Author's Note: I was looking at this story when I noticed that I've actually meant to put it up since about two months ago but somehow I forgot all about it, so I'll just do it now. Well, this chapter is actually almost a bit cheerful because as the titles shows, Elara actually ends up thinking about the happier moment of her marriage. I spouse it is quite different from the rest as it is actually talking about good things that happened to her.

The twin swords were met by the metal of a blade instead of severing one of the numerous wooden dummies that cluttered around the weaponry.

"Sir Keldorn?" Woraen asked in some surprise as he quickly took a few steps back.

"I was watching you practice when I was suddenly filled with the desire to do so too." The paladin explained with a smile. "And call this a vanity of an old veteran, but you seem to be too emotional in your practice, as I saw many openings."

"Yes, that is true." The half elf fighter admitted. "My mind is…occupied."

The problem was that he didn't know what he was worrying about half the time as his thoughts often ended up being too chaotic. Although this was not always a bad thing as it prevented him from worrying too much.

He was thinking of Elara again. Just what was she to him? Was he attracted to her because he simply wanted to learn more about her? Was he actually caring for her more then he should? And why was he so curious about her relationship with both Sarevok and her absent husband?

"I am sorry." He apologised, "Even now my mind is straying."

Elara should be here soon, and he was not sure whether he hoped that she would be accompanied by her husband. Perhaps it was this selfishness that served as the sign that he was beginning to care for her more then a friend.

He has surprisingly little experiences with such things due to his upbringing and home. Imoen was the only girl he ever saw during his childhood and to him she was always Imoen- a girl who was both a sister and a friend; nothing more, nothing less.

Then in his travels…he was first met by Jahiera, a woman whom he regarded as a guardian, and he never stopped seeing her as his elder. Shar-Tel was not exactly a choice as she never quite forgives him for beating her in their first meeting, as for Faldorn…did he even want to think about her? Her zeal made most of the group pretty worried. It was true that Skie was quite pretty but she deeply irritated him by spending half of her time whinnying.

Then he saw Elara, and she had been different from all the other females he had encountered. And perhaps this was the main reason of his attraction to her, as well as the fact that his heritage as a Bhaalspawn never bothered him that much.

He still remembers their first meeting so well…

"Woraen, are you alright?" Jaheira finally asked their young leader, who had barely spoke again since the moment he was arrested.

"I learnt that I am one of the children of the dead God of Murder, and if that wasn't bad enough I was accused of being the murderer of some man whom I just saw for the first time a couple of hours ago which led me to being denounced by my own home." Woraen commented out bitterly, "So the answer is no.

"I know that I must pull myself together," he quickly added, "but I would like sometime alone first. To think."

Jaheira and Kivan exchanged a glance before they reluctantly nodded, Woraen was right, and he was probably handling the situation quite well, as he still managed to give the necessary commands.

"Gorion only hid this from you because he loves you as a son." Jaheira said softly as she gave her younger ward a sympathetic pat.

"I know that." Woraen said. "And I am very grateful that he managed to love me as if I really was his own son despite my heritage." He took a deep breath before he spoke again, his voice more steady. "We must concentrate on making out way out of this catacomb. Imoen…is the door…"

"Wide open! I told you that my old hobbies are useful!" the young girl declared out with forced gaiety, knowing that doing otherwise would just make things worse.

"There is someone in there!" Kivan yelled out, immediately raising his bow.

Due to the dim light that Xan had created, they could barely make out the silhouette of someone who sat just in front of the door. Soon, they noticed that there was a small pile of weapons in front.

"I have not come to attack you, Woraen of Candlekeep." The rather soft voice of a woman declared out.

By this time their eyes had adjusted slightly, and they could also see this person better as she had pulled off the heavy cloth that she had wrapped around her.

It was a human woman, a fairly young woman too. Her attire was very similar to what Imoen was wearing, so she was probably a thief. Her weapons suggested this as well, as they consisted of short swords, daggers and darts.

Woraen immediately blushed slightly and looked away, having accidentally rested his gaze directly onto her cleavage. Seeing this she actually laughed, a genuine laughter as men usually didn't react like this.

