The Elven Stones_Family

by P. A. Wilson

  Maynard wouldn’t get any information out of her no matter what he wanted to talk about.

  Chapter 17

  Springheart entered the private room they’d booked to find Maynard and Willowvine already there. The two were sitting facing each other across the table, actively not talking. Willowvine had her elbows on the table, chin resting on her palms, glaring at Maynard. He sat looking at the ceiling ignoring Willowvine.

  “What do you have to report,” Springheart asked. It would be better if they just got it over with. He didn’t have the energy to mediate whatever they were fighting about.

  Maynard turned his gaze from the ceiling and tossed a stack of papers on the table. “Here is what I found. They all traveled to The City. Four of them were off island for more than a week. Does that help?”

  Springheart knew that Maynard was still digging for details even without asking specific questions. “I’ll read through it, thank you.” He turned to Willowvine. “Did you scout all the buildings?”

  She gave another glare at Maynard and then placed her sketchbook on top of the pile.

  Springheart would have to find out what they’d argued about, but it could wait until later. “Anything we need to know about without reading everything?” The pile of information was more than he’d expected.

  She flicked at glance at Maynard. “I’m not sure I can tell you what I learned.”

  The man rolled his eyes. “Will five minutes suffice?”

  When Springheart nodded, Maynard left. Willowvine checked to make sure he wasn’t lurking this time. This contract was only made harder by Maynard’s presence. They met in the inn because Maynard couldn’t be trusted not to search their rooms if they met there, and a room at the guildhall was private, but not secure, too many nosy and ambitious couriers around. Springheart itched to make progress and he feared that this interference would make him do something stupid just to move forward.

  “Well, what did you learn?” He knew that Maynard would be back at the last second of the time he’d given them. He seemed willing to get the contract done. Perhaps he was as frustrated at the need for secrecy as Springheart.

  “I overheard something and I don’t know if it gets too close to the details,” she said.

  And you don’t like the man. “Well, we are alone.” He would trust her feelings until she proved that she was just being petty as he suspected.

  Willowvine relayed the information ending with, “I don’t know if he heard anything but Maynard found me while I was following. So, this Vitenkar must be the one, right?”

  Her information was good. Vitenkar was now the number one suspect. That meant they needed to get rid of Maynard for the night. If he tried to come along it would mean their death when they found the stone. Regardless of his desire to rush forward, Springheart knew that Willowvine needed to learn how to work with people, even people like Maynard Slack. “And why were you both acting like sullen children when I arrived?”

  “He wanted me to tell him what I found. And when I wouldn’t, he started sulking.”

  Springheart was sure that there was more to the story, otherwise she would not have been sulking too. “And?”

  “And maybe you should ask your new best friend.” Arms crossed over her chest, Willowvine shut the topic down.

  There was a knock on the doorframe and then Maynard joined them again. “Is it safe for me to enter?”

  Springheart waved him in. This was difficult. Now they had to find a real task for Maynard, one that would keep him away from them tonight. One that wouldn’t seem like he was being fobbed off. The last resort was to go to the guild board and say they had reached a point where all the information was confidential. It wouldn’t guarantee that Maynard would be pulled off the contract. It might mean he’d be there covertly. If they had to keep looking for spies, then the contract would fail, they would die, and so would the rest of the elves. Even if that death was years, even decades in the future, knowing that it was the end of the elves would mean life simply became time spent waiting to die.

  “We have all the information we need, I think.” He watched Maynard for signs of argument. The man was nodding, his expression open and agreeable. Springheart couldn’t suppress a suspicion that Maynard was just pretending. “The bulk of the work now needs to be done at night. So, here’s what I propose. We each take a list of homes, and spend the night observing the comings and goings. By morning we should have reduced the list to a more manageable size.”

  “We have wasted two days, and now you are willing to waste another?” Maynard asked. “I thought there was a hard deadline.”

  “We have not wasted any time. What would you have us do? Charge into fifteen homes of the most prominent merchants on the island?”

  “Of course not,” Maynard shrugged, a lazy and insolent response. “This sniffing around is not what I expected. I thought you were both experts at entering buildings. I thought we would be searching.”

  “You are thinking a lot for someone who doesn’t know all the details,” Willowvine snapped.

  Holding up a hand to quiet the argument that was about to burst out, Springheart said, “Barging into people’s homes doesn’t require preparation. Slipping in and out unnoticed requires a great deal of it. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

  Willowvine looked about to offer something. Springheart glared at her and she slumped back in the chair. Maynard waved for Springheart to continue.

  “If we share the list, we will have to enter four houses each and two or three other buildings. We should be able to accomplish that tonight. Maynard, you will just gather intelligence and report back. You are looking for any secretive behavior outside normal business practices.”

  “Very well, and if either of you find what you are looking for, what will you do?”

  Springheart knew what they would do, but he couldn’t tell Maynard, first because it would reveal too much about the stone, and second, because the elves were not splitting up. “The same, but since we have the details, we will know when we are successful.”

