stepped forward, chuckled lightly, and pressed a small stone on the wall.
Nothing happened.
'Well?' Laraelra asked.
'This should have opened!' Renaer said. 'The door leading to another stairwell should be right there!'
Meloon motioned for Renaer to move. He rushed forward and slammed his shoulder into the wall. 'Ow! If there's a door there, it's well-braced or locked.'
'Or held by a spell,' Laraelra said.
In the house above them, shouts filled the air.
'Someone's in here!'
'They've gone down into the cellars! Come with me!'
Renaer shoved the wine rack back into place, and then held Meloon from drawing his axe'. He whispered at Laraelra, 'Time later to talk on-all this. Do you know any spells to help here?'
'Only if you're spoiling for a fight, and they'll only stop someone temporarily,' she said. 'Nothing that will get us out of here without notice.'
'No need,' Renaer said, as the three of them rushed back into the front cellar chamber. 'I'll explain.'
'I hope so, young lord, for you have much to answer for.' The white-haired man leaned on a duskwood staff, its presence as much as the speaker's own notoriety identifying him as Samark 'Blackstaff' Dhanzscul. The premier mage of Waterdeep, the Blackstaff glowered at them while the crystal atop his staff pulsed a bright purple.
'Indeed they do, friend,' said the other man descending the stairs. Bald with a tightly trimmed gray mustache, the man exiting the stairs walked with confidence and strength belying his scarecrow frame. His fingers steepled in front of his face and his prominent eyebrows, the ornate rings on every digit of his hands reminded her of his full name-Khondar 'Ten-Rings' Naomal, the Guildmaster of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors.
Khondar asked, 'Shall I call the Watch or the Cere-Clothiers, Ossurists, and Grave-Diggers' Guild? Your choice, children.'
CHAPTER 4
I watched a wolfcub challenge his pack leader this morning. The guile and experience of the old wolf won out again, despite the younger's strength and speed. Would that youth did not always rely on bluster and newfound strength…
9 Nightal, Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR)
Khondar surveyed the intruders carefully. He recognized the one at the forefront. Khondar maintained his neutral face, but bristled inwardly at the surprise intrusion. 'Renaer Neverember, would you care to explain your presence here? Have you taken to hiding from the Watch here now?'
Renaer spread his arms wide and bowed to both him and the Blackstaff. 'I apologize for our intrusion, Guildsenior Naomal. My clients asked to see Roarke House, but there seems to be some confusion as to its current status for tenants.'
'I am its current tenant, as of the tenday last. I have a copy of the signed deed upstairs.'
Renaer arched an eyebrow at that and said, 'I handle all Brandarth and Neverember holdings within the city. And yet, you and I have never spoken aside from pleasantries at parties more than five months ago. Apparently someone on my staff failed to tell me about this transaction.'
'Apparently.' Khondar disliked this boy more with every breath, since he remained calm and unreadable. Khondar ramped his temper down by focusing on Renaer's companions. The woman he had seen before, but he could not place her face or gaunt form. What made him seethe was the lack of respect for him in her scowl. Beside her, the young blond bear-of-a-man twitched with nervous energy, ready to fight anyone, but he seemed held in check with her hand. Khondar tired of the pretense and asked, 'Do you need to see the deed to believe me, lad?'
The Blackstaff interrupted, 'My time is short. Surely explanations can wait another time?' He stamped his trademark staff upon the stone floor, its silver-shod end ringing dully. 'I'm sure these young people have other matters to which they can attend.'
The larger man stepped forward. 'No we don't! We need to know-'
The woman stopped him by slipping into his path.
'— if there's anything we can do to make your new home more comfortable?' said Renaer. He turned on his heels, showing Khondar his back as he swept his arms at the walls. 'Would you like, perhaps, a few bottles of a lovely Farlindell Red from Tethyr's Purple Hills for these racks? As an apology for our interruption?'
'The only apology we shall need, young Neverember,' Khondar said, 'is the keys by which you entered this house, followed by your swift exit.'
'We have a few questions yet, milord,' Renaer said. 'My friends Ararna and Pellarm were hoping to purchase this or another house in the same general area. They want assurances that there are no problems with either neighbors or the infrastructure. They don't believe me, as I'm trying to sell them property, but perhaps you could offer a more objective opinion.'
Renaer's companions flinched when he said their names aloud, and Khondar knew that Renaer had given them false identities.
'You try my patience, all of you.' Khondar sighed. 'Such questions will wait for another time, if at all. If you insist on remaining trespassers, the Watch shall be summoned.'
'Fine!' said Pellarm. 'Maybe they can find out who you're torturing and where you've hidden her!'
Khondar froze, though the Blackstaff s outrage was apparent as he howled at the warrior. 'Boy, you delay two archmages in important work with foul accusations! Where is evidence to back your claim?'
'Only what we heard from the street.' Pellarm shrugged. 'We heard horrific screaming as we walked by-and I for one don't ignore pleas for help.'
Khondar smiled mirthlessly as he watched the boy spin his poor lies. He seemed ignorant of just how close to the lion's maw he put his head. 'You're obviously new to the city, Pellarm. I'll not waste our time relaying all the sordid ghosts that haunt this and other nearby neighborhoods. That is why we're all in my all-too-empty cellar with neither woman nor tortures at hand.' Khondar stepped off the stairs and into the cellar, motioning back toward the stairs. 'Now, while I'll happily receive new neighbors at a later date, the Blackstaff s time today is more precious even than mine. Please, remove yourselves'
'Again, my apologies, milord,' Renaer said, and he backed up toward the stairs, taking each of his friends by their elbows. 'When would be a good time to call again?'
'Enough!' the Blackstaff shouted, his patience at an end. He swept his staff in an arc and his other hand wove a pattern in the air. A haze of colors shimmered into existence on the stairs next to the three young people. Renaer and Pellarm both stared fixedly at it, fascinated at its shifting color weave.
The alleged Ararna shook her head and glared at the Blackstaff. 'The Watch shall hear of this!'
'Hardly,' Khondar said as he finished his gestures and snapped his fingers to get the woman's attention. They locked eyes and his dominating enchantment burrowed into her mind. You cannot communicate anything you've seen here. Follow your friends and do not come back to this house. Khondar enjoyed this spell's usefulness in dominating people for days or whole tendays and wiping their memories of its use later. Before he let the spell lapse entirely, he'd find out what she really knew and why they were here, but now was not the time.
As the Blackstaff willed his own iridescent illusion up the stairs, the two young men followed it without hesitation. While the woman had initially struggled against the magic, she followed them as ordered.
After a few moments, the Blackstaff returned to the cellars and said, 'I'm sorry if I acted out of turn. Too many questions.'
