3
As the lastferry of the night paddled across Luminous Lake, wind whipped along the water and clouds scudded through the night sky, obscuring the stars and moon.
Rylana hadalmosttalked herself into ignoring the family castle. It had been seventeen years since she’d been inside, and her father hadn’t invited her to visit, so it wasn’t her responsibility. But… a few minutes after she’d returned to the diner to help with the closing-time cleanup, Vernest Vormalt’s face had floated through her mind. Since she’d returned to Tranquility, he’d shown up numerous times, admitting a keen interest in the castle—and a desire to get inside. Was it possible that he’d heard about Father’s business trip and was over there now? Up to something that could cause a building toglow? Father had mentioned that Vormalt had tried to gain access to the castle a number of times over the years.
“Thatstilldoesn’t make it my responsibility,” Rylana muttered.
Herfatherhad been the one who’d wanted her to marry Vormalt.She’drejected his proposal. More than once.
“So, we’re going to visit for curiosity’s sake?” Sylin adjusted the hood of her cloak, fighting the wind to keep her head covered.Fortunately, it was dark enough that her pointed ears and forest-green hair weren’t that noticeable.
She and Rylana were the only pedestrians who’d walked onto the ferry for this last run. The handful of coachmen who’d brought horse-drawn wagons and steam-powered carriages were leaning against them with their eyelids drooping, none on the lookout for assassins.
“Well, I have a friend who needs a place to stay,” Rylana said instead of trying to explain her sense of responsibility for Vormalt.
“Yourfriendrejected the suggestion of a glowing castle as an appealing place to settle in for the night.”
“Yet the above-tavern room where two drunks knocked on the door to proposition you for sex was acceptable.”
“I leased that place more for you.”
“Thoughtful.” Raindrops fell, slanting sideways in the wind and spattering Rylana’s cheek.
“Elves don’t mind sleeping in tree branches or under stone benches.”
“There are both on the family estate. There’s even a boathouse attached to the dock.”
“Is it glowing?”
“Not that I can see from here.” Rylana pointed across the lake to the bank below the point where the castle perched, overlooking the water. Since the beach and dock were in deep shadows, she couldn’t make out the boathouse, but she knew it was there. If it had been glowing, they would have seen it. “You might like it. There’s no bed or chairs—no amenities whatsoever. Just the boat my father takes into the wetlands to duck hunt with his hounds.”
“That does sound somewhat appealing, assuming it’s free of elves.”
“It’s been years since I visited the boathouse, but I don’t remember anyone with pointy ears being enticed to lurk in it.”
Rylana yawned as the ferry passed the midpoint in the lake.Already, she wished she’d ignored the glow and gone to sleep in the storeroom. Between the chilly rain and wind, it felt more like winter than spring, and they would be stuck on the opposite shore until the ferry started running again in the morning. If the wards wouldn’t let her into the castle—or if the butler or whoever her father had left behind objected to her staying—it would be a long night. She might end up in the boathouse with Sylin.
“What in both hells is that?” one of two crewmen who’d paused by the railing asked.
“That’s Avandar Castle, isn’t it? Why is it beaming blue light into the sky?”
Rylana turned to better hear the men. It wasn’t surprising that others had noticed the glow—on the dark cloudy night, it was hard to miss—and she wondered if the ferry workers knew anything about it. Like if it had appeared on previous nights. But if it had, these men wouldn’t sound surprised, would they?
“Avandar must be putting in a new magical security system or something,” another crew member said. “You know those rich lords have to make sure not so much as a squirrel can get in to mess with their stuff.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Maybe I should put in gnomish security to protect the room I let in Orc Stone Market. To keep my beer and hazelnuts safe.”
“They’re only in danger from you. Security won’t help that.”
Giving up on the notion of hearing anything useful about the castle, Rylana moved toward the bow of the ferry so they would be ready to depart as soon as it arrived. Up there, she noticed glowing pools of blue, purple, and green plankton floating in the water between the vessel and the shore.
“Is it my imagination,” Rylana asked when Sylin joined her at the railing, “or are the luminescent plankton brighter than usual tonight?”
Further, there were atypical patterns among the pools. Shepicked out a few cylindrical shapes, and that area over there looked like a pair of quarter moons. Usually, the formations were amorphous, and she couldn’t remember seeing shapes in them before.
“As a newcomer to Tranquility,” Sylin said, “I’m not that familiar with what’s normal in the lake. Wouldn’t there naturally be some seasonal variations?”
