Chapter 12…Bound Together

"You are too good to me, Delma," I told my squire when I returned to my room to find she had just finished filling the big tub with hot water. The maids who were helping her giggled and left but Delma remained to help me wash my hair. Then she tenderly wrapped my wet hair in a towel so I wouldn't 'catch a chill'. If she had known the austere conditions I had grown up with in Daeghun's household, she would have realized that no chill could catch me. I hadn't been aware that bath water was commonly heated until I'd moved to Neverwinter.

"I've been dreaming of this for days," I admitted, sinking down into the scented water.

"Enjoy yourself then," Delma said with a laugh. She threw another log in the fireplace and gave the fire a good stir before she left me to sodden bliss.

Sometime later, an imperious rap at the door roused me from my drowsy contentment. According to Sir Nevalle, now that I was a member of the Nine and the Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep, it was my duty to be gracious at all times. So I didn't curse or lob a fireball through the door.

Besides, the hot bath was doing a lot to improve my mood.

"Unless you are bringing hot water or fresh towels, go away," I hollered graciously. The door opened and Ammon came inside. He didn't look angry anymore. If anything, his expression seemed a bit smug.

"Ack!" I sank deeper into the water. "Go far, far away," I told him. I thought about getting angry at him again but that seemed like a lot of work. He closed and then barred the door. Oh, dear. Instead of towels, he was armed with a bottle of wine and a couple of clay mugs.

"I forget what the penalty is for disobeying a direct order from the Knight-Captain," I said. "I'll have to ask Kana. I expect it involves loss of limb or maybe a public caning."

"I am not one of your lackeys," he said calmly. I watched with suspicion as he set down his offering on the three-legged table by the fireplace. He opened the bottle and filled the mugs.

"Is the King of Shadows outside the gate?" I asked. "Are we celebrating our impending demise?"

"Not yet," he said. His lips didn't actually move but it looked like he was considering a smile.

"Then why are you disturbing me?"

"I thought I would allow you the opportunity to apologize for your attack on me earlier today."

"My attack on you? I should apologize to you?" I snorted. "'No doubt you think you are being amusing'," I said in the lowest, roughest register my voice would reach. I hadn't done enough screaming in my life to creditably imitate him. Not yet, anyway.

He handed me a mug. I took it but I scowled. "And you're peeking!" I added when I realized he was looking down into the tub. He took the other mug and sat in my favorite chair, stretching out his legs and looking quite at home.

"You turned your magic against me," he said.

"You put your hands on me first."

"I did not know that was prohibited."

I didn't have an answer to that so I took a sip from my mug. There was something utterly decadent about soaking in a hot steamy tub and drinking wine. The cheerfully burning fire, the wine and the warm water all invited me to relax. Ammon's eyes held a different invitation. It seemed safer to ignore him as best I could.

"So," I said. "From your chipper demeanor, I take it you are satisfied that we now know how to mend the Blade of Gith."

"You are not?"

"Oh, I don't know, doesn't this 'look to the source of the shadow' talk seem just a trifle vague to you? I was hoping for something closer to actual instructions." He shrugged.

"Zhjaeve is a mystic. What may seem vague to us is as clear as crystal to her. She knows what to do. I could see it in her eyes."

"So you trust her."

"In this, I feel we can trust her, yes."

I made a noncommittal noise in response. I hated to admit it but Ammon's apparent lack of concern gave me the hope that Zhjaeve's calm pronouncements did not. If he was convinced, why should I continue to doubt? Until now, I'd been concerned that we were no better off than we'd been before we trekked to Nolaloth's valley. I'd really expected Ammon to have a fit when he heard how little the dragon had told us. I'd been expecting him to start pressuring me to make a deal with the Still Lord. Instead, here he was with wine and (at a guess) seduction on his mind.

"Well, that's good to hear," I said at last. The bath water was starting to cool or maybe I was just getting tired of being trapped in the tub. "Thanks for the wine but I am certainly not apologizing to you. In fact, I will be accepting apologies in the morning, should your own conscience unexpectedly awaken. You are dismissed." He continued to look at me so I showed him my wrinkled fingertips. "I'm ready to get out of the tub. Go away."

Instead of leaving, he brought me a towel from the stack by the hearth.

"Get a good eyeful?" I grumbled but I took the towel. It was nice and warm.

"I did," he said and now his lips had definitely turned up, if not in a smile, at least in a smirk.

"Humph. Well, at least you could pretend you have some decency and turn your back."

When he turned, I got out with a splash. He walked over to my bed and stared down at the nightgown Delma had laid out for me. It was spread across the covers demurely in all its lace-trimmed glory.

"Is this what you sleep in?" he asked incredulously, picking it up and running the silk across his palm. "I thought the succubus was being facetious when she showed up in something similar." My hair was already reasonably dry and I dried the rest of my body as quickly as possible and then wrapped up in the towel. I snatched my nightgown out of his hand and retired behind the screen in the back of the room.

