Despair

by JCL1371

After killing Sarevok and defeating the Iron Throne things had to settle down. Imoen got married, and she and Jeral both looked forward to well deserved peace and happiness. Apparently Irenicus had other ideas. Set in the Baldur's Gate II game this is a follow on to 'Disappointment' and tells the story of Jeral the bard and his companions.

5. The last of her name

Chapter title may give something away but I just could not think of anything else that worked.

So spoiler alert but please read on anyway.

Chapter 5: The last of her name

With the Flail of Ages finally assembled Nalia slowly led the weary band back upstairs. On the far side of the treasure room, concealed behind a false wall, was a spiral staircase heading down to the dungeons beneath the castle. The stone stairs, worn from centuries of use, descended deep into the earth as the stairwell circled around and around. Nalia led the way onto the stairs closely trailed by Yoshimo, Anomen, and the others. After descending for near a quarter hour the stairwell finally ended in a small storage room. The room appeared long abandoned since everything was liberally coated in a thick layer of dust. The only light in the room was from Nalia's quartet of mage lights that bathed the room in a pale green glow as she sent the lights floating to the far reaches of the chamber.

Yoshimo knelt down and examined the floor as the others looked around. The bounty hunter slowly stood and wiped his hands on his trousers to remove the dust.

"This storeroom has been unused for many years Lady Nalie, that much is obvious. What is less obvious is that there is a very faint recent trail through the dust leading to the door on the far wall."

Nalia and Yoshimo quickly searched through the numerous boxes and chests in the room before moving on. The pair discovered some badly needed potions of extra healing, enchanted sling bullets, arrows of fire and a thin golden amulet. Yoshimo handed out the potions to the clerics and shared the arrows with Jeral and Nalia.

Jeral sensed a magical affectation on the amulet and mentioned as much to Nalia.

The young mage quickly chanted a simple divination spell on the amulet as it lay in her palm.

"You are correct Jeral. This is a shield amulet that offers limited protection from attack when activated before combat. From what I have seen you could best put this to use. You seem to put yourself in harm's way quite often. Maybe between this and the ring you will survive to meet my father. Just use it sparingly for there are likely a limited number of charges in the device."

"Nice to know I am appreciated."

Smiling Jeral placed the amulet around his neck and tucked it into his tunic. He activated it and felt a weak invisible shield surround his body.

"Better than nothing," he muttered to himself as he moved towards the door.

After Yoshimo checked it for traps Jeral slowly cracked it open and saw three large mountain trolls in the room. The three were sitting in a rough circle gnawing on a pair of corpses lying on the floor. Opening the door wide he quickly stepped back and drew his long bow as he backed between Minsc and Anomen. The three trolls roared in anger, stood up, and charged into the store room.

The lead troll headed straight towards Jeral but Anomen quickly stepped in the path of the charging beast. Anomen swung the Flail of Ages and smiled thinly as he watched the powerful weapon tear huge chunks out of the troll's side. Howling in pain the creature staggered back and Anomen pressed his attack. His next swing connected with the creature's head and the skull shattered from the force of the blow. Headless the troll staggered around wildly for an instant before slowly sliding to the ground. Jeral and Yoshimo struck the carcass with fire arrows to ensure it would not come to life and the mangled corpse burst into flames, spreading chocking smoke throughout the chamber.

The second creature bulled into Anomen and the Helmite barely managed to raise his shield to protect himself. The troll leaned into Anomen and slowly pushed him backwards as it clawed at his shield. Minsc stepped forward and struck downwards with Frostreaver. The battle axe sliced deep into the troll's shoulder and froze the skin on both sides of the wound, preventing the creature from quickly healing the damage. The beast roared in rage and pivoted to face Minsc. His jaws snapped out at the large ranger and Minsc threw himself to the ground to duck away from the snapping teeth. Minsc held up his axe to keep the creature at a distance but the troll ripped the weapon out of his hands and hurled it across the room. Weaponless, Minsc scrabbled backwards on the floor to avoid the troll's attacks.

