Chapter Eleven: Arrival

The de'Arnise keep, 2 Hammer, 1370 DR

 The snows of deep winter were trapping the de'Arnise lands in a blanket of icy whiteness that glared threateningly. The leafless trees around the keep were now touched with frost and snow, and the distant river only managed a bare trickle through the clasp of ice that held the flow in check.

 Nalia de'Arnise walked on the slippery, icy battlements, wearing a cloak of heavy yellow wool, and a dark blue dress woven from fine cotton. Inside the layers of clothes, she felt warm, but her face and hands were freezing. Small sprinkles of snow, tumbling lightly from the sky, landed on her cheek, each one feeling like a tiny stab from a needle.

 Seeing the extent of the winter, Nalia was glad that her factors had been able to purchase plenty of grain and meat from Amnwater to feed the inhabitants of her keep and land. It was starting to be a bad winter, and at least, with plenty of food being stored, there was one less problem to worry about.

 A gust of strong wind knocked her cloak, setting it flying behind her like a banner of glory and majesty. Chuckling to herself, Nalia thought that she looked like a character in one of the chivalry novels that Anomen used to read. Her eyes narrowed when she thought of Anomen, however. Their last conversation, a week ago in Amn had made her feel worse than she had done for a long time…

* * *

 "She loves you, Anomen!"

 The knight turned to face her, face reddening with anger. "She loves me, does she, Nalia? Then tell me, wise mage and noble lady, why has she not visited me in my dreams as she does you? Why has there not been a miracle for me? Why did she leave me in the first place, turning from our love to the shameless pursuit of power?"

 Nalia stood, anger flashing through her like a summer storm. "You selfish, arrogant churl! Her foster father died for her, her friends Khalid and Dynaheir died for her! They died because of her Bhaalspawn blood! Throughout her life, nothing good had come of her heritage, and then she was given a chance to change all that. She was given a chance to become a god, to affect how things work in the Realms. Do you think it was an easy choice for her?"

 Anomen roared, and took a step forward. "Witch! You know nothing of our love! I understand all that, but our love was something good! She had the opportunity to make a fresh start, away from murder and the memory of Bhaal. She could have lived with me, and made a life! We could have had children!"

 Pulling herself to her full height, which was half-an-inch smaller than Anomen, Nalia growled, and said, "Kathryn told me how difficult it was for her to decide. She even told you that! She said she was sorry, that she still loved you! How can you turn your back on her like this, Anomen? All she asked you to do was remain true, but you surround yourself in self-pity and bitter turmoil like a cocoon of darkness!"

 Lord Delryn yelled, in a voice cracking with authority and anger. "You have no idea! She spoke to me, Nalia! Just before she ascended, she told me that our love would be eternal, that the gods themselves would know of her commitment to me, that nothing could ever separate our entwined paths! And then she leapt into the heavens, leaving me behind here without her loving embrace, without her soft words and music! Tell me that she loves me, Nalia, because I do not believe it! There is no love anymore, not for anyone! It is a false aspiration. There is nothing but duty… pure, mindless, duty…"

 Nalia shook her head, "Anomen, you have no idea."

 The knight shrugged. "I have more idea than you, Nalia. Now, I would ask you to leave, please, I tire of this endless angst. I just want to forget about it, and continue with my work here in Athkatla."

* * *

 Nalia blinked away a tear.

 The pain Anomen was experienced touched a chord in her heart. She did not know why Kathryn didn't appear to the knight, to drive away his self-doubts, but there was doubtless a good reason. All he needed to do was show some faith in the goddess, and she would repay him, and let him know the truth about their love, and why things had happened the way that they had.

 Shivering, Nalia pulled her flapping cloak tighter around her form, and stared out at the horizon, making out dim, hazy shapes in the endlessly rolling, swirling snow. At least two horsemen, were riding directly towards the keep, at a speed that suggested a terrible urgency.

 Nalia turned, and yelled to the guards on duty to open the gate, and as she did so, she started striding down the steps into the courtyard. If the riders were hostile, then her magic could deal with them easily. If they were friendly, then it was better she met them sooner, rather than later.

 Shouts echoed through the howling winds, and slowly the drawbridge was lowered, and the recently rebuilt portcullis was raised. Nalia waited, a spell of searing flame hovering on her lips, as the two riders rode over the drawbridge, hooves clattering noisily. When they entered the courtyard, sparks leapt where they struck the stone floor. Nalia raised a hand in greeting,

 "Greetings strangers, state your name and your business on this cold winter's day!"

 There was a low, rumbling laugh, which Nalia recognised instantly. Both riders dismounted. The rider on the left was wearing shining armour of the highest quality, and on his back was the great two-handed sword, Carsomyr. Gauntleted hands lifted the helm from his head, revealing a scarred face, and bright white hair, but eyes that sang with exuberant vitality.

 "Keldorn, Paladin of the Most Radiant Heart, my lady de'Arnise. I request most humbly the honour of guesting in your noble abode tonight."

 Nalia dashed forward, and hugged the knight, wincing as his hard armour dug into her ribs. She rolled her eyes. "Are you never going to walk around without that old can around you, Keldorn?"

 Laughing, she didn't wait for an answer, instead turning to face the second rider, who was a large and portly man wearing robes of dark brown and bearing the rose medallion of Chauntea, Goddess of Nature. Nalia bowed in respect. "Welcome, priest, to my home. I bid you welcome."

 The priest nodded, and then laughed loudly, a merry sound. "My thanks, Lady Nalia! My name is Andrew. Father Andrew… I hope tonight I can feast in your great hall, with a mug of warm ale and a prayer to the bounty of nature."

 Nalia said, "Verily, good sir. Those small comforts, I can provide."

