Disclaimer: I do not own 'Shadows of Amn', the 'Forgotten Realms' or any characters therein. Wizards of the Coast do, at my last check. Lucky them.
I do, however, own Fritha and certain other characters and plot points. Basically, if you don't recognise it from the game, it's probably mine.

– Blackcross & Taylor

Birds of a feather

'The sewers? Again?' stormed Fritha as they stepped back out into the street, the bridge suddenly too hot and so packed with noise and people she could not seem to think past her irritation. 'We've barely been out of them a day!'

Only Anomen appeared to share her annoyance though, frowning as he gazed downstream to where the masts and sails of ships in the harbour could just be seen.
'Last night's rains will not aid our task.'

Jaheira said nothing, merely shrugged, moving purposefully off toward the nearest group of stalls.

'B-But we are going, aren't we?' came Aerie behind her and Fritha turned to find the elf watching her anxiously, clearly not wanting to disappoint her uncle.

'Worry not, little Aerie,' boomed Minsc with a genial smile, 'Fritha gave her word to the nice lady; she would not break it. Why, even the idea makes Boo's whiskers tremble!'

Aerie looked more confused than reassured though, glancing back to her questioningly and Fritha sighed and nodded.

'I said I would never go to the sewers again for money; I suppose this doesn't count. Much,' she finished in an sullen undertone that only Nalia caught, the girl sending her an unusually impish smile which looked quite at home on her freckled face.

'I have just spoken with the local merchants,' said Jaheira as she rejoined them, pointing back to where a of group men were gathered before their stalls looking as though they were trying not to laugh, at least until they were out of earshot. 'There is a main sewage outlet at water level on one of the bridge piers. Apparently, we can reach it by way of the jetties. The steps are over there.'

Fritha sighed deeply, moving to hang over the crumbling wall and take in the whole other world of shacks and walkways that clung to the bridge supports, the water a murky green beneath them.

'Wonderful. I knew I wore my boots today for a reason.'

Nalia laughed, appearing at her side with a bright smile.
'Come, my birds, let us bring the errant sparrow back to his nest!' the girl cried in quite a good likeness of Raelis and Fritha laughed as well, suddenly cheered.

'Well, you heard the woman,' she grinned, flapping her hands for good measure as she crossed to the rickety wooden steps, 'we fly!'

Fritha reached the foot of the stairs and stepped down on to the jetty, the wood creaking slightly underfoot as she moved to the edge where a couple of neglected-looking boats were moored, bobbing on the murky water. The air smelt stale and slightly sour and Fritha glanced up and down the quay, the place seemingly deserted barring three tow-headed children who were gathered outside one of the nearby shacks, the two younger girls playing with a set of tattered dolls while the elder boy sat next to them mending a net.

'Hello there,' Fritha called genially, the children glancing up at her approach, Anomen following her while the others waited by the steps. 'Is there a sewage pipe somewhere round here?'

The boy looked nonplussed a moment, before laying his work in his lap to answer her.
'Sewage pipe? Aye, at the end o' the quay, lady, but what you wanting to know o' that for?'

Fritha smiled.
'We've been sent to find someone; an actor from the theatre's gone missing.'

'An the first place you look is the sewers? I'd try the Merry Friar tavern if I wer you, that's where we always find my da when he goes missing,' he advised with a cheeky grin and his sisters giggled. Anomen bristled, frowning down at the boy.

'He has not merely gone missing, he has been kidnapped.'

'Why war he kidnapped?' ventured one of the girl's shyly.

Fritha shrugged.
'I don't know; probably giving cheek to someone he shouldn't,' she supplied with a meaningful smile and the boy laughed loudly, the flushed scowling face of a fair-haired woman appearing at the window of the shack next to him.

'What the blood- oh, yer pardon, milady,' she apologised, going and even deeper shade of pink and Fritha merely smiled as she turned back to her son, 'Mattus, stop bothering these folks and get back to work.'

'Aye, ma,' he sighed as his mother's head disappeared back inside, 'good luck to you, lady.'

Fritha grinned and tossed him a copper piece.
'Our thanks.'