Jeral looked over and noticed that Anomen was battling the third and final troll. His great flail was keeping the creature at a distance and the Helmite appeared more than able to hand the threat in front of him. Gritting his teeth Jeral dropped his long bow, drew his blades and leapt into the fray to protect the downed ranger. Jeral hurdled over Minsc and landed directly in front of the wounded troll. The creature pulled up quickly and clawed at Jeral. Jeral blocked the first claw with a strike from his short sword. The blade dug deep into the arm and the creature roared as it pulled it back in a shower of blood. Jeral watched the wound already starting to heal.

Jeral was so focused on watching the wound close before his eyes that the creature's other claw strike took him completely by surprise. At the last instant Jeral glimpsed the massive arm reaching out towards him and he threw himself backwards. The claws reached out for Jeral and tore into his tattered chain mail tunic. The razor sharp claws sliced into the mail shirt and finally snagged on a metal band sewn into the side panel. The troll violently pulled his arm back to free himself from Jeral's armor, and in doing so hurled the bard across the room.

Jeral pinwheeled across the room and smashed into a stack of water casks. Jeral's shoulder cracked open the nearest cask and warm water poured out over him and streamed across the floor. Jeral looked up to see the troll take a pair of flame arrows in the chest. The creature turned and was unprepared to defend itself against Minsc as he returned to the fray. Minsc had drawn his massive great sword and slashed violently at the troll. His blade dug deeply into the creature and nearly cut it in half. As he wrenched his sword from the wound a second pair of fire arrows struck the beast and it fell to the floor. A final volley of flame arrows lit the corpse on fire and the sickening smell of an additional burning troll wafted across the room.

Jeral turned to see the final troll fall to the ground under the combined attacks of Viconia and Anomen. Yoshimo and Nalia used their arrows to burn that corpse as well and soon a third burning corpse added its pungent stench to the room. Jeral struggled to his feet and realized that his chain mail tunic was beyond repair. He quickly undid the shoulder clasps and let the badly damaged armor fall to the ground.

"Is everyone ok?" Everyone looked at Jeral and grimly nodded in the affirmative. "Good let's get out of this smoke before I retch."

The group advanced into the room vacated by the trolls and stared at the pair of corpses lying on the floor. The remains looked to be several days old and appeared to be members of the de'Arnise household guard. Jeral pulled his eyes away from the corpses and examined the room. It looked like an old torture chamber; rusty iron maidens and other torture devices lined the walls of the room.

"Nice place your family has here Nalia."

Nalia glared at Jeral and clenched her jaw as she spoke in a clipped formal voice.

"Jeral this is part of the history of my family. My father and I have nothing to do with any of this. This chamber was last used centuries ago when the de'Arnise family took a less benevolent path than we do today."

Seeking to change the subject Anomen loudly cleared his throat and strode to stand close to Nalia.

"Very well my lady, how many rooms remain ahead of us? What is on the other side of that door?"

"Only two rooms remain that matter Squire Anomen. There is yet another store room that leads to both the cells and the family crypt. My father must be near; they are likely holding him in the family crypt. I pray that he is unharmed."

Yoshimo placed his head against the closed door and heard soft rumblings on the far side of the room.

"Lady Nalia I believe there are a host of enemies in the room on the other side of this door. Is there anything you can do to thin out their numbers before they strike against us?

Nalia smiled, cracked her knuckles, and rolled her neck from side to side.

"I think I have just the solution Yoshimo. Once I start casting count slowly to five, open the door,and then close it quickly after I cast my spell."

Nalia started casting and Yoshimo slowly counted to five and opened the door wide. Jeral chanced a glimpse into the next room and saw six large umber hulks dozing in the room. Large fearsome creatures, they resembled large mountains bears with a massive beak and thick arms and legs that ended in oversized claws. From what Jeral remembered from his readings umber hulks were powerful beings that could tunnel through the hardest rock with ease. Jeral realized that these creatures must have opened up the castle for the trolls to press their attack home. These creatures led to the defeat of the castle defenders. But why would chaotic creatures like umber hulks work with trolls? Jeral had never read of anything like that back in Candlekeep. Umber hulks were wild creatures that went where they wished with no real plan. Yet something or someone had commanded the chaotic creatures to serve as part of a larger plan.

