Ch 8
He was waiting for Dee when she finished her latest 'special' Watch assignment, naked and sprawled languidly on her bed drinking a mug of ale. He had lit several candles around her room and had a bottle of mead waiting for her. She pulled off her gloves and set a new personal speed record for removing her armor and weapons before she snatched up the mead and took a long quaff. She shed her boots then removed her clothes slowly as he watched until all that remained was her small clothes. She took a swaying step towards him as she untied one of the ties on her camisole, then another, teasingly, then another, and she smiled at his approval. She took another drink and asked coolly, "Something you need, ranger? You appear to have some...swelling. Looks painful." She swayed over to the bed and straddled him.
He unbraided her hair as she kissed him. "Yeah, I think I need your special healing touch. But one of us is overdressed, sweetheart."
"Your hands broken, ranger?" she asked saucily as she leaned forward and kissed him again, spilling her mead on his chest. "Oh, how clumsy of me," she gasped in mock alarm. "I got that all over you. I'll clean it up." She flicked her tongue across her lips and he moaned and lay back on the bed.
They had been on like this since that first night. The day after she had moved about in a cloud. She mixed up customers' orders until her uncle sent her off in exasperation. She gave up work on the war hammer she had been making for Casavir because she just couldn't concentrate on the task and it seemed shameful not to devote her full attention to the beautiful gleaming silver. Dee cut her daily training session with Shandra short after Shandra managed to get around her defenses twice, muttering under her breath, "It's a good thing it's just practice and I'm not fighting orc filth." She signaled a stop. "That's enough for now. You need a fresh opponent." She looked around and waved Grobnar over, ignoring Shandra's eye roll and plaintive whine, "Deeee, no."
"Grobby, get Khel and...umm train her to defend against short opponents and multiple attackers."
Their eyes met when her path crossed with his that day inside the tavern or outside of it, and she learned what a "knowing look" was. Even Karnwyr and Cillian seemed to give her knowing looks, and she swore Elanee's badger winked at her. Of course Cillian was the only one of the three with a mental link that came from their bond. She was glad she wasn't a druid or they'd all want to talk.
Cillian looked up at her as he devoured a fish she bought him at the dock and stated prosaically, "Wolf man is your mate now. "
She shrugged and dropped to her haunches beside him and met his warm brown eyes. "Yeah, he is." She sensed something...agitation? "That's not a problem, is it?"
Cillian ripped off the fat-rich skin and devoured it before answering with just a bit of menace, "He growls at wolf a lot. Growls at you too. I don't like that. He better not growl at me."
She nodded. "I'll talk to him. Just don't tear his arms off, alright?"
Cillian snorted in reply. She watched him in quiet fascination as he tore apart the fish with his razor-sharp claws. He looked up from his feast finally and asked softly, "You won't forget me?"
She leaned over him and gave him a hug then scratched him behind the ears. "How could I forget you, love?" It had never occurred to her that their companions could get jealous, and she wondered if Karnwyr was jealous of her. "You talk to his wolf much? How does he feel about us?"
Cillian tore into another fish before he answered, "His human is the mate of the pack leader. He thinks that makes his human leader of the males. He's a happy wolf."
She chuckled. "I see. Anything else?"
He took a moment before answering, "Wolf doesn't get to sleep on the bed if I don't get to."
She chuckled. "I'll tell Karnwyr he has to sleep on the rug too."
After an endless day evening finally came. Dee picked at her supper at the common table she shared with her friends. Elanee had greatly improved Duncan's cooking skills, showing him that there was more to seasoning food than tossing in copious amounts of salt, that vegetables didn't have to be boiled or stewed until they were a grey mush, and that everything wasn't better fried. It was an understatement to say that Dee had a healthy appetite, but that night she couldn't even focus on food. She gazed at Bishop sitting across from them, who met her gaze, smiled, stood, and glanced towards her room. He stretched slowly and headed to the hallway. She watched him stretch his lean, wiry body and realized what she was really hungry for, so she pushed aside her plate and followed. She didn't even bother with the weak excuse she had prepared for Neehska. The others stared at her back as she disappeared through the door. "Well that was subtle," Neeshka groused to Shandra. "I thought we were supposed to go out tonight. I guess Elanee was right about them."
