A few logs lay decoratively on either side of the driveway, and a tiny flash of green light caught Rylana’s eye. A pixie, probably one who’d claimed the spot for a home—and a repository of swiped magical treasures. That was probably not the use for the log that the landscaper had intended.
“I’ve had little interaction with elves in my life,” Sylin said. “Their opinions are of no consequence.”
“Yeah, but does itbotheryou? You know, not having a relationship with them—that they never showed an interest in one.” Rylana wondered if Sylin, after she’d left the wolves and learned more of the world and how to survive among the two-legged species, had ever attempted to find a place among her people. Since her comrade rarely spoke of her past, Rylana knew less about her than one might expect, considering they’d been in the same unit for more than ten years.
Sylin hesitated. “Does it botheryounot to have a relationship with your father?”
“It shouldn’t. I made the choice to leave.”
Sylin gazed over at her.
“I might sometimes wish things had worked out differently,” Rylana admitted softly, pushing rain-damp hair away from her eyes. She needed to either visit a barber or let it grow out. Even though she had no interest in attracting Vormalt—themarriedbut in an “open relationship” Vormalt—his digs at her short hair made her wonder if she should let it lengthen again. It wasn’t as if, in Tranquility, many enemies would leap upon her, grab it, and jerk her head back.
“I might sometimes wish things had worked out differently with my people,” Sylin admitted with a shrug, then pointed ahead. They’d come up the slope and onto the top of the bluff, the low stone wall around the front half of the Avandar Estate to the left, the wrought-iron bars rising from it to create a fence. “That gate is open.”
Rylana blinked a few times, focusing on the spot where the driveway turned off the road. On this side of the lake, gnomish fire-fliers didn’t buzz around lighting streetlamps after dark, so it was hard to make out details. At least with mundane human vision.
“My father wouldn’t have left it open,” Rylana said, trusting her friend’s superior elven eyes. “If the butler is here, he wouldn’t have either.”
“Maybe your castle is being robbed, and the crewmen were correct, that the glow has to do with the security system. You said there is one, right?”
“Yes.” It crossed Rylana’s mind to wonder if her father would think more favorably of her and her life’s choices if she stopped a robbery while he was gone. Then she reminded herself that she didn’tcarewhat he thought. Besides, it had been almost two hours since she’d first noticed the glow, told Jildarin where she was going, walked to the public dock, and waited for a ferry to takethem across the lake. Any burglars would have long since departed.
Even though she doubted they would run into anyone, Rylana approached the gate warily and peered around the stone post before committing to entering. A faint nicker sounded. There were kennels and stables in the back of the property, but the noise sounded closer, near the front doors.
“Someone’s waiting in the shadows up there,” Sylin whispered. “With two horses.”
“Let’s find out who.”
Feeling bolstered by having Sylin with her—even without weapons, her comradewas a formidable foe—Rylana headed up the drive.
Other than the faint beam still extending up through the roof on the back half of the castle, there weren’t any magical or mundane lanterns brightening the property, which made her wonder if Father had taken the butler with him. As soon as she picked out the two horses, a man gasped and ran away from them.
Not hesitating, Rylana chased after the intruder. Sylin joined her, and they ran across the damp grass and around one of the corner towers of the castle. The man stumbled as he glanced back, but he kept going, sprinting toward the lake. He wasn’t heading toward the only trail that led downward. Would he jump off the bluff and risk the fall to the beach and the lake below?
Sylin caught up with the man as he looked like he would try, and she sprang upon him first, kicking the back of one of his knees as her weight landed on his shoulders. He pitched forward with a pained grunt, and Rylana also caught up. Hounds in the kennel heard the commotion and barked. That meant someone had to be on the estate, caring for them. Rylana hoped nothing had happened to the butler or whoever her father had left behind.
She knelt beside the downed man, debating if she should draw her utility knife in case he squirmed free and she needed todefend herself. It was her only weapon that wasn’t tied by a tranquility ribbon. But they’d passed one of the peacekeepers’ ever-present magical pillars on the way up here, and a cry of pain or even a scream of fear could set off the alarm and bring uniformed troops. Besides, Sylin had managed to come down on top of the man and pin him. He tried to shove her off, but she jerked one of his arms behind his back, adding discomfort to her weight and keeping him face down in the grass.
“Who are you, and what are you doing on Avandar Estate?” Rylana asked.
“Querik,” he said. “I didn’t do anything. I swear by the new godandthe old gods. All of them!” The man shifted, trying to roll away from Sylin, but she kept him pinned. She didn’t weigh a lot, but she had inherited the legendary elven strength. “Do you have a knife?” the man added.
“Ten of them,” Sylin said.
“Is that all?” Rylana asked her. “I distinctly remember the peacekeepers being bemused—or maybe exasperated—as they waited for you to produce them all and tuck them into that case so they could tie up your arsenal.”
“I didn’t put them all in the case. I saved some to use on burglars.”
“I’m not a burglar,” the man protested. “I’m supposed to hold the horses. That’s all.”
“Whosehorses?” Rylana asked.
“I can’t— I’m not even sure…”
Sylin pressed an elbow into the man’s spine and leaned on it. “Answer Rylana’s questions.”
“Vernest Vormalt,” the man blurted with another pained gasp.
