Hark: Thus continues the strange romance between Entreri and Shandara. Other romances may feature in this story too. This first chapter is finished around four o'clock in the morning. The morning paper just came... This is the beginning that I've had in my head for quite some time, I can't promise when I'll continue. Sometimes. Is that vague enough?
Disclaimer: Entreri, Jarlaxle, Drizzt & co. belong to R. A. Salvatore, the world of Faerun to the Wizards of the Coast. Some of the characters are mine, and belong to me. They're my precious... (remember, four o'clock!)
Chapter 1: Returning and leaving
The pain wasn't nice. Shandara turned, trying to ignore it, but the pain had decided not to go away. She opened her eyes and stared at the wall, trying to fall asleep. After a couple of minutes this turned out to be impossible to accomplish. She was just about to get up when she heard the door open. She smiled. Perfect timing, as always.
Artemis Entreri opened the door and stepped into the dark room. There were glowing embers in the fireplace and he could see light shining from the other room. He smiled and closed the door behind him. The rain had soaked his brown coat and he took it off, hanging it on a nail by the door. He had only one small bag, which he had already dropped by the door, and he took of his boots, which were muddy. Then he walked to the fireplace, added some wood and waited for the fire to start properly. Then he walked to the other door and opened it.
"You really had to spend so much time doing.. Whatever you were doing..." Shandara said. "That sounded lame. Would you be a dearie and get me something from the kitchen? I need my pain medicine. There are these red leaves in a glass jar, put three of them into a mug of warm water, you'll have to boil the water first, of course, and then you can bring it here and I may be able to sleep this night. Oh," she added, with a little smile, "it's good that you're back."
"What's wrong?" asked Entreri, who hadn't listened further than the part about pain and medicine. Shandara grinned at his worried expression. "Just menstruation. I'm too tired to get up myself, so please..." she said and laughed. "You can just get the medicine, or I can beg more, or then I can throw a pillow at you. Your choice."
"I'll get the medicine," Entreri said smiling. But before he went, he walked up to the bed and kissed Shandara's cheek. "And it's good to be back."
Entreri boiled the water, found the red leaves and made the drink, only to discover that when he went back to the bedroom, Shandara had fallen asleep. The put the mug down onto the desk, drew an armchair closer to the bed, as quietly as possible, and then sat down. He fell asleep and woke up to the sound of thunder very near. The rain was banging on the shutters and Shandara was sitting up, reading a book.
"You should come to bed," she said. "You should remember that sleeping in a chair isn't very good for you."
"I didn't want to wake you," Entreri said, getting up and rubbing his neck. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better," Shandara replied. "The medicine tasted terrible since the water had gone cold, but it helped. The weather's really nasty, I wouldn't want to be out there. You're back early, by the way. Weren't you suppose to be gone almost three weeks? It's only been two."
"All kinds of things happened," Entreri sighed, starting to undress. "We were attacked by a band of hobgoblins, which managed to shoot burning arrows into two of the carts. So not so much merchandise to sell, no need to travel to as many villages as we had first thought, and after we began noticing signs that the storm was coming earlier than people had thought it would, everybody decided it would be better to return home. And we still made profit, since those stupid hobgoblins had got greedy and attacked us although they already had lots of gold and jewels."
"How much did you take of the valuables?" Shandara asked, grinning at Entreri's embarrassed smile. "Let me guess. You didn't take anything, since you already have more than they do. They're poor farmers, and you thought they needed the money more than you did? You've become soft."
"Maybe," Entreri said. "But I do have more than they, and I have no need for it."
"I know. And I love you even more because of that. You're a good person."
"I always wasn't," Entreri said, the dark memories returning once again. In truth they never actually went away, but when he was with Shandara, they didn't hunt him as much.
"But you are now," Shandara said, putting the book down. "Could you come to bed now? I can't go to sleep if you're hopping around."
"What?" Entreri asked laughing, crawling under his blanket on his side of the bed. "I do not hop."
"Maybe not," Shandara said, kissing him softly. "That'll do for now. You'll get a better welcome home when I'm not bleeding and feeling like hell, ok?" She smiled and curled closer to him. Entreri touched her hair gently and then blew out the candle, letting the darkness of the night surround them both.
The next morning Shandara woke up to find the space next to her empty. If she got up from the bed, Entreri always woke up, but he could leave, possibly even stomping around loudly and still she would usually just continue to sleep. She got up and went to look for her clothes and then to wash up. In Athkatla it had been easier to go and wash yourself during menstruation, here there was only the small old sauna building that the previous owner had built, and it was terribly cold in there if you didn't want to go to sauna but simply to wash yourself. She put on her dressing gown, gathered a pile of clothes and stepped out of the bedroom. Entreri, who had been reading a book on a sofa by the fireplace looked up to her.
"Would you like something to eat?" he asked and Shandara smiled. He had missed their breakfasts together.
"I'll go and wash myself first," she said. "Then I can eat something and you can tell me all about your wonderful journey. No sarcasm intended," she added, putting on her shoes and stepping outside, where it was pretty cold. At least it wasn't raining at the moment. The sauna had been built a little way from the cottage, and if it was raining, getting warm in the sauna wasn't any good since you got soaked by cold rain on your way back.
