***
Chapter 2: Black Ink
***
Her hands trembling with anger and frustration Jaheira picked up the neatly folded note that had been left on Brynn's rumpled bedspread and read it.
My friends,
I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I know if I told you face to face you would insist on accompanying me. I could not allow that. Your lives are in danger every moment you are in my company, and I can't endanger you anymore. I beg you, if you are truly my friends you will let me go on alone. Please don't search me out, and please forgive me for not saying good-bye properly.
Brynn
Jaheira clenched her hands, crumpling the note. How could Brynn have gone and done this? Was she stupid? She would never be able to rescue Imoen on her own! Growling Jaheira took a moment to remind her self that Brynn was in all likelihood not alone. The bounty hunter, Yoshimo, had also vanished during the night and he had probably managed to con Brynn into letting him accompany her. For the life of her Jaheira couldn't figure out whether that fact made her feel better or worse about Brynn's running off.
Minsc, hovering like a tall pine over Jaheira's shoulder, said, "Boo and I were wondering what that says. Could you read it to us?"
Jaheira suppressed an irritated sigh. Minsc usually didn't get on her nerves that much, but it was at times like this that she truly wished that another good belt on the head would jog him back to sanity. "Brynn, for the Gods only know what reason, has decided to go off on her own."
Minsc shuffled uneasily. "Though Brynn truly is a righteous butt-kicking force of goodness how can someone as small as her plant her boots firmly in the rears of big evils all by herself? Her boots aren't big enough." The hamster on Minsc's shoulder chittered. "Boo agrees," he added.
Jaheira tightened her hand around the paper even more. "Minsc..." she began.
At the door to Brynn's bedroom two pairs of soft-shod feet scraped across the stone floor of the keep and the elf girl, Aerie and the young human mage, Nalia poked their heads into the door.
"Where's Brynn?" Nalia asked.
"She's gone," Jaheira growled, not feeling like giving the long version of the story. "The bounty hunter has gone with her," she added.
Aerie just looked around, her tip-tilted blue eyes wide. "Oh my," she murmured.
"Ah!" exclaimed Minsc suddenly, "Minsc and Boo aren't worried! Two pairs of small boots can give as much kick as one pair of big boots."
"Minsc, you're an idiot!" Jaheira snapped. "How much evil butt Brynn and the bounty hunter can kick is not the issue here!"
Minsc looked taken aback. He lifted his hamster off his shoulder and petted him with one great hand. "Please don't shout, you are upsetting Boo," he added much more quietly, "not to mention Minsc!"
"Why would she leave?" Aerie asked in that sickeningly naive way she had.
Jaheira tossed the crumpled note to the wing-clipped Avariel, "Read for yourself," she said.
Nalia and Aerie scanned the note together. Aerie looked up when she had finished. "I never knew she felt that way..."
"Don't feel bad, little one," Minsc said gently. He put the hamster back up his shoulder and patted Aerie on the back. "Not even Boo knew."
Jaheira turned away from the trio at the doorway, trying to quell the urge to break something, most likely Brynn once she got hold of the errant girl. She took a deep breath, violence would get her nowhere now. Calming herself, Jaheira tracked her irritation to its true source. Jaheira hadn't known that Brynn was thinking of leaving either. That was what really got her angry. She should have seen some sign, after all she had been with Brynn the longest, and she knew her the best, after Imoen of course.
She shoved one hand into her belt pouch, feeling the second note Brynn had left. That one had been addressed to Jaheira personally. It was an apology for getting her into this whole mess... and an apology for Khalid's death. Jaheira's heart constricted; that loss was too fresh to think about without numbing pain shooting through her soul. Somehow Brynn had gotten the idea that the deaths of Khalid and Dynaheir, not to mention the torture they had all endured and Imoen's capture in Waukeen's Promenade, were her fault alone. Or at least that was what Jaheira could tell from the note. Brynn's sentences seemed unconnected, and her handwriting was sloppy, written with haste and fear. Jaheira knew that if there had been time Brynn would have also written a note for Minsc, even though the addle headed ranger would have been unable to read it himself. As it was there were a few lines scrawled at the bottom of the paper that Brynn had meant for Minsc, another apology this time for Dynaheir.
Nalia's voice pulled Jaheira from her thoughts. "So, what are we going to do?" she asked.
Jaheira turned back to the others. "We go after her of course."
"But didn't she ask us not to follow her?" Nalia persisted.
"She obviously isn't thinking right," Jaheira said firmly. "We cannot in good conscience let her go off on her own."
"But she has Yoshimo with her..." Nalia began to protest.
"I don't trust the bounty hunter as far as Aerie can throw him," Jaheira snapped.
Nalia, wisely, chose not to argue any further.
Jaheira took the note back from the two young women and shoved it into her belt pouch along with the other note. "We can only assume that they went back to Athkatla; that's where all the money is after all. Come on, gather your things and meet me at the gate within half and hour. They already have a head start on us let's not give them a bigger one by dawdling."
