The Warrior Elf (2 page)

Torrey
- Warren’s wife, lives in Walnut Springs

Trevor
- Soldier under Gen. Crandal, one of Rolan’s spies

Trivera
- Seated Sorcerer of Wyndsor, lives in Valez

Tsareth
- Father of Robyn, Rolan, and Landis, Seated Sorcerer of Brendolanth before Rolan, deceased

Tyree
- Taught Myron about the government of Camden while Myron was in Rainbow Valley, occasional advisor, does not live at the castle or in Milhaven

Verna
- Resident sister at the chapel in Timera Valley, helps Sister Brena

Warren
- District Sorcerer of Ragenon, lives in Walnut Springs

Weldon
- Elf, Chairman of the Council of Elders, lives in South Port, Hayden’s brother, Rhianna’s uncle

Wrenn
- Governor of Camden while Badec was Master Sorcerer, advises Karl, lives in Milhaven

Xantha
- Pegasus, has a mind link with both Myron and Duane, lives in Crinsor Run, North Amden

Yara
- Merfolk representative to the Federation of Terah

Yardner
- Captain of the Guard at Rolan’s castle in Trendon

Yvonne
- Myron’s mother, seer, died shortly after his birth

Chapter 1

First Saturday of March

Rolan frowned as he sat down at his desk after the March Council of Sorcerers meeting. Something had changed, and he wasn’t sure what. Almost everyone had been relaxed, even the assistants, and that was unsettling. He’d always enjoyed watching their eyes dart around the room as they scrunched down in their seats, but that had been missing today.

The only one who looked at all uncomfortable was Alastar, but that was to be expected. It was his first meeting, and his seat had come at a price. Rolan doubted the man was grieving, but he had to be embarrassed that his mother hadn’t lasted five minutes against Myron. Not that anyone mentioned it. The only one who seemed to notice Gwendolyn was missing was Malcolm, and he’d looked lost.

Rolan shook his head. And something had happened to Damien over the last few months. He was stronger now, more confident. Rolan drummed his fingers on his desk as he remembered the way Damien had stared him down after the duel. There was no way Damien would let him have the key to that other world now. He needed to rethink his strategy for getting hold of it, but not today. Today he needed to concentrate on solving his other problem: Landis.

Rolan stood up and started pacing. How long ago did he send those scouts to North Amden? Three months? Why hadn’t they found her yet? How hard could it be to find one human girl among the elves? It wasn’t that large a place. Surely the elves knew where she was staying. How could he convince them to talk? What could he offer them to loosen their tongues?

Rolan opened his door and roared, “Find Cpt. Yardner! I want to see him! Now!”

Three of the pages who were lined up outside his door took off running, one towards the captain’s office, one towards the stable, and the last towards the barracks.

Five minutes later Cpt. Yardner knocked on Rolan’s open door. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“What are we offering for news of the girl?”

“You’re referring to Landis?” Cpt. Yardner asked as he shut the door.

Rolan swirled around and glared at the captain. “Who else would I be talking about?”

“You’ve offered the one who finds her a plot of land and his choice of the single women in Brendolanth.”

Rolan thought for a moment. “Add ten slaves to that. And tell them any elf who tells them where she is gets ten slaves too, but only if the information leads to her capture. Otherwise, no one gets anything.”

“That would definitely be an added incentive for your men, but I don’t think it’ll do much for the elves.”

Rolan scowled. “Not enough?”

Cpt. Yardner shook his head. “Elves don’t believe in slavery. They’d take the offer as an insult.”

“Well, what then?”

“Maybe ten horses?”

“Fine. Offer them whatever they want. Just find that girl!”

~ ~ ~ ~

One of Rolan’s men, Gildan, had arrived in North Amden two months ago and had spent the first month going from farm to farm. No one claimed to know anything about any humans in the area, much less a young woman. He didn’t believe for a minute no one knew where she was, but he had no trouble believing no one was willing to tell him. Why should they? What was in it for them?

That’s when he’d decided he was going about this the wrong way. He left North Amden and headed for human settlements, specifically towns large enough to have a tavern and a few stores, but small enough not to have a resident sorcerer or army lieutenant. His strategy was simple. Ride into town, wander through the shops, visit the tavern, ride out of town for a couple of miles, and wait for dark. Then, during the wee hours of the morning, he’d slip into the shops and take what he wanted. If there was any money around, he pocketed it, but if not, he took small items he could sell in the next town. By the first light of day, he’d be on his way to the next town.

When his pockets were full of coins, he headed for South Port, the largest town in North Amden. He doubted the girl was anywhere near there, but he felt sure someone in town would know something about her, and the money in his pocket should loosen a few tongues.

He arrived in town Saturday morning. His first stop was a dry goods store. He wandered around until he was the only customer left and then he approached the owner. “I’m looking for a human woman, mid-twenties, red hair. She’s been missing for a while and her family’s hired me to find her. I tracked her to North Amden. Have you seen anyone like that around here?”

