The Crimson Gold r-3

by Voronica Whitney-Robinson

  "He is Zulkir Lauzoril," Tazi finished for her, recalling the female servants' earlier comments about the handsome man.

  The black-eyed wizard gave Tazi a beaming smile. "You have been listening," she said with obvious admiration. Tazi simply tipped her head in the acknowledgement of her skills.

  Naglatha pointed out a few others to Tazi, and the thief made a few mental notes for herself. Then a black-haired, brown-eyed woman that Naglatha addressed as Thessaloni drew the wizard into a conversation about some of the ships in her navy, so Tazi continued to simply watch and listen to those around her.

  "I've increased the number of darkenbeasts in my stables to nearly cme thousand," bragged a bald man who Tazi did not know. Like most in attendance, he had various tattoos across his smooth pate. But Tazi was familiar with the monstrous creatures he was referring to.

  Part bat, part prehistoric bird, Tazi had fought such a creature not long before her father died. Tazi shuddered inwardly at the thought that the man possessed so many of the creatures, and she fervently wished he was exaggerating for appearances sake.

  "For myself," the vigorous woman to his left replied, "I prefer the Blooded Ones. Much easier to control."

  "But, Azhir," he responded, "how can you afford them? They're terribly overpriced. Or have you and Szass Tarn come to a new arrangement?"

  Before the woman could respond, the room began to shake slightly. Everyone grew silent. The plates and goblets rattled, and the chandelier above swayed from side to side. The tremor did not last long, but Tazi could see concern on more than one zulkir's face. Tazi had felt a few minor quakes since they had entered the Thaymount region, but she had written them off as natural occurrences. Judging by the expressions of the Red Wizards all around her, she reconsidered her earlier appraisal.

  It took a few moments for the conversations to resume after the tremor tapered off, and when they did, they were more muted. The banter that had been more verbal fencing than anything else stopped.

  Tazi looked at the two spaces that were directly opposite Naglatha. They remained empty, and Tazi assumed the one in the middle was meant for Szass Tarn. She didn't know who they other one was for, but supposed it must be someone closely linked to the necromancer. Tazi noticed more than one wizard glance at the vacant seats and whisper to their dinner companion.

  A sudden hush fell over the room like a pall, and all eyes turned toward the main passageway of the banquet hall. A tall, handsome man with black hair and a matching beard walked determinedly into the chamber, rightfully commanding everyone's attention. He alone did not wear the red insignia cloak of a Red Wizard. All of the others had dressed in varying degrees of opulence and ornamentation, but they had all worn the cloak that denoted their station. Not this man. He set himself apart.

  As he pulled out the center chair and seated himself with unconscious regality, he looked steadily at Tazi for a long moment. She met his black gaze without blinking and felt a charismatic pull. His cheeks had a hint of color that was lacking on so many of the sallow faces she had seen in Thay. It gave him the appearance of ruddy, good health. She had to remind herself that this was a lich, and what she was seeing was surely the work of some illusory spell. Even still, she felt drawn to him, mostly because he cast an aura of self-possession and certainty that Tazi had envied in other people all her life. Her passion was to feel that comfortable in her own skin, and it was a quality she constantly fought for.

  "Naglatha," his deep voice broke the silence, "I must compliment you."

  "And why is that? Szass Tarn?" she asked demurely.

  "Out of everyone in attendance tonight," he explained, "you have, by far, brought the most interesting decorations to the table." His gaze flickered over the duergar as well, Tazi noticed, and he seemed to recognize the dwarf.

  "I thought you'd be pleased," she replied, and Tazi could see Naglatha glow with the necromancer's attentions. Tazi herself bridled with anger at the idea of being classified as decorative.

  Turning his attention to take in the whole room, the lich began, "I am so very pleased that all of you were able to find the time to come here. I am truly surprised that you could, given the relatively short notice and your full schedules," he added, and Tazi knew that no one in the room would have dared to miss it.

  A few of the wizards made pointed glances to the vacant chair to Tarn's right. The lich noted where their eyes lingered.

