Certain major characters are not mine, though Elondra is mine, among others. Language and other stuff warning, just to be safe...

--- x x ---

Entering Neverwinter ---

--- Bishop

There was an extra tension in the guards at the city gate, though they let me in without comment. I was a little late for dinner, but Duncan waved towards that small back room of his. Inside, I didn't even pause in my bee-line for Lon, despite Karnwyr's laughter.

Coming up for air, I noticed the humor in the room, from smiles to stifled snickers. Not having anything to say to that as I was smiling too, I saw there was still some food left on the platters and helped myself to some, giving leftovers to the pup. It looked like this was a planning session, with papers and chalk-lines on the wall.

I also noticed that neither Lon nor Cas would quite meet my eyes. I had to snicker to myself. They finally did it. I was beginning to think I had missed it. Should I let it ride and see how long until one of them confesses, or let 'em off the hook? Decisions, decisions. I really wasn't sure which of them would apologize first. Any other topic and my money would be on Cas, but she was deadly serious about these things. This was going to be fun.

"So what have you been doing, Mr. Bishop?" Grobnar asked.

"A little tracking, a little hunting. I got all reflective one time, but went hunting until it went away," I said with a grin. The other thing wasn't for them.

"Sounds boring enough, for you," Sand said with a bit of his usual superiority.

Something about the way he said it, put me on edge, and I found myself snarling, "What happened?"

"We were about to begin discussing it, so attend," he said, waving at the notes.

Cas began by saying, "We started collecting a skeleton of the current factions in the city politics, from what the five of us were gathering, each in our own way." He waved at the wall, and said next, "After we got this laid out, the next day I was giving testimony at the other temples about the star chamber. Without a target, the impetus was not as strong."

Not that surprising, but... that didn't explain the tension from everyone, not just me.

Lon took a deep breath and said, "I had my first actual defense of Nasher yesterday. The new Luskan ambassador and some other visitors began an attack..."

I could feel myself growling, when Cas shook my shoulder, saying only "Wait!"

My mate was also gripping my arm, hard, saying, "But when this mage lost consciousness, his appearance changed to be Lather's. Then the body, dead or dying, disappeared."

"Who was he attacking?" prodded Sand.

"I don't know," she admitted. "All the spells he used, affected multiple targets. I was busy blocking his warriors for most of it. The Greycloaks on duty were all affected, either from confusion, cold, or fire.

"Was he casting them himself, or using scrolls and other foci?" Sand asked.

"I did see him use a scroll..." she was thinking. "Yes! He cast the ice spell himself, I didn't see the others."

Musing, Sand commented acidly, "Then he obviously had some skill of his own, either as a sorcerer or wizard of some type, along with at least training or experience in questioning. Perhaps, one of the Many-Starred would have recognized him, though I would not really expect much as they tend to be insular on the whole."

I shouldn't have left, I missed my chance to kill that bastard Lather.

Lon continued, "After we finished with them, we went in force to the Luskan mansion to find out if this was a deliberate act of war. There we found the Luskan staff dead or dying, including the actual ambassador, with the same appearance that Lather had used to get into the castle. He was resurrected, and had never even met Nasher a few days ago. I doubt any Luskan ambassador would be so trusting that he would be revived."

True, but some did think in nested layers, and this was beginning to look like an assassin squad's work. With no limits on them. Killing the ambassador said they were after very big fish, or the squad had gone free-lance. Not enough evidence, and too many potential targets.

I asked, "How was the embassy staff killed?

"A nasty and slow poison," my Lon said.

If they were free-lance, a disease might be more likely, but poison, could be either. I hated that I was dusting off this buried knowledge again, and could feel my emotions settle to nothing again, weighing the openness and potentials. I put my arm around Lon, and just breathed her scent for a moment as my feelings stirred again. I welcomed that, as I had done few things in my life.

Then I said, "Could be a Luskan assassin squad, official or gone free-lance."

I waited for the next bit of news, but Cas spoke, "At the same time as the attack in the Court, a single assassin was attacking Ivarr who was alone in a study. The attacker had triggered a silence effect, so Ivarr couldn't call for help or cast spells himself. I don't know exactly how he got in, as he wasn't dressed as a member of the temple. I had been going to visit Ivarr when I found them."

"Any evidence for invisibility or disguise magic to help his entry?" asked Sand.

With a ghastly smile, Cas said firmly, "No disguise magic to get into the Halls, it had to be invisibility."

"But. How. Do. You. Know. That?" insisted Sand, looking cross.

Lon reached over to squeeze Cas's hand.

Cas took a deep breath, and said, "Because he looked like Bishop at the time... until he died."

Fuck! I really shouldn't have left.

More strongly, Cas said, "But I knew it wasn't him, even then, as he fought wrongly. No Karnwyr, he fell for a feint he would have laughed at, and the ring was very wrong."

I started to sit back, but Lon pulled us both close and I breathed her scent. I realized it still must have gotten hard for him now to kill someone who looked like me, even if he knew. That was a strange realization, to know I was that important to a shiny-good paladin. How did that happen?

