Chapter 57: The Keep
Nimbrethil stood silently staring at the ruined keep before her, seeing not the potential it had, but the chains it represented. She saw the figures of men hammering, sawing, grinding, and moving about from place to place, the reconstruction apparently well under way. At least the builder hadn't decided to wait for her to get there before starting, which meant that he already knew what needed to be done and had the iniative to do it. That was fine by her, for she really didn't know anything about designing a keep in the first place. Just one less thing she had to oversee or worry about. She saw the small figure in Neverwinter blue standing just inside the crumbled gate and couldn't hold back a sigh as she recognized Nevalle. For a toady of Nasher's, he was actually tolerable for he seemed to understand how hard all this was for her and was sympathetic. Maybe she could convince him to stay at the keep and help run it. She was sure Nasher would be absolutely delighted at the idea, for she seriously doubted that the man really wanted her to have this keep. She had told Nevalle that it was insanity, this idea of theirs, and she still felt that way.
Sand watched Nimbrethil standing, staring at the keep and refrained from saying anything to hurry her along, although he did not want to keep Nevalle waiting any longer than necessary. They had already taken well over a week to get here and further delay would not improve that noble's mood. Of course, that unfortunate incident with Qara had caused the longest delay for Nim had not come back for almost a day. From that point on, everytime things got too tense in the group, Nim would up and leave for a few hours and they ended up having to wait until she returned. Casavir had suggested that they keep moving towards the keep but Sand had feared that each time the elf left that she would not come back. That would spell certain disaster for them all. He sighed inwardly at how difficult things were already and knowing that they just would get more so as the weeks passed. It was a fine line they all had to walk with Nim. Push too hard and the girl would bolt, but fail to push hard enough and she would procrastinate. Then of course there was the problem that Bishop represented. Casavir and Elanee had told them of their conversation with Zhjaeve, and he had been impressed, despite himself, at the cleric's perceptiveness. She had figured out in a few days what had taken the rest of them weeks. After a long talk with the githzerai, Sand had been a little more optimisitc about their current situation. The cleric was not the type to hesitate to do or say what needed to be done or said, making her another ally for him. Between her, Elanee, and Casavir they should be able to keep Nim focused and headed in the right direction.
Walking up to her he said quietly, "I know this is difficult, but standing here staring at the place is not going to change the situation."
"I know Sand," Nimbrethil sighed and then squaring her shoulders, continued up the road towards the keep. As she neared the ruined gates she saw two men stationed outside salute her and grimaced. Gods, if she had to put up with that all the time she might just scream. Her steps slowed as the outer gate walls loomed and then stopped. Once she walked through there'd be no turning back, she would be committed to this course of action. She saw Nevalle looking at her expectantly but was unable to make her limbs move to carry her across. She felt the urge to turn around and flee back to the woods well up.
Nevalle saw her slow and then stop as slowly a look of panic entered her eyes. He could see that she was struggling not to bolt, but was suddenly afraid that she would do just that. He was beginning to wonder if he should go to her and give her a little push of encouragement, when the other ranger solved the problem in a rather unexpected and not quite proper way.
Bishop had seen her hesitating and even though he knew how difficult this was for her, he knew that the others would soon get impatient and do something that would make her bolt. "Come on elf, move your butt. I want to get to the pub and wash the dust of the road from my throat with a couple pints of ale," he called to her.
Nimbrethil whirled around and glared at him. "What's your problem? Can't wait to get drunk you insensitve boar?" she snapped at him and folded her arms in front of her.
Bishop walked over to her, watching her face as her mouth thinned and a mutinous look settled on it. Smirking a little, he bent down and picking her up, tossed her over his shoulder. Ignoring the elven swears she shouted at him and the fists she beat against his back, he proceeded to carry her through the outer gate area and into the courtyard.
"Put me down Bishop or I swear....," Nimbrethil snarled, vainly attempting to wriggle free.
Bishop heard the fury in her voice and decided she needed to be cooled off a little. Walking over to a horse trough near the well in the middle of the courtyard, he stopped and asked her, "Or what elf?"
"Or I'll kick your ass from here to Neverwinter," she said furiously.
"Okay kitten, you asked for it," he chuckled and dumped her in the cold water of the trough. He watched as she spluttered and shrieked before glaring up at him. "When you dry off you can find me at the inn," he laughed and turned away towards the Phoeix Tail and a well earned ale.
Sand and Elanee tried vainly to hold back their snickers but weren't entirely successful, mostly because Khelgar and Neeshka were howling with laughter at the picture the elf made sitting in the trough. Her eyes were two emerald bits of fury, her clothes sopping wet, and water was running into her eyes.
"Oh my Nim, you're soaking wet!" Grobnar bounded over, a big grin on his face. "That looks like fun, can I try it?"
His question destroyed what reticence Sand had and he couldn't keep from laughing out loud. Casavir felt his own lips twitching in amusement at her predicament, now that he had gotten over his initial shock at Bishop's actions. While not quite how he would have handled it, at least it got Nim inside. Although he suspected the ranger would regret his actions before long, if the look on Nim's face was any indication.
