Even Lord Firkraag's intelligence network was not infallible. The red dragon had been slightly misinformed as to the date of the heretics' secret meeting. As a result, the party arrived early by one full day. They set up camp in the woods, a short distance from the abandoned amphitheatre where the gathering was to take place, and kept a discrete watch. When the heretics failed to materialize at the expected time Rasaad, predictably, became unbearable.
The monk stayed awake all night waiting, refusing to let anyone else take a turn on watch. The whole of the following morning, he paced around their camp, tugging at his clothes in frustration and striking random trees in a terrible rage, much to Jaheira's displeasure.
So difficult was he to be around, that Viconia found even Arowan's company preferable to his. When the ranger went to set her snares, the drow followed. The other woman had taught her to make rabbit-traps while they were hiding in the Windspear hills. Much to the ranger's irritation, Viconia turned out to have a bit of a talent for it. They ended the day with a fine brace of hares and a plump partridge shot down by Arowan.
Not that it did them much good, because Rasaad refused to let them cook them, in case the heretics saw their fire and didn't come. By now he had gone a very long time without sleep and was still feeling the aftereffects of the shades. His eyes were baggy, his complexion pallid and he seemed far removed from the calm paragon of monkish perfection that he aspired to be.
Viconia, whose tolerance of Rasaad hinged around what an attractive male he normally was, thought little of this new development. Her barbs toward him became so vicious that between her and Arowan, the monk began to consider leaving the party altogether and resuming his search for Alorgoth alone.
"I believe that deceitful wyrm Firkraag is wasting our time," Rasaad snapped on the evening of the second day. "In the morning let us all move on."
"Finally, my prayers have been answered!" Viconia snorted, adding; "By Shar. A real goddess who is capable of doing such things."
"Be quiet!" Anomen said, raising his hand suddenly.
"Impudent male!" the drow seethed, rearing up like a cobra. "You dare dictate to me what I may or may not say to a feeble-minded heretic?"
"I am no heretic!" snapped Rasaad.
"I notice you do not deny being feeble-minded," Viconia sneered.
"Quiet both of you! Listen!" Anomen hushed them urgently.
The party fell silent. A low chanting was coming from the abandoned amphitheatre. To most of them the words meant nothing, but both Rasaad and Viconia recognized fragments of mantras. It was a blending of the Sharran and Selunite creeds. Finally the Twofold Trust had assembled.
"Let us go," Rasaad whispered.
The amphitheatre had been lit with torches, and the air rang with heretical chanting. What shocked Rasaad and Viconia most however, were the sheer numbers who had turned up. On both sides. Sharrans and Selunites were seated in clusters along the rows, eyeing each other nervously. Arowan had never seen so many bald heads in one place. It was like the theatre was a giant egg carton. A young monk with an upturned nose sprang to his feet as they approached.
"Who goes there?" he asked nasally.
"We seek Collus Darathon…" Rasaad replied aggressively.
"…Darathon's wisdom!" Arowan finished for him hastily, wondering how she could ever have found this meathead attractive. She wracked her brain to remember the phrase Firkraag had told them to quote. "We seek light in both truth and darkness… no that wasn't it."
"We seek truth in both light and darkness," Jaheira interjected, pinching the bridge of her nose with barely disguised impatience. Sometimes it was hard for an experienced Harper agent to work with such rank amateurs. Behind her, Viconia made a noise that suggested she was summoning a spit ball.
"Aren't we all?" the young man replied sarcastically. "Do you think we're stupid? It's obvious why you're here."
"Well that was a short quest," muttered Anomen.
"A strapping young stag from the Sun Soul Order and an elf maiden of Shar?" the guard queried in a bored voice, looking from Rasaad to Viconia. "Let me guess; star-crossed lovers, two hearts beating as one, fates conspiring against you and so forth. Your respective sects were unable to accept the romance that you could barely admit to yourselves, yet the wildness of your passion would not be repressed etc. etc. Am I getting close?"
"How extraordinarily perceptive of you. Yeah, come to think of it I was right the first time," Arowan nodded. "Rasaad is definitely 'seeking to put light in darkness…'"
"Yeah, yeah, we get that all the time," the guard replied. "Sit yourselves in the back row with the half-dozen other 'forbidden lovers' who turned up already, and if you have to make out during the meeting please do so quietly."
