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Twenty Thousand


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#1 Guest_Rose of Jericho_*

Posted 10 December 2002 - 03:40 AM

Never in her life had Renai seen such a beautiful sight. "Yoshimo," she said, "I could kiss you."

Before the bounty hunter could do more than grin, Renai attacked the heap of batter-fried, red jam-smothered pumpernickel bread with her fork. The first bite practically melted on her tongue and almost brought tears to her eyes. "Oh, heaven," she moaned through the food in her mouth, which she then gulped down with a large swallow of cider before she took another heaping mouthful.

"Careful," Yoshimo said. On the table before him was a bowl of porridge and a steaming mug of tea, untouched since Renai began eating. "You will make yourself ill eating so quickly."

Still eating, Renai said, "This is the first real meal I've had in ... what day is it?"

"Today is the fifth of the Fading, my lady," Anomen said, his eyes following the path of her fork as it rapidly traveled from her plate to her lips. Neatly arranged before him were a slice of precisely buttered toast and a chilled goblet of milk.

"Gods," Renai swallowed hard and looked at Anomen, the savory taste of her sumptuous breakfast almost forgotten in her surprise. "I haven't eaten since just after Midsummer. No wonder." She studied the plate before her, then looked sheepishly at Yoshimo. "Is there pie around here, do you think?"

The bounty hunter laughed. "This is the Promenade, meian. You likely will find everything your heart desires within these columns. Even," he tapped the edge of her plate with his spoon, "a potion to treat dyspepsia, which I fear you will need if you keep eating so rapidly."

"Good," Renai grinned, "because I want pie. Not just a segment, either. I want a whole pie." She fell to her meal again with gusto.

"Fascinating." Anomen finally tore his eyes away from her rapidly vanishing battertoast and picked up his goblet. "I do not believe I have before seen a woman eat so much so quickly. Most women eat like birds because they always are 'watching their figures,' as they say."

Renai snorted and almost choked on her food. "You mean they're wanting their figures watched. Well, my figure doesn't need watching. Especially by you, thanks." She felt a glimmer of satisfaction at Yoshimo's hearty guffaw and the deep blush on Anomen's face, both of which made her breakfast taste even better.

Soon, the pangs of dire hunger were sated. Renai belched quietly, ordered another cup of cider and slowed her consumption enough to shift her mind from nutrition to the men before her. They're so different, she thought, now pausing to chew her food before she swallowed. Anomen's so stuffy and prissy. Hah. He'll be a great paladin someday. They're all like that. Still, he's actually someone I'd want on my side. That's one of the good things about his type -- you can always count on him. And, he seems to really need a friend. Not as much as I need friends, probably, but still ...

She turned her attention to Yoshimo and caught him studying her over the rim of his mug of tea. Hastily, she picked up her refilled cup of cider and drank deep. I wish he wouldn't look at me like that, like he knows something about me. But if he was His prisoner, too, then he'd have to know something. When she returned her gaze to him, she found he was leisurely eating his breakfast and looking around the Promenade, and suddenly she felt a small spark of disappointment that his attention had wandered away.

"Coo!" A voice shrilled near her ear. Renai looked up and saw a human man in gray leathers standing at her shoulder. A hood partially obscured his face, making only eyes as bright as a bird's visible. "You be the one I be lookin' for, if I not be mistaken," he said.

Renai put a large piece of battertoast in her mouth. "Can't talk now, eating," she mumbled.

"Uh. ..." The man looked at her plate, then at the men across the table. Both wore uneasy expressions; Yoshimo had stopped eating, and his hands had disappeared under the table. "Ah, Renai be yer name, aye?" the man asked her.

"Um, no," Renai said into her cup. Something about him triggered every alarm in her head. Besides, Jaheira was always getting onto her for trusting people too readily anyway.

"Is that so?" The man leaned on the table, trying to peer into her face. "I be thinkin' that m'sources were infallible. Especially about young lasses arrested by th' wizards over yonder, on yer arrival here in the City of Coin." He nodded at the pile of debris in the far northwest corner.

"Are you talking about Imoen? What do you know about her?" Renai exclaimed, then winced. She didn't have to look at Yoshimo to know that he was grimacing a bit, too. Never give anything away; it was one of the first lessons you learned in a thieves' guild.

"Whew!" The man drew a hand across his forehead and grinned jauntily at Renai. "Wipin' me brow, I am. T'was afraid I might've got the wrong girl." He stepped back and eyed Renai from top to tow, nodding. "Imoen, aye. That be her name. Young lass made th' misfortune of castin' a spell or two in a city that frowns on such business. Bad timin', it was. Y'be wantin t' find her, then?"

Renai looked over at Yoshimo and Anomen, who was glowering at the man with downright hostility. On Yoshimo's face, however, was a look of cautious recognition, and when Renai caught his eye, he nodded slightly, then brought his hands up again to the table.

"Yeah," Renai said slowly. "I do want to find her. But I suppose my question should be, 'What do you care?'"