  "Unfortunately, Tharchion Pyras Autorian is unable to attend tonight's festivities. He has had a fresh spate of maladies and most recently has been suffering from terrible headaches," Szass Tarn explained to the gathered wizards, forced to address their looks. A very low murmur could be heard.

  "I suspect that like you," he continued easily, "many of the recent events have been weighing on him and have taken their toll. He is still rather young and hasn't your stamina or vast experience with such issues. But, he has assured me he will be able to attend tomorrow's council."

  "And what is it exactly," Zulkir Lauzoril asked, "that we are to discuss tomorrow?" He cocked an eyebrow at the lich, and Tazi could see Szass Tarn did not like to be interrupted. She sensed Lauzoril knew that particular fact quite well.

  "I do not want to speak too much of it tonight, since dear Pyras is absent. But I feel it is important that we discuss some of the more pressing issues of late."

  "Such as the increased volcanic activity in the area?" demanded one of the wizards.

  "That would be one of the more important points, Tharchion Dimon," the necromancer agreed, "as well as the state of our current economy and the success of the Enclaves as well as our continued support of them."

  At this point, he stopped and slowly looked at each of his guests. "I want to make sure we are all in agreement over these things." Tazi couldn't miss the coldness that crept into the lich's voice, and for a moment, he didn't look like the scholarly gentleman he had first appeared to be, but something much more sinister. She didn't flinch when his gaze included her again, and there was another strange moment between them.

  "And now, I will let you enjoy your evening meal. Please, eat your fill and have a good rest before tomorrow's busy schedule."

  With that, the necromancer rose to his feet and gave a slight bow with his head to the gathered assembly and exited down a different corridor. Tazi found herself almost wishing he hadn't left quite so soon.

  Not a minute aҐter the lich left, everyone began to speak to one another again.

  "Interesting that Pyras was not able to attend, eh Aznar?" Tazi heard Lauzoril ask the bald, black-eyed man near him.

  "Makes one wonder if Pyras has been demoted," Aznar replied. "Demoted permanently, that is."

  More than one zulkir or tharchion commented on the absence of the man with the same speculations. While they discussed their various opinions on the Enclaves of Thay, a bevy of servants skittered in and out, carrying trays laden with all types of food and drink. They moved silently from one person to the next, letting the guest choose items from the various platters at their leisure.

  "Now, I assume that Zulkir Druxus Rhym was not allowed to help in the kitchens. Am I correct in that assumption? " demanded a woman with hollowed cheeks in apparent good humor.

  "That's a good point, Mythrell'aa," chuckled Na-glatha. "Didn't you kill an entire dinner party a few years ago by changing their desert pastries into poisonous snakes?"

  There were several polite laughs at the banter, but Tazi saw that most everyone had not yet touched the food on their plates. The bald, black-eyed wizard that Naglatha had addressed looked her straight in the eyes and said, with all seriousness, "It was scorpions, not snakes." And he picked up a knife and fork and began to eat.

  A few others began to eat as well, but some of the guests got up to have more discreet conversations with others. Naglatha stood as well.

  She placed her hand lightly on Tazi's shoulder and whispered, "I need this time to talk to a few of my colleagues. Feel free to have something to eat as well."


  Tazi watched as Naglatha slipped over to where Nevron and Lauzoril were seated. She placed her hand, as she had with Tazi, delicately on the older man's shoulder and immediately became engrossed in a serious discussion.

  Tazi observed the various groupings around her. More than one had become heated. The words "Thay" and "trade" and "army" were tossed around a bit. Whenever anyone got too impassioned, one or more of their immediate companions would remind them where they were, and that wizard would then compose him or herself. Tazi was so engrossed in the wizards' discussions, she was barley aware when another servant came over to her and the duergar and placed plates piled high with delicacies in front of them.

  She did see Justikar sniff at his food and take a small bite of some of the meats on his plate. He scowled foully, and Tazi shook her head. She suspected that nothing except metalworking could ever bring a smile to his grim features. She turned to say something to him, but he fixed her with such an unpleasant look, she turned back to eavesdrop on the conversation to her left.

