They had come back from Old Owl Well, and were staying at the Sunken Flagon for a couple of days. The group needed to restock on supplies. Khelgar and Casavir wanted some fresh food which was not stocked at the Sunken Flagon and everyone needed one thing or other from the merchants on the docks.
Casavir was not thrilled that Khelgar had pretty much thrown tiefling at him to get her out of the bar and away from him, but he grudgingly accepted the company. Neeshka seemed to feel the same way about him so it seemed almost fair. Grobnar also had some things to buy so the three of them had gone shopping. They were walking along the docks, back towards the Flagon, with packages in tow.
The paladin looked back at the gnome and tiefling. Grobnar was dancing away while Neeshka grinned stupidly, innocently playing with a ring which she placed on one finger then the other.
"Did you buy that at the last stop?"
Neeshka glared at the paladin, "What business is it of yours?"
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "You know exactly how I feel about thievery." Why in the world did Avera like her?
"You don't bother when Avera does it."
"She does not steal." He said the words one at a time, frustrated and looked over his shoulder at her, "Do not speak of her like that."
"She does take loot from bodies."
"That is a different thing altogether." His voice became a bit strained. How dare Neeshka call Avera a thief.
"Sure it is. And if you really just have to know, it was part of our loot from the caves. Avera doesn't care about the pretty things so I get them."
He stopped and glared at the tiefling, "What do you mean by that?"
"That she gives me the pretty things?"
"That she doesn't care about them." There was a tinge of anger to his voice.
"Well, she just doesn't bother with things like that. She's very practical, that's all."
Casavir growled under his breath, "I have no idea what she sees in you."
"I wonder the same about you, Mr. Goody Goody."
"I think we have company." Grobnar finally spoke up. While the other two had been debating, some thugs had surrounded them.
Casavir carefully put his packs down and pulled out his hammer, "How can we help you gentlemen." His voice didn't falter as he sized up their opponents.
"Well, well. What have we here?" The first thug grinned mischievously, "We have a message for you, paladin, from your old friend, Lord Pierval. But we will allow our daggers to do the talking."
The thugs attacked but their attempt at murder was short lived. As Grobnar laid out a tune for stone skin and dropped a dire wolf into the thugs' way, the other two pummeled the thugs into the ground. It did not take long until they could pick their packs back up and return to getting "home."
"What in the world was that about?" Neeshka couldn't fathom where these new thugs had come from.
"It was nothing." Casavir turned his head and calmly searched the docks for further threats.
Neeshka tapped her chin in concentration, "A Lord Pierval. Hmm. Sounds rich. Is he in Blacklake District?"
Grobnar bounced ahead and started singing a new, strange tune.
"Last I heard he had moved into his estate in the Merchant Quarter." The paladin stopped and turned, "You best not be thinking what I believe you are thinking."
"And what would that be? We had best tell Avera about this."
Neeshka was about to run but was stopped by a hand on her arm, "This is not her concern as it is not yours."
"We were just attacked. Avera will want to know that."
"It is of no one's concern but my own."
The tiefling raised an eyebrow and turned her head to the side, "Why do you not want her to know about this?"
His voice stayed as neutral as normal but there was a touch of a waver to it, "It is my concern. It would only worry her and she always has enough to worry about without adding this to her list. It will only bother her that we were attacked."
"Riiiiight." Neeshka turned at the Sunken Flagon and opened the door, "I will be quiet only as long as it does not hurt her or us."
They walked in to the regular sight of Khelgar and Qara complaining at each other. Khelgar snarled at the sorceress and Qara left him while laughing at some joke she had told about him.
"Ah I'm glad you're back! We have trouble again."
"Oh no, what this time?"
Khelgar pointed to a tray of food.
"Not again. Breakfast and lunch?"
"What is wrong?" As Casavir asked, both Khelgar and Neeshka turned to smile at him, "And what exactly are you going to try to make me do?"
