XVII: Kill a Village - Become a Noble

"From the left!" Adele shouted, lunging at her, and Shandra warded off her rapier with the sword, immediately taking the opportunity to make a counter-attack. "Good. Very. But a little lower, maybe."

"Mind your right foot," added Casavir, watching the fight closely.

"An' harder," Khelgar chimed in.

"Hey, not all at once!" Shandra answered, parrying several further thrusts, and made a step back, catching her breath.

"Much better, really," Adele pointed, lowering her blade.

"Well," Shandra ran her hand over tousled hair. "I'm glad you think so."

Adele smiled.

Shandra indeed was doing fine. A few quiet (surprisingly) days allowed Adele to train her as she had promised, taking advantage of early hours at the 'Flagon', when not much visitors were around – and those patrons that lived in the tavern on permanent basis came to enjoy their usual morning sparring. To her satisfaction Adele found out that Shandra truly had abilities, and considerable ones. Certainly, Bishop suggested killing her right on spot to put her out of her misery – but what else one could expect from Bishop? All his helping in training lied in endless comments on the subject of 'why chopping off both Shandra's arms won't spoil anything', which, by all means, earned him deepest affection and sympathy from Shandra herself. But, at least, the woman could handle a sword, so Adele didn't have to start from nothing in her teaching.

Good reflexes, enough endurance – to smooth a bit abruptness and gustiness of her movements, and the result could be more than decent.

And, of course, there was a matter of ammunition. Neeshka grumbled that since they were such a crowd already, somebody might actually find a job or something. To that Bishop simply offered selling her and Grobnar to the first moving circus they come across. Qara added that he himself might become quite a purchase for the Blacklake Zoo, even more as an animal at that. The ranger agreed that it wasn't such a terrible fate, because, unlike him, Qara wouldn't be a nice purchase for anybody, even for local Docks brothels, even with his personal recommendations and even if it would be their band that paid the brothel to take her. Casavir made a suggestion that he watched his tongue, which Bishop naturally ignored.

Just an everyday routine of their company.

But despite constant squabbles, things weren't that bad. At least, no one threatened anyone, no one kidnapped anyone, no one came for the shards. Adele had written a letter to Aldanon, got his reply filled with jovial and excited assurances that the sage would investigate the matter in the Archives as soon as he settled his 'misunderstanding' with them. It was hard to tell when would that happen, but the woman had to agree to that state of affairs.

Apart from Aldanon, none of her ideas worked. She tried to find out anything about the war with King of Shadows, but it appeared that no one actually knew anything about the war, only the fact that, yes, the war definitely was – something she as a native of West Harbour could declare better than anybody. Who was King of Shadows, why he attacked Neverwinter, how was he defeated – Hells knew. Even Sand shrugged him off as a simple warlock of some power and, probably, some old grudge for the city - but had to admit that those were his mere assumptions, nothing he knew for certain. That seemed strange, since it was customary for bards to tell tales about great wars of the past, just like for people - to fancy such pretty epic stories. So Adele made her conclusion that the story with King of Shadows was not a pretty one. At least not for Neverwinter.

For now she put her trust into Aldanon's vigorous interest in the whole mess - it suited her. She trained Shandra, and the results suited her as well. Actually, everything that allowed her to have some distraction from the thoughts about a piece of metal plunged in her chest and all concerned suited her just perfectly.

Taking off her jerkin, Adele threw it on the chair and turned to Shandra once more, waving her rapier invitingly: "Shall we?"

The blond woman shook her head, her cheeks flushed, eyes glittering: "Wait, wait, I'm out of breath a little," with a wince she dragged off soft training leather gloves, glaring at her palm rubbed sore from the hilt of the sword, then presented it to Adele as if an accusation. "Like I've ploughed a whole field after the drought".

Grinning, Adele showed the other woman her left hand, any sores she had from the rapier long ago turned into hard corns, protecting her palm better than any gloves: "Tell me about it."

