Part 18 (1/2)
Varden took out his lockpicks and unlocked the fighter's leg irons, then moved away quickly.
”Now his hands,” Midnight told the young thief.
Adon held up his hand to stop the thief from following Midnight 's request. ”What if you're wrong?” he asked. ”What if he's here to capture you?” The scarred cleric pointed at the fighter and added, ”He was our friend... once. But it wouldn't be the first time he's led a patrol after us.”
The raven-haired mage was silent for a moment, then turned toward the cleric. ”You must trust me, Adon. I know that Kelemvor wouldn't harm us.” When the cleric bowed his head, the magic-user softly said, ”Varden, unlock the other chains.”
Varden turned away, a scowl on his face. ”All right,” the thief muttered and did as she asked.
When the irons clanked to the floor, Midnight sighed with relief. ”Now I want all of you to leave us alone for a moment,” the mage told her allies.
”Absolutely not,” said the old man, shuffling forward a few steps.
”Please,” Midnight cried. ”Do as I ask and we won't trouble you anymore. We'll leave. Now that Kelemvor's back, we can leave.”
”Very well,” the old man grumbled. ”If that's the way you want it.”
”That's the way it has to be,” Midnight answered, turning toward the fighter.
Adon, Varden, the old man, and the Sembian filed from the room. ”We'll be just outside this door,” Adon said, glowering a bit at Kelemvor. In moments, the room was cleared and the door swung shut.
”Oh, Kel,” Midnight cried, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her as she embraced the fighter. ”You don't know how good it is to see you.” She kissed his cheek then brushed the hair from his face. ”Are you all right?”
”I will be,” he replied, sitting up straight again. Midnight kissed him full on the lips then drew back as she realized that he had not returned the kiss. Something was wrong.
The mage furrowed her eyebrows and looked into Kelemvor's eyes. ”What happened? What did they do to you?” Midnight asked as she backed away from the fighter.
”That should be obvious,” Kelemvor growled, glancing at the dried blood on his clothes. The fighter stood and kicked the chains at his feet. ”I don't want to talk about it. Not yet.”
”We tried to rescue you,” Midnight told the fighter. ”We couldn't get into the garrison. Durrock found us...”
There was a momentary flicker of understanding in Kelemvor's eyes.
”Kel, I was so afraid for you. For both of us,” Midnight cried, tears running down her cheeks. ”We've got to get out of this city.”
”It'll be difficult,” Kelemvor noted distantly as he looked around the small room. In fact, he found himself looking at anything but the mage's eyes.
Midnight wondered why Kelemvor was being so cold and distant. Anger could have been the explanation, but it made no sense that his rage would be directed at her. Perhaps it was the strain of his recent incarceration. She stared into his eyes and saw it was neither of these. Varden and Adon might have been right.
”Something's happened to you, Kelemvor. And you should know me well enough to understand that you can trust me with whatever has happened.” The mage paused and looked at the door. ”You can whisper if you must, if you're afraid of the others overhearing,” Midnight told her former lover.
”There is nothing to tell,” Kelemvor said, smiling weakly. ”I just need a meal. I need to clean my wounds. You're letting your imagination get the better of you.”
Midnight gazed into his eyes. The fighter was lying.
”I suppose you're right,” the magic-user said coldly as she turned from Kelemvor. ”Varden knows a way out of the city, but we will require your a.s.sistance. Will you help?”
A look of confusion crossed the fighter's face. ”Of course I will.”
”Then it's settled,” Midnight snapped, reaching for her dagger and drawing the weapon from its sheath. ”It's settled that you betrayed us!”
Kelemvor made no move as the point of Midnight 's dagger found his throat in a ferocious, quicksilver motion. The mage stopped her hand, and the knife's point touched the fighter's skin but didn't break it.
”You are bound by your curse, Kelemvor,” the mage hissed. ”You can do nothing without promise of a reward. Yet when I asked you to help us get out of the city, you asked for nothing in return. That means that someone has already paid you... to lead us into a trap!”
The fighter closed his eyes and took a sharp breath. ”Everything you've said is wrong. Even about the curse.”
”What?” Midnight cried, confusion on her face. ”The curse is gone? Who removed it?”
The fighter swallowed, then his hand shot out and grabbed Midnight 's wrist. He twisted until the dagger fell to the ground. Kelemvor spun Midnight around, knocking her from her feet, and wrapped one of his powerful arms around her neck. With his free arm, Kelemvor steadied the mage before she could fall and pinned her arms to her body. Varden and Adon rushed into the room.
