Negotiations and Love Songs

"Curse the dictates of honor," Sir Keldorn moaned into his hands while Anomen shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "The very gods demand that I bring this case before the courts. Sir William shall be hung and my love imprisoned. There is no other outcome."

That was true. Amn's laws were quite clear about the price of adultery. "Sir Keldorn," Anomen said, finally finding his voice, "perhaps you should talk again with her."

"No!" Sir Keldorn rose from the dainty settee and paced around the room, his armored boots leaving heavy imprints in the plush carpeting. Dressed still in his battle-scarred plate mail, Sir Keldorn's hulking figure did not belong in this delicate room that had only known the forms of gentle women. "Seeing her face now would drive me to madness! I would become a blood-soaked beast and damn my soul to the Abyss!" His face contorted into a mask of pure fury.

"Aye." Anomen said, just to say something. He could find no words with which to console Sir Keldorn. The law was the law.

Sir Keldorn stopped his frenzied pacing and dropped onto the settee, again burying his face in his hands. "I do not know how it has come to this," he moaned. "For my whole life, she has been everything to me. Everything."

---

"There is nothing left to me now! Less than nothing! Lady Maria cried, her head buried in Renai's shoulder. Awkwardly, Renai patted the woman and searched the ceiling for something to say. Unfortunately, the lime-streaked painted tiles held no answers.

This would have been less weird if she had just screamed at me and thrown me out like I thought she was going to. "C'mon, you can't mean that," Renai soothed, feeling like a liar. If what Anomen said was true -- and knowing what she did about Sir Keldorn -- then Maria was definitely headed to prison. "Just give Sir Keldorn a little time to cool off. He loves you. He surely wouldn't let you go to jail."

A bitter laugh stemmed Lady Maria's sobs, and she pulled away. "'Sir' Keldorn, is it? You don't know my husband well, do you? Of course he 'loves' me. He has always said he loves me. For all that means anymore."

"It must mean something. He talks about you all the time." That was only a little white lie. He had mentioned her. Once, perhaps. "You're probably making this bigger than it is. He loves you," she insisted.

"And you believe that will help me?" Lady Maria gave a cynical stare. "Tell me ... Renai, is that your name? Are you married?"

Renai shuddered. "Me? Gods, no!"

"Have you ever had a lover?"

"Ye ... yeah. A few," Renai admitted. If you could call them that. Kivan, who ignored me except when he wanted to come to my bed, and Taran, who I treated the same way so I could get over Kivan. She pulled her thoughts away from past men before she could start thinking about present ones. "So?"

"If your lover betrayed you, what would your reaction be?"

Lady Maria's question made Renai flinch. "Pull his heart out with my bare hands," she sighed. That's what she had meant to do to Kivan. If Khalid and Minsc hadn't managed to hold her back, she would have. "But it's different with you. I don't have children. I haven't built a life with someone. Doesn't have count for something?"

The tears filled Lady Maria's eyes again. "Why should it? It hasn't counted for anything ever before."

---

"How could she do this? How could she do this to me?" Sir Keldorn's gaze was fixed on the floor as if he was trying to see to the very depths of the Abyss. "To ... sport with a man behind my back! And my children! That she would defile them by letting him near them!"

Anomen opened his mouth to answer, but Sir Keldorn's low pitiful moan continued. "I cannot remove these thoughts from my mind, that this viper slept in my bed. That he ran his fingers through the spun gold that is her hair!" His leonid head swayed from side to side as if to deny the images. "I had always believed that Sir William of Thorpe was a good man ... at least until ... until now."

"He is hardly that," Anomen said. He sat down too heavily in a delicate-legged chair that swayed under his weight. "And he will swing from a noose before long. You may take comfort in that, Sir Keldorn."

"But Maria -- my wife, the mother of my children -- would still rot in prison! And I would be branded a cuckold and a fool! Torm's mercy on me!" Sir Keldorn rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, letting it brush against his cheek to catch what may or may not have been a tear. "Every avenue open to me offers naught but despair."

