- Chapter 3 : Preperation

  "Here's yer room. Sorry 'bout the dust. It don't get used much."

  Lowe grinned at the friendly man before him. "Not at all, my good man. Trust me, out in the wastes, you get used to dust." If everyone in this town is as open as this fellow here, Lowe thought to himself, my companions and I should make quite a killing.

  Hal said, "Well, any case, I'll have my wife clean it up unless you want t' get some rest right away." Lowe replied, "That's very kind of you. I think I'll spend this time setting up shop."

  "So," Hal said, "if you don't mind me askin', what is it you sell? I noticed you only have two bodyguards to keep it safe."

  This caused the merchant to chuckle and wink knowingly. "Ah, but it is a matter of knowing which two to hire."

  On the ground floor, the red-haired bodyguard sat in a corner with a view of the door while the black-haired one was outside keeping an eye on the merchandise. He placed his legs on the table as he downed the contents of a large tankard with great enthusiasm, and when he was done, he slammed it down on the table and bellowed, "Hey, girly! More beer!"

  The aforementioned 'girly' was a rather plain-looking girl of about 15 or 16 probably the owner's daughter. Only a father'd dress a bar wench like that he thought to himself. Plain-faced though she was, she did appear to be attached to a decent pair of tits, but it was hard to tell since she was dressed conseratively in simple wool. She wore a painfully false smile as she brought the bodyguard his third mug, but that wasn't what he was interested in verifying the authenticity of. Snatching the beer off her tray, he leered up at her and held up the index finger of his free hand. "Hey girly, want t' see a trick?"

  The barmaid shook her head, definitely not interested in any trick this man might have in mind. "I'm afraid I can't spare the time," she said as she turned away back to the bar. As she did, the bodyguard's hand began to glow a faint red.

  As she walked back to the bar, she felt a warmth on her chest which quickly became uncomfortable, and was immediately accompanied by the smell of smoldering wool. She looked down to her horror as a thin line of flame stretched from the hem to the throat of her front. Seeing the fire, she did what came instinctively. She screamed and beat at the line of flame with her hands to try and put it out.

  The next few seconds were a blur. Almost before Hal and Lowe even heard the scream, the door of the tavern swung open. The red-haired bodyguard instinctively looked to the open portal, but just as it registered that there was no one there, he felt a thin, cold metal edge tickle his throat.

  "We were told not to make trouble," a cold, deadly voice said beside him. "In fact, we are paid not to. So unless you wish to end your employment, do away with the flame."

  The red-haired sneered as he looked at the other bodyguard out of the corner of his eye. The smaller man had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and was watching him with a cool, even glare. "You ain't my boss," he muttered hatefully. The flame that had been smoldering the barmaid's clothes slowly began to spread.

  An angry voice bellowed from the stairway, "No, I'm supposed to be!" The fat merchant stomped down the steps. "And Nader is quite right, you are being paid to guard my merchandise, but it will hardly be worth the journey if you get us run out by justifiably angry locals!" Hal ran ahead of Lowe when he saw what was going on with the barmaid, and quickly grabbed a towel to try and smother the flame. At the same time, the merchant stepped in front of the table the bodyguard was sitting at, and gave him an authoritative glare. "Do I make myself clear, Bleyz?"

  Bleyz glared at Lowe, then out the corner of his eye at Nader. Muttering a string of deadly curses, he clenched his fist, and in an instant, the fire burning away the barmaid's clothes was snuffed out. The faint glow surrounding his hand gradually faded as well. There was a metallic rasp as Nader returned his rapier to its sheath, but Bleyz could swear he could still feel it across his throat. "I was just playin' around with'er," he muttered darkly.

  Lowe gave Bleyz a reprimanding look, then glanced around the room. When nothing else seemed to be out of order (the looks they were getting from Hal and the barmaid were quite understandable, given the circumstances) Lowe put on a wide smile. "Well, no permanent harm seems to have been done. I apologize most sincerely for my employee's behavior, and can assure you that I will see to it that this does not happen again." To the black-haired bodyguard, who was leaning against the wall, he said, "Nader, you and Bleyz guard the wagon. I will be going to the chapel for the afternoon services." The response from Nader was a simple nod. "Thank you.

  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go get ready."

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  "Mina, can you please tell me what happened?" Incongruous as it was, Leeda looked small and scared as she clutched the blanket around her, almost like a child afraid of the monsters under her bed. Mina glanced at Gehn. The look he gave her echoed his earlier words, 'we never talked about it.'

