Keldorn Firecam, having heard the terrible news of the happenings at the Delryn estate, had left his own home and headed directly across the square. In a morbid irony, he had heard it from his wife, who had heard the news from Lady Godiva Yurtgy, one of the biggest gossips of Athkatla, and had had learned of the event far before the authorities did.

And right now, that rumor was undoubtedly flying across Athkatla. 'Cor tried to kill his own daughter, and if not for a group of passing adventurers...'

But one thing the rumor-mill did not mention was that the adventurers in question were members of his own party. It was of no interest to the gossip bloodhounds, however, since they only seemed to care about the juicy tidbit that the reputation of the once so proud Delryn Trading Coster had fallen below freezing point.

Right now, Keldorn's thoughts were mostly with Anomen and Moira. First losing a mother, now a father, even though very few good things could be said about Cor Delryn, he was certain the last two Delryns would take this news very hard, though he feared Anomen's reaction.

He found the Delryn estate crawling with city-guards. After stating his name and purpose, and adding a little threatening language, Keldorn was allowed to enter the estate. He found the first floor, the living quarters, filled with three guards and a Lieutenant, looking about, taking notes. The body of Lord Cor, singed with fire, lighting and a throwing dagger sticking out of the back of his neck, was still lying on the middle of the room, quite dead.

Also, in the group stood two peeved elves : Laska and Viconia.

"Keldorn," Laska greeted. "So you heard?"

"I did," Keldorn replied. "Have you been here all night?"

"Hah!" Viconia chuckled. "These guardsman," she spat in distaste, "figured a Drow being on the scene of a crime to be very suspicious and would not let us leave. Well, Laska tried to, but was stopped to by the guards. So, after beating the guards around a bit... well, tossing all those tin-heads on a heap basically, the lieutenant entered the game and told Laska she could go, if she wanted to. Turns out Laska didn't want to leave at all. She just wanted to be ABLE to leave."

"I don't like little power-hungry and corrupt bureaucrats telling me what to do!" Laska muttered as she paced about the room.

"Dynaheir?" Keldorn asked.

"She's upstairs with Moira," Laska replied. "Poor kid was pretty shook up..."

"And the second victim?" the paladin asked.

"Sara?" Laska replied as she backed away a little to let a guard on his way out pass by. "Oh, Viconia was able to raise her and she went back to her quarters to rest."

Immediately, a brief silence fell in the house as the last remaining guards left, leaving only the lieutenant standing over the body of Cor. But, apparently the two guards still stationed outside were having some trouble.

"LET ME PASS, YOU FOOLS!" the tell-tale voice of Anomen Delryn sounded from beyond the door, followed by the sounds of armored men falling to the ground. The double doors of the estate flew open, and the young Delryn heir stormed in. Keldorn noticed a mixture of fear, frustration and intense anger on his face as he ran up to him.

"Why did the Order not inform me?!" he shouted as he forcibly grabbed Keldorn by the upper arms and shook him about. Normally, Keldorn would not have allowed this, but he sensed the boy needed to vent his anger. And if Keldorn would be the target of his ire, he would accept that. "Does the Order intend for me to shovel dung at the corral all morning without saying a single word?!"

"Calm yourself, young Anomen," Keldorn spoke calmly and removed himself from Anomen's iron grip. "I only just found out myself. Your sister..."

"Moira!" Anomen shouted before he ran upstairs to her room.

Anomen stormed through the door, and found his sister sitting on her bed, talking to another woman he did not recognize, and was sitting in a chair beside Moira's bed. Moira seemed calm, and gazed upon her brother, a smile crossing her face before tears appeared once more. Brother and sister flew in each other arms for a firm embrace. They held each other in silence for a few minutes, allowing Moira to cry on Anomen's shoulder.

"Wh... what happened?" Anomen asked.

"Tell him what thou hast told me, Moira," Dynaheir nodded encouragingly.

"Fa... father..." Moira stammered. "Anomen, you haven't been home much lately and..." It was not an accusation, but Anomen sighed as he took it as one. "Things... really went downhill after you left. Father started drinking more, and more. His business decisions became more and more erratic and... faulty. I offered to help him sort matters out but he wouldn't hear of it. He told me a woman should not involve herself in business affairs..."

"Moira..." Anomen said.

"But as father was forced to lay off his staff," Moira continued, "I was charged to be the delivery-girl... And had direct access to father's papers. For three years, I altered his more foolish decisions, countermanding his orders. I had to be very careful, so he would not notice. It was maddening, though, having to pass up very good business opportunities... But I managed to keep our Trading Coster from going bankrupt... But, yesterday, I left the altered ledger lying on the bench when I went to help out Sara in the kitchen. It was first-day, so I figured he'd be out drinking a while longer. But he came home, saw the ledger and three years of alterations. He... went crazy. Accused me of keeping his house to the ground, that I had betrayed him to Saerk..."

