Lana sat in the cushioned bench in the window overlooking the Keep from her bedroom, deep in thoughts, gazing over the roofs and yards below.
It was cliché, but it all seemed so small and insignificant from up here.
After finding Bishop in the woods yesterday, it had been a rather hectic day, and she'd also been up most of the night, watching over him. Staring at his face with her stomach in knots, to be exact. He seemed to be getting better, but still did not regain consciousness. Sand said the Geas had caused massive internal damage... by all accounts, Bishop should be dead. But he'd seemed to have just kept going.
Too stubborn to die.
And... it seemed like he was trying to get here.
What did that mean? Was Bishop trying to find her? Or just seeking help, knowing Sand would probably be able to break the spell?
Which Bishop was lying in that chamber on the 6th floor?
After things calmed down a little, Lana had finally found time to tell Sand what had happened in her vision of the Mere. Sand agreed that the dagger probably symbolized some kind of anchor, but admitted - with a rather sour face - that in the end, he also was just guessing.
As for Lana, it seemed she had simply collapsed in Kana's office, and they had not been able to rouse her. Sand's examinations showed her spirit gone, the body simply breathing on, but essentially empty. It probably would have died rather quickly without food or water, so Sand had been desperate enough to try to summon her spirit back into her body with a Resurrection spell, even if the body was not dead yet.
Lana gave the beginnings of the intrate circle that still graced the floor of her chamber a quick glance. No one had bothered to get rid of that yet, with things happening on top of each other and all.
No one was sure how her spirit left her body - but with Bishop outside and obviously in Jaluth clutches again, it was a safe bet to say that probably that viper had something to do with it.
Gods, I hate that hussy.
A knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Come in", she called, turning to face the entrance.
Sand stepped in, a smile on his face as he nodded at her. He carried a small tray that gave off an enticing smell as he stepped closer, and Lana's stomach suddenly growled.
Hells, she had not eaten since the weird breakdown in Kana's office, she realized. No wonder she was ravenous.
"By the gods, Sand, I swear I love you", Lana said heartfelt as he sat the tray down next to her on the bench. Sand snickered.
"I know", he said. "I would say you have good taste in men, but with recent developments, that would be obviously false, so I'll refrain."
Lana grinned as she grabbed the tablet and lifted the lid off the plate. Scrambled eggs with grated cheese. Yum. But as hungry as she was, they could probably serve her cooked shoe laces and she'd think them delicious. As long as the sauce was good.
"Ouch", she replied to Sand. "Savage, old friend. Savage."
He snickered again and sat down on the chair in front of her writing desk.
"I wanted to let you know that our guest has woken up at last. The clerics think he will recover fully."
Lana inhaled deeply, relief flooding her.
"Did you talk to him?"
Sand studied his fingernails intently. "I did."
Lana rolled her eyes. Would not be Sand if he did not milk this situation to the maximum, making her grovel for every bit of information.
"Oh come on", she whined. "Are we really doing this?"
He blinked at her, the picture of innocence. "But whatever do you mean, dear girl?"
Lana just snorted, grabbed her plate and started eating. Two could play that game.
Even if she wanted to just grab him and shake him until he started talking.
Sand sniffed, obviously incensed, but after a few moments, he relented. "Fine. Our dear ranger had a rather interesting story to disclose. As we already suspected, he fell into the clutches of my esteemed former colleague again. He was a bit sketchy on the details, but I am guessing it was not a pleasant experience."
Lana shuddered. "That I can believe", she said, remembering the bat shit crazy and insanely powerful mage. If she never saw that shrew again, it would still be too early. "So what was she up to this time?"
Sand looked up from the examination of his nails and stared her straight in the eyes. "It seems like she made a deal with some of the more unpleasant deities out there. Her own goodhood in exchange for your soul."
Lana spit out the bite of egg she'd just forked into her mouth.
"You... what?", she screeched, disbelieving. "That's not even funny!"
Sand shook his head. "No, it is not. But it seems to be the case. According to her, some of the gods were not happy with you for stopping the King of Shadows. To the extent that they would elevate her to godhood if she delivered your soul for eternal torment."
Lana put down her fork slowly, suddenly not hungry anymore. "Grazzt's horns", she breathed. "God Jaluth? Just what this world needs."
"Quite", Sand agreed. "According to our old friend, she set up a ritual to extract your soul and for some reason he was unwilling to elaborate on, she needed him for that. " Sand gave her a sidewards glance, then went back to studiously examining his nails. "He says he managed to interfere with the ritual and escape, but not before well into the process." He looked up. "I am inclined to believe him. It would explain what happened with you back here at the keep."
Lana shivered. "So you think she succeeded in... extracting my soul?"
Sand nodded. "I am rather certain. Your spirit was gone from your body. And Bishop describes some sort of mist manifesting during the ritual that Jaluth was going to store in some kind of receptacle. He says that at this point, he managed to get free and destroy the vessel. The interruption seems to have caused Jaluth to collapse. And he escaped, trying to come here to find help."
