Posted on: Sunday, 16 August 2009
This was bad.
Inolin sat on one side of the room's double bed, trying to control the ever-growing agitation inside her. Phaere and Veldrin had been gone nearly two hours, and the more time that ticked by, the more nervous she became. The Despana guards, in contrast, were as calm as a frozen lake. They'd spoken just enough to inform her that they weren't to be spoken to, before taking up residence in the various corners of the room. They were as still as wax sculptures and just about as interesting. A little conversation would have helped take her mind off things. She'd tried, of course; being told to shut up didn't mean that she was going to shut up. The soldiers were true to their word, though, and her repeated queries about where Veldrin was being taken and what Phaere had planned had been ignored.
Hopefully Cassie—Veldrin—was being just as tight-lipped. If he let one wrong word slip, if he forgot just one minor detail of their charade, the whole house of cards would come crashing down. She could only imagine what he'd done or said last night in his drunken stupor, and that imagination filled her with dread. She cursed herself for not keeping him awake, not pressing him for details, but even if she had the night to play over again, she wouldn't have done it any differently. Veldrin had needed her, and that always took first priority. She just prayed that it wouldn't backfire into something worse.
A sharp rap at the door made her jump. Even the guards started. One of them intercepted her with a scowl of warning as she reflexively stood up from the bed. She was suddenly seized by the decidedly non-drowish urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"Open the door," Phaere's voice, tense and irate, demanded from the other side.
The soldier nearest the portal immediately moved to comply. He had barely managed to disengage the lock when the stone slab was flung inwards. His involuntary shout of surprise was cut short with a grotesque crunch as his body forcibly stopped the door's motion. He slumped to the ground, his chest and face smashed flat, blood frothing from his nose and mouth.
Imoen jumped to her feet, only to duck down in pure reflex as something large and humanoid hurtled towards her. Phaere crashed into the stone dresser, shattering the mirrored back-panel and likely several of her bones as well.
Veldrin stepped into the room. His armor from earlier was gone, replaced by a simple pair of dark red leather breeches. His body shined with sweat and his eyes were wide and wild as they darted around the room.
The two remaining guards had recovered from the initial shock and now charged the unwelcome intruder with weapons drawn. Veldrin intercepted the first by sidestepping and lashing out with a vicious punch to the face that connected with an audible crack of bone. The second guard thrust his blade forward; Imoen let out an involuntary squeak of terror as it bit into Veldrin's side. The Bhaalspawn warrior grimaced, grabbing the drow's sword arm and wrenching him forward. It took only one small step for the male to come within Veldrin's reach, and the speed and strength of divine blood was impossible to counter. Veldrin's hands closed around the drow's head and snapped his neck with a single, lightning-quick twist.
