“I think I’d be more comfortable if you didn’t tell me what you’re really doing, Veltan,” Red-Beard agreed.

“We’ll do it that way, then. Zelana’s grotto’s just ahead. Excuse me for a moment, gentlemen. I want to let Eleria know that we’re here.” He frowned slightly, and then he smiled. “She’s coming out,” he advised.

“Out of where?” Red-Beard asked, looking around.

“The grotto.” Veltan pointed at the surface of the water. “The entrance is down there.”

“Under the water?” Red-Beard demanded incredulously.

“Actually, it’s a cave, but it’s not much like those caves we came across up in the ravine to the east of Lattash.” Veltan laughed. “Dahlaine went wild when Zelana told him that Eleria was swimming up out of the grotto to play with the pink dolphins when she was only about five years old.”

Just then the beautiful child Eleria rose to the surface and swam to Veltan’s sloop. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“Well, sort of,” Veltan replied. “Is my sister all right?”

“Not really,” Eleria replied. “The Beloved’s having a lot of trouble with some of the things that happened up there in the ravine. I don’t think she realized exactly what the word war really means. Killing things and people by the thousands seems to be something she didn’t completely understand.”

“It was sort of necessary, little one,” Longbow reminded her.

“Well, maybe, but the Beloved didn’t really expect it to go quite so far. She absolutely had to get away and come back home.”

“Is she settling down at all?”

“Well, a little bit, maybe. Just being back home in the grotto helps her.”

“She shouldn’t have left quite so fast,” Veltan said. “She forgot something that was fairly important.”

“Oh?”

“She didn’t give Sorgan the gold she’d promised him, and he’s very unhappy about that. She can stay here in her grotto if she really thinks it’s necessary, but she’s going to have to come back to Lattash for a little while and pay the pirates what she owes them. The delay’s making Narasan very suspicious, and he won’t move until he knows that my sister kept her promise. If Sorgan doesn’t get paid, Narasan won’t come south to my Domain, and I think I’m going to need him there before too much longer.”

“I’ll go back down to the grotto and tell the Beloved that you’re here, uncle Veltan. I might be able to persuade her to come out, but I’m not making any promises.” Then the little girl arched gracefully over and plunged on back down through the water.

It seemed almost like forever as the three of them sat in Veltan’s gently bobbing sloop, but it was probably only about a quarter of an hour before Eleria and Zelana came to the surface no more than a few yards from the sloop.

“What’s this all about, Veltan?” Zelana demanded, smoothly treading water.

“You seem to have neglected something, dear sister,” Veltan suggested. “I know that you’ve got a lot on your mind right now, but you seem to have overlooked certain obligations.”

“Get to the point, Veltan,” she said irritably.

“You neglected to pay the Maags for their services during the recent unpleasantness,” Veltan reminded her.

“I’ll get around to it one of these days.”

“‘One of these days’ is just a little vague, wouldn’t you say, dear sister?”

“Sorgan doesn’t need the gold right now. There’s no place here in the Land of Dhrall where he could spend it.”

“He may not need it, Zelana, but he wants it.”

“That’s just too bad.”

“And it’s getting worse every day. Sorgan’s discontent’s starting to spread. Narasan’s starting to have some doubts about the honesty of our family. I hired him with promises, just like you hired Sorgan. If you don’t pay Sorgan, Narasan won’t believe that I’ll pay him. He’s sitting on board his ship in the bay of Lattash waiting for a demonstration of good faith. You gave Sorgan your word, sister of mine, and if you don’t make good on your word, the outlanders will probably steal everything they can lay their hands on and then set sail for home. Without Narasan’s assistance, there’s no way that I can defend my Domain, and if I lose, we’ll all lose, and the Vlagh will win dominion over the entire Land of Dhrall. Was there any part of that you didn’t understand?”

“You’re hateful, Veltan.”

“I do my best, dear sister. Are you going to keep your word or not?”

“Oh, all right!” She almost spat her response at him. “I’ll go back to Lattash and pay that greedy pirate, but that’s as far as I’ll go. I will not get involved in any more of this savagery!”

The face of the child Eleria hardened. “That’s all right, Beloved,” she said in a sugary sweet tone. “You can stay here and play with your pink dolphins, strum your harp, and compose bad poetry, if that’s what it takes to make you happy. I’ll go in your place. I may not be as skilled as you are, and I might make a lot of mistakes, but at least I’ll be there when my people need me.”

Zelana’s eyes went very wide. “You can’t do that, Eleria,” she exclaimed. “I won’t permit it.”

“Then I’ll just have to go without your permission, won’t I, Beloved? Either you go or I go, and that’s all there is to say. The choice is yours, Beloved. It’s either you or me. Make up your mind, Zelana. We don’t have all day, you know.”

Red-Beard was stunned. The sweet child suddenly wasn’t sweet anymore. Red-Beard glanced at Longbow to see if his friend was as shocked as he was.

Longbow’s expression, however, showed no signs of shock. He placidly returned Red-Beard’s gaze.

And then he slyly winked.

5

They moved smoothly down the west coast of the Isle of Thurn, and Red-Beard carefully watched Zelana and Eleria, trying his best not to be too obvious about it.

Now that she’d jerked Zelana back to normalcy, however, Eleria had reverted back to her previous sweetness, and Zelana seemed to be her old self again. She spoke at some length with Veltan back at the stern of the sloop, and then she joined Red-Beard and Longbow near the bow. “My brother tells me that Chief White-Braid’s having some problems,” she said. “What seems to be the trouble?”