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River Perda at the unrelenting faces of the dark elven scourge—”
    “I wouldn’t use that word to describe them, exactly,” Cyrus said.
    Arydni’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? Well, their army, then. We continue to engage in the least-fought war in our history, at least since the last of the dark elves was expelled from Termina over the bridges.”
    “As it should be,” Cyrus said, feeling a quaver in his voice that he hoped was related to the drainage running down his throat. “Your people are in no condition to mount a major offensive against the Sovereignty.”
    “Someone should,” she said, watching him carefully.
    Cyrus watched her in return, carefully studying her face. It was still youthful; he would have guessed late thirties in human years, and her full lips did not move in the slightest. “You heard about it, didn’t you?”
    “So it’s true?” Arydni asked.
    “Depends on what you heard,” Cyrus said. He felt the cool touch of the rag, this time upon his shoulder.
    “A rumor reached my ear that Sanctuary accepted a mercenary contract,” Arydni said, looking up at him with careful consideration. “From the Human Confederation.”
    Cyrus tried not to blink and look away. “It is true, after a fashion.”
    “You’ve become a paid army,” she said.
    “It’s not like that,” Cyrus said, and he felt his face redden and not from where the sun had kissed his flesh on the boat ride. “We accepted an offer from Pretnam Urides and the Council of Twelve for a one-time action against the dark elves, and fought to free Prehorta from the enemy garrison that had been left there.”
    “You had never done this before,” Arydni said softly. “Sanctuary, I mean.”
    “No,” Cyrus said with a shake of the head. “But the pay was exceptional for little risk to our people. And we are already enthusiastic enemies of the dark elves.” He glanced toward the window, which was shut. “Perhaps you saw some hints of their siege here only six months ago? Admittedly, the southwest tower is reconstructed and we’ve patched the holes in the outer curtain wall, but the scarring from what they did is still there, I think.”
    “I didn’t really notice,” Arydni said. “I was more interested in the news about Sanctuary going out for hire.”
    “We have a whole city’s worth of refugees to support,” Cyrus said, biting back the hostility that threatened to enter his voice. “The Emerald Fields are not yet self-sufficient, and this is the manner through which we have to earn enough gold to support them. I suspect you’ve heard, but after what the dark elves did to the Plains of Perdamun, there’s more than a small famine going on in Arkaria, and the price of food everywhere but the Elven Kingdom has gone to ridiculous heights—”
    “You misunderstand me,” Arydni said, dropping the rag in the basin and folding her hands in her lap, smoothing the edges of her robe as she did so. “I do not judge you for what you have done. I know you to be an honorable man, and not some rudderless brigand who turns solely in the direction of coin.” He watched her hands clench on the soft cloth of her robe. “Which is why I am here.”
    “Not to judge or sway me from the path of the mercenary?” Cyrus said with only slight amusement. “Not to discourage me from involving myself in the wars and skirmishes of the day in exchange for gold?”
    “No,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “Not at all. I came here after I heard the rumor because I … I have a problem. A rather sizable one.” Her eyes met his, and he could see within her lively irises a faint hint of hope. “I came … because I wish to hire you.”

Chapter 5
    “You want to hire me?” Cyrus asked. He felt himself slump a little and adjusted to lean against the headboard of his massive bed. It was made of dragon bones, with elephant tusks for each of the posts, and he lay back and stared at the elven priestess sitting upon the edge. “Hire me …