Avatar - Tantras Part 21

Midnight stopped and stared at the black-haired boy. She was obviously angry.

"I'm just joking," Quillian said quickly, holding his hand up to stop the mage from admonis.h.i.+ng him. "Still," he added after they had started walking again, "if you were a thief, I wouldn't mind helping you. This city's robbed me blind all my life."

Midnight shook her head. "You're a bit young to be that jaded."

"Age has nothing to do with it," Quillian noted bitterly. "You saw the conditions in the poorhouse. If my father hadn't died a war hero and left a decent pension for us, my mother and I would be residents in that nasty hole, not just volunteers."

The mage imagined Quillian dressed in a pauper's rags, the spark in his eyes drowned by hunger and want. The mage frowned and pushed the thoughts from her mind. "I'm not a thief, but I'll pay you well. Just do your job and there'll be no problems between us."

Quillian smiled and brushed a stray piece of hair from his eyes. "Where do you want to start?" he asked.

"How about the city's temples," Midnight answered as nonchalantly as possible. "Any place of wors.h.i.+p that you know about."

"That's easy enough," Quillian said. "Let's start with theTempleofTorm. That's just -"

"I believe I can find that one without a guide," the mage told the boy as she gestured toward the beautiful spires to the north.

A look of embarra.s.sment crossed Quillian's face. "Reasonable point," the dark-haired lad said sheepishly. "Let's head toward the market, then. It's nearby and there used to be a small house of wors.h.i.+p there."

The two walked in silence for a little while. As Midnight and Quillian got closer to the market, the crowds grew in size. Soon the mage could smell food cooking and hear the droves of people haggling about prices and the merchants yelling to attract customers.

"Up ahead, on the right, there's a butcher shop," Quillian noted as they entered a crowded square. "The building used to be a temple to Waukeen, the G.o.ddess of Trade. Are you familiar withLiberty's Maiden?"

Midnight shrugged. "Vaguely. I remember something about a golden-haired woman with lions at her feet.''

"That's how they say she appears when she walks among us. I haven't seen her in town," the boy said sarcastically, "so I couldn't tell you if that's true or not. Tantras was blessed with Lord Torm instead."

The mage found the boy's sarcasm surprising, especially compared to the enthusiasm about Torm's presence she'd heard from the watchmen at the dock. "Aren't you a follower of Torm?" Midnight asked.

"Not usually. But I can be when it's necessary," Quillian said.

I'd best change the subject, Midnight decided, noting the anger in Quillian's voice when he mentioned the G.o.d of Duty's name. "What can you tell me about Waukeen's temple?" the mage asked.

"There were statues of Waukeen and her lions in front of the place. The Tormites purchased one of the lions to decorate their new temple. I don't know what happened to the other statues or the rest of the fixtures."

The pair crossed the busy square. Midnight stopped in front of the butcher shop, waiting for the crowd to thin out a bit before she entered the busy establishment. She turned to Quillian and put her hand on his shoulder. "I hope that the money I'm paying you will make you less fickle about your service to me than you are about your devotion to the G.o.ds."

Before the boy could answer, a voice called out behind the mage. "Fickle? That's not a word you hear very often in Tantras these days. Not since the G.o.d of Duty moved in!"

The mage turned and saw an old man with a shock of white hair and a scraggly white beard. He was carrying a small harp, and he brushed his hand across its strings, bringing a flow of beautiful notes that pierced the sounds of the crowd.

"Fickle," the old man repeated. "The word reminds me of a limerick I picked up in Waterdeep. Would you care to hear it? It's of great significance, I a.s.sure you."

Midnight stared at the minstrel, examining his features closely. She was sure that he looked like someone she'd met before.

The minstrel stared back at her for a moment then asked, "Are you feeling well? Do you need a physician? Or would the young lady prefer an epic ballad or a sweet tale of romance to sooth her frazzled nerves?" The minstrel's voice was lilting and sweet.

The mage shook her head. "My apologies," she said softly as she shook her head. "For a moment you reminded me of someone."

The minstrel ran a hand through his hair then smiled. "Oh? Fancy that," the old man cackled. He leaned close to Midnight and whispered, "A little secret for you. All old beggars look the same to you younger types."

Suddenly the old man's eyes widened in surprise. "To your left, pretty one!" he cried and pointed to her waist with a bony finger.

Looking away from the minstrel for just an instant, Midnight saw a hand reaching with practiced skill for her money purse. Her left hand reached the purse at the same moment as the hand of the pickpocket, while her right hand balled into a fist. The mage punched the would-be thief in the face.

