Chapter 14
Unexpected Meetings
"Any
jobs yet?" Zak inquired of Jarlaxle as they strolled through half-forgotten
alleys (to Jarlaxle, that is) of their childhood to the Bregan D'aerthe HQ, the
cheetah trailing behind them.
Jarlaxle
snorted. "It does take some time, you
know."
"Perfectly,"
Zak sighed.
They
turned down yet another alley with a blind bend at the end, and Zaire began to
growl before changing her mind to a disgusted sniff. Three scruffy-looking, armed commoners jumped out, then three
more behind them.
The
leader stepped forward. "Put up yourn
hands an' give us yourn money an' we'd...oh, bloody hell."
Zaknafein
looked at them mildly. "Anything else
you'd like to say?" He put his hand up to finger the chain of office pointedly.
The
leader swallowed, and stepped back, but one of his companions, slower of mind,
looked at Zak. "'Dis is a hold up, if
you understand," he said, "We've got you surrounded an' outnumbered."
"That's
the ArchMage!" the leader hissed.
"One
day I hope for people to notice my presence," Jarlaxle sighed.
"Yeah?"
one behind them asked, and there was a small sound of fabric tearing. Zak held up a hand, and the small bolt
stopped in mid air inches from between his shoulder blades.
Jarlaxle
grinned, then leaped forward, swords sliding out of their sheaths, slipping
into a comfortable rhythm. Zaire too
darted forward, stealing the weapon master's first by latching on to the neck
of the leader and shaking roughly. The
skin of elves and such did not have the protective covering of fur of animals,
and tore more easily.
Zaknafein
turned around, his hands fanning out before him, palms up, saying the few
arcane words that he had found could take the place of the more long-winded,
standard scorcher spell. A roaring jet
of fire blazed out, engulfing the three whom were just turning to run. Looking at the ashes for a second, he then
turned around to see Jarlaxle finishing off the last.
"Had
our fun," Jarlaxle sniffed, wiping his swords.
"Right,"
Zak grinned, "Let us make it a point to shake the coin purses more, if you'd
like." Zaire lowered her head to wash
her paw demurely, then licked her mouth.
"The
stain does still show," Jarlaxle commented.
Zak
shrugged. "I don't think anyone would
comment much. Coming?"
Jarlaxle
rummaged through the clothing and took out with immense satisfaction a bag of
coins. "Ah. I see they got lucky a few times before us."
"Why
do you want that?" Zak grinned, "I mean, it's not as if Malice won't absolutely
ban you from the treasury any time soon."
"Looting,
Zaknafein," Jarlaxle said, "Is a fine art and a comfort to the soul. If you have one."
"Enough
jibes," Zak sighed, "Going?"
Jarlaxle
grinned. "Oh yes."
They
wandered out into a few other alleys before coming out into a wider but no less
dirty street. Some hunched figures were
walking with head bent in their direction.
"I
wonder how much Malice is actually going to take from the...that is, our
stuff," Jarlaxle said, "I'd like to keep at least some of what we took from
Gromph's mansion."
"We'd
see," Zak shrugged, "Malice is Malice. Even I cannot predict her."
The
figures paused when they passed, and one raised her head, clutching at Zak's
robe with a bony hand. Zak looked down
sharply and his eyes widened.
"Nina?"
Jarlaxle asked incredulously.
**
"Zaknafein
Do'Urden?" Dantrena asked, knocking on the door. She waited patiently for a while before knocking again, then
counted under her breath to thirty before considering breaking in, decided she
wasn't suicidal and walked to the next door. Jarlaxle, with his usual forgetfulness, and left it unlocked.
She
blinked when she walked in. The room
was filled with...junk. Actually, a
better and more generous term would be treasure, as it was filled with ancient,
expensive-looking books, golden statues, swords encrusted with gems and forged
of all sorts of metal, and such valuables.
She
much doubted the weapon master had bought them. Jarlaxle was known to be more inclined to steal than to buy. If he wanted your purse, he'd hit you then
take it, and Zaknafein as well, though the mage would probably somehow induce
the coins into his own pocket instead.
What
was going on? Dantrena closed her eyes and carefully located Lanfaye's psychic
presence, and politely 'knocked'. One
did not take liberties of the mind with a powerful telepath.
::Yes,
Dantrena?:: Lanfaye asked.
"Have
you seen Jarlaxle or Zaknafein?" Dantrena asked, "Matron Malice is looking for
them."
Lanfaye
paused as she scanned the House for the mental 'signatures' of the pair. ::They're not in the house,:: she replied at
last, ::But Jarlaxle mentioned going to Narbondellyn.::
"Narbondellyn?
His room is full of..." Dantrena began, then stopped. "Oh. I see. Gromph's mansion?"