"Saerk!" Anomen spat. "It always comes back to Saerk!"

"I didn't know what happened next. I was suddenly lying on the ground bleeding from a gash in my arm, while he stood over me, holding a bloodied dagger. Sara tried to calm him, but father stormed her and... slashed her throat before turning back to me," Moira choked, tears again marring her young face. "He... he really wanted to kill me... I could see it in his eyes."

Anomen and Moira embraced once more, while Viconia entered the room. "Anomen? Keldorn wants to speak to you," she announced.

"In a moment," Anomen said, and held on to his sister.

Moira nodded to Dynaheir, while the mage and Viconia left the room to give brother and sister some privacy.

Downstairs, things were turning ugly. A merchant had entered the room, and he wore the clothes of wealth. His olive-skinned aged brow rose with morbid pleasure as he noticed the body of Cor lying in the living-room.

Keldorn had recognized this man immediately : He was the disreputable merchant known as Saerk. Ruthless, cunning, merciless. He had been charged with a multitude of trade violations, but none of the charges ever stuck.

"So, you are finally out of my misery, you old buzzard," Saerk spoke gleefully as he produced a small pin from his pocket and bent down to stab Cor in the hand.

Keldorn was outraged by this blatant show of disrespect and decided he would do something about it. But Laska apparently beat him to it. Saerk shouted in agony as the tattooed elven fighter took his wrist in an iron grip and yanked his arm upwards with extreme force.

Saerk backed away, cradling his hurting arm. "WHO!" Saerk snarled. "Who do you think you are?!"

"I'm the woman who spent an entire night trying to calm down Moira Delryn with my two friends," Laska spoke icily.

"I'll have you flogged, you impudent elven bitch!" Saerk snarled. Keldorn suppressed a snort as the merchant severely underestimated the elven fighter.

"And if you don't leave now, I'll kill you, you idiot!" Laska snarled. Keldorn noticed with satisfaction that Saerk, not being used to being talked back to, gulped and took a few steps back.

"I must know if he is dead!" Saerk snarled. 'That's it,' Keldorn smiled inwardly. And that was indeed it. Laska grabbed the struggling and swearing merchant by the collar of his neck, dragged him towards the door, and violently pushed him onto the streets. "And STAY OUT!" Laska shouted as she slammed the door shut.

Keldorn and Laska shared a brief nod while the sounds of heavy boots coming down the stairs echoed through the hall. It was Anomen, a look of grim determination etched in his face. Before either Keldorn or Laska could speak to him, Anomen brushed past them both, heading straight towards the body of his father, until he stood over him, merely staring at the back of Cor's head.

"You fiend," he whispered. "You old fool, you wished to destroy the only thing beautiful that was left in your life and mine," That said, Anomen grasped the hilt of his war hammer which was tied to his back.

"ANOMEN!" Keldorn shouted. "NO!"

But Anomen did not listen. Instead, he brought his hammer down on Cor's head, with all his might.

"There," Anomen snarled. "You shall never be raised..."

"Dammit, Anomen!" Laska shouted. "Don't you ever think of anyone but yourself!"

Anomen whirled around in surprise, only to catch a single glimpse of Laska's fist just before it sent him flying backwards. The squire felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as he looked upon the elf standing him with a look of contempt crossing her features.

"Moira has gone through quite enough already without having to see THAT!" Laska said, pointing to the dark blood now spreading over the marble floor. "Don't you ever think, you idiot?!"

"But, but..." Anomen whispered. "My love..."

"SHUT UP!" Laska shouted. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! I AM NOT YOUR LOVER! I HAVE NEVER BEEN YOUR LOVER! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR LOVER!" she shouted in his face. Taking a few moments to calm down, Laska stared at Anomen before muttering to Keldorn : "I'm going to find Dynaheir. Her magic should be able to get this mess cleaned up before Moira sees it."

Then, she was off, leaving Keldorn and Anomen standing in the room.

"All of this is my fault," Anomen said, hitting the wall with his fist, and only succeeding in bloodying a few knuckles. "I can't do anything right, Sir Keldorn."

"Do not say that, young Anomen. You could not have known..."

"I am a coward!" Anomen shouted. "I ran... I ran from my father. I ran from him rather than to face him. Moira is the true hero. She stayed with him... would have stayed with him even if father had survived. But I left... I should have stayed. Who knows what could have happened if Laska hadn't happened by?"