"I know, I couldn't believe it either!," Shandra whispered as she leaned closer to Neeshka. "I don't get it! Sure, he's not bad looking I guess if you like that type, he has a great body, but it's attached to that filthy tongue. And he's just so full of himself! I can't believe Qara's sulking about it, either. I could see her going for him, but Dee seems so level-headed. He must be hung like a mule."
Neeshka whispered back, "Yeah, or maybe he's really good with his filthy tongue." They giggled then Neeshka suddenly shot up, gasped and said, "Or maybe he's charmed her! There are spells, you know. Or maybe he's not just a ranger--maybe he's secretly a warlock and he's beguiled her. That would explain everything."
Shandra shook her head and gave Neeshka a skeptical look. "I could believe that he's an assassin, but not a warlock. That seems rather far-fetched, Neeshka."
Neeshka considered the possibilities. "It's more likely she picked up a ring or something that's cursed. We should ask Elanee or Sand if their spells can detect anything!"
Dee had removed her bodice as she and Cillian strode down the hall and was already unlacing her tunic when she caught up to him leaning against her door. They stood there gazing at each other until he broke the silence. "You got the potion from the mage?" She nodded, then he grabbed her and kissed her furiously then pulled back and asked, "And you took it?"
She scowled and said, "Don't worry. A kid is the last thing I need now."
He pulled off his shirt, and he kissed and nipped at the back of her neck as she fumbled to open door. They stumbled into the room and nearly fell, tripping over each other and their companions as the door flew open. She managed to kick off her boots and her leggings still hung off one foot before he ripped off her tunic, picked her up and slammed her against the door, and took her before she even caught her breath.
In the days that followed he slipped into her room in the evening, or when he was out, awakened her in the middle of the night. One night she awakened to find that he had already started. But he almost always left before dawn. They became one of the obnoxious couples who snuck into the private bath at night. Then a few mornings later he pulled her aside into the storeroom and shut the door.
"Bish, what if Uncle Duncan or Sal walks in on us?," she whispered as he nuzzled her neck.
"They won't if we're quick. Besides, that's the excitement, sweetheart," he whispered back as he stroked her hair then pushed her to her knees.
Dee made another discovery about herself--she really liked it. She was an enthusiastic student eager to learn, and he had a great deal of experience to share. He wasted no time in teaching her how to please him, and most of the time he left her beathless, quivering and tingling from head to toe. There was rarely the same tenderness that he showed her that first night, though she left him as many bites and scratches as he marked her with, which she hid but he flaunted in the men's bath. It was even more distracting than working at the forge. When she was with him and lost in passion, she forgot about Black Garius and the King of Shadows and the shards, at least for a few golden minutes.
There were only a few blights on her happiness. The first was the reaction of her friends. No one had said anything yet, but she had that uncomfortable feeling from the sudden silence when she entered the common room or the practice circle in the empty lot next to the tavern that they had been talking about her. A few times she caught them looking at her with something akin to pity, especially Khelgar, and Casavir gave her a disappointed look that made her feel dirty. Sand and Elanee took her aside and asked if they could scry everything she had aquired at the Gith lair to make sure none of it was cursed. Qara was even more bitchy and hostile than usual, not that Dee was bothered at all. As far as Dee was concerned, the only reason Qara stayed around was that she was using them as fodder to protect her from the army of former classmates that wanted to leave her a charred cinder on the cobblestones.
Neeshka, being Neeshka and having all the patience of a three-year-old and about as much tact as well, ambushed Dee one day as she and Shandra headed out to the Watch office. "Dee, let's stop and get a a snack and a drink at the Mask."
"I suppose we have time for one," Dee replied, not being one to turn down a cup of mead.
"So?" she asked as they hustled Dee inside the door found a table.
"So what?" Dee asked as she looked down at the tiefling. She was quiet as the server brought their regular order and a platter of fried fish and she handed over a few coins. "If you're still on about that whole 'Collector' job, I haven't changed my mind. I'm sorry if you're still mad at me."
