The Dream Spheres - Elaine Cunningham [145]
The elf was silent for a long moment. "I thought that I held the Mhaorkiira. I had reason to think so. I arranged for certain people to use the dream spheres, and from them I gained information I used to take action against the two-city consortium."
"What kind of action?" Danilo said cautiously.
"I had nothing to do with your sister's death," the elf began.
"That was Oth," Arilyn said decisively. "If he can take the form of a cat, why not a tren? Of course Isabeau had reason to run from him-from what Elaith says, she stole from Oth not once but twice. She probably named Elaith from sheer spite. What of Belinda Gundwynd?"
"Ilzimmer, I suspect," the elf said wearily. "The path to that is rather convoluted. I had a fatal dispute with a mercenary captain, a retainer of the Ilzimmer clan. The killing blade was made by the Amcathra clan and was stolen during the ambush."
Danilo looked puzzled. "What has that to do with the Gundwynd clan?"
"It is common knowledge that the Amcathra family is not among the two-city consortium. That is why I sent you to Regnet," the elf admitted. "It was a diversion, nothing more. The Ilzimmers assumed, as I intended for them to do, that the blade was a sign from Gundwynd. After all, it was lost from their caravan. Its use to attack an Ilzimmer soldier-especially considering that the man was the caravan master-could be seen as a direct accusation. The death of Belinda was intended to be a warning."
"So were the attacks on Danilo and me," Arilyn said. "What of Simon Ilzimmer?"
Elaith's smile took on a hard edge. "That was my doing," he said without the slightest hint of guilt. "The woman was in my employ and dying from a wasting disease of the lungs. A few illusions, a few well spent coins, and there are many who will swear that Simon Ilzimmer was seen coming from her room."
"I cannot shed too many tears over such a man, but I do not approve," Danilo said heatedly. "Let's set aside the consideration of whether Simon's 'innocence' is general or specific. What about those who give testimony? I assume that they were chosen to implicate some other family and to further fuel the flames?"
The elf admitted this with a nod. "I will undo what I can. You said that you had words with Simon Ilzimmer that same day-do you remember the hour?"
"The bells of Ilmater's temple were ringing," Arilyn recalled.
"That answers all," Elaith said with satisfaction. "The hour is close enough. You can speak for him. That will help build favor between the Ilzimmer family and the Thanns. It will be easy enough to blame this on Oth. We know he has done murder in other forms. Why not claim that he took on the physical shape of Simon Ilzimmer?"
Danilo started to protest, then gave up with a sigh. "We have to find Oth before we can accuse him of anything. The question is, how do we proceed?"
"I see several possible paths, none of them very attractive," the elf said. "We could turn this matter over to the Lords of Waterdeep, but these accusations would be hard to prove, and that might only deepen the animosity between the families. We could let the families settle this among themselves and hope that the bloodletting is minimal. This is the course I myself prefer, but for the fact that you and the princess are in line for reprisal."
Danilo grimaced. "Or?"
The elf's smile was cold and ruthless. "We could serve up Oth to the two-city families-but first, we will have to find and stop him."
"Not easy to find a dead man who can change his appearance at will," Arilyn pointed out.
"It will be easier than you think," Elaith said. He took the red crystal from his pocket and flipped it onto the table. "Oth has been sending information to me through this-things he wants me to know. He wants all three of us dead and he is trying to entrap us. Let's oblige him."
"I've heard better plans," Danilo said dryly, "but please, continue. This can only improve."
Elaith reached out and tapped the stone. "In two nights there will be a massive, coordinated tren attack against members of both the