“I have been waiting,” a woman’s voice said, sounding reproachful.
Tanis gasped. The woman spoke elven! Now he could see her face, the large, luminous eyes, pointed ears, delicate features….
A sea elf!
Confused tales from his childhood came back to Tanis as he tried to follow the conversation of the red-robed man and the elven woman, who was smiling at him fondly.
“I’m sorry, beloved,” the red-robed man said soothingly, in elven, sitting down beside her. “I went to see how the young man you were concerned about was doing. He’ll be all right, now. It was a close one, though. You were correct. He was certainly intent on dying. Something about his brother-a magic-user-betraying him.”
“Caramon!” Tanis murmured. Riverwind looked at him questioningly. The Plainsman could not, of course, follow the elven conversation. Tanis shook his head, not wanting to miss what else was said.
“QueaKI’ICHKeecx” said the woman in scorn. Tanis was puzzled, that word was certainly not elven!
“Yes!” The man frowned. “After I made sure those two were safe, I went to see some of the others. One of them-a bearded fellow, a half-elf, leaped at me as if he would swallow me whole! The others we managed to save are doing well.”
“We laid out the dead with ceremony,” said the woman, and Tanis could hear the ages-old sorrow in her voice, the sorrow of the elves for the loss of life.
“I would have liked to ask them what they were doing in the Blood Sea of Istar. I’ve never known a ship’s captain foolish enough to dare the maelstrom. The girl told me there’s war going on above. Maybe they had no choice.”
The elven woman playfully splashed water on the red-robed man. “There’s always war going on above! You are too curious, my beloved. Sometimes I think you might leave me and return to your world. Especially after you talk with these KreeaQUEKH.”
Tanis heard a note of true concern in the woman’s voice, though she was still playfully splashing the man.
The red-robed man leaned down and kissed her on the wet, greenish hair shining in the light of the sputtering torch on the wall above them. “No, Apoletta. Let them have their wars and their brothers who betray brothers. Let them have their impetuous half-elves and their foolish sea captains. As long as my magic serves me, I will live below the waves-”
“Speaking of impetuous half-elves,” Tanis interrupted in elven as he strode rapidly down the stairs. Riverwind, Gold-moon, and Berem followed, though they had no idea what was being said.
The man turned his head in alarm. The elven woman disappeared into the water so swiftly that Tanis wondered for a moment if he might have imagined her existence. Not a ripple on the dark surface betrayed where she had been. Reaching the bottom of the steps, Tanis caught hold of the magic-user’s hand just as he was about to follow the sea elf into the water.
“Wait! I’m not going to swallow you!” Tanis pleaded. “I’m sorry I acted the way I did back there. I know this looks bad, sneaking around after you like this. But we had no choice! I know I can’t stop you if you’re going to cast a spell or something. I know you could engulf me in flames or put me to sleep or wrap me in cobweb or a hundred other things. I’ve been around magic-users. But won’t you please listen to us? Please help us. I heard you talking about two of our friends-a big man and a pretty red-haired girl. You said the man nearly died-his brother betrayed him. We want to find them. Won’t you tell us where they are?”
The man hesitated.
Tanis went on hurriedly, losing coherence in his efforts to keep hold of this man who might be able to help them. “I saw the woman here with you. I heard her speak. I know who she is. A sea elf, isn’t she? You are right. I am half-elven. But I was raised among the elves, and I’ve heard their legends. I thought that’s all they were, legends. But then I thought dragons were legends, too. There is a war being fought in the world above. And you’re right. There always seems to be a war being fought somewhere. But this war won’t stay up above. If the Queen of Darkness conquers, you can be certain she’ll find out the sea elves are down here. I don’t know if there are dragons below the ocean, but-“
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