Khelgar laughed: "Ya frail lasses wanna measure battle bruises – ya admit failure ta me at once."

"No argue there," Adele chuckled, then looked back at Shandra. "Alright, since we are tired, I'll change into something clean and say we have some fresh air. The weather seems good – which is rare for Neverwinter – so why don't we take advantage of it, huh?"

"Sign me in," Neeshka agreed, who straddled a chair near the wall to watch the duel.

"Sign everybody in, I think," Qara responded, waltzing her way between Adele and Shandra, holding a tray of dirty mugs high above her head. The girl still resented her obligation to work in the 'Flagon', but, having no other choice, worked, though with a look of doing an unspeakable favour to the place. Moreover, she got her hand in at dragging rather good tips from out the customers.

"You'll be back just in time for dinner," Duncan added.

"Then I'll be quick," Adele smiled.

Flinging her jerkin over her shoulder, she went to the corridor leading to rooms. She felt also tired from the training, tunic clung to damp skin, and the woman lowered her gaze, pulling the fabric down and fanning herself slightly with the hem to cool down a bit.

"Oh yeah," she heard Bishop's voice and started. The ranger, who had probably just left his room, now leaned against the wall and without any pangs of conscience stared at her.

"Oh no," she smirked, without slowing her pace and leaving him behind, knowing perfectly that he followed her with his eyes. Bishop's stares were always physically tangible. There was no point objecting – Adele had more than enough time to understand that the man didn't have a single drop of shame or manners in him, and arguing with him was as fruitful as spitting against the wind. So, matching his tone and way of behaviour, she at least got less of his usual mockery than others.

which is, of course, the only reason, - her inner voice added archly.

Dispelling those thoughts, Adele entered her room and shut the door behind her back. After changing the tunic for a clean one, she spent some time just standing beside her bed and looking at the silver shards piled out on the blanket near her pack, then shoved them inside and grabbed the pack itself with her. She didn't like the idea of leaving the shards unwatched, even for a small while.

Coming back to the main room, she found others in obviously changed moods and instinctively tarried in her steps. Shandra, death-pale, sat on the sofa, staring into space with hollow glassy eyes, Casavir's firm hand squeezing her shoulder. The paladin himself looked like he was intently thinking something over, and something not pleasant. Neeshka exchanged totally confused glances with Khelgar, who grumbled quiet dwarven curses into his beard. Bishop, sitting on his customary place at the end of the counter, seemed indifferent, as usual, but the way his eyes were narrowed also made Adele feel uneasy.

"Somehow I have a feeling we are not going for a walk," she drawled.

At the sound of her voice Casavir rose his head, concern evident on his face, but before he could say anything Adele felt Qara nudged her with an elbow on her way to the tables she was serving, pointed a bottle of ale she held in her hand towards the fireplace, and woman's gaze lingered on a tall fair-haired man in already familiar bright-blue outfit of Neverwinter Nine standing there.

"There you are," he said, stepping towards her.

"Have we met?" Adele wondered.

"He's sir Nevalle," behind her back Duncan said quietly. "Leader of the Nine."

"…Oh," she bowed her head mechanically. "What can I do for you?"

From her side came a crunch as Khelgar pushed nearby chair towards her: "Ya have a seat, lass."

"Do I need to?" Adele arched her brow at Nevalle, who folded his hands behind his back and gave a deep sigh:

"I am here because Torio Claven, Ambassador of Luskan, has accused you of murder, lieutenant."

"…What?" she chuckled unbelievingly, but her smile faded away quickly. "Look, if she means the 'Sea Ghost', then-"

"No. The case is more… serious than that. Have you heard of Ember?"

She didn't answer at once, staring at the knight and feeling cold spreading inside her stomach…

You're the one who will destroy Ember…

"Yes," she nodded slowly.

No…

"All its inhabitants are killed…"

No… no…

"…The village itself burnt to the ground…"

nonononono…

"…and Luskan accused you of the crime."