Entreri had put down the book, which was one of the books Shandara had took with her from Athkatla, a collection of stories about chivalry. She had said that it had been one of her first books, and although the stories were pretty stupid and romantic, she enjoyed reading them every once in a while. Entreri had started to read it since it had been on the table and he'd had nothing better to do.
They had been living here, on the outskirts of Beregost, for almost a year, which seemed such a long time but felt very short. They had wandered around for a while, not sure where to settle, but then different circumstances had let them to this little town and to this little cabin, which had been owned by a young couple. They had died in a bandit attack, and the man's mother had been more than happy to see another couple living in the cottage her son had built. Shandara had instantly liked the old lady and also the cottage, and so they had stayed.
He had wondered what he could do, but many opportunities had presented themselves very soon. There were some bandits, or there had been some bandits, until Entreri had helped the townspeople to organize themselves and track the bandits down. There was help needed in some farms, or like his previous job, guarding the farmers and craftsmen travelling to sell their products to the nearby villages. He had done these jobs, at first loathing them because they were so simple, so low, then learning to respect the way people lived and worked here. But if he was honest to himself, he admitted that he didn't want to do this for the rest of his life. He wanted something different, although the problem was that he wasn't sure what it was.
Shandara, it seemed, felt more at home. She had started to teach the children to read and write and also helped around. They had become quite popular, Entreri pondered, grinning at the thought. She had asked him to teach her some self-defence, and had got pretty good with a long dagger. Entreri didn't carry Charon's Claw with him, the sword would have raised too many questions he didn't wish to answer, but he always had his jewelled dagger. He had wanted Shandara to take it, but she had preferred a normal dagger. In truth, Entreri hoped that she would never have to protect herself. He hoped he would be there to protect her. These kinds of thoughts, which came into his mind usually during cold nights when he was away from her, from home, and they worried him in a way he couldn't quite understand.
He loved her, that was certain. But during the last year this feeling had changed. Before it had been mostly passion, having her in his arms, touching her, kissing her... Now the passion had... not faded, but given way to something else. He was happy to fall asleep next to her, to talk to her, maybe not even touch her the whole day, just to be near her. But he knew that although he had all these feelings for her, he still didn't have enough feelings to share to others. The men in Beregost had tried to befriend him, but although he tried, he couldn't feel much about them. He wouldn't be very sad if he heard about their demise... Shandara would be, or at least she would be sorry for the families. But Entreri...
He had been in the darkness for so long and then Drizzt Do'Urden, Jarlaxle and Shandara had all pulled him out of it. Now Drizzt was dead, Jarlaxle was somewhere, probably having fun and confusing people, and Shandara was here. Sometimes, usually in those dark nights, he would wonder what would happen if she wasn't there for him. If she suddenly disappeared. Would he fall back into that darkness, or would he be able to continue. He wasn't sure. He was afraid to find out. He didn't want to find out. He wanted to be with her, not to think of the possibility that one day she wouldn't be there for him.
"What are you thinking about?" Shandara asked and Entreri stared at her, startled. He had heard her come in, he was sure of it, but he hadn't reacted to it at all. That was inexcusable. A warrior didn't survive long like that.
"Are you alright?" Shandara asked, looking at him closely. "Did I scare you?"
"Almost," Entreri said, sighing. "It's just that... I've been thinking about us, and living here and..."
"You don't like it here," Shandara said, sitting down next to him on the sofa and leaning her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and tried to think of a way to explain his feelings.
"I like it here, but... I don't think I can live the rest of my life like this. I want to live the rest of my life with you, but..."
"Not here," Shandara said, moving away and looking at him. "Well, I was going to suggest this anyway... I got a letter from Isaldora. She's very upset that I didn't go to see her after the child was born and she asked me when I was going to come and visit. Would this be a perfect time for a trip to Athkatla? I would like to see little Zak."
"Zak?" Entreri asked. Shandara nodded: "She named the baby Zak. Didn't I tell you? Or actually his name is Zaknafein. Jarlaxle suggested that, although he hadn't explained why. Isaldora usually calls him Zak. Apparently," Shandara added grinning, "he is the smartest four month old baby anyone has ever seen. So? Should we go see the wonder boy and his mother? Take a little time to think about what to do next? Where to live next?"
"How long have you been planning this?" Entreri asked.
"You know me too well," Shandara sighed. "About three weeks. I was thinking about asking you before you left, but then I thought that you should fulfill your duty to the people and decide to leave them only after that."
"Fulfill my duty?" Entreri asked from grinning Shandara. "We should go. You can try to get some other books that those chivalric ones."
"I only own one chivalric book, thank you very much," Shandara said, "and you were reading it too."
"So when would you want to leave?" Entreri asked. She smiled. "As soon as possible. It'll be nice to get to a big city. To walk around on paved streets. To get a nice warm bath in a nice warm room..."
"Then we'll leave as soon as possible," Entreri said, happy of the chance to clear his thoughts somewhere else, hoping that they would find a better place during their travels. Who knows where they might end up...