::Perhaps
so,:: Lanfaye commented, then made the mental equivalent of a frown. ::Matron Malice is not going to like
this. She told Zak specifically not to
go to the mansion alone.::
"He
isn't alone," Dantrena said slowly, "I believe Jarlaxle is with him."
::Probably
so,:: Lanfaye paused, then sighed. ::Well, I'd try to look for them, I suppose,
though it'd take some time to locate their signatures on Market Day.::
"What
if they were at Gromph's mansion?" Dantrena asked.
::Why
then, I'd tell the Matron,:: Lanfaye shrugged. ::But are any more...things being taken in now?::
"Not
that I can see," Dantrena looked around for any portals.
::Then
they'd either be walking back or getting into more trouble,:: Lanfaye said
candidly. ::Somehow I believe it is the
latter.::
**
The
other figure pushed back her hood, to show the now slightly wrinkled face of
Marena. "I see the two of you have
grown up," she said, looking at them critically as if they'd never left. "And risen in life, I believe."
Nina's
eyes widened at the chain of office and the two House Do'Urden medallions. "How?" she asked.
"Let's
just say we were lucky," Jarlaxle grinned, "How is everyone doing?"
"The...brothel
was shut down a century or so ago," Marena shrugged, "Forcibly shut down. We make a living in...other ways now. What happened that the both of you didn't
come back?"
"Well,"
Zak said helplessly, "We went into Tirach. Um." Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice protested he was
ArchMage and patron of the Third House of Menzoberranzan, but years of habit of
listening to Marena and the others on pain of a long lecture and beating kicked
in even after laying dormant for so long.
"I
thought I told the both of you not to?" Marena asked, her voice rising
slightly. "The both of you deserve a
switching. Don't you listen to
instructions?"
Even
Jarlaxle looked embarrassed. "Can we
discuss this somewhere else?"
"Where?"
Nina asked, "This place is as good as any. What happened?"
"We
were more or less caught," Zak said. Zaire looked severely puzzled as he explained, with Jarlaxle helpfully
adding comments.
Nina
and Marena looked at each other thoughtfully at the end. "Well," Nina commented, then eyed them
again. "Perhaps it worked out for the
best."
"Do
you have a...job, now?" Jarlaxle asked suddenly.
Marena
smiled. "Still full of questions,
Jarl?" she asked, "I believed we told you as much. No, we do not."
Zaknafein
also looked puzzled until he caught on. "How would you like to...work for us?"
"In
a mercenary group known as Bregan D'aerthe," Jarlaxle continued quickly.
"Those
new fellows in neat uniforms?" Nina also smiled. "We cannot exactly fight very well, Jarl."
"What
we mean is we need a cook or two and some people to...keep the place," Zak
said, "If we were to leave it to the mercenaries and to Jarlaxle here, it'd
become a rothe pen in no time."
"If
the soldiers are any where near the both of you," Marena said darkly, "That
would be broadly true. Well. There are five of us left."
"Which?"
Zak asked.
"Sherl,
me, Nina, Zekres, Kirane." Marena said.
"Not
Sherl," Jarlaxle sighed.
"I'd
tell her you said that," Nina challenged.
Zaknafein
chuckled.
"And
you as well for not visiting so long," Marena continued. Zaknafein shut up.
"It's
not exactly our fault," Jarlaxle said mildly, "I mean, Matron Malice..."
"No
excuses," Marena said in her 'no-nonsense' tone. "Now, where is this Bregan D'aerthe?"
"Bregan
D'aerthe HQ is the large building with the tarnished, blank plaque somewhere in
front of us," Zaknafein said immediately, then smiled ruefully at Jarlaxle.
"We
passed it, I believe," Nina said, "The one with the large, messy yard?"
"It's
not messy," Jarlaxle protested, "Merely...filled."
Nina
nodded at Marena. "Well, Marena will go
for the rest while we go to see this HQ. Did the both of you clean it out when you moved in?"
"It's
only HQ for the soldiers," Zak said, "We have to stay in the House. Or Mali – that is, Matron Malice will get
upset."
"Maybe
about you," Jarlaxle grinned evilly.
"I'd
say the same about Lanfaye," Zak retorted.
"Your
ladies?" Nina grinned, as Marena hurried off.
"Not
exactly," Jarlaxle sighed, "You could say we're theirs, considering the sordid
rules of this city..."
"You
also haven't learnt what things to keep your mouths shut about," Nina said
sharply, "That's blasphemy, that is, saying such things about Them." Nina referred to all nobility as Them, and
apparently either hadn't registered the fact that Zak and Jarlaxle were
nobility, or had already and the fact that she had given them sound beatings in
childhood had overruled them for the time being.
Zak
grinned at Jarlaxle. One of their
problems had been solved, but he wondered briefly if getting them to HQ was
that good an idea. After a few days,
the entire Bregan D'aerthe would be well bullied enough to 'clean up your
rooms' and 'wipe your feet before coming in' sort of stuff.