In The Cards

Though the experienced rogue should learn how to behave in many different situations, some things it is impossible to truly prepare for. There are certain things that nobody could be expected to anticipate. Which means that when the Impossible hits you full in the face, all you can do is to try to cling to your sanity and try not to look too stunned.

Excerpt from 'Interview With An Assassin'

It wouldn’t go away. While he’d made certain to hide That Picture away, the image still seemed to be permanently burnt into his retinas. I probably ought to have torn it up, Dekaras thought. But somehow I doubt that would be enough. It would show up again, one way or another, and the fewer people see it, the better. Then a dreadful thought struck him. She didn’t show it around, did she? Wait. Zaerini did say something about my seeing it being a bad idea. And then there was Edwin. Oh no. This…is bad. Very bad. How am I ever supposed to look him in the eyes again? And what if somebody else has seen the terrible thing?

The assassin was walking through the streets of Baldur’s Gate, a dark scowl fixed firmly on his face. He wasn’t certain exactly what he intended to do once he found Imoen, but he fully intended that she wouldn’t forget it easily. I can’t believe she did such a thing. After all I’ve done for her I really wouldn’t have expected her to start distributing nasty caricatures of me, particularly ones…that…that…frank. That’s gratitude for you. Actually, I don’t know why I’m surprised. I certainly ought to know better than to place even a fragment of trust in strangers. I must have been temporarily insane to do so in the first place.

There wasn’t the shadow of a doubt in his mind that he’d find Imoen eventually. After all, he was very good at finding people, and she hadn’t been long enough in the Gate that there’d be very many places she could go. The Thieves Guild seemed a good place to start looking. Imoen would want to go there to meet with her contact, and even if she had already left somebody would have seen her.

Normally, Dekaras rather enjoyed the Baldur’s Gate Thieves Guild. But tonight there was something…different…in the atmosphere. A subtle undercurrent. He couldn’t identify it, but it made him extremely uneasy. He could almost feel people watching him, and he didn’t like it one bit. Rapidly he scanned the room. The usual activities seemed to be going on. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well…almost nothing. Black Lily the fence was doing business as usual, and there seemed to be an unusually large number of mostly female rogues clustered around her. Once they noticed him looking at them a frenzied flurry of whispers broke out, as well as some muffled laughter. I don’t like the looks of that. But unless I do something about it I’ll only encourage them.

Carefully molding his face into an emotionless mask, the assassin stalked over to Black Lily’s table, inwardly snarling at this new annoyance. “Good evening, ladies,” he told the small gathering.

“Hello there, stranger,” Black Lily told him with a sultry smile. “Anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”

Why did that make them all start smiling like that? And why are three of them winking like crazy and two of them nudging her?

“Perhaps you can help me at that. I’m looking for a girl.”

“Well,” the dark-skinned woman purred. “That I don’t sell. But it might be that I can oblige you anyway, provided you ask nicely enough.” More looks and smiles from the surrounding women. One feral-looking redhead in particular was giving him some very sly sidelong looks and moving her lips silently. I honestly don’t want to know what she’s saying.

“A particular girl, that is,” Dekaras added, trying not to visibly grind his teeth. He didn’t want to show it, but these women were really starting to get to him, particularly since he had no idea what their problem was. “A very pink-headed one.”

“Ah,” Black Lily said with a small sigh. “Such a shame. You sure she’s who you want, stranger?”

“Want doesn’t have anything to do with it. She’s whom I need to speak with. Have you seen her or not?”

“All right. She’s here; she went to speak with Narlen. You’ll find them in the backroom. But you can do better I’m sure, what with your obvious talents.” Black Lily’s dark eyes were alight with mischief. “I should know.” There were even more winks and disturbingly knowing smiles.

“I’m not sure why you would think that,” Dekaras said, rather curtly. “It’s not as if you’ve ever seen me at work. But I thank you for your assistance all the same.”

As he moved off he could swear he heard the female rogue whisper ‘Love, I’ve seen plenty, and I like it.’ The giggles that followed that particular statement made him feel a very strong urge to kill something. Anything, really. Preferably in a painful manner. But first he needed to find Imoen, of course.

Imoen was indeed to be found in the Guild’s backroom. She was standing in one corner, speaking quietly with Narlen Darkwalk, a reasonably competent burglar from what Dekaras knew about him. The girl was trying to watch the entire room at once, obviously nervous. It wasn’t particularly difficult to quietly approach her out of her line of sight. “Sure,” Imoen was telling her companion. “I can do that. But it’ll have to be a little later, I’m supposed to meet somebody…”

“Ah, but couldn’t ye simply tell’em that…”

“No,” Dekaras smoothly interrupted. “She couldn’t. Now if you'll excuse us, I believe she is previously engaged.” Both the girl and Narlen startled at this. Imoen turned a bright pink, Narlen a sickly yellow. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of doing that.