The group walked the length of the quay, passing many more rundown wooden buildings along with the occasional woman or older child outside, repairing nets and boats and Fritha suspected anyone who could be was out at sea fishing at that time of day.

'There,' came Jaheira and Fritha glanced over to where the jetty ended to see a huge pipe jutting from the last bridge support, the lowest section hidden under the surface and the water all around it decidedly darker than the rest of the river.

Fritha sighed, crossing the quay to join her, covering her mouth with a sleeve as she peered into the gloom of the pipe and she could just make out the metal handrails that ran midway along both sides. Anomen was right; the rains and their location meant the sewage was a lot less solid than it had been under the temple district, the black sludge slowly flowing down the pipe's slight slope to mingle with the river water.

Fritha grinned behind her hand, throwing a glance to the woman next to her.
'Hah, I bet you wish you'd listened to me and stayed abed now.'

The druid frowned but made no move to refute it.

'You know,' Fritha continued more gently, dropping her voice, 'you can go back to the inn if you want, no one would think any less of you for it.'

Jaheira sighed and smiled dryly.
'No, I am fine. Besides, I feel a sudden attack of the vapours now,would seem rather convenient.'

Fritha grinned, straightening to call back to the others.

'Right this looks to be it. It's a lot deeper than before though, so be careful. You might want to hitch your robes up a touch more, Nalia. And anyone who can call up a light please do so.'

Fritha smiled as the group fell to their duties, the shadow of the bridge above them lifted as the three who could cast a light did, and she turned to her own task, holding out her hand before her face with the palm flat as she tried to clear her mind, summoning the energies she knew were somewhere within her.

'Fritha, what are you doing?' demanded Jaheira, turning back from where she had been helping Nalia with her belts.

'Conjuring a light,' muttered Fritha, gritting her teeth as she willed the spark to appear in her hand. Come on…

The druid raised a sceptical eyebrow.
'You look as though you are trying to cross your eyes.'

Fritha choked back a snort, her lips quivering as she fought against a smile.
'Don't make me laugh, I'm trying to concentrate.'

But it was too late, the moment was lost and Fritha gave up soon after with only a headache and some amused looks from the others to show for her trouble.

'Right,' came Jaheira with only the slightest hint of a sigh, 'are we ready?'

Everyone nodded and the woman turned, using her staff to steady herself as she stepped from the jetty down into the water and onto the pipe hidden beneath the surface. 'Okay, come on, Fritha.'

Fritha nodded, Jaheira taking her hand to help her as she stepped across, the flow of water reaching just under her knees, and she was glad for the rails as she shifted further into to the tunnel to make room for the next of them.

At last, they were all in the tunnel and the group set off, Minsc leading with Aerie at his side, her magelight parting the shadows before them, Fritha following with Nalia and Jaheira just behind, while Anomen brought up the rear. The pipe did not slope up steeply, but the climb was still a difficult one, the flow of sewage making it hard to keep their footing and a silence fell over the group, all focused on their trudge up the tunnel. Finally, the gradient levelled out and everyone seemed able to breath again, Jaheira breaking the stillness and turning to Fritha with a look of mild curiosity.

'I did not ask, how did your meeting with Bloodscalp go?'

'Well,' began Fritha with the sense that the druid was not the only one interested as she felt all eyes fall to her. 'He agreed to keep an eye out for suitable work for us- baring in mind we can't get mixed up in anything too dubious,' she added for Anomen's benefit since he had rather laboured the point at breakfast the previous day, sending the man a smile he did not return. 'As long as we keep an eye out for anything suspicious for him. Apparently, they are having a lot of trouble from a rival guild that has just recently begun to operate in Athkatla, another thieves' guild, I suspect, as he spoke of losing members to it. He could not give me details, only asked that if I saw anything of it, that I let him know.'

Aerie glanced back from the path ahead, her face a picture of awe under the glow of her staff.
'Ever since the circus arrived here for the winter, I've heard rumours of the man, how ruthless and calculating he is. What was he like?'

