Aphen leaned forward, irritated by his smug certainty. “Why don’t you tell me something useful?”
“Why don’t I learn to fly, while I’m at it?” The dark brow furrowed. “If there was good news to give you, I would do so. Since there isn’t, I am giving you what news I can. Nothing very helpful, but you may see it differently than I do.”
“Just finish telling us what you know,” Cymrian snapped, beginning to grow irritated himself.
“If you could get to the roof, you might find a way in from there. But word has it others have tried and their heads were found separated from their bodies. You might try coming in from underground. There are drain tunnels that run the length and breadth of the city to deal with sewage and flooding. Most have access to the buildings they service. But the tunnels to Edinja’s house are closed off with iron grates, and the catch basins inside are stocked with creatures that eat flesh.”
Aphen leaned back. “We’re looking at this the wrong way. Edinja’s home is well protected because she has enemies. But she would not leave herself only one way in or out. She would have a bolt-hole, and she would have a secret exit.”
“Which could give us a secret entrance, if we could find it.” Cymrian pursed his lips. “What of that, Rushlin?”
The Rover shook his head. “I’ve never heard anything about it, but I think you’re right. She would never leave escape to chance. She would have provided for a quick way out years back so that she could be certain she would never be trapped.”
“Which is not to say it isn’t warded. In fact, it almost certainly is.” Aphen shook her head. “But this seems like our best chance.”
They sat silently for a moment, staring at one another.
“No,” Cymrian said finally, “this isn’t our best chance. Our best chance is to walk up to the front door and see if someone won’t open it. If they do, we save all the trouble of having to break in uninvited.”
Aphen stared at him. “Then all we would have to do is figure out how to get back out again.”
Another silence. Rushlin shook his head and rose. “I need to spend a few hours away from here. Wait for me to come back. By then, one or the other of us will have thought of something. Maybe I can find out who goes in and still comes back out again. Mostly, it’s been a one-way street.”
He arched an eyebrow and went out the door, locking it behind him, the CLOSED sign turned out.
Aphen turned to Cymrian. “I don’t think we can wait. I don’t think we can afford to leave Arling in that woman’s hands for one more minute.”
Cymrian nodded. “I know. I don’t think so, either.”
“Then we have to do something. Right now.”
“Why don’t you use the Elfstones? Let’s see how things stand.”
She hesitated, aware of the danger of using magic this close to so many other magic users. Edinja Orle was the real danger, but there would be others, as well, in a city the size of Arishaig. Then again, with so many people crowded so close together, it would be difficult to identify a single user. Magic always left a residue that could be tracked, but not if it was done quickly. Such residues tended to dissipate.
In any case, she didn’t see that she had a choice.
She rose from the table and took the Elfstones from their pouch, dumping them into her open palm. Closing her fingers about them, she faced toward the doorway, set her mind on Arling, and willed the magic to show her what had become of her sister. A certain fear accompanied the act—an unwillingness to be shown something bad—but she tamped it down. At some point, she would have to learn her sister’s fate no matter what. Better that she do so while there was still a decent chance Arling could be saved.
A surge of magic rose from the Elfstones, going into her body and then back out again through her fingers, shooting away into the shop’s gloom and out the door. It was gone in an instant, streaking down streets and across rooftops, into alleyways and narrow lanes, whipping left and right but always onward. No one but she could see it, the vision invisible to all not standing at the source, so she had no fear that it might be noticed by others.
For a few quick seconds the blue Elfstone light was a zigzag blaze cutting through the city, and then in a sharp burst it found Arling Elessedil.
But not where they had thought she would be.