"And that," said Tranzig, looking up, "as they say – is that."
His listeners sat in uneasy silence for a moment, mulling over his last words. He took up his pipe, lit it with gusto, and sat puffing on it as he watched them. A pewter tankard stood at his elbow, and he chased the tobacco with a stiff measure of whiskey.
Finally the thug called Amalas, scratching his head, said: "But there's one thing I don't get, eh Ziggy. How come the bloke didn't want to kill his brother? The guy was a tuppin' bastard, weren't he?"
"Eh," said one of his own brothers, shaking his head. "That's how heroes is. They's always doing mad things, like not killin folks, or not wantin to kill em, or not takin their money when they does."
"Aye, right!" said another man; but far down the table, keeping his distance from the others, the well-groomed Gaelen Bayle spoke.
"Was the bugger a hero, then? Coo, I wouldn't say. He didn't seem all that brave, or clever now; bless me, if he didn't."
"Naw, he was a hero! Just a bleedin strange one, is all!" Amalas shot back.
In their contention, many looked back to Tranzig, who sat comfortably in a drifting nimbus of thick black pipe smoke. The mage looked back at them, and shrugged.
"What can I say, boys? I saw the bit I saw. And the rest is only what I was told. And as far as I know, every word of it's the truth; and that's all I know. So I know what he did; why he did it, I can't say, and the way I see it, it's his damned business."
He exhaled, and his face was obscured. Behind the cloud, he could be heard laughing, low and thin.
"But that's not the life for me," he went on. "Nah. Let me stay right here. Not too big; not too grand. All I need's a coin in my purse, and the name of the nearest public-house. Eh, boys?"
At this, they all agreed; and there was a loud exultant cheer.
Clearing the smoke with his hand, Tranzig leaned forward, smiling, and raised his tankard, proclaiming: "To the only sure things in life: ale and whores!"
"Aye!" answered the table, raising their own sloshing tankards. "Hurrah, for ale and whores!"
Part Three: Baldur's Gate
The End
Final Author's Note to follow.