Bella, who was Thack's wife, led Selvian to her daughter's room, while Thack stepped out to fetch water from one of Casabe's various wells. She had been speaking words of no meaning to him since he had stepped into the main room of their home. Speaking idly of the weather and how kind it was of him to trek down the mountain and visit them. She did her best to catch him up on the town's gossip, all while pointedly avoiding the topic of her daughter.

  Now the two of them stood at the top of a staircase that if it had been only a few degrees steeper would have been called a ladder. Selvian stood behind Bella, who had paused with her hand resting on the edge of the curtain that served as a doorway to the young child's room. Selvian, who I promise has some redeeming qualities, cleared his throat rather awkwardly and Bella pushed into the room.

  "You see, she couldn't have gone downstairs and out the front door. We would have seen her. The front door squeaks and we had our door open. I don't sleep very soundly any more. Shila doesn't normally sleep through the night and she normally calls out for me. She didn't last night and I was so proud of her."

  Bella trailed off, eyes welling with tears and Selvian pretended not to notice. He glanced around the room, his fingers toying with the covering to his satchel. He had left his staff leaning in the corner of the room downstairs and it made him feel awkward to not have anything to do with his hands.

  "So the window then?" He asked, gesturing to the only sole window that stood in the wall opposite the stairs they had just hiked up.

  "I don't think she could even open that window," Bella said, wiping tears away from her cheeks.

  "Well if someone took her, then they could have opened the window themselves," Selvian offered helpfully.

  Bella burst into tears again and turned to run back down the stairs, leaving Selvian alone in Shila's room. I swear he has some positive traits. You'll just have to wait for them to emerge. Hopefully, before he does something so reprehensible that you can never forgive him.

  Alone in the room Selvian approached the window to examine it. It was a sturdy thing. Selvian knew of a Tereni glass smith that did trade in the village. The man had started bringing more than simple windows when he found out there was a "learned" man living in the village, and Selvian had purchased several dozen vials and alchemical materials from the man. This was all to say that he was surprised by the window.

  When Selvian fished the skystone he carried in his pocket out and held it near the window, nothing happened. The skystone liked iron and Selvian knew that any self respecting Tereni glass smith wouldn't sell any windows that hadn't been laced with iron. Then again, he had to adjust the recipes of any potions he made with the flasks and tubing he had purchased from the man.

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  He peered out the second story window. It looked out over the empty street, and had no obvious ladders or staircases of any slope leading up to it. Selvian brought out his fairy stone. It was a small green rock the size of an infant's eyeball which is to say sixty-five percent the size of an adult's eyeball. It had been given to him by the local Glennkeeper, the spirit of the valley that some villagers left offerings for in open windows.

  He set the fairy stone in the window sill and it began to rock back and forth, spinning in a slow circle. He snatched up the stone and stood. He had come down the mountain early this morning expecting to find Shila found and safe in her room. He had not expected to find evidence that she had been abducted by one of the fey.

  He paced back and forth in Shila's room. Debating on whether or not he would be able to deal with the emotions of Bella if he were to tell her what she had found. He weighed that discomfort over the potential discomfort of the bruises that Thack Terrand might leave under his eye if he found out that Selvian had kept information about their missing daughter from them.

  The door downstairs opened and he heard the heavy footfalls of Thack entering his home. There was movement downstairs. Selvian could hear a muffled conversation and then heard Thack's footsteps coming up the stairs.

  "Sorry about that," Selvian started to apologize when he saw the look of consternation on Thack's face. "I just thought that pointing out-"

  "Do you have any idea where my daughter is?"

  "Well, no-"

  "Thank you for stopping by, I think that," Thack started but Selvian held up his hands.

  "But I might be able to find out!" He spoke excitedly. "You see, your window. There isn't any iron in it. And my stone! It wobbled when I set it in the sill. So if I speak to the Glennkeeper then it's likely that she might know who or what took your daughter. Or if she took her then I might be able to convince her to give her back. That is if she's still-"

  "Selvian," Thack's voice was calm and firm. "If you suggest that my daughter is dead to me. I will hurt you."

  Selvian didn't say anything for a long moment. He didn't make eye contact with Thack. He was fairly certain that the combination of irritation, guilt, fear, and rage that lurked in the man's eyes would be rather intense. If Selvian was going to attempt to summon the Glennkeeper he wanted to cut the rest of the intensity out of his day.

  "That is very fair," Selvian said slowly. "I should have more information for you by the end of the day, if I don't stop by then I'll send a letter down the mountain in the morning."

  Thack nodded and Selvian moved to step past him and out into Casabe, Thack stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and Selvian went rigid.

  "Thank you for stopping by."