1 State of Grace (14 page)

She was even more beautiful naked than in the dress. Her breasts were full, and her nipples erect. Her hair shone in the moonlight. Wolf could feel his mind rescinding control of his actions.

“I poured us some wine,” he offered.

She took the glasses from him and reached around him to put them on the bar, pressing her body against his as she did so.

“Later,” she whispered.

Then she put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. He was out of defenses. He wanted her too badly. He put his hand on the small of her back and drew her to him. Then he lost himself in the passion.

Chapter 15: A Very Different Kind of Woman

(Two Days before Revelation Day)

May Honeyflower smiled wanly at General Blackstone as he stomped around her tiny but neat office. He was a fat man – so unlike a soldier – but he knew how to brandish his rank and often thought bullying local officials would get him what he wanted.

She tried to despise the man but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She pitied him. His thin, grey hair and round jowls made him unattractive, and he seemed to have given up controlling the size of his stomach years ago, preferring instead to throw it around like a weapon. He was out of his element, but he didn’t know it. She was sure his bluster got him results in the Royal Army. Junior officers and enlisted probably quaked at the prospect of fighting under him for fear of failure.

Here in Alfar, though, no elf was motivated by such poor behavior. He was a boor, and the more he carried on, the less respect he held. Which was why she pitied him. He was in command of the Urlish forces here and a consultant in the negotiations to get the Urlanders off Alfari soil. His lack of skills – his very nature as a fish out of water – only hindered his ability to get anything he wanted. And that just led to more of his tactless behavior.

May glanced over at Kenderbrick, the representative of Urland’s Shadow Service and caught her grimacing at the general’s continued shouting. May felt sorry for her. This woman knew Elfin culture well enough to be embarrassed for him.

“Now, I want to know where he is, and I want to know now,” Blackstone demanded.

“General Blackstone,” May said as politely as she could muster, “why would I know the answer to that question? Your ambassador is your citizen, brought here by your forces. Why would I know why he is overdue?”

Blackstone turned purple with anger. For a moment, May thought he might pass out.

“Because you’re the head of what passes for security in this God-forsaken country!” he bellowed pounding his fist on her desk. “When someone goes missing, it’s your job to know where they are!”

“Calm down, General,” Kenderbrick said. “That doesn’t help.”

He threw his hands up in the air and stormed away from the desk. With a real effort he tried and mostly succeeded at controlling his temper.

“General,” May said, “I am the Captain of the Elite Guard. That does mean I am in charge of security, but it does not mean I know the whereabouts of every citizen or visitor. Moreover, my soldiers were not assigned escort responsibility for your new ambassador; therefore I cannot tell you anything salient about why he is overdue. Perhaps he’s just late.”

“And perhaps one of the damned Sons of Frey got to him this time,” Blackstone said, rounding on her.

“If that’s so,” May said, adopting a slightly more aggressive tone, “I’m not sure what I could have done about it.”

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me, Lady,” Blackstone spat. “Especially considering that those damned whackos are out in the street blowing up a market every other day, and they nearly succeeded in assassinating the ambassador before he even stepped off the boat.”

May took a moment to compose herself. She may have pitied Blackstone for his lack of understanding that led to his coarse behavior, but she was not about to be insulted either. She had to calm herself before she could speak civilly.

“The near-assassination of your ambassador was the result of Urlish secrecy, General,” she said. “Your government insisted on bringing him in on a merchant vessel with no fanfare. Your government did not inform the Elite Guard or the Central Police or even the Alfari military of his arrival or his arrangements. It was therefore impossible for us to know when he would arrive or to provide proper security.”

She contemplated apologizing again for the near-death of the Urlish Ambassador but decided not to. Blackstone was irritating her.

“Well, somebody knew when he would arrive, Sister,” Blackstone growled. “Otherwise, the assassin wouldn’t have been there.”