"Coo!" The man turned his grin to Yoshimo, then crossed his arms smugly across his chest. "I knows little meself, but I have friends, y'see. Very powerful friends who be in the know about many things. What they don't know, they certainly can be findin' out. An' they be carin' a great deal about you." His eyes roved over Anomen, then passed by him to study the crowd. "But this be not th' best place to parley. My place be just a short walk away. Why don't I take y'there right now? Unless y'have some reason for not wantin' to come along?"

Can't talk now, eating, Renai wanted to say again, but Yoshimo was giving her that intent look again, and Anomen was staring at her with equal doses of curiosity and disapproval. Stay here, wait for Jaheira, finish breakfast and search blindly for Imoen myself. Or, go with a shady stranger to his house in his territory on his terms to talk about unnamed friends I don't know who want to help me free Imoen. She sighed. Choices. Always choices. Renai bid the scant remains of her breakfast goodbye and stood. "All right," she said. "I'll go with you. But no funny stuff."

"Coo!" The man cried. Renai had never heard that particular expression before, and by its third piercing repetition she discovered that she hated it. "Come with me then!"

The man darted ahead, walking so swiftly that Renai barely had time to grab her shoddy gear from beneath the table and hustle after him. "My lady," Anomen hissed into her ear as he followed her, "I do not believe this man is to be trusted."

"My goodness, wonder boy, what gave it away?" Renai rolled her eyes. "The dark leathers and cryptic comments? His 'powerful' friends?"

"I am inclined to take the priest of Helm's position, meian." Yoshimo said, a touch of regret in his tone. "You will do well to be wary near this man."

The man never turned his head to make sure they still followed, she saw. He was just far enough ahead that all they had to do to lose him was turn a wrong corner. Their short journey was marked by the sudden change in landscape as the dignified structures of the Promenade gave way to the dismal, filthy streets of Athkatla's slums. It would be very easy to lose him there. "Should we be going with him, then?" she asked.

"By all means. But still you should be wary." Yoshimo took her arm and quickened his step, pulling her along with him. "He is one of the Shadow Thieves in Athkatla. Perhaps your acquaintance with the guild in Baldur's Gate will protect you. It is likely that it will. However, if you have such notoriety that the Shadow Thieves are interested in you," Yoshimo coughed into his fist and looked away, "it is always a good thing to be wary."

"Shadow Thieves?" Anomen's voice scaled up, making Renai wince. "What does he mean, my lady, 'Shadow Thieves?' Surely you are not allied with that foul organization."

"'Allied' is such a strong word," Renai replied absently, trying to take in Yoshimo's words. She was starting to fret, and that was never helpful. If he was a Shadow Thief, she was going to have to play it cool. They were great when they knew and liked you, not so great when you were a stranger, and downright terrifying if you happened to have the bad luck to need them. Which, she hated to admit, she did. "Let's just say that there are some avenues of help I'm never adverse to traveling. But let's not argue over moral alignments just yet, all right?"

Thankfully, the thief entered a ramshackle house almost hidden in a smelly, dark alley, and the sight of their dingy destination took the words from Anomen's tongue. Silently, they entered the house behind him.

"Coo!" the man crowed. Renai bit down hard on her tongue to keep from telling the man that if he uttered that word again, she'd find a dark spot somewhere on his body to put it. "I see y'were able to keep up with me then? I was afraid I'd lost ye!"

"I kept up fine," she replied. "Now, you want to tell me what all this is about? Maybe start with a name?"

"Well, where be my manners?" He stuck out his hand, which Renai took without thinking, and shook her hand so hard her shoulder ached. "I be called Gaelan Bayle, miss, and I must say it's a fine thing to be meetin' such a renowned person as y'self. An' yer companions, too." He nodded at Yoshimo and Anomen, both of whom stood beside her with their arms crossed, watching Bayle through narrowed eyes.

"Well," he said again, then clapped his hands. "I tell y'straight that I know a powerful group that can be helping ye. They can be findin' the young woman an' the wizard taken with her, they can. But they can be doin' far better than the tellin', me girl. They can also effect the rescue of yer lass an' the capture of the mage to boot."

"Huh," Renai said, trying to sound nonchalant. She tossed her head and looked Bayle straight in the eyes. "Shadow Thieves are that powerful around here, eh?" Behind her she thought she heard Yoshimo's groan and the sharp slick sound of flesh on metal as Anomen tightly gripped his mace.

If Bayle was surprised that she had foriced his hand so soon, he did not show it. "I never made no mention of Shadow Thieves, miss," he said slowly and carefully, meeting her gaze with an empty one that made her want to shudder. It was the gaze of a predator, not a man. "But then, I also be thinkin' that'd ye'd be one to not mind so much if I had, if we understands each other right."

Renai exhaled; she had not realized until she felt the breath pass her lips that she had been holding her breath. "True," she said softly. "I'd dance with Mask himself if that's what it takes to get Imoen back."

"Well then, we share a mind. That's good to know." Some of the relaxed cockiness returned to Bayle's face, and he grinned at Renai again. "But I warn ye, miss, y'should know that it requires me friends t' cross the Cowled Wizards. Not something y'would be able to do on yer own."

