Blood Money
"May I introduce … her Ladyship … my dearest, graceful … the Lady Vhrelunda …"
Aldeth suddenly swept a bow, flourishing his cloak. He was lucky that he managed to stay on his feet. The stern man standing before him seemed not to notice, though. He merely stared on … cold, and almost uncaring. But then his cracked features twisted suddenly in amusement. He smiled down at the sight before him then.
"Greetings … house guests," the man acknowledged them readily with a tip of his head. He was wearing a fine coat with no small amount of lace, spilling out at his neck and cuffs. He reached one of those hands out, taking that of the woman before him. "And greetings … my Lady Vhrelunda." That cold smile did not fade as he touched lips to dusky skin. And the Lady mirrored it quite nicely.
"Thank thee," she returned graciously, "for thy … kindly … hospitality." The dark-skinned woman, looking resplendent in her flowing violet dress and robes, even gave him just the faintest hint of a curtsy. The man retracted slowly, releasing her. His face could have cracked stone.
"Of course," he graced her with a slight nod of his head. "Anything for the … friends … that have our dear Aldeth so … excited."
The man himself, still wearing the soiled, gilded leathers of earlier, swayed there where he stood, but managed to keep his footing for the moment. He raised a hand briefly, acknowledging them … or his own name, or … well, it was hard to tell. And Evelyn stopped trying to quickly enough, looking back away. She lowered her eyes once more.
"I am certain that thou knowest why I am here?"
The man only continued smiling down at her.
"Aldeth has told me that you are … from Rasheman," he responded slowly, "with interests in establishing … Ah, business contacts … here in Baldur's Gate. If that is true … as Aldeth assures me that it is … then I must introduce myself." He sketched a slight bow. "I am Irlentree, one of Aldeth's partners in business … here … at the Merchants' Consortium."
"Greetings, Irlentree," Dynaheir returned readily enough, not taking her own cold eyes from the man. But he looked away from her then, gazing slowly about to two women and the one giant man gathered behind her. When those eyes fell on Evelyn, she could almost feel them boring into her. It was as if something were reaching out and brushing lightly against her skull, trying to work its way there in beneath her skin. She glanced up toward the man, blinking … but he moved quickly away. And it was gone. She turned hastily back down toward the floor.
And Irlentree was fixing back on the dark-skinned woman before him. "You are not … all … from Rasheman, yes?" he asked her in that same strange, halting manner. Evelyn had begun to notice it … the way he seemed to think over every word so carefully. It was not out of nervousness, though. Of that, she was sure. Instead, he regarded them with no small amount of enjoyment, it seemed to her. She wasn't quite sure just what to make of that. Yet.
But Dynaheir only shook her head, her lips still twisting upwards. "No. Only Minsc here doth share the same home as I." She laid a hand gently on the towering man beside her, the Rashemi having kept blessedly silent thus far. The giant was glaring at the man before them. He cracked a tooth down at the other.
"These others," the dark-skinned woman continued, raising her voice slightly as she gave the tattooed man a warning eye, "I have acquired during mine stay here in thy fair city." She glanced quickly back toward the man in lace, flashing him another smile that did not touch her eyes. Minsc stiffened where he stood.
Irlentree hardly blinked, still staring at her with that unreadable expression. "They seem rather … well armed … my Lady Vhrelinda." The Rashemi witch's own face matched his quite nicely.
"Vhrelunda," she corrected him, her voice even and that smile never leaving her lips. The other only bowed his head.
"Of course."
"And as for mine servants," she glanced briefly back over her shoulder. Her hand settled again on Minsc's bulging arm. "Only Minsc doth I permit to bear them in my presence. I knowest not all thine strange customs regarding maidservants," she gave Evelyn and Imoen both a disdainful look of a sudden before returning to Irlentree. "One can ne'er be too careful when traveling so far from home. Wouldst thou not agree?"
"Of course." Again, he bowed his head. And then he moved aside, taking another step down the pearlescent stairs and gesturing for them to pass. "I will keep you no longer." He smiled that cold smile once more. "I have other … pressing matters to attend to. To your … business."
