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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7427366" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 163Javerin, senior wizard of the Apernium, was tired and frustrated as she returned to her quarters the day after her arrival in Tal Nadesh.  She did not let her feelings show—would not even when she was tucked into her bed—but that need only added to her unpleasant mood.The day had been filled with meetings, punctuated by a luncheon where she’d barely gotten a chance to eat a few bites and an evening reception where she hadn’t even managed that.  She’d met and spoken with over fifty people, none of whom had the authority to authorize her to take the key to the Vault of the Libram back to Severon.  Her mission was no further along than when she had first arrived at the teleport circle more than twenty-four hours previously.She had told Glori that it might take a week to get through the diplomatic preliminaries and begin the actual negotiations over the key.  That was probably true, but at the moment the thought of six more days of this made her want to scream.The door to her cottage was unlocked and swung open easily at her touch.  There were no lights in the other two cottages but it was early yet.  Glori, Kosk, and Embrae had been at the reception but had left early, no doubt tired from their own day exploring the city and doing things far more interesting than attending meeting after meeting.Javerin would debrief them later, but right now she just wanted a snack and a glass of the fine brandy that the elves had left for their guests.  They did not stint on the creature comforts, at least.  They’d even laid a small fire in the hearth against the chill of the evening, though the mild summer nights in the elven kingdom made it hardly necessary.She was halfway to the kitchen when she realized that she was not alone.  She turned, her hand starting to glow as she called upon her magic.A slender figure draped in a dark cloak emerged from the shadows of the hall that led to the back of the house.  “Apologies, Ambassador,” the figure said.  “I did not mean to startle you.  The door was open.”Javerin eased her posture but did not release her magic.  The faint light of the fire revealed few details of the stranger, who wore a cowl that covered her face.  Or at least Javerin guessed it to be a woman; she spoke so softly it was difficult to be certain.“Who are you?” she asked.“Merely a humble messenger,” the other said.  “I have come with a gift for you from the Druid of the Wood, a small gesture of his regard.”She reached under her cloak, and Javerin tensed again for a moment until the stranger drew out a plant in a shallow clay pot.  It was a tree, or at least it looked like one, a detailed, miniature tree.  Tiny pink flowers sprouted from branches that were otherwise covered in greenery.“Ah, thank you,” Javerin said.  She was not interested in owning a tiny tree, especially when it delayed her from getting her dinner—and her drink—but her briefings had mentioned the Druid, a figure of some importance in the elven hierarchy.  When the cowled woman came forward and presented the tree, she accepted it with a slight bow.“Ah… how do I care for it?”“It needs very little,” the messenger said.“Well, be sure to tell the Druid that I appreciate his gesture,” Javerin said as she bent to place the tree on the small table in the front room.  “Will he be joining us at tomorrow’s reception?”When she didn’t get an answer, she straightened and turned back with a frown.  The messenger was gone.  Javerin stepped over to the hall, but she wasn’t there.  She must have exited by the front door; if she’d gone to the bedrooms in the back the only way out would be to crawl through one of the windows.“Elves,” the wizard said under her breath.She went to the kitchen and put together a plate of flatbread, cheese, and fruit from the stores there.  She did not forget the brandy, pouring a generous portion into one of the bulb-shaped glasses arranged in the cupboard.  She brought her dinner back into the front room and set the plate down onto the table next to the odd plant.  She stared at it as she sat on the couch and sipped at her brandy.  The thing was really uncanny, almost as if someone had taken a regular tree and somehow shrunk it down so that it was only a foot tall.Well, weird gifts were probably just a part of being an ambassador.  She straightened and started to reach for the food.Something strange caught her attention.  Had the tree just… moved?.  Wary, she reached out a hand and brushed one of the tiny branches with a fingertip.She felt a sudden jolt of pain and drew her hand back.  A small bead of blood was visible on her finger.  She carefully examined the branch and saw that the tree had tiny thorns that she’d missed earlier.Figures that the elves’ gift would have a hidden threat, Javerin thought as she munched on a slice of cheese.  She made a mental note to ask more about the Druid when she established communication with her superiors back in Severon in the morning.  At least the elves had been polite enough not to place a Warding upon their guests’ residences, that would have made that daily ritual inconvenient.  Of course, any such warding would likely have interfered with their ability to spy on their guests as well.She finished the cheese and lay back on the couch.  She was still hungry but felt suddenly tired.  She closed her eyes, telling herself that she would just rest for a few moments.  She still had to take down her notes on the day’s encounters and prepare her report for the morning link.But within a few heartbeats a deep sleep had claimed her.</blockquote>

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