Jeral was drawn back to the present as Nalia cast her spell and Yoshimo slammed the door shut. The slamming door alerted the umber hulks and they started roaring. Jeral heard numerous heavy bodies collapse to the floor. Heavy pounding came from the other side of the door and two umber hulks burst through the door, shattering it and throwing Yoshimo and Nalia to the side as the beasts emerged from a churning cloud of poisonous gas. The large creatures roared and headed straight for the remainder of the group. Anomen and Minsc moved to intercept them while Viconia launched sling bullets and Jeral fired arrows as fast as he could nock, draw, aim, and loose.

Yoshimo and Nalia struggled to their feet, each dazed from the impact with the umber hulks and then the floor. The pair of umber hulks were taking damage but Anomen was down. Multiple blows to the head and side had knocked him to the ground. Minsc was hard pressed against the two massive creatures and Anomen lay defenseless at the ranger's feet. Viconia dropped her sling at the same instant Jeral dropped his long bow. The drow hefted her war hammer, Jeral drew his swords, and together the pair stepped forward to protect the fallen Helmite. Minsc battled the one on the left while Viconia and Jeral battled the one on the right.

Jeral was in awe as he watched Viconia fight by his side. Jeral was as quick and agile as any man alive, and fighting unburdened without any armor made him faster still. Yet he had to admit the drow cleric was faster than he was. Even burdened with enchanted armor, a small shield and an open faced helm she moved like the wind. Each time the beast charged she would slide out of the way and lash out with her war hammer. With her slight frame she did not launch crushing blows; rather her strikes were always precise and focused on a point of weakness. Each strike hit the umber hulk in the knee, or face or elbow. Anywhere she would expect to inflict pain. Her attacks so enraged the creature that is completely ignored Jeral and focused all efforts on killing the pesky female cleric.

Jeral circled around behind the creature and violently stabbed both blades deep into its back. His enchanted blades cut deep into the tough hide and the creature roared in pain. The beast whirled around to face Jeral and both blades were torn from his grasp. Jeral backpedaled as the beast unsteadily approached him. Jeral heard the sound of metal striking metal and watched as the tip of his long sword burst out the creature's chest in a gout of blood and tissue. The creature's face registered surprise as it fell to the ground dead. Viconia had managed to drive Jeral's long sword all the way through the beast with a precise strike of her war hammer. As the creature collapsed to the ground Jeral watched as Minsc cut deeply into the one remaining creature. That beast, badly wounded, finally succumbed to the combined assault from Minsc, Nalia, and Yoshimo as the archers finally reentered the fray.

Breathing hard Jeral recovered his blades from the beast and cleaned them off with a rag as he watched Viconia tend to Anomen. With her divine healing exhausted she poured healing potion after healing potion down his throat until he was able to get to his feet. Anomen weakly got to his feet and leaned heavily against the wall as he removed his battered helm and dropped it to the floor.

"My thanks Viconia; it seems these skirmishes are not as petty as I thought they would be."

Viconia nodded and crossed the room to reclaim her dropped sling.

"Those are fearsome creatures. I have never seen one of those beasts before. By Helm are those things strong."

Jeral nodded and patted Nalia on the back.

"And we owe thanks to Lady Nalia, for her spell killed four of them. Facing off against six of the creatures we would have surely perished."

Yoshimo muttered to himself, "that must not happen."

The bounty hunter smiled grimly as he looked into the next room. He inhaled deeply and cautiously entered the room.

"The air is now safe to breathe."

Yoshimo started methodically searching the room and opened each chest and crate after checking it for traps. Yoshimo pocketed a handful of small equipment, potions and scrolls that the party could examine later. He folded up a bizarre looking suit of studded leather armor asked Minsc to carry it with him. The large ranger nodded and happily slid it into the small sack at his hip. Once the group had finished their search they gazed at the large door that stood in the center of one wall. Twice the size of a normal door it was made of ebony wood and inlaid with ornate silver, electrum and golden engravings. The door was closed but claw marks near the top indicated that several large creatures had opened and closed the door at some point.

