***

Chapter 11:

To Spellhold

***

It took the rest of the month for the Blades to get together the money to pay for passage to Spellhold, and then, once the Shadow Thieves were paid there was one more favor required: to destroy Bodhi's vampire nest in the graveyards. It was far from the rout Brynn had hoped it would be, but the Blades were victorious, if a little worn and battered, in the end. After the guild had been crushed the Blades had run into Bodhi herself, fought her and sent her fleeing from the catacombs, but where no one knew.

The famous, or perhaps infamous, seaman, Saemon Havarian was contracted to sail the Blades to the island where the fortress-prison of Spellhold stood. A quick witted, charming man with blonde hair, Saemon was quick to flirt with the ladies among the Blades, and just as quickly he was soundly rebuffed. After that he was relatively decent company, if still a bit of a flirt, and he was more than a decent captain. Brynn, who knew next to nothing about sailing, was glad to have a competent man like Saemon in charge of the ship.

Though the seas were calm, the sky clear and the sun warm and bright the wind was good and strong and the ship moved swiftly on its course. Unfortunately, the weather was the only real bright spot of the voyage. Maybe it was because she was worrying about how she would free Imoen, but Brynn's nightmares started again. She woke up two nights in a row in a cold sweat, flashes of her dreams still haunting her even though her eyes were open. Sometimes she was back in her cage in Irenicus' dungeon, screaming and begging for him to stop the cruel torture of his 'tests', and sometimes she could see Khalid and Dynaheir stretched out, cold and lifeless, their bodies mutilated in some sort of bizarre experiment, and their dead eyes focused on her, as if to blame her for the way they had been violated. After those dreams she couldn't get back to sleep again, no matter how hard she tried, and she took to walking the decks whenever she couldn't sleep.

***

Brynn wasn't the only one who was troubled. Everyone was worried, everyone was a little tense, but of them all the heaviest burden was carried by Yoshimo. Every day that they drew closer to their destination his heart grew heavier and his mind whirled faster as he tried desperately to find some way to free himself from Irenicus' geas. He couldn't think of anything though. He was trapped. If he didn't deliver Brynn to Irenicus he would die, and Brynn would know that he had been a traitor. If he did deliver her she would find out about him anyway, and Irenicus would get his foul hands on her. The choice seemed simple. He would rather die for Brynn than give her to Irenicus, but even if he did turn from the geas there was no guarantee of her safety. Irenicus had a safeguard against any self-sacrificing decision Yoshimo might make, and the name of that safeguard was Saemon Havarian. Sitting near the bow of the ship, Yoshimo held back a sigh and watched restlessly as the sun began to set. There had to be a way, he told himself over and over again. Maybe he could convince Irenicus to let Brynn go. He snorted in contempt of his own silly delusions. Yeah, Irenicus would let Brynn be when the sun turned violet and the clouds pink with black spots.

"Why the long face, friend?" asked Havarian coming up and taking a seat near Yoshimo.

Yoshimo didn't answer.

Havarian gave him a reproachful look. "Oh come on," he said cajolingly, "cheer up!"

"Havarian," Yoshimo said quietly, "You are an idiot."

Havarian smiled an ingratiating little smile. "Now, that's not fair," he argued. "You've got to have a little fun while life lasts, Yoshimo my friend. Enjoy the time you have because it's short and it gets shorter every day."

"Go away, Havarian," Yoshimo said bluntly.

"Take for instance the lovely lady Brynn," Havarian continued without hesitation. "If I were you I'd enjoy her while she lasts. You've got her convinced you love her, might as well..."

Yoshimo grabbed Havarian by the throat and looked him in the eyes. "Shut up," he growled, releasing Havarian and pushing him away sharply.

Havarian rubbed his throat with a strange expression on his face. "You're not acting, are you?" he asked, his voice full of curiosity and wonder. "You really do love her." He laughed out loud. "By the gods, and you called me an idiot! I thought you were smarter than that."

Yoshimo said nothing in reply and continued to look out at the ever darkening sky.

"Now don't get sullen," Havarian said. "It's not your fault you don't know how to deal with the ladies I suppose. Me for instance, I never get too attached to a pretty face. You have to keep your priorities straight."

"I reiterate, Havarian, you're an idiot," Yoshimo said coldly. "I have my priorities straight."

"Not if you're risking your neck like you are now," Havarian argued. "Your own skin has to come first, Yoshimo. I thought you knew that much at least."

"Some things are more important than that."

"Love?" Havarian asked. "Love isn't anything but a four letter word used to get the ladies in between the sheets. That's how it's got to be for men like us. We haven't got the time to risk love, it'll just get us killed. Or as good as killed."

"Then I will die," Yoshimo said. "If it means protecting her I will gladly die."

Havarian shook his head sadly. "Self-sacrifice sounds noble, but death isn't a pretty thing to think about." He paused. "Still, I have to admire your bravery," he admitted. "It's the sort of thing bards write songs about and ends up in fairy stories. You're going to try and save her from Irenicus I guess."

Yoshimo nodded, wondering if he ought to be admitting these things to Havarian.

"Tymora's blessing on you," Havarian said. "It's all I can offer. I'm going to get my reward for this little excursion, but I won't turn you into Irenicus. If you beat the geas somehow it won't make much difference to me I suspect, so long as I get my gold."

"I hope it makes you happy," Yoshimo muttered. He stood up and stalked aft just as the last bit of the golden sunlight slipped below the horizon.

***

Brynn had a good feeling about things from the moment she set foot on solid ground again. She wasn't a superstitious, but she couldn't help thinking that the fact that the tiny port village beneath Spellhold was called Brynn Law was a good omen if there ever was one. Even the difficulties involved in getting into Spellhold, and the unexpected problems the Blades ran into in the town all seemed to work themselves out nicely with the judicious application of brains, charm and brute force.

The easiest course to the prison was to obtain the wardstone from a man named Perth, who lived near the outskirts of the city and worked in the prison as some sort of minor functionary. The Blades went to Perth's home, and tried to reason with him, but he was utterly unreasonable, and the result was a short, but violent, battle. Still, the Blades acquired the wardstone at the price of a few cuts, scrapes and magic missile burns, which Brynn though was cheap enough all considered. Besides, the damage was quickly remedied by Anomen, Aerie and Jaheira through their healing magic.

Cupping the wardstone in her palms Brynn smiled to herself. It was dark, but perhaps a night assault would be more effective than one during the day. "Well," she said to the others, "what do you say? Should we go now or wait until morning."

"The sooner we rescue Imoen the better," Jaheira said.

Minsc agreed with her, and so did most of the others.

Yoshimo, oddly enough, was the only one who hesitated before agreeing. Brynn decided she would talk to him about it later. He was probably just concerned.

"All right then," she said brightly, "we can get in, get Imoen and get out before dawn if we're quick, and if we're lucky we'll be off the island before the mages up at the prison even know what hit them." She strode off jauntily toward the path that led up to Spellhold. She had this feeling that good things were going to happen, that luck was with her, and that by the time the sun climbed over the horizon again her quest would be complete.