5/25/09

A/N: There will be more of a plot soon. I would just like to point out that this is only slightly related to any of my current stories (Why, Fate of Awakening Love, Waking Destiny and Nothing To Do). The most prominent relation is the cast I'm choosing to use. In the future I could write another story that has more relation to this one but for now I have no idea.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt, Entreri, Jarlaxle or Kimmuriel. They belong to R.A. Salvatore. My characters so far are Kitana and her grandmother.

Chapter Two: The Hatred In Her Eyes

The companions stared at each other trying to decide if they should try to talk to Kitana. She did not seem all that interested in them, and didn't offer so much as a glance at them since they were first introduced. That coupled with the fact that she seemed fully intent on lying on her couch. The girl didn't appear to get much rest; her eyes were sunken and ringed with dark circles. To Entreri it looked like his earlier feelings about the job were correct, this girl was made to be a slave in her own home.

"What are we going to do with her?" he asked when he was sure she was sleeping. "It is obvious that she is not the real problem here, but I still have the feeling that she is not exactly innocent either. Are we still going to go with our plan from earlier?" Entreri looked to Drizzt specifically, hoping to find an ally in the drow ranger. The issue was decided for them not even five seconds later.

"Stop talking about me," an irate voice sounded from the direction of the couch. And the no longer sleeping Kitana. The companions turned to face her.

"Do forgive us, my dear. We did not mean to offend you," Jarlaxle said to her eloquently. He knew he had to persuade her to stay calm, he had already decided that she was a lot like Entreri. The mercenary leader remained calm himself despite her firm glare. He cleared his throat and continued, "Perhaps you could answer a few questions for us?"

"And why should I do that exactly?" she replied dryly.

Jarlaxle felt his confidence beginning to waver but did not show it. It was strange that she had so quickly put him on edge. He looked briefly to the others for support, they offered only small shrugs in return. He cleared his throat again. "We would like to help you, my dear," he answered her and almost immediately regretted doing so, he could have sworn he saw steam coming out of her ears. Her face was becoming darkly flushed with anger.

"Help me?" she spat not bothering to hide her sarcasm or fury. "I know why you're here. You're here because that stupid bitch hired you to look after me and make sure I don't 'do anything to harm anyone' or try to escape. Never mind that she has magical wards on my room. She hired you to make me look even worse than she already has." Her words at this point had become more of a harsh growl, her glare even more intense.

Jarlaxle backed off a few feet. He knew she would not attack them but it still seemed too dangerous to be so close to her while she was so infuriated. "Why would she do such a thing?" he asked Kitana calmly after a moment. His tone told her clearly that he did not think she was lying.

Kitana took the cue to calm herself down. "I have no idea," she replied after a few minutes of relaxed breathing. She was half tempted to shake her head in dismay. These guys were not what she was expecting for watchdogs. Kitana shifted her gaze to the floor trying to regain her stand, she was not used to being spoken to like this. Normally any dialogue directed at her consisted mainly of screaming and insults or both at the same time. While she had been insulted by the drow, he had effectively apologized to her by listening and speaking to her like a real person. And she was being rude.

She sat back down on the couch wondering what the hell these guys were up to. "Why did you even take the job?" she asked Jarlaxle slowly. The mercenary leader just shrugged, giving her all the answer she needed. They had come for the money, that was it. "What are your names anyway?" It didn't seem completely right for her to not know their names considering how nicely they were treating her. She wanted to mull over her initial rudeness. Apparently this worked because the drow seemed overly delighted by her question, the others had relaxed a bit too. The drow she was talking to identified himself as Jarlaxle and introduced the others in the order they stood behind him. The two other drow he named as Drizzt Do'Urden and Kimmuriel Oblodra. The man was called Artemis Entreri. The name sparked something in her for a moment but it faded just as quickly as it came. They would have continued speaking, but her grandmother was once again screaming at her from the bottom of the stairs- demanding that she get down there and clean up the dishes from her previous meal and start cooking the next. Kitana looked in the direction of the stairs disdainfully, then asked Jarlaxle to let her out of the room so she wouldn't get in anymore trouble.

"I told you to clean this up an hour ago!" her grandmother screamed. Which of course was not the truth because an hour ago she had told Kitana to go upstairs to her room and be quiet. So much for work relief...