Viconia lovingly ran her hand over the door and traced her fingers lightly over the engravings.

"This is some fine work. I would not expect to see anything like this in your world Nalia."

"What do you mean Viconia?"

"Young mageling, these engravings you see are actually runes in the language of the gnomes who dwell in the underdark. You would know them as deep gnomes."

"What do they say?"

"In blood there is truth."

"That makes no sense at all." Anomen huffed as he strode forward to stand next to Nalia.

"Actually male, it makes perfect sense. There are two ways to read such a statement and they both apply to my world as well as yours. The first meaning is that loyalty to family is all that matters. Blood must come before friendship, before love, before anything else. To the drow loyalty to ones house matters most of all. Everything one does reflects on their house. Apparently the gnomes share that sentiment."

"You did not know that about the deep gnomes Viconia?"

The cleric eyed Jeral with disdain in her eyes.

"Jeral the gnomes are pathetic creatures unworthy of our consideration. Why should I study my lessers?"

"What is the other meaning Viconia?"

Nalia whispered the question, for Viconia's statement about the importance of family only worsened her concern for her father.

"The second meaning is also one that the drow know very well. 'In blood there is truth' simply means that the only time you can be sure someone is not lying is when they are bloody and tortured. At that point they will no longer have the ability to lie."

"That is horrible."

"Perhaps to you Nalia but your ancestors knew something about it, some of those torture devices in your dungeon are not typical for the surface world. At some point the house de'Arnise trod a very dark path."

"Enough discussion about the door, we need to see what lies on the other side, any idea what we could be facing in the next room Nalia?"

"This is an ancient throne room that now serves as the family crypt Jeral. It is a large room with a throne and statue of one on my very distant ancestors at the other end about two hundred paces distant. I know not what enemy awaits us beyond this door but I know with all my heart that my father is in there. We need to hurry."

"Very well Nalia. Let us all take a few moments to ready ourselves and then we can proceed."

Anomen and Viconia both called upon their respective patrons and the party was joined by a quartet of skeletons that materialized out of thin air. They were not powerful fighters but would offer some assistance to the groups. Anomen and Minsc both consumed potions to enhance their strength and Jeral called upon his divine dark blood to increase his own strength. Nalia then hasted the entire party and cast stoneskin and mirror image on herself.

Suitably prepared, the party opened the doors to the family crypt and strode inside. The crypt was a large, well lit, vaulted room, with lines of coffins along each side. At the far end of the room stood three of the largest trolls Jeral had ever seen. They were standing over the bloody and broken body of a man. There was no doubt, Lord de'Arnise, Nalia's father, was dead. As the door opened the largest troll turned to face the door and his mouth opened wide in what passed for a smile. The sight of a hideous creature attempting to manage a smile was terrible to behold.

"It is about time you puny manlings are here. Tor Gal has delivered the keep as promised; you have what is promised for me?" The troll struggled to croak out the words but his voice chilled none the less.

Before Jeral could respond and learn more, Nalia spied her father's body on the ground and the young noble lost control.

"Nooooooooooo! FATHER!"

Nalia screamed and launched a fireball that exploded amongst the trolls. The trolls roared in pain as the fire scalded their hides.

Nalia's cries of anguish turned to rage in an instant as she boldly strode deeper into the room.

"Foul beasts; know that I am the Lady Nalia de'Arnise. I am the last of my name and will avenge my father's death! You end comes at my hands."

Nalia calmly moved forward casting spell after spell at the trolls; acid arrows and magic missiles flew from her fingertips with incredible speed and tore into the trio of creatures. Viconia and Anomen ordered their skeletons forward to protect Nalia while Yoshimo and Jeral fired arrows of flame as fast as they could.

