Chapter 2

Natheran sighed in relief that she finally had Captain Brelaina's permission to enter Blacklake. She had gotten so caught up in the tasks set before her that she had almost forgotten about why she wanted to get into the district. But, that was her duty no matter how annoying it had become. She took an oath to serve and she was bound by it. Sitting at the bar she looked around the room. Neeshka and Khelgar were over near the fire drinking ale and arguing over something, with Elanee looking on. That was a common sight these days though, so it didn't worry her in the slightest, although it had when they first started traveling together. Khelgar had some pretty bad misconceptions about tieflings and elves, but it looked like he was starting to come around to realizing that he was wrong. That was good, because before the priest of Tyr would even consider training him in the ways of a monk, he had to get over his predjudices about others.

Looking to the other side she saw Casavir sitting at a table by himself. He looked to be deep in thought. She had been glad when she met him in the Sword Mountains during the assignment to find the Waterdeep emissary. He was a paladin of Tyr and she felt that she could learn a lot about being a Paladin from him. However, she soon realized that there was something troubling him. He seemed to be bitter for some reason, and he appeared to have lost his faith in his god and in himself most of all. When they finally had defeated Logram, it appeared that some kind of weight had been lifted from him and he relaxed a little. But, when she tried to ask him about why he had gone out to the mountains, he refused to talk about it. She figured that when he was ready he would tell her. Why it was important to her that she know what had happened, she wasn't too sure. She supposed that it was because he was so much older and so much more experienced than her that if his faith could be clouded then so could hers. Merring had told her that paladins were still human beings, and as such were susceptible to the same doubts and failings as everyone else. As if sensing her eyes on him he looked up. His eyes were a wonderful color of blue, and when he looked at her she felt as though she could fall right into them. She felt an attraction for him that she had not felt before for any other man in her life so far, but she wasn't sure of the nature of that attraction. Deciding to see if she could get some answers out of him now, she got up and went over to his table. As she approached, he stood up and held a chair out for her. When she was seated, he sat back down and waited for her to speak.

"Why didn't you stay in Old Owl Well with the others?" she asked quietly.

"There was no reason for me to stay anymore," he replied, not quite meeting her gaze. "I went there to help the people living there and now that it has been freed for them there was nothing left for me to do."

"You still could have stayed, I'm sure Callum could have used your help. Instead you travelled back to the city with us and, um, I guess I was just curious as to your reasons," Natheran looked at him, not quite aware she was holding her breath, waiting for his answer.

"You helped me with the orcs and now I am honor bound to return that favor. So I came with you to help you in your quest in whatever way I can." Casavir saw something flicker in her eyes, something like disappointment and wondered why.

"I see." Was that disappointment she heard in her voice? What had she expected him to say? Looking over her shoulder, she spied Qara and motioned her over to the table. The young sorceress came over with a scowl on her face. She had almost burnt down the inn and now she was repaying her debt by working for Duncan, which obviously didn't make her happy. However, she was safer in the inn than she was on the streets. Apparently, she had made alot of enemies at the academy and they were now out to get her. Unfortunately, she didn't see things that way and there didn't seem to be any way to make her see it.

"Qara, would you please get me a refill on my ale?" she asked politely. If a look could burn someone into ash, Qara's would certainly have done so.

"What about him? I'm not going to make two trips for you," Qara sneered in response causing Casavir to frown at the tone.

"Look, Qara, you brought this on yourself with your actions. All actions have consequences, and we all have to answer for the things we do. Grumbling and being insulting to others just because you're not happy isn't going to gain you any friends." Natheran tried very hard to keep the irritation from her voice.

"So! Why do you care? I don't need your lectures anymore than I needed the lectures at the academy. I wouldn't even be here if I hadn't almost burned down this pathetic excuse for an inn." Qara's face was red with anger as she spoke.

To forestall another childish, whining rant from the girl, Natheran got to her feet. "Never mind, I'll get it myself. Would you like a refill Casavir?"