“I’ll…I’ll just leave ye to it then,” Narlen said and backed away, trying to avoid looking at the assassin’s face. Possibly he read something disturbing there. “Later then, girlie?”

“Um…yeah,” Imoen agreed, still blushing. “Whatever. So…um…hi Adahn. Everything all right?"

"No," the assassin coolly told her. "Everything is most certainly not 'all right', as you should well know. Which is exactly what we need to talk about. Come with me. This needs to be done privately and with no disturbances." Fortunately the Guild was well equipped for situations like this one. Rogues often needed to hold private meetings in order to make plans with each other and the private meetings rooms that could be rented by the hour on the second floor had very thick walls. Not only that, but for an extra sum the Guild's consulting wizard would put a silencing ward around the entire room. Dekaras did think it prudent to do so in this case. This wasn't something he wanted anybody to hear. What did disturb him deeply however, was the fact that Black Lily and her gang of friends giggled even more than before as he led Imoen upstairs. Something was very, very wrong with those women. They seemed mentally disturbed, the whole lot of them.

The meeting room wasn't much to look at. There were no windows that intruders could peer through, only a narrow arrowhole, and not much in the way of furniture. Just a table and a few chairs, and some candles for lighting. The assassin lounged by the door, leaning against it and effectively blocking it. Imoen looked more than a little nervous, and that was exactly what he meant her to be. She sat on one of the chairs, her arms resting against its back, restlessly twiddling her thumbs. "So," Dekaras said, once he judged that the silence had grown deep and uncomfortable enough. "Here we are, alone at last. And now I believe you owe me an explanation. Care to tell me what the reason for this was?" He took out That Picture and held it up between his thumb and forefinger, giving it a disgusted look.

Imoen's cheeks had gone from pink to bright red by now and she refused to meet his eyes. "Well I…you see…I thought that…and that you'd maybe…and…it's sort of complicated."

"Complicated? I don't think so. To me, it seems perfectly straightforward." Though the assassin tried to keep his voice calmly ominous, a certain edge of raw anger crept into it. "Nothing forced me to ever help you out against that ridiculous Abduh character, you know. Or to give you any private instruction for that matter. I only did that because you seemed like a bright girl, and because you reminded me of a dear friend of mine. I was actually stupid enough to think that I could place some small rudiment of trust in you, so I suppose this is partially my own fault."

Imoen was staring fixedly at the floor by now. "I…I didn't mean…" she said in a very small voice. "I…I guess that maybe I should have kept the picture between the two of us. Or at least not used it to show to people in order to find you. But I didn't mean any harm, honestly I didn't! It's such a lovely picture, and so accurate, I guess I just wanted to share it. Sorry."

Dekaras, meanwhile, was trying to keep his mouth from dropping open. This required some effort, since he felt as if he had just been smacked about the head by an ogre with a spiked club. She…showed it around…to…to ask for directions? I…I suppose that explains Black Lily. And those very odd looks I got from that one woman I passed in the street earlier. And from the baker. And that waitress. And…and… "Just how many people did you show that…that thing to anyway?" he asked, fighting a powerful urge to strangle the girl in front of him. About the only reason why he kept from doing so was that he wanted to get some more answers out of her.

"Er…I'm not sure. Maybe…maybe a dozen or so. Maybe two."

Two dozen? I won't be able to show my face in the street for weeks! "I don't know why you would want to make me a public laughing-stock," he said. "I'm sure I won't like the answer, but I still feel I have the right to know why, after the rather pleasant relationship we had had thus far, you would want to mock me like that. Like I said, I actually thought I could trust you." He knew that the slightest tinge of hurt was creeping into his voice and hated himself for it. With any luck, Imoen wouldn't notice.

Unfortunately, it seemed that she did. Imoen was staring straight at him now, her eyes wide with shock. "But…but it wasn't like that!" she protested. "I wasn't trying to make fun of you!"

The assassin snorted contemptuously. "No? Then why did you do it?"

"Because…because…" Imoen suddenly scrunched up her face with violent determination. "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, STUPID!" she screamed, making Dekaras very happy that the silencing wards were in place. He only wished his ears had been protected by some as well. Then the meaning of the words came crashing home.

"You what?!"

"I love you," Imoen whispered. "I've loved you since we first met."