Minsc and Anomen raced past Nalia and charged towards the trolls; ready to keep them away from the more vulnerable members of the party. Nalia was in a rage as she angrily continued to cast spells while the tears streamed freely down her grimy cheeks. Anomen and Minsc charged in on the largest troll and attacked it as Nalia continued to strike it with acid arrows and magic missiles. The other two trolls quickly closed on Anomen and Minsc and the two warriors soon found themselves surrounded and hard pressed to defend themselves against their attackers.

Jeral and Yoshimo continued to fire flame arrows at one of the lesser trolls but the creature continued to claw at Minsc. The two archers were not doing enough damage to the troll to get it to turn away from Minsc.

"Jeral, those two idiots need your assistance else they will die. And if they die those creatures will kill all of us!"

Viconia screamed at Jeral as she hurled another sling bullet at the largest troll.

Realizing that Viconia spoke the truth Jeral dropped his long bow to the floor and charged towards the other end of the vault. As he did he drew his blades and also muttered a quick incantation. Once complete, four mirror images winked into existence to provide Jeral some limited protection against the trolls. Jeral raced up behind the lesser troll he had previously attacked and hacked at the creature's right leg. His long sword bit to the bone and the creature howled in pain and whirled around to face the new threat. The creature lashed out at Jeral but he ducked under the blow as one of his images winked out of existence. Jeral stabbed out and the short sword in his left hand struck the troll's right leg near the spot of the previous wound. Already weakened the leg bone shattered and the creature fell to the floor.

Jeral dropped his blades, muttered a few words of power, and a fan of flames leapt out from his hands. The troll burst into flame and rolled around for a few seconds until succumbing to the fire. Jeral quickly reclaimed his blades and prepared to reenter the fight. Anomen and Minsc had regained their footing and were paired off against the remaining two trolls. As he adjusted his grip on his swords Jeral watched as a flash of pale green raced past him. Nalia ran the remaining length of the room and stood mere steps from the largest of the trolls.

"Know that I am my father's child and that I will see him again in the afterlife!"

She quickly drew her wand of frost and uttered a few words of power as the creature turned around to lunge at her. A jet of ice poured out of the wand and struck the troll in the chest. Nalia leaned forward and placed both hands on the wand as it continued to pour out a stream of ice that steadily coated more and more of the troll's body. The troll struggled against the wave of ice as it fought to reach Lady Nalia and rip her to pieces.

Everyone stopped to watch as Nalia poured out wave after wave of magic from the wand into the massive troll. The ice eventually covered the entire creature head to toe but Nalia did not command the wand to stop. She poured more and more ice onto the troll as she struggled to control the magic in the wand. The wand started to shake violently in her hands and the middle of the wand started glowing red. In her anger she was overtaxing the wand. The question was would she exhaust the power in the wand first, or would the wand overheat and explode, killing the young mage?

Jeral walked up to Nalia and shouted to be heard over the ice pouring out from the wand.

"Lady Nalia! The troll is dead! Your father is avenged. Let go of the wand!"

Nalia shook her head and continued to pour magic into the frozen creature. Finally the ice started to crack and splinter and with a final groan it shattered the frozen troll into a thousand small pieces. Nalia screamed out in rage and frustration and dropped the wand. The red hot wand dropped to the floor where it hissed as it melted the ice all around it. The rapid change in temperature called the want to split in half with an audible SNAP.

No one spoke as everyone stared at the carnage all around them. Anomen and Minsc stood over the corps of the final giant troll. Dark blood coated the Flail of Ages and the Sword of Chaos as the two plate clad warriors leaned on one another for support. The companions collapsed to the ground, exhausted and winded from their exertion and the magic enhancements used for the battle. Yoshimo alone retained the presence of mind to burn the final troll corpse to ensure that it would not return to life.

Nalia tiredly crawled over to her father's corpse. Anomen weakly pushed to his feet and followed her over.

"Father I took too long, I failed you." She threw herself on his body and started sobbing.

Anomen examined the body and gently laid a hand on her back.

