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

Ghosts of the past

It was first-day, a bright spring sun making the highest panes of the tall windows a glaring opaque white and bathing the kitchens in light, the air warm and sour with the scent of yeast; first-day had been baking day for as long as Fritha could remember. She adjusted the lute at her shoulder as she stepped down into the broad airy room, the cook, Beth, bent over and peering inside one of the two long ovens that were set in either side of the huge stone fireplace, six bread loaves and a large tray of sweetmeal biscuits already cooling on the scrubbed table behind her.

'Hello, Beth, ready for our lesson?'

'Ah, and here's my little lark,' Beth trilled, closing the long oven door and wiping her hands on her apron. 'Right, now- hey, put that down!'

Fritha grinned past a mouthful of biscuit.

'Too late,' she laughed, spraying the table before her with crumbs as she lay down her lute and began setting out her music. 'I've been practising that bransle you set me. I think I may have got it now; shall I start with that?'

'Ah, not just yet,' the stout woman faltered, looking uncomfortable as she pulled out the chair nearest her and Fritha dropped instinctively into the one opposite. 'You see, Gorion has asked me to have a word with you…'

Fritha was instantly on the defensive. 'Look, if it's about that missing cider, I swear-'

'It's not about the cider, girl,' the woman cut in, brusque with a manner that suggested to Fritha that they would both have soon wished it was. 'I already know that Dreppin has a fair idea where that's gone, if you catch my meaning. No, what I wanted to talk to you about was, well, er, I suppose men.'

'Whoa,' said Fritha, almost choking on the last of her biscuit in her haste to interrupt, 'steady on, Beth! If this is going where I think it is, then say no more. Candlekeep is full of books and at least few are on biology-'

'Don't be daft, girl, I don't mean like that,' the cook scolded, though Fritha fancied she looked rather relieved all the same, 'I want to talk to you about relationships. You're of an age now where you'll start noticing things about men-'

Fritha was horrified. 'What? I don't think so.'

'Well they've been noticing you!' Beth interrupted impatiently, clearly wanting the topic out, discussed and over with. 'You are becoming a very fair young woman and as you get older you'll find that men will begin take an interest.'

'Who?'

'What do you mean, who? Men!'

'No, who's been…' Fritha swallowed, feeling her nose crinkling even as she finished, 'taking an interest?'

'Ah, well, Gorion mentioned something about some of the younger monks…and I did hear Leit and Druis talking the other day.'

'Druis?' Fritha cried, no less embarrassed than if the young lad hadn't just appeared with a rather wilted daffodil and told her himself. 'I have sword practise with him! Oh, what can I do?'

Beth looked utterly confounded.

'Do? Enjoy it! I may not look it now, but I was fair once -not as pretty as you mind but pretty enough and there's not a lot a man won't do for a fair face and a nice smile, as long as you know how to use it.'

But Beth was not the only one who was bewildered, Fritha shaking her head.

'I really don't understand, Beth. So, I look nice. So? What's the fuss about?'

Beth frowned. 'Are you trying to be clever?'

'No,' Fritha muttered dully, 'that never ends well.'

'Yes, well, here in the library such things have no value whatsoever. But out there, in the world, beauty in a woman is highly prized. There's many a bloke out there who's married a girl for that alone, if you catch my meaning.'

'You mean men would rather have a girl who's pretty even if she's thick?' confirmed Fritha; prospects for her suddenly looked bright. 'But, what about having someone for company, conversation -she won't be pretty forever!'

Beth pursed her lips wisely. 'Yes, well, you'll find many things are different out there, including men thinking with things other than their heads.'

Fritha was bewildered and not to mention heartily disappointed. How sad a world where people were only judged on such narrow, shallow and decidedly fleeting terms. Except-

'Anomen isn't like that,' she blurted out defiantly, suddenly wondering where such had come from. Beth looked very interested too, the old woman leaning forward, her heavy bosom almost touching the table as she pressed delightedly, 'Anomen? Who's that then? Why, Fritha, you never said you had a sweetheart! Is he one of the new guards? Or with that band of young acolytes that just arrived from the Gate?'

Fritha shook her head, distracted, confused; something was not right…

'No, he's a knight, from Amn. But he likes me, he likes me even though I'm a Bhaalspawn. I-' Something clicked, the girl gazing about her at the warm, familiar kitchens with new eyes. 'I'm not really here, am I?'

Beth seemed to fade into the background as a voice somewhere above echoed, 'Fritha? Come on, Fritha.'

