Chapter 18: The Squire
When Grayson had come back at dawn and seen the bodies, he had actually seemed concerned about her. Nimbrethil puzzled over this because he had to know that she was only becoming his squire by royal order. If she had been killed that would have solved everyone's problem. However, he seemed happy that she had proven to be so capable, and she almost told him about Shandra, but then decided that might not be prudent. He had looked her over and asked her if she was ready to see Lord Nasher and she simply nodded then followed him out of the glade. She had managed to clean off what little blood had splattered on her armor with water from her canteen. She figured that she was presentable enough, not that she would have changed anyway. She was who she was, squire or no, and fancy outfits were not for her.
When they reached the castle, she saw Sand and Shandra waiting outside and they followed as she entered the great hall. She saw several nobles hanging about and all of them seemed to frown at what she was wearing. She ignored them for she didn't care what they thought. If she had her way, they would never see her again after this. As they entered the throne room, she saw an older man with a crown sitting on a raised throne, looking down on them. Then she saw a woman in a fancy outfit standing at the foot of the dais looking at her with malicious glee. Sand whispered to her that the woman was Torio Claven, the Luskan Ambassador. Nimbrethil returned the woman's look with a cold one of her own and never looked away while Grayson and Nasher chatted with each other, so she saw the look of anger cross the woman's face when she heard the news. When Nasher asked her to verify that she was Grayson's squire she told him she was and saw that Torio now looked like she had swallowed something vile. As the ambassador stomped out, Nimbrethil couldn't help but snicker, and this got her a frown from both Sand and Grayson, which she ignored.
She followed Sand as they left the castle to head back to the Flagon. They now had "permission" to leave the city to go find evidence to clear her name. They would be heading to Port Last first thing in the morning, so the rest of the day would be spent getting ready. Sand was talking almost non-stop about who they should talk to, what they should bring, and where they should look. In fact he was so good at talking that she decided she would let him question the people of Port Last. Socializing wasn't her strong suit, best to leave it to the expert and just keep an eye out for potential trouble. When they neared the Flagon she managed to slip away from Sand and Shandra. Going around the side of the inn, she crawled in through the window of her room and went to the door to lock it. She was tired and wanted to get some sleep.
Sand suddenly realized that Nimbrethil was no longer with them. "Now where in the hells did she go?" he asked, looking around but not seeing her.
"She probably slipped away to go to her room," Shandra answered and saw him frown. "Her room is on the first floor and I've seen her slip in and out of her window before. She does that to avoid everyone."
"Well we need to make plans, she cannot just go where she pleases anymore," Sand snapped in irritation as he entered the inn to be greeted by Duncan and the others.
"Hey, where's Nim?" Duncan called to him, seeing that they were alone.
"I think she slipped away to her room to rest," Shandra answered. "There was trouble at the Solace Glade last night." She then proceeded to tell them what happened and hastened to assure them that the girl was fine. "I think we should let her rest. We can discuss the particulars of the trip later." Shandra watched as Sand grumbled and then left the inn to return to his shop.
"I wish you had told me that you were going to see her last night Shandra," Duncan admonished her. "Although I'm glad she wasn't alone to face those assassins."
"There has never been trouble during these vigils before, but Grayson should still have given thought to an attempt on her life, as should have I," Casavir joined them. "I too am glad you were there so at least she wasn't alone."
"She wasn't alone when I found her, she had that bird with her," Shandra told him. "By the way, you were right about her wanting to run off."
"I knew it," Duncan exclaimed. "Now that she can leave the city, do you think she might still try to run off?"
"If she does that, then she will be declared an outlaw in Neverwinter. She would never see her family or friends again and I'm sure she knows this," Casavir stated.
"Oh she knows that, I told her the same thing," Shandra said. "I told her that she would end up alone, but she just shrugged like it was no big deal and told me she had spent half her life alone already."
"No one should want to be alone, that's not normal," Duncan said, clearly upset over this information. "I should have protested more with my brother about raising her. Obviously she got the idea from him."
"Well, we can't change that now," Shandra soothed. "We'll just have to show her differently, that's all."
"You know, she looks a lot like her mother," Duncan's eyes grew misty as he remembered. "Esmerelle was a free spirited elf, always looking for new adventures. She always knew what to say to lighten the mood when things got too serious. She laughed at the littlest things and always looked on the bright side of life. Her daughter is so different that it's almost painful to see."
"Duncan, she's still young and people can change," Shandra took his hand and smiled.
"You're right, you're right," Duncan nodded and returned her smile. "Well, you probably haven't had any breakfast yet so I'll go make some." He hurried off to the kitchen, leaving her with Casavir.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Casavir asked. "It is not easy killing another person, even if it is necessary."