"Lady Nalia, it is apparent that your father has been dead for some days. He was likely dead before you even reached Athkatla. There is nothing more than you could have done for him."

"You do not understand. I failed him, my father is dead, my family lands destroyed, what am I to do? I am alone now. Whatever am I to do?"

Anomen gently helped Nalia to her feet and walked her from the room. Once she departed Jeral removed his cloak and covered her father's body while Yoshimo unlocked the family crypt and pulled out some valuable jewelry.

Smiling wryly he handed the jewels to Jeral, "These should help you reach your goal if the Lady de' Arnise allows us to keep them. I also located a nice set of enchanted armor earlier that we should have identified once we get back to Athkatla."

The group started to quietly retrace their steps out of the castle. Numbly, Nalia led the group out of the keep and back to the palisade. Once there she called for Captain Arat.

"Captain Arat, have the remaining acolytes enter the crypt and prepare my father for burial in the morning. Have whatever servants remain work on making the great hall and the kitchen serviceable while we rest. Have the cooks make a feast for it shall be the last meal for any of us in the keep. Wake me just before first light."

Exhausted Nalia curled up on the ground and went right to sleep. Jeral and his companions were all dead on their feet and passed out on the ground as quickly as the Lady Nalia.

Jeral woke with the sun beaming down on his face and he stretched out on the ground. Someone had covered all of them with blankets during the night. Nalia and Anomen were nowhere in sight but Jeral smiled as he watched Minsc, Viconia and Yoshimo sleeping peacefully. Buckets of water were stacked to the side as were loaves of bread and small wheels of cheese. The cooks had obviously managed to open the kitchen inside the keep. Jeral slowly stood marveled at the effectiveness of his ring when combined with his own innate healing abilities. All of his wounds from the day before were completely healed. Not a single scratch remained on his unblemished skin. He used a bucket of water to freshen up. After a quick trip to the woods, he realized that his chain mail was destroyed. Rummaging through his pack he located his nicest shirt and quickly cleaned up and dressed as best he could given the conditions.

I need to get some better armor. Right now I have to choose, fight in armor without spells or fight unarmored with the limited spells I know. Not a great choice.

He strapped his long sword to his left hip and left his other possessions in the palisade as he set off in search of Lady Nalia.

He encountered Captain Arat on the way to the great hall. The wounded soldier nodded respectfully to Jeral and smiled as he approached.

"Greetings Sir Jeral, Lady Nalia requests the presence of you and your companions in the great hall in one hour's time."

"We will be there, Captain. Thank you."

Jeral hurried back to the palisade to wake his companions. At the appointed hour they all strode into the great hall. Nalia was seated at the head of a long table with various advisors seated nearby. Jeral was struck by the number of empty seats at the table. The council had clearly suffered significant losses from the troll invasion. Nalia looked up and smiled wanly when Jeral and his companions entered the hall. She cleared her throat loudly and slowly rose to her feet.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the council, honored guests, while I am delighted to see each and every one of you it pains me greatly to see so many missing. We lost many good men and women during the battle, their sacrifices will never be forgotten. With the help of Jeral and his companions: Minsc, Viconia, Yoshimo and Squire Anomen; and a good many of you, we have freed the keep from the occupiers and avenged my father's death. Jeral, to you and your friends I offer both my heartfelt thanks as well as this small token of gratitude. Captain Arat rose and walked over to Jeral and handed him a well made backpack that was heavy with gold coins and precious stones."

Jeral could not help but notice that Nalia blushed a bit when she mentioned the name of the Helmite warrior cleric. A few dozen in the hall started to applaud enthusiastically but Nalia quickly motioned them to silence. Awkwardly the applause quickly died out and an uncomfortable silence returned to the hall. Nalia hung her head for a moment to regain her composure. When she raised it to speak again she struggled to keep her voice from cracking.

"It pains me to say this good people but we have nothing to celebrate, for despite the fact that we have reclaimed our home and vanquished the invaders, House de'Arnise is no more. My father…..the Lord de'Arnise is dead and there is no male heir to retain title to the family lands. I have provided my thanks to those who have aided us in reclaiming the keep and avenging my father's death. Sadly for the rest of us the future is less bright."