"Who are you?" Woraen asked, carefully making sure that he was only looking at her face, the last time he saw someone wearing this exposed a cloth was a prostitute! Even worse was the fact that her body made him want to look it for a second time.

"My name is Elara Nervachez." She said softly. "You do not know me, but you know my brother well enough."

"Your brother?"

"My foster brother…my stepbrother." She gave a shrug as she continued, her voice now a bit sad. "Does it matter how we are related? I love his as a brother and that is enough to make him my brother. My brother is Sarevok Anchev."

She made no attempt to pick up her weapons even though his blade was now pressed right against her neck.

"As I said, I am not here to harm you." She whispered, her voice still very steady. "I would not strip myself of all my weapons and sit here if I wish to do so."

"Then what do you want?" her reasoning was very logic, but he still did not put away his sword, as he realized that he could not trust as he once did.

"I am here to offer you information on Sarevok's plans." She said steadily, although he saw how sad her eyes have become. "I am here because I want to help you to stop him."

"How can we trust you?" Jaheira demanded. "You can be his spy- if you are even who you say you are."

"As I said, I am Elara Nervachez: the bastard daughter of Reiltor Anchev, who was the man who adopted Sarevok. I can offer no proof of my identity because my parents are both dead, as you would know."

"I didn't…" Woraen began quite heatedly, but she interrupted him with a gentle shake of her head.

"That is not important right now. I am here, as I said, because I want to stop Sarevok. As for why I do this…it is the right thing. I do love my brother," she admitted sincerely, "he is the only family that I love and he is probably one of the few in the world that truly cares about me. That is why I want to stop him from descending into the madness which he is embarking on.

"He seeks to be the new God of Murder by the slaughtering of the thousands of innocents who would die from the war he would soon create. For his sake, and for these innocents' sake, I will betray him."

"Tell me the information then."

She did this very willingly with little hesitation. It seemed that she was not lying to them, because everything now seemed to make sense.

"And what will you do now?" Woraen finally asked.

"As I said, I wish to travel with you." Elara implored out. "One reason is because I feel that I have to see the end of all this. You will kill my brother, I accept that, but I wish to be there in his dying moments so I can say farewell to him."

"You want to travel…with me?" he was quite surprised because he felt that the only reason he still had companions with him was because they were with him before they learnt of his identity as a Bhaalspawn. "Do you know who I am?"

"You are Woraen of Candlekeep, a Bhaalspawn. The ward and foster son of Gorion, who my brother killed. You are also the thorn in my brother's path." Elara answered simply, rather emotionlessly. "Yes, I know exactly who you are."

"And you would not mind travelling with me? I must warn you, those who tangles themselves with me seemed to end up…" he paused for some time in order to find a word that has not been used by Xan before he was forced to give up, "doomed."

She laughed slightly, but he felt that her laughter was filled with bitterness due to what fate was forcing her to do. "I have no reasons to hate Bhaalspawns yet, if I distrust you then it will only be because you are half elven. As for being 'doomed'? I do not think anything can be worse then this: to betray the brother that I love because to not do so is an even greater crime."

"Then I welcome you into my group. Somehow," he admitted. "I feel that I can trust you."

What of his new companions? Nalia and Aerie, who were constantly beside him. He knew that they liked him, and if he tried then the affection might end up growing.

But he wasn't sure whether he wanted this, as he felt that they were both in a completely different world from him- despite what Nalia said he knew that she was always going to be in the world of the nobles of Athkatla, while Aerie was constantly reminding him that her perfect world was with her kindred- wherever they are.

He was also a half elf, and he felt that neither of these two girls seemed to be able to see past this. They would always regard him as being 'different', unable to fit into their world, although he knew that they would both deny this because they weren't aware of the truth yet.

But then Elara was different from him as well, yet he believed that this was something that could be changed. Once more, his heritage interfered as an elf seemed to have wronged Elara, and if he and Kivan were right, he could understand why she would be so hostile toward any male elves.

He shook his head as he decided to think about these things later, when Elara returns. He would only think then because she would decide on the direction of his thoughts by returning alone or not.

"I would gladly practice with you, Lord Kheldorn." He said quickly. "I will even consider it an honour."

Sparring with Kheldorn achieved some success in distracting him as the other man was very skilled, so he was forced to concentrate.

