Empty Promise

"Silence your tongue, scoundrel! Or, so help me, I will cut it out!"

Ajantis was glaring at Coran, his dark eyes boiling over with rage. But the other only laughed, seated down with his back to a tree. He was twirling a dagger in his hands, seeming as much occupied with that as he was with the knight bellowing at him just then. But then he put it away and suddenly looked up.

"Chivalrous paladin," he cooed in that musical voice, "does not your honor compel you to tell the truth on every occasion?"

"Indeed it does," the other grunted right back. He narrowed his eyes. "Even to so base a wretch and lecher such as you, Elf."

The other was grinning broadly, and he waved a hand aside. "Tell me then, my dear, virtuous knight … is my sweetling not the most beautiful maiden to be found wandering these lands?"

Evelyn started in surprise after a moment, realizing suddenly then that the Elf was talking about her. She still had the length of wood in her hands, already growing irritated at the knight's distraction. But Coran had been watching them practice, smiling appreciatively at the sight. For her part, Eve had tried not to notice. But Ajantis had been another story. Already his eyes were blazing anew.

"How dare you presume, knave! You belittle her with such names, as you do all these women! You will address her properly as the Lady Evelyn!"

The Elf merely laughed, leaning back and throwing his hands behind his head. "But you do not answer my question, oh gallant knight!"

The knight started to bark another angry reply back at the other man, but Evelyn stopped him before he could.

"Ajantis!" she snapped, and he rounded back on her slowly, reluctantly.

His face was still livid, but she had already grown far too irritated with that exchange, her face flushed red as well. She liked to think most of it was from annoyance. She had felt strangely buoyant all day, as if her body had had life breathed into it anew. And she was practically bouncing where she stood, unable to keep still. She just wanted to keep practicing.

"My Lady," he protested, "this man is a lecher and a rogue!" He stabbed a vindictive finger toward the Elf. "There is no nobleness or purity in him, just empty air and crass jokes! We would do well to be rid of him."

She raised an eyebrow at him, her face hard. But that did not stop Coran from egging him on once more.

"How men like you could adventure in the company of the fairest of women and still go on as you do …," he trailed off, shaking his head. "One day you will understand that when a maiden like my sweetling looks a man's way, he has little choice but to drown in those deep, lovely eyes."

And Ajantis was twisting right back around and away.

"My Lady Evelyn would never let some pretty Elf with a silver tongue fool her! She is a … a Lady!"

Evelyn looked first to the knight, and then swept her eyes over toward the Elf. It was a mistake, though. As Coran caught her gaze then, he put a hand to his heart, his eyes glazing over for just a moment. He sucked in a breath before fixing once more upon her.

"It skipped a beat just now."

She twisted her eyes away from him, scowling. The knight's face seemed to grow a shade darker in rage.

"Do not turn away, sweetling, it'll give me melancholy!"

But Evelyn kept her gaze firmly ahead, staring hard at Ajantis. The man paid no heed to her mounting irritation with him, though. And that was becoming dangerous.

"Perhaps you should look to yourself, rogue, before you lose those wanton eyes."

"Wanton, is it? To merely admire that which nature has so mercifully bestowed? I'd say you have noticed her beauty too, my dear paladin, judging from the way you've been looking at her as well …"

"How DARE you!"

"AJANTIS!"

The knight froze instantly in his tracks, and Evelyn could almost feel the fire in her eyes ready to burn them both to ash. The man had enough sense of mind to look ashamed, but Coran just kept grinning at them both. She might even have found it touching, the way the knight seemed to be trying to defend her honor or whatever … but right then she might have just skewered them both instead for all that she cared.

"We're done," she declared firmly, and tossed her branch at the knight. He just narrowly avoided having it spear his face. "I've had enough." Coran only shook his head, no mirth fading from his eyes. She wished she had another stick.

Ajantis seemed thoroughly chagrined, but she didn't care. With one last icy glare for them both, she turned and stalked away. There were far better things to do.

