Talis sat bolt upright when she received the message. She responded with, "I'm on it. I will come to the farm to make plans with you as soon as I can get there."
She sent a message to Mara through her Sending spell, "Mara, why have you been arrested? Where are they taking you? Are you all right?"
Mara sent back her reply, "They know about us and accuse me of collaborating with the cult. They are taking me to Castle Waterdeep. I have not been injured."
Talis grimaced. Mara would be imprisoned in Castle Waterdeep! They wanted to make certain that she didn't escape!
Talis gathered her bodyguards, Kusphia, Maelgot and Sovic, and explained to them, "Mara has been arrested. We have to go out to the Evenwood farm to make plans with her family how to free her from prison."
She quickly penned a letter to the Phandalin heroes and told them that Mara had been arrested. She said she was going to the Evenwood farm to consult with Mara's family on what to do.
She then sent a telepathic message to Ralazrad, the ancient white dragon, and explained what she knew of Mara's situation. She indicated that she might need the help of the white dragons to get Mara out of prison. Ralazad promised that she would contact other white dragons and would herself set out for Waterdeep.
Talis and her bodyguards left the derelict ship a little after the noon meal. Talking the letter to Mara's companions with her, she hired one of the young men living in Mistshore to deliver it. Handing him a couple of gold pieces, she said, "Deliver this to Borovik Stayanoga at the Flagon Dragon Inn as soon as you can."
"Thank you, Lady White," he responded. "I will do as you ask"
She then cast Create Food and Water for the residents at the Hearthfire and told the people there that she had to leave for 2 to 3 days and would not be able to cast the spell for them until she returned.
With their business in Mistshore complete, they headed for the Evenwood farm.
Meanwhile, Mara was being led by the city guards to Waterdeep. The captain ordered the group to surround her to prevent her escape. He then pointed his longsword at her and said, "I know you can turn into a big bear. If you do that and try to escape, we will arrest your entire family."
Mara nodded, "I won't try to escape."
After a couple of miles, 2 of the guards began to feel ashamed that they rode their horses into town, while the prisoner had to plod along on foot. They dismounted and walked alongside Mara as they neared the city limits. During the rest of the journey to the castle Waterdeep, they engaged her in conversation.
"Why have I been arrested?" asked Mara. "What did I do?"
"We were told by an informant that you are the lover of a high-ranking official in the Cult of the Dragon. You are suspected of collaborating with them in the ritual to summon Tiamat."
"An informant?" Mara asked. "Who was that?"
"That dwarf guy you and your band of adventurers captured, Varram. He has been cooperating with the authorities in Elturgard and revealed that you are the lover of a certain Talis Kasterel."
Mara frowned at hearing this and wished she knew a spell that would make Varram's tongue fall out of his mouth.
"So, where are you taking me?" she asked.
"To the prison in Castle Waterdeep. I suppose they want to question you for information on the cult activities."
Mara sighed. It would be a difficult task indeed to escape from the Castle Waterdeep. She didn't even want to think about what awaited her there.
Shortly after they entered the city of Waterdeep, crowds began to gather at the side of the road to see the procession escorting a prisoner.
"Who is that?" asked someone.
"It's Mara Evenwood," answered someone else.
"From the Phandalin Heroes?"
"Yes! That's her."
"Why would they arrest her? They should let her go!"
The crowd began to shout, calling Mara's name and calling for her to be set free. People ran ahead along the route and alerted others to what was going on. More people gathered along the road, all shouting and calling for the guards to let Mara go.
Block after block after block of this made the guards nervous, and they readied their spears to fend off anyone attempting to impede their progress. Shouting people lined the streets all the way to the castle entrance, where there was an enormous crowd assembled. At the sight of Mara, they began to chant in unison,
"Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!"
The guards hustled her inside and shut the gate but could still hear the angry crowd shouting. They put Mara in a holding cell to await questioning by their captain.
Far to the north, Ralazrad set out for Waterdeep. Being an old, wise dragon, she knew how to ride the strong winds high in the atmosphere to speed her on her journey. She would be able to make the trip in about half the time any other dragon would take, so she expected to be in Waterdeep within 4 or 5 days.
At the Dragon Flagon Inn, Borovik and the rest of the party were eating lunch when a young man came into the Inn. He spoke briefly to the Inn Keeper, who pointed the young man to their table.
"I have a message to deliver to Borovik Stayanoga," the man said.
