Chapter 1
Captain William Bloodworth was a twisted man with twisted tastes. He liked women but he loved cabin boys more. The more they squirmed when he held them down the more he enjoyed 'breaking' them in to the way of sea life.
His true name had been William Granderson, but he had taken a name that would strike fear in those he made to plunder. He felt that if he could get his blood's worth out of them then that would be a fine last name. So, he became Captain Bloodworth, the scourge of the sword coast and terror of the high seas.
He had dealings with Morgan Manshak and that was one man that Bloodworth would avoid at all costs. He had heard too many rumors about Manshak and if he thought he was bad, Morgan Manshak was the terror of realm space and the high seas. Thinking it would do him a bigger favor to try and work for Manshak to keep in his good graces.
Bloodworth only had one other problem in his life and that had been something he had created and brought upon himself so long ago he would have preferred to forget. But as this one particular problem kept rearing its ugly head it was something he could no longer avoid, it was beginning to dip into his pocket and that would make the Lady of Waterdeep upset and Morgan Manshak.
Falcon Stormbringer had been a royal pain in his ass for the past fifteen years, now he would have to take care of that problem and he would decide how to do it and the sooner the better, that coupled with the fact the Harpers were about to shut down two of his biggest enterprises was giving him a belly ache and a need.
Sitting back with a squeak of his chair, he shouted out. 'WUUJEN! SOMEONE SEND ME THE WUUJEN!"
Thanes Law sighed deeply, Gods how he hated that word, wujen, it was derogatory and an insult to his standing as a Master mage of his order. Harley poked his head through the door, "Captain wants you."
Thanes nodded, "I heard, I will be there after I finish this last note."
Harley backed out of his quarters. He did not like wizards or mages, they gave him the willies wiggles and he just knew one day he would wake up a toad because he had pissed one off.
Again, Blood took a long draw from his mug of rum, sat back, belched, then ripped a loud fart and screamed, 'WUUUJEN! GET AYE ARSE IN HERE NOW!"
Thanes stood throwing his quill on the book in front of him, he had half a mind of turning the obnoxious Captain into a goat, would serve him right. Instead, he swallowed his pride, moved out of his quarters and down the hallway to the Captain's door. "Did you bellow?"
Damme right I bellered! Get aye arse in here an tell me how we gonna fix dis sit'ation wit da 'Arpers?"
Thanes used his infinite patience to wait for the ending of all the belching, gas passing, and arguing to be over before he spoke softly and with precise words.
"I am going to have the Head Mage of Stanis contact the Lady of Waterdeep. He shall ask for an audience with the Harpers and see what it will take to end this blockade."
"Is thet all yer doin? Shitme man's britches, I culda dun thet meself!" Again there was an obnoxious belch of fumes from his rum pot.
"Yes, is that all?" Thanes would have gladly cantriped the smell from the room, but he needed to stay on the good side of Captain Blood so he could get his components and he paid well for his services.
"Cannae not drum me up a good blow so we can get past this sludge we be 'angin?"
Thanes stopped his reflective response of wanting to roll his eyes. Instead he turned and moved out of the Captain's quarters to the deck above. Closing his eyes he began to chant softly, "Summon Wind." He waited, and then it began. At first it was just a mild breeze, then the wind lifted and the water began to white cap. As the wind lifted, from the crow's nest the shout went out.
"RAISE SAILS!"
The hustle and bustle on the ship began to show fruit as the sails unfurled with a mighty flap and the wind pushed the ship out to sea.
M'lar stood behind the bar of the Hoch, business had been brisk and she had seen a few problems come and go but not half as much as the one that Shayla had just hired as a new recruit for the House of Shadows. He had taken exception to her and had been brutally hostile towards her. Every nasty slur he could think of he used against her.
He had been so brutal that he had tried to poison her one-day. Holding her down he had forced a liquid into her mouth and watched her gag and choke. After doing the dirty deed, he stood and spit on her then kicked her as she rolled to the side to feel her stomach start to burn and hurt.
Had Kaitlyn not arrived at the Hoch to see what had been done M'lar very well may have died. She lay on her side, trying to throw up and chant to naturalize poison. However due to the poison taking affect so quickly and incapacitating her all she could do was lie on her side and try to throw up.
Kaitlyn found her in such a condition that she immediately dropped to her knees and began to chant softly. "Throw up, now!" She had ordered and saw that M'lar was having trouble as she laid hands on her, she began to chant softly, "Naturalize Poison." The warm wash that flooded her body brought enough relief that M'lar was finally able to throw up the rest of the noxious fluid.