Someone was saying her name, a hand at her shoulder gently shaking her from sleep. She opened her eyes, letting them focus on the grey face above her; it was Jaheira.

'Fritha, it is time for our watch.'

Fritha nodded and stretched as best she could, her many layers twisted about her body as she had slept, the itchy heat of her eyes the only thing to hint at the earliness of the hour.

Jaheira had already left the tent they were sharing, the tent flap left open, the cold air against her face making her eyes water and the relative warmth of her blankets all the more appealing. But there was nothing to be done, Fritha merely straightening her tunic to pull on her coat and cloak and boots and stumble after the woman.

Outside, Anomen and Valygar were preparing to return to bed for the last couple of hours, the men already risen from their places about the small pit of glowing embers, the only point of colour in that otherwise grey world. The sky overhead was dark, but a watery light was hovering over the eastern hills. Fritha gazed about her at the small clearing where they had spent the night. Everything looked so different in the twilight, she could have still been dreaming, the camp surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable wall of shadowy fir trees, their still verdant branches and scaly reddish bark drained of the colour she usually found so heartening, while the stony ground beneath her feet glistened with the night's frost.

Anomen was making his way over to her, Fritha trying to raise a hand to greet him, but it took all her energy for the muttered, 'Morning.'

She could hear the smile in his voice even as she closed her eyes to yawn into her sleeve.

'Good morning, dearest, how did you sleep?'

Fritha said nothing, still couldn't quite manage the words yet and just nodded groggily. A hand landed firmly on her well-padded shoulder.

'There is tea over the fire. It is stewed to about the same flavour and consistency of tar, but the bitterness is quite rousing nevertheless.'

Fritha nodded again, just managing a mumble of thanks this time and, for a brief moment, the hand tightened at her shoulder. And then it was gone, Anomen returning to his tent with Valygar and leaving Fritha to shuffle over to join Jaheira, the girl stumbling around the clearing as though drunk, her legs not quite awake yet as she made to collect some more wood for the fire Jaheira was trying to coax back into life.

They were five hard days' journey from the city with another one left still to face before they reached their destination, though there had been no encounters with bounty hunters to mar their progress. Not that Fritha was surprised; she had been cold for days now. It had snowed a few times too, but it was rarely heavy and it had not lain, Fritha often finding herself wishing she was as sure footed as their pony as she slipped and skidded over the frozen slush, her calves aching from where she'd dug in her heels for grip. Of course, it hardly helped that some days she did not feel she could safely put one foot in front of the other. She was sleeping, but with the cold and her nerves, the rest was hard to come by. The slightest noise seemed to start her from sleep and she would lay and listen for untold moments, waiting to hear it again, to identify it, to assure herself it was just the wind or some night-creature and not another ambush.

Anomen was right; the tea was rousing, her first sip so bitter, Fritha felt she would never stop coughing.

'So, what were you dreaming about?' asked Jaheira, once her throat had finally calmed. 'Not one of your usual nightmares, I assume; I could hardly rouse you.'

Fritha nodded, carefully taking another mouthful of tea to croak, 'I was back in Candlekeep. Beth was telling me about boys at Gorion's request. It was a talk we had once, when Gorion found out Druis, one of the young guards, liked me. I had been oblivious until that point.'

In the gloom, Fritha watched Jaheira's lips twitch. 'And what sage advice did your teacher offer you?'

Fritha shrugged. 'That men are easily led and, if you are fair of face, or even just all right and good at flirting, you can pretty much get whatever you want from them. I don't think Gorion would have approved of that stance either,' Fritha added at Jaheira's highly censorious look, 'but then he should not have been such a coward and spoken to me himself. Luckily for all of us, I was not a very good student.'

The druid snorted in amused agreement and silence fell between them, Fritha reluctant to mention anything of the latter part of her dream; she felt foolish at her vehement defence of Anomen. It was strange, wondering about the people of Candlekeep, well, the ones she had liked anyway -Beth and Ferescian and dear old Phlydia- wondering what they would think of Anomen, whether they would approve of him.

Strange? It's just plain silly!

Fritha sighed and took more tea. She was right, of course. What did it matter? She would likely never see them again. They were as dead to her as Gorion was.

And as for Anomen…

'Fritha?'

Fritha started, Jaheira's eyes reflecting in the firelight

'Sorry,' she murmured, pulling her cloak about her, 'I was just thinking.'

The woman seemed to need no further explanation as to what would be occupying her thoughts and they sat in silence until the eastern skies warmed to a pale yellow and the others rose to join them.