"Well, lad, that little lass of ours sometimes gets so involved in her barding that she forgets this one thing called 'eating.' She doesn't do it out in the wild but here is different. We have exhausted most of our tricks to force food down her gullet but are having a hard time thinking of anything else we can do."
Casavir blinked, "Avera starves herself when she writes songs or stories?"
"I wouldn't call it starving." Grobnar chipped in, "It's more like not noticing and just getting fed up with being bothered all the time. You get so into your work that it is hard to think of anything else. Then if someone puts something under your nose it doesn't smell right. I've done that many times. Once I didn't eat for four days. Put me out right then. It was sure a good thing I was living with my …"
"I get the idea." Casavir said, a bit tense and concerned for Avera's health, "So someone has to try to get her to eat."
"The children can't even get to her to anymore. They used to be able to give her the puppy eyes but she's close to immune to it now. I think you will be able to do the trick, lad."
He nodded, "We cannot let her miss meals like this. It isn't like she has the bulk other people around here have for her to be able to do without a meal."
"Hey! That was a crack!" Khelgar yelled at the paladin's back, "I cannot believe I got a crack from Casavir. You've been around us too long, Paladin!"
nnn
Avera sat with her head in her hands, trying desperately to think of how to make the song more fun. There was nothing that kept it intact even if the idea of the song was good.
"My friends are gone and I don't know where, I hope they don't think I'm off to catch a hare." She mumbled the lines and knocked her fist lightly against her forehead a few times, "It just isn't catchy! I need something to get people to join in and clap."
A knock at the door made her snarl, "Who is it this time?"
"It is Casavir."
Her head shot up and she smiled before going back to her notes, "Come on in! And lock the door behind you, will ya? Everyone is trying to get me to eat and it is disturbing my …" She looked up to see Casavir with a tray of food and drinks, "Well, I see that they have drafted you into making sure I get some nourishment."
Casavir stood by the door taking stock of the room. There was a desk full of gems and jewels of all kinds at the wall to his left, a window then fireplace on the wall across from him and a bed against the wall to his right. The bed was wedged against the wall with the head and footboard touching the wall. Books, papers, scrolls and other papers were strewn on the box spring.
A bench sat against the wall between the bed and the mattress which was on the floor against the wall, across from the fireplace. It held pillows, furs and blankets as well as Avera in a light shirt and trews. In her hands was a pad of paper and a pen. On her far side was her instruments.
She smiled at him and patted the mattress, "Trying to figure out the best way to defend my hovel? Oh don't go near the window. It's trapped."
He blinked and sounded distracted, "It is a large room." Casavir strode to the mattress and put the tray down on the floor then carefully sat on the floor in front of the mattress but beside her.
She watched his body move, the way the muscles quivered as he got close to her, "Go figure. Little me in this huge room, whereas everyone else bunks together in rooms not even a quarter the size. I would complain and have everyone moved in here with me but it is sometimes nice to be able to lounge about in nothing."
Casavir's eyes went wide and he sputtered. He remembered seeing her body. Remembered lightly touching that light colored flesh before he realized what he was doing. Now, here he was in her room with her. Alone, with the door locked.
She patted his back, "Ah, there is a way to get a reaction out of you."
An eyebrow lifted and a half grin formed, "You are talented at getting reactions from people."
"Hmm. Everyone keeps telling me that. So if I don't eat on my own then will you be force feeding me?"
"If it becomes necessary, yes, my lady." He turned his head enough to look down into her eyes.
She looked up into his eyes and made a small whimper, "Well, I guess we should get to it then." She fought with herself and was finally able to pull her gaze from his, "What did you bring?"
"Chicken soup, strawberry pie and some wine." He handed her a bowl of soup and a spoon.
Avera giggled, "Strawberry pie?"
"I heard strawberries were your favorite, my lady." His gaze softened as she hugged his arm, "And it seems my sources were correct. I even brought some cream for the pie."
"And you made sure I would eat by bringing your supper in as well, I see." She sounded amused.