Nevalle saw the soldiers were staring and snickering and ordered them back to their posts. This wasn't exactly how one would expect the Captain of a keep to arrive and it certainly was an embarassing situation. However, he too had a hard time to keep from laughing. Lips twitching in amusement, he walked over to where Nim was still sitting in the trough and held a hand out to her.
Nimbrethil ignored Nevalle's hand and climbed out and stood glaring at her companions, all of whom seemed to think it was funny. "Sure, laugh it up, very funny," she snarled at them. Instead of quieting them, it only made most of them laugh even harder. Neeshka was actually bent double and Khelgar looked about to fall down. Furious she turned and started to head towards the inn when Nevalle's voice stopped her.
"Captain, I would like to introduce Master Veedle, the man who will oversee the reconstruction," he called to her as he approached from behind her.
Looking where he was indicating, she saw a human male approaching, with a woman dressed in armor and the insignia rank of Lieutenant. The man looked to be in his middle years and was already talking a mile a minute, such was his enthusiasm. The woman looked to be rather young and also kind of rigid, a true devotee to the military life it seemed.
"Hello, hello, so pleased you're here Captain," Veedle said excitedly. "As you can see, we've begun some of the work, but there is so much to do," he exclaimed. "I have all the plans made up and a complete list of all the work that is required. All you need to do is decide what order the work should be done in."
Nevalle watched as a bemused expression crossed Nim's face as the man spoke. At least she seemed to be distracted at the moment and hopefully she would be a little more calm before she went after Bishop. While the way he did it wasn't exactly proper, the man had done all of them a favor. While he didn't like or trust him, he felt Bishop deserved to be cut some slack. "Captain, this is Lt. Kana, she'll be your second in command and is fully capable of helping you with the day to day operations of the keep," he introduced the young woman standing next to Veedle.
"I am most pleased to be serving with you Captain," Kana nodded. "When Lord Nasher told me I would be coming here, I couldn't wait to meet you in person. There is much we need to discuss, so when you're ready, you will find me inside the main hall of the keep." She could see that her new captain was still angry and had decided not to push her too much right now. Subordinates usually caught the brunt of their superiors anger and she didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.
Casavir could see that Nim wasn't in the mood for all of this right now and decided to intervene. "I think it would be best if we all went and settled into the inn first. We are here and there is no need to immediately jump into anything just yet." He saw Nim nod and then turn and continue towards the inn.
"Hey lad, let's hurry up and follow her or we'll miss the show," Khelgar was still chuckling as he trotted as fast as he could after Nim.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in Bishop's shoes right now," Neeshka snorted before following. "Wonder what she's gonna do to him?" the tiefling chuckled as she left.
Nevalle watched as her companions all chased after her with the exception of the githzerai cleric. She had not shown any expression during the whole time and he wondered what exactly she was thinking. Shrugging, he hurried after the others. He wanted to see exactly what Nimbrethil was going to do. He felt he knew her well enough to know that whatever it was, it would be worth witnessing.
Nimbrethil paused just inside the doorway of the inn and looked around. Spying Bishop sitting at a back table near the bar she stomped over to him and glared down at him as he sat drinking an ale.
"Sit down and have one," Bishop raised the tankard in front of him. "Stuff's far better than what Duncan ever served." He saw the gleam in her eye and wondered what she was going to do. He knew she wouldn't let what he did go without doing or saying something. However, he wasn't prepared for her next move and thus she caught him off guard.
Nimbrethil glared at him and saw that as usual he was sitting with his chair tilted back slightly. A slow, devious smile curved her lips just before her fist came up and hit him square in the chin, knocking him off his chair and onto the floor.
Bishop felt her fist connect and the next thing he knew he was on the floor, his ale spilled all over him. Staring up at her incredulously he suddenly couldn't hold back his laughter. "Still pissed I see?" he chuckled and started to get to his feet. Before he had gotten upright her leg swept around and knocked his feet from under him again, this time causing him to fall backwards onto the table which broke underneath him.
"Hey now, you want to fight take it outside!" Sal shouted as he came hurrying out of the pantry at the noise.
"Ten gold says Nim takes him in two rounds," Neeshka piped up. This caused the others to start laughing all over again.
"If you ever do something like that to me again you'll wish you'd never been born," Nimbrethil snarled and then stormed out of the inn. She was done providing amusement for everyone else. She paused and looked around before spying a large maple tree off to the right. Going over to it, she quickly climbed to the higher branches where she knew the others wouldn't be able to follow because they were too heavy.
Bishop had gotten to his feet and watched her leave, a big grin on his face. "You gotta love a woman who can give as good as she gets," he couldn't quite keep the admiration out of his voice. His little elf certainly wasn't one to sulk and pout to try to get her way. No, she took the more direct approach every time. Chuckling quietly, he turned to Sal and asked him to bring him another ale before sitting down at another, undamaged table.
Realizing that the show was over, the others decided to go pick out their rooms and settle their things. Nevalle merely shook his head and headed over to the keep to tell Kana and Veedle not to expect Nim for a while. He guessed it would take some more time before she settled down and got to the business at hand.