Evelyn felt his eyes on her back all the way up the stairs to the second floor. She dared not look back.
"Well … that was creepy."
Evelyn gave her best friend a sharp look, her eyes going wide. But the other only rolled hers, folding her arms across her chest. They had left the man far below them and out of sight and hearing. Still … they had no idea just what trouble they might find there. Aldeth had said that his own friends had been trying to kill him … so what would stop them from maybe doing the same to them just for being there with him? They couldn't be too careful.
But then the drunken man was sudden breathing down her neck.
"Do you see? Do you see?" he was whispering harshly to her. Or at least, he was trying to. He hardly seemed to realize just how loud his voice really was. Fortunately, though, it wasn't loud enough.
"Irlentree would hardly be so easily fooled!" he continued excitedly, seeming almost pleased with himself. "Rasheman … that is very far away! He would have … have wondered what she is doing here!"
Evelyn snatched him up by the arm, pulling him close and looking hastily around. They were just on the landing of the second floor of that vaulted building, chiseled marble flowing forth beneath crimson carpeting under their feet. There was no one in sight. But still … they could hardly take any chances.
"Alright," she told him simply, trying to keep herself from getting too angry with him and just how little help he was giving them. "Alright."
She was anxious … wishing that she still had her staff. Knowing well that someone close by might have had half a mind to kill her along with the only somewhat less drunken man beside her was trying enough. And she had half a mind of her own to take the ashwood back from the giant Rashemi who had strapped it across his back for safe keeping. But she knew well just how it would have seemed if she had been wearing a weapon. A visible one, anyways. Fuller's dagger was tucked in just inside her coat. The Kara-Turian blade was hugging her back.
They were supposed to be servants. Aldeth had told them that it would have been difficult to explain away their presence unless they could somehow put his fellow merchants at ease … and a prominent business venture was certainly the best choice he could come up with at such short notice. Though, she supposed, she could doubt that … given just what he had told them about his friends to begin with. But it had been something at least, and so far … it had worked. At that, she could only sigh.
Aldeth had still been terrified at the thought of returning the Merchant's League, even with their promised protection. He had stammered on about just how his friends had been trying to kill him, but it was not as if they merely wished to stick a blade in him when he wasn't looking. It had been hard enough to make sense of his drunken slurring, but she managed to catch something about returning from his hunting trip only to nearly have himself crushed, beaten, stabbed, or poisoned as he tried to settle back into life at home. His two partners had apparently denied the whole thing as unfortunate accidents. Not to mention he had started drinking shortly thereafter. But when Aldeth's own brother had tried to force two feet of steel through the man's chest while he was still sleeping in his bed …he had fled and tried to hide. His brother had been away on business in Cormyr for weeks, and he had not returned.
The two men who had accompanied Aldeth into the Cloakwood had hardly escaped from the man's cursed fate as well, or so he had told her in between fretful glances about the city streets he led them through. Veren had wound up face down, dead and drowned in a bowl of porridge inside his own home soon after the first 'attempts' on Aldeth's life. The other, Garret, had shown up sometime later, alive, but acting strangely. He had all but hounded his friend's steps every since. Aldeth still wasn't sure if he had lost him.
He had taken them to the Wide first, determined to visit the markets on the east side of the city where he could outfit them in a disguise for their incursion into the Merchant's League. The whole while he had dragged them through the streets, he had rambled on about turning around and getting his partners back for whatever it was that they had done and were trying to do. He was certain that they were the ones trying to kill him. And he had gone on and on, ranting in her ear about how he now had the perfect plan to expose them … with their help. One was Irlentree. The other … was a man named Zorl.
Evelyn had protested against the idea at first, thinking it too much a waste of time. Jaheira and Khalid would undoubtedly have returned from inside the Seven Suns by then, and Coran and Ajantis had only a vague idea of where the other four would be going. But when Aldeth had begun relaying his plan, and perusing through some fine dresses at a seamstresses' stand in the market square … she had really begun to realize how foolish that whole venture truly was. Even if they were to find something more valuable than Jaheira and Khalid … she wasn't so sure it was worth the risk, not without consulting them first. And then he had tried to stuff her into one of those dresses. Fortunately, Dynaheir had stepped up to her aid just then.