The blond thief drew his dagger and Adon hefted the war hammer that the old man had given him when they first entered the safe house. ”Let her go, you Zhentish dog,” the thief yelled.
”Not until I've had my say!” the fighter growled. ”So just stay back and listen.” Adon took a step forward and Kelemvor tightened his grip on the mage. ”I'll break her neck if you come any closer,” the fighter lied.
When the thief and the cleric stood still, Kelemvor began his story. ”Bane did send me here to gain your confidence. I was to lead you all out of the safe house, subdue Midnight , and bring her to the Black Lord.”
Adon cursed and spat at Kelemvor's feet. ”How much did he pay you, Kel? What did you trade our lives for?”
Midnight tried to struggle, but Kelemvor tightened his grip again. ”Bane removed my curse,” he hissed. ”But I lied to Bane, the way he lied to me. I never intended to bring you to him. I want to go to Tantras with you, help you finish this d.a.m.ned quest... because you're my friends.” The fighter paused and loosened his grip on Midnight . ”Not for any payment. Just because I care about you.”
Kelemvor released Midnight and backed away. The mage fell forward, but kneeled where she fell, her back to the fighter. ”I want to believe you, Kel. I don't know how I can trust you after all that's happened... but I do.”
”You can't be serious!” Varden cried, taking a step toward the fighter. ”He was going to kill you.”
”Not likely,” Adon said softly and put down his war hammer. ”He could have killed her long before we rushed into the room, Varden.” The cleric looked at Kelemvor, who returned his gaze with tear-filled eyes. ”I know about suffering, Kel. Mine is not like yours, but all who suffer know what it is to want their pain to end.” Adon walked to Kelemvor's side and put his hand on the fighter's shoulder. ”Perhaps I'd even lie to a G.o.d to end mine, too.”
By now the Sembian soldier and the married couple who ran the safe house had rushed to the room. As they stood in the doorway, Varden muttered a curse and turned to them. ”It's nothing,” he grumbled. ”They seem to have worked it out for themselves.”
”Well, the sooner you're gone, the better,” the old woman croaked as she brought some food into the room on a tray. Then the old couple, Varden, and the Sembian left the heroes alone.
Midnight , Adon, and Kelemvor talked as the fighter ate. And though Cyric was missing, the little time the three heroes had together in the safe house was the happiest they had shared for a long time.
An hour later, after gathering their few belongings and acquiring mounts, clothing for Kelemvor, and supplies, the heroes left the safe house. Varden rode beside Kelemvor at the front of the small band. The thief knew the best route through the city, but the fighter knew how to avoid the Zhentilar. The heroes secured their horses three blocks from the harbor and walked the rest of the way. As they reconnoitered the port, Kelemvor began to relax. Despite the Zhentilar that were stationed there, the vast stretches of the s.h.i.+pping yards made the area impossible to secure with any degree of certainty. Only a single watchman stood between the heroes and the Queen of the Night, an ebon slave s.h.i.+p used by the Zhentilar to transport illegal cargo and avoid taxation.
”We'll need a boat with speed and power if we're to escape the blockade,” Varden said as they studied the slave galley. ”What could be better than one of Bane's best?”
On the bow, a huge, half-naked wildman with bright yellow hair had been chained to a post and was enduring the lashes of the galley master's whip. The slave hurled curses and threats at his tormentor, and the heroes were able to see the slave's face for a moment. One of the wildman's eyes was missing, as if it had been gouged out in a tight.
”Had enough?” the galley master called as he lowered the whip.
”Set me free!” the slave wailed. ”I'll rip your arms from their sockets and beat you with them. Then I'll tear your head off and -”
Enraged, the galley master cracked his whip again. The slave's threat was never finished. The black-garbed galley master whipped the slave until the man sank to his knees and his head lolled back, a vacant expression in his eyes. ”Bjorn the One-Eyed will have his revenge,” the slave muttered and pa.s.sed out.
”Take him below,” the galley master snapped to one of the three Zhentilar who also stood on the bow. ”We'll resume our... discussion after I return fromScarsdale. I'm going to find a la.s.s to help me relieve my tensions!”
The guards laughed and nodded as they dragged the slave away.
On the dock, Kelemvor turned to Midnight . ”Perhaps you could -”