"A pleasure," Bronwyn said with genuine warmth. "Dan has spoken of you."
"And of you, a scholar and adventurer," she repeated, seeing the truth of both.
The woman laughed. "Fine words! That's a sure sign that he wants something from me."
"Guilty," Danilo said with a grin. He quickly described the situation.
"I know of Elaith Craulnober," Bronwyn murmured. She turned a dry smile upon her friend. "Either you have a very high opinion of me or a very low one."
"Dealing with Elaith often requires the best of both philosophies," he admitted.
"Well, that's why you're here," Bronwyn said matter-of-factly. "As it turns out, I do have a legitimate errand to attend-or more accurately, an illegitimate one."
She went to a case and removed from it a waterfall of glittering, pale green stones, artfully woven into a neck shy;lace. "The stones are peridot, considered only semi shy;precious in the north but highly prized in Mulhorand and the lands of the Old Empires as gems fit for royalty. Lovely, aren't they?"
Arilyn shrugged. Jewelry was nice enough, but irrel shy;evant.
"Good eye," Bronwyn congratulated her, misunder shy;standing her lack of enthusiasm. "There are exactly two genuine peridots in this lot. The rest are crystal. The gem merchant who hired me wants more of the same. If Elaith is nosing about among the crystal merchants, I'll have a reason to follow-or at least bump elbows."
"Splendid," Danilo agreed happily as he rose to leave.
"You've just got here," the merchant scolded him. "Perhaps Arilyn would like to see some of the elven pieces first?"
Danilo pantomimed a pained expression and reached pointedly for his coin bag. "Didn't I tell you she was good at her business?" he asked Arilyn.
"These are not for sale," Bronwyn said with brisk good humor as she led the way to a long, glass-covered box. "I recovered these for the elves of the Pantheon Temple. To be honest, I'm hoping you can shed some light on them. I like to know the history of the pieces I collect. These appear to be personal possessions, but there is apparently some sort of sacred significance to them."
Arilyn's heart pounded as she studied the objects in the case. There was a small flute grown from green crys shy;tal, an emerald pendant, a leather bracer dyed green and tooled with beautiful, mystic designs. There was a small, stylized sculpture of Hannah Celanil, the elven goddess of beauty, rendered in green-veined marble.
"The color is significant, isn't it?" Bronwyn went on.
"Yes." Arilyn cleared her throat. "These are Midsum shy;mer gifts, given at festival time. They are personal, as you say. They are also sacred, but not in any manner that can be explained with talk of gods and temples."
"How fascinating! What can you tell me about this festival?"
"Nothing." Arilyn softened the refusal with a faint smile. "I am sorry, but there is no way to explain it. Some elven rites are not allowed to be revealed to humans, and even if they were, they would not be fully experienced or understood."
Bronwyn took no offense. She glanced over at Danilo, who was happily leafing through some old tomes at the far side of the shop. "Humans use the Weave," she said, naming the mystic force that shaped all magic, "but elves are part of it. They are also one with the land, and the sea, and the patterns of the sun and stars. This much I know, even though I could never experience it as you would. I have heard that the times of solstice and equi shy;nox are sacred to the elves. I know that such times were celebrated with fertility rituals by many ancient human cultures. I did not mean to offend you by implying that elven festivals were the same and nothing more."
"You understand more than I thought," Arilyn responded. To her surprise, it was not only easy to speak of this, but comforting. "No offense was taken. Yes, these are times of revelry among the elves. Many marriages are made, friendships celebrated in intimate ways, but this is part of a larger, mystic connection-connection to all elves, and to the Weave of magic and the very circle of life."
"And only elves are accepted," the woman repeated. She smiled faintly. "To a limited degree, I understand. Perhaps Dan has told you of my life. I spent most of it searching for my family, my past. This meant every shy;thing to me. I found my father and lost him all in the space of a few hours, but I came away from that experi shy;ence feeling like a whole person for the first time in my life. I can't imagine what it would mean to a half-elf to be invited to take part in such a festival."
Arilyn met the woman's warm, sympathetic gaze. She took from the pocket of her breeches a small stone knife, sharp as steel and carved with a feather pattern. This she handed to Bronwyn. "Add this to the Temple's store. It is as precious as anything there."
The woman hesitated, demonstrating for the first time that her understanding was more human than elven. "You are sure you want to part with this?"
"Midsummer gifts are also part of the whole. The wheel turns, and they are often given anew with the coming of another summer."
Bronwyn nodded her thanks. Arilyn handed her the stone knife, a gift from Foxfire, the elf who had offered her the first true acceptance she had ever received from her mother's people-and who had changed her life. Without Foxfire, she would not have come to terms with her own divided nature or learned that though her soul was elven, her heart belonged to a human man.
A heavy thud drew her attention. She glanced over at Danilo. He stooped quickly to pick up the tome he had dropped, but not before Arilyn saw his gaze dart from the knife in her hand to the green treasures in Bron shy;wyn's case. Not before stunned comprehension flooded his face.
Bronwyn glanced from Danilo back to Arilyn, and her brown eyes widened with chagrin. "He didn't know."
"No."
In truth, Arilyn had never seen need to speak of that Midsummer night. The initial joy of her reunion with Dan had swept aside all other considerations. Shortly after, she had been called back to the forests to aid the embattled elves. There had been little in her life since then to bring to mind the sacred revels of Midsummer.
Now she tried to see the matter as Danilo might. Few humans could understand the true nature of elven fes shy;tivals. They would see her participation as a shallow indulgence. Danilo, though, knew more of the elves than did most men, and he valued highly what he knew.
That could be more of a problem than a blessing. Just last night, he had been ready to give her up rather than separate her from the magic of her elven sword. Arilyn was not sure how he would respond to the knowledge that she had known an elven love.
"It'll be fine," Bronwyn said with quiet urgency. "Dan has reason to know that lovers can become friends, con shy;tent to leave the past as it was."
Arilyn looked at her with sudden comprehension. She felt no jealousy over this revelation. Even if she were so inclined, that emotion would have been an unworthy response to Bronwyn's obviously well-meaning concern. "Why do you tell me this?"
"For his own good," the woman said as she took Arilyn's hand in a sisterly clasp. "Use it if you have to. Just don't let him do anything noble and foolish."
The half-elf gave her new friend a small, wry smile. "Apparently you know that that's more easily said than done."
"What of it? Men are not put here to make our lives easy," Bronwyn announced. "They're just put here."
Despite the situation, this amused the half-elf. "Any more words of advice?"
"Yes." Bronwyn nodded toward Dan, who was staring fixedly at the far wall and absently stirring through a tray of fragile coral jewelry. "Get him out of here before he breaks something."
Six
The hum and bustle of the streets enveloped Danilo and Arilyn as they left The Curious Past behind. Bron shy;wyn's shop was not far from the market, a vast, open-air bazaar that dominated the northern end of Waterdeep's Castle Ward.