Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [43]
"I will," she said. "I was simply… thinking, that's all."
"Are you well, Mari?" Tyveris sat next to her on the bench. It groaned alarmingly beneath his bulk.
Mari smiled at the massive Tabaxi. "Oh, it's nothing really," she told him. "This is just a day for memories, that's all." She took a deep breath of the purple air, sighing. "I was raised by a Harper, you know. Master Andros was his name. When I was a child, in the city of Elturel, both of my parents died of the fever. After that, I lived on the streets for several months, finding food where I could. But then winter came. I don't know if I would have survived. Or, if I had survived, what I might have become. That was when Master Andros found me."
Mari thought back to that cold day, to the small, thin girl she had been, shivering in her rags in a storm drain beneath an abandoned building. She had been so afraid at first when the man had stopped and peered in at her through the grating. But his blue eyes had been so kind that finally she had reached out and taken his hand.
"He took me in, like you take in children at the abbey, Tyveris. We lived in a small, rambling cottage, filled with books, and maps, and musical instruments. He was growing older and didn't travel for the Harpers anymore. We spent our evenings together by the fire, reading, making music, or talking about ancient days. But Master Andros was more than just my teacher. He was my father, Tyveris, and my friend."
The loremaster laid one of his big hands gently on Mari's own. "How long ago did his spirit move on?" he asked her softly.
"Three years ago today," she said, surprised at the tightness in her throat and the trembling in her voice. What would Master Andros think of her? He had always taught her to be strong. "I joined the Harpers after he died," she said, clenching her jaw and forcing her trembling to stop. "I want more than anything to make him proud of me."
They sat in silence for a time while the doves sang their sorrowful song. Finally Tyveris squeezed her hand and then stood. "Why must you make him proud of you, child?" he asked her softly. "Was he not already?"
Before Mari could reply Tyveris turned and walked back into the firelit glow of the inn, leaving her alone in the darkness of the garden.
* * * * *
Caledan headed down the narrow back stairwell and joined the others in the private dining chamber.
Tyveris and Mari were helping Estah set supper on the board as Ferret entertained Pog and Nog with a copper coin the thief had borrowed from them. The weaselly little man sent the coin dancing about his knuckles, the penny disappearing in one hand only to reappear in the other. The two halfling children watched in rapt delight, and Nog squealed when Ferret seemingly pulled the coin right out of the boy's ear.
"All right, that's enough," Estah scolded the three of them. 'To the supper table with all of you." Pog and Nog groaned in disappointment but shuffled off, dragging their feet, to obey their mother. Ferret, of course, pocketed their coin as he followed.
"So are you ever going to tell us why Lord Ravendas wanted to string you up, Ferret?" Caledan asked the thief as they broke bread.
Ferret shrugged. "All you had to do was ask, Caledan. It isn't as if it's a secret. I was making plans to escape from Ravendas's work gangs beneath the city, along with the other prisoners who were going to be hanged." He scratched at the dark stubble on his pointed chin. "But then one of the prisoners in on the plan got scared and betrayed us to the Zhentarim. That's when Ravendas decided to make an example of us. Oh, by the way." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. He handed it to Mari. "I believe this is yours."
"How-?" Mari started. He had handed her the moon-and-harp pin she always wore on her jacket, the sigil of the Harpers.
"Just trying to keep in practice," Ferret explained with a wink.
"Well