The group set off a couple of hours later. After so many days travelling, packing up the camp was an exercise in efficiency, everyone going to their own set tasks, taking down the tents and preparing the breakfast, all cogs working together in a well-oiled mechanism. Today's journey would take them through the last of the foothills and to the pass that would lead them into the Windspears proper, the day after bringing them to their contact, Garren's, holding and the task that had brought them so far across Amn.

They stopped just after high sun for a quick meal, no one even taking the time to sit, the group just eating as they stood in twos and threes before the wide ravine that was the beginning of the pass, the steep hillsides still bearing the hardy fir trees, though more sparsely than before. Fritha stood at the tree line watching the clouds overhead grow ever darker as she absently fed a carrot to the pony at her side.

'How is he bearing up?' asked Anomen behind her and Fritha turned to receive a round of the waybread Valygar had unpacked.

'Who, Toffee?' she confirmed, glancing down to the beast that, even after five days' hard travel, had yet to bite, kick or deliberately try to move when they made to load him. 'Oh, fine, he's fine -he's very well behaved,' she added in a sigh; Fritha missed Donkey.

Anomen just smiled and they ate in silence, the sharp air somehow making the bread all the more flavoursome. The dry stodgy dough was sour and hearty, Fritha feeling quite content as stood listening to the chatter of the crossbills in the branches above her and the quiet murmur of the others in conversation on the opposite side of the wide path.

It began as a clatter in the air about them, the clouds above finally releasing a deluge of hail and there was a scramble across the path as the others hurried under the trees. Fritha just threw up her hood.

'At least it's not snow,' she muttered to the clouded sky, unable to help a smile at the man stood next to her, the hail bouncing off his breastplate. 'You're rattling like an alms box.'

'Here,' Anomen instructed quietly, tugging her sleeve to encourage her a step closer as he brought his shield over them both. Fritha let her eyes drift over his shoulder, suddenly unable to look at him as the warmth in her stomach rushed up to her face, and she gazed up the wooded hillside next to them, the murky wall of trunks not quite hiding the stealthily approaching silhouettes. It was as though the icy breeze had taken a knife's edge, splitting cloak and cloak to just blow straight through to her soul.

'Anomen, drop your shield and fall back!' Fritha barked, stepping back and pulling the pony with her as she shouted, 'Fall back, everyone, we're under attack!'

In an instant, arrows were nocked and swords drawn, Aerie's hands crackling with the spell she was readying, all eyes trained on the forest's edge when Jaheira suddenly leapt forward.

'Wait! Hold! It is Dermin! Oh, Dermin,' the woman sighed, stepping up to greet the man as he and his fellows left the cover of the trees, about half a dozen of them gathering upon the path, the hail rattling on their armour, 'By Silvanus, I have been so worried for you. I thought the Harpers had… Who are these with you? I do not recognise them.'

But the old man just shook his head. 'Ah, Jaheira, I do not relish the task that brings me to you this day.'

Jaheira recoiled a step. 'You- you have been sent by the Harpers? But you know what Galvarey was like, how he was obsessed with meeting Fritha –we spoke of it often!'

Dermin could not seem to meet her eye, though his voice remained firm.

'Jaheira, I am sent today to issue a warning, but I come also as a friend. The Harpers more than any would see justice done here. Give yourself up; throw yourself upon their mercy. You have worked within their ranks for years and these deeds have not been forgotten. Come with me now, and I guarantee a fair trial for you and the girl both.'

Jaheira's face twisted with an uncharacteristic sneer.

'So I should put my trust in Harper justice, should I? The same justice that Reviane brought? They treated us as murderers without even hearing what we would say on the matter! Did you not speak to them, Dermin? Could you not convince them-'

'Convince them of what, Jaheira?' Dermin cried, just as fraught, 'What do I know? Only that Galvarey called your friend forward to be assessed, and now he and those with him are dead. Jaheira, I know you had your doubts before; can you not even admit to the possibility that she has corrupted you without even your realisation of it?'

'No!'

Jaheira was scarlet in her defiance, Dermin looking no more likely to back down; how long before two old friends were brought to blows? She had been hiding behind Jaheira in this too long … Fritha sighed.

'This must end.'

Dermin nodded curtly. 'I agree and soon; your actions, warranted or not, have already forced your friend to kill her fellows.'

'Dermin, how can you speak so?'

'I speak naught but the truth, Jaheira.'