The two of them continued their practices while Kivan was sitting a few paces away, focusing on making more arrows. Aerie was sitting beside him with a half opened book in her lap, her gaze resting on Woraen with a slight smile appearing on her lips when he was beginning to win.

Nalia's entrance prevented the match to end, as she quickly interrupted them by forcing them to stop.

"Woraen, I found some information." Nalia declared out happily, glad to be able to do something that no one else managed. Smiling, she ordered the man beside her: "Tell him what you just told me."

"Of course, Miss Nalia." The man, one of the soldiers in the keep, said devotedly before he turned to their new Duke. "Your grace, I know of Valygar Corthala. I was in the army some time ago and he had been in the same division that I was in. He often served as a scout and upon being asked about this skill, he explained that it was due to him spending a long time in the wilderness, since he sometimes lived in a cabin in the isolated part of a small village called 'Umar Hills.'"

"Do you know him quite well then?" Woraen asked.

"No, your grace. Valygar Corthala was not a man that one could know well, as he was a very reserved man who rarely spoke. But he was a good man." The soldier added sincerely. "He was a noble, but there was no air around him. I've met quite a few nobles in the army and even if we were richer then them, they still act as a stuck up bunch. In fact, I'll even say that I quite like Valygar Corthala. Probably the only time I'll say this about a noble. Oh, begging your two's pardon of course." He quickly added, upon seeing Nalia's sputter.

"So that is all you know."

"I think I've seen his wife once," The man added rather thoughtfully. "Or at least I think that woman is his wife, since he was never interested in prostitutes so he probably wouldn't be holding the hand of any woman. She was a pretty enough little thing, I suppose."

"Thank you, that is all I need to know." Woraen dismissed him with a curt nod, as was expected from him, although he much preferred accompanied the man back as he would do in Candlekeep.

It was a pity that Woraen did not, as Elara happened to enter as the soldier left. He immediately frowned at the sight of her as he was sure that he had seen her before. But he didn't spend anymore time worrying about this as he had enough to occupy him.

"Elara!" Woraen greeted her happily, only to immediately start worrying at the sight of her rather strained and forced smile. "You are…well?"

"I ran into some trouble. I suppose it is my punishment for being so emotional." She said lightly as she sank down onto the nearest chair, dropping the bag that contained her armour and most of her weapons down. "Why are you looking at me like that for? Do I truly look so strange in a dress?"

"You look very lovely." The half elf said sincerely. "And don't forget, I've seen you in a dress before."

Both Nalia and Aerie had changed into some of the unused dresses in the keep after a bath, since this was a rare opportunity. The two girls were fond of each other, despite recognizing the possibility of a rivalry for Woraen's affection. Neither of them was in love with him yet, but they were both attracted to him greatly.

To Nalia, Woraen was the complete opposite of all these boring nobles whom she was surrounded with, while Aerie saw him as a hero- since he did rescue her from the circus.

But until Elara joined them they were the only females in the group and since Woraen did not seem to be romantically interested in either of them, they managed to become friends. With the appearance of a new rival, they were even willing to help the other as neither of them wanted Elara to win.

They were both rather pretty and they were both aware of this fact, especially when they dressed up and carefully brushed and arranged their hair. However, no matter what, they were still two girls right now instead of being two women, Elara served as a very good reminder.

Elara was in a long purple dress that was in a rather old style, yet the fine material it was made out of forbid it to be unfashionable, it would still be willingly worn by noble women. The two young girls then immediately decided that she must have stolen this dress, since it was quite costly.

The dress was not heavy, so it moulded her already developed boy even more. Considering her usual clothes, the cut of the dress was rather modest, but they were cut in just the right way to make a woman's body even more attractive.

Strangely, dresses made females so much more beautiful, perhaps it was because they made women seemed much more vulnerable, which was often something that attracted man, regardless of their attitudes.

"I changed because I was travelling with a group of merchants and my usual attire would probably make them attack me, or run in the opposite direction. Since I went back to my 'house'," she said rather bitterly, "I might as well take something to not have wasted my time completely."

"Where is your husband? Do you prefer your dresses over him?" Nalia retorted rather childishly.

