chapter 10

Eleni stood at the side of her new bed, full of cushions and perfumed sheets. She had discarded her dress and was now in a simple nightgown that she had borrowed from one of the maids. Her eyes surveyed the freshly made bed and its frilly canopy of silks, and decided then and there that the bed was definitely not her, nor were the choice of rather expensive and altogether impractical(in her mind) choice of nightware that she was presented with by her maids earlier. After she had hastily chased away everyone from her room, including Tonio and his roundabout noble friends who were more interested in her past stories of adventure and her travels on the road, she had firmly locked the door shut and even ignored the summons of Grandmere who she supposed was to berate her for her awful, decidedly unnoble performance at dinner this night, along with her rather poor attempt at carrying on a conversation which she found the topics both dull and extremely irrelevant to her life. After being separated from Tery's company by being led away more or less by the insistent Tonio, who wanted to show her around to his 'adventuring group', she never saw the young man again. However, she was painfully aware that all throughout the night, the rude man with the sandy hair was watching her every little move with those cold eyes of his. It made her feel definitely self conscious and uneasy. To her eyes, the man had no friends it seemed. Everyone seemed to keep their distance from him. And those who did speak to him were very differential in their speech and deed, making Eleni wonder if he was the prince that was supposed to be present for the dinner this evening.

In any case, here she was now in her room for the time being. All to herself and alone with her thoughts which swirled with conflicting and confusing emotions and decidedly uncomfortable to boot. The elf girl began to miss her little room above the bakery very much then, with its familiar smells of yeast and fresh dough, the cozy wool blankets and her old familiar things that she had collected and purchased over the years with her meager songs and her dancing fingers upon her lute. With those thoughts swirling in her head, Eleni walked over to the window and opened it, letting in the cool air of the evening rush into the room. The window ledge was made of strong marble, Eleni saw, as she stepped on it and out, squatting there and overlooking the street below. Her pony tailed hair whispered against her back as the elf girl cast her gaze toward the row of buildings that stood out like a dark maze, half lit by street lamps. It was quite late at night now, she saw. The party, or what remained of it, was slowly winding down by what she heard. She began to review all that had happened to her in such a short amount of days. From the mysterious stranger that had drugged her at the roof tops to finding herself in this very uncomfortable situation where she knew that she was most definitely not wanted.

"There's a limit to what I can take." Eleni muttered to herself, getting up on the ledge and testing her balance upon the stone and brick work that made up the side of the Colson estate. She knew that she was quite high up from the ground, but knowing that made her feel somewhat free, for she knew that her fate at this moment was the only thing that she could truly control. And besides, Eleni reasoned, it wouldn't be a bad idea to check out this place from the outside. Just in case I have to make a quick getaway and leave Tonio and his weird family behind. She added morosely. Eleni wondered where Tonio's father was this night. The first few times she met him was through Tonio at various festivals and dances, and he seemed to be genuinely happy to see her with Tonio. He had said a few kind words as well and the lady he was with, whom Eleni had thought was Tonio's mother, had been kind to her as well. It was not until tonight that Eleni found out that the elven woman was not Tonio's mother but an escort from a famed brothel house. Apparently, Tonio had not told her that his father was a terrible philanderer that frequented high class festhalls, before and after his mother died, and would have no other woman to bed other than an elven woman. This she found out over water biscuits and port from Lord Horatio Carstens, Tonio's friend and his adventuring group's 'tracker'. When confronted with this, Tonio had told her with much contrition that he was ashamed of his family and had thought that telling her about her father's ways would have made Eleni think lesser of him. Eleni had almost replied sharply that it would have been impossible since she already thought his family completely off their rocker, but held her tongue. It wasn't Tonio's fault that his family was so irreparably disjointed, Eleni had thought, and such revelations did not help Eleni's already jangled nerves, causing her to excuse herself early and retire to her room.

A movement in her room then caught the elf girl's eyes, and she stopped, crouching low on the ledge. Eleni's eyes followed the figure that now came into her room, looking around. She recognized him almost immediately. The gray haired man with a mustache, dark brown eyes and those soft, kind hands that had gently smoothed her hair when they first met at the festival. It was Tonio's father. He was looking around the room, walking over cautiously to the bed. As Eleni debated on whether she should make her appearance back into the room, she noted that Lord Colson was rummaging through her things. Slow and deliberate at first, as if searching for something, and then appearing more and more frantic in his movements. Eleni felt her heart skip a beat when she realized that he was searching through her clothes, and she almost lost her footing and fell when she saw him take the dress that she was wearing that night and plunge his nose right into it, taking in large, deep gulps of breaths that she could even hear from her position. Eleni shuddered in disgust as she watched Lord Colson start to lick at the clothing, and averted her gaze away from the man. Friendship or no, she knew that she couldn't stay here in this household.