"That's me," said Borovik, and handed a gold piece to the man as he accepted the letter.
After the man bowed and left, Borovik unfolded the letter. His face grew pale as he read. He leaned over the table and said quietly to the rest of the group, "This is from Talis. She says Mara has been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Cult of the Dragon and is being taken to Castle Waterdeep. Talis is on her way to the Evenwood family farm to discuss plans for how to get Mara out."
"This is awful!" cried Kellen. "What are we going to do?"
"We need to talk to Dagult Neverember as soon as possible! They have to let her out! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Bree exclaimed.
"I'm ready!" said Neega. "Let's go over to the Palace now and get some answers!"
They quickly finished their food and headed to the Palace. About half an hour later they arrived. The group agreed to let Borovik do the talking, since he was the calmest of the group and would be less likely to say something that would get them all in trouble.
Approaching the pair of guards at the door, Borovik explained why they were there. "We are the Heroes of Phandalin, in Waterdeep at the request of the Council of Waterdeep. We wish to lodge a complaint with the Lord Dagult Neverember that one of our members, Mara Evenwood, has been unjustly arrested. We want her to be freed immediately."
"Yes," nodded on of the guards. "We recognize you. If you will take a seat here in the antechamber, I will have someone find Lord Neverember and tell him you need to speak to him about the arrest of your party member, Mara Evenwood."
They sat in some cushy chairs and the guards sent an officially dressed woman into the Palace to find Lord Neverember. A few minutes later, she returned and informed them that he was in a meeting which was just about to end. He would come direct them into his office as soon as he could.
As they sat there, they heard the guards at the door muttering to each other.
"Did he just say they arrested one of the members of the Phandalin Heroes?"
"That's what he said."
"Why would they do a thing like that?"
"I don't know. It sounds crazy to me."
The guards stood there shaking their heads.
About 15 minutes later, Dagult Neverember appeared and motioned for the party to follow him. Once in his office, he closed the door and said, "Now, what can I do for you?"
Borovik responded, "The city guard has arrested one of our members, the Druid Mara Evenwood. We can't imagine why they would do such a thing and we demand her immediate release."
Dagult folded his hands and looked down at his desk. "As we were questioning the prisoner Varram, whom you captured and delivered to the Elturgard paladins, he told us that Mara is the lover of a high-ranking official of the Cult of the Dragon, a person whom he identified as Talis Kasterel. We need Mara to tell us where to find Talis Kasterel so that we can arrest and interrogate her about the cult plans. We can't release Mara until she tells us where Talis is, and we have Talis under arrest."
The party members looked at each other in shock and despair.
"What if Mara refuses to give you that information?" asked Bree in a meek voice.
"It is our hope that she tells us willingly. If not, we will use other methods of persuasion as necessary."
"You mean you'll beat her?" shouted Neega, slamming her fist on the desk.
Dagult tried to not to allow any hint of emotion on his face but couldn't repress a slight twitching of his lips.
"We hope it won't come to that," he said quietly.
"We won't let that happen!" Neega again shouted, jumping to her feet. "We won't let you keep her locked up and we won't let you beat her!"
Dagult sighed. "The rest of you need to keep a low profile right now and keep out of this affair. Varram has hinted that the rest of you knew about Mara being Talis' lover, and you yourselves could end up being arrested."
Kellen grabbed Neega's arm when he saw she was about to reach for her greatsword, Hazirawn
"We need to approach this with a plan, Neega. We can't take on the entire city guard in a fight and expect to win."
Fury smoldered in Neega's eyes, but she dropped her arm.
About that time, an official popped his head in and said to Dagult, "Lord Neverember, the city watch is reporting large groups of angry people around the city. They fear there might be a riot brewing."
Dagult sighed again. Turning to the party members, he said, "I'm afraid I will have to dismiss you now so I can deal with this new issue."
With that, he strode out of the room, leaving the party to stare after him in anger and confusion.
"We need to go back to the Inn and come up with some ideas how to handle this," Kellen suggested. "Dagult is not going to help us."
They sullenly left Dagult's office and headed for the Palace exit. At the door, one of the guards stopped them and hopefully asked, "Are they going to let Mara Evenwood go?"
"No!" snarled Neega. "They're falsely accusing her of collaborating with the Cult of the Dragon and want to force her to give information about the cult plans!"
"Oh, no!" cried the guard. He and the other guard looked at each other in shock.