Muffled, Cas said, "The only good thing is that Ivarr is fully convinced now of me."

"So," Sand mused, "he was supposed to be seen during the attack. But I wonder if they knew Bishop was gone, or were counting on your not being welcomed in the temple? Discrediting you or your household does seem important to Lather."

"Does it matter?" I snarled.

Grobnar spoke up, "Interesting, that a fake Bishop was using invisibility, when you're not known to use magic."

I just realized he had been playing a quiet instrumental. I admitted, "But I can now, I have a ring."

"Not that important," Neeshka said, "if no one knows that. Who, here, even knew you could become invisible?"

Only the three of us raised our hands.

Neeshka continued, "Then that must have been to get him in sneaky. They didn't want to risk him being observed or turned away before he is struck. Better if he got away after being spotted."

Another impostor, even if it wasn't that Lorne this time. Now I was at risk for being hunted, like Lon had been. Even if hunting them might be fun.

"Console yourself, ranger," Sand said dryly. "Even if there had been doubt, your new rank means your trial would be high justice, giving us time."

"I positively relish having Nasher judge me," I said with as much sarcasm as I could.

Lon let go of me after one squeeze, and we separated a little bit.

Cas coughed, and admitted with a slight flush, "I've been assigned a squire by my temple." He pointed towards the corner, where a young female half-elf was taking notes. She was wearing something more formal, but akin to what Cas preferred.

That struck me so hard, that I had to start laughing. No one else reacted, so they already knew before tonight. Cas flushed then, and didn't quite meet my eyes again. I would have loved this if it had happened when we were still at odds. She wasn't bad looking, even if she was either too young or too old for him. There would have been so damned many ways I could have riled him with so few words.

"Now that would have been like a gift to me," I finally said after I stopped laughing. "So many ways, I could have pissed you off..."

Cas finally glared at me for a moment, though I could see that Lon was restraining a smile. I heard that Grobnar was playing again, and I recognized that damn tune again.

"Stifle it, bard," I growled, even as Grobnar was smiling slightly as he played...

--Pup, go chew on his boots, at least.

Karnwyr got next to him and I could smell he gotten the gnome's attention. The music stopped, even as I was starting to feel its effects. Not that pulling Lon close enough to reach skin was a bad thing.

--Enough, Karnwyr.

He stopped. What's wrong with that?

--I don't want Cas to make me clean it up. Making him stop was fine.

A snort from Sand, then he sighed and cast some kind of minor magic, before saying, "I really had not expected to be using this, aside from repairing a brewing error. I believe you owe me this time, bard."

Grobnar chuckled and handled Sand some coins. Good, he needed to learn not to manipulate us, even if Cas was more willing to forgive him. Lon seemed oblivious to the magic, lucky her.

The smell was dissipating a bit, even if Neeshka opened the door to help with that while smiling merrily.

--Karnwyr, check the tavern. Make sure no one is listening to us.

No one's out here but the ale-man...

That was okay then, Piersimus was one of the few still here that knew me from old. He was older and not hard to keep in line with a threat.

Lon added, sitting back a little regretfully after a minute, "There's one more thing that happened. It's happened three times already." She scratched her head, and added to the room in general, "I found myself slipping briefly into the upped tempo combat we used in our demonstration at the tournament. My opponents had styles somewhat similar to Cas and Bishop, but I wasn't quite awake and didn't pull my punch enough and really broke someone's hand."

She was omitting something, as Cas was glowing with pride with a glint of humor. Who was she sparring with?

Casavir added, "It happened to me, twice of those three times. Both times against dual wielders. The second was the assassin I described earlier..."

Grobnar crowed, "You don't even need the drumming anymore! Excellent!"

"You guys need to spar against other people more often," Neeshka offered with a grin.

"We suspected that," my woman said, "But we haven't for about a tenday."

Sand interrupted the silence, saying, "Does anyone have any additions or changes to the factions lists?"

There were a handful of small changes they made after discussing more names I didn't know. I'd catch up later. Grobnar and Neeshka still wanted to get out tonight, and Sand soon left us with a smirk, after speaking something to the squire first. She left also after collecting the papers and giving them to Cas; her leaving suited me.

We just held each other for a while, and I breathed in their scent.

"While this is nice," I said, "It's not what I was looking forward to..."

Lon said in a rush, "I wanted to warn you, that I'm going to be the most visible target, for whoever's behind this, since my movements and location are pretty set right now. Though Nevalle told me I'll be moving to a new shift in a few days."

Cas earnestly added, quickly, "I've been escorting her when possible. But we're not sure if it was her or Nasher as the primary target. Ivarr is also a confirmed target."

Parry, and parry. But first...

"I can help, it'll be fun to use the ring..." I said with a grin. I wasn't even sure if I really needed the ring that much anymore. Neither of them were really willing to meet my eyes, now that everyone else had left. And how long will I play it? Ah, not very long, they've had enough to worry about; even if this was fun.

I looked around the room, nothing still lying here was ours personally, all Duncan's. They wouldn't feel quite as much need to clean up.