"Speak to Delma if you don't like it," I said, my voice a bit muffled as I pulled the gown over my head. "This is not my taste in attire, believe me."

"I do believe you," he said. "But I like it well enough." And he had the nerve to chuckle. I jammed my arms into the sleeves of my dressing gown and pulled the belt tight. I walked to the little table and refilled my mug. I plopped down in my favorite chair before he could claim it and put my bare feet on the warm, toasty hearth. By the gods, it felt good to be out of my boots.

"I asked you to leave and you're still here," I said, looking at Ammon through my lashes. He emptied the bottle into his mug and sat in the other chair. "You must want something rather badly." His head tilted toward me.

"Yes. I do."

"Really? You may not be one of my lackeys or owe me a debt of loyalty but I still might consider trying to help you. Do you need a wand? Summoning ingredients? A voucher signed? Permission to kill Grobnar?"

"I had something different in mind."

And I thought I knew what. Of course, if I was wrong, the humiliation would be intense.

"I see. Well, tell me, Ammon, what is the going rate for virginity these days? Excuse me, for a hero's virginity?"

"It is a seller's market, of course." His eyes met mine and I flushed. The heat I felt was probably left over from the bath. No doubt. "I expect you could get whatever you asked," he said. At my raised brows, he added, "Within reason, of course."

"Is that so? What did you get for yours, I wonder?"

For a moment I thought he would not answer, but then he gave a snort of bitter laughter and said, "My Haven."

"You're kidding."

"I do not kid. It is a pocket plane, of sorts, and I was given the power to gate myself there at will. The Haven changed over time, as I grew in knowledge and ability. Only much later did I add the portal that you entered, with its challenges and guardians." He gave me one of his unreadable looks. "In hindsight, I can see that it was a mistake to tie my Haven to the Material Plane but at the time, my reasons for doing so seemed logical enough."

"All you did was sleep with one of the baatezu and they gave you your own plane," I said, amazed. "You must have really impressed them." And then my naughty little mind began to speculate on what exactly he had done to make such an impression. Hatsou, the succubus, had hinted that Ammon was uncommonly skilled. I wasn't sure what that meant but it sounded…intriguing.

He shrugged.

"I am a warlock. I was born under a family curse. Scarcity has a value."

"Yes, but…your own plane?"

"It is an extremely minor demiplane."

"Okay, your own minor demiplane, but still." I leaned forward. "Would they give me one?"

"You never know until you ask. Of course," he said, leaning back and tenting his fingers over his lean belly, "I could give you access to my Haven, if you asked it of me. There would not be so many…strings…attached."

"I don't want any strings attached."

"Ah, but there are always strings, or perhaps I should say expectations—stated or unstated. No relationship, no matter how fleeting, can exist without them. To deny this is to lie. Were we to sleep together, things would change between us. We should be clear about this, yes?"

"I suppose."

"We are already bound together by the Ritual of Purification. Only we can destroy the King of Shadows and only together can we do so. It is a commitment we have no choice but to honor. Neither one of us can simply walk away from the other until either he is destroyed or we are, no matter what else happens between us."

I felt my lip twitch up a little.

"Are you trying to seduce me or scare me off, Ammon?" He gave me a hard look from under his heavy brows.

"A bit of both, I suppose. I must tell you that you could make a better choice, Jess."

Well, I knew that. He was far too old for me, and in much more than years. I had seen him show regret but never compassion. He was neither gentle nor kind. He might have been different once, if Shandra and Aldanon's memories were accurate, but I wondered. Did anyone change that much or had he just been adept at hiding what he was?

He seemed to think that most people were fools who deserved their fate, and yet he had made almost unimaginable sacrifices to save them. He had many, many enemies, both here and in the Lower Planes and I was already beginning to draw their attention, it seemed. As if I didn't have enough enemies of my own.

Getting closer to Ammon was a dangerous proposition. That he tempted me spoke volumes to my character, or lack of such.

"Are you going to advise me again to sleep with Casavir?"

He stood and looked down at me. I tried to appear relaxed despite my quickened breathing. He held his hand out to me. My face burned but my fingers felt icy when I gave him my hand. He pulled me to my feet.

"No," he said. "I do not wish you to do so." The distance between us could be crossed with one step yet it felt immense.

"Are you going to bargain me off to the Still Lord or any other devil or demon?" I asked. His fingers tightened.

"No." The look he gave me was searching indeed. As was the look I gave him, no doubt. I took a half step closer and drew his hand down to my hip. His other hand brushed my waist.

"Are you going to ruin me for all other men?" I breathed. His eyes gleamed. He pulled me in to close the gap between us.

"I am certainly going to try."

And so, with an invocation of unnatural darkness shrouding the corridor outside my door against those who might try to interrupt us, he did.