The Warrior Elf (53 page)

Kevin shook his head. “I think I’d ask Glendymere before I’d ask her. She’s helped us out before, but I don’t want to ask her to peek into someone’s mind and feed me information. That would be pushing it.” Kevin sighed and picked up another brownie. “I hope Dani’s up for it. He’s easy to work with, and I think he enjoys it.”

“Did you hang the chimes?”

“When I first got up here.”

Chris nodded. “Then all we can do is wait. After you talk to him, we’ll work out the rest.”

~ ~ ~ ~

First thing Wednesday morning Kevin picked Tyric up at the abandoned settlement where he used to live and took him to meet Cpt. Lawrence, who was waiting for him near the barracks. The captain had volunteered to take Tyric back up to the mountain camp so he could talk to the other two men from his settlement.

When Kevin got back to his office, Karl was waiting for him. “Did Tyric give you any indication what he’s thinking?”

Kevin shook his head. “He had a lot of things packed though, mostly clothes I think.”

“Where are his bags?”

“At the settlement. He wanted to leave everything there until he talks to the other two men from that area.”

Karl shook his head. “I wish we could move this along. I’d like to know what they’re going to do before Gov. Cranson gets here. Oh, did you find out if Doreen will take the woman whose husband’s not there?”

Kevin nodded. “Rhianna talked to her. Doreen’s fine with it as long as the mother takes responsibility for the child and doesn’t expect the others to take care of her.”

Karl nodded. “So everything’s taken care of except for Tyric and his wife.”

“And hopefully we’ll know something about that before Monday.”

~ ~ ~ ~

While Kevin and Karl were talking at the castle, Laryn was in Sister Agnes’s office in Milhaven. She was still having bouts of nausea, especially in the morning, and she wanted to see if Sister Agnes could suggest something that might help her more than the tea she was drinking.

“How long has this been going on?” Sister Agnes asked as she leaned down and placed her hand over Laryn’s abdomen.

“I’m not sure, maybe three weeks?”

Sister Agnes nodded. “And nothing before that?”

Laryn shook her head.

“Well, I think I know what the problem is.” Sister Agnes stood up, walked around her desk, and sat down. “Unfortunately, this is one of those things that only time will cure.”

Laryn frowned. “How much time?”

“The nausea should pass around the end of May. But you’ll develop other symptoms before long, some a bit uncomfortable, some annoying, but you’ll feel a whole lot better by the end of November.”

Laryn’s frown deepened and then her eyes widened. “Are you saying...? Do you think I’m...? Are you sure?”

Sister Agnes smiled. “You’re about eight weeks pregnant, and from what I could tell, things are fine. Congratulations.”

Laryn’s face went a few shades whiter than usual. “Pregnant?”

Sister Agnes nodded.

“A baby?”

Sister Agnes laughed. “Yes, you’re going to welcome a new member to the House of Nordin before Christmas.”

“Glendymere!” Laryn said as blood rushed back into her face. “It’s all his fault!”

Sister Agnes shook her head as she laughed some more. “I don’t think so. Maybe Steve’s.”

“Steve,” Laryn said as a smile started to tug at the corners of her mouth. “He’s going to be so excited. I’ve got to go tell him.” She started to get up but changed her mind and sat back down. “What do I need to do? Do I need to eat anything special? How do I do this?”

“For now, eat what you want. Some of the foods you used to love are going to turn your stomach as soon as you think about them. Stay away from those. And you’ll probably develop a taste for foods you’ve never liked before. As long as it’s not poisonous, enjoy them. Just be sure you drink plenty of fluids. That’s the main thing right now.” Sister Agnes stood up. “When you get used to the idea there’s a child growing inside of you, come back and we’ll talk some more. There are some things I’ll want you to do later, but for now, relax and enjoy it.”

Laryn nodded as she stood up. “Sister, would you do me a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Would you keep this to yourself for a while? I’ll tell Steve, but I don’t think I want anyone else to know yet, not Cryslyn, not Miranda, and definitely not my family. My life’s going to get a lot more complicated when people find out.”

Sister Agnes nodded. “I won’t say anything, but you won’t be able to keep it a secret for long. You’re a small woman, so you’ll start showing soon, and since you always wear leggings and a tunic, it’s going to be obvious.”

