„A Bureaucratic Way to Save a Friend"
Daria's eyes closed the moment her head touched the pillow. It didn't bother her at the slightest that the bedclothes probably haven't felt the soothing touch of soup all throughout their long service in the inn. She was content with having bedclothes. Jaheira probably already talked the fleas and other bugs out of bothering them. It was always good to have a druid with you when it came to vermin infested beds. Young elf's sleep wasn't an easy one though. She was fighting the feeling of being imprisoned, caged underground, away from the sky. She tried to hold on to her dreams dreading that when she'd open her eyes she would once again see only the twisted hooks and the darkness of the dungeon.
She woke up an hour before the dawn feeling relatively rested but uneasy. The first thing she noticed, was that someone changed her bandages through the night. It was obvious it was Jaheira, but Daria hoped the healer didn't do it in Nalia's presence. The red-headed girl was snoring quietly on the edge of her bed, covered with her own cloak, the dirty blanket left on the ground. It didn't look as if she was indeed as comfortable with the Slums as she pretended to be. It seemed it wasn't an easy thing to forget a four-poster bed with silken sheets.
Jaheira was asleep on the third bed. It was the first time Daria saw her not getting up before everyone else. She quietly approached the druid's bed and looked at the woman she grown to consider a motherly figure after all the perils they faced together. Most of what she knew about adventuring, about leadership, she learned either by listening to Jaheira or by mimicking her. The half-elven woman was breathing slowly, her long hair covering her face.
"I'm sorry" Daria said silently, not to disturb the Jaheira's slumber. She failed her by leading their team into a trap, not sensing the danger, but she would repay this debt. She promised herself to become stronger. To never fail the ones she cared about ever again. If only she could save what was already lost… She donned her hooded cloak, put on the gloves and soundlessly left.
Passing the corridor the girl halted before the other room the party rented. She pressed her pointed ear to the wood and listened to Minsc's snoring she didn't need her sharp senses to distinguish through the door. She smiled pitying his roommates, especially Xan with his keen sense of hearing. What were the odds of meeting him again in a city like Athkatla? And yet they met again and in a moment like that. She continued to the common room.
The Copper Coronet in the morning looked like a battlefield. Broken tables must have witnessed yet another brawl, judging by their state, and were up for another inept repair. Some of the patrons were still lying among the broken parts of furniture, supposedly drunk, hopefully not dead. Few of the tables survived and were now gathered by the wall. She made her way to one of those noticing one moody enchanter sitting on a crooked stool. He greeted her with his usual sour expression.
She sighed guessing the cause of his bad mood. "We don't have any money left to buy food." It wasn't a question, but the sad truth.
"Yoshimo went off to take care of that problem." She raised an eyebrow quizzically hearing the moon elf's answer. Then she realized she forgot about her dark hood again and asked aloud.
"What do you mean 'take care of that'?" she knew only one way Yoshimo could acquire money for their breakfast and she couldn't imagine Xan agreeing to that.
All of a sudden her eyes flashed with silver and she turned around on her heel to face the bounty hunter.
"He means, my dear friend… that I liberated some treasures from the local nobles". Yoshimo seemed taken aback a little by being caught sneaking on her. Xan smirked faintly at his discomfort. It always took some time for the new party members to get used to Daria's 'flashes'. The thief however swiftly composed himself and threw a loaded purse on the table. It immediately began to slide from the slanted surface, but Daria caught it before it hit the floor, weighting money in her gloved hand.
"It must have taken a lot of time to… acquire" she deliberately avoided the word 'steal', "…that much money. Did you have any sleep at all?"
Yoshimo gave a fake look of hurt pride. "Great Yoshimo had no problem in manifesting his extraordinary skills! Even if our berserker friend's snoring has indeed ruined my sleep."
"It seems that only the Helmite can get some rest with Minsc around" Xan gave his trademark sight. "Now that we can afford it, could we consider having something to eat?"
'Something' in Bernard the Barkeep's meaning consisted of hot whitish liquid he called soup and stale bread. Both men didn't look overly enthusiastic about the meal anymore, but Daria felt herself salivating. She had problems with holding a spoon since her hands still weren't fully functional after Irenicus' 'treatment', but she did her best to put the scolding gooey into her mouth. Hot fluid burned her tongue, but she was far too hungry to bother. Previously she was too tired to become aware of how starving she was, but now she was devouring food with all speed her damaged fingers could provide. She was hardly aware of astonished gazes she received when she finished off her loaf of bread. Even Bernard seemed be surprised to witness such enthusiasm being shown towards his meals. Yoshimo soon followed her lead, but Xan wordlessly handled his bowl to her. She muttered something what was supposed to sound thankful and attacked the helping with her spoon. To her surprise the tool rebelled against her grasp and slipped from her fingers to the ground. She stretched her fingers, which started aching by now. She bent down under the table to pick it up, but someone caught her forearm.
"Believe me - you don't want to eat with a spoon from the Copper Coronet's floor" Yoshimo let go of her hand and turned his attention back to his own soup. When she lifted her head she saw Xan looking at her hands hidden in gloves. She instinctively hid them in her cloak and momentarily cursed herself for it. She was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to make out how deformed her fingers were under the thick gloves, but hiding them was like lighting a big sign 'There's something wrong and I'm hiding it' over her head.
Whether or not he wanted to say something remained a mystery, because of a timely arrival of the rest of the team. She hurriedly made her way to the counter to order some goo for her friends.