Fritha glanced down to the pony at her side, his grey muzzle nibbling at the gloved fingers of her free hand, unaware of the danger as he searched for another carrot. Silly beast…

'He is right, Jaheira. Until we can prove Galvarey was wrong in his assessment and tried to imprison me without cause, the Harpers will always look upon us as murderers.' Fritha drew a deep breath, voice resonating with an authority that just dared objection. 'I offer the Harpers a deal, Dermin; I will come and be judged, if they will help me retrieve Imoen. The Harpers's influence is far reaching. Have the Cowled Wizards release her, or find this Spellhold, or just give me the rest of the coin I need and I will get her myself. When Imoen is back with me, I will come and accept your tests and your judgement.'

Jaheira and Anomen's predictable outrage was instant.

'Fritha, no!'

'Are you mad? They will lock you away!'

But theirs was not the only dissent. Dermin was staring across the path at her and, for a moment, there was only silence and the faint patter of the lightly falling hail.

'I cannot accept your offer… You were right, Jaheira, I see it now. You have a good soul, godchild. Galvarey was so sure there would be something, some taint, some dark shadow on her spirit that we could exploit, that we could exaggerate enough to convince the seniors. And after you killed him, I will admit, I was quite convinced of it too.'

Fritha gave a faintly bitter laugh, the whole situation already too wretched for her to manage more.

'Yes, well, I'm afraid Galvarey caught me on an off-day.'

Jaheira was shaking her head, staring at the man as though she had never seen him before.

'Galvarey… you were in league with him all along? I trusted you, Dermin! You convinced me to bring Fritha before him! Why? Answer me!'

'Galvarey needed that promotion –oh, not for the reasons you think; he cared little for the glory of it. But as a Herald, his influence would have grown and with it the chance to change this land for the better; the chance perhaps to save countless lives. You do not understand. Things are happening, here and all over Faerûn, the wheels that Bhaal set in motion so long ago are gathering momentum and, if they are not halted now, they never will be! All the Children are seeds of chaos and evil, whether they mean to be or not. Your imprisonment may have seemed injustice, but it was for the greater good!'

'Greater good? Greater good?' Fritha repeated, shrill in her temper, 'The excuse for supposedly moral men to commit unspeakable horrors, and still pat themselves on the back afterwards, smug in misapprehension that they are still working for the right side.'

'Sacrifices must be made!'

'Oh, aye, and it's funny how such sacrifices invariably affect others rather than yourselves! Your noble sacrifice has seen many of your fellows dead! The greater good -Ha! Who can predict what will come with such accuracy to be able to justify what evil should be committed now? I say let this next step be the best one you can make, and the future unfurl as it may!'

'And what is your next step, Bhaalspawn?'

Fritha hefted the sword in her hand, glancing briefly to Jaheira as she answered, 'Return to the Harpers. Tell them of Galvarey's plan -you need not mention your own involvement, if you are too much of a coward to face it. Have them rescind the bounty on us.'

'I cannot.'

'You mean, you will not!' spat Jaheira. Dermin sighed.

'Jaheira, I know our paths may be different now, but we still work for the same cause.'

The woman shook her head. 'I do not know you, Dermin. You have lost your way and I will not join you in your folly.'

'The folly is yours here, Jaheira, and many more than you would suffer were I to allow it! I am sorry, but if you will not stand with me, then you will die by her.'

Jaheira lowered her staff at him, her eyes bright. 'So be it.'

Valygar took the first kill, the arrow he had been holding half-drawn all that while raised and released in a heartbeat, the man it hit gurgling on his own blood as the arrow passed straight through his throat to hit the shield of the man behind. An encouraging slap to his hindquarters and the pony bolted down the slope, Fritha not watching where he went as she closed the gap between her and Anomen, ready to take advantage of his shield.

The Harpers were closing in, Valygar falling further back as he readied another arrow, he and the tiefling before Aerie, guarding her as she summoned her magics, the girl keeping up a continuous chant as she both traced a complex pattern in the air with a hand and scratched a corresponding symbol in the dirt path with her foot.

Jaheira was locked in a fierce fight with Dermin, the druid being kept on the defensive, blocking the flurry of sweeps and thrusts as the man tried to get his blade past her guard, another of the Harpers hoping to use the distraction to sneak a blade into her back. Her peripherals just caught the movement though, the woman turning one way as she brought the staff across her in the opposite direction, the blow disarming him in one strike and likely breaking his arm as well, Minsc stepping up to finish his with a thrust through his chest.

Fritha was still working on the theory that they had orders to take her alive, at least initially, and was making no retreat, Anomen guarding the flanks she seemed happy to disregard and keeping the Harpers from getting in the midst of their group, the clashing weapons igniting with ice blue sparks as Aerie's spell swelled to its crescendo.