  "I still think gnolls are the next to try experimenting with," she heard one wizard tell another and proceeded to expound on the creatures' virtues as soldiers. She absently picked at the food on her plate and brought a forkful of cheese to her lips, barely noticing what she was doing. The next moment, she felt a powerful blow to her stomach and realized the duergar had punched her directly in the stomach.

  Tazi bent over her plate slightly and had no choice but to cough up the food she had just eaten. She wiped at her mouth and threw her napkin into her plate. Livid, she whipped her head around toward Justikar and opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but a strange event stopped her in her tracks.

  Poison, she heard the dwarf speak inside her head.

  What? she thought.

  I said, the dwarf thought angrily, there was poison in the food.

  How? demanded Tazi.

  You obviously didn't notice, the dwarf explained, but we had a different server from everyone else. Didn't you see that all the others and their servants got to choose what they wanted while we were brought plates already full of food?

  But-

  My kind has a tolerance for the stuff, he told her gruffly, so even though I had some, I'll be fine. You probably would not have been so lucky. Obviously, he added, a colleague ofNaglatha is less impressed with us than that lich was.

  What I'm trying to ask, Tazi said, is how can you be doing this? How can you be inside my thoughts?

  Oh, Justikar replied, that. Centuries ago, my kind was ruthlessly enslaved by illithids. We developed a limited, mental ability over time because of it.

  This might come in handy, she told him after a moment.

  I think it already has, he shot back at her.

  Tazi smiled ruefully and nodded slightly in wordless agreement.

  One thing, she added. Next time you suspect poison or something like it, why don't you just tell me instead. She rubbed her stomach lightly. The dwarf, however, didn't say another word.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Later that Night

  Tazi and Justikar sat in their room, without speaking. Just as the dwarf had said, the poison in their food made him somewhat ill. He had wretched into a chamber pot violently upon their return. Tazi moistened a cloth and offered it to him after he had emptied his stomach contents into the container. But he had pushed the offer aside and dragged his sleeve across his mouth.

  "At least this rag has some uses," he grumbled, referring to the gaudy tunic Naglatha's men had provided him with after the griffon attack. "Are you going to vomit, too?" he asked, and Tazi thought he might actually be concerned for her.

  "No, I'm fine," she thanked him.

  "Good. I'm not doing her bidding alone," he replied.

  So much for concern, Tazi mused.

  And they sat in silence, waiting for the black-haired wizard to make an appearance. In fact, they sat for several hours waiting for Naglatha's return. Neither spoke, and Tazi used the time to mull over what she had seen during the evening's events while she sat in the windowsill of a trompe I'oeil, one leg dangling over the side and the other propped up against the window frame. She glanced over several times to the dwarf, but he simply sat hunched over on the small stool, his hands planted firmly on his thighs, a dour expression on his face. She wasn't sure if he was angry or perhaps contemplating the fate of his brother.

  He's probably more eager to go than I am, Tazi thought. At least I am fairly confident my family is safe right now. He knows nothing about his brother, other than he lost contact with him.

  She started to ask him about his sibling when Na-glatha quietly opened their door.

  "Good," she said without preamble, walking over to stand between where they were seated, "you're both here."

  "As if we had a choice?" Tazi quipped.

  "You didn't," Naglatha replied easily, "but that didn't stop you before, now did it? "

  Scrutinizing their "host's" face, Tazi could see a rosy stain across Naglatha's cheeks. Tazi wondered if the wizard had imbibed too much of the wine at dinner, or if the flush was from the excitement of her anticipated success.

  "What now?" the duergar demanded, and Tazi felt sure it was impatience to find his brother that was weighing on him. She believed he wanted to proceed more than anyone else in the room at that moment.

  "Now is when you go get me those spells, little man," and her tone turned deadly. She regarded the dwarf coldly.

