He doubted Suinomen magicians were much of a challenge, at least the ones he'd seen already. Lyam said they dwelled in the Palace, but only Soren had appeared at this little meeting. Though Soren did seem like an incompetent, giving him a relic of Alaire's made Naitachal a little uneasy. Even amateur magi- cians can go far with relics....
When Captain Lyam opened the door for them, he winked at Naitachal, ever so subtly.
Erik cleaned the room, as promised. However, one thing was not as Erik had promised. Alaire's things were gone. Not a single stitch of fabric remained which belonged to the lad. Naitachal tried not to look surprised.
Instead, he pretended as if nothing was missing.
"It doesn't seem to be much," Sir Jehan noted.
"Which are his things, Ambassador?"
"This must be it," Captain Lyam said helpfully, picking up a saddlebag the elf didn't recognize. Inside were garments about Alaire's size, resembling what he had worn before. But they were not his; Naitachal was as sure of that as he was certain of his own name.
"A favorite piece of jewelry would be most benefi- cial," Soren said, his chest puffing out importantly.
"Does he have any such thing?"
"But of course," Naitachal said. He reached for a smaller bag belonging to himself, made a pretense of searching, and pulled out a shiny silver ring with a human skull, a death's head with tiny rubies for eyes.
"This was one of his most prized possessions."
"Charming, isn't it?" Soren said sarcastically t Jehan, holding it up to the light. "But if it belonged to him, it will be most helpful."
Without so much as a thank you, Sir Jeha Soren left. Captain Lyam stood with him for several moments, listening to their retreating footsteps. A moment or two later, when it was safe to talk, Lyam in- spected the hallway briefly then closed the door.
"So when did you have time to replace Alaire's pos- sessions with someone else's?" Naitachal asked, folding his arms over his chest. "I wish I'd known; I might have been able to do something useful."
"I didn't. Little Erik did. We can trust him, he's working for me. If I had more time to warn you, it wouldn't have been necessary to give him that ring,"
Lyam said, his face grim. "As for your predicament, I can arrange safe passage on a ship for you and Alaire.
It will have to be tonight, because tomorrow will be too late. They will have found the justification by then to put you in the dungeon with Kai."
The Dark Elf frowned. "I am more concerned with the state of affairs between Althea and Suinomen. If I leave, there will be war. My mission here was to pre- vent it."
Captain Lyam shook his head, and his expression grew even darker. "Your mission was doomed from the beginning. War with Althea is inevitable at this p I'm afraid Getting you two home is the only way Reynard will know that Sir Jehan is behind this sad folly."
Naitachal let out his breath in a sigh. At least there was one person still in a position of power that wa Jehan's man. "Do you know where Alaire is?"
"No, but Kai does," Lyam replied confidently.
"He'll tell me. And if you would like, I can recover that ring for you."
"Oh, don't bother. It wasn't Alaire's," Naitachal said, with a sly grin. "It belonged to my father. I do think the relic of a long-dead master Necromancer will muck up Soren's search spell in very interesting and entertaining ways. It will eventually find its way back to me, all by itself."
He leaned back, studying Captain Lyam closely without appearing to. Can I trust this man? he won- dered. Is there something peculiar about his total commitment to returning us to Althea, when he has everything to lose?
"Why are you doing this, Captain?" the elf asked at "You're wondering why I'm sacrificing everything."