Read Online Songs & Swords 1 by Elaine Cunningham - Free Book Online Page B

that damnable stuff all over me.”
    Several women in the group surreptitiously checked their escorts for similar telltale sparkles. Galinda Raventree took note of their suspicious scrutiny, and with great satisfaction she smirked into her wine goblet.
    Incapable of being insulted, Myrna draped herself over Danilo again. “Do another trick,” she begged him.
    “Love to, but I’ve cast all the spells I’ve got for the day.”
    “Oh, no,” she cooed, pouting up at him. “Not every one?”
    “Well…” Danilo hesitated. “I have been working on some interesting spell modifications.”
    Regnet guffawed. “Another Snilloc’s Snowball?”
    “Now, there’s gratitude for you,” Danilo huffed in mock pique. He turned to the group, and with one ringed hand he languidly gestured toward Regnet. “About three months ago our overdressed friend here managed to insult some very large, very drunk gentlemen in a tavern down in the Dock Ward. A small fight ensued, and of course I leapt to his aid. Using the Snilloc’s Snowball spell, I conjured a magic missile—”
    “A snowball?” sneered Wardon Agundar. His family dealt in the forging of swords, and he had little regard for lesser weapons.
    “Well, not exactly,” Danilo confessed. “I tried a variation on the spell and came up with a slightly, um, more exotic weapon.”
    “Thus creating the spell for Snilloc’s Cream Pie,” put in Regnet with a broad grin. The nobles shouted with laughter over the image this conjured, and Danilo bowed in acknowledgement.
    “My claim to immortality,” he replied, laying a hand over his heart and striking a heroic pose.
    “What happened?” demanded Myrna breathlessly. “Did you have to fight those men or did the watch step in?”
    “Nothing so dramatic as that,” admitted Danilo. “We settled our differences like gentlemen. Regnet bought a round of drinks for our erstwhile opponents. Dessert, of course, was on them.”
    A universal groan greeted Danilo’s pun. “You’d better do another trick now, to redeem yourself,” Regnet advised.
    His friends joined in coaxing Danilo to casting another of his illusions. After modestly disclaiming that he hadn’t quite worked all the bugs out of this one, he agreed to try.
    “Hmmmm. I’ll need something truly vulgar to use as a spell component,” Danilo mused. His gaze fastened on Regnet’s pendant, a rendering of the Amcathra crest in sparkling red and blue stones. “Oh, I say, Regnet, that will do splendidly.”
    Regnet pretended to wince at the good-natured insult, but he handed over the bauble. His friend began the spell, chanting the arcane words and gesturing broadly. Finally Danilo tossed the pendant into the air, and the show climaxed in a loud pop and a puff of multicolored smoke.
    When the smoke cleared, the young nobles stared at Regnet in a moment of stunned disbelief. Then their laughter echoed throughout the hall. The spell had turned his colorful finery into the drab brown robes of a druid.
    Danilo’s eyes widened in mock dismay. He rocked back a pace and folded his arms across his chest. “Hmm. Now, how did that happen?” he murmured, raising one hand to tap reflectively at the highly decorative cleft in his chin.
    Regnet’s face was a study of astonishment as he regarded his unfashionable ensemble, and his chagrin sent his friends into new peals of mirth. Suddenly the laughter died, and a nervous silence fell over the merry group.
    A tall, burly man approached their corner. Unlike most of the party-goers, this man was dressed in solemn black, his only ornaments a silver torque and a cape lined with fine gray fur. His black hair was streaked with gray, and his brow was knit in disapproval.
    “Uh-oh,” murmured Myrna, her eyes brightening with glee at the thought of impending disaster. Another of their number, a young nobleman deeply into his cups, blanched at the sight of the stern newcomer and edged out of range.
    Danilo, however, raised a hand in delighted