Brenin stood on a precipice of Maid Mountain in the Marsda's Mantle range. Behind him lay the unforgiving expanse of the desert. Ahead of him awaited the rolling highlands of Kanetalm. His clothes were torn and ragged, caked in dark mud and, strangely enough, occasionally dusted with the red sand of the Amhsis. For a long time, he said nothing, his severe gazing lingering on the outlines of the hillside below him.
Then he was interrupted by a careful Cyrus whose overall appearance was much neater in comparison to Brenin's. "Your grace—"
"I'm not the king of Umfeld any more, Cyrus," Brenin snapped shortly. "There's no need for such formality. Just speak plainly."
But Cyrus had also changed in his own way. Just as Brenin had felt himself harden, Cyrus lost any semblance of his prior meekness and humility. He stood his ground against Brenin. "Then perhaps you could do us the favor of including everyone in your thought process." His tone was more firm than harsh.
Brenin yielded to his steward's request, turning to face his pack. Viveka and Knotas were stretched out on the damp earth, awaiting for Brenin's new plan. They had been patient, all things considered, when Brenin had freed them from Lycaon's hold. Lycaon had not been particularly fond of releasing them to chase after Brenin's mission, but he had reluctantly relented with little other choice. It would seem that Tarion's remaining pack now belonged to Brenin.
There was one exception, of course. Gunilla was an older, more dangerous werewolf. On Lycaon's counsel, Brenin decided to keep her imprisoned for the time being. Meanwhile, Viveka and Knotas could be offered the chance to prove themselves, prove their loyalty.
But despite their best efforts and Viveka's adept skills in tracking, Caelfel and her abductors eluded them. They had searched the corners of Kanetalm and even braved a great distance in the desert. but it was to no avail. They had no leads other than a vague description of vampires, and even Brenin was beginning to doubt the credibility of Cyrus's account. The steward had been attacked, hit his own head; he could have suffered a great number of delusions or spotty memories.
And the logistics of such? The only known vampires resided in Umfang. Brenin had never met one, but he could not deny the political implications of Umfeld's would-be king scouring the steppes of Umfang, that was supposing if Caelfel was even taken back to Umfang.
"You want to know that I think?"
Garvanna suddenly appeared, descending from a higher bluff on the mountain. She used a burst of golden magic to jump the distance and soften her fall. She had joined him at the very moment she had learned of Caelfel's disappearance, something that surprised him very little, given how Caelfel had equally been as devoted to Garvanna. She had experimented with various forms of magic to track Caelfel, all of which had been unsuccessful.
Viveka rolled on her back, smirking. "No, but I have a feeling that you'll tell us anyway." The she-wolf of their party had taken to goading the she-elf into trivial arguments, all of which Brenin reserved no patience for.
"Hush," he hissed at her before turning to Garvanna. "Please, tell me what's on your mind."
Only the corners of Garvanna's mouth twitched in annoyance; she was getting better at ignoring Viveka's taunts. "This isn't the first time Caelfel's been kidnapped. The last time it happened, she was used as leverage, bait, against...someone." She danced around saying a name, and Brenin could easily guess which one.
"You think someone is using her as leverage against me?"
"Not exactly. There would have been some sort of ransom notice by now—"
"Someone is using her as leverage for someone else," he amended, his tone darkening.
"No, that's not what I meant," she said impatiently. "But her kidnapping last time happened, more or less, because she was an elf. It was an elvish battle on elvish land. We've looked so much in Kanetalm and even in Umfang already, but maybe it's not a human thing. They didn't even touch Cyrus. Perhaps, it's because she's an elf."
"Do vampires have connections with elves?" Cyrus asked.
"No, the opposite actually. Vampires can't enter the Fey Forest."
"Then I don't think your theory really helps. Vampires kidnapped her," Cyrus insisted.
"How can you be so sure that they were vampires?" Garvanna asked skeptically.
"I know what I saw." His voice was sharp, defensive. "They were large and pale, stronger than any human and twice as fast."
Garvanna threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "You've just described an elf!"
"I have seen elves before," Cyrus snapped. "I know the difference."
Brenin interjected. "No one is doubting what you saw," he began carefully. "But at this point, I think we should consider every option. It's possible that the elves are responsible. So what does that mean, Garvanna?"
