Shaking his head in perplexity, he walked right past Brian—again without seeing him—muttering, “What’s the matter with everybody? It was only a dream! Though I have to say,” he added somberly, “it was the most real dream I’ve ever had in my whole entire life.”
No one spoke inside the tent. Brian considered this all very strange, but he was relieved to know that they weren’t plotting against them. He was about to slip back to his tent when he heard Flint say, “I don’t mind having a nightmare, but I object to sharing it with a kender. How do you suppose we all came to have the same dream? What does it mean?”
“A strange land—Silvanesti,” Laurana said in thoughtful tones. The light wavered beneath the tent. She opened the tent flap part way and Brian hunkered down in the shadows, hoping fervently she didn’t see him.
“Do you think it was real?” Laurana’s voice trembled. “Did they die—as we saw?”
“We’re here,” Sturm replied reassuringly. “We didn’t die. We can only trust the others didn’t either, and—this seems funny, but somehow I know they’re all right.”
Brian was startled. Sturm sounded very sure of himself, but after all it had been only a dream. Still, it was odd that they had all shared it.
Laurana slipped out into the night. She carried a thick candle and its flame illuminated her face. She was pale from the shock of the nightmare, and she seemed lost in wonderment. Gilthanas emerged from his tent, which was directly across from Brian’s, so the knight was trapped. As long as the two stood there, he couldn’t go back.
“Laurana,” her brother said, coming up short at the sight of her. “I was so worried. I had a dream that you died!”
“I know,” said Laurana. “I dreamed the same thing, so did Sturm and Flint and Tas. We all had the same dream about Tanis, Raistlin, and the rest of our friends. The dream was horrible, yet it was comforting at the same time. I know Tanis is alive, Gil. I know it! The rest are alive, as well. None of us understand it—”
She and her brother went into his tent to finish their discussion. Brian was about to return to his, deeply ashamed of himself, when he heard movement. The dwarf and knight were walking out of the tent. Again Brian ducked back into the shadows, vowing he would never spy on anyone else so long as he lived. He was not cut out for this!
“Well, so much for sleep,” Flint was saying. “I’ll take my turn at watch now.”
“I’ll join you,” Sturm offered.
“I suppose we’ll never know why or how we all dreamed the same dream,” said the dwarf. “I suppose not,” said Sturm.
The dwarf walked out of the tent. Sturm was about to follow when he appeared to find something on the ground just inside his tent flap. He stooped down to pick it up. The object glittered with a bright blue-white light, as though a star had dropped from the sky to rest in Sturm’s hand. The knight stood staring at the shining object, turning it over in his hand. Brian could see it quite clearly—a pendant formed in the shape of a star. The pendant gleamed with its own sparkling radiance. It was incredibly beautiful.
“I suppose not,” Sturm repeated, but as he stared at the jewel he now sounded thoughtful. He clasped it tightly, thankful to have recovered it.
Passing Gilthanas’s tent, Sturm heard Laurana’s voice inside, and ducked in there. Brian hurried thankfully to his own tent, slipped inside, stumbled over Aran’s feet, and found his own bed. He could overhear the three talking in the tent opposite.
“Laurana,” said Sturm, “can you tell me something about this?”
He heard her gasp. Gilthanas said something in Elvish.
“Sturm,” Laurana said, awed, “that is a starjewel! How did you come by such a thing?”
“The Lady Alhana gave it to me before we parted,” Sturm replied in a hushed and reverent tone. “I didn’t want to take it, for I could see it was extremely valuable, but she insisted—”
“Sturm,” said Laurana, and her voice was choked with emotion. “This is the answer—or at least part of it. Starjewels are gifts given by a lover to his beloved. The jewels connect them, keep each in the heart and mind and soul of the other, even if they are parted. The connection is spiritual, not physical, and is impossible to break. Some believe it lasts even beyond death.”
Sturm’s reply was muffled, and Brian could not hear it. His thoughts went to Lillith—they had not been far from her this entire trip—and he could only imagine what the knight must be feeling.
“I have never heard of a starjewel being given to any human,” said Gilthanas, adding caustically, “Its value is incalculable. It is worth a small kingdom. You have done well for yourself.”
“Do you truly believe I would ever sell this?” Sturm demanded. His voice trembled with his rage. “If so, you do not know me!”
Gilthanas was silent a moment, then he said quietly. “I do know you, Sturm Brightblade. I was wrong to imply such a thing. Please forgive me.”
Sturm muttered that he accepted the apology and walked out of the tent. As he left, Gilthanas asked again for Sturm to forgive him. Sturm said nothing; he simply walked out.
Laurana spoke angrily to her brother in Elvish. Gilthanas replied in Elvish. Brian couldn’t understand the words, but the elf lord sounded contrite, though sullen.
Laurana emerged from the tent and ran after Sturm.
“Gil didn’t mean it—” she began.
“Yes, Laurana, he did,” Sturm said. His voice was stern. “Perhaps he came to think better of his cruel remark, but when he first spoke those words, he knew exactly what he was saying.”
Sturm paused then added, “He wants the dragon orb for your people, doesn’t he? I’ve seen him hanging about the knights. I know he’s been spying on Derek. What does your brother know about this orb?”
Laurana gave a little gasp. Sturm’s blunt accusation had taken her by surprise. “I don’t think he knows anything. He’s just talking—”
Sturm cut her off in exasperation. “You keep trying to pour honey over everything. You placate Derek. You coddle your brother. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in for once.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and Brian heard her boots crunch in the snow.
“Laurana,” said Sturm, relenting, “I’m the one who is sorry. After what you’ve been through, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. You’ve kept us together. You brought us here.”
“For what?” she asked in hopeless tones. “So we could freeze to death?”
“I don’t know,” he returned. “Maybe the gods do.”
The two were silent, friends comforting each other.
Laurana spoke. “Could I ask you one question before you go?”
“Of course,” Sturm replied.
“You said you knew Tanis and the others were alive…”
“They did not die in Tarsis as we feared. He and our friends are with Lady Alhana in Silvanesti and though they have been in great peril and they feel great sorrow, for the moment they are safe. I don’t know how I know that,” he added simply, “but I know it.”
“The magic of the starjewel,” Laurana said. “Lady Alhana speaks through the jewel to your heart. The two of you will always be connected…
“Sturm,” she said softly, so softly Brian could barely hear, “that human woman I saw in the dream, the one who was with Tanis. Was that… Kitiara?”
Sturm cleared his throat. He sounded embarrassed. “That was Kit,” he said gruffly.
“Do you think… are they together?”
“I don’t see how that’s possible, Laurana. The last I saw of Kit, she was traveling to Solamnia, and anyway I doubt she would be in Silvanesti. Kit never had much use for elves.”
Laurana gave a sigh that was audible even to Brian. “I wish I could believe that.”
Sturm tried to reassure her. “We were all in the dream together and we’re not in Silvanesti. Tanis and the others are alive and that is good to know. But remember, when all is said and done, Laurana, it was just a dream.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Laurana replied, and she bid him a good night and returned to her tent, but as she walked past Brian’s tent, he heard her murmur, “A magical dream…”