'You've been there?' Jherek asked.
'A number of times. None of them pleasant or particularly long. Nor were they in any way uneventful.' Glawinn fixed him with his green-eyed stare. 'Which begs the question of how you think you're going to get something back from Vurgrom if he doesn't want to give it back?'
'I don't know,' Jherek admitted.
'The trip to Westgate is at least a tenday's ride, young warrior, even at the pace we've been pushing these poor horses and with the shortcuts I know from having journeyed there before. You'd better give your actions some thought.'
'I will,' Jherek said, then added: 'I am.'
'And Westgate is no place for a lady.'
'Aye,' Jherek replied. 'I tried to get her to listen to reason and go back with Breezerunner, but she'd have none of it.'
'I gathered that from the way she was acting toward the captain when I arrived.'
'I still don't understand Tynnel's behavior.'
'You don't?'
'No.'
'And you read those fantasies?'
'What do those-'
'It's as obvious as the nose on your face,' Glawinn said. 'Captain Tynnel is in love with her.'
The paladin's words hit Jherek like physical blows. Now he understood better why Tynnel hadn't told Sabyna about the events in Athkatla. He tried to let nothing of the sudden aching pain and fear that threatened to consume him show on his face. He tried to understand why he felt the way he did. Images of the voyage from Velen to Athkatla flashed through his mind. He remembered the times and conversations he'd shared with the pretty ship's mage, and the meals.
'I see you have some feelings for the girl yourself,' the knight said.
Jherek forced himself to speak. 'I like her.'
'And that's all?'
'It's all I know,' the young sailor said.
'But you enjoy reading those fantasies of yours,' Glawinn said. 'How can you not want to be in love? How can you say only that you like her?'
'Because it's all I dare,' Jherek answered. 'I'm no highborn prince or liege man or warrior of high renown.'
'You're a warrior. You stood at the battle of Baldur's Gate, and you stood up to that ship's captain without a sword in your fist.'
'I'm no warrior,' Jherek said, uncomfortable with any confusion that placed greatness on anything he'd done. 'I'm just a man who's fought for his life.'
'Most soldiers feel the same way.'
'As for Tynnel, I couldn't have fought him.'
'You would have let him kill you?'
'I don't think he would have.'
Glawinn reached into his saddlebag and took out two apples. He tossed one to Jherek and kept one for himself. He polished the fruit on his shirt, then took a bite. 'He would have killed you,' the knight stated flatly. 'Men in love sometimes do foolish things.'
'I could not have fought him,' Jherek said. 'He wasn't my enemy.'
'Tynnel saw you as his because you were taking away the woman he loves.'
Jherek felt uncomfortable. He rolled the apple between his palms, but the anticipation of taking a bite had already tightened his mouth. 'I didn't take her away.'
'You were the reason she left.'
'I didn't ask her. I asked her to stay.'
'And if you did,' Glawinn said, 'that had to have angered Tynnel even further.'
'She's stubborn,' Jherek said. 'And willful.'
'Qualities that can work for good or ill in a man or woman.'
'If she loves him,' Jherek said, 'she should have stayed with him. She owed me nothing that would come between them.'
Glawinn bit off a piece of his apple and offered it to the war-horse. The animal took it daintily from his palm and whickered in satisfaction. 'You don't listen very well. I said that he was in love with her. I said nothing about her being in love with him.'
Hope flew in Jherek's heart, but it only took remembering that it was his father who slew Sabyna's brother to quash it. Even if that had not stood between them, what did he have to offer her?
Glawinn hesitated. 'Perhaps I presume on territory that I don't belong in, but have you told the lady that you… you like her, young warrior?'
Acting on the small amount of irritation he felt, Jherek asked, 'Why do you keep calling me that? I have a name.'
'Malorrie?' Glawinn shook his head. 'That's not your name.'
Jherek's face colored and he felt shamed by his continued lie. Perhaps he could have told the knight his real name if they'd met alone, but Sabyna was there. She already knew he hadn't told her the truth about his name, but he couldn't give it, either, in case she'd heard about him being unmasked as one of Bloody Falkane's pirates.
'It's the name I choose,' he replied.
'Yet hide your true name? I have to wonder what else you hide.'
Jherek returned the man's level gaze. 'I must ask you to judge me on what you see, not what a name may contain. If you choose not to trust me, I ask only that you take the lady to safety.'
Glawinn held up a hand. 'I'll not desert you, nor her. For all I know, you're why I'm here.'
'Why are you here?' Jherek gladly shifted the conversation away from him.
'I'm on a quest, commanded by Lathander himself.'
'He speaks to you?'
'Not in words,' Glawinn admitted. 'He found me when I was lost and brought me into his temple. I was not always as you see. As a young man I was uncertain and lacking. My love and understanding of the Morninglord, and my eventual dedication to him has made me what you see now. Not that you should be impressed. A paladin's life isn't exactly what you read in those romances.' He chuckled.
'But to serve a god,' Jherek said. 'That would be-'
'A humbling experience, let me assure you. Though I serve him with my convictions, my teaching, and my sword arm every day, we don't converse. He fills my heart with a wanderlust that is as true as any compass, and I ride. When I arrive, then I discover where I'm supposed to be. It doesn't take long before I figure out what it is I'm supposed to do.'
'Now you're bound for Westgate.'
'Yes, and perhaps beyond. I don't know yet. I only know that I itch to travel, and that's the direction I must go.'
Jherek tried to fathom that. 'But you don't know why?'
'Not yet.' Glawinn gave more of the apple to his horse. 'What are you to do then?' Jherek asked, not really expecting an answer.
'I'm no teller of fortunes, young warrior. I'm much more a man of action. Like yourself.'
Jherek shook his head. 'I'm no man of action.'
'Sure you are,' Glawinn said. 'I can see it in the way you hold your eyes, the way you balance yourself on your feet when you move. You're no stranger to the sword, are you?'
'I've had some training,' Jherek admitted.
'You must have to have survived the wounds I see on you now.'
'I've only a mean skill at best.' Jherek felt bad about that because it undercut all the training Malorrie had given him over the years.
'Then strip out of that wet armor and let's have a look at it.' Glawinn got lithely to his feet.