"I think I'll be okay, although it did bother me a bit," Shandra answered and saw his doubtful look. "Okay, so I felt like I was going to be sick. It didn't seem to bother Nimbrethil though."
Casavir frowned as he pondered what he had heard. She had never even flinched once during all their battles, appearing to not care about the corpses left in their wake. He recalled when they first met and how even her smiles had been reserved. In fact, he couldn't recall a single time where she had laughed out loud. She was too young to be that emotionally distant and he had to wonder if there was another reason for it besides Daeghun. He knew everything had to affect her in some way, and he felt pity for the elf that she couldn't express it aloud, but he didn't have a clue as to how to help her. A person had to want help, had to want to change, and he didn't know if she did or not. He supposed he would just have to wait and see what happened in the days to come.
******
Nimbrethil opened her eyes to see that that it was late afternoon. She must have been more tired than she thought to have slept for so long. Usually she only slept for about four hours a night, but then again, the last time she had felt this safe when sleeping was back in West Harbor, in Deaghun's house. Even there the longest she had ever slept for had been six hours, and that was when she had been recovering from being bitten by snake. That was the first time in her life that she had seen Daeghun angry, for it had been her carelessness while hunting that had gotten her bitten. She had become so focused on making the kill that she had stopped being aware of what was around her. She made the shot just as the snake struck and felt a hot pain shoot up her leg causing her to cry out. Instinctively she had drawn her knife and stabbed at the creature, killing it. Then she had cut open the wound and sucked as much of the poison out as was possible, but there was still enough in her blood to make her dizzy. She had tried to make it back to the house and collapsed just short of it. She was lucky that her father always seemed to know when she needed his help, for he had arrived back from his own hunting to find her in time. When she told him what had happened, he had said that she should never be that careless, that in the wilds it more often than not meant death. He had then showed her how to make up the antidote and left to finish his hunting. She hadn't realized how angry he was until she had tracked him down a couple of days later and he had told her coldly to go home and think about what had happened.
Sighing, she realized that she was still wearing her armor, and getting up, removed it. Grabbing some clean clothes, towel, and soap she headed to the bath to wash up. Afterwards, she went to the common room to see about dinner. As she entered she saw Shandra sitting with her uncle and paused to watch. She saw Shandra giggle at something Duncan said and saw him smile and take her hand. To her surprise, she felt a twinge of envy run through her that they could laugh together like that. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she had experienced that kind of closeness. Pushing those thoughts aside she walked over to the bar and sat down as Sal placed an ale in front of her. When he asked her if she was hungry she nodded and he went to the kitchen to get some food.
Bishop saw her come in and pause before heading to the bar. So she had just become aware of the blossoming relationship between her uncle and the farm girl, had she? He wondered if she cared at all and decided that probably not as she hadn't seemed to care about her uncle's feelings. He wasn't happy about it because Duncan was not one for keeping his mouth shut when he should. If he told the farm girl anything then that would just be one more person to be eliminated if and when the time came. He had at first thought that Nimbrethil would be a problem until they had traveled together. Then he had come to know her and realized that Duncan hadn't shared anything with her, and even if he had, she probably wouldn't care. He wondered if she thought at all about that time in the tree, for he certainly had. Fortunately, the trip to Port Last would provide him with plenty of opportunity to continue the pursuit.
As she finished eating she heard the inn door open and looking around saw Sand enter and head straight for her. He looked to be a little put out and guessed he hadn't been pleased about her taking off like she had earlier. Well, if he thought she was going to ask his permission to do things, then he was in for a real disappointment.
"Ah, I see you are awake at last," Sand drawled as he approached the girl. "The next time you wish to be alone, for whatever reason, then be polite enough to excuse yourself first. We would not want there to be any misunderstandings now do we?" Sand watched as her nostrils flared at him, but she wisely kept her opinion to herself. "I wish to discuss the details of our fact finding trip with you."
Nimbrethil ground her teeth at being talked to like some ill mannered child but held her tongue. She needed Sand's help if she wanted to clear her name and so she supposed she would just have to live with it for now. After getting a refill on her ale, she moved over to an empty table with Sand, sitting down with her back against the wall and in such a way that she could observe the room as they talked.
Sand had noticed this behavior before and took note of it. While he was a big fan of using caution in some situations, it seemed extreme that she felt the need for it here, in her uncle's inn. He decided to have a long talk with Duncan about her before they left. She obviously had some deep personal issues and he did not like suprises. He wanted to know exactly what kind of behavior to expect from her in the coming days. There was only so much he could do to help her and he did not want his efforts to go to waste. He had better things to do with his time.