Idal – yes, the sanity-stretchers of Spellhold remain intact, along with a few additions of my own. Thanks for reviewing!
OOO
Where is your honor now, Yoshimo?
The bounty hunter glided effortlessly through the back alleys of Brynnlaw; he had abandoned his jaunty bearing as soon as he parted company with Golin, but his inborn agility, honed by years of practice in his chosen profession, refused to desert him, though his heart lay like a stone in his chest, making each step feel like a graceless plod.
Gone. Surrendered by degrees until only the ghost remains. A ghost that you will now destroy by the betrayal of a friend.
Reaching Perth's home, he paused. He had known its location, had in fact been instructed on where to retrieve the wardstone before they had left Athkatla, but it would not do to let Jess know this fact, lest she kill him before his betrayal was complete.
And why not? he wondered, not for the first time. Dead is dead, after all. What does it matter how you reach the grave?
But he knew that was not true; as a reminder of that fact, the mere thought of abandoning his mission triggered knives of white-hot pain in his gut that made him stagger, leaning against the wall of Perth's house for support. He stayed there for a long moment, eyes closed, taking deep, measured breaths through his nose as he waited for the pain to subside. Bad as it was, he knew that it was only the palest shadow of the slow and agonizing death that awaited him should he truly rebel against the geas that bound him.
Why, he asked himself for perhaps the thousandth time, had he agreed to subject himself to a geas? The payment offered for the job had been generous, and the task itself, the delivery of a Bhaalspawn, time and place to be specified, had seemed simple enough for a skilled bounty hunter. The requirement of a geas should have warned him, but the job had seemed so uncomplicated that he had simply considered it a sign of excessive caution on the part of his employer.
All the world, of course, knew that the Bhaalspawn were evil, and Yoshimo was no exception. The capture of one of these rogue godchildren for placement in the custody of one powerful enough to confine that evil had seemed a feat that even his father, a kensai in the service of the Emperor in his homeland of Kara-Tur, would have approved of.
The geas had seemed no more than a minor nuisance when he had submitted to it; after all, he had never failed in a mission, much less abandoned one. But always before, he had located and apprehended his targets quickly, leaving little opportunity for interaction. The deception that Irenicus desired required that he become one of Jess' companions, gaining her trust to the point that she would follow him willingly into the trap that had been set for her.
The reason for the subterfuge had sounded plausible: a Bhaalspawn, even a female, was too dangerous to attempt a straightforward capture.
"Under no circumstances should you engage her – or her companions", Irenicus told him, slender hands steepled beneath his chin with his hungry raptor's gaze fixed on the bounty hunter. "Lead them to me; I will have the means to confine her. With that accomplished, the others will pose no threat."
"And her companions," Yoshimo asked. "What will become of them? I will not deliver the innocent into captivity."
The mage's face creased in a cynical smile. "Do you truly think that any who would willingly travel with a child of Bhaal could be termed innocent? Very well," he conceded, seeing Yoshimo's set expression. "I give you my word that I will not harm them; if they renounce their association with the Bhaalspawn, they will be free to go. If not," he shrugged, "such individuals can hardly be trusted to walk free among us, can they?"
His words had sounded reasonable at the time, but almost from his first meeting with Jessime and her companions, Yoshimo had realized that something was seriously amiss. Hearing their tales of torture, he had begun to suspect with a growing sense of dread that his employer was the true evil side to this coin, a suspicion that strengthened with every hour spent in Jess' company.
She was a Bhaalspawn; her candor in admitting that had astonished him, but the legendary cruelty and bloodlust that were supposedly ubiquitous in the breed were nowhere to be found. Her heart was good, and she possessed a sense of honor that any warrior of Kara-Tur would do well to aspire to. Her devotion to those she traveled with was matched only by the devotion they returned to her, and Yoshimo had been first surprised, then alarmed at finding himself being drawn into their circle of caring; this had not been part of his plan.
Nor had it gone unnoticed by Irenicus; Yoshimo had quickly discovered that the mage, though captured, was far from powerless. The geas was strengthened, resulting in administration of pain if he so much as thought about abandoning the job. The past few weeks had required more mental discipline than he had ever needed before; he had been forced to narrow his focus down to the here-and-now, not allowing himself to look ahead to the inevitable betrayal of those he had come to call friends.
The moment of betrayal was now at hand, however, and he could no longer relegate the bleak truth of his duplicity to the back of his mind. Several times he had found himself on the verge of confessing all, only to be stopped by the pain the geas triggered. If it were only a matter of dying, he would have told Jess everything and accepted his fate; he had long known that he was not likely to live to be old, and dying to save one's comrades was at least honorable.
The pain of the geas, however, was unlike any pain he had experienced before; it clawed deep, obliterating all thoughts of honor, of friendship, of anything save the desire to be free from its grip. The death caused by the spell would be protracted and painful beyond imagining, and he knew that he would beg to die long before release was granted to him. His cowardice disgusted and shamed him, but he was powerless to fight it.