  “Give me my information and the sketches she made. We should rest for the remainder of the daylight and I think meet again at dusk.”

  Maynard’s attitude annoyed Springheart and made him more sympathetic to Willowvine’s ill temper. Not buying into an ego battle for control, Springheart culled the information from the pile and waited until Maynard was gone before arranging the rest of the papers to put Vitenkar’s information on the top of the pile.

  * * *

  The elves were naive if they thought he would slip off and leave them to work alone. The girl had been following those scree. Maynard didn’t know why, but he knew who the fighters belonged to. The research he’d done revealed that Vitenkar had been hiring mercenaries for the last two weeks. He hadn’t thought much of it, scree tended to like warriors around. Most families had a standing army, but there were always fighters who preferred to sell their loyalty. Scree mercenaries ran the gamut from those who had failed to act fierce enough to those who wanted more battles than the occasional family skirmishes.

  Now that Willowvine had shown interest, the information he’d gathered seemed more pertinent to their quest.

  The scree had the stone. He was sure of it. There was no single piece of information pointing to Vitenkar, but it fit.

  Maynard also knew the elves would be searching the premises and not splitting up to search other locations. There had to be a way for him to help, or appear to help.

  Let the elves obtain the stone, take all the risks, and then he’d take it from them and get the glory of saving the elves and filling the contract. Maynard couldn’t be there tonight, but he could perhaps lower the odds of them getting caught.

  The scree would be in the gambling houses. In peace, as short as that usually was in scree society, they channeled their adrenaline addiction into gaming, usually dice and cards.

  There was a gaming house not far from Vitenkar’s residence. Maynard formed a plan as he walked.
He could draw the majority of the mercenaries away tonight without the elves knowing he was involved.

  Vitenkar wouldn’t know that Maynard had abetted the break-in, which meant the scree merchant could be used later if things went wrong. Or, a better idea, when the elves had the stone, perhaps he could trick the scree into helping him in his plan to take it from them.

  Maynard liked to use all of the opportunities that came his way.

  Chapter 18

  Willowvine followed Springheart from the tavern. She wouldn’t be able to rest, and didn’t need sleep to be successful tonight. They were going to walk the perimeter, or as much of it as possible, of Vitenkar’s residence. This would not be as easy as last night’s searches.

  Scree weren’t lazy, and they guarded what they valued.

  She wanted to talk to Springheart, to discuss their approach, but he was lost in his own thoughts. She scanned ahead and saw Maynard turn down an alley ahead of them. Willowvine touched Springheart’s shoulder to get his attention and told him what she’d seen. “His home is the other way. He isn’t going to do as he agreed.”

  Springheart stopped and observed the entrance to the alley “Can you scan him?”

  Willowvine closed her eyes, and sought Maynard’s aura. There were a lot of people around creating pools of auras in buildings. A bright blotch of anger ahead at their destination didn’t worry her. Scree were always angry. She’d be concerned when that changed.

  There was another blotch of anger shaded with excitement at the end of the alley. All she could see of Maynard’s aura was the usual muddiness, but he was joining with the other auras. Sighing she returned to the physical world. “Nothing new. What’s down that alley? There is a bunch of scree there.”

  Springheart started walking toward their destination. “Gaming houses. Perhaps Maynard Slack is the type of man who relaxes with dice.”

  It was frustrating to deal with the reality that her power wasn’t going to help. It was her advantage, but it didn’t work. She knew that trusting Maynard was a mistake, but without any evidence, even weak evidence, Springheart wouldn’t jeopardize the contract. “I bet he’s going to meet some scree. I think he’s up to something. He knew I was following them. We should check on him.”

  “It’s more important for us to be prepared tonight,” Springheart said. “We’re both going in, and we need to know how much danger we might face. Maynard’s vices have nothing to do with us.”

  “It would only take a minute to see what he’s doing. If it’s just gambling, we can continue.” Why did he always think she was wrong?

  Springheart came to a stop and looked back to the entrance to the alley. “Can you tell how many scree are there?”

  Where was he going with this? “No. Just that there are a lot.”

  “Can you tell how many scree are at Vitenkar’s from here? It’s only a few streets away.”

  She closed her eyes, and checked. “A lot,” she answered after a second look at the auras.

  “More than in the gambling house?”

  “Yes. What exactly does that have to do with it?”

  “They will probably all be at home tonight. No scree would allow his army to waste time on games and drink. They would be in constant training. That’s why I want to see what we’re up against. The scree in the gambling house aren’t going away. Maynard Slack isn’t trying to make us fail. It would ruin his reputation as well. The house is only a few minutes away.”

  “Fine,” she said and started walking toward Vitenkar’s house.

  Springheart stopped her. “We’ll check the house and then go back to see what Maynard is up to. I don’t doubt your ability, Willowvine. I just think we need to deal with the contract. Maynard has his own agenda, I know that. But he doesn’t have any of the information he would need to betray us.”

  She couldn’t muster any valid argument. She hoped they weren’t making a mistake. Maynard Slack was not to be trusted. “Fine. Let’s do this fast.”

