Entry 51
Today the festival comes back and hopefully the lore
master, too. We gather at the Tankard, our favorite meeting place, to
further argue over the money and what to do with it. Ohm Uri wants to
buy an fancy scroll case for the scrolls he is guarding, but I have
never seen them. I stress that we cannot spend too much quickly, as
that can have a bad effect on everything. Since we don't know what to
spend it on and we cannot carry that much, eventually, we decide to
store the chests in the secret room of the mansion. I will make sure
there are no more spirits haunting the place. And we want to know what
magic is contained within the items we took from the witch.
Trevor does not mention one word about his promise of following the light or how I enjoyed last night.
Before
we go, I alone go to dress Kull's wounds. I did have a nice time and
it will most likely be the last time I am in the company of
royalties. Let me relive the events last night one more time. I turn
to Kull and start...
"The carriage slows to turn within the gate,
passing through the white walls of stone. We are inside the palace
grounds, and it is immense. Armed guards patrol. The carriage stops at
a grand entrance of stairs leading up to a large doorway. A servant
opens the door and beckons us to follow. Brute exists first and assists
Veronica. Then Trevor. And he extends an arm to me. For a brief
moment a thought passes: could I live like this? My answer: I could not
live like this when I should be helping the less fortunate. I take
Trevor's arm and hold fast for tonight only."
"Too bad, Kull, you could not make it. I continue"
"We
follow the servant who leads us inside. The ceilings are tall and
intricate artwork covers the walls from the floor to the ceiling. A
large chandelier hangs here. It casts light in many places from the
many candles lit within. He leads us into a room and says, the grand
ballroom. I am amazed. Not only are we to have dinner, but also to be
honored in front of so many others. I am glad I spent time preparing
for this, for many of the women wear dresses with multiple layers of
cloth, and low cut to expose their necks and shoulders, too. This must
be to allow plain view of the gem filled necklaces they have. The men
wear clean outfits and they smell pleasantly fragrant.
Kalef is a
tall man and has a moustache that is curled on both ends. He wears a
strange hat, more like loose material wound around his hair. He speaks,
introducing himself and bids us to introduce ourselves.
Trevor
goes first. Even though I am at his side, I melt away to a dark corner
of the room, as I must appear as his escort or assistant. He is in the
spot light. To put on a show in front of royalty and as the honored
guest too, happens once in a lifetime. Many minutes later, he
introduces me, "Katherine..." To make sure everyone here knows of my
role, I take the lead and continue, louder so Trevor will stop, "... a
Priestess of the Light." I then brighten the lighting around me for an
impressive effect.
Then Brute and Ohm Uri introduce themselves,
and Veronica. Kalef remembers the stories, or shall I write, the tall
tales of Brute's other adventures. Brute plays into being modest, for
he denies every one.
He motions for us to sit and dine. At
this, I glimpse around and notice this one woman. She is also dressed
in strange clothes. She appears very exotic and beautiful. I check
Trevor's arm in my hand. I do not want to spoil this night with him. I
remember a different time...
After dinner, Kalef asks if we
could retell the story of how we vanquished the witch. We all point to
Trevor for this honor of storytelling.
I let myself relax and
watch, the Trevor I see and like the most. I sneak a glimpse of
Veronica and she is fixated on Brute. With that nagging question
answered, I let myself be captivated by his show and storytelling spell,
including his accents with pyrotechnics. After Trevor finishes, their
royal show begins. Women of exotic origin perform a dance, accompanied
by a few men playing drums. The magic of the rhythmic sounds from the
drums are matched by movement of the dancers, again spellbinding. At
this, I find I have tighten my grip on Trevor's arm. The show ends and a
blur of people meet us. As the night wears on, all of the guests
leave. But we stay and Kalef brings two chests into the ballroom and
states that he is grateful to us for saving his life. He feels he would
be next if the witch succeeded. Fifty thousand gold coins in the chest
for us. And ..."
I hear the soft breathing of Kull,
sleeping. He seems to not hear a word in his recovering state. Kull,
may I ask you a question: what do you think of Trevor? Last night, all
was fine, except at the end, for I find out Trevor works with sorcery
without understanding it or the consequences it can do. And he does not
include me or tell me about it. Today, Kull, you are an excellent
listener.
After I return to the group, we move to the festival,
but are side tracked by an archery contest. Trevor, Ohm Uri and I stand
together, and I see an elf girl that is the only one with any chance of
matching Brute's skill. But today, Brute is on fire, he even splits
his own arrow from a distance. Such marksmanship! At the elf's third
try, she winks at Trevor. What? Why did she do that? Does Trevor know
her? Again, what has he not told me? I focus on the match again, and
it is over. The official declares Brute the winner! We all cheer, but
it is short lived, for Brute gives the trophy winnings to the elf
girl. What? Did she wink at Brute too? What is this elf girl trying?
Brute
collects his arrows and I, wanting to get to the lore master without
more distractions, herd them quickly. We find him, and ask if these
items are cursed. None of the them are, or so he thinks. Still, magic
items can be dangerous, for the magic has a life of its own.
And
we also discuss the coins again. My advice I add, is that with the
three houses, we will want the funds to make repairs, or we should sell
the houses, if we can find buyers. And we did not talk more of going
into the desert to find the item.
No comments:
Post a Comment