"I am a little," Neeshka admitted. "It's just such an easy job, Dee, and I can retire as the greatest thief in the city!" Her eyes glistened at the thought.
"Yeah, you're really going to retire? I'd hold you to that. There's also his private guards and servants guarding his museum. Have you given one minute's thought to that? How would it even be possible without taking the chance of murdering a bystander?" Dee sighed deeply and stopped, putting a hand on her arm. "Please, I don't want to fight with you, Neesh. You're my friend. I don't mind looting ruins, but I just can't see how I could steal from someone, even if he is so rich he won't miss it, and no matter how greedy and despicable a person you say he is."
"Not to mention that stealing is wrong," Shandra added, looking shocked that Dee had even given it that much thought.
Neeshka stuck out her tongue at Shandra, who kicked her under the table to remind her of why they were there. Neeshka pouted and said, "Oh yeah. That's not what we wanted to talk about anyway."
"No? What is it then?," Dee asked, suspecting what they wanted to ask.
Neeshka, also having the personal boundaries of a three-year old, cooed insinuatingly, "So how was it? It must have been realllly good because you keep going back for more. From the look of your neck, he's a biter, and Shandra saw a few interesting bruises on your thigh too. Oh, and she figures he must be hung like a mule."
Shandra choked on her cider. "I thought you were going to work up to that, Neeshka."
Dee flushed and muttered, "I knew should've taken a healing potion before I set out." She grinned at Neeshka, who was leaning in expectantly as she sipped her Berdusk dark wine. "Allright. Yeah, he's as good as he thinks he is. I guess. I don't really have much to compare him to, do I?" She quaffed her mead and waited for the interrogation to continue.
"Toe-curling good?," Neeshka squealed. "We want details!"
"Neeshka!" Shandra hissed.
"Well we do! You do as much as I do, Shandra, and so do Elanee and Sand, but they wouldn't come with us. So...size, shape, special tricks?"
By now Ophala and a few of her workers had overheard Neeshka and moved in close enough to listen too. Dee quaffed her mead deeply, keeping them in suspense before she answered, "Well, I 'spose I know what the expression 'screwed senseless' means now. Is that better than toe-curling good?"
Neeshka giggled and nodded and Shandra gasped, so she went on. "Seriously, I think I've almost fainted a couple of times. Size...let's see." She put one fist on top of the other. "A bit longer than that, but bigger around than Wyl. I knew they could be longer, but no one told me they could be thicker too."
Neeshka set down her glass and regarded Dee suspiciously. "You told me you never..."
Dee laughed loudly. "I didn't lie. You only asked if I kissed the one-eyed monster. You never asked if I touched...or choked it, as the case may be. And...that's all I'm going to say on the matter."
She took another drink then turned to them. "Now then it's your turn...You and Leldon? Hells, Neesh, what were you thinking! I don't see how you can say anything about Bish. He's balding, and what, at least 40? He must've been really good. Or is he hung like a mule, hmm? Do tell."
Shandra laughed and Neeshka stuck out her tongue again. Dee grabbed at it and nearly caught it. Neeshka laughed and replied, "Yeah, well I was young, fresh out of the orphanage, and he can be charming. And he wasn't balding then. Besides, he was one of the top thieves in the city. And he has a really great body and yeah, he does bear a resemblance to a mule in more than looks."
They laughed and finished their drinks. Dee wasn't done with them yet though. "So Shandra...your turn. Anyone special back in High Cliff? Anyone you're pining for now? Come on, come on, we want details. Now, missy!" Shandra flushed deeply as Dee leaned closer and said, "Come now, it's only fair."
Shandra gave an exasperated sigh. "You're right, it's only fair. Fine. There were a few--Branson, the merchant in High Cliff and Eduardo the armorer are the only ones you might know. They just wasn't my type though."
"So what's your type?," Dee asked as she leaned closer. "I suspect you have a secret yearning for Grobby."
Neeshka almost fell out of her chair she was laughing so hard. Shandra grew quiet though and searched their faces before for a few minutes before she replied, "Well, there's this farmer in Ember I see when I make a run through there to market every year. Of course I had nothing to take this year." She shot an accusing look at Dee. "She invites me to stay with her while I'm in town. But...I don't think she's interested in me that way, or at least she didn't seem to want to be anything more than a friend."
