with a bed, a table, and a small cookstove. Sitting on the bed was the most nervous-looking man Sela had ever seen. Timha was pale and gaunt; his maroon robes looked several sizes too large for his frame. His hair was dirty and unkempt, and his eyes were furtive.
He licked his lips when they entered. 'Are you them?' he answered. 'Are you the ones who've come to take me to Seelie?'
'We are,' said Silverdun.
'Oh, thank you,' said Timha. He collapsed on the bed, relief spreading over his face.
Silverdun, Elspet, and Sela sat at the table, but Ironfoot remained standing. Timha sat up and looked at him.
'Well?' he said, excitedly. 'When do we leave? Let's go!'
'Not so fast,' said Ironfoot. 'Before we can leave, I need to have a look at these plans of yours.'
Timha blanched. 'Plans? Why? We don't have time for that. You wouldn't understand them anyway.' He licked his lips again. 'They're highly advanced thaumatics; not like the plans for a tree house or something.'
'I should introduce myself,' said Ironfoot. 'I'm Master Styg Falores, the Alpaurle Fellow at Queensbridge, in the City Emerald. I have a feeling I might be able to make heads or tails of them.'
Timha goggled at him. 'But ... what are you doing here?'
'Examining your plans,' he said. 'Hand them over.'
Timha nodded and reached under the bed. He drew out something that Sela couldn't see and placed it on the bed. But there was nothing there.
Timha made a motion with his hand and suddenly there was something there: a leather satchel stuffed with documents and slender volumes.
'It's all here, I swear,' said Timha, looking nervously at Ironfoot. 'Why would I lie about something like this?'
'I can't imagine,' said Ironfoot. 'But I still need to examine them.'
Sela examined the thin, wavering thread that connected her to Timha. 'He's telling the truth,' said Sela. 'Quite desperately, in fact.'
Timha gave her a sidelong glance. He seemed to sense that she was connected to him, and didn't like it.
'I still need to look,' said Ironfoot.
'All right,' said Silverdun. 'But can you hurry it up? I tend to agree with Timha here that the quicker we get this over with, the better.'
'Go ahead, go ahead,' said Timha. He looked at Elspet for support, but she merely shrugged.
'This is between you and them now, journeyer Timha,' she said kindly. 'The Church wishes you well, but we have brought you as far as we will.'
She stood. 'I'll go prepare the yacht,' she said. She nodded to them and stepped outside.
'Stand up,' said Ironfoot. Timha stood, and Ironfoot began spreading out the documents on the bed, peering at them one at a time, deep in concentration.
After several minutes, Silverdun sighed. 'I have to say, Ironfoot,' he said, 'that I'm beginning to side with Timha on this one. Can't we speed this up a bit?'
Ironfoot gave him a withering glance. 'As Journeyer Timha here so elegantly put it, this isn't a tree house we're talking about here. Give me a moment.'
As the minutes passed, Timha seemed to become more and more anxious. He hadn't paid much attention to Sela, which was fine because she didn't really care to experience firsthand what he was feeling.
Finally Ironfoot put the documents down. 'If this is a ploy, it's an incredibly intricate and convincing one. Without studying this at length, I'd say there's a very good chance it's the real thing.'
'Then can we finally be on our way?' asked Silverdun.
There was a scream from outside. Silverdun was at the door, knife in hand, in a heartbeat. Looking out, he said, 'Damn! We've been discovered!'
Ironfoot folded up the documents and shoved them haphazardly into the satchel. 'Come on,' he said to Timha. 'Stay behind me.'
'Oh, no,' said Timha. 'This isn't happening.'
'Oh, but it is,' said Ironfoot. 'Move.'
Sela took the small dagger from her bodice and weighed it in her hand. It wasn't a throwing knife, and she couldn't have thrown it even if it were. The training Lord Tanen had given her was geared toward up-close work. Still, the knife was something. She followed Silverdun out the door.