Nalia dropped her head again and Jeral watched a single tear fall and strike the table. Shaking her head once from side to side to regain control, Nalia lifted her head and gazed out upon the audience chamber. The face of a daughter grieving for her father was gone and instead Jeral gazed upon the Lady Nalia, last surviving member of the House de'Arnise.

"Good people, to you I can only offer my thanks and a warning. According to the laws of inheritance the facts are clear and beyond dispute. House de'Arnise has fallen and these lands, and all who live on them, will soon belong to the house Roenall. Many of you know how I feel about them. They are a family without honor and view the peasant class as little more than slaves. My advice is to take everything you can and head east to the lands of Lord Laurentis. I have sent messengers to him requesting that he accept more peasants and soldiers into his holdings and I am confident that he will honor my request. So you need to leave today and do not look back for once the Roenall's arrive you may no longer have the freedom to depart. I wish each of you the best of luck, may Lady Tymora guide you on your way to a brighter future."

With the council dismissed they slowly stood up and started preparing to leave their home, never to return. Nalia walked away from the table and approached the party. Jeral noticed that she looked older and more commanding that she had the day before. She was already adjusting to her role as the sole surviving member of house de'Arnise. She nodded at the group and smiled thinly.

"Squire Anomen, I have need of a priest to give my father his last rites before we can complete his burial in the family crypt. Our priest died in the battle and the acolytes are poorly suited to the task. Would you grant me this one boon good sir?"

"My lady, I would be honored to provide the final blessing."

Anomen and Nalia headed upstairs in order to make their way to the dungeons. Minsc and Yoshimo readied the horses for travel and loaded the saddle bags with food and water while Jeral and Viconia spent time sitting in the great hall. Jeral attempted to engage the drow cleric in conversation but she avoided every attempt and the pair soon lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

Some time later Nalia and Anomen both returned downstairs. Nalia's eyes were bloodshot and the remnants of dried tears were visible on her freckled cheeks.

"My father is buried and the dungeon is sealed. Only one of de'Arnise blood can open the doors to the dungeon and I will never enter them again. It is time for us to leave this place."

Nalia shifted nervously from one foot to the other as she fiddled with the hems on her robes. Taking a deep long breath she smoothed out her robes, stood up straight and looked Jeral in the eye.

"Jeral of Candlekeep, I have nowhere to go. My father is dead and I am betrothed to a brat of a man; a man I have no intention of marrying. His name is Issea Roenall and he only wants me for my title. I will not marry him under any circumstances. Can I travel with you and your companions for a while? At least until I can determine what I should do next. Anomen says that as leader of the group the choice is yours."

"Nalia, if you father arranged the marriage should you not respect his wishes?"

Nalia's eyes flashed with anger and pain at the mention of her father.

"Jeral you misunderstand me. My aunt, the Lady Caan arranged the marriage without my father's knowledge. He was doing everything in his power to delay the marriage until he could find another solution; he bore no love for the Roenalls."

"Can she nullify the wedding arrangement?"

"She could but she will not, she bears a resemblance to the older de'Arnise blood. She would have had my father reopen the dungeons and treat the peasants like beasts. Her heart is cold, she will not aid me. She rode off with a dozen guards late last night bound for the Roenall estate. She will not aid me."

"Nalia please understand that this life, living on the road, often facing serious peril is not easy; can we not help you to keep your lands? Is there no way?"

"I appreciate the offer Jeral but I do not want any more violence over my home."

"What of the courts? You are nobility, won't they listen to you?"

Anomen chimed in, "Jeral, without a male heir Nalia's father had no legal next of kin. In the eyes of the law Nalia has no right to retain the lands. The legally registered arranged marriage makes Issea Roenall the next heir to all of these lands. Sadly, the law is not on her side."

"Nalia, if you wish, you are welcome to accompany us."

"My thanks, Jeral. I need to feel wanted somewhere right now."