"I don't know where he is." Elara said truthfully. "I suppose others must have realized that as they intended to take advantage of our empty house."

In reality, Elara often wonder whether one of the Corthala had placed some sort of spell on the building because people tended so stay away from that part of the dock, including muggers and thieves. According to Valygar, their neighbour often change at least once every year, quite unusual in a place where people rarely let go of a precious house.

"My quest obviously failed." Elara said rather mockingly, and as she expected, both Woraen and Kheldorn immediately expressed sympathy. "What of your latest quest, Woraen? Have you found anything out about Valygar Corthala?"

"I found out that I am an idiot." Their leader admitted. "If I am to trust the men of this castle instead of a cowled wizard…and I do, then I have made a mistake. Valygar Corthala seems to be a good man."

"But perhaps we can only judge when se see this man." Kheldorn said kindly, although his mind was already made up. "I think we should still go to Umar Hills."

"Umar Hills?" Elara said with feigned shock. "We need to go there?"

"Why, what is wrong?" Woraen quickly asked.

"I have been there before," she said slowly, spinning her lies with an incident that had happened in the village about two years ago. Aran Linvail had taught her that the best lies were never truly lies. "I…I committed a crime there and I was caught in the act."

"What did you do?" Kheldorn immediately asked, his voice turning rather stern.

"I stole money from their temple." Elara said bluntly. "I was hungry and I had no money so do not blame me."

The real thief had been a much younger girl, more of a child. Elara met the girl and since she sympathised with her, she helped the girl to recover, hiding her in their cabin. Valygar was slightly disapproving since she did steal from the temple, but he relented in the end after his wife's long pleading.

"Will you leave us again?" Woraen asked softly.

"Of course not, they will never notice me if I stand in the back ground with my cloak on."

Woraen might have said more, if she did not interrupt him.

"I am very tired right now, so I would like to go and rest immediately." ELara stated firmly.

"Of course, there are spare chambers on the second floor with hot water available. If you are not used to these rooms then you can tell a maid and…" Nalia began, she would have done her job as the hostess quite well if she had not added the last bit in. "There is also hot water…"

"Perhaps I wouldn't be used to such comfort but I doubt that I would want to complain about it." Elara said dryly.

To be able to bath indoors in privacy was truly a luxury for her- she usually bathe in the public bathes of the guild or a tavern, or in the river near their cabin in Umar Hill's.

She smiled once more as she tilted her head back, it was not often when she could bath in hot water so this should be able to keep her in a good enough mood for at least one day.

She supposes that she should be grateful to Nalia for this comfort but the younger girl snobbery annoyed her greatly, and it was obvious that Nalia and Aerie both saw her as a rival.

Have I not made is clear that I still love my husband? She thought dryly. Have I not whine enough about how he had left me?

In her opinion, both Nalia and Aerie were much more pretty then her but she believed that if she really do set her mind up to become their rival, then she could actually won by quite some bit.

Unlike the two of them, she understood the variety of men and the type of women that they were attracted to. In Woraen's case he had suffered too much so he wanted a partner who could help him to ease his wounds, instead of one that relied on him completely. Because of this the two girls would not succeed in winning his affections, since they always dominated their conversations by their own sufferings.

If she wanted to then she might be able to seduce him quite easily as she could offer him the understanding or just the attention that he needed, unlike Nalia and her sense of injustice when she was showing prejudice herself, or Aerie's endless whining about her time in the circus…

Whenever she hear Aerie complaining of the scars on her back she was always really tempted to tear her own dress in order to display her own scars, to remind Aerie that she was not the only person who had suffered due to slavery.

If Woraen was like Valygar then maybe the situation would be different, she thought, finding her mind turning to her husband once again. Well…this was not unnatural, she was going to see him soon enough. Valygar wanted to help her despite being so occupied with his own problems.

After all, did he not save her when he was meant to use the day to think of a way to kill Lavok?

Taking the brush lying on the table beside the bath tub, she began to drag it through her hair as an attempt of distracting herself. This turned out to be rather unwise as she began to remember how he had once brushed her hair for her, before and after he cut it.

"Why can you not cut your own hair well when you are so handy with a blade?" he had laughed out as he pushed the tresses forward, to let her see that they were now the same length.