The guard had been put on alert to find the man and arrest him for assaulting a member of the King's council. He was nowhere to be found. Morgan had heard of her problem and was immediately at the Hoch checking on her condition. His concern had seemed to be genuine.
"My dear, you really need to let me know when you have problems like this. I can handle them a lot quicker if I do not get the information second hand. We will of course see this scoundrel is hanged for his dis-respect to a member of the council."
M'lar had patiently listened to Morgan and sighed deeply, "You act as if I am unable to defend myself Morgan, you of all know I am. this man caught me off guard, that is the only reason he was able to take advantage of my situation."
"I say this much M'lar, if you were my wife, you would never need fear any retribution again." He dropped his hint with a slight smile as he watched the color rush to her cheeks. "Would taking me as husband be such a dreadful life for you?"
M'lar looked down. "I don't love you Morgan. How could I marry you if I do not love you."
"What is love M'lar? It is a convenience for silly uneducated fools that search for the ever-illusive thing called love. With the intelligence you possess I am surprised that you would allow such a fruitless emotion take over your good sense. Is it not possible that love could come later?"
He let his cold soft fingers glide up her arm, to rest under her chin and lift it to peer deeply into her eyes. "Am I that much a horror to you to even consider that your life, your very existence, could be easily protected and sheltered under my name?"
M'lar was not about to admit that the thought had crossed her mind. She wanted more than what he offered. His protection would mean nothing if he were not around to protect her from the very thing he was lecturing her about or for that matter; the very thing he was and she secretly feared.
"Morgan, if you knew what love was perhaps you would not be asking me that question. Intelligence has nothing to do with what you seek and you should know that being a doctor. I appreciate the offer but until I know that it is illusive and not attainable I shall court the idea that I might find it some day, perhaps I shall go on a quest to find if it really does exist."
Orion and Brutus sat at the nearby table listening to the conversation between M'lar and Morgan. Orion watched Morgan carefully as he tried to maneuver M'lar to his way of thinking. "I don't like this." Brutus remarked.
"I don't either, he is trying to monopolize her life and that cannot be good." Orion remarked as he sat nursing his ale. "Surely, she realizes that he is not the good guy in this scenario?"
Morgan being keen of hearing looked around the bar and saw the two conspirators. "M'lar I really do need to speak in private with you. Will you join me for a walk in the park?"
M'lar sighed, "Why Morgan, what cannot be discussed here that can be discussed in the park?" She wiped her hands on a towel looking for Baloq.
"Council business that needs to be addressed, I wish to speak with Lady Kaitlyn but figured if I spoke to you about it first you could let her know what my plans for the island would be to generate more money for the King's funds. It would afforded us all more money to live a better life."
M'lar turned to Baloq, "Would you cover for a few minutes while I discuss the crown's business with Doctor Manshak?" M'lar reached for her shawl under the counter drawing around her shoulders she stepped towards Morgan.
Morgan drew her hand through the crook of his arm and without little effort ~teleported without fail~ from the room with a soft chuckle and a soft gasp from M'lar.
Baloq growled low, while Orion and Brutus stood quickly. "Damn it! Follow on horse back!?" Brutus turned to Orion.
"No, we go the same way he went, he said the park." Orion visualized the top of the hill in Foothills Park then using the will of his way opened a ~dimensional door~ to the park. He waited for Brutus to step thought the opening and then followed behind him.
Morgan knew the two would be heroes and rescuers would follow, so he had teleported them to Tranquil Gardens. Near a waterfall a place he knew she had never been and would appreciate. M'lar blinked from her orientation and equilibrium being restored paused and looked around.
"Morgan you missed the location, this is lovely and very calming as well as tranquil but hardly the park." Morgan gathered her hand in his. His mind still filled with his memories of a night of unchained passion in his bed and her arms.
"I realized that you had never been here and thought it a far better back drop for our discussion uninterrupted." He gathered her arm into the crook of his arm. Strolling with her towards the edge of the waterfall pool, he sighed. "You must allow me some time with you and your company. We have hardly seen each other since you returned from Waterdeep."
"Morgan, I appreciate all you have done for me and cannot tell you how much it was appreciated by my family. However, I have a life here and a business to manage. I also have a country to manage with you. So you said it was council business shall we discuss it so I might get back to the other part of my life?"