***
Brynn looked around the tight confines of her room at the Five Flagons Inn. She sat on the edge of one of the room's two beds, with just a couple of feet between it and the other bed. A wobbly night stand was wedged up against the wall in between the two beds directly underneath the room's only window. Taking up most of the rest of the room was a small dresser pushed against the wall near the door. She sighed, in all her haste to pack her things and get out of her keep she had forgotten to pad her purse with a few extra gold pieces. She and Yoshimo had only been able to afford this single cheap room.
Speaking of which, where had Yoshimo gone? Just as soon as he'd dropped his things into the room he'd gone off somewhere. She hoped he hadn't gone far. One of Athkatla's guard captains, something-or-other Aegisfield, had warned them as they had entered the bridge district that there was a murderer about skinning victims. Not that Brynn thought Yoshimo couldn't handle himself, she accounted him quite capable, she just was worried.
"It would be just fitting," she muttered to herself, "if that murderer was one of Irenicus' henchmen."
The door opened, the rusty hinges squeaking madly, and Yoshimo walked into the room, the hood of his leather jerkin pulled up over his head. He pushed the hood back before sitting down opposite Brynn on the edge of his own bed. "You should lock the door," he said.
"What for?" Brynn asked. "Any thief in the city could get that lock undone in a second, and if someone wanted to kill me in my sleep they could break those rusted old hinges without even trying."
"Yes, but the noise a would be thief or attacker might make picking the lock or forcing the door would be enough to wake you," Yoshimo pointed out. "The noise the same person would make just turning the handle and walking into the room..."
"Rusty hinges, Yoshimo," Brynn argued, "don't forget the rusty hinges, the sound they make would be enough to wake the dead."
"Then if not for our safety do it for my peace of mind, all right?" Yoshimo asked.
"Fine," Brynn said.
Yoshimo smiled tightly and emptied his pockets. A number of gold and silver pieces clinked onto the night stand.
"Yoshimo you didn't..." Brynn began.
"No," he replied with a small sigh, "I did not steal this. I had a few items I did not need so I sold them."
Brynn's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry," she murmured.
"Don't be," Yoshimo told her, "in your place I would have made the same assumption."
Brynn shook her head. "No, I am sorry and I should be. I can't be picky where our funds come from right now, and I can't blame you for doing what you think is necessary."
"It's not too late yet," Yoshimo said thoughtfully, "and I hear a troupe of actors has inhabited the playhouse in the basement, would you like to see a performance? I think one is about to start."
Brynn shrugged. It didn't sound like too bad of an idea, though he feet ached from all the walking she had done and she might well have dropped off to sleep right then. At the though to sleeping she shuddered, no she didn't want to have any more of those dreams. "Sure," she agreed.
Yoshimo stood up and got the door and Brynn followed him out. She locked the door behind them and went down the stairs into the common room. Another flight of stair on the other side of the room lead down into the basement where the playhouse was.
A pretty young woman standing behind a small desk asked, "Are you here for the show?"
Brynn nodded. "Yes, the two of us."
"We're not charging admission, but any donations you'd like to make would be greatly appreciated," the woman said.
Yoshimo dug a silver piece out of his coin purse and handed it to the woman who smiled gratefully and said, "Go have yourselves a seat anywhere you'd like. The show will begin in a moment."
The theater was already pretty crowded, so Brynn and Yoshimo took their seats near the back on one of the many long wooden benches arrayed around the room and waited patiently for the play to begin. As the young woman had said, the play began only minutes after they were seated, the thing the woman hadn't mentioned was that the play was awful. It might have been passably good except the lead actor didn't seem to know any of his lines, and though his fellow actors tried to cover for him, his mistakes were painfully obvious. After a while the audience started to complain loudly and many people left.
Frustrated and hurt, the poor young actor shouted, "I'm only the understudy!" and walked off backstage.
The complaints only grew louder and Brynn and Yoshimo were about to leave, disgusted, when a woman walked onto the stage. "I am Raelis Shai," she said, "I am very sorry for tonight's performance. I ask for your patience, the star of our show has... been indisposed. I assure you that if you come back on another night you will be please with what you see." She paused. "Lastly, if there is anyone in the audience of the adventuring sort I ask for your help. You will be well rewarded for your services." With that the woman turned and went backstage
Brynn turned to Yoshimo. "What do you think?" she asked. "Should we go see what sort of task she has?"
Yoshimo stood up, "Why not? We could always refuse."
They pushed their way through the grouchy, grumbling crowd, climbed up onto the stage and made walked back behind the patchy red curtains. The members of the acting troupe were arranged all around the backstage area, some muttering quietly to themselves, the rest stone were silent and sending angry glares at that evening's understudy.
Raelis Shai sighed loudly and said, "I am sorry, but I cannot give you a refund for this evening's performance. If you would but come back another night..."
"I don't want a refund," Brynn said. "I heard you say you were looking for someone to do a task for you. Yoshimo and I are interesting in hearing more."
Raelis looked relieved. "Thank you," she said. "One of our actors, Haer'Dalis, was abducted three days ago by a wizard. I cannot understand why except that perhaps the wizard was interested in a bauble Haer'Dalis had in his possession. All I ask of you is that you retrieve our sparrow and his gem and bring him back to us safely. Are you willing?"
