Lilly's eyes swam as she listened to Danilo's words. 'This is your doing, not your father's. I'd wager my life on that,' she said softly. A long moment passed, and she added, 'It's more than I'd dare hope for, but for all that, I'll be sad to go.'
'It is hard to leave home and family,' Danilo agreed.
A wave of sympathy swept through Arilyn as she realized the pain these unwitting words would bring.
The girl's tears spilled over. She quickly dashed them away with the back of one hand and gave a shaky smile. 'Aye, that it is.'
As they rose to leave, Lilly dipped a curtsey to Dan and then held both hands out to Arilyn. It was a common form of leave-taking among women of the working class, a simple statement that the recipient was valued enough to warrant putting aside work entirely, if but for the moment. Arilyn understood the gesture for what it was: the only claim to sisterhood that Lilly would make.
On rare impulse, the warrior went one better. She gently pushed aside Lilly's offered hands and took the younger woman in a sister's embrace.
'The strength of Corellon, the beauty of Hanali, the joy of Aerali,' she said softly, speaking the traditional elven blessing in the language of their foremothers.
Lilly pulled away and managed a smile. 'Many's the year since I heard those words. The same to you, lass, though I've more respect for the music of the thing than to wrap my caterwauling tongue around it. Now, off with you both, before Hamish misunderstands the nature of this visit and tries to charge you rent by the hour.' She made little shooing gestures with her hands, as if herding recalcitrant chickens.
They shooed, walking down the creaky back stairs and into the alley beyond, where Danilo attacked the problem at hand with unusual vigor. He wanted Arilyn's opinion on the best spot for the cart to wait, her assess shy;ment of possible ambush spots, and what they should do to ascertain whether or not additional Watch guards were needed. With an attention to detail that would not have been out of place in King Azoun's court, they went over the small escape.
When that was settled, Danilo's supply of words ran uncharacteristically dry. They walked together in silence, and the young bard's expression was unusually pensive. Arilyn began to doubt whether Danilo was as oblivious to Lilly's identity as he had seemed. After a time the half-elf's curiosity overflowed.
'Does Lady Cassandra know about Lilly?'
He looked startled. 'I for one do not intend to apprise her! If Lord Rhammas wishes to confess his mistresses, he must tend to the matter himself.'
'It's a bit late for that,' Arilyn said dryly. When Danilo sent her a puzzled look, she shook her head in aston shy;ishment and dug in her bag for the tiny bronze mirror she carried. This she thrust before Danilo's face.
'Take a good look, and try to remember where you last saw those features. I'm thinking that you-and your sister-both managed to get a bit of elven blood from your various mothers, but you both got your father's eyes.'
His puzzled expression froze, then he nodded slowly as he understood the truth of it. 'Of course. I should have seen it. Perhaps I did-Lilly is a merry lass, and I liked her upon first meeting. She was serving at the Gemstone Ball,' he explained. Sudden anger flashed into his eyes. 'She was serving in her own father's house! How could Rhammas countenance such an insult to his child?'
'Perhaps he didn't know. You only learned of it just now.'
'There is that,' Danilo admitted. A faint smile crept onto his lips as he pondered this revelation. 'A sister. How marvelous. You would think I had enough siblings that the novelty would have worn off, wouldn't you?'
'She needs you. The others don't,' Arilyn pointed out.
Danilo looked surprised, then pleased. 'That is so.' He considered the matter and then cast a sidelong glance at her. 'What would you say about wintering in Suzail? It is close to Cormanthyr. If the sages are right about a harsh winter to come, there will be the usual attempts to reduce the borders of the elven forest to firewood. Chances are, you'll be heading that way, anyway.'
'True enough.'
'It's settled, then,' he said happily, taking her com shy;ment as assent.
Arilyn listened as he chatted on, full of plans for their time together and the life they would help his new- found sister build. It sounded so easy and hopeful that she could almost believe it might come true.
She glanced at the moonblade, almost afraid that it would be aglow with warning light or humming with silent energy. However, the elven sword was silent, as if content at last to reflect Danilo's high spirits and bright hopes.
Eleven
Midnight had not yet come, and already Danilo had borne witness to the death of some twenty barrels of wine and the subsequent birth of two new betrothals, a dozen covert business deals, and three challenges to duels scheduled to be fought upon the morrow. By these measures, Galinda Raventree's annual costume ball was its usual success.
Of course, there was the buzz created by Haedrak's arrival. A city obsessed with nobility could not resist the lure of the young man's claim to royalty. For many years, it had been common belief the royal house of Tethyr had been obliterated in the terrible wars. A few minor rela shy;tives survived, and from time to time one made a dubi shy;ous claim, but Haedrak arrived in Waterdeep with unassailable credentials, not the least of which was the support of Elminster the Sage and the bard Storm Sil shy;verhand. Haedrak had expressed a desire to unite with Zaranda, the mage turned mercenary who had recently been acclaimed queen of the city of Zazesspur, and to join with her in uniting all of Tethyr. He was in Waterdeep gathering support for the Tethyr Reclamation from the wealthy, the bored, and the adventurous.
Danilo supposed Haedrak would do well enough. A dark, thin man with a serious face and a small pointed black beard, he looked more like a scribe than a warrior, but Waterdeep, enamored as she was by royalty, would no doubt flock to his banner. It was almost amusing how the nobles tripped over each other in their eagerness to be seen in Haedrak's shadow.
The most entertaining spectacle, in Dan's opinion, was Arilyn's participation in this frivolous event. The shopkeeper who'd supplied them both with costumes had outfitted Arilyn as Titania, the legendary queen of the faerie realm.
This had proven nothing less than inspired, for it built upon the half-elf's fey heritage, transforming her from somber warrior to a creature of heart-stopping beauty. The costume was a marvel of translucent wings and floating, glimmering silvery skirts, but the shop shy;keeper had not stopped there. She had dressed Arilyn's black hair in clusters of ringlets dusted with silvery glitter. The half-elf's eyes were remarkable to begin with-a deep vivid blue flecked with gold-but cosmet shy;ics made them appear enormous, exotically tilted at the outer corners, and startlingly blue against her white skin. Her face had been buffed with some iridescent powder, and it glowed like moonstone in the soft candle shy;light. In all, Danilo congratulated himself on having had the good sense to lose his heart to this marvelous woman years ago before the general rush began.
That was the second source of his private entertain shy;ment. More than a few of Danilo's peers had started to pay court to the apparent faerie queen, only to recon shy;sider the notion when the half-elf turned upon them a flat, level gaze more appropriate to a battlefield than a ballroom. Faced with a forbidding Arilyn, even the most intrepid or inebriated man suddenly remembered press shy;ing business on the far side of the hall.
This amused Danilo to no end. He supposed that evinced some serious character deficit, but he saw no immediate cure for it. He had always enjoyed Arilyn from their unpromising beginning to the complicated present, and he could not get out of the habit. He gave a nod of mock sympathy to the latest of her spurned suitors, then flicked a nonexistent bit of lint from the ruffle at his cuff.
'You're looking smug,' remarked Regnet Amcathra.
Danilo's pleasure in the evening deepened as he turned to face his longtime friend. 'Why should I not? Winning that lady's regard was no small accomplish shy;ment. I like to think that sterling personal qualities, which admittedly are well hidden, enabled me to accomplish this feat.'
The nobleman chuckled. His amusement stopped abruptly as two men disguised as a centaur thundered
