So, this morning we got up and teleported to Elventower, and arrived in the office of a wizard who, not surprisingly, wasn't pleased to see a gaggle of random people including one complete stranger turning up out of the blue.

'Oh, uh, hello Rad,' said Kriv. 'This is Beira. She's a bit argumentative, but – well, she's one of us.'

'Did you have to come in at this hour – and without even a Sending to warn me first?' growled Rad. 'And what is that?' he added, pointing at the mark on Kos's forehead.

'Kos is the chosen envoy of Lathander…' I began.

'Yes, all right, all right!' snapped Rad. 'I've got a drow loose in the city, I haven't got time for all this now! Please, just go away and let me get on with my work!'

'What's this about a drow?' said Kriv sharply.

'I've got to catch her and find out what she knows and what she's up to!'

'What are you going to do to her if you find her?' asked Kriv, concerned.

'Whatever it takes,' said Rad grimly. 'Now, all of you…'

'You three, wait outside,' said Kriv, waving to Rothgar, Bobbynock and me. 'We're staying.'

We went out into the corridor outside the office, Diefenbaker padding obediently alongside Rothgar. 'Where are we?' I asked. 'And what was all that about? And who's the man we were talking to?'

'Rad is the head of the College of Mages,' explained Rothgar.

'So he's your…' I began, turning to Bobbynock, and realised he wasn't there. I caught sight of him hurrying down the corridor just before he turned a corner. 'He's Bobbynock's boss? And where's Bobbynock going, anyway?' I wasn't entirely comfortable about being alone with Rothgar, but it seemed safest to keep the conversation going, so as not to give Rothgar time to get any odd ideas.

'At an informed guess, going to look things up in the library,' said Rothgar. 'He might be a while.' Diefenbaker, clearly having already come to that conclusion, had settled down and gone to sleep on the elaborately tiled corridor floor.

'Rad is a very great wizard indeed,' Rothgar continued. 'He was part of a plan to kill Lolth, the Spider Queen. It failed, and it took Rad's three closest friends, even Dresden. Teethee was corrupted by Lolth into killing Bobbynock. Morthos was the third, but he might be still alive. Lolth likes to toy with her prey, you see.'

I could well imagine. 'What species were Dresden and Teethee and Morthos?' I asked.

'They were all drow,' said Rothgar. 'Three good drow.'

'So, Rad isn't the sort of person who automatically hates all drow?' I said. I know most people distrust the dark elves, but after knowing Nutt, a good orc who was brought up by a fairly good vampire, I could never assume that someone's species defines them. (I know that, as a paladin of Lathander, I shouldn't tolerate the undead, or be friends with anyone who does. But Nutt's mentor, Lady Margolotta, isn't a bloodsucker, and has inspired a number of other vampires to give up drinking the blood of sentient life-forms. Perhaps Nutt is more willing to fight evil vampires precisely because he knows that vampires don't have to be evil?)

'Not drow who are his friends. But the fact is that most drow are worshippers of Lolth, and Rad's likely to use some pretty harsh methods on Xanthia – if that's who the drow he's looking for is – to find out what she knows. That's why the dragonborn will be trying to make sure he doesn't go too far.'

'What's Xanthia like?' I asked.

'Just a person. Just a drow trying to make it in Elventower. Bit of a con artist, but she's more or less a friend of ours. Admittedly, Kos tried to kill her, but then he rescued her cat, Miki. You see, Happy created Miki to be a minion of his, and then he'd broken free of Happy's control, and Happy was stealing him back when Kos rescued him. So Xanthia's grateful to us, and Kriv…'

But at this moment, the two dragonborn emerged from the office. Kriv rolled his yellow reptilian eyes. 'Don't tell me – Bobbynock's gone to the library.' We nodded. 'Well, we can't wait for him. We've got to go and see the King.'

'And about time, too!' exclaimed a new voice, and we saw that we had been joined by a human army officer in late middle age.

'Oh, hello, Major,' said Kriv.

'Couldn't you have come any sooner?!' demanded the Major. 'All this trouble, non-humans all over the place – especially gnomes, they're the worst!'

'What's wrong with gnomes?' I demanded indignantly. 'Don't be speciesist!'

'I'm not very human, either,' Kriv pointed out.

The Major considered this, as if he was so used to trusting Kriv as a friend that he had ceased to notice that Kriv was covered in scales, had talons instead of fingers, and could breathe lightning bolts. 'You're one of the good ones,' he said finally.

'So's Bobbynock!' I pointed out. 'I'm not sure about Kos, though,' I admitted.

