Hey all here's Chapter 4. Sorry if it's not that good, my muse abandoned me! Grr..
Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual
Reviews: Thanks for the reviews! I'm so happy people like my story! Keep em coming!
Kezya: The Great Revenge was an awesome story; I had to put you on the list! = )
Suicide Minion: Thanks for the opinions, they're really good. Don't worry; I'll make sure to make Jaheira show her nice side once in a while. You might even see it in this chapter.
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Chapter 4: Tavern Talk
"Davoren! How've ya been? Long time no see!" Shadow immediately jumped up and greeted her tall, black-haired, red-eyed friend with a tight hug. He smiled and returned it as Khalid and Jaheira exchanged looks of confusion.
"Hey Shadow, should've known I'd find you in a tavern." He laughed as she smacked him on the arm. "Who are these two?" he glanced over at them curiously.
As the thief pushed him into the nearest chair and ordered him a drink (firewine, like herself), she introduced his to the other two. "Davoren, meet Khalid and Jaheira, we're going to meet Gorion tomorrow so that they can begin the Trials."
"We should have been here yesterday…" the druid muttered under her breath.
Drinking down his Firewine with one swig, he told the waitress to keep them coming. Looking the two Harpers in Training over, he finally said, " So you two are going to be the newest addition to the Harper ranks then? You look capable enough."
"Coming from him that's a huge compliment!" the thief said grinning.
"Oh shut up. Anyway, Lord knows we could use more recruits."
The other three looked up at that. "W-What do you mean by t-that? What h-happened to the others?"
Davoren gave Khalid a studying look. *My, he's a nervous one isn't he? He's supposed to be a fighter? Are you sure about these two Shadow?* "Oh, there's no real need to worry. The missions are just getting harder, either that or the recruits are getting softer." That didn't seem to comfort them any though.
Drinking a bit from his mead, Khalid examined the newcomer. *He must be a Harper to know so much about them. I wonder how he and Shadow met? I did not think that she was already a Harper…*
Noticing that the fighter was staring at him, Davoren cleared his throat slightly. " Did you have a question?"
Khalid jumped slightly, not realizing he had zoned out. "N-no, sorry, just thinking. Actually, m-might I ask what it is you d-do?"
"Also if you don't mind my asking, but how did you two meet? Shadow rarely talks of herself." Jaheira inquired suddenly.
"For good reason too." The thief said while drinking her Firewine, but the other three were ignoring her as usual.
Smiling Davoren replied, "Of course. I am a bard, a Blade to be exact, in the service of the Harpers. I have been for many years now. Shadow is an assassin for them, as she may or may not have told you." Judging by their sudden surprised glances at the rogue he guessed she hadn't. "We are childhood friends, we grew up together in Beregost and joined the Harpers roughly fifty years ago. I haven't seen her in a while though; Gorion had recently sent me on a mission to discover the plans of some man named Murdock. He has been sending spies to kill off our scouts." The trio seemed rather shocked at this new information and stared at him unbelievingly.
Jaheira found her voice first. "Did you say Murdock?" at the
bard's confused nod she continued, "His agents attacked us earlier today.
However they were hobgoblins and easily disposed of."
Looking shocked at the news, Davoren quickly recovered and asked them if they
had any proof that they were indeed Murdock's troops. Shadow suddenly "Ooh!"ed
and began searched frantically through her pack for the brooch. After a few
minutes of digging through her extremely messy backpack, she finally found it
and triumphantly held it up for the bard to see.
"That looks exactly like the one we got off of the bandits that attacked us the other day! Gorion seemed disturbed by the news so he sent me to investigate it. I found nothing though. You should still report your findings to Gorion however," he looked slightly troubled as if there was something more to it that he wasn't mentioning.
Jaheira was the only one who noticed, but before she could really tell, he had put his charming smile back on his face. *He is leaving something out. I know it. I wonder, can we truly trust him?* she smiled back and took a sip of her tea. "Well I'm sure all of this talk can wait till tomorrow. For now we should simply relax."
Khalid and Shadow just stared at her for a few seconds. "What?"
"Nothing, I just didn't know you knew how to relax! I'm so proud!" they laughed and began talking.
Hours and quite a few drinks later, most of the patrons had left up to their rooms. Davoren was asleep on the table in a drunken coma, while Khalid looked as if he was going to pass out at any second. The two females looked at each other and tried to stifle their laughter, especially when Khalid finally hit the table with a loud thunk.
"Those two never could hold their liquor. Aww, aren't they cute?" Shadow said sarcastically.
Jaheira smiled, "Oh yes, especially the way your boyfriend is drooling over there."
The thief blushed slightly at "boyfriend" then laughed, "Him? Puhleeze! Anyway, you're just jealous. But hey, you've got Khalid, and he's a pretty nice prize himself!" Jaheira turned beet-red as she started stuttering for an answer. "Aha! I knew you had a thing for him!"
The druid glanced up at her last comment, "And how, may I ask, did you figure that out?"
Smiling mischievously, Shadow replied, " Well lets see, anyone else who got on your bad side would soon meet with your staff, evidence of which is still on my head by the way, but you didn't do anything to him when he insulted your cooking. Then you helped him fight the uglies, and you keep shooting him glances. That's how I figured it out."
Jaheira's mouth dropped open then she laughed happily. "I had no idea I was being so blatant about it! I wonder does he have any idea?" she stole another glance at the peacefully sleeping fighter. "What am I saying? I should not be acting this way…let us change the subject."
Looking at her for a second the thief sighed softly.*Darn, and I almost had her convinced that liking someone is a good thing! Ahh well, at least now there's hope for her!*
Jaheira suddenly asked, "That friend of yours, Davoren, he seems slightly…odd. His eyes for example, they are bright red, have they always been like that? He also seems to be hiding something from us…"
Shadow suddenly turned rather cold. Staying silent for a few minutes, she finally said something that made Jaheira's blood run cold. "Your right he isn't exactly normal, and no, he wasn't always like this. Something happened a long time ago, I'd love to tell you but I just can't trust anyone that much yet." She stood up right after that, and began walking up the steps, leaving Jaheira shocked and alone with the two sleeping men.
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Whew, it's done. I rewrote this chapter sooooo many times! It changed completely each time, but this one was definitely the best draft. What is Davoren's secret? Can he be trusted? Who is Murdock and what does he have against the Harpers? Stay tuned to find out! As always please R&R!
By the way, if you're shocked at how long Davo and Shadow have been in the Harpers, remember that they're both elves, so it's not that long for them.