Fritha smiled as she recalled the guild master with his eloquent smile and sharp eyes.
'Very nice, actually, though he has the quick polite manner of one who I believe would make a deadly enemy.'

Behind her Anomen huffed crossly.
'Really, my lady, you speak as though you respect the man.'

Fritha shrugged, glancing back to send him a slight smile.
'I do. He has helped us and since he hasn't a god or institution pressing him to do so, he must have some degree of compassion in his heart.'

'Or merely he wishes to keep his newest allies as such,' observed Jaheira coolly and Anomen looked smug. Fritha though, remained resolute.

'The terms of said allegiance being to look out for work for us, not investigate slavers and even after we-' and by "we" she meant "Anomen", fixing the man with a look as she continued, 'nearly started a brawl at his guild house.'

Aerie gave a nervous laugh, Fritha squaring up to the scowl Anomen was sending her and perhaps Nalia sensed an argument was brewing for she coughed pointedly and asked, 'so, what was the actual meeting like?'

Fritha smiled at her; both her timely intervention and the memories it awoke more than welcome.

'It was quite pleasant and not at all as I would have expected. For a start, I thought we would talk in his office, but after meeting him there, he led me to his private rooms on the top floor of the guild. He took me into a small room, about the size of my one in the inn, sparsely furnished with only a long low table surrounded by cushions and an unlit brazier in the corner. The back wall was panelled differently to the rest of the room, and I remember noting it as he bade me sit, he himself moving to the far corner to fiddle with something and suddenly he was sliding the whole thing back, each panel neatly folding into the others like an accordion, and there was the whole harbour lain out before us!'

'I wonder how many people have met their deaths in that very room,' Anomen considered audibly. Fritha ignored him, her eyes fixed resolutely on the girl at her side.

'And we took tea, of course. Oh, that you could have seen the cups. Such fine porcelain, they must have been imported from the East. Beautiful little things that fit so neatly in your hand, they were a glossy white on the outside while the inside of the bowl held a pale blue glaze.'

'And how many have suffered to pay for such luxuries?' came Anomen again and Fritha felt her temper flare, whirling back to the man.

'Oh, Anomen will you give over; he's a thief, yes, but the world is not just black and white, and Renal's not nearly as dark as you paint him!'

The squire bridled, but held onto his composure.
'You truly believe so? Then you are very naïve, my lady,' he said with an impressive mix of pity and disdain. Fritha merely shrugged, turning back to the path ahead.

'Well, then we have something in common, Anomen, because I was just thinking the exact same thing about you.'

xxx

This last comment, though spoken mildly enough, had brought an abrupt end to their discussion and Anomen had been bring up the rear in silence ever since, the minutes passing slowly by as they followed the twists and bends of the tunnel. Fritha glanced behind to check on him, the man catching her eye to give her a filthy scowl and she shrugged mentally. As their arguments tended to go, that last one had verged on civil; she was sure the damage couldn't be permanent.

'The squire is still his usual charming self, I see.'

Fritha turned back to find Jaheira watching her and the girl sighed.

'Do you think it's something about down here? Hardly ten paces along the tunnel and Anomen and I are at each others throats.'

'The foul humours inspiring foul tempers, you mean? Well, I am sure it cannot help,' the woman agreed tersely as she paused to free her staff from the sucking sludge at their knees. 'Though I think blaming it all on our location may be a touch naïve.'

Fritha glanced up, instantly catching the reference to her previous argument with the squire. She sighed deeply.

'Oh yes, is this where you agree with Anomen and tell me Renal isn't to be trusted?'

'No,' the druid continued evenly, 'but as I said to you before, you have made a dangerous ally in the thieves and there are some people who will condemn us by the association alone.'

Fritha frowned.
'You mean people like Anomen. I know Renal's no saint but I can only judge him by how I find him, which has been so far favourable. I don't expect the rest of you to like him; I just don't know why Anomen's so bothered. Well, I know why he's bothered,' Fritha conceded at the druid's look, 'but if he was so against the idea of working with thieves, don't you think he'd have mentioned it when we first arranged the meeting with the guild?'

