Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [30]
Jolle hurried into the room. "You'd better hurry. They're nearly here."
"Let's go, Harper," Caledan said. He didn't wait for a reply but lowered himself quickly through the trapdoor, clambering onto one of the beams below the inn. Mari's eyes widened as she stared at the dizzying drop. She started to protest.
"Surely there must be another-"
"Now, Harper!" Caledan growled. "Unless you'd rather explain to the Zhentarim where you got that fancy moon-and-harp pin you're so proud of wearing."
Mari's eyes flashed fire, but she bit her lip and lowered herself through the opening. "Be careful, Estah," she told the healer.
A stern look crossed the halfling's face. "Don't you worry about Jolle and me. We can handle a few of Cutter's men. Now you two stay quiet." She shut the trapdoor, and there was a grating sound as she and Jolle moved the heavy table back into place.
"Comfortable, Harper?" Caledan asked patronizingly.
Mari gave him a scathing look. With white-knuckled hands she clung to one of the oaken beams. Wind whipped at her dark hair. A trio of swallows lazily spun and dove below them.
Caledan rather enjoyed the view himself, but he knew his was an unfair advantage. He and the other members of the Fellowship had used this hiding place on more than one occasion in the past.
Both of them tensed when they heard the heavy thumping of booted feet on the planks above their heads. A growling voice drifted down through the boards, but Caledan couldn't make out the words. A gentle yet resolute voice spoke then. Estah.
The booted feet departed, and for a long time the only sounds were birdsong and the voice of the spring wind. Then there came that same dull scraping sound, and a moment later the trapdoor opened. Estah's broad face was framed in the square.
'They're gone," she said in a relieved voice.
Minutes later they were once again safe within the inn's private dining chamber. Mari's face was pale, and she fairly gulped down the cup of spiced wine Estah offered her. However, she was none the worse for wear. Caledan had to admit to himself, albeit grudgingly, that the Harper had been brave.
"At least this should keep Ravendas's attention away from the Dreaming Dragon for a while," Caledan said. How long that might be was another question.
It was evening when Cormik arrived at the inn. He had traded his normally fastidious, opulent attire for a disguise consisting of the patched, mud-spattered garb of a peasant farmer and wore a wide-brimmed straw hat pulled down low to conceal his eye patch.
"You know, I think it suits you," Caledan told him with perfect seriousness.
"I've killed men for much less than that," Cormik snapped, plucking at his threadbare attire with a look of profound distaste. "What necessity can make us stoop to," he lamented in a pained voice, but then his manner grew businesslike. "I didn't come here for compliments, Caledan. I came to warn you and the lovely Harper Al'maren. I just received word that the lord steward, Snake, has ordered a door-to-door search of every habitation in the city."
"We already know," Caledan said matter-of-factly, enjoy-'ng the startled look on Cormik's face. The owner of the Prince and Pauper wasn't used to others learning things before he did.
Caledan and Mari spent the rest of the evening deep in conversation with Cormik. Estah brought them a plate of good but simple fare-bread, cheese, and a jug of pale wine. Cormik eyed everything with a sense of novelty.
"So this is how the masses live," he remarked, picking up his earthenware cup and studying it carefully. "How interesting. How peculiar." He sniffed the wine, and his bulbous nose wrinkled. He quickly set it back down. "How revolting."
Not possessed of such delicate palates, Caledan and Mari enjoyed the repast while Cormik talked. The efforts to try to wear Ravendas down and, more importantly, to discover her weaknesses were going well. A few small opposition bands under the direction of some of Cormik's agents had scored several hits against Lord Cutter's city guard.
"We've been a thorn