The Unwilling Accomplice (Book 5) by Heidi Willard

Author:Heidi Willard
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-10-22T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Pat hurried Ruth down the stairs and across the wide hall to the back wall of the castle. In the wall was a pair of large doors opened wide and revealing the ballroom. It was a large room punctuated by columns to supported the high roof that stretched the full two floors of the castle. The left, right, and far back walls were covered in windows that looked out on the sea and a wide balcony beyond the back wall. On the far left and right back walls were the open doors that allowed entrance onto the balcony.

The girls strode into the room forty minutes later than their other companions. The atmosphere in the ballroom was thick with fun and sweat. The dance floor was covered in couples dancing to the tune of a fine orchestra situated at the rear-center of the room. The refreshments were along the left wall, and there they saw their male counterparts. Ruth pulled on Pat's arm and guided her over to the wall a few feet away from the entrance doors. The noise of the room ensured they would not be overheard by anyone else.

"Should we speak of what we overheard?" Ruth asked her friend.

"What could we tell them? That they were planning a surprise of fireworks?" Pat pointed out.

"But I do not trust the captain's words," Ruth argued.

Pat furrowed her brow. "You believe he was lying?" she guessed.

"Yes," Ruth replied.

Pat pursed her lips and glanced behind them at the entrance doors. "To tell you the truth I, too, no longer trust this Captain Lee," she admitted. As she watched Ransan had entered shortly after them, and now the captain strode in with his wide smile on his face. He noticed her perusing him and bowed his head toward her. She bowed back, but couldn't manage a smile. "We shall see if anything comes of this, but for now we shall merely watch them," Pat advised her friend.

The women continued over to the refreshment table where Canto stood by with a large, filled plate in his hand. He was eating as though half-starved. By him were Percy and Sins, and Fred and Ned stood closer to the center of the ballroom. Ned was greeted occasionally by the older elves, one of them being Tolen.

The Head Librarian, attired in his usual garb, walked up to Ned and bowed to the castor. "It has been many years, Edwin Tisule," he commented.

"Ned, if you will, my dear Tolen," Ned pleaded.

"Do you change your name to change with the times, or do you find yourself to be a new man?" Tolen asked him.

"Neither. I wish only for a shorter, simpler name, and one that shall not curse me with the nickname of 'Eddy,'" Ned replied.

While the two old friends discussed names the rest of the party watched the dance with a mixture of interest and apprehension. Ruth leaned toward the elegant dancers and her eyes were filled with longing. Percy stepped up beside her and his eyes flickered from the innocent youth to the dark, brooding assassin.

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