Elise’s foot lowers. Suddenly animated, she races forward only to stop and frown, blinking at us. Baelen has positioned himself several feet away—a very respectable distance—which is clearly not what she thought she saw. She clears her throat as he bows to her. He spins on his heel and exits through the door before she can say a word.
Her eyes narrow at me. “I’m missing time.” Her accusation is sharp. “And it’s happened before. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
I opt for honesty. “I can’t call it at will, but the thunder lets me slow time.”
Her eyebrows rise.
I add: “I think there’s a lot more to the storm than anybody knows.”
“I think you’re right.” She draws herself up. “Well, we’ll have to deal with that later. Right now there’s no time to waste. You need to get back to your quarters and get ready. Obviously, I didn’t hear everything you said, but I did hear that there are gargoyles on Scepter peak. If you order me to, I will alert the other advisors. We need to prevent a fight.”
“No. As much as it’s wrong, the Elven Command will know that Baelen told me. That will only put us in more danger. I’ll follow Bae’s plan. But I need you to find out everything you can about gargoyle nests in the next half an hour. I want to be prepared.”
