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Chapter 21


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#1 Guest_theacefes_*

Posted 12 March 2005 - 06:07 PM

Sacrifice: Chapter 21

The sunlight coming in through the window woke me up. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw Nalia sleeping next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me, waking her up as I did so.

“Sleep well?” she asked.

“Yep,” I said. “You?”

“Definitely.”

I lifted my head up a little to look out the window. It appeared to be mid morning as I look at the sun’s position in the sky as it brightly lit up the lands surrounding Nalia’s keep.

“Should we go downstairs?” I asked.

Nalia turned to face me and kissed me on my forehead. “What do you want to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. We should probably start looking into what happened between Bodhi and Isaea.”

Nalia smiled a little and kissed me on the mouth. “Or we could take the day off, like you wanted to,” she said.

“Is that what you want?” I asked.

She nodded. “We could go for a walk.”

I smiled. “I’d like that.”

______________________

We ate breakfast and spent the rest of the day walking around the keep and its surrounding lands. Jaheira took advantage of the day off and continued tutoring Aerie. Imoen, fascinated by the keep, spent the day meeting all the servants and enjoying the luxuries of a noblewoman’s lifestyle. Minsc announced that he was going to give Boo a bath.

We walked all day, pausing at times to sit down and eat some of the food we brought with us. We shared more of each other’s pasts, and what our hopes for the future were.

“So, what do you want tot do after this is all over?” she asked me.

I thought about it. “Well,” I said, “I’d like to take a break. You know, have a normal life again. What about you?”

“I’d like to get Isaea off my back and rule in peace,” she said. “Not that I mind *you* ruling,” she said quickly.

I laughed. “I know what you mean. Don’t worry, though, we’ll get him back.”

I saw Nalia tense up. “He killed my parents, Auren. I want *more* than to just get him back.”

I took her hand. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help you with this, Nalia.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Auren.”

________________________

The thief slipped into the shadows to avoid being seen by the men walking down the path. He had followed them, and knew who they were after.

________________________

Once nightfall came, Nalia and I lit a campfire and ate dinner. We ate in silence for two reasons, one, because I was unsure of what to talk about and I suspected the same about her.

After eating, we still sat in silence. Finally, she said, “Auren, I’ve been reading.”

I smiled at her. “Um…that’s great, Nalia, but why the confession?”

Nalia laughed and shook her head. “I wasn’t done, silly.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, do continue.”

“I found some books in my father’s library. They were about the Bhaal prophecy,” she said, becoming serious.

“What did they say?”

“They talked about the Time of Troubles and how…how one Bhaalspawn would defeat all the other Bhaalspawn and take over Bhaal’s power,” she explained.

I stared at her blankly.

“You could become a god, Auren,” she said.

“I shook my head in disbelief, then shook it again. “It…it said that? But…you don’t know if *I’m* the one or not.”

Nalia took a deep breath and said, “It’s possible, Auren. It’s very possible. I’ve seen you fight…you’re very powerful. I just…” she stopped talking.

“You just…what?” I asked.

“I just don’t know if I could stand losing you if…if you became a god,” she admitted and I was shocked at the sad look she had on her face.

“Nalia,” I said, taking her hand, “we’re going way too far ahead of ourselves. The prophecy hasn’t even happened yet. And even if it does…I’d rather spend the rest of my long elven life fighting off hundreds of power hungry Bhaalspawn, than to become a god and…and leave you.” Did I just say what I thought I said, I thought. I just told her that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

A thousand questions and thoughts ran through my mind. Did that mean I wanted to marry her? Would that be allowed? I was an elf, I would live a lot longer than her, could I live with that?

I looked at Nalia. To my surprise, she was beaming at me. I leaned over to kiss her.

Suddenly I was knocked from behind and thrown to the ground. I spit dirt from my mouth and jumped to my feet, only to see Isaea Roenal himself standing in front of me and Nalia being held by two of the several soldiers Isaea had brought with him.

“What the hell is this? Let her go!” I said.

Isaea ignored me and turned to Nalia. “Nalia, I demand that you stop this nonsense. Honor the commitment you made to me!”

“I made my opinion of you quite clear Isaea,” Nalia said as she truggled to free herself from the soldiers. “I will not change my mind now.”

“Well, then, it seems I have no choice. Nalia de’Arnise, by order of the Amnish law, I hereby place you under arrest,” Isaea announced.

“What?!” Nalia and I exclaimed at the same time.

“You have not been thinking clearly. You are a danger to yourself and to your own lands. Take her away,” he said to the men.

I only had a dagger on me so I took it out and pointed it at Isaea. “Release her or else!” I threatened.

“You have no power over my decisions so I suggest you lower your weapon,” he said with an arrogant look on his face. “Oh, and feel free to file a complaint to the local authorities. That…would be me. Good day to you,” and with that he was gone.

“Dammit!” I yelled out to no one. I had no clue what I was going to do. Sure, I could kill him but that would be murder, since he was just a bratty nobleman, not a criminal.

“If you would but spare me a moment, perhaps I can be of assistance,” I heard a familiar voice say behind me. I spun around.

“Yoshimo?” I said incredulously.

The thief nodded with a small smile. “Yes, Auren, I am still alive.”