Turning back to Neega, he said, "We want her to be free. Let us know if we can do anything to help make that happen."
"Thank you," Neega replied.
Walking back to the Flagon Dragon, they discussed what they should do.
"Maybe we should go to the Evenwood farm and consult with Mara's family," suggested Bree.
Kellen shook his head, "We know that Talis is going there. If the city guard is following us, we will lead them directly to her."
"Then what can we do?" Neega sighed. "We can't go off on our own, acting without any knowledge of what Talis and Mara's family are doing. We could end up making things even worse than they already are."
"Kellen, can you use your Sending Spell to contact Talis?" Borovik asked.
"I can," Kellen replied. "We need to carefully craft the message, since it has to be very short. Talis can then send us a similarly short message in reply."
They conferred together and came up with the following message to send to Talis, "Contacted Lord Neverember but he won't release Mara. We won't interfere with your plans. Waiting for your instructions on how to proceed."
Talis sent back the message, "Heading to Evenwood farm now. Will let you know when we have a plan."
Kellen reported to the group what Talis said, and they sullenly resumed their walk back to the Inn. As they went, they overheard people on the street talking.
"I'm heading over to the Castle Waterdeep to join the protest over there."
"Is that where they're holding Mara Evenwood?"
"Yeah. The crowd is calling for her release."
"Maybe we should head over to the Castle Waterdeep and see what's happening," Borovik suggested.
They changed direction and went to the Castle Waterdeep. Sure enough, there was a large crowd outside the gate, shouting in unison, "Free Mara! Free Mara!"
"This must one of the crowds that the city watch fears will riot," observed Kellen. "At least we now know that a sizable part of the population is with us."
After spending some time examining the exterior of the Castle, they realized there was no easy way for them to get in and extract Mara. They returned to the Inn and waited for word from Talis.
By late afternoon Talis and her bodyguards arrived at the Evenwood farm. Helena rushed out of the farmhouse and embraced Talis.
"Oh, Talis!" she cried. "We have to get Mara out of prison! She hasn't done anything wrong!"
Talis promised, "Helena, I swear to you, I will do whatever I have to do to free her and bring her back to the family."
The rest of the family gathered around, greeting Talis and her bodyguards. Helena and Harley described the sequence of events when the city guard showed up and seized Mara. Talis told them of the message she had exchanged with Mara and explained that Mara had been arrested because the cult official they had captured for the Council of Waterdeep had revealed to the interrogators that Mara had a relationship with Talis. The city guard suspected her of collaborating with the Cult of the Dragon and had taken her to the prison in Castle Waterdeep.
The family was preparing the evening meal, so they invited Talis and her bodyguards to eat with them. After the meal, Talis prepared to again contact Mara to see how she was doing. The family gathered around her as she cast the Sending spell, with the message, "At family farm. Told your companions about your arrest. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
Mara sent back the message, "Was interrogated but refused to give your location. Received a beating. Healed myself after being returned to my cell."
Tears sprang to Talis' eyes at this news from Mara. She had a little more magical energy to spend, so she sent another message to Mara, "Mara, please! Tell them what they want to know! Don't let them beat you!"
Mara replied, "No, Talis. I will not betray you."
Talis began to weep. The family surrounding her asked what Mara had said. Between sobs she haltingly explained that the city guard was beating Mara to get Talis' location, but Mara refused to talk.
"What do we do now?" asked Riardon, tears running down his own face.
"I don't know," Talis wailed. "I can't even think right now."
Helena and Lia put their arms around Talis' shoulders and comforted her as best they could, while still bearing their own grief.
"We may all have to sleep on it tonight. We can't get her out tonight no matter what we do. We just have to trust that Mother Moon will keep her safe for tonight." said Helena.
"I will go out right now and pray to Mother Moon to watch over Mara," said Harley, standing up and walking to the door. He tried in vain to hide his tears. His big sister, whom he revered more than anyone else in the world, was now being beaten for having fallen in love.
When they all got ready to bed down for the night, Talis was assigned to Mara's bed and Kusphia lay on a mat next to the bed. The male bodyguards, Maelgot and Sovic, slept on mats in Harley's bedroom.
Talis lay there and inhaled the scent of Mara's skin, which lingered on the pillow and blankets. She had a restless night, awakening several times. The next morning, she felt groggy from lack of a sleep, but she had made a decision about what to do to get Mara out of prison.
