“Lanthiriel, I need to talk to you when you have a free moment.” Isturon said as he passed his daughter in the hallway. He headed to his office to wait for her to finish with a patient consultation. He had a cancellation this afternoon. It was for the best, considering. He sat at his desk and looked at the two letters he had received. He was lucky in that he had been the one to check the mail today, because of his cancelled appointment. If Verisna had been the one to open either of these, he was sure she would have overreacted.
The first letter had been from the bank. Sanimir had closed his account due to relocation to another town. They had written because Isturon’s name was given as a witness. They needed him to come to sign something to confirm the account was legitimately closed. According to the letter, there had been an urgency in closing the account and it was already done. They just needed him to finish the paperwork. Isturon knew someone was going to get in trouble when he went there and told them that he had no knowledge of his son moving.
The second letter had been from his sister. Sanimir had slipped away. Someone had even taken the trouble to knock out one of her sons, Ethirdir. She claimed it happened when Ethirdir was bringing Sanimir to his hawkstrider riding lesson. She had written that her son would be okay, but after searching all night and all the next day for Sanimir, they had found nothing. One of their farm hands had turned up missing at the same time.
It was best to not tell Verisna right away. If he was going to find Sanimir, he wanted it done quietly. The boy was likely not going to come back easily, especially if he were back under the warlock’s spell. Things had to be done carefully. The last thing they needed was an angry warlock after their family. It was best to keep quiet about what they were, and just get the boy back while they still could.
Isturon pulled open one of the drawers on the desk and took out a book. He opened it, scanning over the pages in his son’s handwriting. He looked up as the door opened.
“Father, you wanted to see me?” his daughter said as she poked her head cautiously into the room.
Isturon closed the book and placed it on top of the letters to the side of the desk. “Lanthiriel, yes. Sit down.” She sat as he continued. “I don’t want you to tell your mother yet. Sanimir is missing from your aunt’s hawkstrider ranch.”
Lanthiriel gasped.
Isturon frowned, “They looked for him. I believe Aeramin may have had something to do with it. I will take your appointments for the rest of the week. I was thinking of giving Isandri some of mine. I think she’s ready. I need you to go to Outland.”
Lanthiriel’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped for a moment before her protest began. “B-but… Father, why me? I have work here. Isn’t Vallindra already there? Can’t you send her? If you don’t want mother to know, she’s going to notice me missing.”
Isturon nodded. He had expected this. “I already said I will take your appointments. I am going to give Isandri some of mine. Vallindra has been refusing to help recently. You know how she can get. Nessna is pregnant. I can’t ask her. Esladra is in the middle of her apprenticeship and cannot take the time off. Aranae is still missing. I might remind you we asked Vallindra to find her as well. I think your older sister is too busy. Lastly, yes, your mother will notice. I plan to tell her I’ve sent you for some books to study in Shattrath. I’d prefer if you did visit the library and got a book so that it won’t be a lie.”
Lanthiriel gasped again, “A lie? Father!”
“Finding your brother may depend on it.” He took a clean sheet of paper and began to write on it. “This is Aeramin’s address. I do not want you to knock on the door. I want you to observe. Tell me if you see Sanimir. Tell me if you don’t. Tell me if and when he goes out. If he goes out of town, ask the flight master where he’s going. Wear a cowl and watch from somewhere nearby.” He opened the book again, flipping to a specific page. “Also there is an outpost in Hellfire. I looked up the name of it, Falcon Watch. I need you to go there and find out if there is a Hethurin Fairsong staying at the inn.” He wrote the name and the town down as well. Lastly, he wrote down a box number and handed her the paper. “You’ll leave tonight. I expect letters daily to that box number here in Silvermoon so that your mother won’t intercept them. You are to return next week.”
“What about the surgery on Friday?”
“It should be simple. Isandri can assist me.”
Lanthiriel frowned.
“I need you to do this, Lani. We need to find him so that we can plan how to get him back.” He put the letters and book back in the desk drawer. “Please. It’s important.”
Lanthiriel nodded, looking down at the paper. She folded it, taking it with her as she began to leave the room.
All the rest 