"It was a necessary precaution." He surmised as he popped the cork on the wine and poured them each a glass.
They started to eat their soup when Avera piped up, "Uhm, about Old Owl Well …"
He stopped with his spoon in his mouth and looked down at his soup, "I went there because I felt my sword could make a difference, no other reason."
Avera's brows scrunched up in a way he felt was especially cute on her, "I know you had a vision, but couldn't you have marshaled the Neverwinter forces, gotten Callum to ally with you, and been more effective?"
A sigh escaped him, and a little bitterness marred his words, "There was a need for action, the need to set an example. To move Neverwinter to act is something beyond my strength." His voice calmed and gentled as he looked back to her, sipping her soup, "But a greater good has been accomplished, and you have shown that to me."
She pointed her spoon at him, "But … you went alone."
"I went alone, because I had to. Just as you had to when you left your home." She nodded at that and his voice became firm and resolved, almost morose, "Battling the tribes of the Old Owl Well is something that had to be done. It is simple, a necessary act." Casavir glanced back at the little lady beside him and his tone softened again, "There is no doubt as to what must be done, no... conflicts."
Avera turned to look directly at him, "Conflicts?"
A hint of pain melded through his words, "There are battles that can be fought, and others that cannot. It is a difficult thing to speak of." His head sagged as memories surged around in his mind. He wanted to share everything with her but also did not want her to be caught up in his problems. His eyes closed, "I appreciate your words, and your intentions, but this is something that is difficult to share. Perhaps another time, when the words are easier to find."
The feel of her fingers brushing his forehead startled him. His eyes opened to see her standing in front of him, "You do not have to deal with any conflicts alone. I stand with you. You know that." Her voice was soft, concerned and held such caring that he could not turn away.
"I know you will stand with me, whatever comes. Your presence has steadied me in these difficult times. You have even helped achieve resolution where before there were only doubts." He lowered his eyes and gave her a hint of a smile, "And for that, I thank you."
The little woman stood on tip toe and kissed him on the cheek, "Whatever I have done that removed your doubts, I'm glad I could help." She played with the fringe of his hair for a moment, "You don't deserve to be sad."
"Neither do you, my lady." Her hand upon his brow was making him ache for her to touch him more, but she forced herself to turn away.
She peeked into his empty bowl then grabbed it and dropped them, clattering onto the tray. Then she grabbed the cream, slopped a lot onto her slice of pie and turned to him with the cream and pointing to his portion. He nodded so she smothered his pie in cream as well and handed it to him. She grabbed her fork and dug into her portion, but stopped and offered him her first bite.
Casavir blinked, unsure of what to do. No one had ever offered pie to him this way. Would it offend her if he didn't take the offering? Was there something beyond that gesture? He didn't know, and gave up caring what it meant. He bit into it and his eyes closed with the taste of the berries, cream and crust. It was a very good pie.
Then he gasped and opened his eyes. She had tossed a pillow between his legs and another onto his left leg. With careful consideration, she cuddled up between his legs with her head on the pillow which lay on his leg.
"What is this?" He asked, bemused.
"I didn't think you would mind if I lie here as it is easier to see your face. But I wanted to be comfy and I didn't want to," She pointed to the pillow in front of his groin, "Accidentally knock anything. I would never want to hurt my paladin."
He lifted his eyebrows, and gave her the first bite of his pie, "Your paladin would never want to hurt his lady either."
She took the offering, savored it and licked her lips. Even though she had not meant it to be, he found it very sensual. He could remember, not long ago, when he was able to look upon her body with no one else around. He closed his eyes, thinking of that time, and how he wished they were back there. Back where it could just be the two of them, with no worries except for what was going to be for supper and who would take first watch.
"Thinking of something nice?"
"Very much so." He grinned.
"Good because now that I have you at my disposal, would you mind helping me with this silly song? It may help to have an outside view with this."
"As you wish, my lady." He quipped and delved into his pie while trying to help with the song.