half-elf. Someone was unhappy that Arlos Dezlentyr married an elf woman. Tren tunnels link the Dezlentyr estate with Diloontier's shop. Shall we find out why, or would you rather spend the rest of your life checking shadows for a tren ambush?'
'There is something in what you say,' he said slowly.
'Do we have any reason to believe that the tren attacks were directed at anyone other than Oth Eltorchul and those who happened to have recent dealings with the man? Once the truth of his death is known, there will be no further need for concern.'
Arilyn sniffed.
'Truly,' Dan continued earnestly, 'no one among the nobility wishes you ill. Some might be displeased by my choice of companion, but they could hardly see our future children as a threat to the peerage. After all, the line for the Thann family title is as long as a dwarven ballad.'
They walked in silence for several moments before he spoke again. 'Your mention of Lady Dezlentyr took me aback. Lady Cassandra reminded me of that story a few nights past,' he said slowly. 'At the time it was apparent she meant it as a cautionary tale. Although it pains me to say this, I am not certain whether it was intended as warning or as threat.'
Arilyn did not respond at once, giving him time to absorb the impact of his own words before she added another painful layer. 'That perfume your mother rec shy;ommended. Would you recognize the bottle if you saw it on the shelf among others?'
'I suppose so. Why?'
'Lady Cassandra was quick to give it up when she saw us. If we wish to prove that Diloontier sells things other than simple perfumes, this might be a place to start. You heard what I said to her in the shop.'
'Heard, yes. I'm not sure I understood what went unsaid between you.'
'I implied that her potions or others in the shop might be poison. I told her I had no use for them
'I know people who can test it for me, see what it is and how it works. It will take a few days for me to get back the answer, but it would be information worth having.'
Danilo digested this in silence. 'Do not misunder shy;stand me when I say that testing the perfume would be effort wasted.'
'But-'
He cut her off with an upraised hand. 'Diloontier took the bottle into the back room, promising to 'repair the scent.' By now the contents have been altered. We must look elsewhere.'
Arilyn could not refute his logic. She gritted her teeth and acknowledged it with a curt nod. There was no more speech between them, though she could not help but wonder if Danilo was relieved at finding a wall at the end of this particular alley.
She had her moonblade and her duty to the elven people. Danilo had title and privilege and a nobleman's loyalty to family and peers. Of one thing she was grimly certain: Before this matter was settled, either she or Danilo would be called upon to sacrifice something of deep value. She only hoped it would not be each other.
In all truth, though, she did not see how it could be otherwise.
* * * * *
Lilly walked quickly down the streets of the Castle Ward. She seldom had reason to come to this posh dis shy;trict of Waterdeep, but her determination sustained her, just as it had through the horrid trip back to the city.
This ward was almost as foreign to her as the tun shy;nels and caves had been. There was little work to be had in the Castle Ward, since the taverns hired serving girls with more polished speech and manners. Nor did she dare ply her trade as thief so close to the castle and the horde of guards and watchmen who patrolled the area.
She nervously smoothed her hands over the skirt of her best dress and hoped that she did not look too con shy;spicuous. More than one masculine glance lingered upon her and followed her as she turned onto the Street of the Sword. Usually Lilly would look upon such things as nature's course, a compliment paid without words. Today she feared the stares meant she was out of place.
Worse yet, under scrutiny.
The thought sent her blood skittering through her and set up a humming in her ears like that of a dozen whining mosquitoes. 'I'm in a dither, that's all. No call for it,' she assured herself in the most stouthearted tone she could muster.
Tossing back her head, she walked the rest of the way with feigned confidence and entered Balthorr's Rare and Wonderful Treasures as if she did so twice every tenday.
The proprietor glanced up. Lilly rocked back on her heels, unprepared for the man's scarred visage. She'd heard that Balthorr had lost an eye in a battle with a chimera, but she didn't expect that he would flaunt his loss as proudly as a family crest. He wore a glass eye, striking in that it was nothing but a white sphere. To Lilly, it was eerily reminiscent of the dream spheres.
'I have come to sell,' she said, more abruptly than she had planned.
Balthorr studied her with his one good eye. He rose and jerked his head toward a curtained room.
Lilly followed him, then quickly spilled her coins onto the table. 'These are platinum. Not many will accept them from the likes of me without asking questions. Can you exchange them for lesser coin?'
The man studied one of the large, shining disks. 'Two hundred silver,' he offered.
She worked out the exchange in her head and decided the deal was fair enough. 'This, too,' she added, placing the ruby on the table.
Balthorr picked up the gem and studied it. 'Very pretty. Too big to be real, though.'
For a moment Lilly's heart sank, but she quickly gathered herself, bolstered by her conviction that this stone was something very special, almost a living thing. It was not so very big-not much bigger than the nail on her smallest finger. 'It is a precious stone,' she said severely. 'I heard tell you knew about such things.'
The man spread his hands and shrugged, as if to say that she could not blame him for trying to make the best bargain. 'Two hundred gold, paid out in trade-weight bars. Not a copper more.'
Lilly's head swam with the enormity of it. Never in her life had she imagined owning such a sum! Why, with that money she could go as far west as Cormyr, with enough left to take lessons in speech and deportment and buy some respectable clothes. She could find work in a fine shop and make her own way without recourse to thievery.
'I'll take it,' she said, knowing she should barter but not willing to risk that life-saving sum. She watched intently as the man counted out a hundred gold coins onto a scale, then balanced them with several small shining bars to show her the trade bars measured up in weight to the actual coin. These he placed into a small sack.
When he was finished, she fairly snatched up the sack, startled by how heavy that much gold could be.
Lilly was too eager to be off to be overly concerned with proprieties. She hiked up her skirts and attached the bag to the belt that cinched her chemise. The shop shy;keeper glanced in her direction, but he seemed far more interested in the ruby and platinum coins that he had just acquired.
With a fistful of silver coins at the ready, Lilly fled from the shop and searched about for a carriage. It was an extravagance, but one she could ill afford to pass up.
Under the watchful eye of Hamish Half-ogre, her tavern room was the safest place she knew. Better to waste a few coins to ride back to this haven than to risk losing all among her fellow thieves.
Three guild carriages passed by without responding to her hail. Finally one drew up, and a pair of halfling grooms hopped down to help her up. The carriage was not empty, but Lilly did not expect to have it to herself. A man and woman sat nestled cozily together on one seat. She settled down on the opposite seat, keeping her eyes politely averted to give her fellow travelers a bit of privacy.
'Doing a little shopping, are we?'
The voice was darkly accented, edged with ice, and chillingly familiar. Lilly started and turned a guilty gaze upon her partner.
'That I am,' she babbled, trying without success to hold Isabeau Thione's hard, black-eyed gaze. 'Sold one of the dream spheres, I did, just as we agreed. The coins bought me a lovely dinner, and this new hat-'
'Spare me. I've been following you, and you went nowhere near a tavern or a milliner. I'm guessing you
