The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [42]
"Farewell, Master," she said.
"Good luck, Meisha Saira." The wizard smiled at her, the same affectionate smile she remembered adoring as a child.
Even now, the smile affected her, made her think he actually cared about het and her future.
Meisha forced herself to turn away, and she didn't look back as he chanted the spell that would send her back into the sunlight.
CHAPTER 12
Amn 1 Marpenoth, the Year of
Lightning Storms (1374 DR)
Meisha listened to the rush of the tivet Vudlur beneath het feet and watched the man stride up the western bulge of the Star Bridge.
He wore tarnished chain mail and a plain but well-kept tunic of mud-brown, with gauntlets and a studded belt to match. Standing easily at six feet, he had broad, muscled shoulders. His hair and mustache wete bronze; his skin burned Calishite dark, but his blue eyes belonged in the Notth. Meisha knew better on both counts. Kail Morel was a son of Amn, and up until a tenday ago, Amn had believed him dead. "Well met, Kail," she said, extending a hand. "It's been a while, Meisha." Kail glanced at her bare fingers. "I don't think so."
The Harper smiled. "Still afraid I might burn, even aftet all these years?"
"Why do you think we'te surrounded by water?" Kail leaned against the bridge rail. "I take it you've heard the news?"
"There's talk of little else," Meisha said. "Dhairr Morel's death shocked and saddened Amn, but she is inconsolable to learn his only son yet lives to claim his estate."
"I'm not surprised." Kail turned in the direction of distant Keczulla. "Thank you for making the journey. My father spent his last years in Keczulla. It's the only city where Morel assets survived intact, after the war."
Meisha nodded. In the years after Kali left Esmeltaran, humanoid armies led by two ogre mages-Sythillis and Cyrvisnea, allied with followers of the church of Cyiic-had attacked the city and a fair portion of southern Amn. Amn's defenders-Meisha among them-hadn't been able to beat back their armies, and the port city of Murann had fallen to the new Sythillisian Empire. The cities of Esmeltaran and Imnescar had been devastated in the attack, and many of the merchant families lost their entire holdings. In the year since the wat began, the humans and monsters had contrived an uneasy truce between them, but Amn had only just begun its tecovery.
"You have a long road ahead," Meisha said, "if the froth at the mouths of the Bladesmile and Angathi families is any indication. From the gossip I've gathered, your father had a fair share of outstanding debts, which you've also inherited."
Kail sighed. "Judging by their eagerness, I'd say I have until Nightal to find a way to pay them."
"And what will you do once you manage this miracle?"
"I'll find Balram."
There was venom enough in those three words to fill a hun-dred rivers. "Yet you've found no ttace of him or Aazen since before the war," said Meisha. "Thus far, they have eluded you. They could be dead, and you would never know."
"Balram's a survivor. I'll find him," Kail said. "What I need from you is information about the people who served my father at the time of his death. I don't recognize any of their names or faces."
Meisha was confused. "To my knowledge, Morel could afford little more than a skeleton household staff. They would not be a threat."
"Thete is also a wizard," Kali said.
Meisha snorted. "Morel, hire a wizard? In Amn? Impossible."
"His name is Syrek Dantane. He hails from Waterdeep and claims my father hired him a year ago for protection. I need to know if this is ttuth."
Meisha nodded slowly, considering. "Difficult, but I can try. Waterdeep is too large. The most accutate infotmation will come from his time in Amn. Wizards are hard to hide. If he ever acted openly, someone will know of it."
"There's one more thing." Kali reached in a pouch and produced a small object that captured the sunlight. "When I cornered Meraik, he had this on him. He hadn't been in contact with Baltam for some time, but he was kind enough to point me on the path to finding the rest of Balram's