The yellow-bearded criminal's arms pinwheeled madly as he stumbled into a pair of elderly women and lost his balance. Midnight moved toward the cowering cutpurse, and Quillian leaped on the man.

The minstrel, on the other hand, simply stood by quietly and watched.

"This is not your day, rogue!" Quillian cried as he planted his knee in the thief's back and pushed him onto his stomach. Grabbing both of the pickpocket's hands, the black-haired boy pinned them firmly in place behind the man's back. He moved close to the thief's ear and hissed, "Be still unless you want to end up a cripple!"

The fight went out of the thief as a group of locals gathered around Quillian, the yellow-bearded man, and Midnight . The merchants and peasants hurled insults and a few rotten vegetables at the cutpurse. Then a burly man with a red face and short, gray-shot black hair - the butcher who owned the renovated temple - made his way through the crowd, carrying a blood-drenched axe.

"Well, if it isn't Quillian Dencery," the butcher shouted, genuinely surprised. "What have you brought me today, boy?"

"See for yourself," Quillian said as he fished into the sash at the thief's waist and pulled out three money purses.

The butcher raised his axe in his right hand. "Could this be the thief that has been hara.s.sing my customers for the last two weeks?" The butcher grabbed a handful of the man's hair with his left then pulled sharply. The thief gasped and gritted his teeth as he was forced to look into the butcher's sunburned face. "Do you know how much business you've cost me? My loyal customers are frightened to shop here, and they've been giving their business to that cutthroat, Loyan Trey, in the south end of town."

"Fine!" the thief sputtered. "Let me go and I'll work his shop. Then your customers will return!"

The butcher shook his head. "I don't think so." He looked to Quillian. "Boy, spread his right hand flat so we can chop it off. That'll teach him a lesson."

"Please!" the thief begged. "You mustn't! I'll give the money back. I won't ever come here again!"

"Hah!" the butcher shouted as the thief's hand was forced to the ground, fingers clenched tight. "Your type would say anything to save your own skin. Thieves are all alike." The butcher hefted the axe and the crowd gasped, almost as one. "Now keep still so I can get this over with and get back to business. I promise it'll be quick and clean. I can't promise that you won't feel anything, though."

"Wait!" Midnight cried, lunging toward the butcher.

From the crowd, the minstrel watched with growing interest. The butcher's hand had risen into the air, the bright sunlight glinting off his axe. The blade hung above the thief's wrist, as if it were suspended by a fragile thread.

"You were the one he wanted to steal from," the butcher growled, relaxing slightly. "Don't you want justice?"

The mage stood beside the butcher and whispered, "Look around you. If you're so worried about your business, then stop and think about what you're about to do. Do you really want all these fine gentlemen and ladies to remember your shop as the place they saw you maim a thief?" The mage saw the anger go out of the butcher's face, only to be replaced by concern. "Every time they think of you, that's what they'll remember. Would they think you a good man, then? An honest man?"

The butcher's shoulders dropped as he surveyed the faces in the crowd. Some were expectant and excited. Most were horrified. Practically unnoticed by all, the minstrel was grinning a wicked grin as he watched the mage. But the butcher realized that the mage was right: he'd lose everything if he harmed the thief. "But he'll just do it again," the butcher growled as he lowered the axe.

"Of course he will," Midnight told the red-faced man. "That's how he makes his living. But that doesn't mean he'll ever be stupid enough to come near your establishment again. If he has any brains, he'll even put the word out that your shop is strictly off limits to all his brethren." The raven-haired mage turned to the thief. "What do you say to that?"

"I will! I'll do everything the lady said!" the yellow-bearded man sputtered.

"Then be off with you," the butcher growled and signaled Quillian to release the thief. "And tell everyone you know in the Thieves' Guild that Beardmere's is off limits!"

The minstrel appeared before Midnight . "Fine lady, I will write a song in honor of your wisdom and courage." And before Midnight could respond, the minstrel turned and vanished into the crowd.

Business quickly returned to normal in the marketplace, and the butcher walked to Midnight 's side. "It seems I owe you for your a.s.sistance," he told the mage. "How about a month's supply of Beardmere's finest meats?"

The mage smiled. "Thank you, but I'd accept something far less costly," Midnight replied politely. "I'm a scholar. I wish to know how this former temple to Waukeen became your butcher shop."

"Simple enough," Beardmere said. "The government sold me the building."

Surprise registered on the magic-user's face. That wasn't the answer she'd expected at all. Still, Midnight recovered from her surprise quickly and continued her questioning of the butcher. "Were there any artifacts or books left behind by the wors.h.i.+pers ofLiberty's Maiden?"

"Ah," Beardmere said, convinced that he had finally pegged the inquisitive mage. "Are you a collector, as well?"

