scabbard and said, 'You might as well say it and be done with it.'
Galaeron frowned, puzzled.
'What is there to say?'
Keya cringed, but tightened her lips and visibly began to gather herself.
'I know this isn't something you expected, but I'm over eighty years old. I can make my own decisions-and it's not like there was anyone here to ask.'
'Ask,' Galaeron repeated. 'About what?'
Vala nudged him the back with her elbow. 'The baby.'
'You roth?!' Takari hissed. 'Have you gone completely human?'
Finally, Galaeron realized that Keya did not blame him for what had happened in Evereska, that she was not even thinking about the war. She was frightened, not angry, and she only wanted the same thing from him that he wanted from her. He started to laugh, which only made Keya set her jaw.
'Is that all you're worried about? What / think?' Galaeron asked. He took her by the shoulders. 'I can't tell you how happy that makes me!'
Now it was Keya who looked puzzled.
'Why wouldn't I care what you think?'
Before Galaeron could answer, Takari interposed herself between the two.
'Galaeron is very happy for you,' she said, 'and he thinks Dex will make a wonderful father… for a human. Right, Galaeron?'
'Of course,' Galaeron said. 'I only thought-'
'And Keya is happy to have you back,' Takari said. 'No matter what the Golds say, she knows this isn't your fault. Isn't that true, Keya?'
'Even the Golds know the Shadovar tricked you,' Keya said. 'They've been planning this for centuries.'
Takari nodded to Burlen and said, 'Let's s get out of here before the phaerimm come back to finish the job.'
'Come back?' Galaeron repeated. 'That’s s the one thing we don't have to worry about. No phaerimm survivor is ever going to admit he was defeated.'
Keya and Takari exchanged looks, then Keya said, 'Galaeron, they always come back.'
'They're determined to wipe out the Company of the Cold Hand,' Takari added, 'but we're making them pay.'
'Determined?' Galaeron did not like the sound of that 'You mean they're still fighting an organized battle?'
Burlen scowled down at Galaeron and grumbled, ' 'Course they're organized. You want to kill a wolf pack, you'd better be more organized than they are.'
'So they're all working together?' Galaeron asked. This felt wrong to him, contrary to all Melegaunt had learned about the phaerimm during his century of spying. 'None are fighting over Evereska's magic? None are trying to claim the best lair?'
Keya said, 'They're too busy hunting us.' She turned to Burlen and said, 'Have the war mages lay some death wards. Well rendezvous at the Floating Gardens to plan our next strike.'
Burlen had barely turned to pass the order along before the Company of the Cold Hand began to melt into the woods. Keya took Galaeron by the hand and, motioning for the others to follow, started through the forest toward the back side of Dawnsglory Pond.
'Glad homeagain, brother-such as home is these days.' Keya threw a disgusted scowl in the direction of the Chosen, then quietly asked, 'Why the phaerimm costumes? We almost killed you.'
'My idea,' Galaeron said. 'I expected the phaerimm to be at each others' throats by now. We were going to fan the flames, make it look like they were killing one another and stealing each other's plunder. We'd hoped to start an all-out battle between them.'
They reached the near bank of Dawnsglory Pond. Keya paused to send Takari to scout ahead with Kuhl and Burlen, and Vala decided to go along. As they had vanished into the undergrowth, Keya looked back to Galaeron.
'What made you think they'd fall for something like that?'
'I was wondering the same thing,' Khelben said, speaking over their shoulders. He and the Silverhand sisters remained disguised as phaerimm. 'Clearly, Galaeron's source was mistaken.'
'No. The information was correct That's why Telamont wanted me back.'
'It would not be the first time the Shadovar have fooled you-or me,' Laeral said, laying a pair of spindly phaerimm hands on his shoulders. They are never playing the game we think. That’s s what makes them so hard to defeat'
'Or maybe something's changed,' Storm added. 'Whatever.
But these disguises have served their purpose. If the phaerimm are coordinating their efforts, I doubt we're going to fool them again-and, to tell the truth, I'm tired of dressing like an overgrown slug.'
'As am I,' Laeral agreed. 'The next time I'm attacked, I'd rather it not be by elves.'
Galaeron dispelled the disguise magic but remained convinced that the information Melegaunt had worked so hard to gather would not simply grow outdated. There was something about the situation he did not yet understand.
They started through the forest after Takari and the other scouts, and Galaeron said, 'Keya, hunting the Company of the Cold Hand can't be the only thing the phaerimm are doing in Evereska. What else are they doing?'
'That we know about?' Keya replied. 'For one, they're keeping Lord Duirsar and Kiinyon Colbathin trapped in the palace on Cloudcrown.'
'Alone?'
Keya shook her head. 'Lord Duirsar has a circle of high mages from Evermeet, and Zharilee is there with what remains of the Long Watch.'
'How do you know all this?' Khelben asked, walking along on Keya's far side. 'I've tried to reach both Lord Duirsar and Kiinyon with magic and heard nothing back.'
'The phaerimm have besieged the palace with an antimagic shell,' Keya reported, 'but Manynests comes and goes as he pleases.'
'They're holding Lord Duirsar prisoner?' Galaeron asked.
'Isolating him,' Keya corrected. 'They couldn't breach the palace wards, so they prevented him from leaving.'
'More likely the High Mages,' Laeral observed. 'If the Company of the Cold Hand is giving them trouble-'
'That*s it!' Galaeron burst. 'The high mages!'
'What about them?' Khelben asked.
Instead of answering, Galaeron stopped and took his sister by the shoulders.
'You said 'for one thing,' the phaerimm were keeping Lord Duirsar trapped,' he said. 'What are the other things?'
'Aside from the fighting you'd expect in any battle, there's really only one other thing,' Keya said. 'About ten of them have gathered at Hanali Celanil's statue. We haven't tried to penetrate their security perimeter, but Manynests says they're using a lot of magic.'
'I'll bet they are,' Khelben said.
Keya appeared perplexed by this remark, but Galaeron had a feeling he knew exactly what Khelben meant
'That's where the mythal was cast?' Galaeron gasped. This was a secret so closely guarded that, aside from Lord Duirsar and the city's high mages, only Evereska's most loyal friend among the Chosen would be privy to it. 'At the statue of Hanali Celanil?'
'I doubt there was a statue there when it was cast,' Khelben said. 'And I wasn't there, you understand.'
'But that's what you've been given to understand,' Galaeron concluded. Conviction and excitement began to well up inside him as half-formed thoughts raced through this mind, fitting all the pieces of the puzzle into place.