"At least she told you." Anomen wasn't sure how much of a blessing that had been. No party at a noble house was complete without circles of gossips telling the latest tales of the such indiscretions. Now Sir Keldorn would know that his name was among them. "Perhaps," Anomen said, grasping at the one straw left to him, "all is not as black as it seems. Perhaps Lady Maria is blameless in this."

Sir Keldorn hauled his eyes up from the rugs. "What mean you by this, lad?"

"It ... may be that Sir William is the only one at fault. If Lady Maria has ... faltered, then it may be that she was seduced. Roundly taken advantage of by a vile scoundrel. That must be what happened!"

Sir Keldorn cringed, making Anomen regret his poor word, seduced. But some of the angst left his bearing, and Anomen saw the light of hope in his eyes. "Yes," Sir Keldorn replied slowly. "My wife is a model of virtue. You could be right, lad. It must have been him."

---

"It was me," Lady Maria sighed. After much talk, tears and recriminations, Lady Maria had produced a box of what she called "comfort" from her bedside table. The box of Maztican chocolates lay between them as they lounged on the bed. "Three months ago. We happened to meet at the Promenade. He was trading in the marketplace and I was ... seeking a distraction. It's so lonely here that sometimes I find myself going to the Promenade to buy a single spool of thread that I don't need, just to get out into the world."

The heady, semi-sweet scents were a bit too distracting to Renai, who loved chocolates. Leaning away from the candies to keep from devouring them all in one gulp, she asked, "So then what happened?"

An expression of sadness and misty joy lit Lady Maria's face, taking years off her age. "We began to talk. Talk turned into a drink. Then dinner the next night. We met for long walks by the river. And then ..." She blushed deeply, prettily. Renai didn't have to ask what happened next. "I knew from that first day in the Promenade, from the way he looked at me. I knew he wanted me. And I wanted him." She glanced at Renai. "Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Renai drawled, her thoughts lingering for a moment on Yoshimo, on the dark glow his eyes sometimes held when he watched her. "I think I do."

"It has been so long since a man has looked at me like that. And I needed it." Lady Maria brushed a tear from her eye. "When Keldorn does come home, he only talks about his quests. What he's done for Torm. Never a query about my thoughts or desires. When I try to talk to him about my life or about the children, he listens with half and ear and returns our talk to Torm and the damned Order."

"Torm and the Order," Renai echoed, shaking her head. Sir Keldorn's two favorite subjects. She could strangle him with those two subject. Suddenly she remembered that she had meant to come in here to plead Sir Keldorn's case. "Well, they've both helped him become a good man. And he is a good man. Annoyingly so."

Lady Maria looked away; after a moment she lay back on the pillows and let out a long, low sigh. "Yes, he is a good man. A great man. People sometimes look at me like I'm the wife of a legend instead of the wife of a mere mortal man." She took up another chocolate and looked at it as if searching for the answers within it. "But do you know what it's like to be married to a man like that, Renai? Their exploits may provide you with a bed of silks and satin, but it's a cold one, because you're always left alone in it."

---

Sir Keldorn had gotten up from his seat several times, marching toward the door as if on a quest to garner Sir William's head. Each time he stopped when his hand touched the doorknob, and he would retreat back to his pitiful pose on the parlor settee. "It is no use," he cried. "There is no way to bring Sir William to the courts without involving Maria. And I cannot allow that!"

Anomen handed him a crystal glass filled with a half inch of fine whiskey. Anomen didn't know whether Sir Keldorn needed the drink, but he certainly did. The amber liquid seared his insides, but it also unknotted his tense shoulders. Between the liquid courage in his glass and the righteous indignation rising in him on Sir Keldorn's behalf, Anomen was starting to think that Renai had been right. Sir Keldorn had done nothing except act as the perfect knight, and he had been vilely betrayed. It was Anomen's duty, as a priest and as Sir Keldorn's friend, to help him in his time of need.

"It is my thinking," he said, "that we have two paths we may travel, that of the law and that of justice." Sir Keldorn looked at him sharply, but Anomen did not let it fluster him. "We know that sometimes one does not mean the other."

The elder knight rose again and opened his mouth as if to reply, but closed it with a snap. "What have you in mind?"