The Rashemi woman had seemed to think something of Aldeth's plan … as haphazard as it had obviously been and still was. And she had decided that she was the perfect one to pull off the part. Evelyn had certainly had no objections. She hardly cared for the thought of pretending to be some sort of noble lady or wealthy merchant. Coran had told her just what he thought of her acting back in the Cloakwood. And Imoen and her both shared similar dress besides. Stripped of their weapons, they could almost have made the perfect maidservants. At least they didn't have to speak.
But there had been another reason for their roles as well. She was just lucky that they had managed to hide at least some of those weapons. Her best friend still had her knives – wherever she managed to stuff them all. She had meant to ask Imoen about that one of those days. Still, their task would be the most dangerous.
But they would hardly complete it just standing there on the landing. They had already been gone from the others for too long. She sighed. And then she gestured anxiously with a hand.
"After you … Lady Vhrelunda."
Dynaheir only gave her a small smile.
"History of the North, Sembia, Cormyr …"
Imoen pushed a whole handful of books aside with one sweep of an arm. Then she reached up and began rifling through a new set.
"The Unicorn Run, the Dead Three … Moonsea …"
Evelyn almost didn't notice her where she stood on the opposite side of the room, sifting through her own bookcase. She was steadily making her way from one to the other, eyeing each as quickly as she could before moving to the next. They didn't have much time, and they had to be careful besides, and–
"Ooo … Elminster's Ecologies …"
Imoen suddenly snatched up another book, and pulled it down off the shelf. Her best friend's eyes flashed toward her as she opened it and started glancing over the pages. Evelyn just thrust a finger to her lips, giving the other woman a fierce look. And then she was moving toward the next stack of books.
After a few more moments, though, Imoen snapped hers shut. It took a few more moments before Evelyn realized that the other woman was just staring at her.
"What?" she finally asked, her voice low and impatient. But the other woman only shrugged.
"I dunno. What are we supposed to be looking for?"
Eve growled irritably in her throat, but didn't waste anymore time before circling in on the large desk that took up a good third of the room. She tried rattling a few locked drawers before frowning down at them. "I don't know." She shook her head and glanced briefly up at the other. "Something out of place?" She started tugging on another of those drawers, but it wouldn't budge. She clenched her teeth, pulling as hard as she could.
Imoen hopped down from the ladder she had been riding along the shelves, and put her hands on her hips.
"Well … how exactly are we supposed to know if it's out of place, huh?" she demanded then. "We've never seen it in place …"
Evelyn cried out as she suddenly lost her grip on the handle of the drawer and tumbled back and over to the ground. She hit the carpeted floor hard, wincing more from the loud crash than for the pain. But Imoen just started laughing. The raven-haired woman leapt to her feet quickly, though, and silenced her with a glare.
They had to be careful.
Aldeth had continued on with Dynaheir and the others – the most visible ones. It was supposed to be some kind of tour of the premises … something about looking like he was trying to impress a new business venture, though, she was sure he would have already failed at that with the way he barely managed to stay on his feet half the time. But he had regained his composure somewhat, at least, over the past hour. She could only wonder how a man could drink so much when he was so sure that someone was trying to kill him. She certainly couldn't have.
The man had had enough sense to point out one of his friends' offices, though, and to be discreet enough to allow some of them to slip away unnoticed. They had met another man in mail, armed and claiming to be the commander of the building's guard. He had been the hardest to get past, but Aldeth had seemed to trust him at least. The two maidservants, she had thought, would be the least likely missed. Especially if they were dismissed on some errand or another first. Fortunately, no one else had happened upon them yet. She wasn't quite sure how she would have explained their sneaking away and breaking into that office. She just hoped she wouldn't have to.
But as she stood there, staring at the other woman, she suddenly didn't feel so lucky. It was hard to believe that no one might have heard that fall. She started moving forward.
