Anyway, onwards with the tale – it is time for Nalia and Keldorn to take their leave. However, we might hear from them before the epilogue of the story… you just never know…
Rush Of Blood To The Head, part 7.17.
Jaheira and I are the only ones up yet in this lovely, sunny morning. Even despite our best intentions to sleep till midday in order to compensate for many sleepless nights, the old habits are not easily extinguished and we are both up soon after the dawning of the day. We sit at a large, round table in one of the many dining-halls in the Royal Palace, a couple of raven-haired elven maidens silently go about their business, serving us the breakfast.
“So… um, do you have any… plans on how we could spend this day?” I ask Jaheira, leaning back in my chair.
“Hmm… no, nothing has crossed my mind just yet. I think that the elves are busy with repairing the damage done to the city and looking for their injured comrades,” Jaheira muses, “Perhaps we could help…”
“Oh, you’re wrong there, miss,” one of the shifty maids suddenly interrupts our conversation, “Most of the elves have been called up to readjust the order in the palace… the Queen is really taken with the upcoming celebrations and as she says, both, the palace and herself must look impeccable. There are only few groups of the soldiers looking for the survivors…”
“That Bitch Queen… my brother is still missing… and all she’s concerned about are her good looks…” the other maid erupts in a sudden outburst, before starting to shake in quiet sobs.
“Quiet! Ly’ssaya! Are you mad? I know… she should assign more people to bring order back to the streets, but you better be careful when saying things like this in the Palace!” the first maid chides, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder in order to calm down the sobbing elf.
“I… see,” I mutter, “and where is Ellesime herself right now?”
“Oh, she’s sleeping… she likes to lie-in and wake only at the dinner time,” the maiden explains, “I… I don’t think that she would change her habits… even at times like these.”
“Yes… I see that she really loves her people,” I snarl and turn to look at Jaheira, who has gone quite red in the face. We don’t get to exchange any more details with the elven girls as we are interrupted by the sounds of heavy footsteps and a few moments later our resident paladin, dressed in informal clothing instead of his orange-colored can, steps into the hall, accompanied by Nalia. While we exchange the pleasantries, the maids quickly serve their breakfast and additional plates with snacks appear on the table.
“How does it feel to have your soul back, lad?” Keldorn asks, dipping a piece of boiled lobster into the sauce, “you do seem like a completely new person. The same could be said about Lady Jaheira, too,” he chuckles.
“It’s… well, it’s an indescribable feeling, Keldorn,” I smile at Jaheira as I speak, my hand sneaking under the table to rest on her thigh, “but most of all, it is that feeling of complete freedom now that Irenicus is out of our lives, once for all… and we are free to choose and decide what are we going to do next…”
Of course, Irenicus is indeed out of our lives, however, Bhaal is not out of mine … and the dream last night had been an unpleasant reminder of that. But somehow the memory of that dream does not linger in my mind for too long, especially when Jaheira’s palm now rests on my hand that is sliding across the smooth skin of her thigh.
“Viconia mentioned that you are eager to return home, Keldorn,” Jaheira adds after a brief pause, “Will you not stay at least until the celebrations are over?”
“Ah, I would dearly love to, Jaheira. Alas, I miss Maria and the girls sorely… and I know how they would love to take part in such a grand ceremony that the queen is preparing for us. Still, it is nothing compared to the expressions of joy on their faces, once I return home…” Keldorn smiles fondly, no doubt relishing the memories.
“I will be going with Keldorn,” Nalia says, battling with the roasted pheasant on her plate.
“Yes, I believe Viconia mentioned that too,” I remember words of the drow, “What are your plans for the future?”
“Well, I… I decided to take Keldorn’s kind offer and advice… he has probably told you that he offered me his Athkatla estate,” I nod and Nalia continues, “And after I did a quick estimation on my part of the party’s treasure… I thought, well, here I have some resources with which to help those in need…”
“I… see. Keldorn, of course you realize that she will be completely broke until the end of the next month?” I smirk and Nalia tries to glare at me.
“Would you mind telling us more of this plan of yours, Nalia?” Jaheira asks, quirking her brow.
“Oh… yes, I was just getting to that…” Nalia sounds rather excited, “see, I know the estate and it’s really large… so I think, maybe we could split in two parts and I would offer the one part to Ilmaterites. They do a good job and if they had more resources, they could help even more… I could spend part of my money to support them.”
