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.Literally, in fact.Aerune s still out there, and if I know my Sidhe, he isn teven close to giving up.And the Sidhe, as befit a near-immortal race, were accustomed to taking the long view.Aerune would bewilling to wait years, even decades, for his plans to fall into place.Despite her half-Sidhe heritage, Riawas mortal.She didn t have the time to outwait him.Campbell had to be found.And neutralized.The phone rang.Ria glanced back at her desk.She d told Anita to hold all calls unless it was a certified emergency, butthe light for her private line was flashing.Very few people had that number.She picked up the phone. Llewellyn. Have I called at a bad time? a familiar voice asked. Eric! Ria felt herself smile a genuine smile this time.Her relationship with Eric was the one authenticbright spot in her life, stormy as it sometimes was. How are you? Not as busy as you seem to be.You sound tired. So they tell me, Ria said shortly.Eric ignored the -warning note in her voice, though she knew he dheard it.Eric was a fully-trained Bard.He was a lot smarter about people now than he d been whenshe d first met him. It seems like things should be quieting down, though, he went on, with that guileless note of teasing inhis voice. I haven t seen a story about you in the news for, oh.a week or so. Not so much quieting down as reaching a series of dead ends, Ria said wearily. Look, I So I figured you could use a break, Eric said, interrupting. So I wanted to invite you to a party. What kind of a party? Ria asked, a note of suspicion in her voice.The one thing that hadn t changedabout Eric Banyon in all the time she d known him was his puckish sense of humor, and it hadn t beenblunted in the least by all the time he d spent Underhill learning his craft. A Naming kind of party.Maeve s been born, and Beth and Kory want me to come to ElfhameMisthold to see her Named.We can use the Everforest Gate, and be back before we ve left, or almost.Ieven promise to talk Lady Day into turning into something with doors and a roof. Ria stared at the phone.Maeve was Eric s daughter by Beth Kentraine, the woman whose Fender guitarhad done such a thorough job of rearranging Ria s life.Eric had ceded his rights in Maeve to Kentraineand the Elven Knight Korendil, since he wasn t ready for the ties and obligations of parenthood, butapparently Kentraine intended for Eric to play some part in his daughter s life. Either you ve gone mad, or I have, Ria said bluntly. You re inviting me to come Underhill? To theSidhe? To a Naming? To a party that Beth Kentraine is throwing? Well.yes. Eric s voice lost its bantering note as he -realized this would take some persuasion. It llbe fun.You ve never been Underhill well, not socially anyway.And I m allowed to bring a date. Fun, Ria echoed. You want to invite me to one of the Sidhe s High Holy Days me and youthink it ll be fun ? The Sidhe loved children.Though Ria was a half-breed, raised in the mortal world, even she knew howseriously the elves took anything to do with children.Though Maeve was of fully human parentage, shewas the daughter of a Bard and a witch, and in some sense Korendil s daughter as well.Elven childrenwere an exceedingly rare occurrence and cherished accordingly.The Sidhe would consider her one oftheir own, and would take her Naming Day very seriously.It was hardly the sort of thing to which they d welcome the daughter of a renegade and a traitor, let alonea half-breed, the circumstances of whose conception were, to the Seleighe Sidhe, the vilest sort ofsacrilege.Children born to a Sidhe/mortal pairing were even rarer than full-blooded Sidhe children, andPerenor had used the foulest sort of blood-magic to father Ria on her mortal mother not to mention thefact that he d tried to use Ria to destroy the Sidhe of Elfhame Sun-Descending.For years she d lived infear that the Sidhe would seek revenge for what she d done, and once upon a time she d thought thatEric had been sent back into the World Above to lure her to their vengeance.And while he d said that most of them really didn t care about what she d done considering how high aprice she d paid to thwart her late father s plans that didn t mean they d be happy to see her. Okay, maybe not fun, Eric said as the silence stretched. But I have a right to bring anyone I want as aguest and witness, and I think it would be good for you to meet some of the Underhill folk.You can tspend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.If you come to the Naming, everyone will see thatthe Seleighe Sidhe have no quarrel with you, and that starting up with you will be the same thing asstarting up with Elfhame Misthold. When did you suddenly become so savvy at politics? Ria asked, and Eric chuckled. Live with the elves for a while, it s the equivalent of a master class.What else do a bunch ofnear-immortal wizards have to do with their time? The point is, they owe you for what you did againstAerune, and they need to know that.You do, too. I didn t do it for them. It didn t matter to Ria what feuds the Sidhe conducted among themselves.ButAerune had been after Eric, and that mattered to her a great deal. Yeah, well, elves are very results-oriented.It s what you did that counts. So you want me to come to the party. Yeah.I do.Besides.it d be nice to have someone from this side of the Hill to keep me company.And I think it s time you and Bethie settled things between you. So THAT s what s behind all this! So you want me to come and help her bury the hatchet? Ria asked.The notion had a certain perverseappeal and Eric was right that it could only do her good to form relationships and alliances Underhill.She lived in the human world, but like it or not, she was part Sidhe, and that heritage couldn t be ignored. So long as it won t be buried between my shoulder blades. She took a deep breath. All right.When?And what shall I wear? I ve never been to one of these. Oh, just wear whatever you d wear to your average Royal wedding, Eric said breezily. I ll pick youup Saturday.That ll give you a week to shop. In a car, Ria reminded him. With seats.And doors.And a roof. I ll talk to Lady Day.And Ria? Don t worry.I won t let anything bad happen to you. Ria made a rude noise of mock outrage, but found her smile staying with her as she hung up the phone.She and Eric made an unlikely romantic pair not that Ria was entirely sure, sometimes, whether whatthey had going could be contained by any term so mundane as romance [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Literally, in fact.Aerune s still out there, and if I know my Sidhe, he isn teven close to giving up.And the Sidhe, as befit a near-immortal race, were accustomed to taking the long view.Aerune would bewilling to wait years, even decades, for his plans to fall into place.Despite her half-Sidhe heritage, Riawas mortal.She didn t have the time to outwait him.Campbell had to be found.And neutralized.The phone rang.Ria glanced back at her desk.She d told Anita to hold all calls unless it was a certified emergency, butthe light for her private line was flashing.Very few people had that number.She picked up the phone. Llewellyn. Have I called at a bad time? a familiar voice asked. Eric! Ria felt herself smile a genuine smile this time.Her relationship with Eric was the one authenticbright spot in her life, stormy as it sometimes was. How are you? Not as busy as you seem to be.You sound tired. So they tell me, Ria said shortly.Eric ignored the -warning note in her voice, though she knew he dheard it.Eric was a fully-trained Bard.He was a lot smarter about people now than he d been whenshe d first met him. It seems like things should be quieting down, though, he went on, with that guileless note of teasing inhis voice. I haven t seen a story about you in the news for, oh.a week or so. Not so much quieting down as reaching a series of dead ends, Ria said wearily. Look, I So I figured you could use a break, Eric said, interrupting. So I wanted to invite you to a party. What kind of a party? Ria asked, a note of suspicion in her voice.The one thing that hadn t changedabout Eric Banyon in all the time she d known him was his puckish sense of humor, and it hadn t beenblunted in the least by all the time he d spent Underhill learning his craft. A Naming kind of party.Maeve s been born, and Beth and Kory want me to come to ElfhameMisthold to see her Named.We can use the Everforest Gate, and be back before we ve left, or almost.Ieven promise to talk Lady Day into turning into something with doors and a roof. Ria stared at the phone.Maeve was Eric s daughter by Beth Kentraine, the woman whose Fender guitarhad done such a thorough job of rearranging Ria s life.Eric had ceded his rights in Maeve to Kentraineand the Elven Knight Korendil, since he wasn t ready for the ties and obligations of parenthood, butapparently Kentraine intended for Eric to play some part in his daughter s life. Either you ve gone mad, or I have, Ria said bluntly. You re inviting me to come Underhill? To theSidhe? To a Naming? To a party that Beth Kentraine is throwing? Well.yes. Eric s voice lost its bantering note as he -realized this would take some persuasion. It llbe fun.You ve never been Underhill well, not socially anyway.And I m allowed to bring a date. Fun, Ria echoed. You want to invite me to one of the Sidhe s High Holy Days me and youthink it ll be fun ? The Sidhe loved children.Though Ria was a half-breed, raised in the mortal world, even she knew howseriously the elves took anything to do with children.Though Maeve was of fully human parentage, shewas the daughter of a Bard and a witch, and in some sense Korendil s daughter as well.Elven childrenwere an exceedingly rare occurrence and cherished accordingly.The Sidhe would consider her one oftheir own, and would take her Naming Day very seriously.It was hardly the sort of thing to which they d welcome the daughter of a renegade and a traitor, let alonea half-breed, the circumstances of whose conception were, to the Seleighe Sidhe, the vilest sort ofsacrilege.Children born to a Sidhe/mortal pairing were even rarer than full-blooded Sidhe children, andPerenor had used the foulest sort of blood-magic to father Ria on her mortal mother not to mention thefact that he d tried to use Ria to destroy the Sidhe of Elfhame Sun-Descending.For years she d lived infear that the Sidhe would seek revenge for what she d done, and once upon a time she d thought thatEric had been sent back into the World Above to lure her to their vengeance.And while he d said that most of them really didn t care about what she d done considering how high aprice she d paid to thwart her late father s plans that didn t mean they d be happy to see her. Okay, maybe not fun, Eric said as the silence stretched. But I have a right to bring anyone I want as aguest and witness, and I think it would be good for you to meet some of the Underhill folk.You can tspend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.If you come to the Naming, everyone will see thatthe Seleighe Sidhe have no quarrel with you, and that starting up with you will be the same thing asstarting up with Elfhame Misthold. When did you suddenly become so savvy at politics? Ria asked, and Eric chuckled. Live with the elves for a while, it s the equivalent of a master class.What else do a bunch ofnear-immortal wizards have to do with their time? The point is, they owe you for what you did againstAerune, and they need to know that.You do, too. I didn t do it for them. It didn t matter to Ria what feuds the Sidhe conducted among themselves.ButAerune had been after Eric, and that mattered to her a great deal. Yeah, well, elves are very results-oriented.It s what you did that counts. So you want me to come to the party. Yeah.I do.Besides.it d be nice to have someone from this side of the Hill to keep me company.And I think it s time you and Bethie settled things between you. So THAT s what s behind all this! So you want me to come and help her bury the hatchet? Ria asked.The notion had a certain perverseappeal and Eric was right that it could only do her good to form relationships and alliances Underhill.She lived in the human world, but like it or not, she was part Sidhe, and that heritage couldn t be ignored. So long as it won t be buried between my shoulder blades. She took a deep breath. All right.When?And what shall I wear? I ve never been to one of these. Oh, just wear whatever you d wear to your average Royal wedding, Eric said breezily. I ll pick youup Saturday.That ll give you a week to shop. In a car, Ria reminded him. With seats.And doors.And a roof. I ll talk to Lady Day.And Ria? Don t worry.I won t let anything bad happen to you. Ria made a rude noise of mock outrage, but found her smile staying with her as she hung up the phone.She and Eric made an unlikely romantic pair not that Ria was entirely sure, sometimes, whether whatthey had going could be contained by any term so mundane as romance [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]