  No. Whatever reason Gehn had, She would say it straight out. "Mother Leeda, you--" She was interrupted, however, by a sharp, irritated rapping sound at the window. Startled, everyone looked out the window to see Reah pecking at the glass.

  Karn smacked his forehead. Fortunately, this time his hand was empty. He quickly walked over to the window and opened it, allowing Reah to hop inside. With a few flaps she perched at the foot of the bed, glaring indignantly at Karn. "Then this is where Karn is now! Reah waits, she did, but Karn returns, he didn't!"

  The expression of embarassment on Karn's face was so priceless, Leeda suddenly found it difficult to stifle a giggle that was welling up inside her, but she tried for the benefit of her friends. The sight of the big man being -- for lack of a better word -- henpecked by a 30-inch tall bird was just too much, though, and she found herself laughing uncontrollably, causing Reah to turn her attention to her. After a moment of looking at Leeda, Reah asked, "Mother Leeda is in bed why?"

  "She fainted," Gehn said before anyone else could. The corners of his stony face turning up in an unusual smile, he continued for his daughter's benefit, "judging by how quickly you've recovered, though, I'm guessing it wasn't anything serious. Probably just that lamb we had when we had dinner couple nights back, come to bite you in the ass. I thought it smelled kinda off, and my gut's been acting up ever since."

  Mina said nothing... couldn't say anything after this pronouncement. Gehn hadn't simply put off telling the truth to his daughter... he had outright lied. Even odder was the expression on her mentor's face. Distress at having fainted, yes there was that. But beneath that was a sort of... relief?

  Leeda smiled at everyone, but kept her eyes low so as not to make contact. "I'm sorry, I know I must have caused you all a great deal of worry," she said. Suddenly, she looked up, her eyes wide as she remembered something. "The sermon! How long was I asleep? Is there time for the afternoon services?"

  "Easy, easy," Gehn soothed as he placed a hand on her shoulder before she could bolt out of the bed. "You'll be fine, but still, you did faint, so you should get rested up." Before Leeda could protest, he said, "And don't worry about the services. Mina can do them, can't she?"

  Leeda slowly calmed, looked her father in the eye, then nodded. Laying back down in the bed, she sighed faintly. "Mina, I know you can take care of it."

  The acolyte bowed and said quietly, "Yes, Mother." Internally, she was conflicted. She wanted to tell her mentor what had really happened, but she knew Gehn. He was often loud and crass except in Leeda's presence, but he always said what was on his mind. The fact that he was willing to lie to his only daughter, whom she knew he loved dearly, was inconceivable before today. She was determined that she would get to the root of it, but not here and now, as she had intended before.

  "Karn, why don't you stay here with Leeda and keep her company?" Karn, who had been quiet this whole time, started a bit when Gehn addressed him. "Oh, sure thing, sir!"

  Reah piped up, "Reah came to be with Karn and friends today, she did! Read wanted to sit and watch paint peel, she didn't!" To her crowing dismay, Gehn stepped up behind her and picked the caa up. "Well, then you can do something for me," he said, looking the bird in the eye. "Why don't you go back to Rolen's and tell him not to be such a stranger?" With that, he walked over to the window which she had entered from. Mina caught him whispering something to Reah before he dropped her out the window onto the ground outside, where she turned and coughed indignantly before flapping her large wings and taking flight. As he looked out the window and watched the caa fly off to the north woods, he said to Mina, "Well, looks like you'd better be getting ready. The services start soon, and people are gonna want to know that Leeda's alright."

  Mina nodded, grimacing inwardly. To Leeda, she said, "Don't worry, Mother, I'll take care of everything." She bowed respectfully and walked toward the door. As she opened it, Gehn said to Leeda, "Since you're alright, I'd better get back to the forge. I left in the middle of something, so I gotta make sure it doesn't burn down the village."

  He left the room and as Mina was telling the four men she had gotten to guard the door that Mother Leeda was alright, and that they could leave. Once they were gone, she turned and fixed the blacksmith with a fierce glare. Gehn simply met her gaze evenly.

  "I know what you must think," he said quietly, "but it's better this way, at least for now. I'll tell you more when Rolen gets here, but not a moment sooner."

  Mina's eyes narrowed. "What does my brother have to do with this?"

  Gehn started walking down the hall. "When he gets here, and not a moment sooner. Anyway, there's no time for explaining. You've gotta fill in for Leeda soon." With that, he walked out of the hall, and out of the chapel.

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