“The name’s Lernn, elven rogue, and leader of this band of dying soldiers.” He stood and held out his hand to me. I placed my hand in his. He brought my fingers to his mouth and placed a gentle peck just below my knuckle.
“Pleasure to meet you.” He released my hand and stood formally while staring at Marren. “Master Marren, a lot has been said of you lately. Whispers, mostly.”
“Whispers?” Marren asked.
“Yes. It’s somewhat of a gift—a talent, if you will. I’m incredibly skilled at going unnoticed. I can blend into the shadows.”
“Interesting.”
“Yes. My talent is useful and saved us a time or two.”
“What kinds of whispers did you pick up exactly?” I asked.
Lernn’s eyes peeked over my shoulder. I followed his gaze to Gandir, standing silently in the corner. He nodded once before his eyes went to mine. I returned my gaze to Lernn. “I know that your daughter is being held in the lowest cells of the dungeon. Those reserved for the most heinous and foul offenders. Not many people actually make it that far. Most are beheaded first.”
“You know Naloud is here?” I turned around to face Gandir to yell at him for not being up front with me, but he wasn’t there. I hadn’t even heard the door. I turned in a complete circle searching for him.
“You’ll have to forgive him. We know that you would do anything and risk everything to find your daughter. Unfortunately, that is not the way to help her. If you go running in there like that, you’ll likely find your daughter dead.” Lernn’s words penetrated the air, dissolving everything around me until nothing remained except his words.
“What else do you know about my daughter?”
“That she’s extremely well taken care of, for being a prisoner and all.”
“What do you mean ‘extremely well taken care of’?” Marren asked.
“Well, it appears that she arrived of her own free will with a man by the name of Serid. They appear to be quite fond of each other.”
I clenched my fists together. “So you say.”
“Well, I’m no expert on love, but apparently Serid has been taking food and water personally to Naloud,” Lernn said. “Word is he’s even spent several days with her.”
A growl erupted from my throat.
Marren cleared his throat and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Not exactly the best argument you can present at this point in time.”
Lernn raised his eyebrows as though he was surprised but understood. “Very well.”
“Just tell me how to get my daughter back,” I said, enunciating every syllable.
“Well, it’s not going to happen tonight,” Lernn said, stepping around the table and toward the door. He gripped the handle and pulled. “You may want to see something first.”
I shifted my gaze to Marren to judge how he handled it. His eyes found mine, nodded once, and pressed his hand on the small of my back.
We walked toward the murmuring, which started out as a whisper then grew louder as we got closer. We approached a set of stairs and began our descent. The stairs led to a large open room with large tables and chairs. Lamps and sconces lined the walls and illuminated every corner of the room in a hazy orange glow. Groups of immortal races were gathered and conversing loudly with one another. None were even slightly aware of our appearance.
Lernn had stopped at the last stair and nodded at someone. Three loud booms filled the air, vibrating off the walls. Silence settled as all eyes fell upon me and Marren. Lernn’s gaze came with a smirk. He turned toward the crowd. “These two need no introduction. Their daughter is Naloud. They want to rescue her. Who will stand behind them?”
A loud roar came as a response. Lernn turned toward me then said, “We all want the king dead. And you will too as soon as you find out who he truly is.”
“Fine. How do you propose we do this?” I asked.
His smirk grew into a smile. “I’d hoped you would ask. Follow me.”
He stepped through the crowd, parting for us as we walked through the long corridor to the room at the end. A figure stood hunched over a table, reviewing a large scroll of parchment unrolled onto a flat surface. The figure’s form seemed familiar to me, and my heart skipped a few beats. Light caught golden strands of silk. I held my breath as we entered.
“I believe you three already met each other…” Lernn said as we entered the room.
Then he turned, and the sad blue eyes that I have come to know and love as my father met mine.
“Athair!” I ran into his arms.
“A’lainn,” he breathed into my hair and squeezed me.
“I was so worried about you. We were chased out of towns and nearly killed. I thought I wouldn’t see you again…I thought…” I started sobbing into Enid’s shoulder.
“Shh. I’m here. Everything will be all right. I’m all right. We are going to get through this. I promise.”
“And Raden?” I asked.
“Raden, unfortunately, shares much of the same fate as your daughter,” Lernn replied.
I nodded into Enid’s shirt then pulled away, wiping my nose on the sleeve of my robes.