Stone Guardian(53)

“Is that so? Shall we take it before the Seven Houses to hear their verdict?”

Terak held himself still, but his anger was palpable. “Beware casting your fate in that direction. Do not think my Clan powerless.”

Enough of this. Whether this was jockeying for some kind of position or they really thought they could argue about her as if she was a lost pet, it was over now. “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not even here,” she said, meeting the eyes of each of the women before turning a quick glance toward Terak. “I’ll decide who I’m going to talk with and when, and flying out of nowhere and then hitting us with these intimidation tactics isn’t going to endear you to me.”

Aislynn came forward, bowing slightly. “Forgive Fallon. She is so single-minded she forgets to show any manners.”

“Hey!”

Aislynn continued, not sparing the swordswoman as much as a glance. “We have not detained you for any fight-”

“Speak for yourself, Ais.”

Aislynn rolled her eyes heavenward but showed no other sign that she heard Fallon’s voice behind her. “-but we must ask you questions. The appearance of the orcs signals an escalation. We must discover the reason behind this.”

How had they connected her? Was this a shot in the dark? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fallon started looking around her, quick movements of her head in all directions. Laire was watching her teammate with a puzzled expression on her face. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for a brick wall to hit my head against. I’m sure I’d have more luck with it than with her. You know, Teach, you might want to stop and think for a moment. Do you really believe Terak is the only one watching you now? How do you think we were able to plan this tete-a-tete?”

Oh gods, why hadn’t she thought about that before? These people knew everything about her. Why wouldn’t they also be watching her? She had been so focused on Terak…

A warm, calloused palm met hers, and Terak’s large hand squeezed, snapping her out of her daze. She raised her face to his. His dark eyes reassured her.

She squeezed back, and was rewarded with that almost smile.

Aislynn took another step forward and spoke not to Larissa, but to Terak. “Clan Leader of the Gargoyles, while we may not be allies, we are not enemies. Our goal is a common one, to protect this woman. Everything we have done has been with that purpose.”

“And how would you do this?” Terak inquired of the elf, his voice stilted but no longer furious. “You have not protected her thus far.”

“We have tried. We would have protected her had you not that first night.” Terak tilted his head as if acknowledging what the elf said, but didn’t speak himself. Aislynn continued, “We ask to be brought into your confidence. We may have information that you do not, as you may also have information unknown to us. We wish to protect this woman. We wish to protect the Realms. We wish to defeat the necromancers. Surely these commonalities outweigh our differences.”

A play of emotions crossed Terak’s face as he kept his gaze steady on Aislynn. Larissa wasn’t sure what she thought about what was being proposed, but there was no doubt in her mind that the elf had been brought here as the peacemaker and dealmaker. The other two women deferred to her, keeping silent as she talked to Terak. Larissa would place money that wasn’t a common occurrence.

Decision sharpened Terak’s expression, and he looked not at the elf, but at Fallon as he asked, “And which of these goals is your priority?”

Fallon’s head tilted, assessing Terak. “Why do you ask? Isn’t it enough they are goals we share?”

“No.” Terak’s baritone was laced with finality. “Only when there is no conflict can there be truce. We are not the same, Dragon Slayer. Even if you could bring yourself to lie and tell me otherwise, we both know the truth.

What was he talking about? But even before the echo of the words faded from the night air Laire’s expression turned serious in a way Larissa never would have believed possible. She reached out her arms in front of her, fingers splayed wide, and with a quick movement flung her arms out to the side.

Around them dozens of floating spheres appeared, bright white with a core of black through the middle. Laire clenched her hands into quick fists, and the spheres went up in balls of flame. “We need to leave,” Laire said, but before any movement could be made Laire jerked and fell forward as if someone punched her in the stomach, though no one was near.

Fallon was at her side in two quick steps, grabbing the mage’s arm and helping her straighten up. “What’s happening?”