Disclaimer: I own my own copy of the NWN game. I don't own the rights however…but I do own my own characters and there's a lot more of them coming into play soon.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like this chapter, it's…ah, I won't give anything away. Enjoy! Extra note: I changed my story format.
Raven "Sirens Muse"
Chapter Six: Two Days to Defeat
A Shaky Solution and a Temporary Agreement
I struggled into the long tunic I used as nightclothes and curled up on the bed Amendel was letting me use. I wrapped the covers tightly around me and tried to sleep. But I hadn't checked on Pavel. I couldn't sleep. I knew I couldn't unless I knew he still breathed. Cautiously, I crept to Amendel's sitting room to find the man lying on the couch, moaning softly. He seemed to be asleep and he had a cool cloth on his forehead. Gently, I touched his forehead. He was burning with fever and his sleep seemed far from restful. At my touch, he opened his eyes and gazed--through most likely blurry vision--up at me. "Kestral! Did you have a good day. Kileen said you were out."
I nodded quickly, tucking the blanket around him. "It was fine." I decided to admit my failure to him. I dropped to my knees beside the blanket swathed couch. "I didn't find the cure. I didn't even look. I'm sorry."
He smiled. "I didn't expect you to find it the first day."
"But I didn't even look!"
"You will. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not for two more weeks, but you'll look and you'll find it."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. Call it a sick man's premonition."
"How do you feel?" I asked after a moment's silence.
It was a stupid question, but I it had already left my mouth. "Better than I thought I'd feel." he said as brightly as he could.
"Well I'd better let you sleep. Goodnight."
"See you in the morning." he replied.
I went to bed, but didn't sleep for many more hours.
I woke up to a warm body, nestled against mine. My first reaction was to flail and kick the figure, but I didn't. I opened a bleary, sleep-deprived eye and saw the tiny form of Dal, curled up in a little ball in my side. He was up here!? Up in the plague infested loft that was Amendel's home? What if he got the plague? My mind whirled with questions, but all questions ceased when there was a knock on the door. I didn't say anything, but the door opened anyway. Amendel look down at Dal and I. He smiled. "Kileen said he'd be here. But I had to check."
"Kileen knows he's here? But Pavel has the plague and I--"
Dal shifted slightly in his sleep. Amendel put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Kileen's not worried, so you shouldn't worry either. She's quite a smart woman. Dal won't get the plague."
"And why not?"
"He's protected by a necromancer."
I glanced sharply up at him. My quick movement caused the tiny boy to curl further into my side. "Who?"
His answer was immediate. "Me."
Amendel certainly didn't look like a necromancer. Yes he was arrogant and infuriating, but that was hardly basis for grounds of being called a Necromancer. I glared at him and made to sit up. He motioned for me to stay still and came over to my side of the bed, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "You'll wake Dal."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I hissed.
He smiled slightly. "You--"
"Didn't ask. Yes, I've heard the excuse."
"You won't die either." he whispered, leaning close.
"Why would you curse me like that?" I mourned; shutting my eyes and thinking of all the times I wished to join my family in death.
He straightened slightly but was still close enough for me to feel his breath brush lightly against my cheek. "Curse you?"
I looked down. "I don't want to live forever. I don't even want to live as long as I could live."
"Why?"
"Why do you need to know?" I spat, turning to look at the tiny, sleeping figure beside me; the embodiment of innocence and everything I had sworn to protect.
A hand touched my cheek and turned me back to face Amendel. "Why?" he asked again.
"I have no family."
He nodded slightly. "They wouldn't want you to give up. Marry me."
"What?"
"Marry me for the obvious reasons of our shared mission and if having a family will keep you alive, then that can be fixed as well."
"When? How? We only have two days before I have to meet Aribeth at the Hall of Justice."
"Tomorrow. That will give you an entire day to prepare."
"A day? Oh you're wonderful! What makes you think I want to share the rest of my life with a necromancer?"
He shrugged. "It is better than sharing it with no one."
"I would have to argue with you on that one."
He smiled. "Somehow, I didn't think that the woman I proposed to would be so difficult."
I felt a smile tugging at my own lips. "And how would this wedding go?"
"Does that mean you've accepted?"
"Hardly, I'm weighting all the pros and cons of such a union."
"Well, it depends. Have you ever seen a Elven ceremony?"
I nodded. Once a long time ago, I had seen one. It was different, but not in a bad way. Just different. "And who would come?"