When Eleni stared back into her room, she saw that Lord Colson had finished whatever he was doing, and was now straightening out his clothing. He left the room as cautiously as he entered it, making sure that there was no one in the hallway first before leaving and closing the door behind him. The elf girl however did not wish to return to her room. She did not feel welcome in the least, to start, and now she felt as if whatever she started making of her new room was now violated and perversed into a place where she no longer wished to be. Eleni desperately searched for a way out of the Colson estate, her eyes scanning the nearby houses and buildings. Most of them were quite a distance away. Too far for her to clear the distance and too great a fall or a climb. Then she saw a rather opulent house with stone and iron lattice work just a short distance away from where she was. It was a distance that was far to jump, Eleni first thought. However, if she made a running jump she may be able to catch the ledge of a window that faced her. The elf girl saw however that to make the running jump would require her to place her feet firmly upon the ledges that surrounded the 3rd floor of the Colson estate without fail. With each of the steps of the ledge being maybe half the width of her feet, there was very little room for an error. One misstep would put her into the garden or worse yet, dash her brain all over the paving stones that made up the grounds in that section of the estate.

Without even further thought however, Eleni found herself already making the run. Each of her running steps landing firmly upon the ledge. She did not even feel the reassuring coldness of the stone upon her feet as she made her leap clear across the iron fence that separated the two households. In her ear was nothing save for the whistling wind and then the sound of her fingers being slapped against the marble ledge of the window she was aiming for. Her grip tightened as she hung there, dangling so high in the air with nothing below her save for the brick walkway three floors below. To fall from here would maim her, she knew. Eleni started to strain. Her arms felt as if they were on fire as her toes found purchase on the smooth stone wall. As her head finally appeared above the window ledge, she found herself looking straight into the eyes of a very wide eyed boy, who had his mouth agape in shock at what he had witnessed. The boy quickly ducked as a swinging cudgel came out of the darkness and smashed the window wide open with a loud crack, sending shards of glass past Eleni's face and down to the garden below, causing the elf girl to momentarily lose her grip and making her gasp out as her fingers and toes barely found purchase against the smooth, cold stones. As Eleni's eyes adjusted to the darkened room facing her, she quickly deduced two figures, one holding the cudgel who was already readjusting his swing against the boy, and the other taller figure with a glint of a naked blade in his hand, standing at the open doorway. Before the boy could cry out once more, Eleni acted at once without another thought, diving into the room and smashing into the man with the cudgel with her forearms. The blow did nothing save turn the man's attack on the boy, causing him to smash his cudgel against the wall and loosening a shelf full of books raining down upon his head and causing him to yelp out. As he blindly swung out, Eleni hooked his leather boot clad leg in a lock and tripped him forward and pitching into the open window.With so much forward momentum from the wild swinging, the man barely had a chance to let out a scream as he shot through the window, landing heavily with a thud down below. Eleni had no time to congratulate herself as she spied the man with the blade enter the room with hastened step, and let loose with a sharp object from behind her ear that flashed and whistled sharply against the cold air of the room. The small blade missed wide as the man merely flinched away. He smirked in response at this and said, "You missed, but I won't...Ow!!!" the man screamed as Eleni's knife, hummingbird, whistled back like a stinging bee, ripping around his left ear and cutting off a chunk of it. Eleni caught the blade once more and rolled forward on the ground, betting heavily that the response of the man would be to stab low, but not low enough. She had guessed right as she felt the blade cut through the air above her, and continued her roll and into a hand stand right below his chin, with both of her bare feet smashing neatly into the point of his jaw. The man screamed as he bit into his tongue, coughing up blood and getting knocked off his feet. His sword tumbled out of his grasp as he landed against the hallway wall, slouching there for a second and then hurridly getting to his feet, clutching at his bloodied mouth and then with a last baleful look at Eleni's face, running away.

Eleni debated going after the man for the briefest of second, but realized that because of her little night jaunt and exercise, she was now wearing her thin, filmy silk night gown above her waist, and hastily smoothed out the fabric down to her thighs. Her eyes sought out the boy, who was cowering in the corner of the room near the window, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you all right?" She asked as calmly as she could, her voice sounding tinny in her ear as the rush of adreneline of almost being skewered and beaten to a pulp worked through her system.
The boy, seemingly about 11 or 12, blinked once and then stammered out, "Did...did my father send you?" His dark blond hair appeared unkempt as if a bird had nested in it, although even in this darkness, Eleni could tell that the clothing he wore was of a fine cut of expensive cloth, tailored to fit.

"Your father?" Eleni asked, deciding that the boy may be older afterall. Mayhaps 13 or 15...?