"Anomen," Keldorn said, putting his hand on Anomen's shoulder. "Do not torture yourself with this. Your sister is alive. That is all that matters..."

"I should have never, never joined the Order," Anomen said. "I see that now. My wish could have cost Moira her life. The paladins in the Order speak only of contentment... and I have none of that. But I was so eager to join. I wanted so much to do good. To fight evil..."

"I think," Keldorn said, "that your main reason to join the Order was to get away from under your father's yoke. I understand he desired for you to take over his business one day."

"That he did," Anomen sighed, while Viconia and Dynaheir finally walked down the stairs.

"Perhaps you were more interested in the idea of being and becoming a knight than actual knighthood, Anomen," Keldorn suggested, while Dynaheir cast a spell. Immediately, all of Cor's body dissolved into ashes. "To prove to your father than you can be better than him. That you do know what honor is. Cor was not the most honest of people. He had nearly no scruples at all."

"Perhaps..." Anomen muttered, relieved that his most recent mistake was being taken care of. Laska's friend Viconia cast a spell, making a yellow orb appear in front of her. The magical orb scooped up all the ashes and then floated into an ornate urn before dissipating. "I have come to think that I am no longer worthy of knighthood," Anomen sighed. "I can see clearly now how my actions at Keep De'Arnise were... wrong. I was arrogant... Insufferable... My actions could have cost a lot of lives."

"Well," Keldorn said, wanting to be kind, but not willing to excuse his actions.

"Don't say it, please," Anomen sighed as he lent against the wall. "And after what happened today..."

"Perhaps you need some time to rethink your life," Keldorn nodded.

"Anomen," sounded from the staircase. Both men turned their gaze to see Moira descending down the stairs. The salty trails of her tears still visible on her young face. Her brown eyes were locked on her brother. "Please say you'll stay here for a while. I... I don't think I want to be in this house alone for a while..."

"Of course," Anomen nodded.

"W.. why," Moira stammered, "why don't you help me out with the business here?"

"What?" Anomen almost laughed. "Why?!"

"Well, if... if you don't want to be a knight anymore," Moira said. "Maybe the two of us can take over father's business. Oh, please say you'll help. I'm sure the two of us can lead the Delryn Trading Coster to greatness again!"

"Me?!" Anomen replied in surprise. "A merchant?!"

"Why not?" Keldorn spoke, smiling at Anomen. "You have often told me about how much you despised dishonest merchants. You are still a priest of Helm, so why don't you become the rare truly honest merchant?"

"This is absurd!" Anomen snorted.

"No!" Moira smiled and grasped her brother's hand. "No, it is perfect! Your incorruptibility, and my keen business sense, we can rebuild the Delryn reputation. Show father how business is REALLY supposed to run."

"But.. but," Anomen stammered. "The Order... the fight against evil!"

"There is more than one way to fight evil, Anomen," Keldorn nodded. "Have you ever heard the expression 'An army travels on its stomach'? The Order, does not own farms..."

"Are you seeing," Moira smiled. "That the Order would be our first client?"

"If Anomen, once a squire of the Order, becomes one of the heads of this Trading Coster, we of the Order are assured that we will not be cheated or forced to deal with unscrupulous thieves. No doubt the House of Delryn could be the Order's permanent supplier."

At this statement, Moira's eyes positively lit up. Finally, she would have the chance to make the big decisions.

"Besides," Keldorn said. "The annual jousting game is being set up and we still need..."

"WE'LL TAKE THE JOB!" Moira squealed, more than surprising the still stunned Anomen. "Sorry," Moira told her brother. "But we really need this job. Our coffers are practically empty."

"You have already made it to the final stage of your squirehood, young Anomen," Keldorn spoke. "You can always return to the Order later..."

"Oh, please say we will run fathers business together. Better than her ever could!" Moira smiled.

Anomen was now faced with perhaps the most difficult decision in his life. He had hated this house. He had wanted to leave it behind, to leave his father stewing in his own juices. Becoming a knight had meant everything for him, but now, the very reasons for this choice lay in question. Then, he looked into his sister's eyes, her sparking, joyful eyes, almost snuffed out forever by their cruel father.

He chose for sister...

"So, you wanted to see me?" Laska said as she entered a small room. It contained a single bed, a small closet and a bookshelf. It was very sparse, and only a tiny window let in the rays of the midday sun. Anomen was staring out the window, gazing upon the little park outside. "You've got five minutes," Laska replied coldly.

"I used to stare out of that window for hours when I was a child," Anomen spoke softly. "Watching the families that were actually happy..."

"Get to the point please," Laska replied, sitting down on the bed.

