Shadows from Suzail

The red-haired captain of the Queen's Blade was tall and lean, with a handlebar mustache, a goatee, bright eyes, and a slightly receding hairline. Dressed in a splendid uniform, he strode up to Aaron, pulled out a chair, and sat down, fixing him with a stare.

"Aaron Salyan, son of Viscount Manuel Salyan. Your father was once a knight-captain of the Purple Dragons and a hero of the kingdom. He died beneath the walls of Tifantom during the Time of Troubles. In recognition of his loyalty and courage, His Majesty Azoun IV permitted the Salyan viscountcy to pass down one more generation. That makes you the last Salyan. Barring the unexpected, the history of that name and title ends with you."

Hendry ordered a gin from a waiter. Fine crow's-feet lined the corners of his small eyes. "Your family has an honorable history, and your parents were both fine people. But this is official business. Would you answer a few questions?"

The young cleric's expression changed.

A moment ago, Eleanor had been looking forward to seeing Aaron squirm. She had not expected the Queen's Blade to open by suspecting him of conspiring with the Dark Sun Prince to murder his companions.

Impossible! How could that be possible?

They had not known each other long, but Eleanor could tell from her own senses that Aaron was no such person. Besides, he had received Lady Silverstar's Miracle and met the Silver Mother, Selûne, herself!

"Mr. Hendry, have you made a mis—" Eleanor was on the verge of standing up and challenging the captain's motives when Aaron raised a hand to stop her.

He studied the aggressive Hendry and considered what had brought this about.

The Queen's Blade was a notorious intelligence organization in Cormyr. It had been founded by the legendary warrior known as the "Purple Dragon," former king Azoun IV.

Azoun IV had been crowned king of Cormyr in 1336 DR. Under his rule, the kingdom reached its greatest heights, entering a period of sustained prosperity. With the aid of Vangerdahast, the legendary royal high wizard, Cormyr grew stronger than ever. During the Tuigan Invasion, it led the great northern alliance and defeated the invading nomadic empire of Khan Yamun. Azoun IV himself cut off Yamun's head on the battlefield.

But as a powerful king, Azoun IV had naturally centralized authority. In the name of Queen Filfaeril, he established the secret organization known as the Queen's Blade to watch the kingdom's nobles and commoners alike and keep the populace under tight control.

The Queen's Blade consequently stank up an entire city block. Its very name filled people with dread.

Nobles and townsfolk had protested fiercely more than once, but Azoun IV's prestige and ability were too great. Their opposition was suppressed.

A few months earlier, that great king and legendary warrior had died fighting an Ancient Dragon. He had left his youngest daughter, Alusair, to rule the country as regent.

Aaron had expected to be questioned. The mission had failed, both his companions had died, and he alone had survived. An investigation was inevitable. He had not expected the Queen's Blade to arrive so quickly.

He had thought that if he made it back to Suzail, he would be safe for a while, at least.

Now it seemed the enemy was not only in the King's Forest. They were inside the kingdom, inside the order of Knights, and inside the kingdom's very heart: Suzail!

The questioning began at the dinner table. Hendry asked; Aaron answered.

"...So you're saying you were attacked by the Warlock because you let your guard down, while the other side came prepared?"

"Yes, the other side had clearly prepared with great care. But I don't believe we let our guard down. He was a second-tier elite Warlock with a squad of Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Ogres, and goblin worg riders."

"Do you believe you bear primary responsibility for the attack?"

"I was following orders to investigate."

"Was the deaths of Hicks and Volk, the War Wizard apprentices, connected to your successful escape?"

"Hicks told me to run. He gave his life covering my escape. Volk died when we were first attacked. The fight only began after his death."

"Can you explain how you escaped such a powerful force?"

"I received the Lady of Silver's guidance. Her whispers led me to safety."

"Do you have proof?"

"Yes!"

Aaron gestured toward Eleanor. Your turn.

Honestly, this man! He's using my goddess as a shield again! A vein throbbed on Eleanor's forehead. She had no choice but to give a brief account of how she had happened by, rescued the unconscious Aaron, taken him to the Lady of Silver's shrine in Seabury, and performed Miracle, after which Selûne had used divine power to heal the wounds to his soul.

Sure enough, Hendry's brows drew together when Eleanor finished. This was not the answer he had hoped for.

The Church's involvement and the cleric's testimony ruled out many of his leading questions.

"You have no sorcerous bloodline. How did you acquire sorcerous abilities?"

"I don't know. But I believe they must be a gift from the Lady of Silver."

"Did you deliberately flee toward the shrine or clergy because they could testify for you?"

"I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I heard the Lady of Silver whisper, telling me to run that way."

"If you received help, why didn't you pursue the Warlock instead of abandoning your mission and returning to Suzail?"

"The Lady of Silver instructed me to."