...The killer looks like you, but isn't...

"You are joking," she muttered, still looking at Nevalle, then finally sat on the chair. "You are not."

The knight gave his head a grim shake: "I've scraped things off my boot that I trust and respect more than Luskan," he said – almost hissed – disdainfully. "But this time, I'm afraid, their words have at least some truth to them. The village is destroyed - our scouts confirmed. Your guilt in Luskan court is preordained."

"I bet," she answered absently, then shook her head. "It's impossible. Simply impossible. We've been to Ember several days ago, and everybody there was alive and fine. Then what, I returned and… killed everybody? Is that what happened? Oh, and there just appeared some peaceful Luskan patrol to come along, they saw me – but didn't try to stop and simply reported about it?" she looked up at Nevalle again, but the only response she got was Bishop's snort from the counter.

"The accusation is real enough," Nevalle finally answered. "And unless we find some means of clearing you of these charges, we will have to surrender you to them. We've signed a treaty with Luskan – they have the right to dispense Low Justice for the crimes committed on their soil."

"…Have the right, huh," she repeated. Sucks for you, Delly. Suuuuucks.

"If you were you a lord, knight or even a squire, however," Nevalle continued talking, and Adele cocked her head slightly, having a feeling that he was meaning more than saying, "then matters would be different. You would be a subject to High Justice, and your trial would take place here, in Neverwinter, before Lord Nasher."

"…If."

Nevalle nodded, probably content with her reaction, that she got his meaning: "I am not turning over a loyal member of the Watch to some Luskan dog on this day or any other. So I may send a… friend of mine to assist you – he has proven invaluable in such cases in the past. But until you answer for these charges, the gates of the city will be barred to you. That is all, lieutenant."

He turned on his heels, leaving the tavern. Adele didn't move, staring at the empty spot on the floor he had been standing on and trying hard to convince herself that for all the absurdity of what was happening – it was happening after all.

"Garius," she suddenly hissed. "Shoot me if it's not his handiwork."

"No way in the Hells will I let those Luskans get their hands on you!" Duncan snapped.

"But there's still something we can do, right?" Shandra almost jumped to her feet. "Even Nevalle said as much – you need to get into nobility!" she broke off, then fell back on the couch. "But how do we do that?"

"And we are innocent, besides," Neeshka added, her voice as bewildered as Adele herself felt, like the tiefling was also having hard time finding some sense in what was going on. "I mean - the slaughter of an entire village? That's going too far, even by Luskan standards!"

"Is it?" Bishop sniffed. "If you have something Luskan wants, they'd kill an entire city for it. They don't care."

With a faint groan Adele bent down on her chair, hiding her face in her knees, loosening her hair from the tail and tousling it forward so that it curtained her from the outside world. Others kept on arguing about something but she paid little attention to that.

So Luskans come here - I just pretend that I'm dead already. Wonder how they would check if it's true… Crap, don't really want to know that much.

"Uh, Duncan?" she heard Sal's voice. "Looks like we have a guest."

The half-elf let out an exasperated sigh: "As if the day couldn't get any worse… What do you want, Sand?!"

Adele lifted her head a bit, looking at the front doors. Indeed, it was Sand. Elf's face was impervious and motionless, a sharp contrast to his usual slightly ironic expression.

"I am here to help you… and your… kin, actually," his gaze moved to Adele, and she smiled at him through the veil of her hair. Sand's perfectly-shaped eyebrow jerked vaguely, as if he was considering whether she needed help from mental disorder more than from Luskan.

A friend of Nevalle? A friend of Nevalle? Sand? Pinch me.

"Oh, really?" Duncan snorted, all his nervousness and irritation obviously finding a perfect target in Sand. "And what's the price? If it's more than a half-copper, you can see yourself out."

"No, I… seem to have been given an ultimatum, in fact," the wizard admitted, almost helplessly, and Adele winced, straightening on her chair. Blackmailed. Another person is blackmailed into helping me. Damn, I'm not liking it at all, in case someone's interested. Sand looked at her, ignoring Duncan even if the half-elf wanted to say something else: "I have heard of your… troubles with Luskan."

