Page 47 of Potions & Pints
For a second, Tan thought the orc was joking, but then he heard it too — voices, speaking in urgent tones.
“Isn’t the chieftain worried that Piliphre will find out?” came a voice and Tan thought he recognized it as the Assistant Librarian’s. He couldn’t be sure, but whoever it was, Tan had to know what they were talking about. This was what he’d promised to keep an ear out for, after all.
“Not if he’s dead,” came another voice and Tan’s blood suddenly ran cold. This voice he knew for certain. It was the Librarian.
“The chieftain already took care of one of his sons,” the Librarian continued. “No reason he’d hold back on the other.”
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Tan and Vir looked at each other. Tan put his finger up to his lips and Vir nodded. They flattened themselves against the wall.
“I can’t believe this,” the Librarian said. “I just portaled over to Selkirk to collect a book. I just went for a book.”
“Which portal?” the assistant asked.
“Princess Shara’s castle in Ozryn. Oh, I must sit down. This is terrible.”
“Shall I fetch you something?”
The Librarian muttered a response, which Tan couldn’t understand. It didn’t matter what the drink the assistant prepared. Tan needed to know what the Librarian had learned.
“Thank you,” the Librarian said when his assistant arrived with the refreshments.
All that was heard for a minute was the clinking of silver on china.
“Anything else I can bring you?” the assistant said.
Tan looked at Vir who shook his head vigorously. Tan suppressed a smile.
“No, this is fine. So you must understand I overheard everything I am about to tell you. My hearing is excellent. I often hear things I wasn’t meant to. Sometimes it’s a blessing, sometimes it’s a curse…”
Spit it out, Tan thought furiously.
“Shara is worried. I would say Princess Shara, but based on what I heard I refuse to call her that. To do so would disrespect the title.”
Vir wrinkled up his face and shrugged his shoulders. Tan patted Vir’s arm in a way he hoped convey his shared impatience.
“Valar’s treaty is based on a lie,” the Librarian said loudly.
Tan heard the distinct sound of the man getting up and stomping across the room. He pictured a fair amount of arm waving.
“The Northern royalty had nothing to do with the assassination of Princess Namys and her husband. It was the chieftain!”
The revelation was followed by another one Tan had on his own. Silently. No wonder Pili was now imprisoned in The Abyss. The chieftain wouldn’t want anyone looking into the forces behind the assassination. That would lead directly back to him.
“His own son,” the assistant asked. His disbelief was obvious. “Why?”
That was exactly what Tan was thinking. He and Vir leaned the tiniest bit closer to the door.
“He knew his son’s marriage would mean Idrulo now felt loyal to the Northern tribes as well. He wasn’t wrong. The chieftain was determined not to be dragged into the war. It’s been going on for a century. Why in the world would he get involved now?”
“I was here when Idrulo sent the message asking for his father’s blessing,” the assistant said. “I told him his father was visiting another tribe.”
“He was. Valar’s. He brought them moonstones to pay the assassins. Oh, such blasphemy. Imagine paying for a murder with the sacred stones. Murder of your own blood no less.”
“Is that why Valar sent the weapons—”
“There were no weapons on the ship,” the Librarian said. “Shara said the crates were loaded with rocks. If Pili had looked in the crates along the way, maybe they would have turned around.”