"Is the spellcasting ability you acquired connected to the Warlock you were tracking, or to his Patron?"

"I believe it is a sign of the Lady of Silver's favor and has nothing to do with the Dark Sun, the warlock, or his patron."

"Lord Salyan, blaming every answer on a deity is irresponsible."

"I'm simply stating the facts."

Hendry asked several more questions. Unable to find an opening, he finally put away his quill. "Very well. Thank you for your cooperation, Viscount Salyan. I'll submit our entire conversation to Her Highness Alusair for her decision."

The captain of the Queen's Blade then took a large golden key from his person. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your dinner and rest. Under the princess's rules, we'll cover your room. Please feel free to enjoy every service Mistress Tama Choya offers here."

"Every service? Even if I drink through Tama's entire cellar tonight?" Aaron took the large key, felt its weight, and laughed.

"Of course. The royal household will reimburse everything in the end. You just need to think ahead, as you did today, about how you'll answer Her Highness's questions." Hendry casually hooked an arm around Aaron's neck and whispered in his ear, "This is a rare opportunity. The Flower of Seabury. Don't say I never helped you!"

"A suite. Double occupancy." The captain patted Aaron's shoulder and winked with a look any man would understand. "Don't forget your brother if things work out."

Aaron caught on at once. He returned an equally suggestive smile. Nothing more needed saying.

So the rumors were wrong! The Queen's Blade isn't so unpleasant after all!

Hendry Higginson, was it? I'll remember your name.

After dinner, Aaron spoke to Ferrara and the others. They agreed to set out at nine the next morning.

He took Eleanor by the sleeve and led her upstairs. "Come on. Let's go up and rest."

"Who said I was resting upstairs with you? What are you doing?" Eleanor struggled indignantly against his grip. "I'm not sharing a room with you."

"Shh. The Queen's Blade probably hasn't gone far. This is for our safety." Aaron leaned close and whispered, "Let's get inside first. There's something I need to discuss with you. It isn't safe out here."

As Aaron drew near, that pleasant fragrance of his reached her again, driving away the inn's cold, damp smell of mildew.

The large golden key spun between Aaron's fingers. "And noble suites come with free hot baths. You can soak as long as you like!"

Sure enough, Eleanor's resistance weakened considerably.

In the Realms, a hot bath was no simple matter. Without developed boiler technology, it meant heating a great deal of water and burning plenty of fuel. It took time and effort.

"Besides, a room that big isn't safe for me alone. Miss Eleanor, I need your protection. I really do!" Aaron clasped his hands together in appeal. "Without you, I honestly don't know what I'll do!"

"Even if you put it that way..." Eleanor still hesitated. She watched him warily, with a trace of resistance left in her eyes. "We're an unmarried man and woman. It wouldn't be proper to share a room."

"We aren't an unmarried man and woman. We're humble servants of the Lady of Silver, dear friends, brothers in arms, the closest of companions!" Aaron's glib lines kept coming. Seeing Eleanor still hesitate, he added, "Or do you lack confidence in your abilities, Miss Eleanor? Do you think a second-tier elite cleric like you could be overpowered by a first-tier apprentice sorcerer like me?"

That changed Eleanor's bearing at once.

"Then all right," she said softly. "The Queen's Blade won't miss an opportunity, either. You're favored by my goddess and need protection."

Charm successful!

Aaron gave himself a silent thumbs-up.

The Realms' charm spells? No good.

Slaanesh's charm spells? Now those worked!

Our Slaanesh's charm spells are just too powerful~

Aaron used the large key to open a room on the third floor and looked over its furnishings.

At a large roadside coaching inn like this, the usual nighttime accommodation was a long communal sleeping platform that could hold twenty or thirty people. Ferrara's group, for instance, had taken such a room for just one silver coin a night.

Next came the peasant rooms: two beds and a bucket of water in the corner, for two silver coins.

A merchant's room had a table and chairs as well as beds, a clothes rack, and even a window!

The noble suite was almost luxurious. It had a private bathroom, a sitting room with a sofa, a long table and a carpet, and a separate bedroom. It cost five gold lions a night.

Hendry had saved Aaron a considerable sum. Aaron had brought twenty-five gold lions with him, but spent twenty at Seabury's open-air shrine to have the barbarian woman find him a set of weapons. He had little left.

As for Eleanor, Aaron doubted she had more than ten gold lions, and guessed she had fewer than five. Judging by her frugal habits, she did not seem like a cleric with money to spare.

They entered and sat on the sofa. Aaron summoned a waiter to arrange hot water for their baths, then asked casually, "Do you want to bathe first, or shall I?"

"I'll go first." Eleanor sat stiffly on the sofa, her knees pressed together.