"Come on!" I growled. I heard Karnwyr laughing, and I was careful not start snickering at their silence. I nodded to Piersimus on the way by the bar. My arm was around my mate's waist, and Cas was being towed too by her. We reached our room, and I let go with a chuckle to dump my equipment in the corner and lock the door. I moved back to them, and got close to begin with her neck. I was planning to stall a little, to see who would break the silence first, but I really didn't care anymore. I had to taste her lips even as she started to speak. Cas took a deep breath himself, preparing to speak while I was busy with my mate. It didn't matter, this was now.

"Later, Cas," I growled, "I've missed this."

Soon no one had words; a little slower, but still good. It just wasn't as much fun as I'd expected.

I would have been happy to doze off, but I'd better end this before they tied themselves into too many bloody knots. I murmured with a smile, "Did you forget how? I was only gone a few days." I paused a long moment, really grinning now, "And Cas, I told you to have fun, what did you think I meant?"

Lon took an outraged breath, and smacked me. "You sneak!"

"I didn't think you needed reminding, my dear. Cas was the one who told us turns didn't matter. Do they?"

"No," he barely spoke, though I could almost hear his flush.

I barely suppressed a snicker, it wasn't funny to them, at least not yet. I said, "You both like your guilt too much. We have much more important things to be doing..." followed by another deep kiss of my Lon.

Much better.

It was still well before dawn when they began to stir, waking me. A conjured light from her old dented cup showed them both meeting my eyes now, and Cas had rueful humor in his. I could hear Karnwyr laughing at us.

--Pup, I don't think I'll be able to keep you with me for a time. Can you amuse yourself?

Yes, outside these walls... hunt well.

A quick wash and getting dressed was all I had time for.

I had to ask Lon, "I would like to know who you've been sparring with, and what you didn't say about your quick-time, my dear."

Cas volunteered with a grin, "I've been sparring at the temple, but hadn't had much trouble. I was exhausted, when it first happened, I almost missed it. The pedestal got higher, so I stopped skipping sleep." Then he turned to watch her tell hers.

Lon was almost embarrassed, "I've been sparring with most of the Nine. I was tired too, and broke Ekkar's hand, and bounced Nevalle on his ass..."

I started to laugh, but she held up her hand with a grin.

"...So Nevalle decided I needed more challenge, so it's been a lot more bruising since then. Once Cas and I thought about the uptempo slide, I've been sparring with shield now. Oh, and Desmon thinks you both are crazy bastards."

Then I snickered as we collected something to eat from the empty kitchen and Casavir's student stayed only a couple steps behind him. I pocketed more and went invisible just before we stepped outside. I whispered, "Don't mention I'm back. It might be interesting to see what happens if people think I'm still gone."

"I will not lie..." Eldride said indignantly.

"Nor will I," Cas chided her. "I doubt any will ask you, as you had not known him." Here he paused, and looked at Lon and I with a half-smile, and said after a sigh, "I just hope you will not volunteer anything. We will have to deal with it if someone asks directly."

I kept my snort quiet, and whispered with a smile, "Pot and kettle, Cas."

He flushed slightly, and added, "We were never known to spend time together here in the city."

"Yeah, you never wanted to visit a whorehouse, even when I offered," I said while grinning.

"Your terms were offensive," Cas said, still flushing.

I amused myself, counting how many seconds his face was pinker, but didn't say anything else. Lon put her arm around him, after the tiniest glare in my direction.

Casavir said after another moment, "Where's Karnwyr?"

"Probably halfway into the Wood. I think he scented a female, but didn't say anything. And after all he said to us," I said, shaking my head, even if they couldn't see.

"Who are you following?" Lon asked.

I sighed quietly, after checking the still nearly empty street. "Cas. I'd much rather stay with you, my dear, but you're already inside more defenses."

"And I'm sure there are things to detect invisibility at the castle, you'd better not try," suggested Cas.

Soon enough we reached the castle, and my mate entered after kissing Cas. This was a definite downside to pretending to not be here. Eldride only smiled slightly while looking away. We made our way towards the Cas's temple. I was getting to spend way too much time in these places for my comfort.

Turning into the interior, Cas lead us into a hall of small workrooms, one of which had Ivarr. He shut the door, saying, "I believe we need a guard for you, especially when you're out here in the more public part of the temple. Eldride and I can be with you much of the day, but we need any information these attackers must know."

"How do you think you can get one reliable?" he asked.

"Because I would be unexpected," I said quietly. "How many here in the city know of your disapproval by now, making that impostor almost believable? Just think of me as a hidden weapon."

Ivarr did not look happy. "My time is with confidential information, you have no standing, no oaths."

"Look, I really only care about getting this done and moving on to other fun things. You're researching past trials and things I don't give a crap about. But if something I hear has bearing on a star chamber here, hells if I stay quiet," I told him, baring my teeth even if he couldn't see.

This went down like some bitter potion from the look on Ivarr's face, but I wanted a piece of Lather and his allies.

--- x ---

A/N: Thanks to my beta reader, who's been kind enough to point out some things. Any typos that remain are not intentional...