Disclaimer:
I don't own Baldur's Gate, the great masterpiece of role-playing.
The story on hand, ‚The revenge' is fan-fiction. I wrote it, because I love to write, but I will not use ‚The revenge' in any commercial way.
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Rating: 'M'. Some scenes may be a 'T', but I had the feeling that a few scenes should be rated as 'MA'. I think, in general it's OK, to give 'M'. If you don't like that or if you are too young, don't read!
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Chapter7 - 1
Nightal 21th, 1369
Athkatla, Amn
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Anomen snorted, looked in the eyes of the members of the council and felt pure anger. The talosian priest, who had done this to Shelara hadn't been in the temple and had disappeared completely. Nobody knew where he had gone and Anomen guessed that no one of the council wanted to find it out.
A few hours ago the knight hadn't believed that there was a conjuration against Shelara, but now it seemed clear that anything was wrong. The council, the Cowled Wizards and the guards had explained that Shelara was guilty without give her a regular hearing… And by the way: It was possible to use a death sentence, but in a normal case, the judges of Athkatla didn't do that, even to cruel murderers. To kill her was too hard.
Anomen surpressed the wish to call all of them murderers and said in a normal tone, "I tell you again, there are serious formal errors in Shelara's case. I advise you to rethink this case…"
Suddenly one of the Cowled Wizards interjected, "We can't do that because just of your 'advise'. She has killed a noble! And we will make her pay. The evidence is clear and whoever ignores that is a fool."
Ano crossed his arms, "Do you want to say that a priest and knight of the Holy Order of the Radiant Hearts is a fool? You insult the order, wizard."
"No, of course I don't want to… But…"
"Hm?"
"I just wanted to say…"
He was interrupted by one of the council members, "No one here insults your order, my dear knight. But like the wizard told: The evidence is clear. The statement of the talosian priest is explicit and there were witnesses in the building: Three priests of Lathander were there and saw the murder. Tell me knight, what other evidence do you need?"
"There were serious errors!"
"Yes, perhaps there were…"
Anomen smiled, "So, when there were formal errors, as you said a second before, the law of Athkatla orders us to freeze the case until the errors are undeceived."
The eyes of the council member burnt in fury, but he stifled his words and growled, "Yes… I think that is what the law tells."
The knight grinned, "Thanks, that's all I want. If we examine her case in a new hearing and find out that she had really done this abhorrent crime, the total gravity of justice should hit her… But until we have this new judgment, the presumption of innocence applies."
Noise.
Steps.
Ano saw as a messenger entered the room and turned to the chairman of the council. He sighed…
Suddenly the eyes of the chairman narrowed and he hissed, "Shelara, the priestess, who is defended so bravely by this holy man here broke out in the last hours."
Silence.
Ano looked in the angry faces of the Cowled Wizards and of the council members and didn't wait until one of them said a word and asked, "Oh… that's really terrible… Tell me, what do you want to do with her when you catch her?"
The chairman stared at the knight. He knew why Ano had asked that question. Then he growled, "She will pay… for the outbreak and if we don't find her guilt for the murder we set her free."
Ano grinned and bowed, "So I see, there is justice in your words. In the name of the order I thank you for your wise decision… And by the way, I think, it could interest you that a group of my knights have rested in the keep of the Nalia de'Arnise. They told me that they will stay there for a while."
The chairman's face grew pale, but then his eyes flashed in anger.
Without turning around, Anomen left the building.
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Chapter7 - 2
Nightal 23th, 1369
Trademeet Amn
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Nalia couldn't believe it.
It was pure luck: After they had arrived in Trademeet they hired a room for a night in Vyatris' inn. The march to the town had been quite strenuously and the two archmages hadn't had enough magical power to teleport the complete party to the town, so they had to wander two days through the snow covered landscape. Although Nalia was tired, as the rest of the party, she'd decided to sit in the inn for a few minutes before going to sleep.
There she had met Minsc, Mazzy and Cernd.
Minsc had found the almost-dead driud in the grove near Trademeet. His intention had been to visit Jaheira, but everything he had found had been the destroyed grove and dead druid. The only living one had been Cernd and he couldn't find a trace of Jaheira, not even a gravestone. Minsc had helped him and brought him to Trademeet. On the way they had found Mazzy, who had come back from an adventure in Amnwater.
And now Nalia had told them their story, their fight against the drow, Keto's explorations and the rescue-mission for Shelara.
Minsc looked at her after a moment of silence, "Boo says we must kick the ass of the one who is responsible for that mess."
Nalia grinned slightly. Boo, Minsc's hamster sat on the shoulder of the ranger and piped protesting. Sometimes she wondered if the pet really understood what was going on around him. In some situations it seemed so.
"You're right, Minsc. And I need you and Cernd for that."
"Boo will listen to you," the ranger from Rashemen told and Cernd also nodded, "We will be like the branches of a tree. They can break us if we're alone, but together we're strong."
Nalia grinned. Cernd's way to express himself was… special.
"Whatever… Listen, the first one we save is Jaheira."
"Does that mean, we butcher anyone?"
"Don't interrupt us, Larry," the ranger from Rashemen told to his speaking sword, to Lilarcor. Lilarcor – or Larry – was a twohander, Shelara had found in the sewers and gave it Minsc. The ranger seemed to be the only person who was able to stand the blathers of the swords.
"Ah, come on! I HAVE to massacre anyone! It's sooooo boring for days."
"If we save Jaheira, we'll have to defeat our enemies. Yes, there will be enough killings for you, Larry."
"Oh, that's GREAT! I really need it."
Suddenly Cernd cleared his throat and changed the subject, "We don't know where Jaheira is brought to!"
Nalia smiled weakly, "Both of you are familiar with the life in nature: Minsc is one of the best scouts, I ever have known and you, Cernd, are a druid. I think that we can find her trace… And perhaps you can persuade the animals of the woods to help us or something like that. I think as a druid can you do such a thing."
"Woods? I will NOT cutting wood. I'm no axe!"
"Yes I know, Larry… Nalia, do you want that we should find her path one week after she was abducted? There were new snowfalls in the last days. Boo isn't sure, if that plan works," Minsc interjected.
Nalia turned to him angrily, "I'm not interested in Boo's doubts! I will NOT accept that Jaheira dies out there after long years of slavery and torture! If you have a better plan, tell me, otherwise shut up and help us!"
Minsc stared at her, "All right, little angry archmage. We help an old friend."
Then Nalia turned to Mazzy, "Mazzy, your job is special."
"Hm?"
"I need you to bring a message to some friends in Athkatla. You must inform Aerie, Haer Dalis', Keldorn and Valygar about that what is going on. I want that they find out what is going on here and whose plan is it to destroy us. I know that we have enemies in Athkatla, so they should start to search there. Tell Ano that we reached Trademeet without problems and that we will pay for the break after our job is done. And… tell Jan that he has to find Viconia. If we want to free Yasraena we need a drow who can help us to enter Ust Natha. We meet her in the hut in the forest of Tethyr in about four weeks. I'm sure that she still knows where it is. Tell Jan, if she doesn't want to help us, he should hire her for gold."
Mazzy nodded, but murmured, "I will do it… but it was clear that you don't allow a… small halfling to free your friends."
Nalia sighed, "Mazzy, please. We don't have the time to talk about things like pride. Tell our old companions that we need them and you did more than you imagine."
"Whatever," Mazzy growled bitterly.
Nalia forced herself to ignore the halfling and said, "So… but let's take a rest for a few hours. We need our strength tomorrow."
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-tbc-