Jaheira shrugged.
'Perhaps it is more your enthusiasm that annoys him.'

'You mean he doesn't mind working with thieves, he just minds that I don't mind working with thieves?'

The woman smirked slightly, her tone dry.
'Ah, Fritha, yet again I am held in awe by your ability to simplify even the most complicated of issues.'

Fritha just stuck her tongue out and instantly regretted it, Jaheira laughing at her disgusted expression.

'Well, perhaps I can convince him I am just as enthused about working with saints as I am with sinners,' Fritha continued, turning to send the squire a dazzling smile, the woman at her side snorting with amusement as Anomen turned his head and pretended not to notice. Fritha laughed as well; ah, he'd come round.

'Er,' came Aerie's voice ahead of them, 'I think, I think we've found something…'

'No, no little Aerie, with confidence!' rumbled Minsc with a wide smile, 'we have found something!'
Indeed they had, and Fritha glanced up to see the elf stood, the glow of her staff illuminating a break in the tunnel wall, narrow stone stairs disappearing up into the darkness.

'Do you suppose this is the place?' ventured Aerie and Fritha shrugged, climbing up out of the sewage and onto the first step.

'Only one way to find out.'

And she led them up the stairs, Aerie at her back to light the way, until at last the shadows fell back to reveal a heavy wooden door.
Fritha knocked. No one answered though and she called Nalia forward to unlock it, the girls flattening themselves to the stone walls to allow their friend to squeeze past them.

'There,' Nalia announced after a moment and Fritha lay a hand upon her sword hilt, instinctively stepping forward to enter first, the door swinging open with a faint groan to reveal a circular chamber of the same grey stone, lamps of pale blue magelight stood at intervals to lift the gloom. A row of four or five large wooden bookcases filled one half of the room, doors and hallways lining the wall of the other half, all leading off in different directions.

'Who in the name of Azuth are you?' demanded a nasal voice and Fritha glanced back to see a grey-haired old man in green robes appear at the end one of the bookcases, though her attention was immediately drawn to the younger male that followed him. He was short for a man, clad in trousers, shirt and short brown coat of good quality, long dusky hair tied back off his pale face.

There was no mistaking the style of dress and the slight aura of the unnatural that hung about him, and Fritha would have wagered her last copper piece that they had found their actor. He did not seem much of a prisoner though, just stood behind the mage unshackled and still armed, a pile of books balanced in his arms as he gazed back at them with an unfocused look, and she suspected magic was the only jailer here.

Fritha pulled her attention back to the man who she took to be Mekrath, taking another step forward to bow politely.

'Your pardon, sir, we knocked but there was no answer,' she explained and for lack of any other excuse, launched straight into her question. 'Ah, might I enquire as to who your, er, slave is?'

'My slave?' the mage repeated with a frown, glancing to the man behind him. 'Oh, him. I do not know his name, he is just some thief I found sneaking about where he shouldn't.' His eyes narrowed in contemplation. 'Rather like you are, now I come to think about it.'

'Ah, yes, well,' Fritha mumbled, continuing quickly before Mekrath decided to add another six slaves to his staff, 'we are mercenaries of a sort and I believe he is the person we have been sent to seek. Maybe you would be willing to trade for him; some work perhaps? Something in the city above even,' she added hopefully as the mage stroked his chin, considering her words.

'Well, an imp of mine has escaped recently, this very morning in fact and with a very precious casting mirror. The creature somehow broke its collar and flitted off into the sewers before I could capture it.'

Ah, back to the sewers. Fritha sighed. Well, it had been worth a try.

'The imp is of no importance,' continued Mekrath casually, 'kill it. But return the mirror to me and you shall have your slave.'
Fritha nodded once, pleasantly surprised to find the mage was being reasonable about the whole thing.

'As you will, but finding a mirror in the miles of city sewers is not going to be easy; have you any idea where the imp would be heading?'

'No,' Mekrath replied, beginning to pat down his robes and cast about him, clearly looking for something, 'but the magic in the mirror is strong, if I just had a stick of some sort… ah-ha!'

