Chapter 2

This inn is packed with people. It's loud. Stinks like unwashed bodies and stale ale. Not the way I like it. At all. Merchants from those stupid caravans have left me alone in my corner though. Smart.

Debating putting an arrow between the bard's eyes. Didn't expect much, from something named Daerred. The guy is all drama – well, I think it's a guy. Bright purple tunic, lacy pants, feathery cap, bright white gloves. Loser. And what a ridiculous song. According to him, our captain is some sort of goddess, with streaming hair of flames, and her icy eyes will freeze you on sight. Shows he hasn't seen her on the road, going without a bath for a fortnight. The reality? The mop on top her head was more the color of bruised cherries, the red parts only stand out in the sunlight. Don't know where he got the "streaming" from, either. It reached just past her shoulders, and curled under where it's heavy at the bottom. When she doesn't have it tied back, it frames her face. Well, until it gets annoying, and she secures a few strands behind her ears. Her eyes are blue. At least he got the color right, but freeze you? Ha. She doesn't have any magic at all. She'll tell you herself that she couldn't cast an acid arrow with Melf himself screaming the proper incantation in her ear. I figure it's got something to do with that chunk of metal in her chest. Might be sucking the magic out of her, or whatever. Who knows. Really, she is just a girl.

Don't get me wrong. She's no troll, by any means. Probably stands a hand shorter than me. Red hair, big blue eyes, high cheekbones, nose is actually straight. Right eyebrow lifts slightly when she's getting aggravated. Might have baited her once or twice just to see it happen. She's pretty enough to get cat calls from the boys on the docks. Must be something about a woman in a watch uniform. And don't get me started about how she's got that paladin twisted up in knots. Every conversation turns out the same. Doesn't have to talk to her for very long before he loses all his pretty words. She'll just pat her paladin on his head, tell him "don't worry, you are wonderful." Gives our Holy Warrior some rather unholy mental images, I think. He'll spout off something about Old Owl Well, run back to his corner, and burrow back into his self-flagellating head. Hilarious. Seriously, he needs to get laid. I just won't let it be by her.

And yeah, so what if I wouldn't mind scratching that itch. I've seen her looking at me. She knows the offer is there. I know she's thought about it taking me up on it more than once, too. Throws the innuendos right back at me, and bats the eyelashes quick enough. Hasn't let me go too far, or get too close, though. Probably figures she has me sized up. The thrill of the hunt is in the chase. I'll lose interest and get bored if she's easy to take. Smart girl.

I guess that is what's kept her alive this long. She's smart. Sizes up a situation and all the angles pretty fast. Charismatic. Can pretty much talk her way out of anything. Or into something. That's how she handles trouble, whenever she can. Overheard Bevil mention she was able to convince a tribe of lizardlings to pack up and move out of some old ruins so they could get the first shard. That would have been an interesting conversation.

I call her tielco girl. She's not real fond of being compared to the reptile, but it fits. Those little lizards can blend in, and make you think you are seeing a rock, a leaf, a stick – they can look like whatever they need to be to keep from being eaten. I can appreciate her camouflage. Only problem is, most people only get to see what the lizard really is after its dead.

Her personality and manner can change in a heartbeat to suit who she's dealing with. Somebody named her right. Crystal. Sizes people up quick, and pretty much just reflects back whatever is looking at her. Probably how she assembled that ragtag crew that follows her around. She figured out all their strengths and weaknesses. Found something she could take and use in all of them. "Perception is everything," she always says. Probably has something to do with her following Oghma. I'm not sure if she chose to follow him, or if the Lord of Knowledge picked her. She does good by him though. Learns what she can about something, notes all the details, figures it out. Waits for the moment she can use it to present itself. Exacting execution to use it to her own advantage. Some ways, she would have made a good ranger.

Had Neeshka show her how to pick locks. Tiefling said our captain was a quick study. Not a bad skill for her to have, I guess, unless it's your stuff that's locked up. First one she succeeded with was Duncan's "good" wine cellar, that night we brought the farm girl back from Luskan territory. Neeshka sees her as able to recognize and seize an opportunity. Quick and steady hands. They celebrated that little victory with the spoils. Watched them from my table in the corner. Seems our esteemed captain has no head for wine. She is a rather friendly drunk. Duncan wasn't happy with them for the loss of his booze, or me when he found her sitting on my lap. Seems he sees her as a good little niece. A pristine thing the Tiefling and I are corrupting. Told me she's way too good for the likes of me. He's probably right, but whatever. Never stopped me before.

Same story with that uppity, Elven wizard. She spent a day in his shop, learning basic potions. Smart thing to do, if you have zero magic, and tend to play with things that hurt you. By the end of the day, Sand was fussing all over her. Pushed little bottles of bat toes and bee's knees, and gods know what else into her hands. Told her to practice, and bring the finished potions back tomorrow. Playing for more time with her alone, using a brewing excuse. He sees her as an equal in big words, quick sarcastic barbs, and alchemy. And she's easy on the eyes. Good luck with that, pal. He has to be at least 400 years older than her.

That stupid gnome adores her. Rare she will take him out on a mission. He's useless unless you're chasing butterflies, wendersnaven or other nonsense. She spent hours with him in the basement, though. Had enough dangerous chemicals to taint everything alive in an entire forest, and a highly magic book. I figured they were going to blow the place up. Seems they managed to figure out how a blade golem works. Fixed it, too. Yeah, the blade golem that nearly took her head off. Only sliced up her hand a little bit, sharpening the blades. Gnome figures she is a good mechanic, and an inventor. Kindred spirits he says.