 Keldorn said gruffly, "Good, good. Now Nalia, I have many things to speak to you about… and very few of them carry good news. Shall we enter? This snow is driving me mad, and my armour will be a pain to clean. It rusts far too easily."

* * *

 They sat in the library, with a roasting, flaring fire in the heart. Nalia's major domo sat there- Harald, his name was, hired from Amnwater. He had worked as a clerk here in her father's time, and so knew what was required to make the de'Arnise holding function to its best ability. An elderly man, with greying hair, he still possessed a great faculty of wits, which Nalia admired.

 Captain Cernick sat beside her, wearing a tunic and trousers of pale blue wool. Father Andrew sat next to him, wearing a clean robe borrowed from one of the servants. The Cowled Wizard stood to one side, slightly hidden by the shadows in the library.

 Algerias looked just like his brother, the Tolgerias who had invaded the planar sphere, attempting to wrest it from Lavok. Nalia herself had killed him with a death spell, and it unnerved her to see somebody that looked exactly like him, standing in the very room.

 It had taken him about a week to finally remove his cowl, and while Nalia did not like him any more, she respected him slightly, for having the courage to reveal his face… it took a real man to deal away from concealing cloth.

 Nalia listened as Keldorn spoke, "The Order has noted an alarming increase in activities of every kind within the borders of Amn. Three of our best, most skilled paladins have been cut down by vampires who have infested the Graveyard District of Athkatla. While none of them approach the power of Bodhi, they still pose a threat which is not easy to deal with. Necromancers have set themselves up in Nashkel, apparently, operating from a site near the mines. The undead are plaguing the small town, and are making moves into the surrounding regions. We have dispatched a large force to eliminate them."

 He paused, drawing breath. "Everywhere in Amn, evil is rising. The Order has few men with which to fight, and so is concentrating on defeating the threats closest to the City of Coin. Nashkel was a… uh… special circumstance."

 Nalia raised an eyebrow. "Keldorn, explain."

 The paladin shrugged, "Well, Nalia. The son of Prelate Wessallen has marched off on his first quest there. He is a talented boy, who reminds me much of Anomen, but he has not got the power- yet- to deal with a cell of necromancers. Wessallen has ordered paladins to rescue the boy, before he can be killed. As a default, he also ordered the necromancers killed."

 Algerias murmured, in his high-pitched, nasal voice, "Why have the Cowled Wizards not been informed, Lord Firecam? Rogue wizards are our affair, to deal with in whatever way we see fit."

 Distaste evident on his face, Keldorn said simply. "The Order lives for justice, wizard. Whether or not the guilty party is a wizard, we will bring them to justice. Best you remember that, whippersnapper. The only thing that saved your order from the Prelate were your pleas to the Council. Backed up, I believe, with plenty of coin and promised favours."

 Tension crackled. Algerias stepped out of the shadows. "You accuse my order of injustice, old man? Such an accusation must be made in the public courts, or not at all. That is one of the oldest laws of Amn."

 Keldorn sniffed, not intimidated in the slightest. "The oldest law of mankind is that power corrupts, and your wizards have far too much power for my liking. While you held Spellhold, you doomed hundreds of innocent wizards who just happened to go against the express wishes of a few senior members to a life of madness and terror. I warn you, wizard, if I find that such actions continue, I will implement the necessary justice, without consulting the Council."

 Algerias' eyes widened, and then narrowed with anger. "Treachery!"

 Smiling, the paladin shook his head. "No, it is my loyalty to honour and duty. Sometimes you wouldn't no about." He turned away, looking at Nalia. "Why is he here anyway, Nalia? I thought you hated the Cowled Ones."

 Nalia sighed. "The Council. He is meant to aid me against external threats of magic. Not that I can't defend myself with skill. I feel quite insulted that the leader of the Cowled Wizards wasn't placed here. An apprentice of this skill is hardly able enough to defend me, unless he wants to protect me against rabid rabbits."

 Keldorn chuckled. "Or mice, Nalia."

 Captain Cernick cut through the insulting banter. "Perhaps, good paladin, you could continue with telling us your news. I am growing quite worried, and would like to know all the facts."

 The paladin nodded. "Very well. As I said, evil is growing out of hand. The Order has informed the Council, who have placed their active troops throughout the nation on full alert. I doubt though, that these evils will directly attack the military… yet."

 Nalia nodded, "No, at the moment, they will be content with removing key figures vital to the defence of Amn." She paled. "Have you informed the garrison leaders on the borders? They will be most at threat."

 Again, the paladin nodded. "Yes. Ten paladins have been sent to each fort, to protect the leaders from harm. The chapter house is quite empty, Nalia, filled with nobody but the young and very old. I am the last to have been sent, and I have been sent to you. The Oracle of Oghma in Athkatla has said the gods plot your death. Needless to say, Nalia, you are probably the most important part of Amn's defence, and the forces of evil will try to remove you first. The Council has even seen the logic of this, and have dispatched some knights from Eshpurta, who will arrive in about a month. Until that month has passed though, you are in grave danger, as is anyone else with more than a little power."

 Cernick spoke with alarm. "Tomas!"

 Nalia said, placating, "Do not worry, Cernick. He is due to return today. Once he is here, he can stay, where he is safe. Kathryn will not want to lose her High Priest…"

 Keldorn said, "And Amn will not want to lose him either."

 There was a rap on the door, and a red-faced servant dashed in. He bowed once, and then stuttered, "L-l-l-lady… there is an army of ogres on the road towards us. They are marching for the gates!"

 Cernick leapt to his feet, followed shortly by Nalia. The captain ordered, "Tell the guards to shut the gate and raise the drawbridge. Get the walls manned, and make sure no section of the keep is left unguarded."

 Algerias closed his eyes, and whispered in a panicked voice. "Too late…"