"We should go …"
It was disappointing … she could only hope that the others might have been more productive. But, she was starting to agree with her best friend. The more time they wasted there, the more she started to think that it all was just a waste of time. She had spent enough time around Winthrop's inn to know just how silly and foolish men could be when they drank. And she probably shouldn't have thought much of Aldeth Sashenstar just imagining the whole thing. As unsettling as his friend Irlentree's behavior might have seemed, it wouldn't have been so odd if he had doubted their ruse from the beginning … which he very well might have. But they hardly needed to get caught pawing through a merchant's office.
Aldeth had told them to look for something in that place … anything. Somehow he thought one of his partners might leave something about trying to have him killed lying around … a bloody dagger, a note … something. But Evelyn was already starting to see just how overly paranoid the man was being. And she, of all people, thought she knew something about that.
She brushed past her best friend. But Imoen didn't move with her. Instead, she stepped quickly back toward the desk.
"Hey … what's this?"
The pink-haired woman snatched something up from the wooden surface – a small handful of folded parchments. She started flipping through them, pouring over each briefly. Her best friend had stopped and turned around. She was frowning back at the other.
"Eve! Hey … you should look at these …"
Evelyn was still frowning as she stepped toward the other woman. But she didn't reach for the papers. Instead she pushed them aside and back down toward the desk with an irritated sigh. That venture had proved as fruitless as could be possible.
"Let's go."
She snatched the other woman's hand up in hers and started dragging her away, despite her protests. But as she was turning back, it was only to smack straight into the broad chest of a familiar mailed form. Imoen slammed to a halt beside her.
Two dark eyes were peering intently down at them beneath a conical helm, looking from first one to the other, and then the room about. She could almost have been glad of that … though the respite did not last long before he was bearing down on them once more. It had hardly been enough time for her to try to think. Those eyes suddenly narrowed.
"What were you doing?"
The breath caught in Evelyn's throat too swiftly for her to answer. The suspicion in the man's tone was all too plain for her to hear. She tried to take a step back to regroup, but he latched onto her arm quickly of a sudden, holding her fast. Imoen hardly escaped the same fate.
"These are the private offices of my employers," he announced impatiently down at them then, "and not the personal playground of thieving little wenches come to pilfer our coffers while their Rashemi mistress is away." And then his face drew suddenly close. "I don't care if your Lady is the guest of Aldeth … you just don't cause trouble on my watch."
Those heavy dark eyes burned into each of them in turn, and Evelyn only winced. He had remembered who they were … she wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or not. But at least he didn't just think they were thieves. Finally, she found her voice.
"Oh we're terribly sorry," Imoen broke in before she could speak, though, and the guard commander suddenly rounded on her. "But we seem to have gotten … lost."
She shrugged as innocently as she could in his grasp, rolling her eyes. But the man only shook her roughly with his hand.
"Do you think me a fool, girl?" he demanded angrily. "I'm commander of the household guard! And I know thieving little witches when I see them …" He ground his bared teeth down at her. But the other hardly seemed daunted.
"Thieving?" the pink-haired woman gasped in horror. "Well I've never been so insulted …" She slapped the man hard across the jaw.
The guard commander rounded back on her swiftly, bristling and boiling over with rage all at once. Evelyn could only watch in horror. But then the other woman's eyes suddenly clouded over with angry tears.
"You think you're so much better than us because you're paid ta wear metal and strut around?" She started stabbing a finger into his mailed chest. "Well we're not afraid of you! My husband's the big one with the Lady …," She suddenly thrust a finger Evelyn's way, "and he cut out Eve's tongue fer talkin' rough to me once. And she's my best friend! Just whaddya think he'll do ta you?"
She hammered a fist into his arm. "Now you let us go, you big stupid oaf! Aldeth Sashenstar only wanted something from his office and the Lady Vhrelanda was quick to offer us ta go get it, seein' as how he's so short staffed with his big, stupid guard commanders running around calling servants 'thieving little witches'!" She waved her fingers mockingly and made her voice deep like his. She even stomped her feet a little bow-leggedly for emphasis. "Imoen do this, Eve do that! And now you callin' us names!" She thrust a vindictive hand at him once more. "How dare you!" But then she was slapping the man's arm again. "Now … let … me … go!" She tugged bodily on her arm.