They began their march again soon after that, Coran assuming the lead easily enough. It was more than a little disappointing, but she made up for her restlessness with a quick stride. She was beginning to have second thoughts about bringing the Elf along with them. Or third thoughts. Maybe fourth … she had lost count. Still, they would probably need his help, and he had offered it freely enough. At least she didn't remember doing what he seemed to consider a favor. But Jaheira had probably been right about him.

He spent precious little time tracking now, though Evelyn could hardly have faulted him for it. After they had taken her from the Wyvern cave, they had returned to the makeshift path that had been beaten through the woods where Peter had been. Jaheira had told her that it should, hopefully, bring them right to the encampment.

"They would need supplies," the older woman had explained, stepping up beside her on the trail later that afternoon. "And unless they have situated themselves very near to the coast – unlikely, as they undoubtedly wish to remain unseen if they have anything at all to do with the bandits – they must have a way of getting larger caravans easily inside."

Evelyn had asked then just why they wouldn't build a path from the coast, even if they were still a ways into the forest. The other woman had only pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"If they indeed have something to do with the bandits … it is very possible that Tazok and his underlings would need some means of reaching them without risking sight of their activities at some port. It would explain why this path has been abandoned. I cannot see dead men using it as readily."

But there was still another reason that the Elf was continuing at their fore. He had far better eyesight than any of the others and would easily have spotted anything further along the path long before they did. When they finally neared the encampment, though, they would have to abandon the trail so as not to be seen coming. They could hardly afford another ambush, though it was possible that the Iron Throne had not realized Peter's failure at the bridge. Still, they wouldn't take their chances anymore than they had to. The only problem was that they had no idea of just where the fort would be.

It had stopped raining earlier, only a few hours after it had begun – hardly long enough for them to be more than lightly soaked. But the dark clouds above had not abated, and the air was thick and hot. It had hardly kept the raven-haired woman from freely engaging in practice with the knight when they had paused briefly around midday. Try as she might, she could not help feeling strangely restive, and a little heat and sweat were hardly going to stop her.

The other Elf stayed at Evelyn's side, silent and morose. She was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with him … but, she supposed, it wasn't as if she had ever really seen him smiling and dancing about either. That sober cast to his face certainly wasn't so out of place. She tried not to bother him.

At some point, Ajantis had sought her out, entreating her as politely as he could to forgive him for his actions of earlier. She hardly thought there was anything to forgive – she just wanted him to make sure that he never did it again. He had protested, arguing that he had only been defending her virtue against a scandalous wretch … but she hardly knew what he meant by that. Coran had intervened at that point, apparently sighting them talking behind, and made a very obvious gesture of blowing her a kiss. Ajantis had immediately bristled, and the Elf had only winked at him. And then she sent the man quickly on his way, angry once more. But she did not spare Coran another admonishing glare. Gods, but they were acting like children! And she was beginning to think that she might have to separate them.

Imoen was strangely quiet too. Evelyn kept glancing at her best friend, but the other woman would only smile back at her whenever she did. Still, she seemed to be preoccupied with something, and Evelyn was all too sure of just what that something was. She just hoped that … someday … she wouldn't feel like such a monster. She hugged herself tight at the thought, suddenly feeling cold. The armored man would be dead first, though.

"Have you ever thought about what would happen once you left this world?"

She started in surprise, realizing abruptly then that it was Xan who had spoken and not some strange, wayward voice in the back of her head. He looked away when she glanced toward him, however, and then kept his eyes on the road ahead. She frowned, but was suddenly reminded of that day so long ago when he had saved her from drowning. She shivered, but didn't answer.

"I only ask," he continued after another stretch of silence, "because you are not one of the People, Evelyn, and however beautiful your soul might be, there is a very real chance that you will fade forever into the Gray Wastes."

