Silandra winced as Jaheira berated her and could only be glad she wasn't actually yelling. She knew it was not out of consideration for the headache she had woken with, but rather due to Jaheira not wanting Dorn to overhear. The druid was even angrier than Silandra had expected.
"Khalid and I won't even be around to watch him!" Jaheira continued. "And what if he is just a spy for the others?"
That was something Silandra had not considered the night before. She had believed Dorn when he said he was not attached to his group members, and unless he had known them previously, she knew this was likely true. After all, he had not been traveling with them for long.
"I'm not sure they would have much use for a spy," she said, rubbing her head. "I guess you could consider the bounty a secret, but they already know about that, and—"
"Do not forget that they are investigating the bandits as well," Jaheira said, lowering her voice further. "They cannot be trusted to do the right thing if they manage to get ahead of us somehow. For all we know they might join whoever is behind this."
Silandra glanced to where Montaron, Xzar, Edwin and Kagain were sitting eating breakfast. They had not addressed her or even Dorn directly since the night before, but they were doing a lot of whispering and, from the glares shot in her direction, it was easy to guess the topic.
Dorn was sitting with her and her companions at their table beside Branwen, who did not seem adversely affected from her drinking the night before and was cheerfully engaging him in conversation. The only other person who was paying him any attention was Ajantis, who was so busy glaring at him that he nearly knocked over his drink when he tried to pick it up and missed. Silandra hadn't given him much chance to say anything last night; she had spoken to Dorn briefly and gone straight to bed.
"I won't give him a chance to give them any information," Silandra said, frowning. She looked again at the other group, making sure they weren't looking too closely, and showed Jaheira what Dorn had given her first thing in the morning. The lock of hair she had given Montaron and Xzar, when she was not aware enough to know what power it could give them over her. Dorn had informed her of what they had been using it for. "Yes, it's my hair, and I gave it to them after I tried charming Xzar when we first met. I didn't know then what they might be able to do with it. Now they can't track me, or do whatever else it is mages do with other people's hair. I think that in itself is a show of good faith on Dorn's part. And anyway, if he does anything, I can just charm him and make him fall on his own sword."
Jaheira looked surprised at that, and Silandra did not blame her because she was a little shocked herself. Was that really something she could do? If it was a life or death matter, then the penalty should be death, but what if Dorn's betrayal was less than that? Did he still deserve death? Silandra wasn't certain she even could charm Dorn, but it was the only power she might hold over him since she certainly wasn't going to beat him in a physical fight and she wasn't sure any of her spells were powerful enough to defeat him.
"I'll admit, I am impressed Dorn retrieved that for you," Jaheira said. "There are more harmful uses for a person's hair than only tracking them. Just… be careful. I know we have not been close but Gorion wanted Khalid and I to keep you safe. We would not even leave you now if we did not feel it was important."
"It's not like I'll be alone. I'll be fine, and I'm sure we will all be keeping an eye on Dorn."
Jaheira did not press the matter further, likely only because they were short on time, and Silandra was relieved. She herself wasn't entirely confident in her decision to let Dorn join her group and she could only hope she would not come to regret it.
Khalid and Jaheira stood, and Silandra knew it was time to leave. She felt a twinge of worry, knowing that she would finally be separated from them for a while. No matter how much she and Imoen had imagined taking charge of their adventures when they finally got away from Candlekeep, she knew they were inexperienced and although Jaheira could be overbearing, at least she knew what she was doing.
She hesitated just a moment before hugging both Khalid and Jaheira. It was strange how much affection she suddenly felt for them now that they were leaving.
"I hope you have a safe journey," she said.
"Take c-care, Silandra," Khalid said.
"Don't take any unnecessary risks," Jaheira added, though she did not sound quite as stern as she had a few moments ago.
Imoen hugged them too, looking a little teary, and they all left the inn. Silandra checked that Edwin and his companions were still seated, not entirely sure they would not try following her, before exiting herself.
Khalid and Jaheira headed south with one final wave at the group, but Silandra hesitated outside the inn.
"What is it?" Ajantis asked,
"There's just a… precaution I would like to take before we leave," she said. "It will just take a moment."
She glanced around, frustrated that when she actually wanted to see him, Bardolan was nowhere to be found. She thought she recognized one of the guards on patrol though and she approached, smiling.
"Excuse me," she said. "I'm Silandra. You remember me right?"
"Of course," the guard replied. He was young and looked rather pleased to have her address him.
"I was just wondering if you could do me a small favor," she continued.
"Of course!" the guard said again. "What do you need?"