Jaheira steered them firmly to the back row of the amphitheatre before the 'star-crossed lovers' had a chance to respond. It looked like it must have been quite grand once, with layers of stone benches in a semicircle around the arena. Now plants poked up from cracks in the stone and half of the seats were unusable because of a cascade of poison ivy growing down them. Those seats that remained were cramped and the party had to squeeze uncomfortably close to fit into their allotted space at the very back. Sharran and Selunite were determinedly avoiding eye contact.
"I have found an old flyer for this theatre!" Anomen declared jovially, plucking a yellowing piece of paper from the ground by his feet. "Mother Owlbear. I saw a most excellent production of this in the Five Flagons Theatre once. A romantic comedy starring a plucky young rogue looking for love and adventure, while trying to evade the clutches of his domineering mother."
He nudged the thief, who had fixed his eyes straight ahead with a sour expression.
"Hey Yoshimo! They wrote a play about you!" Anomen beamed, just in case the other man had missed the point.
"A crime that such a dashing hero as yourself has not been afforded the same honour," Yoshimo replied levelly. "But fear not. I hear that after the success of our impromptu street performance about the dangers of narcotics, Sir Keldorn has been eager to direct more morality plays. No doubt your experience with Safana will make for a fine cautionary tale."
Anomen kept quiet for a while after this.
All about them the chanting droned on melodically, until Yoshimo noticed a warm weight on his shoulder and realised that Arowan was falling asleep on him. He put his arm about her to steady her and kissed the top of her head. They stayed like that for the rest of the meeting; her snoring very quietly and he with a vague smile on his face, not really listening. Anomen had little interest in what the monks had to say either, but with no woman to distract him this left him little to focus on except the itching. He sat uncomfortably, wedged between Yoshimo and Jaheira, trying not to squirm too much. On the druid's other side, Sharran and Selunite had the misfortune to be sat beside each other, and both were in a foul temper.
Viconia was wearing an expression that could only be described as 'drow.' It was a haughty mix of sneer and snarl that human facial muscles would struggle to achieve. Meanwhile Rasaad had turned an ugly purple through a combination of indignation at the heretics and embarrassment at the accusation of romancing Viconia. Not least because deep down it was true, and he loathed himself for it. Unwelcome thoughts that he could suppress during the day, would not stay away when he settled into his bedroll every night. Nor, unfortunately, during long boring introductions while they were forced to sit pressed so close to each other that he could feel her every breath.
Distraction came when the meeting finally got underway and it was not a welcome one. When the leader belatedly arrived, hood drawn furtively over his eyes, Rasaad sat forward in his seat frowning. The monk gasped in horror when the stranger lowered his hood.
He was a dwarf, but it took most of them a moment to register this, because he was fully bald. Shaven headed dwarves were nothing out of the ordinary, but this one didn't even have a beard. It was not something you saw around very often. Ask your average dwarf whether he'd rather cut off his beard or his testicles, and he'd probably lose the beard. But he'd have to think about it first.
"Hammerhelm!" Rasaad breathed.
"You know this blaspheming cockroach?" Viconia asked stiffly. "What other loathsome insects did you become acquainted with in your garbage can of a monastery and are we to suffer being introduced to all of them?"
"Better I should be struck blind than see Hammerhelm's fall," Rasaad lamented.
"Better that I should be struck deaf than listen to his nonsense," Viconia replied in an angry whisper. "Or better still, that he be struck mute."
Hammerhelm raised his arms for silence and surveyed the attendees. He glowered disapprovingly at sleeping Arowan and widened his eyes in surprise to see a drow amongst the crowd. Yet when he saw Rasaad, he nodded in recognition, with a smile of greeting.
"Welcome, all of you who seek the truth where darkness meets the light. I am Hammerhelm, formerly of the Sun Soul Order. It is good to see so many of you here this evening," he cried. "A few notices before we get underway; newcomers are invited to our after-service coffee morning. I have it on good authority that Brother Kelner bakes the best cream puff pastries this side of the Sea of Swords. We also have moon cookies (dark and light chocolate) so do come along to that!"
"Moon cookies?" Viconia hissed. "Moon cookies?"