She watched Aaron casually remove his outer robe and chainmail, revealing the clothes beneath. He even undid the buttons at his collar before leaning back comfortably, as if he had forgotten she was in the room.

Eleanor swallowed.

The Lady of Silver does have a good eye. This man really is quite...

"I'm glad you kept your temper and didn't fall into Ferrara's group's trap." Aaron gave her a gentle smile. "If you'd attacked someone inside the Kalan Inn, we'd have had a real problem."

Eleanor stared at him, then realized what he meant. "You heard?"

"Yes, I heard." Aaron tapped his temple. In the dim, candlelit room, his eyes shone like a boundless blue sky, bright and impossibly deep. "You think that rogue did it by accident? No. He provoked you on purpose!"

"I thought they were bad news from the start!" Eleanor took off her own robe and hung it on the clothes rack. "Why did you invite them to travel with us?"

"I knew something was wrong with them from the beginning. Sixteen warriors in a group of eighteen mercenaries is strange enough. And they're capable fighters: Ferrara and Montero are both second-tier elite adventurers, while the other fifteen are apprentice-level adventurers. They still had supplies, too. So why were they resting out in the wilderness? How did one bugbear and a few goblins leave them in such a state and eat their goods?" Aaron laced his fingers over his stomach and smiled. "None of it makes sense. With their supplies and strength, couldn't they have made it to the Kalan Inn?"

"When you put it that way... Were they not planning to go to Suzail?" Eleanor fell into thought.

"No, they were going to Suzail." Aaron shook his head. "Think again. If they weren't, they would have had no reason to stop out there. Nor would they have been so delighted when I suggested we travel together."

"Miss Eleanor, think carefully about how they behaved when they met us, how they acted before entering the inn, and why they deliberately sent a rogue to test you. Then consider the notice at the inn's entrance. What conclusion do you reach?" Aaron guided her patiently through his reasoning.

Eleanor thought for a moment. Then a disturbing answer came to her. "You mean they're... smugglers?"

"Correct!" Aaron snapped his fingers. "The two of us walked straight into their trap!"

"They're smugglers from Zhentil Keep. Unfortunately for them, they ran into Princess Alusair's decree requiring proof of identity and employment. That caused serious trouble for people smuggling goods under the guise of a mercenary company. The decree is strict, and they couldn't obtain an adventuring license on short notice."

"So they set a trap out in the wilderness, hoping to lure someone in and find a way to get a license."

"What they didn't expect was a noble and a cleric. That pair wouldn't be easy to deal with, and the aftermath would be even harder to manage."

"I saw that. While they wavered, I offered to travel with them and help them out. I'm a viscount and a Purple Dragon knight-candidate, so I have the authority to issue them an adventuring license. I was a piece of driftwood appearing before a drowning man. Of course they grabbed hold."

So that was it! Eleanor suddenly understood, but another question occurred to her. "Then why did that rogue...?"

"Because you were an unknown factor." Aaron smiled faintly. "Clerics aren't Paladins, but plenty can be stubborn."

"Tch!" Eleanor clenched her fists in frustration, then looked at Aaron with fresh eyes.

There's more to him than I thought!

"You might not understand why I chose to help them." Aaron sank back into the sofa and closed his eyes. "If I hadn't, desperation would have driven them to take risks. They might have murdered one person out in the wilderness, then two, then many more. In the end, they would have become bandits."

"Ferrara, Montero, and their people are at the point where they could slip past the last boundary of what they consider acceptable. All I have to do is pull them back before they give up on themselves and turn to murder and robbery. Of course, I'll take the payment I'm due: twenty percent of the profits from their goods." Aaron opened his eyes again. "That is my way of doing good."

Slaanesh's power did not work through plans, logic, and schemes like Tzeentch's.

But Slaanesh understood human nature.

"As for you, dear Miss Eleanor, I always believed you wouldn't lose your temper and do something you couldn't undo." Aaron's expression grew serious. "That's why I didn't intervene."

"Why?"

"I know you, Miss Eleanor. We've known each other for years. You're a devout cleric of the Lady of Silver. You would never let her reputation suffer because of you." Aaron winked at her. "You might get angry, but you wouldn't hurt anyone over it. Ferrara's test was bound to fail."

Eleanor froze.

Does he really know me that well?

Aaron said nothing more. He wanted to give the priestess time to take it in.

"...Aaron, you really have changed," she said at last, studying him anew. "You never used to be so... radiant. So charming and clever. I can imagine how popular you'll be when you return to Suzail."

Charm successful!

"Well, I've said what I needed to say and explained everything. Why are you still wearing that veil?" Aaron feigned offense. "It seems you still don't consider me a friend."

Eleanor nodded and reached up into her hair. "All right. It's not as if you haven't seen me before."

Aaron immediately gave Eleanor his full attention.

Tonight's main event was about to begin!

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