But the man didn't release her. Instead he hauled her right back and even closer. His face was like a thunderhead as he beared down on her then. Evelyn was still staring in shock. But the man's voice was strangely soft, and calm.
"I thought it was Vhrelunda …?"
His eyes were hard as steel.
Imoen only blinked up at him.
"No!" she was shaking her head suddenly. "It's Vhrelanda … I would know, you … you …"
And then her leg was suddenly flying up between the man's legs. He grunted loudly against the blow, falling down to one knee. And Imoen quickly twisted away.
"Run, Eve!"
But before the pink-haired woman could make for the door, the guard had an arm thrust out in front of her. It struck Imoen hard in the chest and her feet flew out from under her with a sharp cry. Her back thumped down loudly on the carpeted floors below. Evelyn hardly wasted a moment.
She swung her arm around swiftly while the man was distracted, though he had somehow managed to keep his grip on her. But then his arm was twisting around and behind his back, and her boot was flashing up toward his face. It took him in the jaw, and he tumbled down to both his knees. His conical helm flew free into the air. Before she could hit him again, however, his arm suddenly snapped around, throwing her back. She stumbled away further into the room.
And then steel rang loudly through the chamber.
Evelyn came back around, Fuller's dagger in hand … but the man had two feet of metal resting down against her best friend's neck. He was breathing hard, his face red, as he stared down at the fallen woman. Whatever Imoen had thought to do to him with that kick, the steel cod-piece at his belt had lessened it somewhat. She seemed to only realize that just then, as she lay there with her hands held up placatingly … for whatever good it would do. But then the man was rounding on Eve.
"I don't know who you really are," he began with acid in his voice, "but I don't like liars. I'll give you a second chance … so I suggest you start telling the truth before I turn you over to the Flaming Fist." He extended that long blade toward Evelyn briefly. "That is … if there is even enough left of you by then to hand over …"
Evelyn only thrust a hand back under her coat. And then the Kara-Turian blade was in the other. She pointed both at him …
The man's eyes went wide, but then he just shook his head with a scowl.
"I knew there was something wrong with the lot of you …"
Imoen was stirring beneath him.
"We're telling the truth!" the pink-haired woman snapped up at him angrily. "He told us to come here …"
But the man had that blade back and pressing into the other's neck in an instant. She flattened herself against the floor once more.
"That's a damned lie!" he snorted down at her. "I was with Aldeth the whole time!"
"Well you're not with him now!" she chided. The guard commander's teeth only clenched tighter.
"Wait!"
Evelyn lowered both her weapons.
"That is enough, girl!"
"Don't you–"
The blade suddenly pressed deeper. And Imoen gasped sharply in reply.
"WAIT!"
The guard looked abruptly to the raven-haired woman, his teeth bared. She briefly wondered if he still thought her a mute. But then she let both of her hands fall down at her sides. She tucked the dagger back in at her belt. "Please!" she lifted one hand pleadingly. "Don't hurt her …"
But the man hardly eased his hold on the other woman. Instead his jaw cracked loudly. "I suggest you start talking, girl …" His gaze was hard and fierce. Imoen's eyes flashed toward her instead.
"Don't do it, Eve!" the pink-haired woman hissed up at her, twisting her head aside. "She's not afraid of you!" Her eyes flashed back toward the man above. "She'll show you! She'll–"
"QUIET!"
The blade finally seemed to press deep enough then to shut the other woman up. Her eyes were wide – angry, and terrified. The man rounded back on Evelyn.
"Now … I believe you were just about to explain yourself …"
She took a deep breath, but did not hesitate before she started telling him the truth of just why they were there. Aldeth had seemed to trust the man at least. Maybe she could too. But she didn't let the curved Kara-Turian blade go for an instant … not so long as he still had his sword digging into Imoen's neck. He was frowning at her before she was done.