  "It's time, then?" Tazi asked her in an attempt to turn her attention away from Justikar. If she was drunk, then chances were her actions would be even more unpredictable than they had been previously, and Tazi knew Justikar was only alive because she had asked it. Naglatha hated the duergar, and Tazi was unsure if that hatred was for him alone, or if her dislike spilled over to anything dwarven. She didn't want to find out.

  Naglatha turned back to Tazi and said, "Yes, it will have to be tonight. Tomorrow, Szass Tam will hold his council," she said, "and after he beats it into us all again that we must continue to make trade our highest priority, he will find a way to politely evict us one by one." She sighed deeply. "I don't think this chance will come again," she added, "not for a very long while."

  "Then" Tazi asked, "where do we start? You've mentioned his book of spells several times, but you haven't given us an exact location."

  "That's because I can't," she replied simply.

  "Helpful," the dwarf spat.

  "Do you have an idea where to start?' Tazi asked, redirecting the wizard from the duergar.

  "There is a chamber I know of just beyond the banquet hall that descends into the lower depths of the Citadel," she told Tazi. "Follow it down. Supposedly you will find rooms of fabulous jewels and metals below. Not far past them will be the chamber that contains one of Szass Tarn's vast collections of spells. There," she breathed deeply, "you should see his prize book. Take it, or take as many of the spells that you can. But bring them to me."

  "Not much to go on," Tazi replied. "And I'm certain there will be guards on so valuable an item. Not asking for too much, are you?" she inquired, unable to contain her sarcasm any longer.

  Naglatha walked up to where she sat so nonchalantly and gripped Tazi hard under her chin. "I never said it was going to be easy," she hissed. "If this was meant to be a simple task, anyone would do." She released her biting grip on Tazi's flesh with a jerk and smiled again.

  "I suggest that if you-" she paused and fleetingly looked at the dwarf as well and corrected herself- "if both of you want your freedom, bring me what I want. If you can't do that, then I recommend you die trying. It's that simple." She strode over the door and tossed a look back at the two. "But I have great faith in you, Thazienne. I know you like I know myself, and I am certain you will do well."

  Before she left, Tazi pushed herself off of the win-dowsill and called out, "Any weapons for us?"

  "My dear Tazi," she replied, "it is not as though you're venturing out unarmed." Tazi kept her face blank, but she feared Nagl
atha knew of her golden dagger. "You've got him, after all." She smiled broadly and pointed to the dwarf. "You chose him, you know. Hopefully you won't regret the decision." And she left.

  Tazi looked at the closed door and shook her head. She turned to Justikar and nodded. "Let's do it."

  It was simple enough for them to slip through the few passageways they were already familiar with and make their way to the corridor leading up to the banquet hall. Once more, they found themselves slinking down the array of exotic armor. Tazi slowed and reached out to touch a thin rapier that rested in the gauntlet of a statue of armor.

  "Take it," the dwarf whispered. "You know you'll need it."

  "Someone might notice," Tazi replied.

  The dwarf ran a hand appreciatively over a large war axe, before pulling it free from its stand.

  "Tonight, they're all going to be too busy plotting who to kill next to notice these missing items."

  Tazi shrugged and reached for the rapier. "And I suppose if they do find that they're gone, they'll only watch their own backs." She noticed the thin, chain-mail gauntlets and after a brief hesitation, she took those, too. They slipped over her own leather gloves like a second skin, and she marveled at how light and flexible they were. She could see the duergar was equally impressed with his new weapon. He yanked a leather strap off of another piece of armor and strapped the axe to his back. For the first time since they had met, Tazi saw that Justikar look comfortable.

  Tazi took a page from the dwarf's book and stole a scabbard for her weapon as well. With the rapier fastened to her side, Tazi suddenly realized she had missed the familiar weight there. She found that even she breathed easier now with the unusual steel next to her hip. She walked no less quietly, but straighter than she had since her auction. For a fleeting moment, she entertained the notion of trying to escape.

  It will take Naglatha at least the night to notice I'm missing, she calculated. I could be in Eltabbar by morning and perhaps get some kind of word out to my family before the black-haired witch could do anything.