They were quiet, but the place was packed and, being an amphitheatre, designed for sound to carry. Some of the other initiates were starting to look around at the drow and her unlikely companion. Jaheira nudged Anomen, who in turn bumped Yoshimo like they were dominoes. She gave the two men a meaningful look and mouthed the words; 'drown them out.'
"Obviously you have heard and are curious about our supposed 'heresy,'" Hammerhelm went on. "There are those who have a vested interest in ensuring that our true goddess remain ever split in twain."
"A vested interest in the truth, you mean!" Viconia spat, unable to contain herself any longer, but her words were drowned out by Anomen and Yoshimo who both clapped loudly.
"Amen, Hammerhelm!"
"Preach it, brother!"
"Ye-es… right…" Hammerhelm said, looking a little embarrassed. "The Sun Soul and Dark Moon followers are not evil, merely misguided. Their masters have worked diligently to ensure that their eyes remain forever closed to the truth."
"Not evil? Have you ever met a Dark Moon follower?" Jaheira asked dryly. Half of the eyes in the amphitheatre, including Viconia's turned to glare at her. Those monks from the Sun Soul just smiled knowingly.
"Brothers! Sisters!" Hammerhelm cried placatingly. "I have met many who follow that false philosophy over the past few months. And I say again, they are not evil, they are just as I was. Blinded by the false dogmas of their masters. Just as my eyes were open to the truth so were theirs. So can yours be, my friend!"
"I'd sooner have my eyes cut out than have them opened to this dwarf's truth!" Viconia seethed.
"Finally, something we can both agree on," Rasaad said.
However, they were both drowned out by a fresh chorus of 'Yea, open our eyes! Truth!" from Anomen and Yoshimo. The men made surprisingly convincing zealots, but they were only copying what they knew. One came from a holy order of paladins where daily church services combined with frequent head injuries. The other hailed from an isolationist sect. Both of them were used to over-enthusiastic worshippers raising their arms to heaven and calling out above the sermons.
"And the truth is simply that there is no Shar and no Selune!" Hammerhelm declared, emboldened by their apparent support. "My friends, I stand before you in the light and shadow of the Twofold goddess. I can thank a man named Collus Darathon for that!"
"Praise him! Praise Darathon!"
"You think this is funny Anomen?" Rasaad asked, glowering. "Remember who Darathon actually is!"
"My memory is working perfectly," Anomen retorted, "It is you lovebirds who seem to have forgotten that there are six of us and sixty of them. Stop heckling!"
"I was a monk of the Sun Soul Order," Hammerhelm told them. "Collus a librarian for the Dark Moon sect. When he contacted me I thought, what common ground could we possibly share? He opened my eyes my friends, and revealed unto me the truth of the Twofold goddess. He can do the same for you."
Rasaad looked as though he'd swallowed a porcupine.
"If you would know more of the Twofold truth, if you would become a member of the Twofold Trust, then stick around after the service. Members of the Trust are here tonight to personally answer your every question. I myself will be happy to discuss the Twofold revelation with any of you. Thank you again, and as a reminder, if any of you are interested in participating in our next bake sale, Brother Kelner has the sign-up sheet."
Around them people began to stir. Most of the regulars were making a beeline for the coffee table. The party were blocking the row, and several couples were hovering waiting to get out and looking expectant. Yoshimo kissed Arowan's forehead and shook her gently awake. She yawned, stretched and looked around her with a grumpy little noise.
"Is it starting finally?" she mumbled.
"It is finished. You missed it," Yoshimo told her quietly. "But there is cake and coffee downstairs if I am not mistaken."
This seemed to revive the ranger and she made her way down, still leaning heavily on Yoshimo. Rasaad was striding purposefully over to Hammerhelm, with Viconia only a few paces behind.
"I ought to supervise them," Jaheira began, but with an aching look at Brother Kelner's cream puff pastries which did indeed look delicious.
"Go, for I shall stand in line for you," Anomen volunteered gallantly.
"You do owe me a favour," the druid agreed, with a pointed look at his potion pouch. He blushed. Any other affliction and his own healing magics could have cured it, but Helm did not approve of extra-marital activities and would not permit his followers to escape consequence free.
