like this one.' He paused and smiled. 'Besides, her father owns the tavern. There's money in this family.'
There was a sound at the door, and from his position next to the entrance, Kelemvor motioned for silence. The other heroes crowded on the other side of the door, out of the line of view of anyone entering. The smell of bad liquor wafted into the room before the galley master, and the sound of celebration came from the taproom as the door opened.
Otto, the galley master, stumbled into the room on the arm of a beautiful woman dressed in bright, golden robes, pulled tightly to display her perfect figure. Her hair was the color of honey and matched her clothing. Bits of jewelry sparkled from her hands, neck, and waist. Her features were stunning, and she had captured the attentions of the galley master completely.
Kelemvor grimaced. The woman was on his side of the door. But as she entered the room, Varden's fiance cried out, tripped, and fell forward. The galley master bent instinctively, and Kelemvor crashed the chair over his head. Varden slammed the door shut and locked it behind them.
'I want a ring, and I want a ceremony,' the golden-haired woman told Varden. 'None of this sneaking about in the middle of the night and getting married in the Hall of Records. Do you understand me, Varden?'
The thief opened his mouth.
'Further, this thieving business is out of the question. You've never made enough at it to convince me it's a viable means of earning a living. I thought you could apprentice with Daddy, then — '
'Shut up and kiss me,' Varden said as he grabbed her waist and pulled the woman to him. Their lips met, and the kiss lasted long enough for Kelemvor to drag Otto to the bed and set him on it.
Varden's fiance sighed. 'I thought I was going to have to talk about our old age together before you got motivated to do that.'
Varden smirked and turned to the heroes. 'This is Liane.'
The woman bowed slightly then looked to Otto. 'What are you going to do with him?'
'The question is, my dear, 'what are we going to do with him.'' Varden said.
Adon watched the lovers in silence. There was a time, not very long ago, when he had played Varden's role: the lover, the fool. Liane caught sight of the cleric and shuddered when she saw the scar that lined his face. Adon had grown used to the reaction, but a slight shiver of pain ran up his spine. He turned away to open the door and check the alley.
Twenty minutes later, Varden and Liane stood on either side of the galley master as they dragged him back to his ship. The lone watchman approached, and the galley master mumbled incoherently. The stink of the cheap wine wafted from the short man.
'Tipped back a few too many,' Varden said, just loud enough for the heroes to hear him from their hiding place a few yards away. The watchman laughed, made a few crude jokes, and gestured for the trio to move along.
'Say, you're a cute little thing,' the grubby dock guard commented to Liane when he noticed the woman staring at him with a wicked grin. 'If you go on that ship, we'll never see you again. All the fine young men on board will never let you go!'
Liane sauntered to the watchman's side, leaving Varden to struggle with Otto. 'What are my alternatives?' Liane asked as she circled the guard. The man turned to follow Liane with his eyes, and when his back faced the ship's walkway, Kelemvor and the others broke from the shadows and ran to help Varden with Otto. Liane threw her head back, ran her hands through her hair, and slowly traced a path down the luscious, smooth skin of her neck, allowing her hands to come together and follow a straight line to the sash at her waist.
The watchman sighed.
In moments, Varden and the heroes had Otto on board the Queen of the Night. Midnight, Kelemvor, and Adon hid as Varden called out, 'Fair lady, he's getting kind of heavy, and you're the prize he came ashore to find, not I, a humble serving boy!'
Kelemvor shook his head at the thief's overwrought performance.
At the walkway, Liane said farewell to the watchman and promised to look him up when she returned from the ship. The woman tried to appear casual and unhurried as she made her way to the boat, although her hands were shaking the entire time.
The heroes dragged the galley master back through the shadows, then below deck, where the slaves waited. Bjorn the One-Eyed sat at his station, mumbling curses. Suddenly the body of the galley master fell before the slave, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. Kelemvor smiled at the slave and pulled back the flaps of the galley master's coat to reveal a huge set of keys tied to the man's waist.
'That's a sight I'll wager you hadn't expected to see this night,' Kelemvor noted softly as he tore the keys from the groaning galley master and handed them to Bjorn.
'He was a cruel taskmaster,' one of the slaves said from the shadows of the slave hold. 'He'd beat us — whip us — for no reason.'
'No one escaped his punishment,' another slave cried.
The tide of condemnations grew, but the shouts abruptly ended with the sharp, metallic click of Bjorn opening his chains. The wildman stood up, a bit shaky on his feet at first, but proud and tall. In fact, the slave towered over the heroes.
Bjorn grabbed the galley master's hair and pulled the man up to look at him. 'Remember the promise I made earlier this evening about what I'd do with your arms and legs?' the wildman growled. The slave grabbed a metal clamp and locked it in place around Otto's throat. 'Keep thinking about it.' Then the one-eyed man turned to face the heroes. 'You've come to liberate us? What for? What do you want in return?'
The fighter smiled and ran a hand through his hair. 'Safe passage to Tantras. Then the ship is yours,' Kelemvor said.
Bjorn studied the fighter with his one good eye. A smile broke over his face, and he threw the set of keys to the next slave. 'A fair deal,' Bjorn decided and looked to the army of slaves. 'What about the rest of you?' There were cheers as the slaves were unchained, one by one. Cries of allegiance to the new captain of the Queen of the Night, Bjorn the One-Eyed, filled the hold.
'How many of you men want to see the stars once again?' Bjorn asked. The slaves roared in approval.
Moments later, the sight of the minor skirmish taking place on the Queen of the Night between the freed slaves and the few Zhentish sailors still on the ship did not escape the notice of the grubby watchman. As the Zhentish were pitched overboard, alarms were sounded.
On the ship, Kelemvor watched as Adon clubbed a Zhentilar with his war hammer. The soldier was still alive, and the cleric was about to strike again when Kelemvor raised his hand. 'A few should be kept alive as hostages. Perhaps they'll have information we can use!' Kelemvor ordered as he lowered the cleric's hand.
'We'd best secure the prisoners in the hold, then,' the cleric noted. Looking at the harbor, Adon grimaced. The alarm had been sounded, and a few soldiers raced in their direction.
'They're more observant than I would have wagered,' Kelemvor yelled, then turned to Bjorn. 'Do what you have to do. Just get us out of here!'
The battle with the few Zhentilar that boarded the galley was very short. Despite their training and their superior weapons, the Zhentilar could not compensate for the large numbers of slaves that waited for them onboard the ship.
When the fighting was over, Bjorn had ordered as many of the slaves as he could spare to take their stations at the oars. The one-eyed man was now the galley master. The rhythmic sound of drums filled the night, and the Queen of the Night soon raised anchor and pulled away from the dock.
Soon after they had left the harbor, Midnight rushed to Kelemvor's side. 'Look there,' Midnight cried, pointing back toward Scardale.
Two of Bane's ships had left the dock in pursuit of the captured galley.
'Wonderful!' Bjorn cried out as he was informed of the news. 'Those dogs have given us no choice. We turn and fight!'
In moments, the ship was alive with activity, and the Queen of the Night turned to intercept the closer of the Zhentish ships. The catapults on the deck were filled with everything the men could get their hands on, including the Zhentish corpses that had not yet been cast over the side.
From the cries of panic that sounded from the opposing ship as the Queen drew close, Kelemvor realized that the Zhentish were hardly prepared for this type of battle. The majority of their crew was probably on shore leave,