Midnight smiled when she saw Quillian hovering nearby, obviously listening to the conversation. "I am," the mage said, a little louder than needed. The black-haired boy blushed and turned away.

The butcher nodded and led Midnight and Quillian into the back of the former temple, through a few rooms that had been converted for storage and office s.p.a.ce. They reached the top of a stairway, then Beardmere grabbed a torch and ushered the mage and her young guide into the bas.e.m.e.nt.

A musty smell a.s.saulted Midnight 's senses as she stepped off the landing and found herself in a small, dirty room filled with abandoned items from the former temple. There were empty s.h.i.+pping crates scattered across the rough dirt floor, and waterlogged ledgers tossed here and there around the damp cellar.

"I sold quite a bit of what was left behind, you understand," Beardmere said, wiping a cobweb from his face. "But many of the items were of no value to anyone in the city. Of course, it would have been sacrilegious to destroy them, so I've kept them stored down here. Someone from the city tried to cart them off, but I wouldn't let him. Just wouldn't seem right, somehow."

Midnight pushed aside a crate and gasped as she found herself staring into the eyes of a beautiful, white-skinned woman. It took her a moment to realize this was the statue of Waukeen, the G.o.ddess of Trade. One of the two golden lions that had once adorned her temple lay at her feet.

Withdrawing the sphere of detection from her travel bag, the mage held the magical item close to the statues. She had no reason to believe that Bane would hide the Tablet of Fate in its original form. In fact, the tablets were probably carefully disguised.

But when the sphere touched the statue, nothing happened. The mage methodically searched the entire bas.e.m.e.nt, her heart thundering in antic.i.p.ation. Each time she touched an item from the temple, though, the results were the same. The magical sphere of detection remained dark and intact.

Beardmere and Quillian watched Midnight as she moved around the bas.e.m.e.nt. "See anything you like?" the butcher asked at last, his attention riveted on the amber sphere in the mage's hand.

Midnight 's disappointment was evident in her voice as she put the sphere away. "I'm sorry, no."

Beardmere nodded. "What exactly are you looking for?"

The mage forced a smile. "I can't really say but I'll know it when I find it."

Midnight thanked Beardmere for his patience as she left the shop. Then the raven-haired mage and her guide took to the streets once more.

"What was that thing?" Quillian Dencery asked, trying to appear casual. "That yellowish orb you were waving around. Is it magic?"

"No questions," Midnight said firmly. She stopped walking and grabbed the black-haired boy's arm. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's better that you don't know anything? Where's our next stop?"

"It's almost time for eveningfeast. I thought we might stop off at the Dark Harvest Festhall to grab a bite -"

Midnight squeezed the young man's arm a little tighter. "Quillian, for what I'm paying you, I expect to be taken very seriously. I do not intend to wander aimlessly, visiting pubs instead of -"

The young man twisted free of Midnight 's grasp. "For a scholar, you don't have much patience, do you?"

Midnight said nothing.

"I happen to know that wors.h.i.+pers of Bhaal, Lord of Murder, meet in the gaming rooms of the Dark Harvest almost nightly," Quillian snapped, rubbing his arm. "If you're looking for something specific - and I think you are - you should go there."

"Perhaps I misjudged you," Midnight noted warily, trying to keep the excitement from her voice. Bhaal was an ally of Myrkul, and Bane had stolen the Tablets with Myrkul's a.s.sistance. "The Dark Harvest it is."

The pair traveled south for three blocks, then headed east to the festhall. Midnight looked up toward the blinding face of the sun; its position hadn't changed since she first arrived in Tantras. Daylight had continued, as the watchmen at the harbor had warned her, twenty-four hours a day.

Turning her attentions to the festhall, the mage was not surprised to discover that the squat, one-story building had been painted black with blood-red trim. Agents of the Black Lord and wors.h.i.+pers of Bhaal, the G.o.d of a.s.sa.s.sins, would find the Dark Harvest a welcome sight in this colorful merchant city.

But as Quillian grabbed the door to the tavern, Midnight realized how foolish she was being by entering a place frequented by the G.o.d of Strife's allies. "I've changed my mind," the raven-haired mage told her guide. "We'll find somewhere else to dine. We can always come back here for information later, if we're not successful anywhere else."

The young man shrugged and looked away. "Whatever you say, milady. We could head south and pa.s.s through the ruins of theTempleofSuneon our way to another place to eat"

At the mention of the G.o.ddess of Beauty, Midnight thought of Adon. For the first time since she'd left the Lazy Moon, the mage was thankful that she had gone to search the temples without her friends.