She wondered, briefly, if what she had felt that day was what he meant. She remembered that fading feeling, of breaking apart and having everything that was her drift away into nothingness. But she was sure that she had read somewhere that death was somewhat different than that … not so simple. In all those books Gorion had made her read, she was sure of it.

"What about you, Xan?" she asked instead, trying not to sound defensive. "What do you think will happen to you?" She thought she understood the meaning he was getting at, or would be. He had said he was not done trying to convince her of her foolishness. But the other only shook his head.

"My kind does not suffer the same fate as yours does, Evelyn. The Elves go to the Blessed Realm of Arvandor when we pass from this world. We carry a piece of that paradise within our souls, always."

"Then you shouldn't be worried," was all she said. It almost sounded like he growled at her then.

"It was not my fate that concerned me, Evelyn," he told her irritably. "It was this foolish child who thinks nothing of the dangers she so willfully exposes herself too. But, I suppose," he sighed heavily, "I will not enter paradise either. Not for some centuries to come after my inevitable death. So we are both so equally doomed. But, enough of this."

He muttered on to himself at the last, and she thought she caught something about the absurdity of talking sense into a child. But maybe it was just her imagination. Before she could bristle at the thought, though, he had forgotten her.

He didn't speak after that, retreating back into whatever other silent and gloomy thoughts were swimming around in his head and just waiting to be unleashed upon her. She didn't doubt that he was still trying to convince her to abandon that quest for vengeance. But she wouldn't, that much was certain. And he left her alone for a time, merely walking along silently at her side. She folded her arms across her chest and tried not to look at him.

Sometime later though, Coran slowly came to a halt.

For a moment, the Elf just stood there, seeming confused. It was hard to tell without seeing his face. But then Evelyn slowed as well, and Xan glanced quickly to her before fixing on the man ahead.

No one else seemed to have noticed. Not until Coran was rounding slowly back upon them that is, his eyes widening. They looked up to the trees above … and then flashed quickly back down toward them.

"COVER! NOW!"

Before anyone else could move, Coran was. He leapt aside from the path and into the brush beside, tumbling out of sight. No one else hesitated after that. It was a mad dash for the somewhat thicker cover of the trees then, as the trail exploded with everyone flying off in a different direction. And then there was nothing left on the beaten earth but their footprints.

It wasn't men that Coran had been afraid of, though. And it hardly mattered what little sign of their passing they had left so hastily behind. Crouching down under the low branches of a pine beside the path and breathing hard, Evelyn looked up through the screen of needles and leaves to the sky overhead. When she saw a dark, monstrous shape gliding along just beyond the canopy above, she held her breath. But the thing did not slow.

It vanished somewhere ahead and out of sight.

She glanced at the Elven mage beside her, seeing his eyes flutter closed for a brief moment. And then he gave her a hard, pointed look. She narrowed her own back at him, and leapt up from where they hid.

"Was that …?"

"Yes," Jaheira answered the pink-haired woman swiftly as they both emerged back on the path. Neither of them had taken their eyes off the skies above. It would have been hard to see that dark shape again against those black thunderheads overhead. Not until it was maybe too late.

"It has been tracking us," Coran voiced urgently, "or trying to. We must be careful."

"If it finds us …" Xan voiced doubtfully, shaking his head. But Jaheira cut him off.

"We will deal with that when we must. But there is nothing else we can do just now. We must continue on."

Evelyn glanced back toward the Rashemi and the Thayan behind them, the knight giving her a fierce look briefly as her eyes passed over him. Dynaheir returned her gaze coolly, but Edwin was muttering loudly to himself and seemed not to notice. If they had to face the Wyvern again … they would need their magicks. Of that, she had no doubt.

"Alright." Evelyn nodded her head uncertainly at the last. And then she fixed her eyes back on Coran. "You first."

For once, the Elf did not smile back.

She was twisting a ring around her finger as the sun finally vanished behind the trees, and the Cloakwood Forest plunged into night once more. She had almost forgotten it there, but it tugged at her memory just then, reminding her of days when she had barely known murder, or death, so intimately as she did now. That it had not been that long ago at all really, stung the most.