"The men who were looking for Dynaheir and I these last few days… they are currently in the inn. I just need you to make sure they don't leave for another hour or so. I don't want them following us."
"Yes, I can do that." The guard looked a little disappointed, perhaps that she hadn't asked for something else, but at least she was sure he would do what she asked.
"Thank you," she said. "I really appreciate it."
The man frowned suddenly as she was about to turn back to her friends, looking past her. "That… that half-orc, you know he was traveling with them, right?"
"Oh yes," said Silandra. "We're taking him with us."
"Well, I hope you have a pleasant journey, my lady," the guard replied, though he still looked a little unsure.
The journey to Beregost could be best described as tense. Dorn did not seem too interested in antagonizing the others, and Silandra could not find any fault with him as a traveling companion so far. He was quiet and kept to himself, only really talking with Branwen because she approached him.
There had been an incident when Minsc, in an attempt to perhaps befriend the blackguard, introduced him to Boo. Dorn had commented on how smart it was to carry around an emergency food supply and now Minsc was terrified the blackguard would try to steal Boo and eat him. Silandra was mostly certain that it was Dorn's idea of a joke.
Ajantis remained close at her side, even more so than before. He made sure they walked behind the blackguard so he could watch him, practically scowling the whole time. Silandra wanted to make a joke about his face staying that way if the wind changed, but she got the impression he would not appreciate it. He was not openly angry with her, more incredulous, and he did not seem in the mood to speak to her as he usually did when they walked. She hoped he would get over it soon; she found she missed their conversations.
Xan and Dynaheir did not seem to care about Dorn's presence one way or another, and spent most of their time walking together, deep in discussion. Imoen joined them for a while, and Silandra got the sense she was discussing her interest in magic with them. Well, it would be about time.
Garrick did not seem to mind losing his usual traveling partner for a while, happy enough to walk by Minsc's side instead. Minsc enjoyed the company too, since it didn't take much to get Garrick to tell him a story, and he knew so many that so far, he had not needed to tell the same one twice. Every now and then Minsc would ask for one in particular though, insisting it was one of Boo's favorites.
Silandra was paying more attention to her surroundings than usual. She normally depended on Jaheira to call stops for lunch and setting up camp for the night, and now, Silandra was pretty sure it was up to her. She also could not deny that she was a little worried about Dorn's former companions following, even after asking the guards to delay them.
She knew she was going to have to talk to Dorn at some point. Jaheira's spying concern had given her the idea that he might have information that she and her companions didn't, and it could be useful. She was also rather curious as to how he had ended up with Edwin and the others. She knew this was a conversation that should happen sooner rather than later, but even though Dorn had saved her, he was scary.
Still, she knew it had to be done, and so she was thinking about what exactly she was going to say to him while she began looking for a place to camp for the night. She tentatively picked the kind of spot Jaheira might have, a short distance from the road and sheltered by a few trees. No one disagreed, which she hoped was a sign that she had chosen well. She was fairly confident that at least Ajantis would say something if he thought their prospective campsite was unsafe.
Silandra worked with Imoen to raise their tent, as usual, and settled down beside Dorn. She did not say anything yet, still trying to work up the nerve.
Ajantis took over Khalid's task of making the fire and turned out to do a good job. Silandra supposed she should not have been surprised; it was the kind of thing he had probably learned in the Order. He came to sit on her other side, and she was sure he was highly unimpressed by where she had chosen to sit but he remained silent for the moment.
Imoen was on dinner duty and Minsc and Branwen were taking the first watch. Xan and Dynaheir were already immersed in their spell books and so was Garrick. Silandra could not remember seeing him like that before, and was glad that he was apparently deciding to take magic a little more seriously.
"So, I have a few questions," Silandra began, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
"Go ahead," Dorn replied. His tone was neutral rather than annoyed or angry, and she felt a little better.
"How did you end up with Montaron and Xzar's group?" she asked.
"They came across a few of my former companions," Dorn said. "There was a battle, and we were on the same side, so after we won I decided to join them."
"Former companions? Do you switch allegiances so often?" Silandra wondered if it was a mistake to let Dorn join.
Dorn was silent for a moment and she wondered if he just wasn't going to answer, and whether she should try and make him. Beside her, she could sense Ajantis was also interested in what the blackguard had to say about this.
"Before I met Edwin and the others, I was tracking down the remainder of a group I used to be a part of," Dorn said finally. "They betrayed me and left me to rot in a cell. I do not take betrayal lightly. It is my mission to track them down and kill them. Now only one remains, and he is currently out of reach in Baldur's Gate. The city is currently closed due to the bandit activity, or so I have heard."
