Wizards Conclave

sorcery.'

Without hesitation, Palin held out the heavy book to Dalamar, who took it rather more quickly and fervently than he had intended. Palin smiled, with a hint of sadness.

'No, I want you to have it. And I am glad that you came here. I am sure you did not intend to do so, but your visit has confirmed for me that I've made the right choice-for Usha, for our children, but even, and without question, for me. I am through with that life, Dalamar, and you should make good use of this last vestige of my magic.'

'I understand,' said Dalamar; meaning that he understood that Palin was freely giving him this book of spells. In point of fact, he could not begin to grasp how Palin, a man capable of wielding almost unimaginable power, could turn his back on that power. But that was not a riddle the dark elf needed to solve. His hands trembled as he took the tome, clutched it to his chest.

Palin smiled now in genuine good humor. 'Perhaps you would take that room, now? Just for the night? It seems that, after all, you might have something to study.'

Dalamar nodded his thanks. He could hardly wait to sit down, light a lamp, and start to read.

Chapter 8 Passing through Palanthas

Jenna was already walking as the teleport spell faded around her. The lingering wisps of sparkling light quickly evanesced into nothingness. She crossed the anteroom of her villa, her temper foul and her skin clammy. Her assistant, Rupert, stood nearby, as usual having uncannily anticipated her arrival. He came forward to take the heavy cloak as his mistress sniffed in annoyance.

'Kendermore was even worse than Kothas,' she declared haughtily. 'Not a true wizard to be found in either place, though there are quite a few pretenders. Wild sorcery, on the other hand, is everywhere.'

'The minotaurs, as you suspect, are making trouble?'

'Very much,' Jenna said, with a shake of her head. 'But that's not my problem.'

'And the humans in the east, the caliph's realm?' inquired Rupert. 'You had no luck there, as well?'

'They might as well be barbarians!' snapped the Red Robe. 'Their women are kept locked away, or else put up for sale. And the men are so busy cheating each other that they wouldn't know real magic if it turned them into toads!'

'That is unfortunate, my lady. I do hope you will not lose faith.'

Jenna sighed. 'In truth, the people are as backward everywhere,' she declared. 'Simply ignorant of the ways of real magic. Perhaps our gods were gone away for too long.'

'I trust that is not the case,' Rupert said solemnly. 'Keep heart, my lady! As I recall, this is no less than you expected.'

'No, you're right,' Jenna said, pulling the pins out of her bun, letting her gray hair-as soft and luxurious as a much younger woman's-cascade across her shoulders. 'But I suppose I had my hopes up. After all, it's been more than half a year since the gods of magic returned to the skies-surely some of my order should have emerged, somewhere on Krynn!'

'The Tower of High Sorcery might hold your answers. You still have not discovered the key?'

She shook her head again. 'The Master is as stubborn as ever-if he still exists. I have concluded that, by myself, I will be unable even to find the Forest of Wayreth, much less gain access to the Tower of High Sorcery.'

'Undoubtedly you will find that secret, and in good time,' said the dignified servant. 'For now, you should know that you have received visitors in your absence.'

'Visitors? When did they arrive?'

'Only this morning, my lady.'

'Well, who are they?'

'A young lady… from the country, I should say, if not the wilderness itself. And'-Rupert sniffed audibly-'a kender.'

Jenna chuckled for the first time all day. 'Well, maybe things are about to get more interesting. Where are they?'

'I took the precaution of having them wait in the breeze-way. I posted several of your men-at-arms there, as well.'

Jenna crossed the wide hall and threw open the doorway to the outer porch, the balcony where she so often enjoyed the breezes coming off the Bay of Branchala.

'Moptop Bristlebrow!' she declared, immediately recognizing the diminutive visitor. She nodded at the two stout guardsmen who stood within an arm's reach to either side of the kender. 'You two can go now,' she allowed. Then she turned her attention to the second visitor, a dark-haired girl-or young woman-who regarded her with a strange mixture of curiosity and aloofness.

'Welcome to you both,' Jenna said. 'And what brings you the Red Manor of Palanthas?'

Coryn was staring at the most striking woman she had ever seen. This Jenna had graying hair that was nevertheless lush and full, and the smooth skin of her face belied her apparent age. She wore many necklaces, and an array of jewels, feathers, and precious rings dangled from them. More rings adorned her well-manicured fingers, and she wore a robe of deep red that swished easily as she walked, like soft velvet.

It took a second before the girl realized that Mistress Jenna-the lady she had been sent to meet-had asked her a question. Hastily she curtsied, at least insofar as she had guessed how to fake a curtsy, and replied. 'I am Coryn Brinefolk, from the village of Two Forks in the Icereach. My grandmother is Scharon Fallow. She sent me to find you-she asked Moptop to bring me here from the Icereach, and she said that I should give you this-'

'Scharon Fallow!' Jenna practically shouted and reached for the scroll that Coryn pulled, still sealed by Umma's wax stamp, from her knapsack. She extended it to Jenna with a shaking hand, hoping that, maybe, Jenna would tell her what her grandmother had written.

Jenna inspected the seal for a moment then broke the wax. She unrolled the parchment and read intensely, stopping only once to look up and fix a penetrating glance on Coryn. The girl squirmed under the scrutiny, but felt no relief as the older woman returned her attention to Umma's note. When Jenna looked up again, it was to offer the kender a disarming smile.

'Thank you, Moptop. I appreciate the job you have done-go and help yourself to whatever you'd like from the kitchen.' The smile faded to a more inscrutable expression, as she turned back to Coryn. 'Come with me,' she said.

'Yes, Ma'am,' said the girl, hastily picking up her knapsack and following Jenna through the door.

The room they entered was, simply, the largest enclosed space Coryn had ever seen. 'Oh, my,' she murmured.

'You don't have houses like this in Two Forks?' asked Jenna, in a serious tone.

'No, my lady. Nor in any of the places we passed through on the way to Palanthas.'

Cory's mind had been filled with wonders in the past weeks, during the trek that the kender had taken her on through ancient Tarsis, through a decrepit seaport and aboard ship to cross the Newsea, and, just this very dawn, into the crowded streets of Palanthas. Throughout the journey, Moptop had maintained a steady chatter. He cheerfully informed her of nearby places where terrifying monsters had lurked, the sites of horrific battles and massacres throughout history, scenes of wrack and ruin brought about by the First Cataclysm, and seemingly innumerable dangers lurking just beyond every hillcrest, each bend in the road, any given swell of the sea.

Yet the kender's account had been utterly fearless and entertaining, and this had helped Cory to keep her own fright in check. Without qualm, she had confronted the rowdy young men in Tarsis. She had held her tongue and maintained her pride in the face of rude questioning from the captain of a passenger ship at Newport, and when one of the sailors had proved overly bold, she had cut him with her skinning knife. The kender had escorted her through those forests she had once dreamed about, until the woodlands seemed to go on so far that she was afraid it would never end.

But nothing had prepared her for the splendors of this place, the wonders of what must certainly be the