The guard walked her down to the left, towards the lone door. She opened it and gestured for Lidia to come in. She took the pack from Lidia's hand, followed her in, and stood to one side.
The room was bare wood much like the holding cell, except for three polished wooden stools, a small glass-paned window, and a plain but sturdy cabinet. On the opposite side of the room was a second door. The light streaming in from the window was still bright, without the tired look of a late afternoon. Lidia guessed that she'd been held for only an hour or two at most. Two stools sat on the right side of the door, and one on the left. The guard guided her to the left seat. Lidia sat down and straightened her back, turning to the door.
Two others came in. The uniform they both wore was like those of the guards, but she noticed now that their livery was trimmed in silver. They sat down in the chair opposite to her. She recognized one as the keen-eyed superior officer she'd met in the Promenade, and she guessed that the other one had a similar rank. The other officer seemed more amiable than anything else - if not for his uniform, she could have mistaken him for a content, middle-aged merchant, not a soldier. Still, he had a sharpness in his eye that belied his other features.
One more followed them; this one was a thin man, probably a clerk, who from his darting eyes and jerkish movements seemed to be a bundle of live nerves. He held a thin stylus and a writing board, and kept his distance from Lidia as he went around the back of the two guards and stood at the ready.
The guard closed the door behind them, and the keen-eyed officer spoke first. As soon as his mouth moved, the clerk started writing.
"I'm Lieutenant Zoar, and this is Lieutenant Aegisfield. On behalf of the Council of Six, we oversee the City Guard in the Promenade and the River District. We understand that you may know something about the magical incident in the Promenade."
"I didn't get a close look, but I'll tell you whatever I know about it," she replied.
"Good to hear. What is your name?"
"Lidia."
Zoar waited a moment, then answered, "Just Lidia?"
She weighed the question, and wondered what effect the answer would have. She decided it didn't matter. "Some know me as Gorion's Ward, but otherwise, yes."
She watched them closely, but no reaction flitted across either of their faces. Zoar continued, "Lidia, where do you come from?"
"Most recently, Baldur's Gate."
A silence passed between the three of them, which she found foreboding: her former city and Athkatla had been close to war only six months ago. Zoar finally said, "You'd better start with how you ended up in this fix."
She began:
"I lived and worked in Baldur's Gate over last fall and winter, investigating for the dukes and the Flaming Fist. I was leaving the city and heading north, when my group and I were ambushed as we slept. That was..." She paused for a moment. "What day is it?"
"Tarsakh 10."
She turned to one side, lost in thought for a moment. "Over four tendays ago," she said, almost to herself. "That man the wizards took - he held us captive. We just got free."
Aegisfield said, "How did you escape him?"
"My friend Imoen got my friends and me out of our cages. We made his way through some sort of laboratory until we found the tunnel to the Promenade. We had no idea we were in Athkatla until we surfaced."
Zoar raised a hand, and Lidia fell silent. He said, "Tell us about what you know leading up to the explosion."
Lidia began: "There were five of us going down a tunnel. We could see the light coming out the other end - we were close. Several people in hoods were running past us, both coming and going. There was some kind of fight going on outside. We had no idea where we were. All we wanted to do was get out and regroup somewhere far away.
"We slipped out just in time. An explosion covered the entrance of the tunnel. I didn't get a chance to look, but I think the entrance was at the second or third level in the Promenade. But Irenicus was there, almost as if he were waiting for us. He told us..." A sudden swell of anger rose in her chest. She calmed herself with a cleansing breath. "He'd have recaptured us if we'd stayed. I was ready to run. The others ran. Imoen preferred to go down fighting. She cast a Magic Missile or two at him, when those wizards in robes showed up. The spells started flying everywhere. One of them landed in the rocks near my feet. I lost my footing and fell to the bottom of the rubble pile. That's where the guards found me."
"So you don't know who blew up the Promenade?"
"I didn't see who cast the exact spell," she said, "but Irenicus had to have done it. I swear, we were only trying to escape from him. I've seen some of what he did. He's powerful enough to destroy anything in his way. Imoen isn't. She only had a few spells left, nothing that could have wrecked the Promenade like that."
This time, the two men glanced at each other. Zoar asked, "Did the dukes of Baldur's Gate send you to Athkatla?"
"No, they didn't."
"How close was your association with the Flaming Fist?"
"I did some work for them, but I didn't wear the uniform or go to the parties. I tend to be more freelance, so to speak."
He glared. "One of those gods-damned adventurers. I might have known."
Aegisfield cut in, "Good thing the Cowled Wizards actually have an archmage in custody. Otherwise your story would seem like something of a yarn, and no mistake."
She said nothing.
Zoar asked, "What purpose could this wizard possibly have for you?" He drew out the last word incredulously, as though she was clearly not worth an archmage's time. "No doubt it was for something foul."
"No doubt it was," she said, echoing him. She had a guess but decided against sharing it here. "What his purpose was, I don't know. He didn't bother telling me."
They questioned her for a while longer, making her recount the last push to the Promenade several times and sometimes making her retell the story out of order.
After another half hour or so, Aegisfield finally pushed his chair back. He called the clerk over and glanced at his notes, then said, "All right. You've been a great help. There's going to be a number of people wanting answers, and now we might have something to tell them." He pushed his chair back and got up, and Zoar followed suit. The guard handed Lidia's pack to her, then left.
"Excuse me," she said. They paused as they turned to leave. "Would you spare a few more moments?"
"I suppose that's fair," Aegisfield said, turning back around towards Lidia. "Keep it short and I can do that."
Zoar gave a curt nod and left the room.
Lidia straightened up on the seat. "Those wizards arrested both of them, didn't they?" she said.
Aegisfield folded his arms. "From what I understand. Why?"
"Is there any chance they would release Imoen?"
His expression darkened. "A mage is a mage, and Amnish law does not allow magic-users to go unchecked. Better off banning them altogether, in my opinion. You saw what happened with a few stray spells. At least a dozen dead, and an entire section of the Promenade wiped out."
"She wasn't responsible."
"It doesn't matter. We can't wait to sort out who did what while some lunatic is hurling fireballs."
Lidia shut her eyes for a moment. "Can't she account for herself?"
No answer.
"Is there any way I could see her, at least?"
He shook his head. "There's little you can do now. The Cowled Wizards take who they take. Nobody knows where. Shady stuff, but the good they do outweighs it. That's probably not much comfort to you, but if it was a mistake somehow, they'll sort it out. My only advice is, don't wander far in case they do."
Clearly this was outside his control, Lidia thought. Or anyone's, from the sound of it.
Aegisfield continued, "I feel I should ask: did you have a trade before you became an adventurer?"
"Not really," Lidia said. "I had no other choice."
"I understand. Straitened circumstances can force anyone into a life of aimless wandering. You seem like a good kid. I'd hate to see you end up with the wrong crowd, if you get my drift."
"I'll stay out of trouble." She doubted she would, but she'd always given it her best shot.
"Now I'll admit, you seem luckier and more capable than most. But I've seen it too many times - some young person with no family thinks they can hold a sword, they put on a Shadow Thief uniform, and I end up having to clean their corpse off the street a tenday later. I hope you can find a legitimate profession, and soon."
He opened the door, stopping to pull her shortsword from one of the cabinets. As she approached, he placed the sword in its scabbard into her hand, and her pack in the other. "In the meantime, you're free to go. The exit's down the hall and to your right. You didn't get the kind of welcome I'd want, but hopefully Athkatla treats you better from here on out. Stay safe."
"Thank you," Lidia said. She put the sword on her belt and the pack on her back, went out the door, and found herself on the street.