All Shadows Fled - Ed Greenwood [100]
The Lady Shaerl was stepping unconcernedly into the hot depths of the tub as the other armsmen rushed back in with coils of rope, goggled at her for an instant, and wisely set about their task without comment or delay.
"More soap!" Shaerl ordered briskly as servants scurried, "and that scratcher!"
The wooden back scratcher was handed to her, and she set to work. Lice floated away almost immediately atop the scummy water. "Bethra," she said, without looking up, "Draw Lady Sharantyr's hair out over the edge, put a bowl under it, and start washing! Use my seafoam ointment!"
So it was that when Purk bustled up at the head of a procession bringing platters of hot fowl from the kitchens, he found three rangers, grimy and snoring, slumped over asleep in the huge bath, and the lady of the tower in their midst, as bare as the day she was born, scrubbing and rinsing for all she was worth.
"A feast is served, my lady," he announced with quiet dignity-and was most startled a moment later when Shaerl looked up at him through her dripping hair and snapped, "Well, off with your clothes and get in, Purk!
Wake them up and feed them-the others can pass you the platters as you need them! And have wine ready so that no one chokes-ah, gods, give a bottle here first! This is thirsty work!"
A grinning kitchen-boy uncorked a bottle and handed it to his lady, who winked at him and said, "You're small enough! Pick up a brush, off with those, and get in here!" She took a swig of wine, gasped in satisfaction, looked at one of the armsmen, and snapped, "More hot water!"
Hastening down the stairs to obey, the armsman met one of his fellows hastening the other way with a basin slopping in his hands. The first said, "The lady's passion for bathing is crazed! Have they all washed their wits out of their heads in Cormyr? What's wrong with just going down to the millpond when your stink starts to drive the dogs away?"
The other shrugged. "Overcrowding?" he jested innocently, and went on up the stairs, redoubling his speed as they heard the faint but imperious call:
"Where's that water?"
Towerof Mortoth , Sembia, Flamerule 26
Bralatar and Lorgyn stepped back into the privy chamber of the Tower of Mortoth and exchanged coldly triumphant smiles. "Worked perfectly," Bralatar announced, setting down his chest. It clinked.
Lorgyn raised an eyebrow at the sound. "7 went back for my wand and some favorite food… I thought you were getting your best spells"
Bralatar raised a decanter into view. "And some real wine, to celebrate!"
Lorgyn chuckled and set down his own coffer to study the four spread-eagled, motionless figures hanging in the webwork of cold fire.
"Hmm… see? It drains the mage first," he said, indicating the shrunken, nearly skeletal body of Mortoth the Mighty.
"Is that because we put him in it first, do you think, or because he wields the most magic?"
Lorgyn shrugged. "We'll have to gather some more wizards to see… and we'll need more, anyway, to keep this open. If these apprentices here don't work properly or hold enough life-force, we could be stranded here after just one more back-and-forth trip."
"Plenty of time to go mage-gathering after we've mastered a little more magic and had some fun," Bralatar said, picking up the chest again and starting toward the door.
He stopped and turned, indicating the female apprentice with a jerk of his head. Irendue stared endlessly and sightlessly at the privy wall, her mouth agape. "Shall we free her for a little dalliance tonight?"
"I don't know if that's such a wise idea," Lorgyn said with a frown. "I thought of that myself-she could show us the magic of this place, for one thing-but then I thought of the chance it would give her to turn some spell we don't know about against us. There're so many enchantments in this place, one overlaid atop another, that I can't see any way to keep clear of them all."
"We still have to find a way out past those things in the moat," Bralatar pointed out, "and the