"My friend!" Hammerhelm cried, as Rasaad approached him. His greeting was so undisguisedly warm and friendly that it took the fire out of the younger monk's stride. The bald dwarf embraced him like a brother, leaving him feeling conflicted. "It is so good to see you here, though I must admit I am surprised. I never thought that you, of all people, would turn against Selune."
"I would never-"
"-turn against Selune," Jaheira finished for him. She was right, the monk needed supervising. "Unfortunately, merely asking questions about the Twofold Revelation has turned his own sect upon him. Just a few weeks ago he was attacked in the street by those who once called him teacher and friend."
"Yes, I heard about that." Hammerhelm looked at Rasaad sympathetically, stroking the empty air where his beard would once have been. For some monks joining the Order had come at a heavy price. "The higher ups in both false faiths would stoop to any means to silence dissenters."
"How can I… How can I find out more about the Twofold goddess?" Rasaad seemed to have difficulty forcing the words out.
"Rasaad has made himself an enemy of both the Sun Soul and Dark Moon Orders." Jaheira found herself once again interjecting for him. "He seeks refuge in service to the Twofold goddess and Collus Darathon, as we all do."
"A life in service to the goddess is not for the weak," Hammerhelm warned. "If you wish to become initiates you will be tested." He hesitated. "Rasaad, I have every confidence in your ability to surmount whatever obstacle is placed before you, but some of your friends…"
He looked over at the coffee table. The cream puffs had been reduced to a pile of crumbs. Anomen was defending the sole surviving pastry, which he was saving for Jaheira, from Arowan and Yoshimo. He was holding it as high as he could reach while the Ilmatari circled beneath it like a pair of hungry sharks.
"What sort of tests?" Jaheira asked sharply.
"Difficult tests," replied Hammerhelm bluntly. "The Twofold goddess has little use for the weak."
"In this instance, gullibility is not considered a weakness," Viconia chipped in unhelpfully. The dwarf stared at her, eyes bulging.
"Who are you, drow?" he barked, "Why are you here? I'd think you a spy, but no spy would call such attention to herself."
"She is attempting to make a joke," Rasaad replied, shooting Viconia a repressive look. "It does not come naturally to her."
"The only joke here is-"
"Forgive her please. She has yet to learn the value of silence," Rasaad said pointedly*.
"I'll silence you!" Viconia screeched, looking murderous.
She had Hammerhelm's full attention now and the guards were starting to make their way over. Her threat had been so loud and vehement that the rest of her party heard her at the food table. Even Jaheira was at a loss as to how to cover for this indiscretion.
Fortunately, Arowan had the Charisma Ring back. True-to-form Dorn's useful little gadget supplied her with inspiration.
"Viconia dear! That's not how we talk to our males on the surface, remember?" she trilled, rushing over and flashing Hammerhelm her best charisma-enhanced smile. "Sorry about that," she said to the monks, adding in a loud whisper; "It's just how drow do things, you know? Death threats to Rasaad are like her way of saying, 'I love you.'"
The drow looked as though her head might explode. Her lips curled, her perfect white teeth bared and her white eyebrows knotted into a deep "V" on her forehead. Rasaad saw her lips start to form the words of an appeal to Shar which would summon her flaming sword and declare her violent intent to everyone in sight.
Impulsively he seized hold of her and kissed her mouth before she could finish the incantation. Viconia responded with such force that it seemed likely the monk would end up with bruised lips.
"Huh." Hammerhelm said after a while. "Did not see that coming."
"I did," muttered Arowan, with an eyeroll.
Sharran and Selunite had no difficulty in convincing the onlookers that their kiss was genuine. Viconia knotted her fists into his shirt, pulling the monk against her. His muscular arms felt as good about her as she had always known they would. Rasaad's body, which he'd spent his whole life refining, was as hard as marble. A chiselled block of flawless muscle, and she wanted him, even more than she wanted to finish summoning her flaming sword and run it through his presumptuous heart. Rasaad bunched one hand in her silvery hair, forgetting for the moment that there was anyone else in the world but her. Just for a few minutes, he surrendered wholesale to lust. It felt better than anything he had ever imagined.
Nobody else knew where to look. Arowan especially. She and Jaheira edged away awkwardly, back to the coffee table where Anomen and Yoshimo were still standing. The Helmite was watching her in a concerned sort of way, while Yoshimo sipped his drink.