Back with Jaheira the tables had turned, the druid on the offensive ever since a sly swing at an old leg wound had left Dermin limping slightly, and she was pressing her advantage, the man flagging with every blow he was now forced to catch upon his sword. It was just a matter of time, though their fight was cut short.

A piercing crack split the air as Aerie finally struck her staff into the glowing rune at her feet, and a great gust of hot wind howled over them. Fritha covered her face as dust and grit from the path was blasted across her, though her reaction was nothing to that of their enemies, their screams echoing about the hillsides like the cries of the Damned, as though their souls were being torn from their very bodies. The wind died, leaving only a faint trace of sulphur, and one by one the Harpers just collapsed where they stood.

Fritha whistled through her teeth, at a loss for anything more descriptive as she gazed at the body-strewn path, Aerie looking almost stricken by the power she had unleashed.

'I- I've never tried that before; the runes hold much more power than I had first expected.'

Valygar said nothing, though his frown would have been impossible to miss. Dermin was still alive, though just barely, the man twisting his broken body to gaze up at the woman stood over him.

'You have doomed us all, Jaheira,' he croaked, victorious in that, even as he lay defeated, 'you and that ill-gotten godspawn!'

'You know nothing, Dermin, NOTHING!'

But it was too late; he was dead. Jaheira stood, staring down at his body like she wanted nothing more than to spit on it.

'All along… He was my friend, he first brought me into the Harpers, and all along he was working with Galvarey…' she glanced up, whirling to the girl next to her, 'Fritha, what he said-'

But Fritha knew by the injured look to her face what the woman would say and she did not need to hear it.

'It's all right. We all say things to our friends; tell them of fears and doubts we would not usually admit. You stood by me when Reviane came and you stood by me again now- that is enough for me.'

Jaheira looked close to tears and there was really only one way to deal with that apparently.

'And offering to go with him in exchange for Imoen- Foolish girl! After all that has been done to keep you from the Harpers! What were you thinking?'

Fritha just laughed weakly.

'So was Dermin working for the Harpers then?' asked Aerie, 'Were they really offering you a trial?'

Jaheira shrugged, turning her back on the bodies and she moved to collect her pack.

'Perhaps. If he brought us in where others failed, it would certainly look good enough to earn him the promotion Galvarey so desired. Come, I will waste no more time on this.'

And with that, she shouldered her pack and set off, leaving them with little choice but to follow. Fritha sighed, tipping back her hood as a shaft of weak sunlight pierced the clouds above, the girl turning her back on the light as she called down the path for the pony.

xxx

Anomen sighed quietly, even his breathing tempered as he sat, painfully aware of the body next to him, mere inches between them. The knight flexed his foot with a wince, but made no further attempt to work the stiffness from the leg nearest her. Truth be told, his leg had gone to sleep an hour ago, but Fritha was dozing next to him and he did not want to risk moving and awakening her. It had been the same for days now, ever since they left the city really, Fritha nerves rising as they left the relative safety of Athkatla's walls and just as certainly as she would come and sit by him of an evening, an hour or so later would find her fallen asleep where she was sat.

As for he and Fritha, nothing much had changed between them, everything returned to that time before he had told her, except that now she knew of his affections and would still come and talk and laugh and look at him with shinning eyes. Anomen had to admit, he could not recall being happier -he only wished he could say the same for her.

He knew she was not sleeping well and he felt he likely knew the reason too, the girl muttering something about 'bad dreams' when he had first asked her of it, clearly unwilling to elaborate further, and Anomen had pressed her no more. She was likely having another now by her frown, but she needed the rest and he did not wake her, his eyes drifting from her to take in the camp about them. They had stopped in the pass they had spent the latter half of the day travelling through, the group climbing out of the ravine to find shelter from the howling winds on the steep hillside, the fir trees growing too closely to pitch their tents, and though the canvas was strung taught above them, it would be a very cold night.

Across from him, Aerie and Haer'Dalis were sat similarly on the other side of the fire, though both were awake, the elf leaning upon her swain as she read and he braided narrow sections of her hair, seemingly just for the pleasure of it. Next to them, Valygar was checking his bowstring, Jaheira poring over the map of the Windspears with Minsc as they discussed the likely areas where the bandits they had been summoned to rout could be holding camps.

A sharp intake of breath next to him, and Fritha was awake, hands already at sword and scabbard before she seemed to realise where she was and relaxed again, leaning back again the trunk with a shuddering sigh. Anomen took a moment to hide his frown.