'Hey!' Fritha cried as the mage moved with a speed that belied his age, taking a step closer and plucking out one of the two fat wooden pins that held her hair up, though Mekrath ignored her protest in favour of chanting a quick spell over it, the pin glowing blue a moment before it was inert once more.

'Give me your hand,' he ordered, not waiting for her to comply as he took her wrist and placed the stick into her open palm, the hairpin flicking back and forth a moment before settling on a north-easterly direction.

'There you are,' Mekrath announced with a hint pride, 'a compass. That should lead you straight to it, though be quick, the enchantment will not last more than a few hours.'

He shooed at them with one hand as though dismissing some persistent children.
'Now go on, off you go.'

xxx

Anomen felt his jaw clench as he stepped back down into the watery black sludge, the others already before him, all in the tunnel and gathered about Fritha as the compass flicked back and forth deciding on their course.

The girl was smiling, seemingly pleased with her new plaything and he could not help but frown as he considered the immature way she delighted in such inconsequential things. Anomen felt his anger stir again as he recalled the way her eyes had shone as she'd recounted her meeting with the thief master. Going on about views and teacups and completely ignoring the fact the man was a dangerous criminal!

He was sure that Fritha was not corrupt herself, merely that she did not understand the evil of such alliances. But it was a worrying idea nevertheless, what she could lead them into with her blindness, whether intentional or not, to such immorality.

'There, I think it's decided,' came the girl's voice before him and he glanced up to find her looking round at the others. 'We can follow the tunnel this way and take the first left we reach.'

Anomen sighed deeply and they began to move off along the tunnel, sewage swirling about his calves. All this to retrieve a man that had found himself in trouble only because he had been attempting to steal from the mage; to be honest, Anomen thought the actor had got just what he deserved.

'And now we not only work with thieves, but take our time to rescue them as well,' he muttered sullenly, not really expecting a reply and was surprised to hear Fritha's voice echoing back to him.

'You know, Imoen's a thief,' she said conversationally, her warm tone contrasting with the cold look she had turned to send him and instantly his stomach tightened. Behind her, he could see the druid smiling broadly, her face a eerie mask in the green glow of her werelight.

'I thought she was a mage?' he continued, affecting a nonchalant air and squaring up to her unblinking gaze, sincerely wishing he'd kept the comment to himself.

'She is both,' came the clipped reply, before the inevitable was spoken. 'Do you have a problem with rescuing her, I wonder.'

But he was given no chance to answer as the girl turned her attention back to her path, Jaheira falling into step next to her, their voices low. Aerie gave him a commiserating look, dropping back to walk with him and they travelled on in silence, Anomen's eyes fixed on the pair that still led the way, Minsc and Nalia not far behind them.

For almost an hour they walked, the compass leading them down tunnel after tunnel and Anomen was sure their target must be moving as well. But still there was no sign and the squire allowed his mind to wander as time went on, wondering what his friends were doing and how Simon would laugh if he could see him now, when a tentative cough broke the stillness and he glanced down to find Aerie watching him. He had almost forgotten she was there and raised an eyebrow, the girl swallowing nervously.

'Anomen,' she began slowly, her blue eyes holding an apprehension that was mirrored in her tone, 'I understand your objection to working with the thieves, but I- I don't think you have to, well, you don't have to mention it at every instance.'

Anomen turned his attention aloofly back to the tunnel before them, embarrassed enough by his and Fritha's latest altercation without the elf's chiding.

'I believe I do; especially when the rest of you seem happy to ignore my objections. Fritha needs to know how I feel about such matters, that I will not be led down any morally tainted path whatever promises of glory lay at the end.'

He glanced again to the girl next to him, looking warm and fair in the pale yellow of her magelight.
'You follow a good and righteous deity, Aerie; your heart is pure. Surely you cannot be glad of the fact we take orders from cutthroats and thieves.'

'I think "take orders" is a little strong, Anomen,' she said reproachfully before she sighed and he heard the disapproval in her voice. 'But no, I admit I do not like the idea that we are to work with the thieves.'