Kos himself had set off on some project of his own, so Kriv led Rothgar, Diefenbaker and me to the King's palace. The guards on duty recognised Rothgar and led us into the throne room at once. I haven't got much time to describe the palace, but in any case, what I mostly noticed was the face of the King himself. He looked kind, and solemn, and like someone I would like to have the chance to get to know better. He was human, and had with him a human attendant, apparently some sort of bodyguard, who was dressed in rather finer robes and jewellery than the King himself. Kriv glared at this man, who smirked back at him.

We knelt down before the King, until he urged us to rise. 'I'm sorry it's been so long, my liege,' said Kriv. 'Nyth has been ground to dust.'

The King sighed deeply. 'So the reports are true! Can I help in any way?'

'I don't think you can,' said Kriv sadly. 'It's been overrun by an army of eight thousand orcs, and it had already been destroyed by zombies before that.'

'Your envoys were successful, my liege,' the King said to Rothgar. 'We have struck a deal that will benefit both our cities.'

Rothgar blinked. 'What? When was that?' Understandably, he had been too caught up in our adventures to keep track of what his double was doing back in Quaffy. Personally, I was more puzzled as to why a king would address a fellow king as 'my liege', which I had always thought was a way of addressing one's superior.

'A few days ago,' the King said.

'Oh – uh – yes, of course, those envoys – sorry, I'm getting forgetful in my old age,' said Rothgar hastily. I don't know how old Rothgar actually is, though I know half-elves don't live to the great ages that pure-bred elves do, but as he doesn't look at all elderly, I wasn't sure how he thought he was going to get away with that excuse.

Still, the King didn't press the point. 'Quite, quite,' he said. 'Is your sister well, by the way? I've heard she hasn't been seen around court for a few days.'

'Oh – uh, yes, she's – just taking some time out to meditate,' stammered Rothgar.

'And will you have the kindness to introduce me to your lovely friend?' asked the King, smiling.

'Oh, yes, this is Diefenbaker, my wolf,' said Rothgar. 'He's a good pet, very well trained, completely tame.'

'This is Beira Lightbringer,' said Kriv. 'A paladin of Lathander.'

I bowed, and held out my hand for the King to shake. He took it in his warm, strong hand, without so much as flinching at my missing finger.

'Could I offer you a job, honourable paladin? The Dawnmaster at the Temple in our city has recently died, and the church here doesn't really have anyone suitable to take over from him. Would you be interested in taking over his position?'

'Well, uh – it's a very kind offer,' I said. 'Can I have twenty-four hours to think it over?'

'By all means,' said the King. 'And now, Kriv, I need your help with reining in Rad. I'm convinced he's mad, and he's causing a lot of trouble, but it would never do to hang my court wizard.'

'I will do my best, my lord, but I can't make any promises,' said Kriv. 'The man is obsessed, and that's all there is to it.'

'And finally,' said the King, 'will you remove this – person – from my presence?'

Kriv took hold of the guard by the collar of his robe and led him out of the throne room. I heard him growling to the man, 'You seem to have done well for yourself since I left – but not so well for the king, or for the city,' and the man retorting threateningly that he had 'made many useful contacts' and Kriv should be careful not to upset him. Apparently he used to be Kriv's lieutenant – and thinking about that makes me remember the poor watchman whom Kriv promoted to be his lieutenant in Nyth, who was killed so soon afterwards. I like Kriv, but it seems that a lot of people who encounter this group either die (Kriv's lieutenant in Nyth, and Jim, Bob, and Sam) or are corrupted or driven mad (this lieutenant, Happy, and poor Emmrietta, whom I still miss). Looking at it that way, the offer of giving up my brief attempt at adventuring and accepting a temple job in Elventower is very tempting.

I've prayed to Lathander for guidance, but he didn't give any clear answer. But that doesn't mean that Lathander isn't listening or responding, just because his guidance isn't obvious – just as the dawn still occurs whether we see the sun rising on a clear day, or just notice that the clouds have turned to a lighter shade of grey. I think it means that Lathander wants me to work out the answer for myself, from what I have already learnt.

One thing I do know is that a paladin should never shrink from danger or from a challenge – and especially not from a duty. If Lathander sent me into Kos's life just after marking Kos as his envoy, probably he wants me to do what I can to be a good influence on Kos and his companions. I may not have been very (all right, at all) effective so far, and they probably just see me as a silly, sentimental middle-aged woman who doesn't understand the realities of adventuring, but that just means that I need to try harder. I must not give in until this adventure kills me – and, if they want me back, perhaps not even then.