If anyone cares, I'd appreciate a little feedback. I'm getting lots in real life, however...
Torio Claven sat in her room at Crossroad Keep, staring at the darkness. A short while before, she awoke to a nearby door slamming; peeking outside, she saw Khelgar and Neeshka walking down the corridor, the dwarf obviously a little drunk. And thinking that he was appointed leader of the fortress…
But Khelgar was the last of her worries; she looked out the window and noticed Sand leading a horse out of the stables and riding off. The bouquet of white flowers tucked under his arm caught her attention as well, and she immediately realized his secret was still beyond anybody's reach.
Anyway, Torio was glad she didn't doze off again: she had to pack and depart for Luskan, as she had recently received a letter that she was to return as the ambassador, then maybe keep going to Neverwinter – not Crossroad Keep. The Luskans did not know that eighteen years before, when Sand left the Hosttower for Neverwinter, she had switched sides too. Sand was prepared for something that young, seventeen-year-old Torio was not: that their romance had to end then and there. Becoming an agent of Neverwinter only made things worse. Torio could not just come and go from Luskan to see him, and, when she was appointed ambassador and Black Garius kept an eye on her, if they were to meet too often, it would undoubtedly attract attention, the last thing Sand wanted from the Hosttower mages.
Torio packed her bags wondering about their loss. Strangely, it did not hurt any more as much as in the first days, when as a young ambassador she happily walked into Sand's shop, only to be shooed away. Many years later, when they met again first at the Ember trial and then at Crossroad Keep, her bitterness turned to hatred, which Sand gladly returned. Then, she felt something was gone. They could talk again, but the spark was off, the spontaneous love lost.
Perhaps it was for the better. She couldn't be with him with her job as an agent of Neverwinter in Luskan, and a romance between an elf and a human would be doomed to be short-lived anyway. Torio felt no pain any more.
But those white flowers still troubled her: when she went to his shop, she saw he was growing them outside. The same ones he used to grow magically at the Hosttower, in his study. She had seen him a few times. She knew he didn't need them for potions, and when, peeking from behind the door, she saw him arrange them in a pretty bouquet, she couldn't wait to receive them in one of the stolen moments they managed to spend together. And yes, she did get flowers from him – but pink, violet or red ones. Or maybe even a huge bouquet with all the colors she could imagine.
"What are these white flowers for?" she dared to ask once, as she sat beside him, waiting for him to finish his job.
"Offerings to Umberlee, the Queen of the Depths" Sand said, as he cast his spells to make them grow fast.
Torio stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Just a minute, Torio."
She had his doubts about the offerings to Umberlee. First, she knew Sand followed Mystra, as she had seen her symbol on a few objects in his room. Second, he always declined to follow the others to the temple of Umberlee. Third, a few weeks before a council of mages decided it was time to appease the Queen of the Depths, for several ships carrying artifacts, books and various trade items had sunk. Sand once again excused himself and decided not to join the group sent to the Priory of the Depths. Fourth, when a ship full of slaves bought on the Nelanther Isles docked, and the mage who went with them spoke about the magnificent shrine a lone priestess had built on one of the smaller islands and granted them a safe journey in exchange for a few artifacts and books, Torio saw an expression of disgust on Sand's face.
But if the bouquet was not for Umberlee – and anyway, why would she have liked such a gift? – was there somebody else in Sand's heart? Someone special?
By then, Torio was sure there was. Someone she would not even get near to, not that she wanted any more. Their story was a closed book.
"I'm done" Sand said, leaving the white flowers "I know, I should spend more time with you. Here."
He took out a pair of scissors and cut off a lock of his hair.
"Keep it with you, Torio, I will never leave you."
The last time they managed to spend a night together – only Sand being fully aware it was the last – was after she overheard a conversation between the highest ranking wizards and ran to tell him.
Sand had openly refused to carry out certain orders, and then, knowing the mages would not leave such a crime unpunished, made arrangements for a neutral Waterdeep ship to take him away, possibly to Amn in the south, or the peaceful Ten Towns to the North. Or even some unknown, quiet island to the west; magic could be needed on the Moonshae Isles. He never wanted to make return to Tethyr.
"He will leave by sea" said one of the mages.
"We can halt the ship from leaving…"
"Sand is too clever, he will find a way to set sail."
"But he will not survive" a man in a dark cloak walked in, ignoring or perhaps not noticing Torio hiding near the door, listening.
"What happened?"
"I went to the Priory of the Depths, the prioress agreed to sink any ship he gets on, was he to sail along the coast. And if he goes to the open sea, the no-name priestess just asked for some books and promised to take care of it."
"But how will they…"
"I gave both of them a strand of his hair, the rest is left to the Queen of the Depths. They didn't even need his name."
It took Torio every ounce of her will not to scream. It was all her fault.
For a few days before, an archmage who probably knew of their liaison casually mentioned to her that Sand was chosen to enter the higher ranks, and something from him would be needed in order to perform a complicated ritual. Torio naїvely gave him the lock, proud of her powerful wizard lover.
Sand thanked her for the advice, and left by carriage that very night, leaving her asleep in his bed. He sought protection in Neverwinter, and never boarded a ship from then on.
Torio Claven, ambassador of Luskan, left Crossroad Keep in the morning, before Sand returned.
Not that he cared; his feelings, too, had gone cold long ago. He knew the story of the lock of hair, but it didn't matter any more. Having finished his usual memorial service to Rustyn, his "daughter" was the only one he could think of.
"Master, the Hosttower mages are said to hold the greatest knowledge" she said, leaning over a thick book as usual.
"Yes, Rustyn" he caressed her hair "I promise you we will discover their secrets together one day."
Sand had fulfilled her dream, acquired more and more knowledge hoping that somewhere in the skies, she was happy.
That evening, tired of the unsuccessful attempts to scry on the Knight Captain, he decided he'd rather read some adventurous book to divert his thoughts from his failures and, of course, the painful memories of the days spent with Rustyn.
Umberlee, why? She even gave you an offering…
Too bad the first book he found was a relatively new one by Volothamp Geddarm, titled Volo's Guide to the Mysteries of the Seas.
Sand hated the several inconsistencies and, what he often thought, blatant lies in Volo's books, but he felt too tired even to be angry as he distractedly opened it up. Opened it up on the worst possible page.
Umberlee the Bitch Queen – her most famous temple is in Baldur's Gate, where I have been oh so many times, as it is relatively easy to access. Waterdeep's temple the Queenspire is a good place of worship too. Unlike the Priory of the Depths, where krakens, drowned deads and weresharks devour careless adventurers, or the shrine of the nameless priestess whose long, unkempt hair almost strangled me like sticky kelp and I narrowly escaped with my life by giving her some of my books, or the Grotto of the Queen in Latharl's Lantern which I just preferred to observe from afar…
"Oh, for the love of…!" Sand threw the book under his bed, blew off the candle and stared at the ceiling.
Rustyn probably would have laughed out loud at this nonsense; there it goes, his thoughts were on the wrong track again.
Little did he know that in the near future, he would meet personally with Volo and four adventurers who would turn his world upside down.