The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [83]
Haarn had barely set himself to face the thing, his hand on the hilt of his scimitar, when it lunged at him.
"Are you having any luck, lady?"
Shinthala Deepcrest looked up from the smooth river surface she'd been studying. She shaded her eyes against the late morning sun to glance at her unexpected visitor.
"Ashenford Torinbow," she greeted, rising from where she sat beside the Calling River.
Despite the fear that thundered in her heart and the fatigue that gripped her from maintaining the scrying spell she'd been using, she summoned a smile for the man who stepped down from the rocky shelves toward her.
"Lady," the half-elf said, taking Shinthala's offered hands in his own and kissing them gently. "You are as beauteous as ever. A sunrise full of her own glory."
Torinbow's greeting embarrassed Shinthala. Despite her position as one of the Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave, she wasn't used to such pretty words.
"You came all this way to turn my head with your flattery?" she asked.
Torinbow squeezed her hands and released them. "Lady, I came here to Ilighon only to visit with you, and perhaps to sup of good Kate's table while we talk of my travels along the Vilhon Reach."
Shinthala took her hands from Torinbow's. He was a half-elf with pale blue eyes and golden skin. At five eight he was still inches below Shinthala's own six feet plus in height. His light brown hair was neatly coifed and hung in curls to his shoulders.
"How long have you been on Iligh6n?" she asked.
"Only long enough to disembark the ship that brought me to Sapra then begin the long march here to the Elder Spires."
"I suppose you've heard the news." "About the beast being freed from Eldath's prison?" Torinbow nodded. T didn't sleep since I heard of it this morning, and the trip over by ship wasn't restful with the storm playing hob as it was."
Remembering her manners, Shinthala asked, "Have you supped?"
Torinbow shrugged. "A bit of crust and some hard cheese along the trip up the Hierophant Trail, Lady. There wasn't much time for taking on provisions. I insisted upon leaving the city at once when I heard about Borran Kiosk. Thankfully the horses we were able to procure in Sapra were fleet of foot and strong of heart."
"You learned of Borran Kiosk's freedom in Sapra?"
Torinbow nodded. "Only this morning."
Shinthala grimaced and said, "Then the news has spread as far as the city."
"All of Sapra was talking about it while I was there, which I assure you wasn't long. Perhaps I was misled, but I think much of the news of Borran Kiosk's attacks on Alaghфn got carried over on the ships that left there last night and arrived at Sapra only this morning. Some captains chose a hasty departure. The mohrg's reputation is still strong there."
Anger touched Shinthala, and she knew she wasn't much good at hiding her displeasure. Besides being a member of the Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave-one of the three druids who were the leaders of that organization-she'd also led battles against Malar's forces as a hierophant druid.
"Tongues wag too easily these days," she said.
"It's the war, Lady, and the changes that have taken place within the Sea of Fallen Stars. Much of what the citizens of Sapra knew about their sea has changed. They fear what happened to the Whamite Isles might someday happen to them."
"There is no chance of that," Shinthala declared, then gestured up the plateau above them at the open structure of wood and granite that provided only meager shelter from the elements. "Not as long as the Emerald Enclave chooses to maintain the House of Silvanus here."
"May Silvanus forever bless this place." Torinbow touched bis chest over his heart respectfully.
Shinthala echoed the blessing then turned her gaze higher up the plateau. Other druids were there in the House of Silvanus. Some of them were deep in prayer and meditation, while others had returned to the Emerald Enclave's stronghold to heal and exchange knowledge.
The Calling River at Shinthala's