The boy slowly got up as Eleni added with a cautious whisper, "You should stay here. Who knows how many more are out there?"
"I could take care of myself." He said in a voice bordering on annoyance, picking up the discarded sword. A half blade, Eleni noted. Good for stabbing and nightwork, perfect for cutthroats and assassins. She had often seen them employed enough when she had travelled with Duron. The boy swung it like a two handed blade, gripping the pommel with both hands. It was unpracticed, overeager swing of amateurs. "They just caught me unawares. While I slept, those cowards. But I thank you. Nonetheless." He added confidently, glancing at Eleni and softening his tone somewhat at her countenance. Eleni decided then that he was probably older, and crossed her left arm across her chest modestly, grabbing her right forearm and clearing her throat.

"In any case, child. I think we should bar the door. There may be more of them downstairs. I wonder if they're here to rob you..." Eleni began as the boy snorted at this.

"I am not a child. I am lord Grayson. Charles Grayson the third. Doesn't that name mean anything to you?" The boy asked. When Eleni shook her head, he replied, "You must be new to Waterdeep. Recently arrived provential perhaps? Judging by your...lingerie, I take it that you're noble born, although you fight dirty like a barmaid. No offense." The boy added hastily with a nervous chuckle. He then frowned and added, "What were you doing out there at the window?"

Eleni started, "Ahh...uhm...Well, I was, that is, I could not sleep. So I went for a stroll. Yes, and I heard the commotion up here and, well." As the boy looked on with open suspicion, she added hastily and with all the defensiveness tone she could muster, "Well it's a good thing I showed up when I did, that's all."

As the boy started to reply, the two of them both heard hurried footsteps approaching them from below, and without further thought, both Eleni and the boy closed the door, and helped each other bar it with anything within their reach, including the large bed that was occupying the corner of the room. "You climbed up 3 stories, hearing the racket. Incredible." The boy muttered as he noisily dragged a steamer trunk against the door. "Are you sure my father did not send you?"

There was an incessant knocking at the door as Eleni held her tongue. "Master Grayson!! Master Grayson? Are you there?" an older voice called out, trying to push in the door.

The boy's face grew relieved when he heard the voice, and began to move the furniture from the door as Eleni cautioned, "Wait! What if it's a trap?"

"It's no trap! I am here, young master! Who do you have there with you?! The lord Grayson expressly forbid you from bringing home a festhall lady, young master!" The voice said, causing Eleni to narrow her eyes in anger.

The boy cleared his throat as he saw this, and asked Eleni with a gentle voice, "Help me move all of this from the door. It is Dellen, my manservant. I trust him with my life."

The two of them took a few minutes to clear out the piles of furniture haphazardly, causing a few books and various vases and glass items to shatter to the floor. When there was enough room made for the door to open inward a sliver, a thin, older man with a bald head and narrow, baleful eyes peered his head through, with the rest of his bony limbs following after. He was dressed in finery, wearing a golden necklace with gems that glittered in the night like some gaudy costume jewelry. Eleni's eyes knew better though. "You must come with me young mast..." the old man began, noting Eleni standing there half naked and appearing uncomfortable. "What in the nine hells...pardon my harsh words, young master. But..."

Young Charles held his hand up, silencing his old servant, saying, "You will not besmirch this lady's character with your loose talk, Dellen." The old man glowered at the elf girl but held his tongue at this. "Get the horses ready, and the wagon. It is time that we left this city. My father told me that this day would come." Charles continued and then turning his gaze toward Eleni, added, "It would be wise for you to accompany us."

"Young master!" Dellen blurted out.

Eleni replied, looking befuddled. "I can't."

"I merely look out for your welfare...Ms..."

"Eleni."

"Eleni." Charles continued. "Doubtless, those men will not give up. Like it or not, your intervention in my behalf has earned you powerful enemies in the city. You will not be safe. Your best course of action would be to come with us."

Dellen countered sourly, "Young master. I must protest. I do not think it wise to bring this elven...hussy..."

Charles stopped Dellen's speech with a look, and stated in sharp, cold tones, "Dellen, I will not abide your insubordination longer. You will do as I bid. Prepare for our departure." As Dellen sullenly disapeared from the doorway, the young boy turned to Eleni and said, "I will explain as best as I can, as soon as we're safely out of the city's confines. You must come with us. We don't have much time. Soon, this place will be crawling with men just as these, all seeking my life." As Eleni watched on with an uncertain expression, he added, "If not for your own safety, then for mine. I will recompensate you for your help."

The elf girl thought over her options, and as the boy looked on with unveiled desperation in his eyes, she found herself saying yes, immediately regretting it. Part of her wanted very much to be rid of this place, this city, for at least a few days. With her current troubles mounting in several directions, including the unexpected perversion of Tonio's father and this stalker that seemed to have her number, this could be just the thing to bring her life back under some semblence of control. However, there was also the fact that she was plunging into this latest twist in her life with very little information and now she seemed to have unwittingly put herself into a heap of danger. Years later, when Eleni would look back upon the faithful night when she agreed and followed Charles out of the mansion and into the covered wagon, she would ask herself whether the gods themselves were putting their hands on her very head and nodding her head for her.