Dungeons & Dragons Worlds & Realms

Book

October 2024

Writer

Penguin Random House

I smiled icily and slid a crumpled envelope across the table to him with one manicured finger. “Do you recognize this?”
He merely glanced at it “Ah, yes. Yes, I recognize it. I also recognize it was addressed to my father and not you.”
“Can you read this aloud for the benefit of everyone present?”, I said. Gesturing to the unfortunate Yovani L’nor taking notes quietly in the corner.
“I’d rather not.”
I smiled and slowly read the letter. Relishing Eury's apparent discomfort as I did so.

“After work, I wandered through the ward, carried by a savory aroma that promised sustenance in return for coin and no labor. Today had been laborious enough on its own…
I was admiring minced lamb pies I could ill afford when I saw her. It was almost novel to see her outside the familiar context of the classroom. In class, she’d been the bane of my existence, but now, strolling up the steps of the Tower of Luck, she was just a girl. Her words were what inspired me to apply for this job. Her wicked little smile when she said, ‘Magic missiles are quite capable of missing if you don’t cast them, Elan.’

“She was wrapped in the scent of kewra and oudh, that familiar wicked smile gently lit by the incense she held. She was penning a poem to Tymora when I interrupted her—typical bard nonsense. For a trained magician to resort to these types of rituals—but I digress.
After hearing of my good fortune, she wasted no time telling me hers. Apparently, she’s taken up a position at her father’s company and is already moving up.
“Although it was the scent of something savory that initially drew me to the neighborhood, I have a feeling that it's the heady scent of Certainty that will draw me back tomorrow.”

He stood up, pushing back his chair, “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Well, it seems it was under Certainty Dran’s explicit instruction that you took up a job here. The same Certainty Dran who is the heiress of the company under investigation. Dran needed something from Silverhand, and she needed you to get it. Stop laughing.”
Eury chortled, “We just talked, when she wasn’t engaging in paltry bard nonsense, that is. She hated when I called it “bard nonsense”. Probably why she stopped coming. I noticed that was missing from your carefully constructed argument. I stopped seeing her weeks before everything.”
I felt the color rush into my face.