"We see how it must be Sir William who drove her to this ... transgression," Anomen said. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "To spare her a public punishment, which would harm you and your family as much, perhaps you should deal with him personally." Sir Keldorn put down the drink, which he had not tasted, and stared again at the floor. "Sir Keldorn," Anomen implored, "we must do is take action, now, and dispense justice ourselves! Sir William has challenged your honor! There must be a reprisal."

Sir Keldorn said nothing, still hanging his head like a beaten man. Just as Anomen was about to despair, the paladin of Torm squared his shoulders and met Anomen's gaze.

"A reprisal," Sir Keldorn said softly. "You're right. There must be a reprisal."

---

"I hate to push you for a resolution now, but you have to tell me what you want me to do." Renai hunted through the scraps of paper left in the chocolate box for any uneaten morsels. There weren't any. "Do you want me to get Sir Keldorn to give you a second chance? Or do you want me to distract him while you run off with Sir William?"

"I ... I am ashamed to say I don't know what I want." Lady Maria slid off the bed and began to pace before it. "I love my husband. I do. But I ... care very much for William. And if I can't have Keldorn acting as a husband to me, then ... oh, Renai! I can't live like this anymore."

"Well, you probably won't have to live like that anymore." Renai sat up. "Let's say we get Sir Keldorn to avoid the prison issue completely. What do you do then?"

Lady Maria stopped in mid-pace. "What do you think I should do?"

"Honestly?" Renai drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "Maria," she said, dropping the honorific; after a morning spent with her like this, she doubted there was any need left for formality. "Keldorn's your husband. You have to at least try with him."

"I was afraid you would say that." Maria looked away from Renai, her hands twisted together in agitation.

Renai got up and went to Maria, taking her by the shoulders. "But if he won't try, or if you can't make it work. ..." She shrugged. "I've heard that divorce is as much a blessing as marriage, sometimes. Because you're right. You can't live like this."

A small sob broke from Maria's throat, but it didn't seem anguished now. A smile appeared through her tears. "No, you're right." She enveloped Renai into a close, sisterly hug. "I was a fool, wasn't I? I should never have let it go this far with William. I should have told Keldorn I was unhappy long ago. I should have taken proper steps."

Renai released Maria and brushed away the older woman's tears. "This might have been the only way for him to actually hear you, you know. You'd almost have to set fire to the church of Torm to get his attention."

Maria chuckled, but her brief mirth faded as she took a deep breath. "I'll tell Keldorn right away, and send William a note this afternoon telling him we must end things. I ... I won't see him again. Not unless ... " Maria didn't finish her thought. She went to the mirror, then flinched and turned away from her reflection. "The children will miss William," she whispered. "He's been so good to them. But maybe ... if Keldorn is with them and they come to know their father ... maybe ... "

Softly, Renai said, "You don't think it's going to work, do you?"

Maria shook her head. "I know my husband well. But I will try. For his sake. And ours."

---

A look of resolve hardened Sir Keldorn's features as he strode out of the parlor and into the greatroom. "Sir William must face his crime. And Maria," he said, his voice and his stride faltering. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them Anomen saw them reflect a deadness from within. "After I deal with Sir William, I will deal with my wife. If Torm is with me, I may spare my name and my family's honor from the shame of the courts."

Anomen put his hand on the paladin's shoulder. "Let us make our way to the cur, then."

"No, no. This is a task I must face alone." Sir Keldorn looked toward the hallway Maria had fled down earlier. "I am already so weary, but I know I shall not rest until the deed is done," he murmured, as if Anomen was not meant to hear his words.

He turned his gaze back to Anomen. "You've been a great help to me today, Anomen, and I shall not forget it. You are ... a good man, and a credit to Helm." The compliment lifted Anomen's heart, and when he gravely shook Sir Keldorn's hand, for the first time, he finally felt like a man. "Meet me back here this evening and, if the gods are willing, this nightmare shall all be over."

Without another word, without pausing again, Sir Keldorn left his home. Anomen watched him go, feeling proud and anxious all at once. I should go with him, no matter what he says. He may need help in this matter.

