The Diamond - J. Robert King [12]
"Well," Noph growled, looking at Entreri still unconscious on his straw, "it's sorcery from somewhere."
Trailing shouts, groans, and threats, the battle was retreating down the passage, leaving only Noph to watch the prisoners. The young hero looked from the battling guards to one cell, and then to the other, and let out a sigh.
As if the exhalation had been a cue, a figure in flapping black robes surged around the corner. Noph whirled, sword coming up. "Halt!"
Khelben Arunsun looked up at the sword tip. The tune he'd been humming stopped abruptly, and his mustache quirked in surprise. "Kastonoph! What are you doing here?"
Noph lowered his sword. "Lord Mage, thank the gods you've come! Someone's enchanted the whole garrison! I'm the only one not affected. They're down there; they think they're fighting Entreri and Trandon, though as you can see…" He gestured at the closed cell doors.
"Yes," the archmage agreed, keys jangling as he raised them from his belt. "Worry not about the guardsmen. None will be truly injured. They'll fight bravely, and the spy and the assassin will be slain. No offense, Trandon."
"None taken," the tall mage replied levelly.
"Slain?" Noph asked.
"Fireball. These underways and cells are too small for fireballs, especially the augmented one you'll cast, Trandon. It backfires on you, burning you and Entreri to piles of ash." Khelben fitted a key to the lock on the wizard's door, turned it, and swung it wide, adding, "You really must be more careful."
"It won't happen again," Trandon said calmly, stepping from the cell.
Noph raised his sword. "Wait-what's this?"
Khelben raised an eyebrow. "A jailbreak."
The sword flashed from one mage to the other, and back again. "I can't allow that," Noph snapped. "I'm the only guard left, and I'm sworn to keep these prisoners in their cells until dawn. Back in with you, Trandon!"
"Oh, come now, Noph." Khelben's voice was almost paternal. "He doesn't deserve to die in the morning, does he?"
"No, I was going to talk to you about that. But a jailbreak?"
"Desperate times, lad; d'you honestly believe he'll get justice from the Magisters and Watch, come morning?"
"No, but… you're the Lord Mage. You're supposed to protect Waterdeep, to serve the city loyally. And I'm supposedly one of the heroes of Doegan. Some hero I'll be if I let Trandon just slip away."
Khelben looked grim. He pushed aside Noph's sword to lay a hand on the young man's shoulder. "In the end, Kastonoph, the true hero is not someone who clings blindly to what he's decided is true, but someone who, despite a thousand assaults and the uncertainty of standing in the midst of chaos, acts always to help rather than to hurt. Real heroes are not hidebound moralists seeking always to be righteous. True heroes are committed pragmatists who do what must be done for the good of all. Unless you release this man now, you-knowing what you do of his innocence and Waterdeep's judgment-will be his murderer."
Silence fell. Noph's gaze swung thoughtfully from his blade to one motionless mage, then to the other, and back. Eventually he lowered his blade and sheathed it, bowing to Trandon. Slowly he said, "It has been an honor fighting beside you."
"I feel a similar honor," replied the mage, "to have fought at your side."
"Good, then," Khelben said briskly, sliding a key into the lock of Entreri's cell.
Noph's head snapped around. "Him, too? I don't know if it's right he should die, but… he is an assassin, and he did plan to kill Eidola."
Khelben turned the key. The lock clicked. He swung the door open and stepped into the cell, shrugging. "Yes and yes, but I thought it would be bad form to let him die, given that I'm the one who hired him."
"You? You hired him to kill Eidola?"
"She is a greater doppelganger," Khelben murmured as he bent over the assassin, "or didn't you know that?"
For a moment, it was all Noph could do to yammer incoherently. "You mean you knew? You? You knew who-what-she was