I pointed my dagger at him. “What do you want? You betrayed both me and my friends, you got your money from Irenicus; I even let you live. Why are you bothering me?”

Yoshimo bowed and said, “Please, Auren, if you would just hear me out, I can help you get Nalia back, and ruin Roenal for good.”

“Talk quickly,” I said.

“Isaea Roenal is indeed the one responsible for the deaths of the Lord and Lady de’Arnise. He hired Bodhi to have a few of her thieves kill Nalia’s mother, and later hired a pack of trolls to invade the keep and kill the Lord de’Arnise. Isaea intended to kill off the parents after a betrothal with their daughter had been obtained, and once they were dead, he would be free to marry Nalia and take control of the keep.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

Yoshimo smiled again and revealed a small book from his pack. “While in Irenicus and Bodhi’s employment, I snuck around Bodhi’s crypts and found her journal. I read it and put it back. It did not speak of exactly what she and her brother were up to but it did say something of Lady de’Arnise’s murder. Isaea had paid Bodhi to kill the Lady and also agreed to have his guards ‘look the other way’ while her guild conducted…activities at night. This of course, had happened about seven or eight years ago when Nalia was about twelve, and Bodhi had just started building up her guild, so Isaea's money was more than welcome. I suppose Isaea was in his early twenties at the time. After I learned that you had killed Bodhi, I returned to the crypts and took the journal.”

“Is this valid evidence?” I asked. “I’m sure we’ll need more than that to ruin Isaea’s name.”

Yoshimo nodded and revealed another book. “This is a record of gem smuggling. Isaea had it in his sock drawer. Too bad he left the door to his home unlocked.”

I laughed a little, still wondering why I was giving Yoshimo another chance.

“Will that be enough?” I said.

“Maybe, maybe not. I have heard rumors that Isaea was involved in the slave trade, but we can’t be sure. He has a contact that he usually meets at the Sea’s Bounty in the docks of Athkatla. Officer Dirth, I think the name was. We could go and find this man; perhaps he would have some important documents on him,” Yoshimo suggested.

“How do you know all this?” I demanded again.

Yoshimo smiled yet again. “I am a thief and a bounty hunter, Auren. I know Athkatla, and everything that goes on in it. Now, shall we pay this Dirth a visit?”

I nodded, hoping I was doing the right thing. “Let’s do it.”

_______________________

Officer Dirth sat at the bar in the Sea’s Bounty tavern in Athkatla. He had already had three meads, and his contact still hadn’t shown up yet. He probably had other errands to take care of, he thought as he took another sip of his drink.

He saw a tall female (and rather good looking) elf in armor and a human walk into the tavern. After seeing them talk to a few people, he watched as they approached him.

“You’re Officer Dirth, yes?” the elf asked.

The man stood up straight and tried to look important. “Why yes, that’s me.”

The elf considered. “Oh okay…well then, that makes this easy.”

“Why?” the officer asked.

The last thing he saw was the elf’s fist crashing into his face.

______________________


I ignored the people in the tavern looking at me as I picked up a scroll from the officer’s unconscious body. I opened it and read it.

“What does it say, Auren?” Yoshimo asked.

I closed the scroll. “Filthy slaver, that’s what it says.”

“Wonderful. So, then, off to the Government District then?” he asked.

I looked at the thief and considered.

“Yes, let’s go,” I said.

_____________________


Nalia sat in a chair in the Council of Six building in Athkatla. She wasn’t bound with anything but there were four guards keeping a close watch on her.

“Comfy, my dear?” Isaea asked.

“Oh, stuff it, Isaea. This is the second time in three days that I’ve been kidnapped, and I’m in a foul mood,” she snapped.

Isaea laughed and pretended to look abashed. “Oh, my dear Nalia, you have not been kidnapped by any means. I care about you dearly…and I’m only doing what I think is best for you.”

“I know what you did, Isaea, and I’ll prove it. Somehow, I’ll prove it,” Nalia said as she glared at the nobleman.

Isaea lost his arrogant manner for a moment, but then simply smirked and walked away.

______________________


Yoshimo and I approached the chief officer at the Council of Six building. We explained to him what had happened and showed him all of our evidence saying that Isaea was a smuggler, slaver, and murderer. The officer looked a bit surprised but then said, “I’ll…look into this. Please wait here.”

When he came back, I was satisfied to see an angry Isaea being held by a few guards and Nalia being escorted to us.

“I apologize for all this trouble, miss,” the chief officer said to me. Then he turned to Nalia.

“And, Lady de’Arnise, I hope you can forgive us for not looking into your parents’ death more closely.”

“Parents? You mean, you were able to prove my father’s as well?” Nalia asked.

The officer nodded. “Yes, Isaea did confess to that to spare him any further penalties, should we have found out about it in the future. Again, my apologies. You will not be bothered again.”

We thanked the officer and walked out of the building. I turned to Yoshimo.

“Thank you, Yoshimo,” I said, “for everything.”

The thief looked at me hopefully. “Perhaps I have atoned for my mistakes then?”

I laughed. “We’ll see. I don’t know how kindly the rest of the group will react, but if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to come to us.”

Yoshimo smiled his mysterious smile again. “And may I ask, Auren, why you are letting me walk away again?”

I shrugged and Nalia took my hand. “I guess I’m either really forgiving…or really crazy.”




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