Get it over with, he thought, gazing up at the wide windows that fronted the second-floor balconies encircling Perth's home. The windows were closed; he knew that he could climb over the balcony railing, open one and be inside in seconds, but why bother? Who was here to observe the deception? Instead, he strolled around to the front door. It was unlocked, as he had known it would be; none of the pirates would be foolish enough to risk angering both the Cowled Wizards and the Pirate Lord by robbing Perth.
Turning the knob, he stepped quietly inside, pausing as he shut the door behind him to allow his eyes to adjust from the sunlit morning outside to the shuttered dimness of the room before him. The only illumination in the room was provided by a pair of oil lamps suspended over a desk, in an alcove to his right. A man sat behind the desk, intent on some paperwork that lay before him. He was tall and slightly portly, the tousled appearance of his dark hair and beard suggesting that he was not long out of bed. He looked up, frowning in disapproval as he became aware of Yoshimo's presence.
"Who are you?" he barked. "I've told you people a thousand times: if you wish to see me, arrange it through the Pirate Lord –"
He broke off as Yoshimo came forward, the light from the lamps illuminating his features, and a strange series of changes came over his face. He stared at Yoshimo with dawning recognition, then a strange blankness settled over his features, as though his consciousness had drained away in an instant. When awareness returned, it was accompanied by subtle but unsettling changes, not so much replacing his own features as overlaying them; his round face seemed to become leaner, almost cadaverous, the eyes set more deeply in the skull and empty of all emotion save the hungry yearning of a need long unsatisfied.
"She is here?" The voice, coldly precise, was all too familiar to him, but it was strangely resonant, as though spoken through a long tunnel. The body of Perth stood and walked around the desk, its movements stiff and slightly uncoordinated, to stand before the bounty hunter.
"They all are," Yoshimo replied, voice neutral.
"All of them?" Perth's head cocked as Irenicus considered this. "Surprising; I would have thought that last night's entertainment would have eliminated at least one or two of them."
"You arranged it?" It was not really a question, nor did Yoshimo bother to object to the implication that the mage had sought the deaths of those he had previously sworn not to harm. He had long since come to the bitter realization that he was under the control of a man without scruples or honor.
"Of course." The borrowed body shrugged. "It was time consuming, but unfortunately necessary. My purposes require that the taint of her sire be as strong in the Bhaalspawn as possible, yet she persists in resisting her true nature." He shook his head, a contemptuous sneer curling his lips. "The weak, pathetic fool."
Jess was, Yoshimo knew well, anything but weak, but he remained silent. If the mage was arrogant enough to make such a mistake, then the bounty hunter would be only too happy to allow him the chance to regret his assumption. Jessime had become his hope, if not for deliverance, then at least for an honorable death.
"And you, my faithful, honorable, servant," Irenicus continued, his voice mocking. "You placed the spell components in her food during the voyage?"
"Yes," Yoshimo replied shortly. It had been all too easy to gain access to their food on board the ship. They trusted him, after all.
"They will have already begun their work, eroding her control, allowing the power within her to emerge. All that is needed is the proper stimulus, and it will overwhelm her entirely." He eyed Yoshimo with cold amusement. "You think her capable of resisting me, defeating me even? It is written plainly on your face. Fool," he spat. "The blood of a god flows in her veins; no mortal can hope to withstand the temptation of such power for long. She will defeat herself, given the proper motivation."
Yoshimo remained silent, staring at him impassively. If the gods are merciful, I will be granted the opportunity to spit upon your corpse before I die.
Irenicus shook his head. "Still you disbelieve me? I assure you, I already hold the key to her downfall, and such a simple key it is! If I had known the true extent of her weakness when I had her in my custody before, I would have long since accomplished my purpose." He chuckled, a sound as dead and humorless as dry bones rattling within a coffin. "No, my dear, honorable Kara-Turan, when the time comes, your friend will embrace the taint within her like a lover." Turning, he reached across the desk, unlocking a small box and reaching inside to retrieve the wardstone.
Yoshimo felt ice forming in his veins. Only one thing had any chance of making Jess lose control so completely. Only one. "You said that the others would not be harmed. You gave your word," he heard himself saying, though he knew all too well that any protests were not only futile, but dangerous. Pain lanced through him, and he fell to his knees, unable to suppress a moan.
Irenicus looked down at him in satisfaction. "You see? Her weakness is so obvious that even such a fool as yourself can see it clearly." He tossed the wardstone to the rug in front of Yoshimo. "As for my word," he continued, "I said that I would not harm them, and I will not."
Yoshimo curled his fingers about the wardstone; it was cold to the touch, and almost seemed to be vibrating faintly in his grasp. He dragged himself to his feet and turned wordlessly to the door.
Irenicus' warning followed him. "What will happen is inevitable; do not be foolish enough to think to reclaim your honor by getting in the way or trying to stop it."
Yoshimo paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Don't worry about me," he replied without turning around. "You stand between Jess and one that she loves. The last place I want to be is in the way."