She understood that was a sign of great affection from him, to actually do such a thing for her, and his laughter…his laughter was very rare so that was why these memories were especially precious to her.

Did he know what her actions had meant? The reason that she insisted on cutting her own hair even when the result was rather disastrous was because she trusted no one to hold a knife so close to her. Until then, the only time that someone had cut her hair was when she was five years old.

That had been a few months before she turned eighteen…after the day he told her that he would love her if it wasn't for his fate…after the day he taught her archery…

If Zelaran was honest with herself then she would admit that she was more then a little jealous of Merella, ever since the soon to be ranger protector of Umar Hill began her trainings with her husband.

They would spend most of the mornings and afternoons together, and sometimes their session would even extend to the evenings, once or twice Valygar even arrived at the inn late.

When she was in the back part of the inn she could sometimes see the two of them together. Merella leaning against Valygar- laughing, always laughing. Her hair might accidentally tickle him while her hand would even brush across his face or…

The tray was slammed down, causing the cook to shudder slightly.

"Zelaran, really, do you not trust your own husband?" the cook asked, her hand still resting over her heart.

"Merella is more suitable for him." She muttered, as she certainly couldn't tell them that Valygar only married her for the sake of freeing her from the guild, and that it was a chaste marriage with the highest amount of physical contact being the night when he had his arm around her.

If he did love Merella…she would have no right to stop him as he never once said that he married her for love. Did he ever tell her that he cared for her, let along love her?

Of course, most people in the village thought that they were very much in love, proven by their affectionate strolls beside the river on many nights; how he would always wait for her to finish her shift in the tavern; the fact that he never once yelled at her; and most of all- no one has witnessed the two of them arguing or even disagreeing with the other.

Because there is nothing between us to make us angry with one another, Zelaran thought bitterly, we are just like two people who happens to share a house. Our lives are separate.

"Well…Merella is just enjoying herself as she always dreamt of meeting a real ranger." The cook explained. "Beside, she is very young so…"

"She is eighteen, a whole year older then me." Zelaran commented dryly.

"Oh, I always forget that you are only seventeen." The cook said with a rather shrill laughter. "Why don't you go and give your husband a surprise? I'll let you finish your shift early today to do this."

"Thank you," she said gratefully, although her cynical nature told her that this only happened as she was too lousy a worker today.

Her doubts were confirmed when she saw the three regular drunkards quickly bending their head down when she walked pass them. They were usually only daunted by the innkeeper's infamous display of anger when they refused to leave.

She could see Valygar some distance away, now alone. But she was still scowling due to the mere recollection of the way Merella 'learnt' archery from him. Unknown to her, Valygar was actually highly uncomfortable with the way the young girl had stood so close to him.

"Zelaran," He greeted her in what seemed like a calm voice as he released the arrow- missing the centre due to the sudden distraction.

"I finished working for today." She said, standing beside him. "And you?"

"Merella has gone." Valygar said with relief slightly evident in his voice. "I have finished my work for the day as well. I think Merella should be able to complete her trainings soon."

"What will you do then?"

"We'll live the way we have before the mayor asked me to help them. There are many works to be done each day." He told her with what was almost a smile. "Maybe…maybe we could even travel a bit if we are bothered by this peace."

"Travel? You and who?"

"You and I. Zelaran…" he began hesitantly, not sure how to continue.

She was like him by not really showing her emotions, or even speaking much. They had managed to gain an understanding between them but it was very fragile.

What did she feel toward him though? The man who married her out of gratitude and the desire of helping her. Her eyes often rest on him but he was still unable to fully decipher the feelings behind them.

She seemed...content if not exactly happy.

"Zelaran, if I am not cursed then I would probably be able to love you as a man would care for a woman." He told her sincerely, almost wanting to take her hand into his, especially when he saw her eyes widening in shock. "We have lived together for almost two years and I have grown to care for you deeply.

"But I am cursed." He interrupted her as she seemed to want to speak. "Because of this I can only offer you friendship."

"I…I care for you too." She said shyly, she wanted tell him more but decided against it, as what he said was an obvious warning. But she still reached to clasp his hands. "You are…special to me…the most special person to me."

