then turned to her quarry.
The half-elf pounced onto the bed and seized Isabeau's wrists, pinning them up over her head. The tabby cat yowled and disappeared under the bed, and the woman came awake with a startled, inelegant snort.
'Call out, and I'll break your fingers,' Arilyn said softly.
It was a potent threat, for hands were a thief's most valuable tools. A dancer would sooner lose the use of her legs or an artist his eyes.
Isabeau went very still. 'What are you doing here?'
'I was about to ask you that.' Arilyn cast a quick glance around the room. 'What is this place? It's got more cats than Cormyr.'
'This is the Eltorchul estate,' the woman said haughtily. 'I am here by invitation.'
'Who did the inviting?'
'Lord Oth, of course. He and I are. . dear friends.'
Arilyn considered the possible layers of deception that formed this boast. Oth obviously had not invited her, but was this claim meant to cloak a darker deed? She decided to go on attack, for people often stumbled over themselves in an effort to explain and justify their claims. 'You're a liar,' she accused.
Isabeau didn't take the bait. 'You will have to be more specific.'
'All right, how's this: Lord Oth is dead,' Arilyn said plainly.
Panic jolted into the woman's eyes. 'Let me up, and I'll tell you what I know,' she said in a subdued voice.
Arilyn eased away. She rose to her feet and stood by the bed, arms folded. The former barmaid sat, pushing aside the heavy mass of her hair from a face that had suddenly grown pale.
'You are certain he is dead? Who killed him?'
Interesting, Arilyn thought, that she would immedi shy;ately come to this conclusion. 'How do you know his death wasn't illness, or accident?'
The woman scoffed, dismissing that notion with a small, spitting sound. 'From what I knew of him, I'd say it's a marvel he lived so long.'
'Yet you seemed upset to learn of his death.'
'Naturally! Lord Oth was a wealthy man, a powerful man. He could have been useful. See this?' Isabeau brandished one hand, her fingers spread to show the pink and gold ring on her middle finger. 'He gave me this as a token and bade me present it when I wanted use of the estates.'
'You picked an interesting time to use it,' Arilyn said coldly. 'The woman whose place you took is dead.'
Isabeau didn't so much as blink her heavy lashes. 'What of it? The Dock Ward is a dangerous place.'
'Especially when there are tren lurking about.'
'Tren?' The woman shifted one silk-clad shoulder. 'That word means nothing to me.'
The half-elf tamped down her temper. 'All right then, what is your connection to Lilly?'
'Who?'
Her bored, derisive tone did not match the defiant chal shy;lenge in her eyes. Arilyn saw that she had two choices: she could play this woman's game by rules Isabeau under shy;stood, or allow herself to be played like a cheap fiddle.
She backhanded the woman across her lovely, sneer shy;ing face, then hauled her up by her hair. 'Let's try that again,' she suggested in a cold, dangerous voice.
A measure of respect crept into Isabeau's eyes, and she eased Arilyn's hands from her hair. 'You are speak shy;ing of the red-haired serving wench. Yes, I took her place. I overheard a man and woman talking about seeing a young woman to safety out of the city. Why should that be her and not me? I seized the chance, as a drowning man might take hold of a rope. Would you begrudge that man his rescue, demanding that he die while he consid shy;ers whether someone else might be more worthy of it?'
Arilyn folded her arms. 'Drowning, were you? In what cesspool?'
She tossed her dark head. 'I fled the elf. You know the one. He was pursuing me.'
The half-elf carefully kept her face neutral as she con shy;sidered this revelation. She had to admit that Isabeau's story was plausible. Elaith had promised Danilo months ago that he would let Isabeau live. Perhaps the elven rogue thought that he'd kept the promise long enough. If indeed he had followed Isabeau, he was most likely behind Lilly's death. With all the weapons at his command, it would not be difficult to imitate the cutting patterns of tren claws. Certainly Elaith had some knowledge of tren.
Another, darker thought occurred to her. Perhaps the tren assassins she had come across in the Thann villa were there not for an ambush but for an arranged meet shy;ing. Errya Eltorchul had said that her brother had done business with Elaith. Perhaps their dealings had gone sour, and the elf had intended to arrange for Oth's death. Once Elaith was discovered with the tren, it was not inconceivable that he would kill a few of the creatures to maintain his cover.
Even as the thought formed, Arilyn acknowledged this was an extreme measure. For one thing, it courted tren vendetta. For another, Elaith and five tren could have easily overcome her, and there would have been no one left to tell the tale. However, as Arilyn had told Lady Cassandra, she had never heard that Elaith had slain another elf.
She turned her attention fully upon the watchful Isa shy;beau. There was room for truth in the woman's words, yet Arilyn did not trust her and did not believe her claim that she 'just happened' to wander into Lilly's tavern. Arilyn knew what would have led Elaith to Lilly's door, and she could easily imagine Isabeau having a part in its acquisition.
'As you say, the Dock Ward is a dangerous place,' Arilyn said, as if she conceded the woman's argument. 'Lilly recently sold a large ruby to a fence and probably had ready coin.'
Isabeau's eyes went dark with rage, and she pounded on the bed with both fists. 'The little cheat!'
Immediately she recognized the error of her words, realized that she had been tricked into admitting more than she had intended to. The vindictive, malevolent rage that twisted her face robbed her of beauty and stole Arilyn's breath.
Arilyn fought away the instinct to take a step back. The last time she had retreated from anything was a chance confrontation with a wounded panther, and that was a tactical move rather than one motivated by fear. Nonetheless, she recognized this was a truly dangerous woman.
Even as the thought formed, Isabeau sprang, cat shy;like, from the bed. She lunged not at Arilyn, but at the statue with the feline head. This she shoved with all her strength, sending it toppling toward the pursuing half- elf.
Instinctively Arilyn ducked, but the statue never quite fell. One stone hand flashed up to catch its bal shy;ance against the wall. The painted eyes took on depth, then a luminous glow.
It was clear that Isabeau had not been expecting this. She scrambled back up onto the bed, her back against the headboard and her eyes enormous.
The cat man leaped at Arilyn, fangs the color of ala shy;baster bared in a deadly smile. She dove straight toward it, rolling under the spring and rolling again to put dis shy;tance between herself and the magical guard.
She rose to her feet and drew her sword, although she was not sure how much good it would do her. The cat, for all its light-footed speed, was fashioned of stone.
A paw lashed out. Arilyn parried, and sparks lit the room as steel struck stone. The cat's other hand closed around the steel blade, and it wrenched the sword from Arilyn's hand. It threw the sword across the room and batted at the half-elf with its other paw.
Arilyn could not dodge the blow in time, but she rolled with it to minimize its force. She came up aching and bruised, but not badly hurt. The stone cat had kept its claws velveted. The statue was playing with her. Once it unsheathed those alabaster claws, Arilyn was done.
On impulse, she dove at Isabeau and tore the signet ring off her hand. Brandishing it at the cat, she com shy;manded the creature to stop.
A heart-stopping moment passed as the magical guard studied her with its inscrutable feline gaze. It was an enormous gamble, Arilyn acknowledged, and if it didn't work, she would be dead.
The cat turned and returned to its post. It assumed a regal pose, and the light faded from its eyes. Arilyn's