The paladin has proven useful for something other than patching her up when she does something stupid. He's trained her with those rapiers she uses. Runs her through the drills every morning. Learned pretty quick that she can't talk her way out of everything. Skeleton warriors aren't inclined to stop and chat over tea. I'll go spar with her once in a while. Give her a fresh opponent. She's a work out for me. Don't tell her that. She tried other weapons. Says anything heavier than the rapier, she'd be cubed before she got her weapon out of the scabbard. She's probably right. Pays to know your limits.

I ran into her "pet" in the basement. Monster magical spider. Fangs the length of my arm. Knits her magic clothes. I asked her, "Why are you always taking in, playing with, taking apart, fixing or tasting something that will probably kill you?" Answer is just more Oghma talk. "I'm learning about it. Knowledge is Power". Yeah sure, sweetheart. One day all that curiosity will probably get you dead. Heard about the orc mountains. "Ooooooooh. A big box of unstable blast globes. Let's take 'em." Brilliant.

Too bad her stupid ideas generally pay off for her. No discouragement by losing digits….so far. Must be the benefits of being one of Oghma's favored souls. She has us pick up and cart around every weird, shiny object she finds. She's worse than a gnome. "I need to get this home and identify it," she says. Gets a little old, but has its uses. Most of the time, it's just junk to pawn. Once in a while, she finds some decent stuff. Good thing she generally drags the man in metal and the dwarf with us. A big sigh, and an exasperated "I simply can't carry all this," brings them running. They think they are rescuing their damsel in distress, putting all her crap in their packs. Really, it turns them into brainless pack mules. I guess she's right. Perception is everything.

She came and found me here at the inn after one of our escapades. She had traded the scale mail she had worn for the last ten-day for a sky blue tunic. It matched her eyes. The druid probably picked it out for her. Our Noble captain, for all her intelligence, has no sense of aesthetics. Had a bath, too. Her hair was down, shiny and framing her face. Smelled like lilacs. Different than the usual tied back, "functional" thing she did with it, anyways. She cleans up pretty good. Turned most of the heads sitting at the bar when she strolled in. One of the stonemasons actually started walking her way with a glass of rose colored wine. Her favorite. Everybody knows it. He was pretty smiley until she sat down nice and close beside me at the otherwise empty table. Quick glare from me had him downing the wine himself, and heading back to the bar. I didn't even have to snarl. There is no doubt who's the Alpha, here.

I know she wanted us alone. She remained quiet until the bartender set her wine glass down on the table. Flashed him her smile, but didn't say a word until he left. She's not fond of an audience either. She set a gold ring with a red stone on the table between us. It's not much to look at, really. She called it a "Ring of Power". Said she wanted me to have it. I pushed it back towards her, reminded her that something worth that much is far too binding, and I have no intention of sticking around that long. She told me it has health regeneration, stuff like that on it, and she pushed the ring back in my direction. I leaned in close to her. Close enough to smell her hair and skin, and to feel her soft breath on my face. I kept my eyes on hers. "There's no worries about my stamina, baby." Close enough to feel the heat from her blush. She didn't back away, and didn't break our connection. I offered to take her to my room here at the inn if she needed to research. I could prove just how "healthy" I was. I moved away from her then, adjusted position. Leaned back in my chair, clasped my hands behind my head. I watched for her reaction. Wanted to catch every subtle movement she made, figure out where she stood. She surprised me. She wasn't very subtle at all. I could almost feel the trail those blue eyes left, as if she had run her fingers over me instead of just her eyes. She slowly looked over my chest, my arms, and my shoulders. Her gaze lingered on my lips, before she finally met my eyes. She wore this sort of half smile. The kind of smile that told me there was a myriad of interesting possibilities running through her head. Unfortunate she censored them internally as she took another sip of her wine. It took a few minutes before she finally spoke. Carefully chosen words. She expressed that she had no doubt that I had many interesting and worthwhile … physical capabilities. However, she had other purposes in mind for the trinket. Damn. Spell broken. Back to business. She said it might come in handy if we really get into it with the Luskans, or stumbled upon a shadow reaver and some troops of undead. Every other day, there are new things that seem to jump out of nowhere and want her dead. She went on that it was really in her own best interest to keep her on-road food supplier and lead scout alive. She drained her wine, stood up and headed back to the keep. She left the ring on the table. Made me think. I really couldn't fault her reasons. If I'm dead, the rest of them wouldn't last long. They'd run around in circles until they starved to death. Might be in my best interests to wear it, too. If things go really wrong, I can leave them all behind. Slip off somewhere, have the magic heal me, and then disappear for good. She changed my mind about that little bauble. Made it a tool of escape, instead of a shackle to her. Damn, she's good. I decided to wear it, for now. It's got nothing to do with Crystal. I can pawn it later if I want to. It just makes sense. Pure business. Absolutely nothing to do with her at all.

Almost sunset. Light will be too low to deal with the bookwork and parchment of the keep. Her back will be sore, hunched over that desk. She will be off to walk the grounds on her daily inspection, checking the progress of the renovations.

My tankards empty. I don't want to be here anymore. Think I'll just "run into" her in the courtyard, and do the tour with her. That should twist the paladin on the balcony nicely. I know he watches. Saw him there weeks ago, and have seen him there every night since. Stalker.

Chill in the air tonight. Storm coming. I see our Captain has left the keep without her pretty little knight's cloak. I'll offer her mine to keep her warm. Think I'll even give her sore shoulders a little soothing rub while I'm putting the cloak on her. Make it a good show for the paladin. I won't need the cloak myself for a bit. The waves of rage coming from that little balcony should keep me toasty for a while