The she-elf sighed. "It actually brings me to my next idea. I know I've tried everything in my power to track her, but honestly, I've never trained in that skill. I think we should find someone who has."
Viveka sat up and gave an obnoxious cough. "Ahem? Excuse me?"
"As much as I would love to insult your abilities," Garvanna said, rolling her eyes. "I'm beginning to think we should broaden our horizons. Caelfel is an elf, and elves are magical beings. We need an elf tracker."
"Do you know of one?" Brenin asked.
Garvanna was deliberate to not turn away from his gaze. "Yes. Feraan is. I think he's our best bet."
The name hovered in the air, heavy like smoke. Of course Feraan would be the answer. He was Caelfel's first love and Madoc's true father. Brenin had met him in brief encounters after Caelfel's battle at the Crossroads. He could hold nothing against Feraan, but Brenin could admit, to himself at least, that every thought of Feraan was tinged with jealousy.
Garvanna attempted to explain herself after Brenin's extended silence. "I know he's not a favorite choice—"
"You know what I think?" Viveka interrupted, jumping to her feet and dusting her pants off. "We can't ignore the slight chance that this is what Caelfel wanted."
"You mean she attacked herself?" Cyrus asked with a snort.
"She could have set it all up, decided she didn't like playing lady in the palace. She was too nice to spare your feelings, your highness, and tell you the truth. Hired some elves to help her and went back home to daddy."
Garvanna crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but we were talking about actual ideas."
"And you don't think there's even a slight chance that that's happened?" Viveka challenged.
"I think it's more likely that you'll survive a fall off this mountain," Garvanna retorted. "You don't know Caelfel. She's not capable of deceiving anyone like that."
"Everyone is capable of lying," Viveka returned stoutly, squaring her shoulders.
Garvanna stepped closer. "If that's how you truly feel, perhaps we should have left you locked up in Haradrop."
"Am I threat because I recognize that a person's nature can be bad? People can lie. Elves can lie. You're not better than the rest of us."
Garvanna's cheeks flushed. "Maybe I'm not. But Caelfel is—she's better than you, than any of us here. She freed a werebird who she never met before. She stared an angry riot in the face just to save one girl from execution. She accepted being labeled as a traitor to her own people just to save someone known as the most hated elf of Honey Water. And, she walked across Ariang'ron to find him—" Here, Garvanna pointed at Brenin. "Climbed a mountain, faced Voten, fought and killed your precious Tarion, and faced a whole army alone, all for him." She jabbed her finger in Brenin's direction. "She would never turn her back on Brenin."
Viveka shrugged one lazy shoulder, backing down. "Fine, live in your deluded fantasy."
"Garvanna's right," Brenin asserted. "Caelfel didn't just leave. We shouldn't waste our time discussing things that have no bearing on our situation. We need to find Feraan. How do we do that?"
"Haradrop," Garvanna answered automatically. "If anyone knows how to contact him, it'll be Lycaon."
Brenin nodded curtly. "Fair enough. We go to Haradrop."
Viveka flipped her thick, brown braid over her shoulder and laughed once. "Good. You can tell Lycaon how good we've been to babysit."
The she-wolf started down the mountain path first, followed by Knotas and Cyrus. Garvanna lingered until she was alone with Brenin.
"You know how much I respect and appreciate everything you do," he told her softly. "But you need to settle things down with Viveka."
Garvanna's eyes glinted liked rough gemstones. "Maybe this is a conversation you need to have with her. She instigates everything."
"Garvanna please," he said with a defeated sigh. "Do you realize how childish that sounds? It's wasting too much time, causing too many problems."
"I am not the problem here," she hissed. "Viveka's real issue is that she has eyes for you."
Brenin was stunned at this. "What? What do you mean?"
"I mean that she desires you," Garvanna said flatly.
"She has Knotas," Brenin pointed out.
"I don't think that means much in Viveka's eyes. Just be careful. I sense she doesn't really care about finding Caelfel."
"Do you think she's sabotaging us? Not really using her tracking abilities to help?"
Garvanna hesitated. "I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me. Just be careful, Brenin. Don't let your guard down around her."
She offered an awkward, conciliatory pat on the back before following the others. Brenin did likewise, keeping his thoughts focused on his t ask and his eyes on the back of Viveka's distant head.