"Is there anybody who hadn't?" she smirked.

"I realize my sincerity hard to believe, but allow me to act on your behalf. I have considerable experience with these matters," a common barely visible smile at last came back to his lips, as he added: "And foiling Luskan plots is something I relish."

Adele smiled back at him in understanding. Looking at the bright side, don't you, Sand? Trying to get the best of the worst situation.

"I think we should give him the chance," said Casavir, and Adele did her best not to stare at him unbelievingly. When did I say I won't give him the chance? "This is not a battle that can be won by swords – and I for one am ill-equipped for such a fight."

"Sure," Qara nodded and grinned, sweeping off the crumbs from the nearest table with a rag. "After all, a hedge wizard can't make things any worse. Maybe all that digging through books might prove useful."

Sand leveled a heavy sullen glance at her: "If we fail and the only thing left for us to do would be burning down Luskan – we shall, no doubts, seek you, Qara. But for now your ignorance will cause more damage here than you know. Luskan is not ruled by men - it is ruled by magic, by the Masters of the Towers. And if they have decided that you are to be delivered to them…"

"So?" the sorceress snorted and easily tossed the rag into the air, where it disappeared in a tiny blaze of fire. "Let them try."

The wizard watched the ashes of the rag as they slowly glided down on the table, then rolled his eyes, apparently unimpressed: "Whatever spark of magic you think you have, you idiot girl, they will bleed it out from you with demon, spell and curse until even your father won't be able to save you. Believe me," he shifted his gaze back to Adele. "And I have a suspicion that for whatever reason they had accused you of this murder – that reason, as well as consequences, lie much deeper than it may seem."

"…So what's the plan, then?" Adele asked.

Sand folded his arms, hiding the hands inside the sleeves of his robe, pacing around the room: "For now the main focus is to prevent your surrender to Luskan. Fortunately, making you a squire is enough for our needs."

"Easy to say."

"Actually, not that hard, indeed. Nevalle made it quite clear to me that Nasher will close his eyes at the fact how quickly and conveniently you become one. So our largest concern is to find a knight who would agree to play along."

"There are few people left in Neverwinter whom I can call 'friends'," Casavir said thoughtfully, "but, perhaps, I would be able to find the right man."

"We'll ransack this whole city," Neeshka added, "but we'll find a knight. I mean, there's a whole pile of them here, anyway!"

"That'll do, I'm sure," Sand nodded, proceeding with measured circling around the room.

Following him with her eyes Adele noticed Elanee entering the room, drawn by the voices, her brows rising a little at the sight of the gathered crowd. Khelgar started explaining her the situation, and the druidess froze in her place, not saying anything, but her face growing more and more pale with every word of the dwarf. As their eyes met, Adele shrugged with an apologetic smile, then turned back to Sand.

"Making you a squire will also give us what we need most – time," he continued. "Time that we need to gather enough evidence to bleach you out to diamond shine on the trial. But for now let us deal with what we can," the wizard looked at Casavir. "I believe there is someone we can speak with on the matter?"

The paladin nodded and rose from his place, gesturing for the elf to follow. Neeshka also rushed to the doors, shouting: "Get moving, Khelgar!"

"Where?" the dwarf blinked.

"To help drag the knight if he'll jib!"

"Ah! That I can."

Sand stopped in the doorway, pointing his finger at Adele: "As for you, my dear – stay here for now. The less attention you attract to yourself – the better."

"Fine," she smiled and sighed. "Not that it helps most of the time."

As the four of them left, silence imposed over the place.

"…So…" Shandra cleared her throat. "And what are we going to do?"

"Wait," Adele replied.

"And that's it?!"

"Yes," she shrugged, looking at her. "Well, we can also come back to training, if you feel like it."