Dee reflected for just a second how that explained why Shandra was looking at her thighs in the bath. But for just a second, then she shrugged at Neeshka, who just shrugged back and said, "So much for trying to fix her up with Cas."
Shandra gasped and replied with a shudder, "Casavir? Gods, why would you do that?" She paused before she smiled at Dee and said, "And don't worry, neither of you is my type either. I wouldn't mind getting to know your Watch captain better though." She squeezed Dee's hand and said, "I'm happy that you're happy, for what it's worth. And who knows, maybe you can improve his attitude."
Dee sighed. "It means a lot to hear that. And I am working on him, alright?. You'll see."
Duncan tried to take her aside to talk to her when she returned to the tavern. "Lass, I don't mean to get into your business, but it's clear there's something going on between you and Bishop, and there are things you should know about him."
But Dee would have none of it. "Whatever happened between the two of you or whatever he owes you is in the past, and it's no concern of mine anyway," she told him tersely, signaling an end to the discussion.
He grumbled at her back as she stomped off, "First you don't speak to me for three days for not tellin' you your father's secrets, and now you're mad because you don't want to hear what I know about your lover. Fine, don't say I didn't try to warn you then!"
She decided not to tell Bishop about Duncan's warning because the second blight on her happiness was her growing awareness that there was validity to her friends' concern. He wasn't the same person here he had been out in the wild, and she realized he was trying to change her as much as she tried to change him. He liked her to wear her paint thick and her hair down. He went shopping with her and suggested skin-tight leggings and bodices cut so low that she was afraid she would fall out if she breathed too hard. She was a ranger raised by an elven ranger, so nudity was second nature to her. But the way Bishop wanted her to dress made her feel naked.
She was beginning to see that there wasn't much between them but the sex either. Afterwards they lay together in quiet exhaustion, but eventually silence was broken by her attempts to draw him out or to learn something about him. But he had such a bleak attitude about anyone or anything he perceived as weak that she found herself fighting to stay strong in the face of his relentless negativity.
One evening they were getting dressed to go out, and she took her holy symbol of Mielikki off the bedpost and kissed it before she put it back over her neck. Bishop watched her and said with a sneer, "You don't actually believe that crap, do you? Don't you stop believing that by the time you're six?"
Dee answered with certainty, "The Lady of the Forest? The Supreme Ranger? Of course I do." She got a sudden sick feeling, but she steeled herself to ask, "I know you don't worship Mielikki, but who do you worship then? Malar? It fits with your 'we're all predator or prey' view of the world."
He looked at her with disgust. "Malar? Don't be a fool, woman. I see the truth--all this garbage about gods is just to keep the weak sheep in line. There are no gods."
She was horrified and her face showed it. She had heard of 'the faithless' before, those who denied the existance of the gods, but she had never met anyone who expressed such open contempt for them. "Bish, you know what happens to the faithless, how they get put into Kelemvor's wall until they're absorbed into nothingness. I'd rather that you were a follower of Malar, or Shar, or Talos, hells, anyone...What's going to happen when you die?"
He turned to her as he stood to leave. "It's hard to respect you when you say stupid things like that, sweetheart."
"I'm stupid? I'm not the one who's going into the Wall until his soul rots."
He had his faults, but she kept telling herself he clearly had been mistreated as a child; she knew that much from his angrily changing the subject when she brought it up. She was alarmed to see that he had some terrible burn scars on his back, but he had bristled and shoved her away when she tried to ask about them. But she still felt that with patience she could help him heal. The problem was that patience wasn't her strong suit. They got where they didn't talk much. Talk led to disagreements, and inevitably, arguements, which often led to angry, rough sex, but sometimes to her shouting at him to leave and his grabbing his clothes and saying, "I was about to go anyway."
There was no telling what might set him off, either. Sometimes it was something as simple as wearing her hair braided when he had told her to wear it down. Then he struck her across the cheek after she said something so trivial she had trouble remembering what it was about afterwards. She blinked at him and stepped back, but after the initial shock passed, she lunged at him with fists flying. He blocked the first but not the second, which connected solidly with his jaw. She threw him out, but later that night he slipped into her room and managed to convince her that the whole thing had been her fault.
