Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
Rhianna swallowed hard. “Who’s going to talk to Myron and get him to agree to all of this?”
Hayden lifted his eyebrows and looked at Rhianna. “You. And do it as soon as possible. This needs to be taken care of.”
“He’ll never go along with it, not in a million years.”
“He’ll have to. The federation meets in three weeks, and this will come up. Things will go a lot better for him if he has a plan in place for taking care of it peacefully. You don’t want Glendymere to get involved, but he will if it seems war is imminent. I imagine Myron would rather avoid that as well.”
Rhianna turned to Xantha. “Can’t you talk to Myron? Explain this to him? After all, it’s your plan.”
Hayden shook his head. “It’s not his mess, it’s not mine. It’s yours.” Then, as he mounted Xantha, he added, “I’ll tell Weldon you’ll take care of this. Give Landis our love and tell her and Taelor we’ll be thinking of them.”
~ ~ ~ ~
For several minutes after Hayden left, Rhianna didn’t move. She hardly breathed. She didn’t have a prayer of convincing Myron to go along with that plan, and even if he did, they’d never pull it off. There was no way anyone who was around them for more than five minutes would ever believe they liked each other, not in that way.
As the shock wore off, Rhianna’s brain clicked on. She needed Chris. He was the only person she knew who could convince Myron to agree to do it, and she could talk to Chris. He’d understand the position she was in. He’d help her. And she needed to talk to him before she and Duane showed up on Myron’s doorstep.
Rhianna all but ran up the trail to Wildcat Mountain and then down the other side to Willow Canyon. Glendymere was back inside by the time she got there, so she followed the tunnels to his sleeping chamber. He was curled up against the far wall, but he wasn’t asleep. His eyes fluttered open when she walked in.
“Could I talk to you for a minute?”
Glendymere nodded.
“Where’s Landis?”
“She went up to the house. I think she was looking for you.”
Rhianna nodded. “Something’s come up. I need to talk to Chris.”
“Chris? Not Myron?”
“No, I need to talk to Chris as soon as possible. When can he be here?”
“Myron could bring him out when he comes next Sunday.”
Rhianna shook her head. “That’s too late. I need to talk to him before the weekend.”
Glendymere tilted his head.
“I’ll see Myron tomorrow morning. I can ask him to bring Chris here on his way to the canyon lands Thursday. Or if you need to see him sooner than that, I guess I could fly you to Milhaven.”
“No, I don’t want to do that. I guess Thursday will be all right. I hate going through Myron though.”
“Well, you could write to Chris and tell him you need to see him. He might get Myron’s key and come on his own if you do that.”
“That’s a good idea, thanks.”
As Rhianna turned to leave, Glendymere said,
“I sense something’s troubling you. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Rhianna turned back towards the dragon and slowly shook her head. “Not right now, maybe later, but thanks for offering.”
As she turned and walked away, Glendymere gave in to his curiosity and peeked into her mind. After a quick scan, he gave a faint nod and settled back down for his nap. The situation in North Amden could become a serious problem if they didn’t get it stopped soon, but the solution they’d come up with could become quite entertaining. The hint of a grin accompanied a little puff of smoke. Quite entertaining indeed.
When Rhianna left the cave, she followed the trail up Wildcat Mountain. Landis was waiting in the clearing in front of the house.
“What happened?” Landis asked. “Where did you go?”
“Father wanted to talk to me,” Rhianna said slowly. “He got a letter from Uncle Weldon.”
“From Weldon? Or from the council?”
“Both.”
“What did he want?” Landis fell in step beside Rhianna.
“Can we talk after dinner? I’ve got something I need to do.”
“Sure,” Landis said, puzzled. “Is everything all right?”
“Not really, but we’ll talk later. Tonight, after we’ve gone to our rooms.” Rhianna opened the front door. “I’ll see you later.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Gwynn had eaten dinner by the time Hayden made it back to Crinsor Run, but she’d kept a plate in the warmer for him. While she set it out, she asked how things had gone with Rhianna.
“I think we’ve come up with a solution. Rhianna’s not too happy with it, but I think it’s a grand idea.”
“But what happened? Where were they seen? Why were they around humans? How did this whole thing get started, and did she really kill someone?”