Kivan had given it to her, though he had meant nothing by it. It had just been a gift … for saving his life. Not that she had. At least … it had been her fault that it had ever been in danger in the first place. But he had told her that there was some minor enchantment upon it, and that it would help protect her. She wondered if it ever really did.

She remembered him shooting her with an arrow. She remembered him threatening and pushing it deep. But she also remembered him taking a Gnoll axe for her without a moment's thought … an arrow in the arm back in the Nashkel mines … and countless times he had stood in front of or done something because of her only to be struck down just to help or keep her safe. She didn't know if the ring had ever kept her safe – it seemed as if she had come all too close to death whenever she had been alone. But she knew that she had never been further away from death, more protected from it … than when he had been watching over her.

Whatever he had done in those final moments at the bandits' camp … he had finally hurt her. He had failed to protect her, and struck as much pain into her in a blind fit of rage as he could … And she was beginning to think that that was why he had really left.

"What's that?"

Evelyn glanced up, and it was still light enough to make out Imoen's green eyes in the dusk. She was peering curiously down at the ring in her best friend's hands. They still had not dared a fire, and it was growing quickly dark.

She stopped playing with it instantly, letting the ring finally settle. "A gift," she told the other woman quietly, cupping her other hand quickly around it. But it was too late.

"Oooh, did Coran give that to you?" her best friend demanded then, incredulous. She drew back, her eyes wide.

"No!" Evelyn breathed in horror, her own eyes flying wide. But the other woman only laughed, rocking back on her heels.

"That's too bad," she grinned broadly at Evelyn. Imoen shook her head almost ruefully.

The pink-haired woman was quiet for a time then, only smiling at her best friend. For her part Evelyn tried to ignore her. They had settled in for the night in a dense stand of firs and spruce, hoping that the Wyvern could not have seen them there beneath the thick needles above. But it also meant that they could hardly see each other either, scattered about between spiny branches as they were. Only Jaheira and Khalid were in sight, and they weren't paying any attention to the other two. The half-Elven man was holding his wife tight in his arms.

She knew the other woman was just trying to rile her a bit. She seemed to take immense pleasure from just how uncomfortable the Elf kept making her. But, after a while, she just couldn't stand that little smirk on her best friend's face any longer.

"What do you mean 'that's too bad'?" she demanded, scrunching up her face as irritably as she could. The other woman glanced up at her, grinning all the more.

"Because yer husband's gonna be ugly!"

She narrowed her eyes at the other woman, but Imoen just gave her an innocent look.

"Well … you'd have been lucky if Winthrop hadn't wanted to marry you off to some fat, Sembian merchant!"

"At least he'd still marry me!" the pink-haired woman cried right back. "Which is more than I could say for you if he ever saw what you were covered in yesterday. You were disgusting! Even a Troll wouldn't want you!"

She growled, and leapt at the other.

"OW! My hair!"

They rolled around on the ground for a moment, until Imoen managed to squirm away from her grasp. And then they both fell back, laughing. For a moment, it was as if they were back in Candlekeep. For a moment, it was as if they had never left.

But then Evelyn stopped laughing.

She laid there in the grass for several long moments, her best friend beside her, as her face slowly fell. Jaheira and Khalid had gone silent at their unexpected display, but Evelyn ignored the sudden quiet. Her eyes fell as well, and she could feel tears spring into them. Imoen had stopped laughing too.

"I'm sorry, Imoen," she said quietly after a while longer. She shook her head into the dry pine needles on the ground, her eyes fixing ahead of her. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault that all of this happened … You shouldn't have ever left … You'd still be happy …"

The other woman blurred in her eyes then as she looked over at her, but Imoen gave her a smile nonetheless. It was sad, and small, she knew. Even though she couldn't quite see it, she knew. She sniffed.

"What makes you think I'm not happy?"

