Терри Брукс - Tanequil

«Aren't those Gnome Hunters crewing theAthabasca?» Rue asked suddenly. «Where are the Trolls?»

It was too late for speculation. «Bek Ohmsford?» the Druid asked as he came up to them. He held out his hand without waiting for a reply. «My name is Traunt Rowan.»

He shook Bek's hand, then took Rue's as well. His grip was firm and reassuring. He spoke in even, measured tones that radiated sincerity and concern.

«I was sent by the Druid Council to bring you back with me to Paranor," he continued, looking at them in turn. «The Ard Rhys has disappeared. We don't know what happened to her, but she's gone, and we haven't been able to find out why.»

Bek nodded. His sister had disappeared before, many times. She was known for going off without warning on undertakings she wished to keep secret. «You must have reason to be worried about her beyond what you've told me. She has gone her own way without advising others many times in her life. Why is this time any different?»

«Her personal assistant, Tagwen, always knows where she is. Or at least he knows when she is leaving. This time, he didn't know anything about what happened. Nor did the Troll guard. No one did. This is where matters become a bit more complicated. Tagwen was concerned enough that he sought out Ahren Elessedil to help search for her. Together, they traveled to Patch Run to find you. But they found you gone and spoke with your son instead. When they left, they took him with them. Now we can't find any of them.»

Bek felt a stab of fear. Rue's fingers reached out to find his and tightened sharply. «How did you find all this out? You haven't received any messages, have you?»

The Druid shook his head. «None. We found out what we did by asking those who knew bits and pieces of the truth. Tagwen left word where he was going. We followed him to the Westland village of Emberen. We discovered that he spoke with Ahren Elessedil and that they left together. From there, we tracked them to Patch Run. But we don't know what happened after that. We only know that your son is gone, as well.»

He grimaced. «I'm embarrassed we don't know more. We have been searching for them for days. We have been searching for you, too. We think that the disappearance of the Ard Rhys might indicate that her entire family is in danger. There is some indication of this being so. She has many enemies, and everyone knows you are close to her and are possessed of the Shannara magic, as well. Some of those enemies might consider you as dangerous to them as she is.»

«Penderrin would never go off with anyone, even Ahren Elessedil, without leaving word for us," Rue broke in suddenly. «Did you look for a message?»

«We did," Traunt Rowan said. «We looked everywhere. But we didn't find one.»

You searched our bouse,Bek thought.That was bold. Why did you fed the need?

«If Pen failed to leave a message, it was because he didn't have enough time to do so.» Rue was sliding into her protective mother role, and Bek could see the anger in her eyes. «Why wasn't he offered your protection earlier?»

A flicker of irritation appeared on Traunt Rowan's handsome face and then quickly disappeared. «We did what we thought best at the time. We were a little disorganized, confused. We didn't know what had happened at that point.»

«You still don't, it seems," she snapped.

The Druid turned to Bek. «If you will return with me to Paranor, perhaps we can find them together. We know you have a strong connection to your sister, that you share the use of her magic. We were hoping that you might find a way to apply your talents to help us with our search. If we can find either your sister or your son, we have a chance of finding both.»

He hesitated. «I admit that we are growing desperate. We need a fresh approach. We need any help that we can get.»

He sounded sincere and his plea had merit, but something troubled Bek. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he couldn't quite make himself dismiss it, either.

«What of the expedition?» he asked, trying to think it through.

«I will see that everything is taken care of. Another ship, paid for by the order, will fulfill your obligation to your passengers. With your permission, I will fly back with you aboard your airship to Paranor. The Athabasca can continue her search. We have all of our airships out looking, crisscrossing the Four Lands. I don't want to take any of them out of service until this matter is settled.» He paused. «We are doing everything we can to find your son.»

He directed this last comment at Rue in what was surely an effort to reassure her, but Bek was pretty certain it was too late for that.

«We have to find him, Bek," Rue said quickly. «We have to do whatever it takes.»

She was right, of course. But that didn't mitigate his sense of uneasiness. Why would Pen, who was always so dependable, disappear without a word to anyone? Where would Ahren Elessedil have taken him that required such secrecy? Looking at it from every conceivable angle, he kept coming back to the same two possibilities—that his son had been forced to flee or that Traunt Rowan was lying.

«Let me talk with our passengers and tell them what's happening," he said to the Druid. «Then we'll come with you.»

He took Rue's hand and led her over to where the six who had hired them were standing in the shadow ofSwift Sure. Quickly, he told them a version of the truth—that an emergency had arisen that required them to leave immediately for home, that another airship with another Captain and crew familiar with expedition work would come to allow them to complete their outing. There were a few disappointed looks, but everyone took it well. None of them asked for their money back. They shook hands and wished one another well.

After giving a wave of reassurance to Traunt Rowan, Bek walked over to the crates of supplies stacked on the ground at the airship's stern and began checking through them. Rue, who had hesitated before following him over, bent close. «What are you doing?»

«Pretending that I'm doing something useful," he said. «Gaining us a little space and time so that we can think.»

She joined him in poking through the crates, her eyes never leaving his face. «You don't trust him, either.»

He glanced back at the Druid, who was leading their passengers over to theAthabasca in preparation for boarding. «Why do you think Tagwen felt the need to seek out Ahren Elessedil when there are more than a hundred other Druids at Paranor whom he could have turned to? Why would he choose to seek help outside Paranor's walls? That doesn't feel right.»

«No," she agreed, «it doesn't.»

«But let's assume he had a good reason for traveling all the way to Emberen to find Ahren. Why did Traunt Rowan and the other Druids suddenly feel a need to follow him? If they were worried about our family, why wouldn't they go straight to Patch Run to warn us? They've thrown Pen into the mix as a reason for their search, but they didn't know anything about a connection to us before they started looking for the other two.»

Rue's mouth tightened. «He said Pen might be in danger, that we all might. But he never said from whom, did he?»

«I take your point. Whatever the case, I don't think we are being told the truth.»

She straightened abruptly. «Then why are we going back to Paranor? If this is some sort of a trap, we shouldn't be so quick to step into it.»

He shook his head. 'They want something from us. If they didn't, they would have taken a different approach. Besides, if we don't go to Paranor, we lose our best chance of finding out what is really going on.»

She brushed back loose strands of her long red hair and looked off into the distance. «I could make him tell us everything in about ten minutes if you left me alone with him.»