"The Highills, Pavel would see it via magic, anyone from Ila's Inn, Ila herself and her family, and anyone who happens by. So, will you marry me?"
I considered. My mind was screaming for me to be rational and I was arguing that it was rational. All Amendel's reasons for the marriage were sound. My only problem would be to the wedding night. I wasn't about to go that far with a man I had just met, magical bond or not. Sure we would have to share a room for protection and cover's sake, but there was no way under Tyr's sky--. Amendel must have been sneaking a peek at my mind, because he frowned. "I hardly trust you either." he commented.
I nodded. Then that was the last question. "I'll marry you." I said slowly.
He smiled and leaned forward as if to kiss me. I froze and braced myself but his nose only brushed mine as his hand ran across my cheek and down my neck. "Until tomorrow, Kestral." he whispered, leaving me in some confusion and worry.
Word travels fast. Either that or the walls have ears. Dal woke up a half an hour later and I sent him off to his mother while I got dressed in one of my new dresses and headed downstairs for breakfast...after taking a small peek into the sitting room to find Pavel fast asleep...or unconscious. Kileen congratulated me first thing, while setting a heaping plate of food in front of me. She was going on a mile a minute about dresses and preparations and stupid men who waited until the last minute to propose. She didn't seem the least bit surprised and wondered if she was in on Amendel's little "secret" plan. Either way, after breakfast Meryn, Enid, Kileen, and I waltzed to the market for another awful dress fitting at a different shop then where I had gotten my dresses with Amendel. This woman was oodles nicer and made me feel as if I was the most beautiful woman in the city. It was enough to lift my worries for at least four hours. Sometime after lunch, I opted to head back to the shop while Kileen and Enid shopped some more. Meryn and I walked back in silence. I was met by Amendel and Dal at the front door who both demanded (Dal in gurgles) that I play with Dal since, "Lord Silverhand" had other things to do. I must have looked tired, because Meryn took Dal instead and I went out back to sit in the shade and think. Presently I felt a presence behind me. It was magical and familiar. Two hands rested on my shoulders and a wonderfully, knee-weakening voice breathed in my half-pointed ear. "If I had known this would drain you so fast, I would have given you two days."
I closed my eyes, drinking in the warm shade, trying to ignore the faint stench of death before answering with, "In two days it would be a little too late. I intend to get started as soon as I get a lead from Lady Aribeth."
Lips gently brushed my cheek and the goose-bump-inducing presence moved to stand in front of me. A retort fought to spring from my lips, but I kept it back. Amendel smiled his lop-sided smile. "It shouldn't be so terrible." he assured me.
No, I had to admit, it wasn't as if I totally detested the elven-man. In fact I did feel rather strongly attracted to him. I settled for an all-encompassing nod. "I'm tired. If you'll excuse me."
He helped me to my feet and held me there for a moment, looking deep into my eyes as if he was reading my mind again. Seconds later, I was heading up the stairs to the warm comforts of a bed and the sanity of sleep.
My wedding day dawned early. Much too early for me. My wedding dress hung on a silver rack next to Amendel's armoire. It was a lovely affair, accenting my elven features with its ethereal skirts and fitted bodice. Kileen pulled me out of bed and she and the girls washed my hair and scented my skin with some sort of flower juice. I didn't eat breakfast and I was soon regretting it; besides the fact that my stomach was loudly complaining, reminding me of this small oversight. My hair was pulled away from my face with jeweled clips and I soon wore the beautiful gown. A heck of a lot of trouble to go through to marry someone I didn't really even really like for the sake of a plan. The wedding was held at Ila's Inn, which was decorated rather nicely. Again, more formalities, it seemed. I must confess that I recalled little leading to the actual ceremony, or what we had of it. You see we were interrupted. Everyone had just been seated when an arrow whizzed by my ear and struck a guest I didn't know. I remember being handed a sword and hiking up my skirt. I think I whispered a spell, but I don't quite remember. There were ten of them. Most had the Plague. I dispatched some; I don't know who got the others or even the extent of the damage. Lack of food and so many changes had taken it's toll on me and like any good, pitiful, heroine...I fainted.
When I was younger I remember getting a bride ready for her wedding night. Naturally, I was too young to know what any of it meant, but I did know it was supposed to be special. In small towns outside Neverwinter, a small glade was decorated with flowers and elegant torches. In Neverwinter, a room was rented at an exceptionally nice inn and decorated with candles. Never did the two spent the night in a small, hidden compartment in the ceiling. I woke up to darkness. Needless to say, it startled me greatly. First of all, I seemed to have forgotten everything leading to this point. Even the wedding. Secondly, I could hear the even, slow breathing of someone beside me and an arm was wrapped around my waist. I let out a sharp gasp and felt the arm tighten. "Shhh." hissed a voice I knew.