“All right, that’s enough!” Kenderbrick said. “General Blackstone, the Alfari government has already apologized for the assassination attempt. Given that their security was out of the loop, they couldn’t have been responsible for the assassin knowing how to find Ambassador Dasher. The very security measure you insisted on prevented them from helping us and indirectly caused the incident.

“Captain Honeyflower cannot be expected to conjure up the ambassador at a moment’s notice. She needs time to put her network to work. So I suggest you stop insulting her and let her get to it.”

Blackstone snarled at her, his face twisting in anger. He looked as though he might explode. But he said nothing to challenge his colleague. May liked this woman. She was no-nonsense, and she knew how to deal with elves.

“Captain,” Kenderbrick said, “Ambassador Dasher is overdue. He was expected by nightfall. It’s almost two in the morning. Ordinarily, we might assume he was just late, but given the previous attempt on his life and the precariousness of the negotiations at the moment, we have to proceed as though his tardiness isn’t benign.”

May leaned back in her chair a bit. She wondered why Kenderbrick hadn’t been appointed the new ambassador. She certainly had a gift for diplomacy.

“Do you have a map of his expected route?” she asked.

“No,” Kenderbrick replied, “but he was to take the main road from El-Amin to Al-Adan. We’ve dispatched a patrol, but they have not discovered his carriage or any sign of him. No witnesses claim to have seen the carriage.”

“So he could have disappeared anywhere along the main road,” May observed.

“Correct.”

“I will contact my man in El-Amin to begin a search immediately. In the meantime, we’ll start an investigation here. It may be that one of our informants has heard something from the Sons of Frey.”

“Thank you,” Kenderbrick said.

“Yeah, thanks so much,” Blackstone cursed.

“Take heart, General,” May said. “If the Sons of Frey had abducted or killed your ambassador, they would crow about it. Since we have not heard from them, my guess is Ambassador Dasher, while overdue, has not yet come to any harm.”

“Let’s hope you’re right, Captain,” Blackstone said. “Because if you’re wrong, I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen to the negotiations.”

May nodded. Blackstone may have been a boor, but he was right about that.

***

Wolf crept across the darkened floor of the villa towards Silverleaf’s office. He used another of his Shadow powers to keep from being detected. So long as he stood in darkness – a shadow or other unlit area – he could not be seen. He blended into the darkness, even if someone was staring directly at him. There was plenty of darkness in Silverleaf’s house. Once the servants retired, they put out the lights, making it easy for Wolf to move along undetected. The only illumination came from moonlight through the windows, and it was easy enough to avoid those areas.

He cursed himself for his weakness with Simone. Bedding Silverleaf’s girlfriend was a dangerous and stupid thing to do, especially in the Alfari ambassador’s house, where he wasn’t a welcome guest. While it was true she came on very strongly, he should still have had the will to resist her. He could only guess that the wine from dinner had clouded his judgment and lowered his inhibitions to the point where such an act seemed reasonable. He cursed himself for that too. He should have been more careful about the amount of alcohol he was consuming.

He supposed there was nothing to be done about it now, though. He couldn’t undo what he’d done. He’d just have to hope they weren’t caught. When he returned from his reconnaissance mission, he would wake the girl and send her to own room.

Presently, he reached Silverleaf’s office. The door was open. He’d made sure to leave it that way during the tour Simone gave him, so he wouldn’t have to risk reopening it later. He was pleased to see no servant had come along to rectify the glaring breach of security. Quickly, he slipped inside.

There were no torches or candles lit, but a giant window allowed in the moonlight, casting the entire room in a ghoulish glow. Wolf could see well enough to investigate. He thanked his good fortune for visiting on a night with a full moon.

He moved swiftly to the desk and began searching through the drawers. He found several scrolls and took the time to look through them. Most were policy briefs and other items related to his business as a diplomat. One was a map of Jifan – a curious thing for Silverleaf to have, Wolf thought.

There was one drawer that was locked. Wolf stared at it carefully for a moment. He detected no magic. He then produced a set of lock picks and set to working the keyhole. It only took a few seconds for him to get it open.

