Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [29]
"And thus, Valeska can kill her without hassel from other Noble Houses, yet the bulk of the city's merchants will still be annoyed," surmised Pierce. "And what are we supposed to do?"
"Jovan was killed twenty feet from Piergeiron's Palace with a crossbow bolt right in the neck." The bald man smiled briefly. "Followed by a bolt in the head and another in the right shoulder."
The Doctor snorted. "A crack shot as always. No wonder she was once one of the drow elves' best assassins."
"Anyway," Martinez said, his favorite word next to brandy. "We're to track down Valeska and bring her in for sentencing." His unenthusiastic voice showed how thrilled he was about tracking the elusive drow bard.
"Has it ever occurred to Durnan that Valeska has been at large for over the last century and has not once been brought in for justice? He expects us, even experienced Harpers, to be able to snag her?"
Martinez looked at his scuffed boots in response. "Durnan said we should take it as a test of our professional abilities. As far as I'm concerned this is another case that's more suited for someone other than us. We have more important things to worry about than try to find a bard that doesn't want to be found, let alone caught."
"How about we go down to the Yawning Portal and have a word with Durnan."
"At swordpoint?" the warrior joked.
"No, but he'll certainly know I disapprove of chasing around a drow who can teleport. Surely there's something more feasible that can be accomplished."
"Like?"
"I don't know. Attacking Zhentil Keep and killing every last one of them?"
"None," was Durnan's reply. "There's nothing else I can give you. It's been awfully quiet lately and Valeska's assassination is the only thing of interest." Asides from Chev beating Pierce in a duel, he snickered inwardly.
Pierce frowned. He and Durnan rarely got along it seemed. The owner of the Yawning Portal, an inn of no small fame, was actually one of the secret Lords of Waterdeep. For a somewhat short yet broad-shouldered veteran warrior, you wouldn't have guessed it though.
The city's democratic council was made up the Lords of Waterdeep, noble-hearted Harpers with a strong sense of protecting the city. They were elected secretly by the council and kept a secret to protect from assassination from the city's many enemies. The problem with Durnan is that the council had voted to make Pierce a Lord of Waterdeep. Not once, but three times they had offered him the position in which every time Durnan voted against the warrior.
And Pierce refused everytime, claiming his first duties was to his pupils, followed by the Harpers and last to the city itself. Perhaps it was his humble-pride that told him to refuse the honor or maybe it was his foresight warning him he wouldn't have the time to spend contemplating politics.
Durnan looked around the inn's common room, eyeing the slow atmosphere this afternoon with distaste. They sat in a booth in the corner which had been protected magically from all known forms of scrying and eavesdropping.
Even so, Pierce spotted the eyes of a young woman at the far end of the bar following their lips. She was too far away to reach her mind. Keeping his eyes on Durnan, he paid little attention as the man rambled on about the latest Harper expeditions, but meanwhile Pierce's mind was hard at work.
Foreseeing the future was not precise, indeed it took a lot of concentration and was filled with many random possibilities. Pierce saw them all and had to choose the most likely or favourable course of action. Thus he could foresee turning to face and study the woman closer, his foresight telling him what he would see, and then not do it. Marque Draque had argued that this goes against laws of nature and time, and at the same time was intrigued by the fact. The study of magic itself