Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [31]
Sirrion grinned. "And what service can one so young and tender perform for the Morninglord?"
"You told Lord Lathander that you would need help in assembling the materials for your… spell," Aurora answered.
"Yes. So?" Sirrion asked.
"Lord Lathander intends to assign Holly Harrowslough to the task," Aurora said.
"Her?" Sirrion laughed. "She's no more than a slip of a girl. I need warriors. Lots of warriors."
"Lord Lathander has every confidence Holly Harrowslough can accomplish the task at hand," Aurora replied calmly.
Holly could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Pride coursed through her every vein.
As he looked down upon the paladin, Sirrion's green eyes glowed for a moment. Holly was struck with a chill and the feeling that she had seen those eyes before, but she couldn't recall where or when.
"Well, since that's the case," Sirrion said, "I suppose she will do."
"Good," Aurora replied. She turned to the paladin and said, "Holly Harrowslough, it is the Morninglord's wish that you collect such materials as Lord Sirrion instructs you to. When all is in readiness, Lord Lathander will come to aid in the spell, and you will receive his thanks."
"I will serve faithfully," Holly said, making a formal bow.
Aurora nodded. "May the joy of the dawn give you strength," she said to Holly. She bowed to Lord Sirrion and turned to leave.
Lord Sirrion watched the priestess walk back upstream for several moments without a word.
"What does the machine do, Lord Sirrion?" Holly asked the god. "And what am I to fetch for you?"
Lord Sirrion looked down at Holly again and smiled. "Come closer, and I will explain all," the god said. "The machine will help with a magical spell so that Lord Lathander can right an ancient wrong."
Holly nodded slowly. Sirrion had repeated exactly what Aurora had told her, yet there was something different about the way he said it. Something rang false in Holly's ears. It was possible that she simply mistrusted the god because he had offended her pride. Perhaps, though, it was true that her talk with the asuras had left her for a short while with the gift of telling truth from lie. Whatever the case, Holly was sure that Sirrion had just lied to her and that there was malice behind his falsehood.
Opera is the sound of nightingales sighing in sympathy over the tomb of a maiden whose ghost weeps of its broken heart, lamenting true love lost and wasted-except when it sounds more like cats on a still summer night, yowling in heat right outside one's window.
–Storm Silverhand
Act Two Scene 1
Joel awoke to a soft touch on his shoulder. In the dim light of the curtained room, he could just make out Jas's winged silhouette.
"Jas? Are you all right?" he asked, still groggy with sleep.
"Can we talk?" Jas whispered.
"Yes. Sure. Open the curtains a little so I can see," Joel said.
Jas pulled the curtains back. A stream of afternoon sun flooded the room.
The bard sat up and motioned for Jas to have a seat at the foot of the bed.
Jas perched on the edge of the mattress. She didn't say anything for several moments. Instead, she simply looked down at her hands.
"Am I supposed to do the talking or you?" Joel asked, trying to humor the winged woman into a less somber mood.
"What do you think?" Jas asked.
"About what?" Joel replied.
"About going to see Tymora about my problem?"
"It sounds like a good idea to me," Joel replied.
Jas was quiet again. Joel sighed. "Jas, this beating around the bush just drives me crazy. Why don't you tell me about your history with Tymora, and then maybe I'll have some clue as to what's bothering you?"
"It's sort of complicated," Jas said.
"I'm a clever guy. I can handle complicated things," Joel said.
Jas took a deep breath and blew it out. Then she spoke. "My parents were adventurers, both paladins, like Holly. When I was just a girl, they were both murdered. They'd helped break up a ring of slavers, and in vengeance, the leader of the ring hired an assassin to kill them. A friend of my mother's fostered me. She was really nice, but I couldn't stand being in the