But Evelyn only shook her head once more, barking a pitiful laugh that sounded more like a sob before looking away. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"You're my best friend, Eve. You're the only one I have left."

"No," Evelyn countered instantly, sucking in a shaky breath. "No. You still had Winthrop. You still had someone."

"And you still have me, Eve," the other told her with another sad grin, rising up to her elbow. "As long as you're still my best friend … nothing else matters. I'll always be happy."

And then her face beamed. Evelyn could almost believe her … but she didn't. She just … couldn't.

She smiled back all the same, even if it was hollow. She scrubbed at her eyes quickly with the back of her sleeve. And then she sat back up, brushing herself off, and stood. She started to walk away.

"We'll get him, Eve," Imoen called after her, her voice falling low when her best friend turned back. "We'll get him. I know we will."

Evelyn smiled down at the other woman, but said nothing. Those green eyes frowned up at her, willing her some strength that she didn't have. But she would hardly have taken anymore from the other. She had taken far too much from her already. She turned away.

Imoen didn't follow her as she trudged along out of sight into the wood. And she was thankful for that. At least her best friend knew well enough to leave her some space when she needed it. And she suddenly felt very much as if she needed it just then. She stopped when she was sure no one else could see or hear her, letting the brush around swallow her whole.

The small ring was twisting around her forefinger once more, and she stared at it. She didn't like the thoughts it brought back, though. None of them were any happier.

She wondered, briefly then, if they might find Tazok when they finally found the encampment. She didn't know if she could kill him without Kivan. No matter what the half-Ogre might have done to her … she didn't know if she could take the ranger's vengeance from him. Knowing their luck so far, though, she doubted she would ever have to make that choice.

You should be here …

But it was an empty hope. And it had long since faded away to dust.

"That is far enough."

Evelyn froze … and raised her eyes slowly. But the words hadn't been meant for her.

"Keeping vigil, Helmite?"

"That is precisely what I am doing. But you will take not one step farther that way."

The voices were coming from behind her, and she spun carefully around. She recognized them quickly enough as belonging to Ajantis and Coran, but neither were in sight. A screen of pines lay between them.

"And just why would that be? I did not see Helm's crest stamped upon this forest, knight. I hardly think it in your god's authority to tell a man where he can and cannot go."

"No, but it is within his servant's to do so, as it is his duty. And I warn you not to go any further."

She frowned, unsure of just what they were talking about. They had not seen her through the trees, and she crept slowly closer, keeping as quiet as she could. She could only just make out Coran's back beyond the needles.

"Do not think that I am blind, Elf!" Ajantis was saying somewhere beyond him. "I have watched you carefully, as I have watched my Lady. And I saw just how you forced yourself upon her last night!"

"Really? Well I find that to be terribly impolite. Perhaps you should have given us more privacy."

"I am being polite, wretch," the knight's voice was low, and dangerous, "as there must be some small amount of goodness and morality in you. I did not intervene because I knew my Lady to be a capable woman, and she spurned you quickly enough. And I have given you ample opportunity to stay your lecherous intent and adopt more seemly, respectful, behavior."

"Then perhaps you should remain true to that line of conduct, knight, and leave me to wander in peace. I am hardly forcing myself upon anyone out here. Though if the opportunity was to present itself that a young maiden should just do the same to me whilst wandering, you could not possibly fault me for that, now could you?"

"Do not play words with me, scoundrel! I watched you leave after her. And I followed you here. You are fortunate that I caught you before you might have done something scandalous enough to warrant my hand."

After who? Evelyn thought suddenly. Me? She hadn't even seen him. But if he had been following her … What could he possibly want to do that for? She was hardly in a mood to play more games.

"I think you misjudge me, my friend. I have never forced myself upon any fair maiden before in my life. Not unless they asked me to do it first, that is."

She thought suddenly back to that night in the creek, and felt her cheeks begin to burn. But they had left the water behind long ago. And she didn't suppose that he was going to catch her mumbling in her sleep out there in the wood again.

