Jim delivered a concise and exact narrative, after which Miranda said, ‘We are dealing with an enemy who is mad.’ She drummed her fingers on the desktop in frustration. ‘Now this.’
Jim said nothing, waiting for her to tell him what must be done next. After a moment, she said, ‘What do you think we should do next, Jim Dasher?’
Jim paused, then said, ‘First, I need a pair of boots and trousers that fit. Then you should do what you must with those… creatures, but we also need to get Kaspar and the men free of those elves. There’s a certain madness to them, as well, or at least a sense of desperation. Kaspar says they’re dying out, and I agree. There were perhaps only half a dozen children and only a few more women there. In total, less than a hundred in all. That fortification was home to four or five times that many at one time.’
‘If my husband were here—’ Miranda began. She sighed, ‘But he’s not.’ She studied Jim and said finally, ‘We’re a little thin on the ground right now. My husband and two others who might easily deal with some of this are absent and I have no idea when they might return. There are other magicians here who have talent and might help to assess those creatures you saw in the mountains. ‘But I’m not sure what to do about the elves who’ve captured Kaspar.’
‘Can you get me to Elvandar?’ Jim asked.
‘I can get you close. No one enters Elvandar unbidden unless they have been given leave.’
‘I have been there before.’
‘Really?’ she said, surprised. ‘When?’
‘A few years ago, at the behest of Lord Erik, right about the time I began to be told the truth about the Conclave.’
‘I see,’ said Miranda. ‘Then we shall get you to the border of Elvandar.’ She narrowed her gaze. ‘You look as if you could use a meal.’
He nodded. ‘That would be welcome. It’s been a day or more since I’ve had anything to eat or drink.’
Miranda rose. ‘I’ll walk you to the kitchen.’
He followed her down the hall, into a garden, and then into another hall. He realized that these buildings were constructed like many of the villas on Queg, in large squares with a garden at the centre.
Miranda asked, ‘Is this your first visit here, then?’
‘Yes,’ answered Jim. ‘I believe you’re familiar with how new recruits to the Conclave are given information.’
‘In dribs and drabs as needed,’ she supplied.
‘On a need-to-know basis, Lord Erik called it.’ He chuckled. ‘I’ll admit when I first learned of the Conclave I was astonished, yet now so many things make more sense to me.’
‘Then you’re a rare one, James Jamison – or is it Jim Dasher? For the more I know the less I understand.’
‘It’s Jim Dasher when I’m not in the palaces at Krondor, Rillanon or Roldem, lady. I’ll grant you the advantage of wisdom, then, for it’s my vanity that I can apprehend a great deal from a little information.’
‘A useful trait and one of the reasons why you were recruited.’
‘Ah, I thought it might be because of family.’
‘Your family?’ said Miranda. ‘Let me tell you something of your family.’
She led him into a large kitchen where a pair of young men were preparing to bake the day’s bread. Miranda motioned for Jim to go to the pantry and make use of whatever he found there. He fetched out a half-finished loaf of bread from the day before, some hard cheese, a pair of. apples, and a jug of some sort of ale. Then he grabbed a ladle from the side of the water bucket and drank deeply. After three such drippings, Miranda said, ‘If you were so thirsty, why didn’t you ask for water?’
‘I’ve developed a knack of ignoring such things as thirst and hunger for a while, and it seemed more important to tell you what I knew.’
‘Gods,’ said Miranda with a laugh. ‘You match your reputation, Jim Dasher. I hardly think the time to sip a cup of water would prove the end of us all. Now, eat, and let me tell you about your family.’
Jim cut bread and cheese and took a bite from both, then attacked the first apple.
‘As you may know you are counted as distant kin to my husband – and no, you’d better not call me grandmother unless you have no regard for your life!’ she said before he could make a comment. ‘Your great, great grandfather James of Krondor died before the creation of the Conclave. Your grandfather and your father are members of a family who are steadfast in their loyalty to the Crown of the Isles, and while the Conclave’s interests and the Kingdom’s often overlap, sometimes they do not.