Quillian quickly led Midnight through a few alleys. Within ten minutes they were at the ruined temple. "It burned to the ground a few weeks ago," the young man told the mage as they stood near the heaps of scorched timber that were once part of the house of wors.h.i.+p. "Rumors say the clerics destroyed the place themselves, just to spite the Tormites. The Sunites left the city right after the 'accident'." Midnight walked through the wreckage with the sphere of detection and was disappointed once again. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, she turned to Quillian and said, "Why did the Sunites leave?"

"I really don't know," the dark-haired boy said. "But there may be a way to find out. In many circles, theCurranInnis known as the Wagging Tongue. A few discreet inquiries and you should be able to learn what you want to know." Midnight shook her head. "Another inn? I suspect you're just taking me there so I can buy you eveningfeast." When Quillian shrugged, the mage smiled and said, "Very well. Let's go to the Wagging Tongue."

Quillian led the mage west, to a small inn several blocks from the harbor. The taproom of the inn was filled to capacity, and raucous laughter could be heard a full block away from the tavern. To get a position at the bar, Midnight had to push between a pair of off-duty guards who wore the gauntlet of Torm. Quillian stood waiting behind her.

Staring at the wiry, dark-skinned man behind the bar, the mage grinned. It had been a long time since the days when she had traveled on her own and frequented noisy, smelly inns like this one. And though she could remember all the points of "etiquette" that one used to be accepted in the company of crude, ill-mannered louts, Midnight felt strange about using it. She wanted to be able to ask her questions, receive the proper answers, and be on her way. That thought would have shocked her three months ago, when she still considered herself a "wild" adventuress.

As Midnight pondered that thought, the innkeeper placed his elbow on the bar and leaned in close to her. His foul breath and bloodshot eyes shocked her out of her musings. "Would it kill you to actually order something?" the man grumbled.

"That depends on what poisons you're trying to pa.s.s off as fine ales," Midnight remarked without flinching.

The man tilted his head slightly. "Afraid I'll get you so drunk that you'll fall prey to my charms?"

Though she quickly found that she hadn't lost any of her wit, Midnight soon tired of the little game. She would have ended it and simply asked for some information, but the mage knew that she wouldn't learn a thing if she didn't play along for a while, at least. "Under those circ.u.mstances, I'd have to be dead, not drunk."

"Or dead drunk!" one of the two guards flanking Midnight said with a slurred voice then broke into a fit of uncontrollable snickering. It look him a moment to realize no one else was laughing.

Midnight let a slight laugh escape her as she said, "Give me a double of whatever he's having. Then maybe you can tell me something."

"I can tell you plenty," the innkeeper grumbled as he took a large red bottle out from behind the bar. Both fighters mumbled in agreement.

"I'm sure you can," Midnight sighed. "But what I'm interested in is that burned-out building a few blocks away. I understand it used to be a temple to Sune. I'm curious as to why clerics of Sune would leave a city as beautiful as Tantras. Beauty is what they wors.h.i.+p, after all."

The innkeeper laughed as he held the bottle close to his chest. "I remember that lot. They used to come in here with their fancy clothes and their fancy ways, talking like a bunch of d.a.m.n poets all the time. I only let them stay 'cause they had money."

"It sounds like they had it pretty good," Midnight noted, wiping her hand across the greasy bar. "But I still don't understand why they left the city."

The innkeeper snorted. "I suppose it's hard to compete with a temple that's got its own resident G.o.d. Once Torm showed up, their attendance fell off and those wors.h.i.+pers who were still foolish enough to wors.h.i.+p -"

Suddenly the pair of guards stood up and kicked their stools to the floor. All sound and activity in the inn stopped as the guards stood, glaring at the innkeeper. The guard to Midnight 's right, who was wobbling from too much to drink, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Midnight looked at the innkeeper and saw a cold, almost frightened expression cross his face. He took the bottle of liquor and poured its contents onto the floor. "It seems that bottle's empty," the innkeeper said when he was finished. "Is there anything else that interests you?"

"Only a well-cooked meal for my nephew and me," Midnight told the man.

The black-haired boy took that as a cue. "Quillian Dencery," the young man said winningly as he grabbed one of the guard's hands and shook it vigorously.

"Dencery," the man muttered absently. "I think I met your father once. Good man. Fine soldier. This his sister?"

"My aunt on my mother's side," Quillian said as he tapped his head and raised an eyebrow. "A scholar. You know the type."

The guard looked at Midnight , laughed, and turned away. Activity and sound resumed at the inn, and the mage and her guide were shown to a table. As they ordered their meal, Midnight kept a close watch on the guards, but neither of the men even glanced in her direction.