“Don’t be so hasty. I can’t believe you are so anxious to stay locked away in an empty fortress. You could be there for a long time.”
“Wasn’t that your intention?”
“It was my intention to see you dead. But as I’ve said, I’ve reconsidered.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered. Just because you failed once doesn’t mean I’m going to give you a second chance. Find another way to amuse yourself. This conversation is over.”
The scrye orb went dark. Clizia waited patiently for several minutes before summoning him again. She knew this wouldn’t be easy, and she was determined not to let him distract her from her purpose.
His face reappeared, bladed and hard. “I’m busy, Clizia. Trying to get out of here on my own. What is it now?”
“Do you know where I am?” she asked. Without waiting for his response, she flashed the orb about the entry to his cottage and then settled on herself sitting in the wicker chair. “I’m comfortable here.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m happy for you. I liked my previous home better, but as you probably know someone burned it down. Still, that one’s adequate. If you stick around awhile, I will find a way to repay you for looking after it.”
“I haven’t showed you the new addition. It was added after your departure. It brightens up the place a bit. Your decorating tastes are a bit ordinary. But this helps change that.”
She rose and walked into the house, pointing the scrye orb’s eye ahead of her so that Drisker could follow where she was going. She took her time, letting it settle in for him, giving him a chance to figure out what she had done. When she reached Tarsha’s bedroom, she was sure he knew what she intended to show him. But she entered, anyway, so he could see the sleeping girl for himself. She let him have a good look at her young face, white-blond hair sprawled on her pillows, her features relaxed and beautiful as she breathed softly.
Then she backed out of the room, closed the door behind him, and turned the orb back on herself. “She’s my guest now. We are becoming great friends. I am keeping her safe and sound for you.” She paused. “For the moment.”
“She is a child!” Drisker spit at her, not bothering to hide his disdain. “You walk dangerous ground, Clizia. More dangerous than you know.”
The old woman nodded her agreement. “I expect so, Drisker. But great risk sometimes brings great rewards. And I think it might be so in this case. I think maybe she has talent with magic.”
Drisker stared at her wordlessly.
“About my bargain,” she said. “Are you ready to listen?”
“It seems I must. What is it?”
Clizia let him wait a few unnecessary moments. “Just this. I need you to bring Paranor back into the Four Lands. I need the Black Elfstone to accomplish this. I don’t care if you want to help me or not. I don’t care if you don’t choose to be a part of a new Druid order. But I do need Paranor. You can help me with that.”
There was a long pause. “You might remember that you stole the Elfstone from me when you left me to be devoured by the Keep’s Guardian. Without it, I can’t do a whole lot.”
“This is what we both thought, but we were wrong. I took the Elfstone from you but discovered later that what I really had was a cheap imitation. I don’t know how it happened, and I don’t care. What matters is that the real Black Elfstone is still somewhere inside Paranor.”
He gave her a look. “I’m surprised you are telling me this.”
“Why shouldn’t I tell you? What do I gain if I don’t? You remain trapped, but I’ve lost Paranor. If I ever want access to the Keep again, I need the Black Elfstone. So there you are, still in the Keep, ready and able to find it and use it. It’s worth risking your anger to get you to do so.”
She did not want him to gain an advantage over her, even though she was asking for his help. The advantage, she believed, was all hers. She had Tarsha to bargain with, and she was betting that would change things considerably. Whatever the case, he would not be able to resist the prospect of freeing himself, so he would use the Elfstone to do so and bring back Paranor.
She waited, but he didn’t say anything.
“Did you hear me, Drisker? You have the means to free yourself.”
There was a funny look on his face. “Or something bad might happen to my student. You forgot that part.”
She shrugged. “I’ve made no threats. You can assume what you want.”
“Where you are concerned, I am inclined to assume the worst.” His face was expressionless. “Tell you what, I’ll think about it.”
“I wouldn’t take too long to do so,” she warned. “Things have a way of changing.”
“Now you are threatening.”
She smiled. “If you say so.”
Drisker nodded. “Goodbye, Clizia.”
Then he was gone and she was left to ponder what he might do next.
* * *
—
Drisker gripped the scrye orb tightly in his fist and stared off into space. That was unexpected, Clizia asking him to find and use the Black Elfstone, confessing she didn’t have it, insisting she needed him back in the Four Lands. But only to be sure that she got possession of the Black Elfstone before she killed him. Only to be sure he was really dead this time. She would use Tarsha to make this happen—use her as a bargaining chip and as a means to weaken him sufficiently to leave him vulnerable to her magic.
So what was he going to do?
Return himself and Paranor to the Four Lands. It was the obvious choice. But first he had to find a way to make that happen. He had to wake the Elfstone’s magic so it would do what it was supposed to do. And so far, he hadn’t discovered how to do that. But he had to figure it out soon because Tarsha was in real danger as long as Clizia Porse had her.
In all likelihood, the girl didn’t even realize how bad her situation was. Clizia was trying to win her over, and this was something she knew how to do when she set her mind to it.
He turned back to the Druid Histories and began searching anew.
Somewhere in their pages was the solution to his problem.
He pulled the volumes in which the details of Walker Boh’s life and times were chronicled and began to read. He skipped past the parts devoted to his early life—before the years leading up to his time as a Druid—not believing he would find anything useful there. When he reached the sections involving Walker’s interactions with Morgan Leah and the elemental Quickening, he slowed and studied what was written down.