Hayden chuckled. “They were in Milhaven. Landis wanted to spend some time with a practicing sorcerer. Not a bad idea all in all. Rhianna’s actually. But some of Rolan’s men spotted them. Neither Rhianna nor Myron took that possibility into account when they set this thing up. Sort of stupid of them if you ask me, but they’re young.”
“So what happened with the man?”
Hayden took a few bites of his food and sipped his scog. “He shot the sorcerer and was taking aim at Landis when she threw her knife.”
“So she did kill him,” Gwynn said softly.
“No, she didn’t,” Hayden said around mouthfuls. “She hit him and knocked him down. He broke his leg in the fall, but they were at a chapel and one of the sisters patched him right up. He was fine, until someone murdered him in his jail cell that night. He died, but not because of Rhianna.”
Gwynn exhaled a long sigh. “Thank goodness. I’d hate for her to have to live with that.”
“Better to live with having killed a man than have to live with the fact someone you were protecting died because you didn’t. Her reactions were right. And she’d have been completely justified if she’d aimed to kill instead of aiming to wound.”
“I know. I’m just glad she didn’t have to.” Gwynn filled Hayden’s mug back up. “So what’s this solution you came up with?”
“If they can convince the people in Milhaven, including the men spying for Rolan, that Rhianna was with Landis at Myron’s request, there’s no connection between her and Landis. And if there’s no connection between them, there’s no reason to think Landis is with the elves, which means there’s no reason to think she’s in North Amden, so Rolan will call off his men.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“Duane and Xantha are going to take Rhianna to the castle this weekend and she and Myron are going to pretend he’s courting her.”
Gwynn’s mouth dropped open. “You want them to act like Myron’s courting her?”
Hayden nodded. “When people see her going around with Myron, they’ll think they’re involved with each other, so when he needed someone to watch over Landis, naturally he asked her.” After a swallow of scog, he continued. “It’s just pretend, Gwynn. It’s not like they’re going to get married.”
Gwynn closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “Oh, Hayden. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“What do you mean? I’ve averted a possible war with the humans, Gwynn. That’s what I’ve done.”
“But at what cost?” Gwynn asked quietly.
Hayden frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We could lose our daughter, Hayden.”
“No we won’t.” Hayden leaned over and put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Rhee can take care of herself, and she’ll be with Myron. He won’t let anything happen to her. Besides, no one’s interested in her. It’s Landis they want, and when they figure out Landis isn’t with Rhee, the humans will leave North Amden and things can get back to normal.”
Gwynn sighed. “There are a couple of problems with this plan of yours. First, a lot of the humans, especially the ones on the council, are going to strongly object to the idea of the Master Sorcerer courting an elf. But the bigger problem is they might end up getting married.”
Hayden shook his head. “They won’t take it that far.”
For a moment Gwynn stared at the table top. Then, without lifting her eyes, she asked, “Have you ever noticed the way he looks at her?”
“No, can’t say I have.”
“Hayden, he looks at her the same way you look at me. He’s in love with her, and she’s half in love with him. It won’t take much to push her over the edge.”
Hayden shook his head and laughed. “She’s not in love with him! She doesn’t even like him! Whenever he’s around she’s irritable and ill-tempered, and all they do is argue. She can hardly stand to be in the same room with him. There’s no way she’s going to fall in love with him.”
Gwynn slowly shook her head.
“Well? Am I wrong?”
“You’re right about the way she acts,” Gwynn said slowly, “but you’re dead wrong about what it means.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Landis went to her room after dinner to wait for Rhianna. She waited, and waited, and waited. Finally she opened her door and looked towards Rhianna’s room. The door was shut. With a shrug, she walked down the hall and opened Rhianna’s door. Rhianna was stretched out on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
“I don’t know whether I should be worried or angry, but I’m definitely not happy,” Landis said as she flopped down in the chair next to Rhianna’s bed. “If someone were hurt or sick, Hayden would have talked to both of us. If the council were sending you on some mission, you’d have told me already. So whatever’s got you so out of sorts must involve me, and if it does, I have every right to know what it is. Start talking.”
With a sigh, Rhianna sat up and scooted back against the headboard. “Do you remember when we went to Milhaven? And Saryn shot Marcus?”