Anomen smiled, relieved he was not alone in his objection.
'But I do trust Fritha,' continued Aerie firmly, 'and she said she even told Renal we would not perform anything too dishonest.'

That was true enough, Anomen considered, glancing up to see the girl moving slowly along the tunnel at their head, her curls a murky brown in the green light of Jaheira's staff. But then such things tended to be rather subjective. They would probably find when it came down to it, that his and Fritha's opinions on what was too dishonest differed as night and day.

He watched as Fritha reached a crossroad in the tunnel, holding a hand up to halt them, a finger to her lips and Anomen shook his head, dropping his voice as he continued to the elf at his side.

'Do not mistake me, Fritha is a worthy soul. But she is blinded by her desire to see the goodness in others, even when it is not there. And her desperation to find her friend is obvious; who knows what that thief could convince her to do for that goal, now he has her trust.'

'Well, I suppose…' Aerie conceded slowly, turning to look ahead of them and Anomen followed her gaze to where Fritha had now flattened herself against the tunnel wall, the druid's werelight barely a flicker at the end of her staff as she stood with the others in the shadows behind her.

'There may well come a time, Aerie,' Anomen continued, glancing back to the girl, his voice low, 'when it will be up to us. The others will be no help; Nalia serves no god, Minsc would follow Fritha anywhere and the neutrality of Jaheira's faith makes her weak. It will be up to us to keep this group upon the moral path, for our sakes as well as theirs-'

An inhuman shriek cut him off and he drew his mace with a start, glancing up to see Fritha now stood in the middle of the tunnel, struggling to hold a small grey-skinned creature as it clawed and snapped at her, huge bat-like wings flapping madly all the while.

'Ca- calm down, will you! I'm not going to- Calm yourself!' she shouted, freeing a hand to catch up its wings as well and at last the creature seemed to stop struggling. 'There,' she sighed, relaxing slightly, 'now are you Mekrath's imp?'

'I am his no longer! I am free! I won't go back!' it cried, beginning to struggle again.

'You'll be going to the Fugue Plane if you don't stop thrashing about!' Fritha snapped, her patience finally exhausted it seemed, though her threat had the desire effect and the creature calmed again.

'Right,' the girl sighed, shaking the mess of curls from her eyes as she continued, 'let us make this simple. Mekrath does not want you back. He wants you dead. No, no, none of that,' she soothed, as the imp began to flap and whimper again, 'I said I would not harm you, but I do need the mirror you stole from him.'

'No!' it snapped defiantly, pressing the hand that held it closer to its chest, 'it's mine!'

'No, it is his,' Jaheira interjected firmly, 'and you leave us very little choice but to kill you, if you refuse to surrender it.'

The imp sent them both a sullen glare, but at last drew the small clawed hand away from its chest and dropped something shiny into Fritha's waiting palm.

'There,' Fritha smiled kindly, gently releasing the creature and taking a step back. 'Now off you go and try to stay out of trouble.'

The imp said nothing, merely gave her a sulky look and flapped off down the tunnel. Fritha slipped the mirror into her pocket and moved her hands up to attempt to tidy and re-pin her hair as she turned back to them. She smiled, a faint tiredness creeping into her manner.

'Right, back we go.'

xxx

'Ah, it's cracked!' Mekrath cried, running his fingers lightly over the fractured surface of the mirror Fritha had just handed him, 'I hope you killed the creature for the affront!'

Fritha gave a vague shrug, but the mage was still too absorbed with his mirror to notice.

'Well, either way, I must get this fixed. I left the slave in the back,' Mekrath continued, gesturing absently to the hall behind them as he turned to open the door at his back, 'counting rice or some such nonsense. You can see yourselves out, I trust.'

And with that, he was gone. Fritha glanced to the group about her and shrugged, turning to follow the way he had pointed along the gloomy hallway, past openings to other rooms, all empty, when at last she reached a wooden door. There was nowhere to go now, the others crowded in the corridor behind her, and Fritha pushed the door open, slowly peering round to take in a dimly lit storeroom, their charge sat cross legged on the dusty floor, engrossed in counting rice grains from one sack to another.
'Er, Haer'Dalis?'