She would wait sometime more before she tell him what she really wanted to say, and hopefully she would have worked out her true feelings for him by that time.

He smiled and planted a very chaste kiss onto her forehead before he indicated that she should let go of his hands. She did this reluctantly, and he then picked up his weapons once more.

"You have never learnt archery, have you?" he suddenly asked, he did not really like teaching Merella but he was sure that it would be different with Zelaran.

She shook her head and at the same time a slight frown appeared, "Apart from the short sword, I always used weapons that I can conceal."

When she was in the guild, she would rarely have her body free of any hidden daggers and darts. They were the weapon most favoured by her profession, as they could be carried regardless of the task.

This was the training she had.

"Perhaps I can teach you?" her husband offered. "Considering where we live it will be a useful skill."

At her nod he handed her his katana in order to demonstrate the proper way of holding a long bow. Zelaran couldn't help but to use this as an opportunity to examine the strange weapon, as she had never held it before. The katana was not a common weapon in this part of the world, so she was naturally curious about it.

"My heirloom." Valygar stated softly. "Perhaps the only legacy of the family that I do not shun."

He was just going to draw it out for her when she did it herself.

"A fine blade." She said, admiring it before she noticed the strange expression on her husband's face. "I am sorry, do you not want me to do this?"

"No, it is not that." His voice was slightly strained. "Did you…did you draw it out yourself?"

"Who else can do it?" she asked dryly. "Or am I meant to grab the end of the sheath and shake it out? Of course I drew it out."

"Not many people can," he managed to restore his composure, although he was now quite troubled by what she just did.

To this day she still didn't know why he acted so strange when she pulled it out. The katana she was now holding was obviously a cheap blade but the nature of the weapon was enough to make her think of his blade.

She was in another weaponry, but this room was obviously abandoned, as almost all the weapons were broken or neglected, and not a single one was free of any dust.

But some were still useable.

She made sure that no one was near this part of the keep before she picked the long bow up, she did not want to explain why she was relatively skilled with a long bow. Although she never mastered this missile, she could use it well enough.

If she wanted to then she could end up being very proficient with a long bow as there were thieves in the guild who were very skilled with one, although most preferred the short bow instead; but she didn't want anyone else to teach archery to her, and most of all, she didn't think that Valygar would be happy if she used his lessons to help her in her profession as an assassin.

"It is not as if he would even pardon me for being an assassin." She said sadly as she released the arrow. "Despite what he thinks and says he is too much a noble ranger."

It did not hit the centre of the target but it was quite close.

Author's Note: this chapter was fun to write because I actually got to write some…'cute' bits (or at least cute and even sweet in my opinion) But I just really like the flashback where they sort of took a step forward in their relationship, and somehow I like the hair cutting bit!  But hair is a very intimate part of the body. I've been calling/describing her as Zelaran because I think in a way, Zelaran was the girl she had been, while Elara was who she is.

The bit about Valygar's katana being drawn out by Elara is an idea that I suddenly have, and it will be revealed in the later chapters. As for Elara using a long bow…well, I never get why a mage couldn't pick up a long sword and try to stab someone in desperation, so basically I don't really agree with the weapon allocation in the Baldur's Gate games, so that's why I'm not really following them. Personally I think there probably were thieves who would use long bows, although I guess that's kind of leaning more toward bandits.

What else…I don't know who exactly Woraen had in his group at a particular time during the Baldur's Gate I time frame, but I just wanted to compare Elara to some of the other NPCs that had travelled with Woraen sometime during his adventure, not throughout his adventure.

I always thought that Merella and Valygar might have some sort of relationship, and I have seen several authors doing this, in this one story they were kind of childhood sweethearts. But I always imagined that while she might have loved him, he only always regarded her as nothing more then a friend, and I actually thought of them as being around the same age (not in this version though). I think in my very first Baldur's Gate fan fiction I actually showed this idea. Laugh, although the problem with game is that you never exactly know how old your NPC are unless they tell you or give you some hint (Eg. Aarin Gend from Neverwinter Nights). So out of curiosity, how old does every one think Valygar is? In this story, he is now thirty two years old, but in my old version I actually made him forty five!!!