The store owner shook his head. “No, can’t say that I have.”

Gildan took some coins out of his pocket and laid them on the counter. “Maybe you’ve heard something about her? Maybe she’s visiting someone outside of town?”

“No, haven’t heard of any humans around, man or woman.” The owner pushed the coins back towards Gildan.

Gildan picked up the coins and dropped them in his pocket. “Well, thanks for your time.”

He got the same results in the next three stores he visited, but when he came out of the third, an elf was waiting outside the door.

“I understand you’re looking for someone,” the elf said.

“A human female, mid-twenties, red hair,” Gildan said. “I can pay for information.”

The elf shook his head. “I don’t know of anyone like that, but if you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to Weldon, the head of the Council of Elders. If anyone can help you, he can.”

“Thank you.”

A few blocks down, the elf turned down another street, walked a couple more blocks, and entered a large building. Once they were inside, the elf led Gildan down a long hall to a small reception area and motioned to one of the few chairs. “If you’ll have a seat, I’ll let him know you’re here.”

Gildan sat down as the elf knocked on a door, went inside, and shut it.

Weldon was going through a stack of messages on his desk. “What is it, Eldwyn?”

“I’ve brought a man to see you, a human.” When Weldon looked up, Eldwyn continued. “He says he’s looking for a human woman, red hair, mid-twenties. He claims her family hired him to find her and that he’s tracked her to North Amden. He’s asking the shop owners if they’ve seen her.”

Weldon groaned and motioned towards a large stack of messages on his desk. “All of those are about humans prowling around North Amden, questioning people, searching barns, even going through sheds. If we don’t get this mess stopped, someone’s going to get killed.” Weldon sighed. “Has he caused any trouble?”

“Not that I know of, sir, but he is offering money for information.”

“That’s a new one. Any takers?”

“Not yet.”

“All right. Show him in.”

After Gildan explained why he was in North Amden, he said, “I’ve heard you may be able to help me find her. I’ll be happy to pay you for your time.”

Weldon shook his head. “Assistance to visitors is part of my job, but I do have a couple of questions. First, what makes you think this young woman’s in North Amden?”

“The last time she was seen she was with a warrior elf.”

“A warrior elf? Are you sure?”

Gildan nodded. “Several men saw the two of them together. The elf was described as well-armed, and she threw a dagger at one of the men. Killed him, although it took him a while to die.”

“You’re saying the elf killed a human?”

“Sure did.”

“Were the humans threatening them in any way?”

Gildan shook his head. “The best I can figure is the elf didn’t want anyone to know she was connected to the woman’s disappearance. As soon as she threw the knife, the two of them vanished. No one’s seen a trace of either one of them since, which is why I think they must have come here. If they were anywhere around humans, someone would have noticed. Elves aren’t that common.”

“I see,” Weldon said slowly. “And what makes you think this woman is missing against her will?”

“Well, she didn’t help the elf attack the humans. She tried to hide. And why would she have been with the elf to start with? If she’d intended to go somewhere, she’d have let her family know, wouldn’t you think?”

“I suppose, although I’m not an expert on either humans or females,” Weldon said quietly. “I’ll see what I can find out, but it may take some time. Are you planning to stay at the inn?”

Gildan had a bit of cash, but he didn’t want to waste it on a room. “I hadn’t planned on staying overnight, much less several nights.”

“I’d count on being here at least a week, probably more. I’ll have to send letters all over North Amden and wait for the answers. Of course, we could get lucky and hear sooner than that.”

“Maybe I could exchange a day’s work for room and board. Do you know of anyone who needs some help?”

“I imagine Chandra could use some. He owns the livery stable. His house is small, but his barn has a nice loft, and his wife’s a good cook. How would you feel about bunking down in the barn?”

“Suits me a lot better than staying in an inn.”

Weldon picked up a pen and wrote a quick note. When he was done, he folded it, stood up, and handed it to Eldwyn. Then he offered his hand to Gildan. “Eldwyn will take you to the livery stable and introduce you to Chandra. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve heard something.”

After Eldwyn and Gildan left his office, Weldon started pacing. A fine fix they were in now. They couldn’t betray Landis, but they had to put an end to all these humans crawling all over North Amden. How could his niece have been so careless as to be seen with Landis? And what was this about her killing a man? That was serious. There was nothing he could do about any of it from here, and he couldn’t leave right now. But someone had to find a way to fix this or the elves were going to end up at war with the humans.

Weldon sat back down, picked up his pen, and wrote a carefully worded note to his brother.

~ ~ ~ ~

Alastar had been dreading his first council meeting for the past week, but it turned out there was nothing for him to have been concerned about. No one mentioned the duel or his mother. It was business as usual, almost as if nothing had happened.