She suggested after a tenday and a half had passed that he move into her room. "You're here nearly every night anyway. There's plenty of room, and the boys get along well." She smiled at Karnwyr and gave him a pat.
He scowled and grabbed his clothes. What was it about wenches that they always needed to put chains on men? "Not going to happen. I need my freedom, sweetheart. Come on, Karnwyr." He wondered as he stood and turned his back on her and dressed how long it would be before she started hating him like all the others.
She watched him pull on his trewes and sighed. "Bish, don't leave like this. What's wrong? What did I say?" Then she realized what the problem was. It was being trapped in this city. She needed to get him back out into the wild. "Bish, let's get out of here. Let's go hunting in the morning."
He turned to look at her, relief evident on his face. "Hunting? Yeah, good idea, sweetheart. I need to get out of this stinking city. Let's find some hidden trail in the morning." He looked at her for a moment then undressed and came back to bed.
"Let's make our own trail," Dee said as she put her arm around him and drew him to her.
They planned to leave at dawn, but they were up half the night making up, so the sun had been up for over an hour when they awoke. They grabbed their bows and packs and a bottle of mead from the bar. Shandra was the first to spot them. "Where are we going? You didn't say a word about going anywhere last night, and you look like you're ready to leave!"
Dee announced as the others gathered around, "Everyone, we're going hunting. We'll be back in a few days. Don't worry Shandra, Uncle Duncan and the others will take care of you."
Elanee, always eager to leave the city, poked her head out of the kitchen and asked, "Hunting? You weren't going without us?"
Grobnar bounced on his toes and said, "Oh splendid! A hunting party! I feel the inspiration for a song coming on. The wily hunter stalks his prey. But what kind of prey is it? Hmm, deer is easy to rhyme..."
Dee sighed and was about to relent when Bishop growled, "You're only coming if I don't find game and need a target, you miserable half-man."
Dee put a hand on Bishop's arm, which he shrugged off with a snarl. She said, "Grobby, it's just us two going, alright?"
Grobnar looked crestfallen. "But I don't understand. "Why would you want to go without us?"
Casavir answered scornfully, "They're not actually going hunting, Grobnar. They're going out where they have more privacy to continue their tryst."
Dee gasped as if he had struck her. "That's not fair, Cas. You make it sound so...tawdry. It's not a tryst. It's not! You're just jealous and you don't even know it! You could learn a lot about honesty from Bishop!" She stormed out the door followed by Cillian, fists clenched and fighting back tears.
Bishop frowned as he watched her leave. That damned paladin had far too much influence over her, and he had to end that. He strolled close to Casavir and murmured "Tryst? Yeah, you could say that. And you know what else? I broke her, paladin, and I broke her good. There's no way you can fix her, and no way she'd ever settle for whatever lukewarm passion you have to offer her now that she's been with a real man."
Casavir shoved him away hard and fought to control the urge to strike him. "It's just a matter of time before she sees you as the dangerous and manipulative creature you are."
Bishop chuckled darkly and said, "She sees what she wants to see, fool, but before long, she'll only see what I tell her she sees."
Dee insisted that they hire a pack mule from a nearby stable to haul back their kill, and she was determined to come back with it loaded with game. They hiked to the first wild place they could outside of the city into the Neverwinter woods, climbing up a steep trail where they were less likely to encounter others. Their mood lightened more with every step they that took them away from the city, and after a while they resumed their friendly, casual banter. Dee watched him as he walked ahead of her and mused, "Out here I can get him to talk about what's troubling him." By mid afternoon they came upon a place to make camp where there was a wide stream that fed into a deep, cool pond. They spotted many elk and deer tracks in the area as well as those of smaller game, and there were plenty of fish for Cillian to catch and fresh grass for the mule. It was a fine late spring day with the promise of summer's heat, and after the long hike the sparkling water was inviting.