At breakfast the next morning she announced, "I know what I need to do to get Mara freed from prison."
"What? What?" asked the family.
"I can't tell you because to tell you would put you all in danger of being accused of collaborating with the cult," responded Talis. "I'm also going to have to leave this morning. I don't want to risk having them find me here at the farm and arresting all the rest of you. I need to keep you out of the plan to keep you out of danger."
The Evenwood family looked at each other with sorrow in their eyes but accepted what Talis said.
Talis and her bodyguards left shortly after breakfast. After they had gone about half an hour down the road back to Waterdeep, well out of earshot of the Evenwood farm, Kusphia asked, "Ma'am, what exactly is your plan to get Mara out of prison?"
"I will offer to turn myself in if they release Mara and promise to do no more harm to either her or her family."
"What?" exclaimed Kusphia. "You can't be serious! You know they are almost certain to torture you to get information about the cult plans!"
"If taking the beatings myself will keep Mara from getting them, I am willing to do it," Talis replied resolutely.
"There has to be another way! Maybe you and Mara's adventurer companions can storm the Castle Waterdeep and free her."
"No. Even with the powerful fighters and magic users among myself and her friends, we can't defeat the large contingent of city guards at the Castle. It's my fault Mara is in this mess, and I am responsible for getting her out of it."
"What will happen to Maelgot, Sovic and me? Our jobs are to protect you."
"You will probably be assigned to a new safe house and new duties."
"What will we tell the cult leadership when they discover you're gone?"
"I think it would be safest for all those in the safe house to report that I am missing before the leadership discovers it. Say I went out to do some business in Waterdeep and never returned. That way the cult leadership wouldn't initially know if I was killed, or I deserted. And if they do figure out that I deserted they won't suspect you of knowing that I did."
Kusphia knew better than to argue with her boss, so she let the topic drop. However, her heart was heavy at the thought of Talis being in enemy hands.
The rest of the trip was occupied with them discussing details that needed to be taken care of prior to the prisoner swap.
When they arrived back at the derelict ship, Talis sent a telepathic message to Ralazrad, who was still on the journey to Waterdeep, that she would be turning herself in to the authorities to gain Mara's release.
She then turned to Frostbite, and told him, "I am going negotiate for Mara's release from prison by offering to take her place. If this is successful, I will need you to look after Mara."
Frostbite was distraught, "But I'm your dragon companion! What will I do without you?"
Talis hugged his neck and relied, "Perhaps you can become Mara's dragon companion. I wish this wasn't necessary, but I don't know of another way to get Mara out."
Frostbite closed his eyes and whimpered.
Talis then went back ashore and cast Create Food and Water for the people assembled at the Hearthfire. She addressed the people there.
"I am going to have to leave you all, and you will need to find someone new to cast Create Food and Water for you."
"What?" they asked. "Why are you leaving?"
"My lover has been arrested and is being mistreated in prison to get her to divulge where I am. I am going to turn myself in in return for them releasing her.
"If any of you know a Cleric, you should ask if they would be willing to cast the spell daily here in Mistshore. I believe Paladins can cast the spell, and maybe some Druids."
A Drow man in the crowd said, "I worship at the Dancing Haven, a Shrine to Eilistraee. I will ask there."
A human man said, "I know a Paladin of Lathandar. Maybe he can help."
A halfling woman spoke up, "I am a Druid. Even though I don't have that spell, I will talk to my Druid friends to see who might have it."
Several other also agreed to contact their religious friends and find someone to fill in for Talis to help feed the people of Mistshore.
"I wish I didn't have to leave you. If I ever get out of prison alive, I will come back to Mistshore and help you once more. I was once destitute in Waterdeep, and I know how miserable it can be."
The people nodded sadly, several of them hugging her and wishing well for her endeavor. Others murmured in anger over yet another injustice perpetrated by the city authorities on the downtrodden of Waterdeep.
Talis sat down by the Hearthfire and penned a letter to Dagult.
"Lord Dagult Neverember.
I am Talis Kasterel, the high-ranking Cult of the Dragon official about whom you are interrogating Mara Evenwood. I offer to turn myself in to you on the conditions that you release Mara Evenwood from prison and refrain from doing any more harm to her or her family. I will contact you by the Sending spell tomorrow morning to receive your answer."