Lana frowned. "So that mist... would have been my soul?"
Sand nodded again. "Most certainly."
"And after Bishop interfered with the ritual... I snapped back here?"
Sand went back to studying his nails. "That is usually not how things like this work. Your soul would be drifting aimlessly. It would have been seeking a vessel. And with the receptacle destroyed, there was one obvious choice."
"Bishop", Lana breathed, things finally falling into place.
Sand looked up. "Exactly. That explains your episode where you encountered him in the Mere. It was already rather certain that somehow, you ended up in our dear ranger's mind, which I do not envy you at all. But now we have an explanation of how that came about. It all makes sense this way."
"Yes", Lana said slowly, still digesting what she just heard. "But... I cannot imagine that shrew giving up on godhood that easily. She will probably come after me... and Bishop... again.
Sand smiled faintly. "I am not so sure. First, the kind of gods she could have brokered this deal with are not likely to overlook this kind of failure lightly. They will retaliate after she could not hold up her end of the bargain." His smile grew broader. "And it seems that... someone... sent out a couple of messages this morning to various contacts in the Host Tower. The brotherhood is not going to be pleased with dear Jaluth for attempting to shift the distribution of power in her favor like this. It will be adding a plethora of more worldly troubles to her divine ones. I think she will be rather busy for a while."
"Sand, you are a genius", Lana said warmly.
"Well, obviously", he replied with a sniff. "Took you long enough to notice."
Lana laughed, and started eating again. "What about Bishop?", she asked.
Sand shrugged. "We kept him locked in the chamber on the 6th floor. No one wants him roaming the Keep after what he did. It's up to you to decide what his fate will be."
Lana's stomach flopped at the thought of seeing Bishop again. Which one would it be...?
...
An hour later, Lana contemplated if she should throw on her sleeveless chain mail shirt before walking out of her room. It was heavy, but it was also kind of part of her uniform. And with Kana, that made a difference.
Lana did not look forward to this discussion. Kana would be out for Bishop's blood after what he did last year. And Lana would have to tell her to back off. She did not expect this talk to go well - all the more since Kana was going to be Knight Captain and Lana was going to be just another civilian.
Lana sighed deeply. Oh yes, this was going to be so much fun.
"Trouble?" a voice said from behind. A voice she knew so well. A voice she frequently heard in her dreams.
Heart stopping in her chest, Lana whirled around. And there he was. Inside her room, leaning nonchalantly against her door.
"Damn it, Bishop", she blurted out, then frowned. "Wait, aren't you locked up somewhere?"
A familiar mocking smile lifted the corner of his mouth, those amber eyes glittering, and again, Lana's heart stuttered in her chest.
Oh yes, easy on the eyes indeed.
"Who let you out?", she asked sharply. She was going to have someone's hide for this.
The taunting smile grew wider. "I did", he said, smugly.
Her eyes narrowed. "I don't think even you can walk through a closed door. There was a huge bar in front of that. And guards."
"Possibly", he answered lightly. "There was also a window. By the way, one of the panes seems to be broken. Might want to fix that."
"That room is on the 6th floor!". Lana said sharply.
Bishop just shrugged, still grinning. Lana sighed and slumped. "Oh, bite me. It seems like we all kind of forgot who we are dealing with, huh?"
"Yeah", he said. "Pretty sloppy, I have to say. You should bring that to the attention of the Knight Captain. Oh, wait..."
Lana rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, terribly funny. I'm not even going to ask how you crept through all of my Keep right into my room."
"You would not like the answer to that", he grinned.
"No", she agreed. "I would not. Now... why are you here, Bishop?"
And which one are you?
His eyes went to the window, gazing outside. "I hear you are going to resign as Knight Captain. Plan to wander the world for a bit."
Lana's eyes narrowed. "How do you know?"
He shrugged. "Guards talk when they guard a door. I have ears."
Yeah, that kind of made sense.
"And this concerns you... how?"
His head turned, his eyes meeting hers directly. "I hear Thay is beautiful this time of the year. And I also hear they have a rich serving of powerful evil wizards down there. I am sure we could find one and piss him or her off enough so that they come after us with all they have. You know, just for old time's sake. What do you say?"
Lana's heart stopped, then started racing in her chest.
"Are you offering to run away with me... again?"
His eyes held hers, hot and intense. "I am. And if I recall correctly, that would be the fourth time. It will probably be the last, though. At one point, a man needs to take a hint."
"You remember", she breathed.
He took two quick steps until he stood in front of her. One arm reached around her back to hold her against his body, the other went to her neck and firmly pulled her head back until she had to look into his eyes, into the burning amber.
"I do", he said, roughly. "Everything."
She reached up to touch his face. "So... which one are you?"
He shrugged, his gaze never leaving hers. "Neither. Both. I have no idea. Why don't we find out together?"
There was only one answer to this. "Yes,", Lana said, her hand reaching behind his neck, pulling him downwards. "Let's find out."
And when their lips met, she knew that she finally had found the place she belonged.