"But…but…you can't possibly mean that!"

"Why not?"

"Well…for one thing I'm old enough to be your father."

Imoen sniffed. "Who cares?" she said. "Not me."

"But…you don't know anything about me."

"I don't care. I have lots of time to learn more."

"But…I'm…not exactly the traditional type for young girls to be…well…enamoured with."

"Who cares? And what do you know about that anyway, it's not as if you ever were a girl, were you? And I'm not young. I'm a grown woman, really I am. I…er…guess that's part of the reason why I drew the Picture that way. So you'd see me for a grownup." She gave him a hopeful look, her heart in her eyes.

Dekaras usually took great pride in being able to handle himself in just about any situation. Right now though, he wanted nothing more than to sink through the floor and disappear from sight, and he honestly had no idea what to say. She…she really does mean it, doesn't she? She really does see me that way, and she really…is…in love with…oh no. What have I done? What do I say?

Something of what he was feeling must have shown on his face, despite his best efforts to keep his composure. Imoen's smile slowly faltered, and her eyes turned suspiciously shiny. "It's…it's not going to happen, is it?" she said, and though she was obviously trying to be brave about it, there was an obvious tremor to her voice.

Dekaras shook his head. "I'm…very sorry," he said, struggling to find the right words. "I…I had no idea you felt this way, or I…I would have done something about it sooner. If I have somehow led you to believe…" He couldn't quite bring himself to say it. "That is…I am honoured, of course. And under other circumstances…and if I had met you at another time…who knows? But as it is…"

"Y-Yes?"

I have to tell her the truth. At least part of it. I owe her that much. "You see…there is somebody else."

Imoen's lower lip was trembling violently by now. "I…see," she said. "And…and do you love her? Really, really love her?"

"Yes. I really, really love her. I'm sorry."

Imoen sniffed a couple of times. "No, don't be," she said. "It's not your fault. You didn't know. I…I just hope she knows that she's a very lucky woman." Then she let out a low wail of despair and sagged across the table, her shoulders shaking with muffled sobs.

The assassin hesitated for a couple of moments. What do I do? What can I do? But I have to try something. Then he pulled out a chair next to the weeping girl and sat down by her side, putting one hand on her shoulder in what he hoped would be taken as a comforting gesture. He didn't say anything, mostly since any words seemed woefully inadequate in this particular situation, but it seemed to work anyway. Imoen cried herself out, and once the storm of weeping subsided into random sobs and hiccups he wordlessly handed her a handkerchief.

Imoen blew her nose loudly. "Thanks," she whispered. "You're…you're a really nice guy, you know that? I'm so sorry about all the mess I caused."

Dekaras shrugged a little. "No I'm not," he said. "And there's no need for further apologies. It'll all blow over eventually, I'm sure." He frowned slightly as he noticed Imoen's red and puffy face, and then took out a small box from one of his numerous pockets. "Try rubbing some of this on your eyelids. I would guess that you don't want the girls downstairs to know you've been crying."

"Thanks." Imoen held out the handkerchief towards him. "Here's your hanky, by the way."

Dekaras just managed to suppress a small shudder at the sight of the soggy mess. "Keep it," he said. "I'll manage. And…good luck. With everything. You do have the makings of a skilled thief." He moved towards the door, not knowing exactly why he felt so drained and exhausted, or why he felt such an acute sense of loss.

"Adahn, wait!" Imoen's eyes were clearer already, and she sounded much more like her old self. "I just thought…it's not as if we can't ever see each other again, is it? I mean…if you have some time to spare…I could still use a few pointers."

"I'm…not certain that would be appropriate."

"Aw, come on! I'll promise to behave, really I will. Please? I could sure need some tips about that burglary tomorrow. Not to mention the breaking I've been hired for at the Oberon estate. I'd really like to hear your opinion about that. Please? Pretty please? With sugar and a cherry on top?"

I probably shouldn't do this. But…she is truly clever, and has plenty of natural talent. She might make it to the very top. And it would be a shame not to pass some of my skills on when I have the chance. There's always Edwin of course, but that's different. That's magecraft. This…is what I really do.

"Very well," Dekaras said with a small smile. "I will probably regret this, but you shall have your wish. Tomorrow after sunset I will meet you by the Sorcerous Sundries shop, and we will see how your skills have improved. In the meantime, I suggest you go home and get some rest."

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much! I'll be good, I promise. Can't we do it at once?"

"No. I have another thing to do tonight. Tomorrow will be fine." And I just hope that my meeting with Edwin will be less stressful than this. Whatever he's been up to since I last saw him, it can't be this bad.