Hark: Due to the difficulties in fanfiction.net I haven't been able to upload new chapters in over a week. Hopefully things will work better from now on.

Chapter 20: Preparing for the ball



Shandara looked at her image from a mirror and had to admit that the seamstresses had done a wonderful job. Her dress was made of red silk with golden decorations, and it brought out her best features. Isaldora's dress was less revealing, and Shandara had to admit that she felt envious. The elf would get the chance to enjoy the ball and she wouldn't have to have sex with a fat old man, who had a reputation of treating women badly.



Shandara knew that those kinds of thoughts weren't good for her, and she pushed them away, starting to change her clothes. The dress would have to wait for tomorrow. The last week had passed almost too quickly, and she realized that she was feeling a bit nervous. She had forced Entreri, Jarlaxle and Isaldora to one last dance practice two days earlier, and although it had gone well and none of them had even complained, she had a terrible feeling that something would go wrong.



Again thoughts that she shouldn't think. She couldn't help it, it happened every time she was in an operation where there were many people involved. She always knew what she was supposed to do, but she had the bad habit of worrying about the others and wondering whether they knew exactly what they had to do. She worried too much; based on what she had heard about Artemis Entreri she shouldn't worry at all. His reputation, although a dark one, had proven that he never failed in what he set out to do. Then again, Shandara thought, maybe the man had failed sometimes, but nobody dared to talk about these failures. Or then those who had were dead.



Shandara wondered whether Entreri would tell her if she asked. Probably not. The assassin had become a bit friendlier during the last week, but he still hardly even talked to her. Basically Shandara just kept talking and Entreri listened, not really commenting on anything. Then again, sometimes he surprised her with saying something she had never imagined he would say.



Shandara had to admit it, she was interested in this strange man, and she knew that he was interested in her. She had seen his looks, the ones filled with desire, if only for a short while, and she knew that if she only found some way to get through his defences, he could turn out to be a passionate lover. If only... She had no idea how to do it, but she could keep trying. It was not that she couldn't get almost every man in the guild, but she knew them all and there wasn't any challenge.



Challenge. Getting Artemis Entreri would be a challenge. Like getting Isaldora had been a challenge to Jarlaxle. Shandara thought that it was strange comparing herself to the drow, but then again, she was comparing the one thing they had in common; their love for earthly pleasures. Jarlaxle had got Isaldora and Shandara knew that she had a good chance of getting Entreri. The trick was the right timing. And good luck, she added, smirking at her image.



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Aran Linvail wasn't at all surprised when he received a report stating that one of the caravans carrying things for the guild had been robbed. He had been expecting something like this to happen, but he couldn't send more men to guard every caravan. Guarding the guildhouses had already taken away almost half of their normal profit when the most skilled fighters and thieves had to make sure that the guild members wouldn't be murdered in their beds.



"They got mostly weapons," Alenson repeated, and Aran realized he hadn't been listening to his second in command at all. "Nothing magical, thank the gods, but still..."



"It's not good if we arm our enemies," Aran sighed. "Limit the number of caravans. Only those carrying important goods can continue moving, the rest of the goods can wait until this mess is over."



"It might take some time," Alenson said, and Aran simply nodded. The little pieces of information they had managed to gather about this new guild weren't very helpful. They still didn't know who had financed the guild, who had managed to lure so many of their members to turn against them... And losing Tassa still hurt. Aran hadn't loved her, but he thought that he had taken good care of her, and he couldn't understand what had made her betray him.



"You're not listening," Alenson said sharply. "But I'll send the messages. And I think you really should consider hiring some skilled fighters and mages. We need them."



"Not now," Aran replied, turning his attention back on the subject at hand. "Of course, soon we won't have any money and we can't hire them."



"I'll make some inquires," Alenson said. "I have some friends in Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, they might be interested in helping us. And they have enough money, I think they would come along just for the fun."



"You've never mentioned these friends before," Aran noted. "But do what you can. I've doubled the number of our spies; if we don't get any information soon, then we deserve to be beaten. We have to be ready for battle al the time."



"I hope that tomorrow night goes well," Alenson sighed. Aran nodded; he didn't even dare to think what would happen if something went wrong. Lord Kheran was not known for his kindness, and losing Shandara and Isaldora would mean losing two fiends. Losing Jarlaxle and Entreri on the other hand would mean losing two skilled and experienced fighters, and he couldn't afford that. Still he hadn't even thought about cancelling the operation. He had to trust that luck would be on their side for a while. And like Shandara had assured him many times, she was good and Kheran would fall for her like all those numerous nobles and merchants before him.



"I think things will go well," Aran said. "You can go now. Contact your friends and find out about other mercenaries available. I'm not going to hire them yet," he said sharply, "but I want to know all possibilities."



"Yes sir," Alenson grinned and left the room. Aran leaned back in his chair and wished that he could just forget all these things for even a moment. But he was the Shadowmaster, after all, and he had to worry about what went on in the guild at every moment. If there weren't troubles in Athkatla, then there certainly were in some other town, and he had to sort things out, no matter how tired or busy he was.



A messenger came in with reports from Shadow Thieves guilds in Baldur's Gate, and Aran started to go through them. It was good, actually, now he didn't have the time to think of all the things that could go wrong in the ball if all their luck would fail. Although that would have been more interesting than reading about problems in sewage systems of the guildhouse in Baldur's Gate, the Shadowmaster thought, putting the report down and taking a bottle from a cupboard. Some things were easier to deal with if you were a bit drunk.