Thornhold - Elaine Cunningham [171]
“True enough,” he agreed. He craned his head and looked up at the darkening sky. A few stars were coming out, and the only sound beyond the walls was the distant murmur of the sea. “Getting late. Might be we should find ourselves some beds, if we’re going to get on the road come morning.”
She stared at him, puzzled. “You’re not staying?”
“Never do. Not for long, anyway. Having secured the clan-hold-and taken the measure of my kin-I’d just as soon head out. If it’s all the same to you, thought I’d make my home with you for a while, seeing as how you live on the road and furnish your digs with enough trouble to keep things interesting. Might get myself one of them Harper pins, too, now that I got into the habit of meddling.”
A smile spread slowly across Bronwyn’s face. “Speaking of trouble, I still have this ring, you know.”
“That ought to do it,” the dwarf agreed.
Epilogue
29 Mirtul, DR 1368
Khelben Arunsun seldom dreaded anything, but he would gladly have given up a century of his life to avoid the summons to Piergeiron’s palace. He felt somewhat reassured by the presence of his nephew. The boy seemed to understand much more than he was told. Khelben hoped, and almost dared to pray, that the young man he loved as dearly as any son would not learn to know him much better than he now did.
With difficulty he focused upon the conversation taking place in Piergeiron’s study.
“The Knights of Samular held Thornhold for nearly five hundred years,” the First Lord said earnestly. “They are needed in that place.”
“I appreciate your feelings on this matter,” Danilo responded with far more diplomacy than Khelben would have mustered, “but we must confront the facts. The fortress is in the name of the Caradoon family. Bronwyn has elected to hold it as a legacy for her niece.”"Two young females cannot hold a keep,” Piergeiron pointed out.
“But the dwarves can. Some might even argue that the Stoneshaft clan has a better claim. They have lived beneath those mountains for more centuries than the knights have lived above.”
Piergeiron sighed. “You have been passionate in your defense of this woman. Yes, she recovered the rings of Samular but consider this: only one ring of three is in the proper hands!”
“Scattering the rings among diverse powers might prove to be a wise precaution, if unintentionally so,” Khelben put in. “The possibility of anyone combining the rings’ power into a single, devastating force is greatly diminished.”
“I cannot agree. These are artifacts sacred to Tyr. Yet I am told that the child maintains ties with her father, who is of the Zhentarim, and a priest of Cyric!”
“Yes, that is so. Bronwyn returned one of the rings to the paladins of the order, leaving one ring in the hands of the Harpers. There is balance in that, Piergeiron. Let it end.”
The First Lord shook his head regretfully. “How can I? And truly, Khelben, how can you consider the Harpers a sound fulcrum for balance, when there is such turmoil within Harper ranks? Sooner or later, there will be such division that some Harpers will be tempted to seek agreement and support wherever they may find it. Then there is the matter of Cara Doon. The girl should have been turned over to the order for proper training and guidance.”
“With all due respect, Cara was turned over to the order,” Danilo pointed out. “And she ended up with the Zhentarim in Thornhold.”
Piergeiron had the grace to look embarrassed. He picked up a scroll from the table and handed it to Khelben. “This letter may shed light on that unfortunate event.”
The archmage unrolled the scroll and scanned the ornate, old-fashioned script. It was a letter from Sir Gareth Cormaeril. After the usual salutations and courtly thanks for hospitality received, the old knight went on to report Algorind’s perfidy. It seemed that he had committed a number of crimes, among them cooperating with both the Zhentarim and the Harpers, and selling into their hands a child of Samular’s blood. He ultimately deserted the order to which he had pledged service, but not before he had consorted