"Well my Lady Evelyn will not ask you for it! So you might as well just return to the others now. I might well forgive you if you do just that."

"Why? So you can continue on in my footsteps yourself? Now that hardly seems like knightly behavior …"

"No!" Ajantis rebuked him swiftly, sounding appalled. "But the closeness that you impose upon my Lady Evelyn … it is the seed of lowly passion that all too often destroys the love between comrades. And she has made very clear to you just how little she thinks of your advances. I think it best that you accept her decision."

"Has she now?" the Elf asked wryly. "Perhaps a little more encouragement is all she needs to reveal the true extent of her feelings. You know very little in the ways of women, my dear friend, if you think that they always mean just what they say.

"Or perhaps you would like to see for yourself, dear knight?" Coran continued quickly of a sudden. "I find it odd that you do not challenge me when my eyes chance to fall upon the dark one … or the Tethyrian beauty. Even my appreciation for the girl seems to escape your notice … and I would think that that one would seem far less appropriate to a man of your limited taste."

"Let your eyes wander where they will," the knight growled back at him, "I cannot keep you so long as you mean them no harm. But that is not the case here! You have offered to aid the Lady Evelyn in her valiant quest. Do not sully her virtue by forcing yourself upon her again! Do you understand me, Elf?"

"No," Coran shook his head with a laugh. "Do you even understand yourself, my blind Helmite? Do you spend so much of your vigil gazing at others that you're ever watchful eye does not ever see into itself? Do you love my sweetling, knight?"

Ajantis growled angrily once more. "She is not your 'sweetling', Elf! She is not your anything! You dishonor her. And you dishonor me by casting such accusations."

"But," the other lifted a finger, "you do not answer my question, knight."

There was a silence then, but Evelyn could not see beyond Coran's back. The branches blocked her sight. Then the man was speaking.

"My Lady Evelyn is a good woman … and true to the path of righteousness," Ajantis said quietly. "For that I love her … but not in a way you can understand. She shall see your corrupting influence, as I do, in time. And then you will be gone."

"I dare hope your Lady would," the other responded easily. "She has appreciably large … hmm … eyes."

The knight was boiling over anew then.

"You dare to mock her further, rogue?" he all but bellowed. "Must I cut out your eyes and your tongue to end your threat?"

"I do suppose some of my fun would be taken from me then. I will just have to be more creative. You forget my hands, dear knight."

Ajantis started to bark something hastily in return, but the Elf continued right over him.

"Tell me, my paladin friend, so bold and pure, why is it that the fiery gust in your eyes extinguishes whenever they pass slowly from my sweetling to another?"

"You dare mock me as well?" the knight boomed. "I see enough 'fiery gusts' in your wanton glances for three men! If you aren't careful, she will burst into flames just from your constant staring!"

"Don't berate me for professing love so openly for someone you secretly desire."

"You know nothing of love, Elf." Ajantis' voice grew suddenly calm. "I do not have to justify my intentions to you. The only person I would feel obliged to reveal my desire to would be my Lady Evelyn herself, but I …"

And then he stopped, the words catching suddenly in his throat.

"Perhaps it was not me, my dear knight," Coran spoke softly, chidingly, "that you were following at all."

But Ajantis wasn't looking at him anymore. Instead he was staring wide-eyed and terrified just past his shoulder. The Elf blinked in surprise, but then he was twisting slowly around. His eyes were wide then too.

Evelyn didn't say anything … she just stared. She let her eyes flash from first one to the other, her face smooth and unreadable. The silence began to stretch between them.

And then, without uttering a word, she passed between the two, moving back toward Imoen and the others. They moved out of her way, and gave her no trouble. The trees closed in swiftly around her once more.

"I knew she was there the whole time," she thought she heard Coran say from behind after she was gone. But she wasn't listening anymore. She didn't dare listen anymore. Instead she lowered a hand to the ring on her finger, grasping it tight.

She made sure no one followed her then.