"Thank you, but no," he answered quietly. He watched as the girl Qara was cornered by Duncan who proceeded to scold her. He shook his head, knowing from the look on Qara's face that the inn keeper was wasting his breath.

As Natheran headed to the bar she watched Duncan talking angrily with Qara. She shook her head for she could tell that his words, just like hers, were falling on deaf ears. While she was waiting for Sal to refill her glass, her uncle ran out of things to say and headed back into the kitchen while Qara moved off to a corner to sulk. After thanking Sal, she turned to head back towards Casavir's table and spied another patron looking at her. She had seen him that first night at the Flagon and had found out later that he was Duncan's friend but nothing more. His gaze on her was like that of a predator sizing up its prey. It made her uncomfortable and she looked away, but not before seeing his lips curl into a sneer. As she sat down, Casavir leaned forward.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what quest you are on, that is if you don't mind sharing," he queried softly.

"That's twice now you've mentioned a quest. Is that what paladin's are supposed to do with their lives, seek out quests all the time?" she teased, laughter in her voice.

"No, not all they are supposed to do," he replied, appearing to take the question seriously. "I do know that you are looking for answers but are not finding them."

She just stared at him a moment, for apparently he didn't realize she had been joking. Sighing, she told him what had happened to send her to Neverwinter, about the shards, and the strange creatures that pursued her. She told him what Sand had said, and how she came to be working for the City Watch.

"So this sage, Aldanon, has the answers you seek?" Casavir asked after mulling over what she told him for a while.

"I hope so, otherwise I won't know where to turn. I have this feeling that time is running out, and that if I don't find the answers soon, then what happened in my village will happen again." Natheran stared down into her ale, wondering what she would do if Aldanon couldn't help her.

"Well you will have my full support, no matter where your road takes you," Casavir said as he got to his feet. "If you will excuse me my lady, I will retire for the night."

She just sat there looking at his retreating back, wondering if she had said something wrong. She heard something like a snicker and looking around saw Duncan's friend watching too. He looked at her and smirked before turning his back to her. She was contemplating going over to the man to ask him why he was so interested in what she did, when Neeshka suddenly plopped down in front of her.

"I'm glad your little talk is over. You know that your aura makes my skin itch, but it is really bad when there are two of you together. We wanted to ask you what our next move is," Neeshka grinned at her.

"The fiendling has the right of it. I'm thinking it's time we got back to the important business at hand, and now that we have access to Blacklake we need to get our buts in gear and go find this Aldanon person," added Khelgar.

"We'll head over there first thing in the morning. I just hope that he has the answers we're looking for." Natheran smiled at the two of them. It was hard not to be cheerful around these two.

"If our next course of action has been decided then I shall head for bed myself," Elanee said, stifling a yawn. "Try not to stay up too late young ones."

As she left Neeshka hissed "Young ones, I think we've just been insulted."

"Now, now Neeshka, she didn't mean anything by it. She's an elf and she is probably alot older than she looks. They do live for several hundred years you know. To her we all must seem young." Natheran chuckled at the look on their faces. "But she's right, it's getting late and we need to get an early start. So I'll see you two first thing in the morning."

As she headed for the door to the back rooms she felt eyes on her again. Turning quickly she caught Duncan's friend staring at her. When he realized she was looking at him, he looked away, but not before she saw something like speculation in his eyes. Not sure what to make of it she decided to let it go for now and continued to her room. As she climbed into bed that night her thoughts strayed to him. He made her nervous with the way he looked at her. She got the feeling that he was sizing her up as a potential threat. But why should he feel threatened by her? He was Duncan's friend wasn't he? He must know that Duncan was her uncle, so there was no reason she could see for him to feel threatened by her. Why did he seem to be so interested in who she talked to? If he wanted something from her why didn't he ask her or Duncan? Maybe she should have another talk with her uncle about him, although Duncan hadn't seemed to want to go into details about the man the first time. With these thoughts circling her head, she fell asleep.