"I see." Silandra wanted more information, but decided it could wait for the moment. "So I suppose you decided to work together? Montaron and Xzar's group would help you get your revenge and you would help them with the mine?"
Dorn nodded. "And Edwin wanted assistance in killing Dynaheir. I, of course, have no quarrel with the witch."
"I'm glad to hear it, because I will not tolerate any infighting in my group," Silandra said, rather proud of how stern and Jaheira-like she sounded. Her words were directed at Ajantis as much as they were Dorn, and she hoped the paladin knew it. "You will understand if I am a little… concerned, that you may leave us like you just did the others."
"Aside from my more personal quest, my main one was to find you. In fact, as another show of my sincerity, here."
He pulled a roll of parchment from his pack and handed it over casually. Silandra felt a little sick as she opened it and found it was one of the bounty notices, this time with a rather accurate drawing of herself. She couldn't think of what to say at first, but Ajantis did the speaking for her.
"I knew it!" he cried, swiftly moving to his feet and drawing his sword. "You are after the bounty."
Silandra suspected—or rather hoped—that Dorn had some other reason for having the notice. She reminded herself that he could have killed her already if he wanted to. But she could not deny that seeing that piece of parchment made her remember all the other attempts on her life, and she wondered if she would ever be safe again.
Xan and Dynaheir looked up from their books for a moment, but didn't seem worried enough to actually do anything. Silandra hoped they were right.
Dorn just rolled his eyes. "This is how I knew of you, and when I received it my patron said I should find you and join with you. I thought I had established by now that I don't want you dead."
"I believe you," Silandra said, though her voice was shaking. "Ajantis, calm down."
"Are you not curious as to what a demon might want with you?" Ajantis asked, still standing.
"Of course I am," Silandra replied. "I was getting to that."
"He has not told me," Dorn said. He actually sounded a little put out by that, and Silandra did not think he was lying.
"Who exactly is your 'patron'?" she asked. Hopefully he could at least give her that, and if she did not recognize the name, perhaps one of the others would.
"Ur-Gothoz, although I doubt that means anything to you."
Silandra glanced up at Ajantis, who showed no sign of recognition. She decided she would try doing some research once they got to Beregost. Maybe she could find the information in a book. She also wanted to visit Firebead, who should have returned from Candlekeep by now. He seemed the kind of person who would know a lot of things so perhaps she could ask him, though she somehow knew he would not approve of her allowing a blackguard to join her.
"Ajantis, will you please sit down?" she asked. It made her uncomfortable having him looming over her like that. "I am not in any immediate danger."
"Dinner's ready, and if you don't sit, you're not getting any!" Imoen said, brandishing the knife she had been using to cut the bread.
"You are too trusting," Ajantis said, but he did at least return to his place on the ground beside her.
Imoen began serving dinner, and Silandra wondered if what Ajantis had said was true. She didn't think so. Perhaps in this particular case. But she had been given many reasons recently not to trust strangers, since so many of them had tried to kill her. She just did not think Dorn was dangerous—at least, not to her.
"Who gave you that bounty notice?" she asked after a while, picking at the remnants of her bread. Of course, she had a good idea of who may be distributing them by now, but confirmation would be nice.
"It was slipped under my door one night at the Red Sheaf Inn while I was in Beregost," said Dorn.
Silandra was a little disappointed that he couldn't give her a name or at least a description, but at least this did add credence to the idea that this Tranzig was behind the bounties. She wasn't sure she wanted that to be the case, because for the people behind the iron crisis to want her dead the moment she left Candlekeep—perhaps before, if they were responsible for the assassins within the keep itself—then this was a lot bigger and scarier than she had ever expected.
"Did you learn anything interesting while traveling with the others?" she asked, deciding a change of subject might make her feel better. "Like what Montaron and Xzar are really up to, because I doubt they really care about solving the problems in the area. Or maybe you know what Edwin really wants with Dynaheir."
Dorn shrugged. "We did not speak much. Montaron and Xzar said they wanted to find who was behind the mine problems and Edwin wanted to kill Dynaheir. None of them told me why and that's not something I generally care to ask."
"You said that you won't leave us because following me is what your patron wants, but what if a better offer comes along and he changes his mind? Will you go off with some other group, just like that?"
"I do not believe that will happen."
Silandra wasn't sure that made her feel any better. Since she didn't know why Ur-Gothoz wanted Dorn to follow her, she didn't know what may make him change his mind. But she didn't think she would get anything more reassuring from Dorn, at least not tonight.