After a morning meal their newly gathered group left the hospitable sanctuary of Copper Coronet and once more directed its steps towards the wealthier northern parts of Athkatla. All around them the city was waking up to its morning activities – traders unloading their goods, adults and children both, hurrying in everyday's routine so alien to the adventurers, thieves returning from their night escapades. Nalia was shuffling her feet – she didn't find Bernard's dishes to her taste and was slowing down every time they were passing a vegetable stand wishing for Daria to take a hint. Unfortunately the cloaked elf didn't realize her distress, determined to get to the Cowled Wizards as fast as possible.
Getting to the Council's Building was only a part of the problem and the easiest one at that. Once there they had to find the right person to approach and finding the man responsible for unauthorized use of magic in the crowd of the entire hall filled with similarly clothed men and women was a task comparable to looking for a needle in a haystack. After finding a thin nervous man named Cornelius all they achieved was receiving a handful of forms to fill in. It was where Nalia chimed in recruiting Xan and Yoshimo to signing all the papers describing everything - the reason they were here, their names, Imoen's personal information and even their last incomes. She used her family seal she wore as a ring to stamp the completed documents.
Three hours and twenty forms later they handed the signed papers to Cornelius, who now looked even more jumpy than before.
"T-thank you" the balding man stammered. "Now you only have to..."
"No!" Daria cried unexpectedly, panic creeping up her voice along with the silver glint appearing in her eyes. "Don't even try to say this! Don't!" the rest of the group looked at her puzzled.
"I'm sorry, but now you have to wait approximately six months before the plight is transferred and then another month for a judgment to be made". By now Cornelius was giving an impression of a man resigned to his fate. He seemed to get such reactions quite often. "The decision will be sent to the location mentioned in the B5 form and it is usually negative. Thank you and have a nice day". Daria couldn't decide between bursting into tears and laughing hysterically.
"I'm sorry but coincidentally I overheard that you are looking for your friend detained for illegal magic use" another man approached them as they shuffled their feet walking towards the exit. "I might be persuaded to look into this case, as a Director of Outside Magic Use Department, if you are willing to do something for me in return".
The newcomer wore the same olive green robes as Cornelius, but similarities ended at that. If arrogance could lift someone from the ground, this Cowled Wizard would be floating around in the hall without any effort. He seemed to add 'peasant' at the end of his every sentence without actually doing it.
Daria evaluated him from under her hood. She would accept help from a rhyme-speaking one-eyed ghast if it helped her to find Imoen, but she wasn't going to let him know that.
"And what would that 'something' be, mister …?" she tried to sound controlled and no more than slightly interested. Nalia tried to get her attention, pulling her arm. The hurting one of course.
"Call me Tolgieras. As I have already mentioned I take care of the magic used outside our elite organization. Just like the divination magic you used talking to Cornelius." Daria paled. She could hear Xan gulp. Minsc shifted slightly to stand between her and the mage.
"I don't intend to arrest you, worry not" the Cowled Wizard looked as if he was amused with their reactions. "I am merely curious. None of the searching enchantments covering the entire city reacted to your spell. My own private enchantments barely detected it. It was a foresight spell, is that right?" Daria nodded. He waited few seconds for her to elaborate.
"Well… I have a task that a person with your talents may find relatively easy." He covered his disappointment with her silence quickly. "But before I continue I'd like you to promise that whatever I say will not be discussed with anyone else, not even other Cowled Wizards. If you want this Imoen of yours rescued you will keep this conversation secret."
"Wh…" Anomen began before Jaheira 'accidentally' stepped on his foot and threw him a vicious look.
"We promise" Tolgieras glanced with curiosity at Daria's eyes shining silver from under the hood. "Tell me about this task."
The Cowled Wizard appeared to be losing his self-confidence for a brief moment, but composed himself swiftly. Arrogance had wonderful regenerative capabilities.
"My organization was created to protect the law-abiding citizens of Athkatla from the dangers of uncontrolled use of magical energies, as you probably already know" he began. Daria tried not to snort. "We restrict the use of magic to the indispensable minimum. However it is still frowned upon by some of the more extreme, dare I say – fanatic members of the society. Society we defend, should I add. One of such cases happened ten days ago. One of the local nobles, Valygar Corthala, famous from his hatred towards all magic-users, murdered two mages from my department and disappeared. He most likely left the city, though it wasn't confirmed. And this is where you step in. None of our spells were able to detect the murderer's current whereabouts, but a person with such extraordinary divining talents shouldn't find this task difficult."
"What do you want me to do with this Valygar once I find him? I'm not a murderer." Daria interrupted.
"I didn't imply you are" Tolgieras assured, though it was painfully obvious he was lying. "Corthala must face rightful judgment for his actions. The only problem is that he cannot be found. If your divinations are able to detect him and you will bring the killer here, I will 'observe' a transgression in confining your friend and she will be released. I must warn you though – Corthala is extremely dangerous. He killed two fully trained Cowled Wizards. It is very plausible that he will attack you on sight. In this case you will have to bring his body as a proof that the deed is done."
"His entire body?" Yoshimo, more or less an expert bounty huter, seemed to be taken aback by this strange request.
"Hmm…" the mage mulled over something. "His head will suffice. You have two weeks" he added generously. Jaheira scowled.
"It will be done" Daria said simply before turning to the exit.