'Another dream?'

Fritha shrugged and nodded. 'Harpers, swords, box: same old, same old.'

Anomen sighed, pained that even sleep gave her no respite.

'You know I would protect you with my dying breath.'

She smiled slightly. 'Well, that's very nice of you, Anomen, but I think I would much rather you beat a strategic retreat and survived to come rescue me later.'

Anomen laughed in spite of himself, the girl leaning forward to rest her chin on her knees and he reached out to lay a reassuring hand upon her shoulder, rubbing a thumb along the back of her neck. Fritha sighed tiredly.

'What are you trying to do? Write your name in the dirt?'

'Not at all -your neck is too slender.'

'Oh, but quite filthy enough, I suppose?' She laughed into her knees, shaking her head. 'The cheek of it.'

Anomen smiled, about to reply though another cut him off, the man turning to see Jaheira on her feet and looking at him expectantly.

'Anomen, could you come and look at this please? Minsc and I have found note of a fortification, though we are unsure as to the age of this map –it could be abandoned.'

Fritha nodded and smiled as he excused himself, watching him a moment, before another's approach pulled her attention away, Haer'Dalis sending her a grin that could only mean mischief.

'So, the day ends, the ptarmigan calls away the hound and I finally get a chance to speak with you away from your hirsute suitor.'

Fritha made a shrill noise of disgust. 'Haer'Dalis!'

He laughed, dropping to sit cross-legged next to her and drawing a deep sigh as he began casually, 'So, you are a Bhaalspawn then, the mortal progeny of a dark dead god.'

Fritha nodded mildly, no more ruffled than he.

'Indeed, I am. You seem rather well-informed of the thing.'

The tiefling shrugged. 'Aerie gave me the benefit of her knowledge after Dermin and the others were dispatched. The Time of Troubles and Bhaal's plan for rebirth from the seeds of his children; she seems to think it quite the tragedy.'

'And I suppose you see it as a good thing.'

'No, I see it as I see my own heritage: just a thing.'

Fritha smiled. 'We are ever of one mind. I'm surprised, though, no one told you of it before now. You did know the Harpers were after me, didn't you?'

'Oh, yes, but the way it was put led me to understand it was for more a crime of action than blood.'

'And you didn't think to ask anyone of what I was accused?' she cried with an incredulous amusement, but the tiefling merely shrugged again.

'No, what did it matter? I trust your judgement better than some lawmaker's. Whatever you did or did not do, you would not have done so lightly and I am happy to stand by you.'

Fritha said nothing, just smiled and dipped her face against the blush, feeling almost embarrassed by such unwavering loyalty so freely given. Haer'Dalis seemed to understand though, for he smiled as well, nodding across the camp to where Anomen was now frowning over the map with Jaheira.

'But what of our knight; how does he see his lady's ancestry?'

Fritha sighed, leaning forward once more to rest her chin on her knees.

'I believe it saddens him, but only in the fact that others take a more hostile stance -as you have seen.'

'I am surprised. Love has made quite the change in him.'

Fritha snorted wryly. 'Oh, he knew of my heritage long before any of that. He has known for months.'

'I am surprised,' Haer'Dalis repeated with much more conviction. 'It seems I have misjudged him, though I must admit, I still do not understand how he appeals to you.'

Her smile was slight and almost wistful.

'He is kind and he cares for me, really cares for my well-being –it can be intoxicating. And more than that, he makes me feel safe; something I could not truly appreciate until everyone wanted me dead. I sit next to him and I feel as though there is nothing in all Toril that can touch me.'

She thought Haer'Dalis would laugh and tease her but, in the end, he just smiled.

'Well, it is pleasant to see such affection blossoming -though you have certainly picked a time for it!' he laughed, pulling his cloak about him as another gust of icy wind stirred the branches above them, 'I can guarantee it is the only thing within a hundred leagues of here which is.'

Fritha just shook her head, taking in the frigid, barren landscape with distant eyes. 'No, this is our season; we would not suit the spring.'

'So your plans have not changed?'

The girl shrugged.

'How can they? Imoen is still taken, I am still hunted by Harpers and watched by vampires and Anomen is still a knight of the Order with the duties that entails.'

Haer'Dalis smiled dryly. 'You have entered into the thing with more resignation of its end than a Doomguard.'

'No,' Fritha refuted with a dull sigh, 'you will see I am not revelling in it. Go now, go and sit with Aerie; let me have a glimpse of summer.'