Murder in Halruaa (24 page)

“Not a bit, Mister Blade.”

“I was afraid of that.” He looked to Lymwich, who was shaking her head in disbelief. “Are we ready for our voyage?” he asked her.

Much to his surprise, she gave him a snappy salute, then motioned toward the back door. “Yes, sir. Right this way, sir.”

He marveled that there was a sense of humor, or at least irony, beneath her iron foundation. The thought was pushed aside, however, by a growing sense of excitement. He looked at Matthaunin, who smiled and nodded sagely. “Oh, this will be a real treat, Mr. Blade,” the gatekeeper said. “It has been quite some time since these old eyes of mine have witnessed a voyage of the magnitude you have requested.”

“And been granted, apparently,” Pryce said. “Let’s go see the vessel that we’ll be using, shall we?” He walked quickly through the kitchen and into the bar, the gatekeeper trailing behind.

Normally when one entered Schreders At Your Service by the rear door, the glory that was Lallor would fill his eyes as he passed the bar and walked into the main room. There, Lallor Bay

would be stretched out before him, beyond the crystal-clear windows that covered the front wall of the restaurant.

Pryce retrieved the book he had left behind the bar and then stepped into the central salon. But this time, he could see almost nothing of Lallor. Although the sun was almost a quarter of the way across the sky, the tables of Schreders were dark and empty. A shadow filled the room, and the bright autumn sunshine was blocked from view. Instead, through the windows, Pryce saw the rich brown beauty of the finest stevlyman wood.

Lymwich and Witterstaet went one way around the tables, and Pryce went the other. They met at the front door and went outside at the same time. The gatekeeper walked to the bow of the huge structure floating outside the restaurant, while Covington moved toward the passenger gangplank at the stern.

Between them, they took in the magnificence of the Great Mystran Skyship Verity.

The skyship was virtually the national symbol of Halruaa. With the exception of fiery Haerlu wine, it was what most people thought of whenever Halruaa was mentioned. Its three towering masts were set in a broad-beamed skyfaring vessel equally at home in the air, on the water, or on land.

Pryce moved through the crowd that was gathering to admire the polished plates along the hull that mimicked the appearance of a dragon turtle. He looked toward Lymwich with an expression that said “nice touch.” He looked back toward the hull when he saw she wasn’t paying the slightest attention to him. Instead, she was checking an inventory list with the leader of the crew, who knelt in the open door of the hold.

Pryce put his ear close to the thick, shining wood of the hull to listen for the hum of the central silver shaft of levitation and the two golden cylinders of control, one at each end of the ship. The power source had to be recharged once a year by council members. By the powerful sound of the huge ship as it hovered five

feet off the ground and fifteen feet in front of Schreders’s door, it must have been recharged very recently.

The ship was luxurious, yet it still had old-fashioned rustic charm. Pryce felt such a sense of welcome that he could hardly wait to get on board. He continued to make his way through the milling crowd of admiring onlookers, Lallor dignitaries, skyship crew members, and security officers.

None gave Darlington Blade the Lallor hello. Instead, they smiled, nodded, and cast approving glances his way. Pryce felt certain that by the time the ship was ready to leave, everyone in Lallor would treat him the same way. Never had Pryce felt such acceptance. These people were not judging his performance. They were really listening. Now, all he had to do was give them something to listen to.

“Who are you?”

Pryce hopped back to avoid bumping into Dearlyn Ambersong. Her eyes were haunted and red-rimmed, with dark circles beneath them. Her skin was pallid. He stopped, leaned toward her, stared, then leaned back again. “You should be on board,” he told her quietly.

“Who are you?” she whispered urgently again.

He whispered back. “I’m Darlington Blade.”

“No, you’re not.”

‘Yes, I am.”

Despite all the people around them, the two felt alone. She blinked and her eyes started to get wet. Then her lips grew thin, tight, and bloodless. As he watched, she somehow regained her composure. “You told me you weren’t,” she said, a deadly chill in her voice.

‘You were going to kill me.”

“But if you really were Darlington Blade, I couldn’t have killed you!”

Even though her voice had begun to rise, Pryce did not alter his manner, volume, or tone. “Yes, but if I weren’t Darlington

Blade, I most certainly would have hurt you.”