"What? Where? What happened?"
Amendel's sighed slightly. "I'm not entirely sure." he confessed.
It made me feel eons better. "Great." I muttered, trying to shifted some my vast yards of skirt so it showed less of my thighs. Somehow it had hiked up on me.
The arm around me shifted to the small of my back and we both sat up. I was leaning against his chest in a rather scrunched up position. "It all happened rather suddenly."
I gave a humorless laugh. "You're a sorcerer. Things aren't supposed to surprise you."
I felt his glare through the dark. "I'm not a god."
"Necromancers play with death like gods."
"No, we were given the ability. Few in this land can be necromancers. It takes an innate sense of death and it's gates that cannot be learned. Spells can be learned, but they are useless without the sense of death."
I shrugged against him and didn't comment further. I was a bit ticked at not knowing where I was or how I had come to be here. "You don't remember anything?" I pressed him with first question.
"Very little. I remember the wedding was about to begin--"
"Oh right! I forgot about the wedding."
He must have glared at me again. "I also remember being attacked."
"So are we married or not? Because I do not remember saying anything or kissing you."
"I don't know about the speech, but the kiss I can fix.
I was turned about and he lightly brushed a soft kiss across my lips.
I wasn't in shock. I had rather wondered what he'd do after the "kiss" comment slipped out of my mouth. Although I hadn't fully prepared myself for the feeling it sent through me. We sat there for some time. Neither of us wanted to leave since we weren't quite sure exactly WHAT we were hiding from. After a moment, I commented, "So I'm not officially married to you?"
"Not that I recall." was his response.
I groaned. "And I missed breakfast for nothing!"
"I think we're married." Amendel said finally. "I can read your thoughts pretty clearly. I wouldn't be able to do that unless I had a very strong bond with you or I was married to you. And as you're wondering, no, I didn't intend to spent my wedding night cramped in a small space waiting for who knows what and not even sure how I got to be here."
I snorted. This was just great.
Meryn Highill glanced over at the tiny being that flew beside her. The pixie looked more worried than usual, which was saying a lot since Aerch was always worried. "Come on, Meryn! Get up!"
Meryn glared at her and nodded slightly as to say, "Hold your horses!"
"I really don't know what happened." Aerch continued. "We had just sat down, the wedding hadn't even begun! They attacked without warning."
Meryn rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I know bad guys normally attack without warning. But at a wedding?"
Meryn shrugged and mouthed the word, "Enemies."
Aerch had become quite a good lip reader in the years she had spent with the girl and knew immediately what Meryn was suggesting. "Of course one or the other might have enemies! They both seem like the kind of people that might acquire enemies easily. Although for all Lord Silverhand's nobility, you'd think he would know better."
Meryn mouthed something about necromancers and Aerch laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's his best excuse. Now, get up. Your mother's probably looking for you."
Kileen and Gaelan lay dead. Kileen was sliced from throat to stomach, her insides spilling out onto the wood floor. Gaelan was decapitated. His head was elsewhere. Most of the guests at the party had been captured and systematically slaughtered and mutilated. Their throats were cut and many were missing various appendages. Enid retched until her stomach could heave no more. The young girl was beyond her tears and now stared in horror at the mess that would forever haunt her, waking and sleeping. Dal was alive, but unconscious. Enid was glad for this. She would get him out before he woke up and saw things. He wouldn't understand anyway. She picked up his little body and half dragged him into the inn and up the stairs. A few bodies lay in the hallway, so she dragged him to a tiny room and laid him on the fairly clean bed. She wondered where her sister was and if Miss Kestral and Lord Amendel had survived. Presently, there was a knock on the door. Enid froze and threw herself over her brother. The door opened and a man looked in. "P-please...don't kill him!" she sobbed, the tears finally returning.
The man frowned and walked in. "Shhh. I'm not here to hurt anyone. What happened?"
"I--I don't know!" Enid covered her face with her hands and for a while only the sound of sobbing filled the tiny room.
Through her tears she could vaguely see the man turn around and a white shape appear behind him. It's Tyr! Coming to take us to death! She thought, half glad and half afraid.
"Find Rapture quickly. Tell her I found someone alive. Two some ones to be exact."