His eyes fell immediately on a small piece of folded parchment that had been sealed with the crest of the Phrygian Army. Wolf’s eyebrows rose at the sight of it. Perhaps Silverleaf was conspiring with the Phrygians after all. He picked it up, saw the seal was broken, and then flipped it open and read it.

Ambassador,

Everything is in readiness. Suggest we meet once more to finalize operation. Usual location will provide the most cover, I think. I will await you on the full moon.

In victory,

Tupelov

Wolf couldn’t help but be alarmed. He didn’t know who Tupelov was, but he was clearly Phrygian military, and he was in league with Silverleaf. Was this what Sara discovered that got her killed? He suspected it was. It would explain her death at the hands of a Shadow.

But what did it mean? Even if he could tie the Alfari ambassador to a Phrygian plot, he had no idea what they were planning or when whatever they were up to was supposed to occur, although he suspected it was soon, since Tupelov mentioned meeting one last time to finalize the operation.

Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good for Urland. The Phrygians were Urland’s mortal enemies in a cold war that threatened to go hot at any moment, and Wolf knew from both Simone and his own dealings with Silverleaf that the elf hated the Urlish. This had to be some sort of plot to get Urland out of Alfar forever. But how?

He rummaged through the drawer for any other clues to the operation but found nothing. He replaced the note and shut the drawer, relocking it. Then he began searching the office for other clues. He looked in bookshelves and art and even under a throw rug, but he found nothing. He was about to give up when he heard a voice behind him.

“He keeps a safe behind the vase,” Simone said in Gallican.

Wolf whirled in her direction, dropping instinctively into a defensive posture. She only smiled at him in the moonlight and giggled. Letting out a sigh, he relaxed.

“That’s a good way to get yourself killed,” he commented.

“So is sneaking around in Sagaius’s office after dark,” she returned, still smiling. “Somehow, I don’t think you are Urland’s new ambassador to Alfar, Wolf.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” he said, trying not to sound defensive.

“Then why are you ransacking Sagaius’s office?”

Wolf had to be careful here. He’d already made one huge mistake with this woman tonight. Did he take her into his confidence? He decided it was too risky.

“Because I want to know what I’m up against in the negotiations. You told me yourself he hates Urlanders,” he answered.

“Hmph,” she said, but the smile didn’t fade. “As I said, the safe is behind the vase.”

Wolf turned and went to a tall vase depicting a pastoral scene with elves frolicking in the sunlight. It sat against a wall and next to a bookcase. He moved it but saw nothing. He turned back to Simone with a quizzical look.

“No, silly,” she said with another giggle. “You’re thinking too much like a human. You’re in an elf’s world now. Nothing is at it appears, and magic is the most likely solution.”

She came forward, smiled sexily at him, and placed her hand in the vase. She felt around for a moment, and then appeared to touch something.

A moment later, a safe literally grew out of the wall. Wolf watched it emerge as though it were some sort of fast-growing plant that had been watered. Within thirty seconds, where there had once been nothing, there was a large wall safe with a handle on it. Stunned, Wolf put his hand to it.

“Password,” a voice from the safe said in Elfin.

“Sagaius’s password is, ‘For the glory of Alfheim,’ but you’ll have to say it in Elfin,” Simone said.

Wolf looked at her in wonder. She continued to smile.

“How do you—”

“A woman has her ways,” she said, cutting him off.

He nodded. Her eyes suggested she was ready for more sex. With an effort he turned his head back to the safe and trigged his medallion to speak in Elfin.

“For the glory of Alfheim,” he said.

“Password accepted,” the safe replied.

The handle in Wolf’s hand moved to the left, and the safe door opened. Inside were several scrolls, money in Urlish, Gallican, Phrygian, and Alfari currencies, and a page that appeared to have been torn from a very old
grimoire
of some sort.

Two of the scrolls were maps – one depicted Al-Adan; the other the royal palace. The third scroll contained a list of names.