The man stopped, slowly looking up to fix her with a near black gaze and Fritha offered him a slight smile.
'Hello.'

Haer'Dalis frowned, the intense concentration making his temples throb as he focused on the tiny white grain in his palm, moving as though in a dream as he carefully placed it in to the sack at his side, his own voice echoing inside his skull.
'Four thousand, seven hundred and thirty ni-'

A woman's voice sounded somewhere above him and he felt his head moving to the source, his vision clearing and he was suddenly looking up into a face of pale and youthful beauty, eyes as dark as his own staring back at him.
Haer'Dalis felt a wariness rise within him; the mage had no servants that he knew of and this girl was armed; had Mekrath sold him already?

'My head clears, filled with stars and liquid fire and I see the new holder of my shackles. Are you here to claim this sparrow?' he demanded, his nerves making him terse. If the mage had sold him, he may never recover the jewel. 'To have me recount your deeds and sing your petty praises?'

The girl raised an eyebrow looking somewhat unimpressed.

'I am here because your friend Raelis sent me,' she explained and in a tone that suggested she couldn't fathom why the woman would want to bother, 'but anymore of your lip and I'll return you to your stocktaking.'

She let her eyes fall pointedly to the grain sack at his side and he grinned, relief filling him. His mission may yet be saved.

'Hah, whoever you are, I like you!'

The girl smiled as well, her irritation short-lived it seemed, offering him a hand to haul him to his feet. Behind her, other figures were just visible crowded in the doorway, all silent and watchful. The tallest and what looked to be the eldest of those he could see stood at the back, tawny hair braided back off her angular face and eyes narrowed, while two younger girls were gathered before her; one human, flame-haired and freckled and one elf, blonde with eyes of such clear blue that even the gloom of the storeroom could not hide them.

Haer'Dalis glanced back to the girl at his side, amber curls swept up and pinned in a charmingly dishevelled manner, and felt his smile broaden for a moment as he considered the very favourable circumstance of being rescued by a group comprised entirely of eligible young women.

'Really, Fritha, are we to stand here all day?' came a deep and clearly impatient voice from somewhere behind them and Haer'Dalis sighed inwardly. Oh well, the fantasy had been pleasant while it lasted.

'Indeed, no,' the bard agreed brightly, stepping to the side slightly to get a view of the speaker further along the hall, his eyes taking in two men, one dark-haired and bearded and, he supposed, handsome in a very dull way. The other was far more interesting, quite the largest prime Haer'Dalis had ever seen, his bald head adorned with tattoos.

'Ah,' the bard cried dramatically, sweeping his hands wide in a gesture to include them all, 'this sparrow spies his glorious saviours and poetry overwhelms his heart! In a blaze of trumpets with wicked blades held high, thus came ye fates of chaos to let this sparrow fly!'

Silence followed. Both men were frowning, though one more with confusion than annoyance. Of the women, only the elf was smiling, seemingly impressed, the two red-haired girls joining her in the gesture though, much to his chagrin, they looked more like they were trying not to laugh, the tallest woman casting her gaze to the ceiling as though to entreat some divine mercy.
Haer'Dalis frowned slightly; this group clearly needed educating in the finer subtleties of his art.

Fritha grinned into her sleeve; the look on Jaheira's face was payment enough for this jaunt.
'Well,' she began, trying to keep the laughter from her voice, worried the silence was making their guest uncomfortable, 'as the mage said, we are showing ourselves out and I'd rather not tempt his temper by hanging around.'
She gestured meaningfully to the hallway behind her and Haer'Dalis smiled, clearly ignoring her intimation.

'Indeed, my raven, so I shall make this quick. There is a vital gem nestled within the gloom of this place… in an altar, I believe. Mekrath took it from me and I must have it back.'

Anomen raised an incredulous eyebrow.
'Truly? The mage seemed to think you were stealing from him.'

'A fabrication, I assure you, my suspicious hounds,' Haer'Dalis reassured genially, as all eyes turned slowly to him, 'to justify his enslaving of this poor sparrow.'

