Chapter 7 – Part 4

The footfalls were soft, almost too soft. Few who would have seen the short, somewhat pudgy figure in the rumpled wool coat would have credited him with such stealth. Fewer still would have heard him, or recognized him through his mundane and magical disguises. This was to his benefit, of course. Neddiken Cloudtalker was a severely hated man in the Reaches. The fact that he was still alive was a testament to his cunning.

And his resources.

A human male wearing scaled mail armor walked down the polished wood hallway, two dogs trotting behind him. He was whistling to them, and they seemed to dance as they followed him. The man’s tabard bore the hippogriff rampant in the verdant forest, but his skill with the dogs showed his membership in Vadalis more than the tabard or even his familiarity with which he walked the halls of the compound.

The shortish, pudgy figure stopped down the hall and removed his wool cap, despite the fact that the interior of the building could not fully banish the chill in the air. The removal of the cap showed swept, pointed ears, and a receding headline marked by a thin fringe of gray.

Neddiken had celebrated his two hundredth birthday over a decade previously. Given how decades earlier he had sold out every person who he’d traded with to the Aundairians, then sold out the Aundairians to the Brelish, then both of them to House Deneith, it was amazing that he was still breathing.

“Can I help you?” the human male said. His hand drifted to the sword at his side, even though the months of training with the dogs made them the more dangerous weapon. Theoretically no one unauthorized should be this deep within the compound, but there were rumors of changelings in league with dragonmarked agents.

“I’m sorry, young man, I don’t want to bother you,” said the older elf, putting his cap back on. “I’m afraid I am looking for your library, and I am fairly befuddled.”

The human looked him up and down, his suspicion slowly dissipating. “Alright, it’s this way.”

The elf followed, the slightest of smiles on his face.