"Are you alright?" Anomen asked her.
"No. I am devastated," Arowan said mechanically. "My heart is extra, extra broken. Definitely. Don't let the lack of tears fool you, I expect I'll bawl my eyes out in a moment. Hey, do you know what would make me feel loads better? Some comfort food!"
"Don't listen to her Anomen!" Jaheira snapped. "She's trying to trick you into giving her my cream puff!"
"It was worth a try," Arowan sighed.
"Crafty vixen," grinned Yoshimo. "I love you so."
Her heart leapt and fluttered in her chest. It was the first time he had said so. In fact, so far as she could recall, it was the first time anyone had ever said 'I love you' to her. Turning a bit pink, she took his hand and led him away from the amphitheatre and back toward the camp.
Jaheira watched them go with a mildly amused expression. Now that those two vultures had flown, she was finally free to eat her cream puff in peace. She bit into it and immediately closed her eyes in bliss.
"Now I understand why so many people are defecting to the Twofold Trust," she moaned ecstatically. "No wonder those two bestial hyenas wanted to get their paws on mine so badly."
"Everyone seems to be pairing off," Anomen remarked wistfully. Jaheira swallowed the pastry and looked sideways at the younger man. He was handsome, indisputably, and had grown decidedly less unbearable of late. And yet…
"How are my herbs working?" she asked him. "Feeling any improvement yet?"
He reddened and did not bring the subject up again.
After what felt like a lifetime (particularly for the unfortunate onlookers who milled around uncomfortably) Rasaad and Viconia broke apart. Her ruby eyes burned into his fathomless dark gaze, and both longed for nothing more than to vanish into a glade somewhere and show each other how they really felt.
Hammerhelm coughed loudly, breaking the spell.
"Well, erm… that explains that then," he said stiffly. "I didn't want to doubt you, but I must admit lad, I was a bit suspicious before. Couldn't see you, of all people, turning your back on the Sun Soul Order. But this makes perfect sense."
His eyes roved briefly over Viconia's long legs and flawless curves. He repeated the words 'perfect sense' under his breath. The drow glared at him, her annoyance returning as quickly as it had gone.
"You should seek more than refuge with us, brother," Hammerhelm told Rasaad earnestly. "A lover who is both a Sharran and a drow? It's not just the Sun Soul Order who won't accept this. Nobody will. Except perhaps those who walk in both light and shadow. If you can prove yourselves worthy."
"You would have me renounce the Sun Soul?" Rasaad asked, in a strained voice. Half of him was horrified at what he had just done. The other half wanted her to drag him away into the shadows and…
"Your brothers in the Sun Soul have already renounced you," Hammerhelm pointed out, accurately. "And you know as well as I do that they'll never have you back. Not if they know about," he waved a hand vaguely at the drow as though not quite sure what to make of her. "This."
"A remarkable display of good taste on their part," Viconia retorted. "Rejecting you is perhaps the only intelligent action that the Sunny Souls have ever taken." She was once again looking at Rasaad with an expression of upmost loathing, but he didn't buy it anymore.
"I shall gladly face the tests of the Twofold," Rasaad declared, "And endure whatever awaits me, to come face to face with Collus Darathon at last."
"Your courage is an inspiration," replied Hammerhelm. It wasn't clear whether he meant Rasaad was brave for facing the ordeals or for dating Viconia. "Here is a map to the temple. When you get there, tell them 'the brightest light casts the darkest shadow.' That will gain you entry."
"Thank you," Rasaad said, taking the map. "It was good to see you again Hammerhelm."
He returned to the party and they began walking back to camp, but as soon as they were out of earshot of the monks, Viconia set upon him viciously.
"You lied to me!" she seethed. "You told me that you sought out the heretics in order to destroy them, not listen to their sermons and eat their moon cookies!"
"Cookies are a perfect symbol of the moon**," Jaheira mocked, producing a white chocolate specimen and showing it to them. There were five tucked into her bag, for though they were not as good as the cream puffs, all of Brother Kelner's baking was in a league of its own. She held it aloft. "Full moon!" Next she broke the cookie in two and gave the spare piece to Anomen. "Half-moon." Jaheira gobbled the remaining bit and finished with her mouth full. "Total eclipse!"
"You think this is funny?" Rasaad and Viconia seethed as one.