She hired one of the Mistshore inhabitants to deliver the message to the Palace. She gave the woman instructions not to return immediately to the Mistshore after delivery so that she would not be followed by city guards. She gave her extra gold to get food for the day in Waterdeep and rent a room for the night at an inn in the Castle Ward.
She then returned to the ship and had her evening meal. Just prior to going to bed, she sent a message through the Sending spell to Mara, "Working on getting you released. Can't give you the details yet. Hold on. Love you."
Mara replied, "Thank you, Talis. Love you, too."
The next morning, as she was eating breakfast, Talis send a message to Dagult. "Have you made your decision?"
Dagult replied, "Come to Palace at noon hour. Mara will be there for exchange. Will have her companions be there to receive her."
Shortly before noon Talis left the ship that was her safe house. She cast Create Food and Water one last time for the inhabitants of Mistshore, then continued on to the Palace. Arriving at the entrance, she spoke to the guards at the door. "I am Talis Kasterel. I have an appointment to meet Lord Neverember here at noon."
"Yes. We've been expecting you," answered one of the guards.
He nodded to a few city guards sitting off to one side the antechamber. They came over and two of them grasped her arms. She shuddered a little, remembering beatings she had received as a child at the hands of the city watch. They tied her hands behind her back and confiscated her weapon and holy symbol.
"Come with us to Lord Neverember's office," commanded their captain.
They entered the office. Dagult Neverember sat behind his desk and Talis saw Mara's adventurer companions waiting nervously in the office.
"Where is Mara?" she asked. "You haven't gone back on the deal, have you?"
"I have not gone back on my word," Dagult replied coldly. "Mara is currently being transported from the Castle Waterdeep to the Palace. She should be here before long."
The guard captain then placed a gag in Talis' mouth to prevent her from casting any spells.
In about half an hour, the office door opened, and city guards escorted Mara into the room.
As soon as she entered, she saw Talis and shrieked, "Talis! What are you doing here?"
"She offered to turn herself in to buy your release," Dagult explained.
"Talis! No! Why did you do that?" Mara cried again. "Now you will locked up and mistreated, just as I was."
Talis could say nothing, and just looked miserably at Mara, tears streaming down her face. Mara tried to approach Talis but was held back by guards pointing their spears at her.
"Heroes of Phandalin, I now release Mara Evenwood to your care," said Dagult. "Guards, take the prisoner, Talis Kasterel, to Castle Waterdeep."
As the guards led Talis out, Mara shouted, "No! Talis! Let her go!"
Dagult looked at Mara and saw a feral look in her eyes. An instant later, she turned into a polar bear and lunged at him. Her companions jumped up and surrounded her to prevent her from attacking Dagult. It took all of Neega's magically enhanced strength to prevent Mara from completing the assault.
"Mara! Stop!" they all cried. "We can't take on the whole city guard. We have to find another way to get Talis free!"
After much struggling and angry bellowing, Mara calmed down enough to listen to reason. Returning to half-elf form, she hung her head and cried. She was dimly aware of her companions speaking to her, trying to comfort her, but had no strength left to talk. Exhausted and dispirited, she followed silently when her companions led her out of the Palace.
Watching them leave, Dagult was beginning to hate being the Open Lord of Waterdeep. How did he get into the position of rewarding the heroes who were trying to thwart Taimat's summoning ritual by imprisoning one of the party members? And then subsequently imprisoning the lover of that same party member? Was he really serving the cause of right, or merely serving the cause of politics? He sat back in his chair and felt miserable.
The city guards surrounded Talis as they led her along the streets leading to Castle Waterdeep. They shoved her periodically and hurled insults at her.
"Filthy dragon cultist!" they sneered. "Let's see how you like being locked up!"
She sent another telepathic message to Ralazrad, explaining that the prisoner swap was now complete. Mara was free and she was on her way to Castle Waterdeep.
By now Ralazrad was about a day and a half out from Waterdeep. She began planning for what to do once she reached the city.
Once at Castle Waterdeep, the guards placed Talis in a cell. "We'll be back later to interrogate you," they said.
A couple of hours later 2 guards entered the cell and roughly grabbed her. "Time for you to answer some questions," they snarled.
They led her down the hall into a sparse room with a table, a single chair on one side and a pair of chairs on the other side. A couple more chairs sat against the wall. Two additional guards, the interrogators, were already seated on one side of the table, and the two who brought Talis in shoved her into the seat on the other side of the table. They then sat down in the chairs against the wall and scowled at her.
