lucky, she might yet make it safely to the southern lands.
Isabeau settled back against the seat and dared to begin dreaming