Brynn nodded. "Sure, I'd be glad to lend a hand. You mentioned something about a reward?"
"Yes I did," Raelis answered. "For the rescue of Haer'Dalis we would pay you five hundred gold, and for the return of his gem, I offer an additional three hundred."
Yoshimo whistled quietly. "That is not a bad offer," he said to Brynn in a confidential tone.
"Sounds fair," Brynn said. "D'you know where we can find this wizard?"
"Of course," Raelis replied, smiling. "I do not know how you might access his home from above ground, but I believe there is a way to get in from the sewers."
Brynn wrinkled her nose at the idea of tromping through the sewers. She thought she had put all that behind her back in Baldur's Gate. "Do you know where we can access the sewers from?"
"I know that the entrance nearest to the wizard's home is in the temple district, but other than that I cannot say," Raelis told them. "I am sorry I cannot help you more than that."
"Well," Brynn said, "I can promise you that Yoshimo and I will have your friend back safe and sound by this time tomorrow night if not sooner. Good night!" She smiled once at the actor, gave Raelis a quick bow, and head back upstairs, Yoshimo trailing in her wake.
When they had gotten back to their room and closed the door Yoshimo asked, "By this time tomorrow? Are you sure that is not too optimistic?"
Brynn sat down on the edge of her bed and pulled her boots off. "Not really. I don't think it will take long to find a way into this mage's home, and less time to convince him to release the actor." She grinned and unsheathed her katanas. "I can be pretty convincing when I want to be." She sheathed the weapons again, unbuckled her sword belt, and hung it over the post at the foot of her bed. She started to pull her tunic off over her head, but then thought better of it. "Would you turn around?" she asked.
"Right away," Yoshimo replied hastily. He turned around and faced the wall.
She slipped out of her tunic and trousers and pulled her nightshirt from her satchel. "Anyway it should be easy enough to get the actor," Brynn continued, "it's getting the gem I'm worried about. If it's worth anything the mage isn't likely to give it up easily. It might be good if neither of us mentioned it and you just poked around a little while I was bargaining with the mage." She pulled the nightshirt on and said, "You can turn back now."
As if afraid she might pull a trick on him, Yoshimo carefully peered over his shoulder before turning all the way around. "That sound like a fair enough plan," he agreed.
Brynn smiled. "Good," she said. She climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up over her eyes. "You can change now. I won't look."
Yoshimo's only reply was to quickly get out of his clothes and under his own covers. When she was sure it was safe to look Brynn pulled her blankets off her face and blew out the room's dim candle.
"Good night," she said, snuggling down into her blankets.
There was a pause before Yoshimo replied, "Good night," and then all the noise there was to be heard came in from the city street below. Slowly those noises lulled Brynn into a deep, dreamless sleep.
For a very long time Yoshimo stayed awake, his eyes fixed on the low ceiling of the darkened room. He was alert to every sound, from the calls of the prostitutes that roamed the streets at night to the barking of dogs and the clatter the innkeeper made below as he cleaned up for the night. He was most attentive though to the steady, quiet sound of Brynn's breathing only three feet away. She rested peacefully, shifting only slightly in her sleep, but even that sound was enough to drive Yoshimo to distraction.
Once long ago Yoshimo's mentor, a man called Hiruma Sabishii, had told him that all he needed to do in order to live a long, prosperous life as a bounty hunter was follow three simple rules. The first was don't get too close, the second was never make a deal with a man that couldn't be trusted, and the third was never take on a job where the mark is a woman. So far Yoshimo had managed to break all three of those rules on this one job.
He kept telling himself that it wasn't his fault. He hadn't known that Irenicus' prisoner was a woman, nor had he known when he'd agreed to the job that Irenicus was a demented monster. He hadn't known, but he could have found out. If he hadn't been pressed for cash and hiding from the wrath of the Shadow Thieves he would have found out. None of that was his fault.
But one thing was his fault. He'd broken the cardinal rule of bounty hunting. He'd gotten too close. He turned his head and looked across the room at Brynn. Her long blonde hair was spread out across her pillow and her lips were parted slightly as she slept. She seemed completely at peace, as if she felt utterly safe. And for all that sometime in the near future he was bound by the magic of the gaes to turn her over to Irenicus all he wanted to do was make sure that she could always sleep so peacefully.
He turned his eyes away, but he could not turn his mind away. It seemed that ever since he had met Brynn she had been in his thoughts. Something about her that drew him in and pulled away his defenses. He couldn't say precisely what that something was, but if he had to call it something it was that she cared. From the first battle they had fought side by side she'd cared about him. From the moment she let him join her and her companions she had considered him a friend. Yoshimo couldn't remember a time when anyone else had concerned themselves about his fate.
And so he was damned no matter what he tried to do. If he didn't deliver Brynn to Irenicus the gaes would kill him, and if he did he would be betraying the only person who gave damn about him.
He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep, but it took long restless hours for him to drift into slumber.