Evelyn stopped then, abruptly. If the whole thing hadn't seemed ridiculous to her before, well … it certainly did now that she heard it out loud from her own tongue. She had thought briefly to try to lie to the man as Imoen had done, but she had never been so clever or quick-thinking as her best friend. And she suddenly realized how pointless it would have been. The guard commander seemed to agree with her by the look he was giving her then. And she just shut her mouth and waited for him to tell her just how ludicrous he thought that whole situation was.
"I suppose it did seem a little odd," the man said slowly, his brow furrowing. "It is unlike Aldeth to entertain business guests while still obviously deep in the drink. He has been acting strangely of late … though this would seem to explain a little of that quite well. Providing, of course, that you are now telling the truth."
Evelyn opened her mouth to argue further, but the man had already moved his blade away from Imoen's neck. "It is a bit extravagant of a tale to simply imagine, though, I will admit." He eased the steel back down into its sheath at his side. "But it fits matters quite nicely."
And then the man was thrusting a hand down toward Imoen. The pink-haired woman frowned warily back up at him. But, after a moment, she took the proffered gesture. Only when she was back on her feet did Evelyn finally slip the curved blade into its sheath behind her back once more. The lavender coat was buttoned up enough so that no one could have seen the sword belt wrapped snugly around her chest. She hoped they didn't notice the small lump on her back either.
"Mercenaries?"
The guard commander cast Evelyn a brief look. She shook her head.
"We …" She hesitated, glancing toward her best friend as the woman came up beside her. "We … helped Aldeth," she finally settled on that, "back in the Cloakwood Forests … where we met him."
The man fixed her anew at that. His eyes widened slightly.
"You," he breathed. And then he nodded his head. "He said something about you …" His face suddenly grew hard. "I suppose I might be able to trust you then, at least …"
Evelyn felt relieved at that. She supposed it meant that he would be letting them go at least. He probably thought all of that even more of a drunken man's irrational nightmare than she. But before she could even start moving back toward the door, the man was speaking once more.
"There might be something to Aldeth's fears, though," the guard commander began thoughtfully anew. Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks before they had even begun. "To tell you the truth," he continued, "I've been somewhat suspicious of my other employers as well."
She frowned at him, suddenly feeling just a little disappointed that that fruitless chase might not be so pointless after all. Her eyes flashed briefly toward Imoen at her side, but the other woman was only rubbing at her neck with a pained look on her face. She didn't seem to care so much about what the man was saying then.
"They haven't been themselves lately," the guard commander mused on, glancing up at her, "and they seem to have a completely callous outlook on the future of their business. I'd almost have to say that Irlentree and Zorl aren't who they say they are, or they've had their minds taken over, or some other rot." He said the last almost jokingly, though the levity in his voice burned out quickly enough. "Unfortunately," he continued more gravely, "there's nothing I can do. They're my employers. And you had best be careful," he thrust a finger toward them. "Aldeth's friends have had a habit of winding up dead as of late."
There was a moment's pause, and Evelyn almost thought that that had been their cue to leave and go find Dynaheir and Minsc again. The man just stood there, seeming to think the matter over. Imoen had finally forgotten her bruised neck. But then those dark eyes flashed up toward hers once more.
"I might be able to turn a blind eye if you continue to investigate this matter," he mused quietly aloud after another moment. "Aldeth might be drunk, but he's still thinking at least. If you can find some hard proof that exposes whatever's been happening … I might be able to do something about this whole mess."
"Well, we were trying to–"
"But first," the guard commander cut the pink-haired woman's chiding remark off abruptly, glancing back over his shoulder, "we have to get you out of here. You will have a much harder time explaining this to my employers should they catch you in here."
He had them both by the shoulders, and before either of the two women could say anything, he was pulling them along back toward the door. "We'll rendezvous with Aldeth first … talk matters over a little in private. I can't vouch for all the household guards given the circumstances … but I'm sure that we can …"
The door swung open ahead of them, and the man trailed off uselessly. They came to an abrupt stop just before the entryway. A man stood there on the other side.