"I… no… How…? How can you be so calm about it?! That Low Justice in Luskan, it's… well, it's a really bad thing!" she frowned. "Though even it is not enough for the one who… who did something like that…" she dropped her face into her palms. "I can't believe everyone in Ember is dead… Just… dead."

"Have you known many people there?" Adele asked softly.

"Well… yeah. I traveled there last season… The quartermaster was always kind to me… Funny old man he is… was," she fell silent and when she spoke again, her voice was different, lower and weaker: "And Alaine… I've always stayed at her place when the roads were washed and I couldn't get to Port Llast…" she closed her eyes for a second, then rose from her place abruptly, blinking furiously. "I… I need to… change my clothes, so… I'll go..."

"Of course," Adele nodded with a faint understanding smile.

Taking a few steps towards the corridor, Shandra tarried, looking back at her: "Still, I don't get… I mean, aren't you even a little worried?"

"I am. But this whole thing is ridiculous. I'm innocent. And Luskans will have to sweat much to prove otherwise, that's for sure."

Shandra looked like she wanted to say something, but either didn't find what to say or decided not to, and just left the room, shaking her head. After a second of hesitation, Elanee nodded to Adele and followed her, making the woman inwardly thank the gods that the druidess was along – always calm and ready to comfort. Leaving her chair, she strolled through the room, until finally made her way to the counter. Duncan, probably also getting more nerves than he could handle, disappeared somewhere in the kitchen, so Adele simply nodded to Sal for wine, leaning her back against the counter and placing her elbows on it. Bishop, sitting not far from her, was sipping his ale as slowly and indifferently as always, but, maybe, for the first time Adele was glad of his 'don't-give-a-damn' attitude.

"At least someone is not in shock," she muttered.

The ranger let out a short chuckle: "From what?"

"Well, from this whole… nonsense, this… trial."

"What, did you really think Luskans won't get to you for killing their agents on the ship?" she shot him a puzzled glance, not really positive she ever mentioned her earlier encounters with Luskans to him, and Bishop nodded: "Yeah, Duncan told me about that, too."

The woman hummed, taking a glass from Sal: "Duncan likes to talk, I see."

"Duncan sure does. Not one for keeping secrets," he smirked wryly, staring into space, "but he's always quick to call a debt when he wants to."

Taking a swig at the glass, she licked her lips and looked down at the ranger: "So, any thoughts about this all?"

He eyed her closely before answering: "Are you seriously asking or just making conversation?"

"…What do you mean?"

He settled back on the barstool, folding his arms and keeping his eyes glued to her: "Well, it just seems to me that such a fine upstanding lady like yourself might not be really interested in an advice of someone like me in the matter," he quirked an eyebrow slightly. "And trust me, I'll respect you a lot more if you admit it now, than hear my advice and make those scary huge indignant eyes of yours."

"Trust me, my eyes are already too tired of becoming huge," Adele pressed cool glass to her temple, feeling a headache starting to tingle deep in her scull. "Besides, hearing advice out doesn't mean following it. Considering – yes, but blindly following… it would've been stupid of me, wouldn't it?"

"…True enough," he smirked. "I'm not one for following what everyone tells me, either." Bottoming his mug, he pushed it to Sal for re-fill and shrugged: "I think you should skip this whole trial bullshit and just try and kill the Ambassador."

Adele blinked in surprise, then laughed: "Simple, clear and to the point."

"You asked. Besides, what a nice way to show them what you think of justice."

"Honestly, right now I don't think anything about justice, but… your variant is eloquent and ironic, can't argue."

"And that's the only language Luskan understands, anyway," he was silent for some time, then leaned his elbow on the counter, scratching his chin thoughtfully: "Then again, if you don't want to waste time in court, you could just run away." She glanced at him questioningly and rolled her eyes, shoving across a familiar skin-palpable stare that left a feeling of a string being drawn inside of her. Bishop grinned significantly to emphasize the meaning: "I could have led you out of the city, and you and I could find some hidden place somewhere and… camp for a year or two."