Landis snorted. “Not something I’d be likely to forget.” Then she frowned. “What’s that got to do with Weldon?”
Rhianna explained what was happening in North Amden, Weldon’s note, and her father’s plan.
“So let me get this straight. You’re going to be spending time at the castle and in Milhaven so you and Myron can pretend you’re involved?” Landis asked with a big grin. “Is this going to involve a lot of hugging and kissing? Can I watch?”
“No!” Rhianna snapped. “You can’t be seen anywhere near me!”
Landis rolled her eyes. “I was joking, but I guess this means I won’t be able to go back home anytime soon, will I?”
Rhianna shook her head. “Not until this mess is cleared up and the humans are out of North Amden. Father said he hasn’t seen any around Crinsor Run, but if you’re spotted anywhere around there, it would put all of them at risk.”
Landis nodded. “I’m going to miss them.”
“He did tell me to tell you he and Mother are thinking about you. And Taelor, too.”
“That’s right. He can’t go back either.” After a moment, Landis asked, “What are we going to do when we leave here? Where are we going to go?”
“Myron will have to find a safe place for you to work, and someone to work with you since you can’t be around Milhaven, but that’s his problem. Not ours.”
“Speaking of Myron, what did he say about all of this?”
“He doesn’t know yet.”
“Seriously?”
Rhianna shrugged. “Father just came up with this plan a couple of hours ago. Well, actually Xantha did, but that’s beside the point. No one’s had a chance to talk to him about it yet.”
“Who’s going to tell him? You?”
Rhianna shook her head. “I tried to convince Xantha to do it, but I didn’t get anywhere with that.”
“Well, someone’s got to let him know what’s going on, and before this weekend.”
“I know. I sent Chris a letter this afternoon saying I need to see him. I’m going to let Chris break the news to Myron.”
Chapter 4
Doreen
When Glendymere called a halt to the sparring match Tuesday morning, Kevin told him he’d talked to Warren.
“Was he agreeable to both of us working with her for a while?”
“Completely. In fact, he’s looking forward to it. I brought him and his wife to see the caves Sunday night.”
“Did they find them acceptable?”
“I think they were surprised at how comfortable they’ll be there. I don’t think they’ll have any problems at all.”
“But you will keep a close check on them,”
Glendymere said. After Kevin nodded, Glendymere continued.
“I’d like to talk with him Sunday, after lunch. Can you bring him then?”
“As far as I know. If I can’t, Chris can.”
Glendymere nodded.
“I’d like for Landis to begin working with him soon. Let’s say Monday after the federation meeting. That’ll give them a couple of weeks to wind things up at home and get ready to move. Can he be ready by then?”
“I’ll let you know Thursday.”
“Good. Now is there anything else we need to talk about?”
When Kevin shook his head, Glendymere took out his key and left the canyon lands.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kevin went by Walnut Springs after he left Glendymere, so he was late getting back to his office. As soon as he arrived, Chris walked in and shut the door. “Anything I need to know about?”
Kevin told Chris about Glendymere’s plans and his trip to see Warren.
“Was Warren okay with moving that quickly?” Chris asked.
Kevin nodded as he thumbed through the messages on his desk. “I think Torrey was surprised it’s going to be so soon, but she’s already packing. I think she’s more concerned about having what she needs in the kitchen than anywhere else.”
Chris grinned. “I’ll be happy to help.”
“She’s packing, Chris. Not baking.”
“Offer still stands.”
“Anything going on around here?”
“Theresa came by a few minutes ago. She wants to talk to you.”
“Do I need to go down to the chapel?”
Chris shook his head. “She’ll be back in a few minutes. She stepped over to Joan’s office.”
“Then I’m going to start on these messages. Send her in as soon as she gets back.”
Fifteen minutes later, Theresa and Chris walked in.
“Do you have anything planned for Saturday evening?” Theresa asked as she sat down.
Kevin looked at Chris, who shook his head. “Not that I know of,” Kevin answered. “What do you need?”
Theresa explained Blair’s predicament at home. “I think her parents were just trying to provide a secure future for her, but she doesn’t want any part of the marriage her father set up.”