For a moment … no one spoke a word. The stranger on the other side merely studied them each curiously in turn, his face pale beneath the dark beard that framed his hard mouth. His eyes finally blinked upward to the guard commander behind them, however. His brow lifted expectantly toward the man.
"Brandilar?"
The armored man – Brandilar – hesitated for only the briefest of moments. He was bowing his head so quickly that Evelyn was sure the other could not have noticed. His voice was blessedly even.
"Master Zorl," he acknowledged the bearded man in his fine dark, stately robes readily. "I was just escorting these two young women back to their Mistress – the Lady Vhrelunda, who is a guest of Aldeth's at the moment. It seems they were sent on an errand to retrieve something from his office and got … lost."
The other stared at the guard commander for a moment, his face unreadable. But then he suddenly blinked and seemed to come back to life.
"The Lady Vhrelunda?" he asked curiously. And then he nodded his head. "Ah, yes. That charming woman who has come to visit us from … Rasheman, was it? Irlentree said something to me about it all …" He made a clicking sound in his throat. "My, so many new faces in our humble place of business …"
There was silence again. It was almost palpable. It was all Evelyn could do not to shift there anxiously from foot to foot. She half expected Imoen to be doing just that beside her, but the other woman seemed to be keeping her reserve. Finally, Brandilar spoke.
"If you will excuse us … Master Zorl …"
The man's face had gone deathly still once more. And then it suddenly popped back into motion. He stayed the other with a hand.
"Allow me, Brandilar," the bearded man offered generously. "I have been meaning to speak with our good friend Aldeth anyways. And I'm sure it will be absolutely fascinating to speak to someone from that faraway land."
The breath caught in Evelyn's throat of a sudden, and she could feel her best friend tense up beside her. It was an effort not to clutch at the dagger at her waist. But Brandilar saved her much of that effort swiftly enough, his hands still resting on each of their shoulders firmly.
"That will be quite alright, milord," the guard commander broke in immediately. "I would not dare ask you to trouble yourself over servants."
"And I would not dare find it troublesome to deal with them." There was just the slightest hint of an edge to the man's voice as he raised his chin and gave the other a purposeful look. "Besides, I would wish to make a favorable impression upon our guest. And these two young ladies might tell me something of their mistress so that I do not trip over my own tongue upon meeting her. I am certain that you have much more important duties to attend to."
Brandilar opened his mouth to speak once more, but the bearded man continued on over him quickly.
"Commander …"
His voice was soft, yet reproachful. The other clicked his mouth shut.
"I hope you had not intended on leaving your helm here, Commander." Zorl gestured suddenly then across the room toward where the conical steel still lay upon its side on the floor. Brandilar turned toward it, pausing for the briefest of moments. But then he nodded back toward his employer.
"Of course not, milord."
Evelyn met his eyes briefly, but they were unreadable. And as he moved to retrieve his helm, two slender hands were then herding her and Imoen toward and through the door.
"Come, come, my young friends. Let us away toward Aldeth and your mistress."
Evelyn only caught one last glimpse of the guard commander as they turned away. He had picked up his helm but he merely stood there, holding it in his hand. And then he turned slowly toward them. Whatever she might have seen in his eyes at that moment, though, was lost. The bearded man had already begun moving them swiftly away down the hall, the whole while a generous smile upon his lips. She wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or bad.
Not for the first time in the past few minutes, Evelyn began to wonder if it was still possible just to up and leave that place without worrying about a blade thrust into her back. She glanced over toward her best friend and thought she saw the same thoughts mirrored in the other woman's eyes. That place had proved more than a little unsettling, and she wasn't sure just who she trusted least. But there was nothing for it then. She would have to wait until they reached the Rashemi.
Somehow, though, she just couldn't help feeling her skin crawl with those eyes so close on her back as Aldeth's friend Zorl led them down those halls. She didn't need to see Brandilar's last look to know just what it would have been. It would have been a warning. And, somehow … she knew that they had already stridden far too deep into that trap.
The hand tightening on her shoulder seemed to agree.