Anomen, turned around and sat on the bed as well. "First of all, I wanted to thank you for saving my sister. Secondly, I... wanted to ask you for forgiveness..."

"I am NOT going to marry you..." Laska snapped, but then softened in surprise. "You didn't just ask for my hand, did you?"

Anomen chuckled softly. "No, no, don't worry. I just wanted you to know, how sorry I am about everything I put you and your friends through at Keep De'Arnise. I was... arrogant, judgmental and... stupid."

"That's an understatement," Laska snorted. To her surprise, Anomen snorted as well.

"Fool that I was... A delusional fool," Anomen shook his head. "Please convey my apologies to the other members of your party. In particular to your Drow friend Viconia..."

"Emmm, I don't think she'd take that too well," Laska chuckled. "But I'll tell all the others."

For a moment, Anomen and Laska sat next to each other in silence, until Laska finally spoke. "So," she said, "you're planning on being a merchant, then?"

"It seems so," Anomen chuckled. "I can scarcely believe it myself, but I'll be able to keep an eye on Moira, and she's promised me to help me. That's my new goal in life... Making Moira happy."

"Truth be told, Anomen," Laska smiled. "I think you'd make a good merchant. I'd rather buy my stuff from an honest Helmite, than a rat-faced salesbeast. Unless... the salesbeast gives away free ale..."

"Of course," Anomen smiled. "But you are kind to say so. It seems that, through this horrible event, both my and my sister's lives have been bettered."

"Yeah, well," Laska said carefully. "You might take some time off from trading to meet some girls, you know... Girls who are not me..."

Anomen laughed, then looked Laska in the eyes again. "I wanted to apologize to you as well. I pursued you to the point of dropping..."

"It's the ears, isn't it?" Laska smiled. "Men always seem to go for the ears."

"When we first met in the Copper Coronet, we did not part on good terms," Anomen replied, now starting to fidget.

"My mistake..." Laska took a deep breath through clenched teeth.

"But one day, I was gazing upon the canals from the Order Guildhouse, and I saw you, bathing. My behaviour was inexcusable, but as I gazed upon your beautiful form, I had wanted to meet you again, while another part of me wanted vengeance for the previous transgression. I have never had the favor of a lady, dear Laska and..."

"What?!" Laska snorted. "Handsome bloke like you, never been around the bend?"

"Sadly, that is the case," Anomen spoke. "I was always too busy training, or preparing for Order tests and trials... I never took the time..."

"So I was your first target?" Laska smiled. "Sorry about that prank..."

"I had hoped I had finally been with a woman," Anomen smiled. "It was painful to think that I had finally experienced a woman's charms and could not remember it in my drunken state! But it was even more painful to think that I had not experienced it all. So I deluded myself into thinking we could be lovers. And not even you kissing that half-elven girl in front of me could dissuade me from that idea. Are you and her...?"

"Her name is Rose," Laska smiled. "And no. Or at least not yet. Though I'm hoping she will be one day. I've had many lovers before, but with her... it's different somehow... I think she might be 'the one'..."

"So you have my apologies then," Anomen sighed. "Pity, though," he smiled. "I daydreamed a lot about our possible future... Our children were beautiful..."

Laska stared at Anomen with open mouth, thinking about how much he had changed this day. "Alright," she finally said, and kicked the door to the room closed.

"Laska?" Anomen asked in surprise, just before the tattooed elf pushed him back unto the bed.

"I hope you understand, I don't do this for just anyone," she said while she removed her vest. "But trust me," she told the stricken, wide-eyed Anomen, who was, at the moment, physically incapable of taking his eyes off her naked chest. "You WILL remember this experience..."

As Moira was passing by Anomen's old room, she suddenly ran into Laska, who was currently adjusting her vest as she came out of the room in question.

"Laska?" Moira asked. "I thought you had gone home already!"

"I am going now," Laska smiled. "To get an evening dip in my pool. Relax a little. Invite Rose over to join me..."

"But where is Anomen?" Moira asked. "I haven't seen him for over an hour..."

"Oh, he just lost his virginity," Laska chuckled, pointing at the room. "You'll find him sleeping there, with a big, fat grin plastered all over his face."

"Oh?" Moira giggled.

"Look," Laska said. "Anomen seems to have changed. Keep him on this path."

"I intend to!" Moira smiled while Laska headed to the front door.

"So," Laska suggested, "that was my last loose fling. As of now I am 'taken'. So please tell Anomen to find another girlfriend, one who is NOT me, and tell him to treat her well..."

That said, Laska exited the Delryn estate, leaving Moira and Anomen to their new lives.