The group spent the day watching the residents of the keep depart with all their belongings heading east. As the sun grew low in the western sky, Viconia saw a dozen riders coming from the west riding hard.

"Armed men approach Jeral."

The others followed her outstretched arm and saw nothing. No one was willing to challenge the drow's assertion so they stared to the west and waited patiently. After a few minutes they could see men approaching on horseback.

"Minsc, can you and Yoshimo please get the horses?"

A well dressed, foppish looking man rode up at the head of a double column of soldiers. Jeral counted a dozen soldiers escorting the noble at the head of the column.

"Quint Roenall, younger brother of my husband to be," Nalia whispered.

"Lady Nalia, Lady Caan has informed us that your father had died. That is most unfortunate. Issea sends his regards and suggests a late summer wedding. It is certain to be the social event of Athkatla this season."

Nalia placed her hands on her hips and glared up at the speaker with a look of pure loathing.

"Quint, I am not marrying your brother and you know it." Quint sniffed and waved a well manicured hand at Nalia.

"Pish posh. I am sure you will change your mind. And if you do not, well no matter, for only a man can truly say what a woman wants. In the meantime this place is not open to your kind anymore. The estate and all its possessions are now properly in the hands of the family Roenall. Issea also asked me to send an escort to ensure you safely back to the city."

"I have secured my own escort Quint. Jeral and his friends here are more than enough protection for me. They managed to clear out the evil horde that had invaded my home and killed my father while your family refused to take any action. If they can defeat giant trolls and other foul creatures they can get me safely back to Athkatla."

"Yes, yes I am sure they are quite heroic. That is not the issue. A lady cannot travel with such rabble; who will ensure that your virtue is protected until your wedding night? I assure you that Issea values your virtue almost as much as your father's lands."

The last sentence caused some of the riders in the column to snicker and leer at Nalia.

Anomen strode up to stand before the young noble. Red faced he glared up at Quint.

"I am Anomen Delryn, Priest of Helm and Squire of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart. You have my solemn vow that Nalia, and her virtue, are safe in our charge. So this I swear by Helm."

Jeral had never seen the Helmite so angry, his face was almost purple with rage and spittle was working into froth on the side of his mouth. Nalia was hiding behind Minsc and blushing furiously. Jeral walked up to the young Roenall and looked up at him on his horse.

"Quint, the Lady Nalia is leaving here with us. I assure you, the thirteen of you are not nearly enough to keep us here and we both know it. You get the de'Arnise estates today, I would consider that a good day by any standard. Should you try and push your luck things may end badly for you. Take a good look at us, should you wish to make a fight of it you will need many more men. We are leaving now to escort the Lady Nalia to Athkatla. Good evening."

With that Jeral and his companions mounted their horses and slowly rode away. Nalia hung back and looked at her home one last time.

"Quint, I will see you in Athkatla, take good care of the keep. The treasury is upstairs. Take a look and I am sure you will find something you like."

The Roenall lord spurred his horse to a gallop and he led his men racing towards the de'Arnise treasury. Jeral rode back and stopped his horse next to Nalia, fixing her with a quizzical look.

"Nalia, what sent them running off towards the castle in such a hurry?"

"I mentioned something about the remaining funds in the treasury,"

"Nalia, I must say that was surprising, why did you tell him where to find the treasury? I know there were still piles of gems and coins that remained there."

Nalia blushed and smiled as she looked at the horsemen galloping towards the keep.

"Actually Jeral there is nothing left in the treasury but the six golems. Squire Anomen helped me empty the treasury this morning. We buried some valuable pieces with my father. The rest we gave to the soldiers and staff in the keep to help them start out their new lives. All Quint will find is six guardians of the treasury. If he is lucky, and fast, he should survivie. And if he does not, well no matter, the Roenall's have another son."

That brought a hearty laugh from Jeral. "Lady Nalia, there is much more to you than meets the eye, if Viconia hears what you did she may believe that you are part drow. You have a home with us for as long as you wish."

Smiling the pair caught up with the others and the group rode back towards Athkatla.