“Well, I was expecting something worse… this actually sounds rather reasonable,” I chuckle, “but I fear this is not the whole plan, Nalia…”
“Heh, very funny, Theodur,” she sticks out her tongue at me, “well, I thought… you can’t feed anyone and I will never have enough money to support everyone in need… but I could still give something, I could teach the people so that they could take care of themselves…”
“You are not planning to open a guild of thieves, are you?” Jaheira sounds slightly concerned.
“Oh, that’s not a bad idea, actually… instead of spreading the gold amongst the poor, give them neatly packaged thieving tools, labelled with a sign ‘Help yourselves to a free dinner, DIY-kit’,” I remark and the three of them look at me admonitory.
“Nothing like that! Hey, I know that hardly any of the poor know how to write and read… I have received a very good education, myself… why don’t I share it? I could teach them… and maybe some of them would be willing to stay and teach the others for a small fee? It will give them more chances in life,” Nalia sounds vehement.
“Well, that is a nice idea and I wish you the best of luck,” I say, “but remember that the gold won’t last for long. All the expenses, I don’t know much about taxes in Amn, but I suppose they do exist… how are you going to pay for all of this? Are you going to resort to thievery to support yourself and your charities?”
“Allow me to answer this for Nalia,” Keldorn interjects, “I have already sent a letter of recommendation to the Order, they are always in need of mages for support on their missions. Preferably, those few that are not directly associated with Cowled Ones… and they are a rarity. Nalia will have many requests to aid the Order and she will be paid adequately for her services, you can be sure of that.”
“Ah, of course and she will have an opportunity to meet a lot of tin cans, err… I mean, young knights in shining armor,” I note and Jaheira quietly snickers at my words.
“Someone’s in a good mood this morning, I see,” I hear Viconia’s voice behind me and turn around to see her and Imoen both coming towards us.
“Yeah, and I bet I know why…” my insufferable sister adds with a ridiculous grin on her face.
Luckily for Jaheira and me, they both sit down and stuff their mouths with food, sparing us any further embarrassment… I’ve come to expect nothing less from those two, teasing us seems to have become their mission in this life.
“And what of your plans, young people?” Keldorn asks as we have finished the eating and are enjoying some aromatic herbal tea.
“Err… we have not decided yet, Keldorn,” I reply, “Obviously, we are staying here until the celebrations… besides Ellesime spoke of some reward too…”
“I think we need more time to fully realize and come to terms with the situation,” Jaheira muses, “we do not have to hurry, after all… I am sure that some ideas will come up eventually.”
“Well, whatever you undertake, lad… may Torm watch over you and the lady as well,” Keldorn smiles, rising from the table, “I believe that Nalia and I have to start preparing for the long road back to Esmeltaran. Good luck to all of you, my friends.”
“How do you intend to get back to Esmeltaran? Don’t you need a guide to lead you out of the forests?” I ask with a concern.
“I have already consulted with some of the local elves that hold some contacts with the human settlements. I have all the directions we need, do not be concerned, lad… the closest town is Brost, a few days walk from here and from there we can use a caravan path to Trademeet. Granted, it will be a hard trip through the woods, but we are capable to defend ourselves,” the old paladin smirks.
“Well, of that I have no doubt. Before you leave don’t forget to pick up your share of the loot,” I remind him.
“Add my share to Nalia’s,” Keldorn says briefly and Nalia looks at him with immense gratitude displaying in her eyes.
“Come and visit me, when you are in Athkatla,” Nalia says as she comes over to give a hug to both Jaheira and I, before following Keldorn outside.
“Somehow, I doubt that we would visit Athkatla anytime soon… or… would we?” I look at Jaheira, undecided.
“Only something of extreme importance might drag me back to that accursed city,” she swears, “Not in the near future… not until those painful memories are replaced by others, ones that I can recall with more fondness,” she squeezes my hand at that and smiles slightly.
“Besides, it isn’t like there is anything we should be returning to,” I speak without thinking, only later to remember that Khalid’s dissected body still lies on the table, in a dungeon beneath the Promenade… but Jaheira does not show any reaction to my words, even though I do not believe that she has forgotten this sad detail.
“Vic and I had a talk about what we’re going to do next, last night,” Imoen breaks the silence, “I would like to tag along with you, Theo… if you would have us, that is…”
“And it all depends on what Theodur’s plans for future are,” Viconia says, before getting rudely interrupted…
“A trip to Baldur’s Gate should better be the first thing on your schedule, simians!” the slightly nasal voice says, “Or else… the fireballs will fly!”
Tune in again in a few days time to witness how Edwin executes the fine art of Thayvian diplomacy and tries to convince the group to agree with his plans.
