Элейн Каннингем - Elfsong

The silvery notes of a harp interrupted Lucia’s complacent thoughts and filled her with indignation. Surely, her well-trained servants had not admitted a musician before the appointed time! She followed the sound to a window alcove, her purple velvet slippers whispering across the polished marble of the floor.

In the curve of a bay window, under a trellis covered with flowering vines, sat a drab half-elf woman, playing a small dark harp of ancient design. To a casual observer, the woman’s fading hair and simple gray gown made her look like a plump and matronly goodwife, entirely out of place in the elegant room. Since it was Lucia’s job to see what others missed, she noted the haughty, aristocratic tilt of the half-elf’s head, the power and assurance in her long-fingered hands, and the intelligence in her vivid blue eyes. Although prudence demanded that she summon a servant to oust this intruder, instinct warned Lucia that this was something she should handle herself, and carefully.

“I have met all this evening’s performers,” Lucia began. “Despite your skill on the harp, lady, you are not one of them. May I know your name?”

The harpist did not look up from her playing. “You may call me Garnet. Since we have worked together before, I see no need for formality. Please, sit down.”

Lucia sank onto the low, velvet-covered bench, as far away from the strange half-elf as possible. “My memory is excellent, but I don’t recall our association.”

“Three nights ago, in the Street of Swords bazaar district. That ballad you heard was mine, and that bard is under my influence. By itself, the ballad is creating quite a stir, but I watched you at work afterward, and I must admit that you enhanced the situation admirably.”

“You flatter me,” the noblewoman said cautiously, distressed to learn that her actions had not escaped notice.

“Not at all. I’ve made some inquiries, and you are an astonishingly versatile woman. Your business interests make you an influential part of Waterdeep’s web of commerce, and you pay membership dues to two guilds. You have also reached a high position in court society.” Garnet finally stopped playing and looked up, locking her intense blue gaze with the noblewoman’s wary eyes. “And, most important, you have managed to infiltrate the Lords of Waterdeep. No wonder the Knights of the Shield speak highly of you. I am told that you’re their highest ranked agent in this city.”

Lucia’s heart thumped painfully, but she merely folded her hands in her silken lap. “I would be a fool to admit to any of this,” she said.

“Yes, you would,” Garnet agreed with a thin smile. “But since I am quite sure of my facts, I don’t require verification.”

The noblewoman’s mind raced over the possibilities. Other than her trusted agents, no one in Waterdeep knew that she was a member of the Knights of the Shield, a secret organization from the south that gathered information and manipulated politics to whatever end suited them. Obviously, with this information, Garnet could threaten to ruin her in Waterdeep and demand whatever she liked. There was a second danger: the half-elf’s words revealed to Lucia that this information had come directly from high officials in the Knights of the Shield. Lucia had secured her position with the Knights by claiming to be one of the secret Lords of Waterdeep. Since the identity of the Lords was a closely held secret, and since the Knights and the Lords were bitter enemies and not known to exchange information, she had little fear that either her superiors or the true Lords would discover her ruse. If this half-elf—who clearly had the ear of someone important among the Knights—was going to demand favors that only a Lord of Waterdeep could accomplish, then Lucia had a serious problem.

“You seem to know a great deal about me, and therefore you have me at a disadvantage,” Lucia said sweetly, hoping to draw more information from Garnet

“What would you like to know?” the half-elf responded bluntly.

“Well, you said that the bard was under your influence. How was this done?”

Garnet plucked a large purple trumpet flower from the vines overhead and handed it to the noblewoman. “I’ll show you how it was done,” she said simply, and once again she put her fingers to the harp strings. She began to play a lilting dance tune, to which she sang a few lines of cryptic verse.

The flower in Lucia’s hand collapsed into a withered brown thread. The noblewoman gasped and looked up at the trellis. The vines were also blighted, and a dead leaf drifted onto her upturned cheek. Lucia brushed it off and took a deep, steadying breath. “You are a sorceress then, as well as a bard.”

“Whether those are two separate things or parts of one talent is a matter for a later discussion. It will suffice to say that, like you, I have many skills. We share a single purpose, however: to work against the Lords of Waterdeep.” Garnet gently removed the harp from her shoulder and leaned toward the noblewoman. “May I speak frankly?”

“Please.”

“Working from the inside, you can do much against Waterdeep’s secret Lords. But can you strike against Khelben Arunsun?”

“Many have tried and failed. He is too powerful,” Lucia hedged.

“That is my point precisely,” Garnet said, stabbing the air with a slender finger. “Khelben is far too powerful. Many consider him the backbone of the Lords’ power and influence. This offends me. I do not believe he should be in a position of political power, and I will see him removed.”

Lucia doubted this, but she was in no position to argue. “What would you have me do?”

“Harass the other Lords. Keep them busy, off guard. Send them running about the city stamping out small fires.”

“You hardly need my help for that Waterdeep has many problems these days.”

Garnet smiled and inclined her head in a slight bow. “Thank you.”

The noblewoman absorbed this, studying the withered flower in her hand. If the blight on the local fields and crops was Garnet’s doing, this woman was powerful indeed. “How will you remove Khelben from his position?”

“The archmage may be too formidable to attack, but no one is too powerful to discredit”

“But the Knights of the Shield have sought for many years for information we could use against him!”

“A thing need not be true to be damaging,” Garnet pointed out “An accusation need not be proven; ofttimes it is enough that words are said. Words have great power.” She reached out and stroked the dark wood of her harp. “As does music.”

After a few moments’ reflection, the sorceress continued. “I control many bards. They will spread tales about Khelben, and about his lady. As it happens, most of these will be true. I know many things about Khelben, things only a few of his closest friends suspect. My bards will apply pressure, as you saw the other evening.”

“And I?”

“You know who the Lords are. If enough of them are kept out of the way, we increase the pressure on Khelben. Eventually, even he will make a mistake, and you may be assured that all the city will know of it.”

“But doesn’t that put you in a dangerous situation? When these little-known tales are told, they may well be traced to you.”

“Very perceptive,” Garnet said approvingly. “The Knights were not wrong in their estimation of your talents. But I have anticipated that, and I have prepared a distraction. Khelben’s nephew, Danilo Thann, has bardic pretensions. I have improved many of the young man’s songs, and I have woven them into the memories of the bards I control. You can be sure that these songs are widely and often sung. As you know, Waterdeep is a city of passing fashions, each pursued almost fanatically before being abandoned for the next. Danilo Thann’s songs are currently all the rage, and the Waterdhavians listen with close attention and great interest Thus shall I use Danilo Thann to discredit his uncle, the archmage, while deflecting attention that might have otherwise come my way. He will accept the credit, and the blame.”