  Vitenkar’s home was enclosed behind a wall. It was too high for them to see over, and far enough away from neighboring buildings to make it obvious if they simply strolled around. Willowvine scanned the building again, but there were too many people there. She was able to distinguish that the women were in the back of the house, probably servants. There was a mass of auras on the left of the building, and a couple of them upstairs on the same side.

  “Probably business downstairs, personal upstairs,” she said. “What if we go to the hill and see if there’s a way through the back, maybe the kitchens?”

  The hill she pointed to was close enough to the back of the house to let them see in, far enough away that no one could use it as an advantage in a fight. The scree were always prepared to defend from attack, even in a town as peaceful as this.

  “It is going to be a challenge tonight,” Springheart said. “We’ll be going in blind. I don’t like it.”

  They strolled to the hill and rested below a large oak. “I’ll climb up and look. We’ll only see the back, but there are fewer scree there,” she said.

  Not waiting for him to argue, Willowvine scaled the ancient tree. The branches were sturdy enough to bear her weight even at the tapering ends. Peering through the leaves, she memorized the few details she could see.

  Dropping straight from the branch to land on the ground, she said, “We can get over the wall. We’ll need something to cover the top. It’s got glass embedded in it. There are four doors to choose from. I saw servants using the far right one. They were carrying trays and I think that’s our best way in.”

  “Okay. Let’s get to the gaming house.” Springheart led the way down the hill.

  Willowvine did one more scan of Vitenkar’s home. Finding nothing different, she followed. If they’d been seen, there would have been a change in someone’s aura.

  Any suspicion and there would be scree coming to get them.

  Chapter 19

  Their inability to fully see the scree’s home was drilling a hole in Springheart’s stomach. They never went in without knowing the danger. Willowvine’s power allowed them to know the location of every person, even if they only knew the layout of the building. Now, they were not only planning on going into Vitenkar’s home without knowledge, they were walking into a gaming house filled with scree.

  Springheart needed to make sure Willowvine didn’t go rushing through the crowd. They needed to be extra cautious to avoid bringing attention and raising suspicion.

  The gambling house was dingy and the only upkeep seemed to be strengthening the door. It would take a determined attack to get through if the owner wanted to keep someone out. The noise was deafening, and it explained the location. There were no homes nearby, only warehouses and storage buildings, no one to complain, no one to bring the gaming to an end.

  “There’s going to be more than just dice and cards inside,” he said. “Try not to look too closely at the side rooms and dark corners.”

  These houses usually had some form of brutality going on for the patrons to bet on. If it were just pitting one man against the other, he would be surprised. And if it wasn’t, Willowvine didn’t need to see it.

  “I’m coming in, though.” Willowvine reached for the door to push it open.

  Springheart pulled her hand back. “Follow me. Try to pretend I’m in control for now. I don’t think they are used to women coming here. At least women who aren’t serving them, or for sale.”

  She swallowed and paled a little. If she was scanning the auras now, he probably didn’t need to warn her what was inside.

  “I’d be surprised if Maynard came to such a place simply to gamble.” Springheart wouldn’t admit she’d been right, that Slack was up to something, but he no longer thought that the man was whiling away time. If this is what he did in his spare time, the guild would need to know. Couriers who were at risk of manipulation were no longer an asset.

  Willowvine blinked and the fear left her eyes. “Fine, but maybe you were right. If he needed t
o get more information on one of the names on the list, it would explain why he’d come here.” Her tone was gleeful rather than reasonable.

  “Don’t get careless. Now, is there anyone on the other side of the door?”

  She closed her eyes and then a grimace twisted her face. “No. Everyone is farther in. But the emotions are… bad.”

  “Stay behind me.” He gave the door a push. It swung open with little sound. The roar of voices almost overwhelming his senses, Springheart led the way into a wide common room. In the center, a wild cat was trying to defend itself from a large bird. Springheart had never seen a hawk so large. There was magic involved here. Someone was husbanding animals for this purpose.

  There would be no way to carry on a conversation in the bedlam of encouragement to the animals. He scanned the crowd for Maynard’s dark hair and height. The room contained mostly humans and scree. Maynard should have stood a head above the humans, and his dark unbraided hair would make him different from the scree. There was no sign of him. There were alcoves in the far corner, but most of them were open to the room. The roar of the main event made anything else impossible.

  He turned to take Willowvine outside.

  She wasn’t there.

  His breath froze in his lungs. He should have made her stay outside. This place could hold any number of people who wanted an elf in their control. He would have to find her fast.

  Slipping behind the crowd, Springheart found a path between the gamblers and the wall. No one paid him attention as he circled the room. The fighting in the pit was becoming more frenzied, and no one wanted to miss the kill.

  His path took him past the alcoves, toward the only door he could see. The rooms were empty as expected and there were no stairs he could see up or down. This was not one of the sophisticated gaming houses. There was no place for a musician, no kitchen. People didn’t come here for an evening’s entertainment. They came to feel the excitement of raw risk.