at any rate , sir sparhawk and his friends overcame many obstacles and were ultimately able to obtain the peculiar talisman , and ( they claim ) it was successful in restoring queen ehlana - although one strongly suspects that their tutor , sephrenia , accomplished that task unaided , and that the apparent use of the bhelliom was little more than a subterfuge she used to protect her from the virulent bigotry of western elenes .