Lidia returned to the kitchen, following the short hallway down. When she returned, Lehtinan was there, questioning Dibbler.
Lehtinan's heavy eyelids made him seem half-asleep, but his eyes glinted under his sallow, hooded brow. "You sent bad meat to the animal trainer. Do you realize that tonight's contestant might have taken ill?"
"I see not what the trouble is," Dibbler said. "Thought to save a fistful of coppers."
"One of those animals is worth ten of you!" Lehtinan yelled, slamming his fist against a nearby table, a loud knock that echoed down the brick walls. After a moment, he regained his composure. "See that this doesn't happen again. Or...hurrrrm...you'll be their dinner instead."
Dibbler muttered some apologies, but as soon as Lehtinan's temper cooled he was ignored. Lehtinan turned to Lidia
"Hurrrm. There you are," Lehtinan said, dismissing Dibbler with a wave of his hand. "Pray tell, girl, what were you up to? Why was your return from the cells delayed?"
She looked him in the eye, but kept her voice pleasant. "I convinced Hendak to eat."
The corner of his pale lips turned up. "Ah. Good work. He is stubborn, and Celyce was no match for him. Perhaps after a day or two, he will be fit to go to the ring again."
She tried to sound casual. "What's in the ring?"
"Oh, this and that. There is more to my little place than meets the eye. Certain kinds of...entertainments where partakers may wish to escape notice. Come now, don't look so offended. You are staying here by my forbearance, and you have little right to question how I run my business."
"I understand." Courtesy and dignity, she reminded herself. Courtesy and dignity.
"There's a good girl," he said. "Run along, now. You've done enough for your friends to remain for a few days."
Lidia called the others together in their room and explained what she'd discovered. "We can't stand by and do nothing."
Jaheira folded her arms. "I commend your honorable impulse, but it would be best for us to avoid drawing attention to ourselves."
"I'm not suggesting we barge in with bared blades and slaughter everyone there."
"And why not?" Minsc said. "They throw men into pits with wild beasts! That is a crime against man and nature! They will surely feel my wrath for this travesty!"
"This effort doesn't seem worth the while to me," Yoshimo said. "All we might do is bring down Lehtinan's wrath, and then we're out on the streets again."
"Which is why we need to try some subtlety," Lidia said. All things considered, this idea had gone over better than she'd thought it would. "Let me do some more thinking about it. I'll come back with a plan."
The next morning, just after dawn and taking a bite to eat, Lidia went outside the Coronet. At this time, everything was more or less quiet, with only a few chickens running loose nearby. She made her way to the roof through the long chain of stairs that zig-zagged up the front of the Coronet, and went across the flat wooden rooftop, where a jumbled array of wooden houses sat atop the Coronet. She found the place almost at once. There was only one identifying mark: a gray flag depicting two white hands bound with a red cord.
She immediately pulled the door open and went inside.
The door revealed a room made almost entirely out of aging wooden slats. Several threadbare rugs padded the slightly sagging floor, and several large jars lay about. The only other furniture in the room were several old chairs and two small tables, fixed upon the wooden table that served as an altar in the front.
The altar was adorned with only a small bas-relief. It depicted the avatar of Ilmater in his usual form: a man wearing only a breechcloth bowed over from pain, suffering from many wounds on his body, yet his head was held high. A small tribute had been paid upon the altar: six burning white candles in old pewter bowls.
No one else was there except for a strongly built woman bowed to the floor in front of the altar, muttering but obviously deeply distraught. Lidia tried to leave without bothering her, but the woman wiped her face with large, gray-tinted hands and got up.
She stood tall and straight. She brushed aside a mass of coarse hair that had once been black, but now was filled with silver threads. Her eyes were dark and red-rimmed. Despite her grief, she smiled, revealing two half-inch-long tusks on her bottom teeth.
"Welcome. I've not seen you here before," she said. "My name is Sebire. What can I do for you?"
"I apologize for interrupting," Lidia said.
"You did not interrupt, child."
"You seemed troubled. Is everything all right?"
"My duty is to those who come seeking the Crying God's aid. You must need him dearly to come at such an hour."
"I'm Lidia. Let's talk about rescuing Ganthet."
Sebire began to leave the room, and gestured to Lidia to follow. They went outside, then through the next rough door to the left of the temple.
There were six beds at the front, each with a small table that served as a nightstand, and several cots hanging on the walls. The only adornment was the symbol of the bound hands upon a worn banner. A couple windows, covered with rough, translucent glass, allowed plenty of light to stream in, but also afforded privacy from passersby. It was a makeshift hospital, Lidia realized as she surveyed the beds. No one was there at the moment, but it had a few telltale signs that pointed to plenty of use: clean but worn and yellowed sheets, a full ledger sitting on a cot, a long row of X's and names near the door.
A small cabinet stood on the other side of the room, and on the other side of the room was a small iron stove with a bucket of wood off to the side. The woman muttered a few words, and the log ignited. With strong hands, she placed it inside the stove and tended the fire, and soon the water was hot.
So Lidia got a second breakfast, once she saw that protesting was in vain. As they ate, they talked.
"Tell me about him," Lidia said.
"Ganthet and I have been wed for forty years. We have served Ilmater for just as long. He sees to the needs of the souls that come in, and I see to their bodies." She gave Lidia a long look. "Were you treated here?"
"No, ma'am. I was working in the kitchen yesterday and I found Ganthet, Hendak, and other slaves. I promised to help free them."
She cast down her eyes. "You mean well, but there is little anyone can do."
Lidia sat up. "I'm a soldier for the Crying God. I won't simply turn aside from this."
"Be that as it may, you are still very young. Lehtinan does what he wants. Trading in lives like cattle, using them up and spitting them out like bad meat."
"Isn't slavery illegal here?"
"So they say."
Lidia said, "Look. I plan to help however I can, but I don't intend on storming the place alone. I have several friends staying at the Coronet with me." She knew she could count on Minsc and Jaheira, despite the latter's protests, and she was confident that Yoshimo would come around once the others did. "Besides," she added, "Ganthet himself told me to find you."
Sebire turned away for a moment. "Stubborn old man," she said, with a fond, crinkled smile. She turned back to Lidia with a renewed look of determination. "If you have decided, then, we have little time to waste."