The companions said nothing as the grandmother went about her scolding and ranting. They simply observed the scene as though she was doing the right thing and they were learning the proper way to discipline the girl. As much as they would have liked to turn away or intervene as she went on about how Kitana never did anything for her and that she was ungrateful, they did not. Doing so would have put them in an extremely unfavorable position and very well might take any chances they had of actually helping the girl out. Eventually the woman silenced herself and went to drink her now cold tea in the dining room. Kitana followed silently offering a raised eyebrow to them as if to say "I told you so." She quickly busied herself in the kitchen preparing her grandmother's meal offering to make something for them if they were hungry.

The companions quickly found out that dinner was an entirely different affair then their breakfast that morning. Kitana was obligated by her grandmother to dine at the table after she had set everything out and had served everyone else. She was not to speak at all unless spoken to, otherwise she should just sit there and be quiet. However, it appeared that she was not allowed to return any comments made to or about her by her grandmother who spilled them out like a water hose. The four of them sat through this silently too, they could do nothing else. Kitana herself seemed to be in an even more dour mood than she was before, nevertheless she took the continuing stream of insults stoically. They were dismissed after only an hour.

Kitana's grandmother ordered her to go prepare her bath and her bed. As before the young woman did so without complaint. The task was completed in Kitana's usual efficient manner and once again she was sent upstairs to her room. This would be the last time until morning, provided that she was not called down again to do the dishes from the day; those could be taken care of in the morning.

Kitana paid no mind to the companions as her bedroom was once again sealed. Instead she went over to her desk and rummaged through a few things looking for her pack of cigarettes. She found it under one of her many notebooks, took one out and proceeded to look for her book of matches. Those were under a notebook too, she almost let herself give a small jump for joy when she pulled them out of her desk drawer. Still paying no attention to the companions she sat down on the couch and lit her cigarette. Finally unable to stand the silence any longer Jarlaxle decided to strike up another conversation with her.

"Where did you get those?" he asked casually.

"A friend," she replied before taking another long drag. "Why, you want some?"

Jarlaxle's head fell slowly to the side in contemplation. He had never smoked an actual cigarette before, he had smoked from pipes though, it couldn't be that different. The mercenary leader shrugged nonchalantly and she handed it over after asking him if he knew how to smoke it. Jarlaxle had been fairly certain that he knew how to and upon trying it was sorely disappointed. He inhaled only a small amount before he was coughing up a lung. Kitana smiled slightly as she took her cigarette back. The others did well to hide their amusement.

"Why are you even smoking those? They can kill you, you know," Entreri said off-handedly.

Kitana's smile spread wider across her face. "If it kills me then its good for me. Gets me out of here." Convoluted as the logic was, Entreri did not dispute it. Instead he gave a rare, real smile. Half-assed as it was it lit up his features in a way the others had not seen before. He even went as far as to let out a small chuckle. Entreri didn't know why but Kitana reminded him of a younger version of himself, and even now he still held most of the same qualities.

To their surprise, Kitana smiled back. "You don't really care about that, do you?"

Entreri shook his head. "I think more people should smoke and the ones that do should smoke more. Sort out the fools so they die faster that way."

She gave him a salute. "And the world would be a better place." She cocked her head to the side and gestured out the window with the hand that held her half gone cigarette. "So what's it like out there today?" she asked.

"It doesn't look any different from any other town we've been through. We've never been here before so I couldn't tell you if there was anything odd going on." Entreri replied. Kitana pretended to think a moment.

"Neither could I."

"You don't really get out much do you?" Drizzt asked. He figured that he would at least contribute something, that and he was truly curious.

Her grin became more of a grimace. "Nope. How could you tell?" she responded sarcastically. He looked away embarrassed, clearly she had not been joking about being trapped here. He remembered what she had said about magical wards and the key her grandmother had given Jarlaxle. Drizzt apologized quickly.

"Don't worry about it," Kitana said shaking her head. "I wasn't kidding about anything I said before. I haven't been out of here in a long time. If I'm lucky, she'll let me out and drag me around with her to get things she wants. That and she wants to keep up public appearances."

Entreri rose an eyebrow but Jarlaxle was the next to speak. "How long have you been here exactly?" he asked.

"I'm not sure how long I've been in this house but the last time she let me out was about three months ago. But if you guys wouldn't mind, I'd like to go to bed now." She put her cigarette out and put the ashtray back on the side table. "I have to get up in a few hours and I really don't feel like being screamed at more than usual first thing in the morning."

She lay back down and turned herself away from them. Kitana managed to fall back to sleep in only a few minutes. The four companions didn't bother to sleep for the rest of the night, they just sat up contemplating the strange girl that slept on the couch before them wondering what in the Nine Hells was going on here.