Dee got to work first though tethering the mule where he could graze then setting up their bedrolls. Bishop went off to set some snares for game and for anyone who might get too close to their camp. She grimaced at the smell of Bishop's bedroll and washed it in the stream while it was still hot enough for it to dry. She built a fire ring while Cillian wasted no time in catching his fill of fish, and then he swatted a few out of the water to Dee. She found some wild asparagus and some edible tubers growing in the stream which she wrapped in leaves and set near the edge of the fire to steam. Once her work was done she stripped off everything but a dagger she strapped around her thigh and joined her bear in the pond.
When Bishop returned, she was sitting cross-legged on a boulder in the water, her hair streaming down around her shoulders and gleaming in the sun. She was cleaning a trout and tossing the offal to Cillian and laughing at him as he splashed about in the water. She had a loud, boisterous laugh that seemed to fill her whole body. He watched her for a while hidden in the brush as she left the water with the fish which she threaded onto peeled sticks and propped up over the fire to smoke slowly. Then she dove back into the water. She surfaced a minute later, spotted him, and beamed at him in a way she had never had before. She was so damned cute. He felt a tightness in his chest. Too damned cute, and that filled him with a nameless fear.
If only they could stay out here like this away from her fool friends and her loudmouth uncle. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her to leave. He'd seen the map still discarded on the floor in her room, so he knew she wanted to see more of the world. If it wasn't for those damned shards. The obvious solution to that problem would be to steal them from her, but that was complicated since one of them was lodged in her chest and couldn't be removed without killing her. He also saw that it would call the others back to itself. It was odd that she couldn't see what was so clear to him--the reason trouble seemed to follow her was that the shards were leading her to the others so they could be made whole again. The shards were like a silver chain binding her to the city and to her companions, and binding him too.
She swam over to him. "A copper for your thoughts," she said, smiling at him as she treaded water.
"How is it?" he asked as he watched her. "Looks cold."
She splashed him and replied, "Only one way to find out," and chuckled as she turned and swam off.
He laughed and said "Oh you're going to pay for that, wench," as he stripped down and dove in. He immediately surfaced. "Augh! That's cold. I'm gonna freeze my balls off!" He laughed and dove under the surface again.
She dove under the water as he neared her. He grabbed her and they gazed at one another until the need for air forced them to the surface. He pushed her hair back and gazed into her eyes again as if searching for something there, then he slipped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a gentle kiss.
He looked over at the camp and said, "You're going to burn our supper, woman." He led her to the edge of the pond, swept her up into his arms, and carried over to the camp. They lay next to each other on the bedroll while they ate, feeding each other bites of food and sharing soft kisses and gentle caresses. Then he showed her what it meant to make love.
For the next three days they played in the water, and they chased each other through the forest until one caught the other. They feasted on what the land had to offer. They smoked a good supply of fish to take back though neither of them was sure when that would be. They talked, but still mostly about her home and life in a swamp village. She had learned by now which subjects to avoid with him.
They lazed about in the sun renewing their tans that had faded over the winter. But all good things must come to an end, and they both began to grow restless, Dee especially, who was not used to so much inactivity. Bishop went off with Karnwyr for hours in search of game. Dee scraped all the hides from the game they had caught and looked around for something else to do. But she couldn't get her mind off her responsibilities. She fretted about who was training Shandra while she was gone, and she had a nagging fear that Aldanon had discovered something while she was away. She missed the forge where Khelgar was teaching her the secrets of mithril. She missed her friends more than she was willing to admit to him.
She was up early gathering wild strawberries for breakfast when she spotted elk tracks again. She ran back to camp and pulled on her clothes and her leathers and grabbed her bow and quiver.
"What's going on?," he asked as he stirred, grabbing his own bow and alert for trouble.
She answered excitedly, "Elk, not far away, and it's a big one judging from the tracks."
He pulled on his boots and his leathers, grabbed his bow and followed her back to where she found the tracks. They stalked it for over a mile until he spotted a five-point buck through the thick timber. He nudged Dee, who peered where he pointed and gave him a puzzled look. But the animals were sniffing the air, having caught its scent.
She peered again and whispered, "Cil and Karnwyr can go around either side of it and flush it this way."