"I wanted to propose a piece of legislation that I did not want you to veto out right because it was being proposed by me." He spoke smoothly and with confidence as he thought about the legislation and how it would benefit him.
"Morgan I may not like you for what you represent. I certainly hope that you will have the best interest of the island at heart and not your pocket book. If it is valid I would not automatically discard it because you proposed it. I thought you knew me better than that." She was a little affronted.
"M'lar I know you do not like me. I know that you have issues with me. I also know you have fought me all the way when it came to my association with anything that was a part of this island. You made that abundantly clear when you thought to bring in your champions to try and kill me."
M'lar felt her face burn with her rage at his implication. "Are we to revisit this again Morgan? I mean really had I wanted you dead I would have proclaimed it to the world! I would not skulk around behind everyone's back and try to have someone else kill you I would have done it myself. If I wanted you dead, I would have died trying to see you dead. I wanted justice. I thought we had gone over this and we were past it."
"Do you know how beautiful you are when you get really angry? Your eyes flash with self-righteous indignation, your breasts, oh those lovely huge breasts heave and your eyes change colors. They go to a dark intense green when you are totally pissed off." He chuckled as he watched her mouth open then close again.
"See I have you M'lar, so if you hate me with so much passion why could you not learn to turn it around and love me with as much passion?" He taunted her with his words to watch her loose her control and draw her hand back to slap him.
He caught her hand as it came towards his face, jerked her against his body, held her pinned against his hard body, and then lowered his mouth to capture her lips and kiss her hard and deep. Taking his hand to run his fingers up into her hair and hold her head in place as he kissed her.
M'lar struggled against the kiss and knew his strength was more than she could counter. Relaxing into the kiss she lifted her arms and put them around his neck pressing into him to gain his trust and force him to relax. As she felt him relax she broke the kiss, bent into his body and rolled away from him by tumbling backwards.
Morgan laughed, "Touché Priestess. However, you have to admit you enjoyed the kiss as much as I did."
"I admit nothing Morgan, only you took liberties that were not offered. Now if you are done tormenting me with your attentions, then I suggest you tell me of your legislation you wish to propose or allow me to go back to the Hoch where I am needed."
"Ah yes the legislation, I wish to propose a tax on all magical items and any items confiscated be turned over to the crown. Then the crown will be able to decide what is to be done with the magical items. Perhaps it will circumvent what happened at the barracks earlier this week. We could do with less dead guardsmen."
M'lar remembered vividly what had happened. The summons had arrived when Eric had arrived at the Hoch and had invited her and Kait for a stroll in the park and the prospect of discussing his ideas of revising the laws to add some and the addition of a tax collector.
A guardsman had ridden hard into the park looking for the King, a horrible accident had happened and there were over twenty dead guardsmen and the King was needed. M'lar and Kait were immediately concerned.
Orion and Marstoq were at the barracks. So with haste they had made their way to the guardhouse to see the devastation and smell the acrid stench of sulfur that tainted the air. M'lar entered the barracks her concern written on her face as she searched the dead bodies that laid covered by blankets, with each body she said the prayer for the dead and moved on praying the next would not be Marstoq or Orion.
Eric had watched M'lar with growing concern as she moved with less energy to the next dead body followed by Kait, who like her held their breath as they uncovered another body. Then to their relief Orion and Marstoq appeared from the blasted out remains of the turret section of the guardhouse.
That was when all hell broke loose, the stoic and demanding warlock known as Raven Stormwalker had arrived with Zachary Stargazer. Raven had been allowed admittance Zachary had not and this had annoyed and angered Zachary to the point that Zachary was about to throw a fireball at Marstoq.
That is when the unkind words were thrown at the scro and half-breeds that did not deserve to live. M'lar had been thunder struck by Zach's true feelings and had quietly left the guardhouse to go back to the Hoch. When Zach arrived later he demanded to see her.
M'lar had excused herself from the common room. As M'lar left the room it then left Baloq to face Zach alone. Her pain was still too deep to not feel awkward in his company. "I want to see her and you will allow me to go back there to talk to her now." Baloq was prepared for a monumental battle with Zach. He was feeling very protective of her and he had heard what Zach had said.
From the depths of the kitchen M'lar started to do the dishes, a calming, repetitive thing that helped her deal with emotions she was not prepared to have. Knowing if she refused to hear him out, he would destroy the tavern, she sighed deeply wiped her hands on her apron and then turned squaring her shoulders to go and face him.
