jensun said:
Allera could in fact be a deep cover agent of Orcus who has been spontaneously converting spells to heals. Sent in to inflitrate the rebels the Cult of Orcus is preparing to overthrow the Duke using the rebels as its patsies.
While I won't confirm or deny such musings, I will note that there is precedent for me posting misleading stat blocks in the Rogues' Gallery (i.e. Aelos).
So we continue tonight with Dar and Allera, romance is in the air...
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
* * * * *
Chapter 75
A TALK BETWEEN OLD FRIENDS
“I can’t believe you’re hiding out in a place like this,” Allera said. She and Dar were alone in the booth; the fighter had banished both the women and the guard as soon as he’d recovered from his surprise at seeing the healer.
“What’s wrong with the Hoist?” Dar asked.
She looked around. “It’s a dump, Dar. You had all that money, I thought you were going to get out of Camar...”
“Hey!” he said, his words slurring slightly. “I
own this dump!”
She leaned across the table, and lowered her voice earnestly. “If I was able to find you here, then the Duke’s men surely will as well. I mean, you’re using your real name, by the gods! I’m surprised that one of these... people... haven’t turned you in already.”
“Let them come,” the fighter said. He lifted his drink—there was a bottle at the table—and drained a deep swallow.
“Why did you come back here? You didn’t survive Rappan Athuk just to throw your life away, did you?”
“I had no idea you cared, my dear lady.”
She looked at his face critically. “Have you been fighting?”
“Why? Want to put down a wager? I warn you, nobody’s been able to take me down yet, though there was this bastard of a half-orc...”
Allera glanced back at the bloody floor, and blanched. “You mean, you’ve been... Oh, Dar, what is
wrong with you! People are dying, and you...”
“Everybody dies, princess,” he said harshly, cutting her off. “And you know what? Nobody gives a crap.”
“Some people do care.”
“Yeah, and where does it get them? Caring didn’t save your marshal’s life, and it didn’t save Shaylara, or any of the others.”
“I didn’t come here to argue with you, Dar.”
“Why
did you come here? I seem to recall our last meeting, it didn’t end with us promising to look each other up to salute old times.” He took the bottle in his fist, but he didn’t drink.
“We need you, Dar.”
“Oh. So you’re still on about that revolution of yours, eh? In case you haven’t noticed, princess, the rebellion is dead. The Duke’s got Camar wrapped up in an iron fist. Tiros is dead, along with those who felt like him.”
“Not all, Dar. There are those of us who are still fighting for what is right.”
“Right? You
can’t be that naïve. Not after what we saw, together.”
“It is exactly because of what we saw in Rappan Athuk that I
can see,” Allera insisted. “You’re right, things are terrible, and people are suffering. The Duke’s power is stronger than it has ever been.”
“But to just lay down our arms, give up!
That is the coward’s course. We have to take responsibility for the world that we make for ourselves, Corath. I know you’re not afraid of the Duke, or his men... I saw what you did in Rappan Athuk, you don’t have to prove anything to me, or to anyone else. But you can make a difference. We
need your sword.”
Dar leaned back. “Did Talen send you to me?”
“Talen doesn’t know I’m here. If he knew that I’d come...”
Dar chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I can imagine what he’d say.”
“Think about it, please. You know that the Duke’s men will come for you, eventually. You thought that I was one of his enforcers, at first. If you didn’t want a confrontation, you wouldn’t
be here.”
“Maybe I’m just a fool. Maybe I’ve got a death wish.”
“No. No, you are a man that wants to survive. You wouldn’t have lived through what you did, if you weren’t driven to live. And it’s not just about the money, no matter what you said before. If it was, you’d be in Drusia, or somewhere else about a thousand leagues away.”
“Maybe I just don’t care anymore.”
“Then maybe you need something to care about.”
He looked at her for a long stretch, maybe ten seconds. Then he laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Talen was right. You are a diplomat,” he said. “I swear, you almost had me going with all that self-sacrifice crap.”
“Is it so hard to believe that someone might believe it?”
“Look around you. There aren’t many people here who put much stock in belief.”
“Tiros believed in something.”
“Yeah, and look what it got him.”
“Varo told me about how he died. He and Varo had made it to the stairs; he didn’t have to turn around to face that worm. But he did.”
“Then he was a fool. If our positions had been reversed,
I would not have stopped.”
“In Rappan Athuk, you put your life on the line for all of us, several times.”
Dar laughed. “That’s what you saw? I was trying to stay alive, lady. If it came down to an exit and throwing my life away to save the lot of you, I know which way I would have gone.”
She met his eyes for several long, silent seconds. “I believe you,” she said. “And that is more sad for you.”
His expression turned sour. “Look, princess, let’s cut through the bull and get right down to it. What’s in it for me?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“You mean, you want money?”