He hissed contemptuously, "Why? It's an easy shot."
He nocked an arrow and sighted until he found the the kill spot. He loosed his arrow, which plunged into its heart, then followed up quickly with two more to make sure it was down. She watched him in amazement. He was fast, probably as fast as Daeghun. He scowled as she offered a prayer of thanks to Mielikki for the gift of the elk, but she ignored him. They ran over to it through the brush and knelt down to admire the buck before they set about dressing it. "He's a beauty, Bish. I'll see if Uncle Duncan will let me put his head on the wall in the tavern." She put her hand on its head as she had been taught by Daeghun and said, "Thank you, brother elk, for your gift of your life." Bishop rolled his eyes, but he held his tongue for once to preserve the peace between them. She smiled when he used the knife she had made for him. Sand's enchantment made the knife slice through the thick hide like it was paper.
They worked silently until she felt his eyes on her and looked up questioningly. "Something wrong?"
"You really didn't see it, did you? I never thought I'd say this, but could be the gnome was right. Your vision is a real weakness, and that makes you a danger to everyone who depends on you."
She scowled but bit off an angry retort and looked into the distance then finally replied with a defeated sigh, "Yeah, you're right. I'll go and see Grobby's priest when we get back."
They entered the tavern through the main door so they could show off their kill, and she looked around to see if Casavir was there. She still hadn't forgiven him yet. She took a breath and announced, "We're back and we got enough game for a week, Uncle. Maybe more! Let's celebrate with a feast tonight!" She was about to add a dig about how lucky she was that Bishop was a real man who knew how to hunt, but she saw the regret in Casavir's eyes and thought better of it. She would talk to him later when Bishop was out. She would try to work on Bishop's animosity towards him too because she did consider him a friend, no matter what Bishop thought of him. She knew she had to make it up to the rest of them too. No one but Neeshka would have been happy to be left behind in the city. But they all came around for hugs, all but Casavir anyway, who seemed to want to keep his distance from Bishop. She handed Elanee a bundle of berries as they helped haul their kill to the kitchen and promised not to leave her next time. Neeshka was a fountain bubbling over with questions. Dee shushed her and whispered, "I'll tell you all everything later."
Duncan rushed over when he heard she was back. "Glad you're back, lass. There's someone's been looking for you, a knight and one of the Nine! Seems there's been some trouble and they think you're involved."
She sighed and looked up at the sky. "Gods, what now? I can't imagine what it could be unless maybe we were hunting on Nasher's private lands or something. It can't be anything too serious. Bish?" She turned to Bishop, but he was no where to be seen. "Now where did he take off to?" She didn't see it, but Casavir, Khelgar and Grobnar noted that he took off at the first mention of trouble.
Duncan looked worried though, wringing his hands in his apron. "An important man like Lord Nevalle wouldn't have been sent down here for somethin' like poaching, lass. He's Lord Nasher's right hand man! I sent Sal to let him know you're back."
She gave her uncle a reassuring hug. "It sure couldn't be any worse than what I'm already dealing with, could it? Don't worry. I just hope he doesn't get here before I have time to wash off the trail dust and change." She chuckled as she headed to her room and asked Cillian, "I wonder what you wear for an audiance with a knight?"
She had bathed, cleaned out her pack and repacked it, and changed clothes three times. She had finally settled on her Harper leathers and her Watch cloak and a minimum of paint, which was beginning to make her skin break out anyway. Duncan knocked on her door. "He's back, lass. You better come quick!"
She followed him to the common room where she saw a tall, regal looking blond haired man wearing the blue and white tunic of the Nine striding purposefully towards her.
"What can I do for you?," she asked.
"Dierdre Farlong, also known as Dee Farlong, also known as Dee the Tall...you seem to have quite a few aliases...Dee Longshanks..."
She cut him off and growled, "That last one only by those who aren't overly fond of their teeth." But he was a knight of Neverwinter, so she took a deep breath and said, "Just call me Dee Farlong, it's short for Dierdre. Now what's this about?"
He replied sternly, "Dierdre Farlong, you stand accused of a most heinous crime, the murder of the citizens of the village of Ember!"