Zach pushed past Baloq and marched up to M'lar. "I did not mean that about you M'lar. But your son is about to be one dead scro if he ever doubts my honor or integrity again, you can tell him that from me."
"I think he knows your feelings Zachary, you have to understand. He just lost twenty men and was upset. He meant no harm just was following the protocol set down by the King. However, I shall make sure he knows you feelings."
She spoke softly her feelings still hurt by the vicious words he had spoken earlier. "I also understand that our kind are not readily accepted here. Being half scro and half elf has to be unsettling for most that do not know us personally."
"No M'lar you don't understand my own background. My mother;" He hesitated as if the words he was about to speak were hard for him and painful to remember.
"Was raped by a band of drow and that is when she became pregnant by me. She gave birth to me in the under dark and I was to become a slave of the drow. Shadrick saved me from that fate and took me in as a son of his. He fought for me and he protects me as one of his own."
That had been a day to remember and go down in the annuals of the history of New Damara.
She had spent the next week preparing baskets for the wives and families of the men that had died that day and had presided over the funerals for most. Kait had covered half and she had taken the other half. It had been her first indoctrination into delivering the dead to their respective gods.
She had used so much passion in her eulogies that many thought she had been personally involved with the ones she prayed over. She knew that as she prayed for them she was committing their restless spirits to the grey waste and sending them to journey to the River Styx.
From there they would stand before Kelemvor Lyonsbane and plead their case. She hoped that most would not have to wander the grey waste for eternity. It would be sad for them to do so.
She sighed, "I will consider your bill Morgan. I won't discount it completely just because you want to push it through. I would like a little more information on this bill before committing my support."
Morgan smiled, he had her where he wanted her and he had used her sympathy and compassion against her to get his thoughts across without having to ego whip her.
Then as he rubbed a fingertip over her lips in a teasing manner; he was reminded of that kiss earlier and how much he missed her being in his bed. "Oh by the way, you still owe me a dinner for that other dress I bought."
M'lar wanted to bite the finger that played sensually over her lips but held her temper. However as he reminded her of the dinner she still owed him she felt her stomach clamp down. "Then you need to tell me when you wish to have the dinner, I pay all my debts."
Morgan chuckled, "I know you do that was what I was counting on that you would honor the debt you owe. Shall we return you to your errant protectors before they send out search parties to find the poor abducted Priestess from the Monstrous Morgan Manshak?"
M'lar rolled her eyes and waited for him to take her arm. Without hesitation he pulled her close to him, and kissed her again deep and passionately. Holding tightly to her he ~teleported~ without fail and a subtle pop as they appeared in the center of the Hoch, him still holding and kissing her deeply.
Appearing in the center of the Hoch M'lar felt her world become disoriented from the teleportation and not the kiss, which she was tolerating. Bart Blackheart turned at the sound of the popping noise and felt his stomach lock down. He watched disgusted as Morgan held M'lar close and kissed her.
Stepping back Morgan smiled, swiped his fingertip over her lips, smiled and nodded to Bart. "Hello Blackheart, having a good day?" He asked with a mocking tone.
Bart growled low and turned his back on them. "I thought you had better tastes than that M'lar you disappoint me."
Morgan frowned, "I could take that as an insult and call you out, but I would not deprive Shayla of her favorite pet dog. Don't blame the Priestess for that kiss I stole it fair and squarely from her and now I will take my leave from you both."
He bowed and once again without effort he ~teleported~ with out fail leaving the subtle popping noise to leave them alone in the room together.
Bart turned an accusing glare on M'lar. "Why him, do you know what you court when you stay with him like that? You risk your very soul." M'lar was about to get angry with Bart but took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"He took me with him to talk about council business. It was NOTHING more Bart. Besides you have Kalira to keep your interest. Why do you care about me?" Bart reached for her wrist and drug her up against his body. Lowering his lips he kissed her. His kiss was brutal in the giving and the taking.
She could hear him growling deep in the back of his throat as he kissed her, then as quickly he released her. "Just a erminder of what you could have if you wanted it anytime." Turning he moved from the common room and into the now growing darkness of New Damara's main streets. As he left she could hear the howl of a wolf and smiled.
She knew he was an animal and he had coveted her for a long time but she had never crossed the limits of someone that belonged to another. He had now declared his intentions and she was not sure where she wanted their friendship to go.