One of the interrogators arose and took the gag out of Talis' mouth, then came back around to sit down. The other gave Talis a backhand slap and snarled, "Alright, Dragon Lady. You need to start talking now."
Talis' head snapped to the side from the blow, and she grimaced in pain. The interrogator waited until she had regained enough composure to speak and asked. "Are you a member of the Cult of the Dragon?"
"Yes," replied Talis.
"How long have you been in the cult?"
"A little more than 8 years now."
"What is your position in the cult?"
"I am of the rank Dragonsoul, which is 2 ranks below the cult leader."
The questioning went on in this vein for about 4 hours. Most of the questions were about Talis' duties in the cult, her former life in Waterdeep, her relationship with Mara and whether Mara had ever participated in Cult of the Dragon activities. All the questions were asked by one interrogator. The other seemed to be there mostly to intimidate her. He would periodically hit her or grab her by the collar and slam her against the back of the chair. As the hours wore on, she grew exhausted and hungry, and started to become incoherent.
"Alright," said her questioner. "We've gotten all we going to get out of her today. Take her back to her cell and we will resume questioning tomorrow."
Turning to one of the guards sitting against the wall, who had been taking notes, he commanded, "Write up a report on the information we got and see that it gets to Lord Neverember."
"Yes, Sir," said the guard.
The intimidating guard and the second guard sitting against the wall grabbed Talis by the arms and forced her to stand. She was so tired she nearly fainted but managed to keep her feet as she was dragged back to her cell. Fortunately, they did not replace the gag and retied her hands together in front, with a short section of rope between her two wrists. They left a plate of bland, but edible, food and a mug of ale with her.
After eating Talis evaluated how badly she had been hurt. Although she was bruised and sore, there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. She cast cure wounds on herself and felt better. She longed to use the Sending spell to contact Mara, but with no holy symbol and no component pouch, she couldn't perform that spell. And Helena Evenwood couldn't contact her with the Sending Stone, since her stone had been confiscated at the Palace. She lay down on the mat on the floor and felt very alone.
Shortly thereafter, she received a Sending message from Kellen, which said, "Mara wants you to know she loves you. Are you okay? What can we do for you?"
Talis responded, "Tell Mara I love her. Was questioned a little roughly today but not seriously injured. Pray to your gods for me."
She felt a little less alone now and was able to get some sleep.
The next day the guards did not return until early afternoon. They once again took her to the interrogation room. This time the question centered around the plans for Tiamat's summoning ritual. They wanted details about how the ritual would be conducted and a timeline for performing the ritual. They wanted names of other high-ranking officials in the cult. She answered the questions as well as she could, but she honestly didn't know all the details of performing the ritual or of the timeline. Her inability to answer some questions provoked more blows from the intimidating interrogator. They finished up the interrogation session late in the afternoon and took her back to her cell.
She reached out telepathically to Ralazrad, who told her that she had reached Waterdeep and wanted advice on whom to talk to in the city government about making sure she was not mistreated. Mara told her to go to the Waterdeep Palace and ask for Lord Dagult Neverember.
After telepathically speaking to Talis, Ralazrad circled over the city and then landed in the street in front of the Palace. Screaming people scattered in all directions to get out of her way. She called out in a loud voice, "People of Waterdeep, tell your Lord Dagult Neverember that the ancient white dragon Ralazrad wishes to speak to him." Then she sat and waited for him to appear.
People ran to the door of the Palace and told the guards there that Lord Neverember was being summoned by a gigantic dragon. The guards ran inside and very shortly Dagult came out. His face went pale, and he shook at the terrifying vision before him. He had seen dragons before, but never this close and certainly never of this size. His legs felt wobbly, and he feared his knees would buckle under him, leaving him to fall face first into the dirt.
"I am Lord Dagult Neverember. What do you want with me?" he asked, trying not to let his voice tremble.
"I am here on behalf of Talis Kasterel, who you now hold as prisoner. I demand that you refrain from any sort of beating or torture while she is held. If you do not agree to this demand, I will call a band of white dragons to attack your city."
"I...I agree," said Dagult weakly.
"Good," said Ralazrad. "We will know if you break this agreement, and we will respond quickly."
She took to the air again, and the wind from her wings nearly knocked Dagult over. He went back to his office and collapsed into his chair with a groan. A completely rotten situation had just become even worse.