“Well, you heard Talen, he called me ‘mercenary’ all the time. I don’t think he ever used my damned name, the prick. But no, I’ve got lots of money. No, if I’m going to jump on this wagon, I want to know where it’s going.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t be coy, healer. I know a bit of history—the violent bits, at least. When the smoke clears from this sort of ‘popular revolt’, there’s usually a lot of reshuffling at the top. Titles, lands, wealth...”
“You want... a barony?”
“Lord Dar... has a nice sort of ring, don’t you think?” He grinned at her.
“We’re not setting ourselves up to be the new rulers of Camar,” Allera said. “We don’t want to just replace the current, corrupt system with a mirror of itself. I don’t know what the new government will look like, but the people will have a chance to have their voices heard...”
“Oh, that’s nice. ‘The people’ are too damned stupid to wipe their asses, let alone rule a kingdom. Tiros, Talen, and their followers... they may be idealists, but they aren’t stupid. Not
that kind of stupid, anyway. No, I trust that Talen will remember his friends... or perhaps more accurately, that
you will ensure that he doesn’t forget me.”
She took a deep breath. “I cannot promise anything to you at this point. But say that I can get the... ‘consideration’ that you are seeking. You will help us, then?”
“Well, I’m talking about it, which shows that I’m probably as crazy as you said. But what you’re asking me to do is akin to walking back into Rappan Athuk. I’m not going to just do that on your words of a ‘better Camar’ and all that, or even on a flimsier hope of land and title.”
“Look, if you want something else, just come out and say it.”
“All right, princess. I want you.”
There was a pause. “What?”
“Oh, I think you heard me. And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m getting at.”
“You...” She stood suddenly, her chair sliding back noisily. “You pig!”
“Maybe, but I’m not the one who is willing to sacrifice
anything for the cause.”
She slapped him, hard, but he only laughed. She turned away, but he grabbed onto her arm, and dragged her back down into the booth.
“Now look whose turn it is to have her values thrown in her face,” he said.
“Let me go.”
“Or what? You’ll heal me to death?”
Her eyes narrowed. “My art is committed to preserving life. But my knowledge of the human body is not limited to just how to fix it.”
He glanced down, and saw a dagger in her hand, its blade pressed between them, close against his tunic. He couldn’t quite see its blade clearly, but there was
something smeared on the blade.
“Poison? Doesn’t that violate like thirty or forty lines in the Healer Code?”
“Release me.”
He chuckled and let her go. She jerked away, and stood.
“You know, I think I want you more now than ever,” he said.
“The Duke’s men can flay your skin off your bones, for all I care,” she hissed at him.
“Ah, but then who will help you win your little revolution?”
“Go to the Abyss.”
“I may yet,” he said. She started to turn, but he cut her off with another harsh statement. “Consider carefully, healer. The offer ends the moment you step out of this room. I’ll fight for your cause; hell, I’ll cut off the Duke’s freaking head myself. But only if you give me what I want.”
She stopped. She didn’t turn around, but she didn’t leave, either.
“How many men does Talen have left, again?”
She didn’t respond. He chuckled again.
“Heck, you might even like it.”
“You are a bastard.”
“I am that. But don’t worry, sweets, I’ll be gentle. Unless you like it rough.”
She turned, her eyes narrowed to cold slits. They glanced down at Dar’s side. Since their brief altercation, she could now see what had been invisible under the table before.
“You still have his sword.”
Dar glanced down and patted the hilt of
Valor. “The sword seems to agree with me better now. Maybe it just needed a little time to get used to my unique style.”
“Talen said you were the finest swordsman he’d ever seen.”
“Did he now? Well, that touches my heart, coming from him, especially.”
She looked at him. “Fine,” she said.
“Fine what?”
“I will give you what you want, in exchange for your service.”
He smiled at her. “Just like that?”
“Just like that. But after. First the service, then the reward. You swear to our cause, and then I will swear to... to give you what you ask for, once the Duke has been overthrown.”
“Just like a little dog, eh? Well, fine, princess, I will do your my tricks for my treat. If you swear on it, I’ll take you at your word.”
She looked at him with a stare of cold fury, so different from her usual calm demeanor. For a moment, Dar thought she might lose control, but then she took a deep breath, and visibly mastered herself.
“You have my word.”
She walked around the edge of the table, then turned back to face him briefly.
“Be at the Market Square fountain at highsun in two days.”
“I’ll be there.”
Once more, she started to turn around, but again his voice stopped her.
“Wear something nice.”
She yanked up her hood and stormed out, and this time even the hardest of the Hoist’s patrons saw her coming and gave her space to pass.
Dar lingered in the booth, looking at the bottle. The girls and his enforcer came by to see him, but he waved them all away. He remained there for a long time, a quiet island in the noisy din of the dive tavern.