Fritha sighed, not sure she wanted to risk trying Mekrath's patience whether this jewel was rightfully his or not.

'Look, I'm sure it's nothing worth upsetting a potentially dangerous mage over. Can't you just be satisfied with your freedom?' she reasoned, but Haer'Dalis just shook his head.

'I cannot leave my jewel,' he repeated, quiet but determined, letting his eyes linger on Aerie who blushed intensely and Fritha rolled her eyes.

'Fine.'

xxx

The altar the actor spoke of was found easily enough, Nalia taking only a moment to disarm the traps surrounding it, before the group left with some haste, Fritha wanting to put as much distance between them and the mage as possible. Once back in the sewers it was not long before Minsc led them to a suitable access grate, the group crawling one by one into a busy rundown street.

Fritha sighed, shielding her eyes from the glare of a late afternoon sun and trying to ignore the interest they were drawing from the locals as they stood waiting for Nalia to get her bearings, all tired and filth-caked for the second time in almost as many days. Fritha dropped her gaze to her legs, her trousers plastered unpleasantly to her knees, the smell making her feel sick. She had to find them some better work.

'Do you know where we are yet, Nalia?' asked Jaheira behind her and Fritha glanced back to the thief, the girl still scanning the rooftops about them.

'Hmm… yes. Yes, you can just see one of the domes of the promenade. We must be in the south east of the slums. The Coronet should be a few streets over in that direction.'

'Of use to know, I'm sure, my raven,' interjected Haer'Dalis, with that manner that implied he found it anything but, 'but I must insist we make haste to the theatre.'

'You can insist what you please, but I fear we are returning to our inn,' Fritha countered with a smile, leaving the fact they were all covered in sewage unspoken. 'You may join us or we will meet you tomorrow at the theatre. Your choice.'

The bard seemed to consider her offer a moment, eyes travelling slyly over the group around him, lingering slightly on the two girls before a smile was pulling at his mouth.

'It would seem ungrateful to leave a group when so indebted to them,' he began magnanimously, 'and I would not wish to rob you of the glory of my liberation; I shall come with you, my birds, and we may all return to Miss Raelis together on the morrow.'

Fritha nodded, sweeping an arm along the street.
'Lead on then, Nalia.'

xxx

Fritha smiled, walking next to Jaheira as they made their way through the sunlit streets, Minsc and Anomen a pace or so behind them and the two girls leading the way with their new acquaintance, the man dividing his attentions between the pair and providing a steady stream of conversation as they went.

Fritha knew she should not stare, but he seemed more than occupied by the attentions of the two girls, and she took the moment to consider him unobserved. He was narrow, and slight too, well compared with the other men she knew. His ears were slightly pointed like her own, the gold rings that adorned them catching in the sunlight, but despite all this he did not seem to be of elven blood.

Fritha watched him now, talking to Nalia their foreheads level, which would make him slightly taller than herself, an idea that pleased her in a way she could not understand.She had thought it just a trick of the light in Mekrath's house and was pleasantly surprised to find his hair was a dusky shade of blue upon their surfacing. His pale skin was almost sallow in the sunlight and it contrasted pleasantly with his hair, scars that looked more decorative than accidental marking his chin and cheeks, and merely enhancing the exotic air that he carried with him.

Fritha smiled as Aerie giggled lightly, her voice floating back to her on the warm afternoon air.
'I like how you pretend we are all birds, Haer'Dalis'

'Pretend?' he exclaimed dramatically. 'Oh no, dear Aerie, it is no pretence, for we are all as frail as birds before the storm of the fates.' He sighed. 'Entropy, chaos, decay; these are the gifts we are left with when we finally slip between the fingers of this world as surely as the sands of time, my dove.'

Aerie looked deeply impressed. Nalia looked equally incredulous and Fritha snorted at her expression, hiding a laugh in a sneeze.

Nalia glanced back at the noise and rolled her eyes at her, the pair sharing a smile at their joke when the bard turned to catch them, glancing back as Nalia had to send Fritha a wide grin.

Fritha felt her smile broaden, a pleasant warmth rising in her stomach.

Oh dear…