A light step behind him made him turn, and he saw Renai enter the room, a look of consternation on her lovely face. On the side of her mouth was a slight smudge of something dark, as if a shadow had sloppily kissed her. Is that chocolate? he wondered. Where did she get chocolate? Renai looked into the parlor and, seeing it empty, turned back to Anomen. "Where's Keldorn?" she asked warily.

"He has gone to confront Sir William," Anomen said. Renai's eyes widened; obviously she was surprised and pleased that he had managed the situation so well. "We realized that this was not a matter for the courts, for obviously it was Sir William who took advantage of Lady Maria's good name and virtue. Sir Keldorn has gone to mete out proper justice."

"What!" she squeaked, just as Lady Maria's anguished cry from the hallway echoed through the greatroom. The elder woman appeared in the doorway, her face as pale as the marble floors.

"No! Renai!" Lady Maria gasped. "Keldorn will kill him! We can't let that happen, we can't!"

A rain of blows from Renai's small fists descended on Anomen's head. The girl leaped and danced around him to make sure her light strikes landed precisely on his head. Surprised but not hurt, Anomen managed to catch her wrists and shout, "What do you mean by this?!"

"You ... you ... argh!" Renai shook free of his grip. "You were supposed to calm him down, not send him out to kill the guy! Gods!" She smacked her forehead with her palm. "Note to self, never set Anomen on a task without explicit instructions! Argh!"

"Anomen?" Lady Maria darted into the room, anguish warring with surprise on her face. When she peered up at him, he saw how the lines of age had reformed her features, changing her from the lovely woman he knew as a child. If anything, she was more handsome now at forty-five than she had been at thirty. "My gods, Anomen, it is you! I can't believe ... it was ... I did not even recognize you! Look how you've grown!"

A slow blush reddened Anomen's face as the feeling of being a six-year-old boy chafed at his confidence. Suddenly he understood what Renai had tried to explain to him earlier about Leona. "It has been many years, my lady," he said.

"I know, I know." Lady Maria touched his cheek gently. "And this is what you witness when you return to my home. Oh my dear boy, and so soon after ... after what happened to Moira. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am that I wasn't there."

"Moira?" The note of tragedy in Lady Maria's voice as she spoke his sister's name pulled the breath from Anomen's body. Has she been injured? Is she sick? She made no mention of such things in her last letter to me! "What do you mean?"

Lady Maria took a step back, her eyes flying uncertainly to Renai. "It was that .. her death was so sudden ... and your father did not give notice for her funeral. I would have gone but ... Anomen? Are you all right?"

Dark spots swam before Anomen's eyes, and suddenly he was so dizzy that he felt he must sit down before he fell down. So he did, on the floor right before Renai and Lady Maria. Echoing in his head were Lady Maria's words, her funeral, her death, taking up his whole world so that he could not even think of propriety. Her death, her funeral. Moira. Dead. Father. Moira!

He felt Renai's hand on the back of his neck, pushing his head gently toward his knees and whispering to him that he had to breathe, he would be all right in a moment, just breathe, please, for her. She was beside him, kneeling by his side, and in her eyes was a grief and pity he could not stand to see. Lady Maria was hovering above them, saying something about Moira's death three days ago, a funeral two days ago. More soothing words of condolence that Anomen didn't want to hear.

Slowly, his vision and his senses cleared, and with them came barely coherent thought. "Renai." Surely that was not his voice that spoke. He did not usually sound so broken. "I have to see my sister. Please. Come with me."

"Of course," Renai said gently. She brushed his hair away from his face, her hand as tender now as it had been furious a moment ago. "Of course. We'll go now." She grimaced and looked up. "Maria ..."

Lady Maria offered Renai a hand to pull her up. Together, they took Anomen's arms and helped him to his feet. "Never mind that now," she said. "You've both done enough. More than enough. It's time I took responsibility for my own marriage. I'll go to the Mithrest and stop Keldorn. And tell William goodbye."

As Lady Maria escorted them to the door, a familiar look of pity and sorrow appeared on her face, making Anomen wonder vaguely if he would ever leave this house without it. He didn't care. His arm draped over Renai's small shoulders, Anomen let her be his strength as she led him home.