"You'd be surprised of what I'm capable of doing on my own. If they can save me some time by telling me where she is, then I can 'effect a rescue' myself." The short hairs on the back of her head were standing up, a sure sign that one of the guys -- or both -- were staring at her and probably frowning.

"Y'might think that, but I be tellin' it ain't true. Without me fellows, there be nothing y'could do. And trust in me, me girl, ye be wantin' my friends help. Aye, y'do."

Renai arched an eyebrow at Bayle. "Is that a threat?"

"'Tis not a threat, miss. 'Tis only the truth." He locked his empty eyes on hers again, and once again, Renai had to fight the desire to quake in her ragged boots.

"Let's say," she said finally, and this time she heard Yoshimo slowly releasing his breath, "that I do take you and your friends up on this offer. What's it going to cost me?"

"Aye, now we be gettin' somewheres. 'Tis a dangerous deed to be doin', miss, crossin' the Cowled Wizards." He paused and looked at the ceiling, like a vendor in a marketplace seeking prices from the heavens. "Couldn't be done f'r less'n ... twenty thousand."

Renai gasped, and every pretense at nonchalance disappeared as the words left her lips. "Twenty thousand in gold?"

"Aye, did you think t'would be in coppers? Twenty thousand is a fair sum, miss, for the risks we be takin'. 'Tis not a thing we be doin' lightly, as y'well know."

A glance back at Yoshimo's face did not provide her with the hope or direction she needed. Yoshimo's features were like stone, a stark contrast to the red-faced outraged Anomen war. But again, he nodded ever-so-slight, while Anomen emphatically shook his head. "He names an outrageous sum for any work, my lady!" Anomen hissed, loudly enough for Bayle to hear. "Whatever trouble you seek to make right, the Order would be the place to turn, and their help would cost you nothing!"

Bayle chuckled, and Renai felt her face grow as red as Anomen's. Sure, it would cost me nothing -- until they found out who I am, she thought, her gaze darting against each man in the room as she tried to find the right answer. I haven't forgotten Ajantis. After he found out, he wasn't my friend anymore, he only wanted to be the saviour of my soul. So what if I give myself over to a whole herd of men who only want to preach to me about renouncing my evil ways without finding out first that I'm not evil? No thanks.

"It's impossible," she said and sighed with a regret that she truly felt. "Twenty thousand in gold? You'd might as well ask me for the Tears of Selune. I don't even know how I'm going to pay for my bed and board tonight, much less how I could pay you a king's ransom."

"Now, now," Bayle clucked his tongue at her. "Did I say that y'must cross me palm this very day? Y'have time, me girl. An, y'seem like a resourceful one. There's plenty in Athkatla for y'to do." He turned his eyes from Renai's to fix Yoshimo with a hard stare. "I'm sure that yer friends would be well able to set yer feet on the correct path."

Yoshimo put his hand on Renai's shoulder and squeezed it gently, but under Bayle's gaze she derived no comfort from his touch. "I may know of some employment that can be found," Yoshimo said slowly.

"Aye, good." Bayle nodded smugly. "Y'might want to check within the Copper Coronet. 'Tis a lass by th' name de'Arnise who looks to hire a woman of your ... talents."

"That girl?" Anomen spat, his voice so sudden and loud that Renai almost ducked. "She is nothing, a spoiled child who whines and pules for attention only. My lady, she is not worth our time."

"Ye be quite a judge o'character, ye be," Bayle laughed, then turned to Renai again. "Y'will find me here, me girl, when y've got the gold." Waving a hand at them, Bayle dismissed them, his sardonic laughter following them as they trudged out of the building.

Outside, again in the bright southern sunlight, Renai was able to breathe a bit easier. "Twenty thousand," she sighed.

"My lady, I implore you, do not agree to his terms," Anomen said, curling his lip as he looked at the house. "Such offers would leave you trapped in within his power."

"All offers come with attached strings, young samurai," Yoshimo replied. He looked down at Renai's face, his expression grim. "You would do worse than this, meian. Our chances of finding young Imoen alone are very slim. With the help of the Shadow Thieves ..." he trailed off, but he didn't have to finish; Renai knew how beneficial the Shadow Thieves were to their friends, how malicious they were to their enemies.

"I never did agree to take it," she said thoughtfully. "Bayle just leaped ahead and assumed that I would." She looked at Anomen, who nodded slowly, a look of haughty relief on his face. "But I won't say no just yet, either."

Renai shouldered her bow and took a step toward the district's exit. "C'mon. Let's go pick up Jaheira and figure out what to do next. Maybe that de'Arnise thing Bayle mentioned might pan out."

"Bah," Anomen snorted. "She says her father's keep has been overrun by malign forces, but she refuses to specify the foes or their intentions! I find it highly doubtful that a keep such as her father's would be taken so easily." He began to litany of vices for which the de'Arnise family were known, but Renai only listened with half an ear. Now that the matter of survival was assured, she was uncertain about what to do next. In this hot, humid and unfamiliar city filled with strangers, she felt very alone and suddenly very frightened.

Yoshimo touched her shoulder again. "Do you still want a pie?" he asked, a forced lightness in his tone.

"No." Renai sighed. "No, thanks. I've lost my appetite."




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