She blinked, her mouth opening and closing on that conundrum. “But… you said… my father…”

Very carefully, he placed his hand on her arm, hoping he could keep her from falling apart. “Miss Ambersong. Dearlyn. Listen to me. I care for… ” He swallowed, unable to finish the sentence after everything he had knowingly, and unknowingly, done to her. “I care what you think of me,” he was finally able to say. “Get on board the ship. No matter what you may feel, and no matter what you have suffered, this I can promise you: It will all be over soon. Do as I ask. Please.”

She stared at him for a few seconds more, then spun on her heel and hurried up the gangplank. Pryce took a deep breath, fighting off a feeling of shame. He straightened his shoulders and reminded himself that he had a difficult and extremely dangerous job to do. He touched the clasp and moved toward the companionway.

Several people he recognized as elders of the council gave him the highest sign of Lallor approval, “the Halruan Salute”—a nod of the head while pointing at the brain with the forefinger. Pryce was pleased to return the sign, hoping he would be living up to it very soon. He allowed himself a nod, minus the brain-pointing, to various other interested parties, including some junior patrol leaders, the head militiamen, and even a few elves and half-elves whose interest in illusion was so great that they were allowed to study in the city.

Finally Pryce made his way through the excited crowd to a walkway that led up to the deck. At the top of the gantry, a young human crew member was checking the passenger list. “Where is the captain?” Pryce inquired.

The crewman pointed toward the upper deck, where an officious older woman in a handsome sky-blue uniform, complete with golden epaulets and silver buttons, stood beside a pair of carved cylinders. Pryce walked quickly past several other crew

members who were bustling around the deck and hopped up the ladderlike steps to where she stood. He put out his hand as he approached her.

“Permission to sail with you, Captain. I am Darlington Blade.”

Without hesitation, the woman took his forearm in her hand and he gripped hers in return. When people rode in a skyship together, they depended on and trusted each other implicitly. “Captain Renwick Scottpeter, Mr. Blade. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure for me to be finally met.” He looked at the blue sky and the gray clouds off in the distance. “Is everything in readiness for our voyage of sanctuary?”

“The inquisitrixes and priestesses of Mount Talath have prepared a beacon queue for us to follow,” Captain Scottpeter reported. “Once we reach a certain altitude, we will be irrevocably drawn to the Central Temple of Mystra, where Greila Sontoin awaits us.”

Pryce spun his head toward her. “Greila Sontoin herself?” he asked incredulously.

‘To receive the life’s work of Geerling Ambersong, personally delivered by Darlington Blade? She said, and I quote, that she ‘wouldn’t miss it for all the electrum in Zoundar.’”

Pryce smiled back with excitement and just a slight case of nausea. Sontoin was said to possess unearthly wisdom. “I am anxious to see how our meeting goes,” he said honestly.

“As I am to see what you have planned for our expedition,” said the captain, now surveying the horizon. “I’m told you have a most unique… entertainment… prepared.”

Pryce grimaced. That would be the way Lymwich would term it. “I wouldn’t precisely call it an entertainment, nor would I say I’m exactly prepared. I do hope, however, that you and your crew have also been advised to be prepared… for anything.”

The captain nodded. “Please do not concern yourself on that score, Mr. Blade. You can rest assured that we will sail this ship

with infinite pride and determination no matter what occurs.”

‘Thank you, Captain. Now, is there some place where I can make ready for my presentation?”

She led him to her quarters, which were nestled below the upper deck, looking out the stern. After showing him inside, the captain took her leave. The ceiling was low, but otherwise the room was plush and comfortable. A crimson-covered bed was recessed into the wall toward the bow. A table and chairs were placed below windows that looked out the starboard side. An imposing wooden desk rested below the stern windows.

To his relief and growing pleasure, the wardrobe he had asked for was laid out on the bed. Before he concerned himself with it, however, Pryce took a moment to survey Lallor, and Lallor Bay, from above. It was indeed a beautiful city… truly the hidden jewel of Halruaa. Its proudly executed design made it a place to fight for, to die for… and apparently to kill for.

There was a knock at the door. Pryce glanced that way and said, “Yes?”

The halfling grotto manager stuck his head inside. “Blade?”