Laryn looked down and frowned. “I’ll find some larger clothes.”

Sister Agnes laughed again. “You’ll need them.” She started to open the door for Laryn to leave, but right before she turned the handle, she added, “You know where I am if you have any questions, or if you want to talk. And again, congratulations.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Thursday evening when Kevin and Nikki got to his room, Nikki ran to the couch and sat down facing it. She pawed at the cushion like she was trying to get someone’s attention. Kevin frowned and then grinned. “King Merdin?”

“Better than being snarled at, but sure does mess up the invisibility bit,” King Merdin said as he made himself visible. He reached down and gave Nikki a good ear rub. “You wanted to see me?”

Kevin nodded and sat down on a chair opposite King Merdin. “But first, can I get you anything? Something to drink?”

King Merdin shook his head. “I’m fine. What’s up?”

“I need a telepath.”

“You need to find out if someone’s telling you the truth,” King Merdin surmised.

Kevin nodded. “I was wondering if Dani might help me out, but I don’t want to ask him to do anything he’s not comfortable with.”

“I don’t think he’d have any problems with it. I can bring him here and let the two of you discuss it if you’d like.”

“That would be fine, but before you do, I want to tell you what’s going on so you can fill him in.” Kevin paused. “You’ll be able to tell if he’s not comfortable with this. I’m not sure he’d tell me, but if he’d rather not do it, it’s all right. I’ll understand.”

“I can already tell you he’ll probably be happy to do it, but if he has any reservations, I’ll let you know.”

Kevin nodded. “There’s a man living outside Milhaven who’s here on Rolan’s orders. He was sent to kill me.”

King Merdin stopped petting Nikki and stared at Kevin. “And he’s still alive?”

Kevin nodded.

“Why?!”

“Because he’s been here over a year and so far he hasn’t harmed anyone. If he hadn’t told Cpt. Lawrence how he came to be here, I’d never have known.”

“But why did you let him live? He’s an admitted assassin! Do you have a death wish?”

Kevin shook his head. “Of course not. Let me finish. This man’s in charge of seven other men who were sent here for the same reason.”

“And they’re all still here?”

Kevin nodded again. “They were castle guards for Rolan’s father, Tsareth.”

“I’ve heard of him,” King Merdin said quietly. “He was a good man. Supposedly he died in his sleep, but there’s been a lot of speculation that that might not have been the case.”

“I’m surprised you know that, but you’re right. I’m convinced Rolan murdered his father so he could take over the seat.”

“I believe it. The man’s pure evil. You’re fairly certain he was behind Badec’s death, aren’t you?

Kevin paused, wondering how King Merdin could possibly know that.

“Dani.”

Kevin nodded. “Anyway, Rolan wanted me dead before I was seated as Master Sorcerer. I don’t know why. There’s no way he wanted it for himself, but that’s irrelevant to all of this. Anyway, this man, Cpt. Garen, says his loyalty is to the House of Gergin, not to Rolan, and that Tsareth wanted Landis to be his heir. He hadn’t made it official because she was so young and he figured he had plenty of time.”

King Merdin nodded but didn’t say anything, so Kevin continued. “Cpt. Garen wants me to put him in touch with Landis so he can offer her his services and those of his men. He says they want to protect her from Rolan.”

“The question that comes to my mind is why now? You’ve been here over a year, and you didn’t make any secret of the fact Landis was your apprentice. Why did he wait this long to come to you? Why now?”

“Landis has only been seen here once, last November, and at that time there was a warrior elf with her, Rhianna.”

“The elf you’re seeing on a personal basis?” When Kevin stared at him, King Merdin shrugged. “What? You know we watch.”

Kevin sighed. “Yes, Rhianna and I are seeing each other, which is why Cpt. Garen and his men want to offer their services as her guard. He said they were fine with the idea of Landis being protected by a warrior elf, but if the warrior elf isn’t looking after her, they want to.”

“And you want to know if this is a genuine offer or if their orders have changed and they’re trying to get close enough to her to kill her.”

“Exactly.”

King Merdin nodded. “I don’t have to explain this to Dani to know he’ll want to be part of it, but I’ll tell him what’s going on and see what he says. Can you meet us here tomorrow night?”

“That would be great.”