"I'm afraid I'm not drunk enough and too accused of mass-murder for camping right now, sorry," she clinked her glass against his mug and smiled. "But you can go and scout the way – I'll catch up in a year… or two."

He chuckled again, lifting the mug and saluting her with it: "Don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind. So don't be surprised if the next time you turn around – I'm gone. After all, it's your life at stake, not mine. And you and the gallows are about to become very close friends unless you do something about it."

"…And that is exactly why I asked for some advice, in case you didn't get that," with a heavy sigh Adele tousled her hair again and tied it back into a high tail.

"Then, I guess, you can just follow the procedures and find proof to their claims. Though it's only worth it if you can hurt Luskan in the process."

She cast him a sidelong look: "…What, foiling Luskan plots is something you also relish?"

"More like foiling Luskans themselves."

"Personal?"

He flinched, as if they were talking about some kind of skin desease: "In a way."

"…I see. Well, cheers again," she drank up what was left of the wine in her glass and pushed herself off the counter. "Good to know I'm not the only one."


…The hours crawled grievously slowly. Along toward evening the tavern began to fill up with visitors, but even common uproar from the patrons seemed to sound somewhere far away, not reaching into a cocoon of strained silence that hang over the room and their company. All Adele could do was stride from corner to corner, from wall to wall, inwardly counting her long rhythmic strides and feeling herself a rat closed in a labyrinth and running there in search of cheese. Every time the front door opened she tossed her head, torn between hope that it were others coming back and fright that it were Luskans coming to get her. Elanee, sitting on the couch, followed her every move with a sad sympathetic look and, as Adele glanced at her, gave her a soft encouraging smile.

Shandra seemed to be most nervous, at one moment dropping herself into the nearest armchair, at another rising to her feet and also starting to walk but and ben, binding her fingers together so tightly that they were probably close to breaking. Not that it surprised Adele – Shandra was not one for keeping cool and holding her emotions. Besides, she clearly took what happened at Ember as something personal. Adele wanted to calm her somehow, but understood all too well that it was impossible in Bishop's presence - the ranger didn't hide his belief that the villagers had something like that coming anyway.

Just like he foretold, in fact.

Qara was calm. Apparently, her assurance that if things get too rough they could always burn Luskan down was utter. Duncan, forced to greet and attend to his customers, constantly plied between two halls, trying to attach cheerful expression to his face, but not doing good in that. Even Grobnar kept quiet, fingering the strings of his lute without making any sound. Though Adele wasn't sure if the gnome understood what was going on – he always had some kind of sixth sense on others mood…

"Found!" Neeshka yelped, bursting into the tavern from the street and hopping towards Adele. "Dance, Del – we've found you a knight!"

"Not 'we', to be frank," Sand clarified, following her. "The City Watch was of help here. Seems your service to them is appreciated."

"And who's the lucky guy?" the woman wondered, not bothering to hide her relief.

"Ya sure ya wanna be choosy now, lass?" Khelgar chuckled, his reddened face also appearing less troubled.

"Sir Grayson," Casavir answered for them. "I fought side by side with him during Luskan war – he is a decent man and ready to help you in your need."

"Well, that's good," Adele nodded, again not sure whether Casavir's seriousness and carefulness about everything helped things or not. "Don't worry, I'll try not to do anything that might harm his reputation."

The face of the paladin mirrored genuine surprise: "That never even came to my mind, I assure you."

Adele smiled: "…Yeah, I guess. So," she looked at Sand, "to the Watch it is, then?"

"Absolutely, my dear. We polish that off – and tomorrow will be in position to tackle the matter of the trial itself in real earnest."

She nodded, heading to the doors, but stopped: "Wait. And what do squires even do?"

Casavir wanted to answer, but before he could Sand tapped his finger at Adele's shoulder in a gentle but strangely persistent way: "What matters now, is that they are not sent to Luskan for trial."

"…Good point."