“Gheevy, my friend!” Pryce said with pleasure. “Do come in!” The halfling entered, looking deeply concerned. Pryce laughed. “My dear Wotfirr, don’t worry. I assure you that I will rest on this voyage!”

“It’s—it’s not that, Blade. It’s… well, how on Toril will you ever pull this thing off?”

Pryce furrowed his brow and came around the table. “What do you mean, my friend? What’s troubling you?”

The halfling quickly looked to see if there was anyone else in the hall, then closed the door firmly. “It’s like you said when you left the workshop,” he said urgently. “We know now that Geerling, Gamor, and Teddington are dead. But there’s one more person who is dead, and only we two know it!”

Pryce turned his head to one side, as if he heard something off in the distance. “Who?” he wondered.

“You know!”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Pryce said calmly. “Darlington Blade!” Gheevy hissed. “I am Darlington Blade,” Pryce said casually. ‘Yes, but—”

Suddenly Pryce held up his hand. “Don’t say it, Gheevy. I know. But if this is going to work, I have to remember one thing: I am Darlington Blade.”

“But you’re not!” the halfling wailed in despair. “And you know it!”

“No, I don’t,” said Pryce flatly, his expression blank. “What?”

“You’re wrong, Gheevy. You were wrong when you said that ‘only we two’ knew one more person was dead, and you’re wrong now.”

Wotfirr looked intrigued. “Whatever do you mean?”

Pryce held up his forefinger. “The murderer also knows it,” he reminded the halfling.

Realization dawned on the halfling’s face, followed by storm clouds of anxiety. “Right. So how can you possibly reveal his identity without condemning yourself?”

Pryce just stared at his associate for a few moments, then turned idly toward the starboard window. He looked out while absentmindedly fingering the heavy wooden table. “An interesting question, that,” he said so quietly that Gheevy barely heard him.”Remember what I told you the most important letter was to a detective?”

“Certainly.” The halfling nodded. ‘Y.”

“Exactly. Why. As in ‘Why has the murderer let me live?’ Or ‘Why hasn’t the murderer exposed me long before now?’ ” He cocked an amused eye at the halfling. “Do you have any answers, Gheevy?”

The halfling looked around the cabin helplessly. “No, none at all.”

“That’s too bad,” Pryce Covington said somberly. “Because I think I do.” He turned away again to see his reflection in the windows of the captain’s cabin. “What if our murderer can’t do either of those things?”

The halfling could only stare at the man who would be Darlington Blade, unable to comprehend.

‘What do you mean?” he asked.

Pryce went on without looking at him. “Give me a moment alone, would you, my friend?” he asked quietly.

Gheevy took a final worried look at the man he had almost exposed, then subsequently risked his life to protect. “Of course,” he said, then left the cabin, carefully and quietly closing the door behind him.

*****

“It’s time to depart!” Berridge Lymwich bellowed from the bow. “Crew members, clear the deck and cast off the lines! Move those people back away from the ship!” The crew rushed to insure that the onlookers were clear of the lines, aided by the inquisitrixes, militiamen, and patrols lining the narrow plateau beneath the Verity.

News of a Mystran temple skyship’s departure, its hold filled with the magical treasures of Geerling Ambersong, apparently traveled fast, and it appeared as if all the citizens of Lallor had turned out to see them off. Every street and yard along the sloping incline from the city wall to Lallor Bay was filled with people, halflings, elves, and half-elves, waving, setting off harmless magic fireworks, shooting magical streamers, and in general giving the Great Mystra Skyship Verity a magnificent send-off.

Berridge Lymwich turned from the railing to see that no passengers were considering anything as rude as getting skysick or as foolish as trying to disembark. After checking for several moments, she seemed satisfied that all of Blade’s suspects were

present and accounted for.

Gheevy Wotfirr gave Berridge Lymwich a meaningful look as he passed. The halfling then slipped between the burly Azzo Schreders and the shapely Sheyrhen Karkober at the port bow. The inquisitrix looked down the deck to see that the stooped, jowly Matthaunin Witterstaet stood near Dearlyn Ambersong, both of whom were watched over by the gaunt Asche Hartov, who lived up to his name by appearing positively ashen.

Even though they all acted reluctant to participate in this journey, they wouldn’t have missed the liftoff for, well, all the electrum in Zoundar, Lymwich thought.