She was contemplating joining the mages in studying for a while. She looked over and was met with a rather curious sight. Imoen, who had avoided most of her lessons back in Candlekeep and often slept or otherwise occupied her thoughts elsewhere when she did attend, had joined Xan and Dynaheir and appeared to be entirely focused on whatever they were saying. Maybe tonight, it would be best to leave them, since Imoen's concentration may not be so easily regained if she disrupted it. At some point, Silandra wanted to ask Dynaheir about her quest. She felt there might be some truth to what Edwin had said, and although she did not think Dynaheir meant her any harm, she felt she was likely in the area for a purpose and she wanted to know what that was. It didn't look like she would get any answers tonight.
"Silandra, could I have a word?" Ajantis asked, breaking through her thoughts.
"Alright," Silandra replied, turning to face him.
"Away from the others, if you don't mind," he said, glancing briefly at Dorn.
Silandra sighed, preparing herself for a spiel about how evil Dorn was and how wrong she was for letting him in the group. She almost declined, but decided it might just be better to let Ajantis get it out of his system, so she nodded and followed him a short distance from the group. The light of the fire was still visible, but the voices had died down to a low murmur so that no words could be made out.
"I am concerned about Dorn," said Ajantis. "I cannot fathom why you would invite him to join us. I worry for your safety as it is, and now I feel you are jeopardizing yourself further for no good reason."
"I don't think Dorn is going to hurt me," Silandra said. "I know that his… values are probably as far from yours as can be possible, and I'm sorry that his presence makes you uncomfortable, but I think our group is stronger with him in it. We did just lose Khalid and Jaheira, after all."
"Is that why you allowed him to join? You don't think you will feel safe enough otherwise?"
"Maybe that's part of it. I do find it hard to turn down help. I know that blackguards serve demons but they are supposedly very powerful because of it."
"It is dark power, tainted by evil. What about the Light? Do you not have faith in me?" Ajantis looked a little hurt at the thought. Nervous, too, as if he thought there was a good chance she would confirm his fears.
"Of course I do," Silandra said quickly. "But we both know you can't be looking out for me at every moment."
"Minsc is… simple-minded, and I was wary of him at first. But surely he can protect you as well as I. And the others have their own strengths. You do not need this blackguard to keep you safe. To be honest, I fear for you in… other ways. You do not have the protection of any god, and I worry that the demon Dorn is bound to will get to you in some way."
"You think I'm going to go to the dark side?" she asked. She found the idea rather amusing, but she was careful not to let it show, not when she could see Ajantis was so earnest.
"Not intentionally. You have a good heart, Silandra, I have seen that. If you didn't then I would not still be here. But a demon's influence can be strong, and—"
"I really don't think I'm the type to be influenced easily. I think it's far more likely that I will turn Dorn to the Light."
"You're not serious!" Ajantis looked like he was very worried she was.
Silandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course, I don't believe that will happen and I'm not going to try. Just try to have some faith in me. If I were easily influenced you could have got me to follow Helm."
"It would just be… better, safer, if you could find some god that you can connect with. Have you given it any further thought these last few days?"
Silandra felt her shoulders slump at the question. But when would she ever want to discuss this? She definitely was not up for it tonight. She needed to get some studying done before retiring, and she did not want to be up too late as they would leave at dawn. But she resigned herself to the fact that Ajantis was just not going to let this go. Even Jaheira had thought her situation was far from ideal. Up until recently Silandra had not thought it so strange to not worship any god, but perhaps she should put a little more effort into at least thinking about it.
"I'm still undecided, and I don't want to get into it tonight," she said. "But tomorrow night we will be in Beregost. If our encounter with Tranzig goes well, we might be able to take a little time to relax, and then perhaps we can discuss it."
Ajantis looked a little relieved. "I am glad to hear it. I don't mean to push you, but I have been worrying about this for a while. It seems you attract danger, and you need all the protection you can get."
"I do think you're right about that," Silandra said, sighing. "I really wish I knew why anyone would want me dead."
"As do I. But surely this Tranzig will have the answers. And in the meantime, I will do my utmost to keep you safe. Not just from the assassins, but from Dorn and his demon patron if necessary."
Silandra was not so confident she would learn everything she needed to from Tranzig, nor was she sure she liked Ajantis' chances against Dorn if it came down to that, but the sentiment was nice all the same. She smiled and thanked him, which apparently rendered him speechless, even though she knew she wasn't charming him. Or perhaps she was in some way, just not magically.
She took his arm and brought him back to the rest of the group where they settled on the ground, this time away from Dorn. She pulled out her spellbook and he began cleaning his sword, and they were able to spend the rest of the evening in peace.