"I found it amusing my lady," Anomen said nobly.
Arowan and Yoshimo had already lit the campfire and had a kettle bubbling when the others arrived. Jaheira was mildly surprised that the two of them were up and not in one tent or the other. In fact, the Ilmatari had discussed the possibility. They'd quickly decided against it, however, for the walls of their tents were very thin. Sleeping together with Arowan's adopted mother on one side and her ex-boyfriend on the other would just be too weird.
"We'll be back in Athkatla soon enough," Yoshimo had nodded. "We can ask for rooms at the opposite end of the tavern to them."
"How about we stay in a different tavern altogether?" she'd giggled in reply.
They looked up as Viconia and Rasaad approached the camp, spitting nails at each other all the way. Jaheira and Anomen were strolling up the path between them, trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
"I do not see how I deceived you!" Rasaad was fuming. "I told you openly that my intention was to infiltrate the Twofold Trust and thus far my plan is working perfectly. No thanks to you."
"Shar's teeth Rasaad! You actually intend to go through with joining these blasphemers, don't you? You said that the plan was to destroy this cult!" Viconia snarled. "We found the cult, we found the heretics and we left how many of them dead? Oh, that's right. NONE!"
"I came to reap my vengeance on Alorgoth, not murder his ignorant pawns!" Rasaad thundered. "With the map Hammerhelm gave me, he is finally within my grasp!"
"A map we ought to have stripped from Hammerhelm's bleeding body!" she retorted fiercely.
"Without the password?" snapped Rasaad. "Besides they outnumbered us ten to one!"
"We'll be even more outnumbered when we get to the temple!" Viconia raged. "Maybe we couldn't have slain all sixty heretics but at the very least we might have followed a few from the meeting and throttled them!"
"Woah, hang on a minute!" Anomen objected.
"Every time, EVERY TIME VICONIA!" Rasaad bellowed suddenly, his fists balling, "THAT I START TO HOPE YOU MIGHT BE REDEEMABLE, YOU COME OUT WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"
"ENOUGH!" screamed Viconia. She turned to Jaheira and Arowan, shaking with rage. "I am through humouring the monk's foolishness. It's me or the monk! Make your choice!"
Crackling of the campfire was all that could be heard for a moment. Yoshimo began pouring the kettle and handing out mugs of hot tea. Arowan took hers, blew on it gently, then cleared her throat with an amused expression.
"Viconia," she said carefully, "The selectivity of your memory never ceases to amaze me. I never wanted Rasaad to come at all. It was you who insisted we bring him."
The drow's face froze. She had, in her fury, forgotten this. It was humiliating to be reminded of it now, not to mention inconvenient. Deep down, she did not want to part ways with the monk, and had been relying on the good-aligned members of the party to veto it.
"And, if you recall, I would be more than happy to see the back of both of you," Jaheira added pleasantly.
Viconia's hands trembled a little. The monk was an idiot and worse, probably a heretic. Yet her lips still burned where he had kissed her. She could not decide whether she wanted to have him or kill him. Curse the limitations of this surface world! Back home in Menzoberranzan she would have done both!
"I am tired!" she snapped suddenly. "We will discuss this in the morning!"
Then she turned heel and with a flick of her silky hair, vanished into her tent. Rasaad's head was swimming and not only because he had been thirty-six hours without sleep. He lay down alone that night replaying the memory of kissing Viconia over and over in his head. The remaining four party members looked at each other around the fire and shrugged. The heretic hunters had abandoned their tea. After a while the others stole it.
Morning came and the party ate their breakfast rolls (a sad let down after the baked treats of the night before), packed up their camp and headed for the Twofold Temple. It was situated in the Cloud Peak Mountains but at the opposite side to the villages where Arowan had once been ranger.
Contrary to her word, Viconia did not revive the subject of expelling Rasaad from the party again. Her face-saving way of backing down was to pretend that the conversation had never taken place. Not a word was said about the night before. Neither the argument nor the kiss.
Notes;
*Believe it or not, this bit of the conversation is canon. Yes, Rasaad says this to Viconia and she actually lets him live. If that isn't proof that she loves him, I really don't know what is.
**Reference to a Jaffa cake ad from the 1990s. Now I want a Jaffa cake.