“See you tomorrow night then.” King Merdin turned his key and left for home.

King Merdin had been petting Nikki the whole time they’d been talking. When he left, she sat up and looked around trying to find him.

“He’s gone home, girl,” Kevin said as he reached out to rub her head. “But he’ll be back tomorrow evening.”

“Who’ll be back?” Chris asked as he came in with two mugs of scog.

“King Merdin.”

“Sorry I missed him.” Chris set Kevin’s mug down on the coffee table as he sat down with his. After he took a sip, he asked, “So what did he say?”

“He thinks Dani will be fine with it. They’re coming back tomorrow evening.”

“Do you want me here? Or would you rather talk to them on your own.”

“I think you should be here.” Kevin picked up his mug. “And we need to decide how we want to do this before I meet with Dani. I want to give him all the details tomorrow night.”

“Okay. Let’s start at the beginning and work our way through it. First, how’s everyone going to get there? I assume you’re going to use your gate key if I’m going to have the other one,” Chris said.

Kevin nodded. “And I thought King Merdin could go with us and he and Dani can use his key. That way when we finish talking to Garen, King Merdin can take Dani home.”

“Are you going to have King Merdin come here first? Or go straight there?”

“Which way do you want to do it?”

“I’d feel better knowing they’re on the island, whether they come here first or not,” Chris said. “I’ll go with you to the island and then go get Garen. Cpt. Lawrence can hang onto him until I get there.”

“I’m sure he could do that, but where? You can’t pop into Fenway’s, grab Garen, and pop out again.”

“No, I’m sure he’ll have some of his men around. I would. I’ll need to pick him up someplace else.”

“The chapel,” Kevin said as Chris said, “Theresa’s.”

Kevin nodded. “They’re used to us coming and going from their back porch. If Cpt. Lawrence takes Garen to the chapel and leaves him with Theresa, you can pick him up there. But what are we going to do with him after we’re done?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we going to bring him back here?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want anyone knowing we’ve talked, much less what we talked about. I know he’ll have to tell his men something. They already know he met with Cpt. Lawrence to try to get an appointment with me. But if he tells them why, and then they tell someone, before long the wrong people are going to hear about it and word will get back to Rolan.”

“So what?”

“What do you mean?”

“So what if Rolan knows Cpt. Garen has jumped ship and is offering to protect Landis?” Chris asked. “The worst case scenario is he tells his other assassins to go after Garen and his men.”

“I’m not sure that would be the worst case, at least as far as Garen’s men are concerned. What about their families?”

Chris paused. “If they’re still in Trendon and Rolan gets word of this, he’ll take it out on them.”

Kevin nodded.

“So I guess the answer to your question depends on whether or not they have families and if they do, where those families are located.” Chris thought for a moment. “If their families are someplace else, you could take Garen and his men to join them.”

“That’s a possibility, even if their families are in Trendon. If they’re serious about wanting to guard Landis they’ll have to get their families out of Rolan’s reach before I’ll let them join her anyway.”

“Would you take their families to the island?”

Kevin didn’t answer immediately. “I don’t know, maybe.”

“What about the single men?”

“If I take the others home, they can go with them.”

“You could take them to their families whether you let them talk to Landis or not. It’ll get them out of Milhaven if nothing else.”

“We don’t have to decide what to do with them tonight, but we do need to have a plan before we meet with Garen.” Kevin stood up and stretched. “If Garen was around the castle before Rolan took over, Robyn should know him. Let’s talk to Robyn and see what he thinks after we talk to Garen.”

Chris nodded as he picked up the two mugs and stood up. “See you in the morning.”

Chapter 31

April 17

While Kevin was talking to King Merdin, Darius was in a small shed a few miles outside Milhaven waiting for Rolan to show up. He hated what he was doing but he didn’t feel like he had any choice. It was either do as he was told or die. Rolan had made that clear five years ago when he’d dropped him off.

Darius had been a slave for as long as he could remember. His family had been captured when he was an infant. He’d never known his father, and as soon as he’d turned eight, he’d been taken away from his mother and sold on his own. He’d had several owners, mostly farmers, but when he was fifteen, he’d ended up with a blacksmith. Even as a boy, he’d been bigger and stronger than most, so working in a smithy had suited him perfectly.