eyes were green, her hair a very bright red.'
The half-elf snatched up the stone and seized Elaith's arm. Before the elf could protest, she hustled him out of the shop.
'That's Errya Eltorchul,' she said tersely. 'We need to speak with her.'
Elaith nodded and began to climb the stairs carved into the thick stone wall of a cobbler's shop. The half-elf, understanding his intent, fell into step. They made their way onto the rooftops and set an unerring course for the Eltorchul manor, following a hidden path known only to those who made their way in the shadows.
Arilyn fell easily into the task and into the rhythms of the elf's quick pace. Without speech, they circled the rooftops around the Eltorchul estate until they caught sight of Errya.
The woman was in the garden. They dropped lightly from the wall, flanking her and closing in. Elaith pointed a wand at her. A shimmering ball darted toward her, enclosing her head and shoulders and cutting short her shrill scream. She turned to run, but the elf seized her and sat her none too gently back on the bench.
Arilyn's attention was elsewhere. A familiar-looking cat had vacated Errya's lap and was now sitting crouched a few feet away The tabby's gray tail was lashing in agi shy;tation, but there was a decidedly unfeline expression of wrath in the creature's eyes.
It was the cat that Errya had held when they had come bringing word of Oth's death. It was also the tabby Arilyn had seen in Isabeau's chamber in the Eltorchuls' country estate.
It was, in short, one well-traveled cat-if indeed it was a cat at all.
Arilyn leaped, arms outstretched to seize the tabby. The creature vanished in a puff of acrid blue smoke.
'What the Nine bloody Hells was that?' demanded Elaith.
Arilyn looked down at the noblewoman and saw her suspicions confirmed in Errya's look of mingled panic and fury.
'That,' she said emphatically, 'was Oth Eltorchul.'
Eighteen
'It all fits,' Danilo said thoughtfully when they brought the matter before him. 'That ring Isabeau had at the Eltorchul estate-was it like the one we found on the severed hand?'
'I had not considered that, but now that you mention it, the ring did look familiar,' Arilyn admitted. 'It was gold and had a pink stone.'
'I'd wager that the ring we found was an illusion. The hand as well, no doubt.' Danilo began to pace. 'Remem shy;ber the state of Oth's study? The tables were overturned, the floors littered with broken pottery and common spell components, but the shelves, with their valuable vials and scrolls and boxes, were untouched.'
'No wonder the Eltorchul family kept Oth's death a secret,' the half-elf said. 'But why would he wish to appear dead?'
'I can answer that,' Elaith said softly. 'Much of it, you already know, thanks to Myrna Cassalanter's tat shy;tling tongue. The illegal trade in and out of this city is carefully, secretly controlled. For many years, I have been building an empire of my own.' He smiled faintly.
'I suppose it is a tribute to my success that I have finally been perceived as a threat. The seven families have been sending me warnings for quite some time now. Some are subtle, some not quite so.'
'Such as the tren attack at the Thann villa,' Arilyn said.
'That lacked subtlety,' the elf said dryly, 'but set your mind at ease, Lord Thann. That was not your family's doing. Naturally, it was hoped that I would assume it was and would strike back. This would have given the Thann family reason to join the others in their attempts to have me ousted.'
'So the Lady Cassandra has no part in this?'
'I did not say that,' Elaith cautioned him. 'She may have no choice but to take action.'
'What form will that action take?' Arilyn asked.
The elf was silent for a long moment. 'I thought that I held the Mhaorkiira. I had reason to think so. I ar shy;ranged for certain people to use the dream spheres, and from them I gained information I used to take action against the two-city consortium.'
'What kind of action?' Danilo said cautiously.
'I had nothing to do with your sister's death,' the elf began.
'That was Oth,' Arilyn said decisively. 'If he can take the form of a cat, why not a tren? Of course Isabeau had reason to run from him-from what Elaith says, she stole from Oth not once but twice. She probably named Elaith from sheer spite. What of Belinda Gundwynd?'
'Ilzimmer, I suspect,' the elf said wearily. 'The path to that is rather convoluted. I had a fatal dispute with a mercenary captain, a retainer of the Ilzimmer clan. The killing blade was made by the Amcathra clan and was stolen during the ambush.'
Danilo looked puzzled. 'What has that to do with the Gundwynd clan?'
'It is common knowledge that the Amcathra family is not among the two-city consortium. That is why I sent you to Regnet,' the elf admitted. 'It was a diversion, nothing more. The Ilzimmers assumed, as I intended for them to do, that the blade was a sign from Gundwynd. After all, it was lost from their caravan. Its use to attack an Ilzimmer soldier-especially considering that the man was the caravan master-could be seen as a direct accusation. The death of Belinda was intended to be a warning.'
'So were the attacks on Danilo and me,' Arilyn said. 'What of Simon Ilzimmer?'
Elaith's smile took on a hard edge. 'That was my doing,' he said without the slightest hint of guilt. 'The woman was in my employ and dying from a wasting dis shy;ease of the lungs. A few illusions, a few well spent coins, and there are many who will swear that Simon Ilzim shy;mer was seen coming from her room.'
'I cannot shed too many tears over such a man, but I do not approve,' Danilo said heatedly. 'Let's set aside the consideration of whether Simon's 'innocence' is gen shy;eral or specific. What about those who give testimony? I assume that they were chosen to implicate some other family and to further fuel the flames?'
The elf admitted this with a nod. 'I will undo what I can. You said that you had words with Simon Ilzimmer that same day-do you remember the hour?'
'The bells of Ilmater's temple were ringing,' Arilyn recalled.
'That answers all,' Elaith said with satisfaction. 'The hour is close enough. You can speak for him. That will help build favor between the Ilzimmer family and the Thanns. It will be easy enough to blame this on Oth. We know he has done murder in other forms. Why not claim that he took on the physical shape of Simon Ilzimmer?'
Danilo started to protest, then gave up with a sigh. 'We have to find Oth before we can accuse him of any shy;thing. The question is, how do we proceed?'
'I see several possible paths, none of them very at shy;tractive,' the elf said. 'We could turn this matter over to the Lords of Waterdeep, but these accusations would be hard to prove, and that might only deepen the animos shy;ity between the families. We could let the families settle this among themselves and hope that the bloodletting is minimal. This is the course I myself prefer, but for the fact that you and the princess are in line for reprisal.'
Danilo grimaced. 'Or?'
The elf's smile was cold and ruthless. 'We could serve up Oth to the two-city families-but first, we will have to find and stop him.'
'Not easy to find a dead man who can change his appearance at will,' Arilyn pointed out.
'It will be easier than you think,' Elaith said. He took the red crystal from his pocket and flipped it onto the table. 'Oth has been sending information to me through this-things he wants me to know. He wants all three of us dead and he is trying to entrap us. Let's oblige him.'
'I've heard better plans,' Danilo said dryly, 'but please, continue. This can only improve.'
Elaith reached out and tapped the stone. 'In two nights there will be a massive, coordinated tren attack against members of both the Thann and Ilzimmer clans.'
'Why would Oth do that?'
