Thornhold

The shout came from the direction of the road. Ebenezer scrambled to his feet. 'Got no complaints,' he hollered back, 'other than being pinned down by three very dead people who forgot to lie down and quit.'

There was a pause, silence broken only by the sound of approaching hoofbeats. 'I see them.'

The young man's voice held repugnance, but no fear. That worried Ebenezer. 'You got company, I hope?'

'I am alone,' the voice answered calmly, 'but the grace of Tyr is with me.'

One man, confident in the favor of some human god. The dwarf groaned and slumped against the cave wall. He slid down and sat and tried his best not to listen to what was sure to come. Zombies were not tidy fighters and generally liked to tear their prey messily apart.

To his surprise, the young man's voice lifted in a song, a hymn by the sounds of it. Wouldn't be well received in a tavern, leastwise, being slow and solemn and not real catchy. But Ebenezer felt its power and was drawn by it. He scrambled to his feet and peered out over the boulder.

A young man, curly-headed as a lamb and nearly as fair, approached on a tall white horse. The three zombies staggered toward him, a fact that disturbed the man's composure not at all. He merely lifted one hand to the sky and pointed the other at the undead creatures. His song lifted, swelled to a shout of power. 'In the name of Tyr, I command you to yield to your fate!'

Instantly, the creatures sagged and fell. Rotten flesh dissolved, bones made brittle by long contact with unnatural, prolonged decay gave way and crumbled into powder.

Ebenezer shouldered the rock out of the way and emerged from the cave. 'That's a good trick,' he admitted.

The young man nodded. 'You are most welcome, friend dwarf. It was a good thing that I heard your shouts. Now you must excuse me.'

'Hold on,' the dwarf said, catching the horse's reins. 'I gotta get word to my clan. Can you take me where I need to go?'

'Icewind could not long carry the two of us,' the young man said, nodding at his splendid white horse, 'and my duty takes me elsewhere.'

'But this is important!'

'Then may Tyr speed your steps and provide a means for your swift journey.'

'Might could be that he already has,' Ebenezer muttered. He reached up and seized a handful of the man's white and blue tabard, and yanked him down off the horse.

They tumbled together, and the young man reached for his sword. Ebenezer grabbed the first weapon that came to hand-a rock about twice the size of his fist-and slammed it between the human's eyes. The young man groaned and fell limp. Ebenezer hopped to his feet. 'Sorry about that,' he muttered, relieved to see that the human still breathed. Borrowing a horse in dire straits was one thing, outright killing a man who'd done him a good turn was quite another. But, as the man had said, Tyr would provide. It'd be downright ungrateful for Ebenezer to ignore such a thoughtful and timely gift.

The dwarf seized the horse's reins and led the beast over to the boulder. He climbed onto the rock and just barely managed to hoist his foot into the stirrup. He hauled himself up and settled down in the saddle. Unlike most dwarves, he liked horses and rode when he could. This was the finest horse he'd ever had. It wouldn't be easy to give the beast back, but Ebenezer determined that he would find a way to do so.

'I'm off, then,' he advised the man, who was beginning to shake off the effects of the blow. 'If you've got problems with that, you might want to take it up with Tyr.'

Ebenezer shook the reins over the white horse's neck, and headed northward toward his clan and home.

Danilo was a frequent visitor to Curious Past. Until now, he not given much thought to his role in fostering Bronwyn's business. He liked rare and beautiful things, and so did many of his wealthy peers. It was a small matter to send them Bronwyn's way, a favor no larger than he would do for any friend. The difference was that he was doing this at Khelben's direction and for the express purpose of keeping Bronwyn in Waterdeep and under the eye of the archmage.

As he stood before the tall, trim building that housed the shop, Danilo wondered what Bronwyn would think of this involvement or how she would react if she knew that her shop-like many others on this street and others- was in fact owned by the Harpers. Perhaps he should tell her outright, Danilo mused as he pushed open the large oak-plank door. Perhaps he should tell her everything he had learned about her heritage. But Khelben insisted that doing so would endanger her. In Danilo's opinion, the archmage was overly cautious and often downright miserly with information, but how could he be certain that Khelben's warnings were not valid?

'Think about it,' advised a raucous, inhuman voice, speaking almost in his ear.

Danilo jumped, then turned to find himself face to beak with a large raven. A wry smile curved his lips. Odd that the raven's standard rejoinder meshed so perfectly with his ambivalent state of mind.

'I assure you, my dear Shopscat, I have been doing precisely that. Is your mistress in attendance?'

The raven merely cocked his head and eyed the shiny gold hoop in Danilo's ear. Danilo clapped one hand to his ear and took several judicious steps back. Shopscat was a shoplifter's bane, but the raven occasionally showed himself unable to discern which valuables belonged in the shop and which the shoppers were entitled to take with them by right of prior ownership.

'He doesn't understand you, and he doesn't answer back,' Alice Tinker said, coming out from behind the counter.

'I stopped by to see Bronwyn,' he said bluntly. 'Is she about?'

'You missed her,' Alice said, her blue eyes wide and ingenuous. 'Just. She left for Daggersford this morning. Took the South Gate out,' she added helpfully.

'Really.'

'She's on commission. Some paladin sent her off looking for an old sword. A paladin's sword. Not exactly magical, but blessed-though exactly what the difference might be, I couldn't tell you. It seems it was lost, some two hundred years back in an important battle with lizard men. Bronwyn heard tell of a sword that might fit the bill. The marsh has been receding, you know, and there's a boy in Daggersford who found an old sword when he was out digging mussels. She's off to see if these swords are one and the same.'

'My, that's quite a bit of information,' Danilo observed lightly.

Alice shrugged again. 'That's what I do. Anything else you need to know?'

'When do you expect her back? Daggersford is-what? About two days' ride? I imagine she'll need a day or two to conduct her business, and then about the same time back.'

'Yes, that sounds about right,' the gnome agreed.

As well it should, Dan noted. Daggersford and Thornhold were almost equal distances from Waterdeep, albeit in opposite directions. He suspected that Bronwyn probably did leave by the South Gate, only to blend in with a northbound caravan, return through the city, and slip out the North Gate with yet another caravan. She had used such ploys before, to good effect. And he had to admire the bit Alice had added about the paladin's commission. That was simply inspired. Clearly, the Harpers would not want to alert the paladins to their interest in Bronwyn, and they could hardly knock at the doors of the Halls of Justice and demand to know what errand they'd sent Bronwyn to attend. The reasonable thing for the Harpers to do would be to pursue her to Daggersford and ensure her safety.

Well, that is what the 'Harpers' would do. Danilo, personally, had other plans. He stooped and kissed the gnome's brown cheek. 'Thank you, Alice.'

'What for?' She sniffed and scrubbed at her cheek with one hand. 'I gave you my report, same as always. You'll pass along the report, same as always. Business as usual.'

'I'll pass along the report you gave me,' he said, giving the words deliberate emphasis.

Awareness dawned in the gnome's eyes, and a small, grateful smile curved her lips. She cleared her throat and turned aside. She opened a glass-topped table and snatched up a pair of teardrop earrings; silver, set with moonstones and sapphires. They were beautiful, and perfect for Danilo's half-elf partner.

'These are elven, and if I remember aright, the elf festival of Springrite is just around the corner.'

He counted out the price and put the gold coins into the gnome's hand. 'Arilyn will love them. She may even wear them. You are an excellent saleswoman, Alice,' he said, punctuating his remark with another kiss to her