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THE LOOK IN HER EYE

By the tiht up to Jarlaxle and the others, they were camped on a hillock beyond Palishchuk&039;s northern wall Fro black castle was all too clear to see

"When I left here last it was no ly for a structure much smaller than this," Mariabronne inforham named it a replica of Castle Perilous, and I fear now that he was correct"

"And you once glanced upon that awful place," Ellery said

"Well, if none are in there, then we&039;ll ate "Got uardin&039; our walls!"

"Got you a habit to bring on your fall," Jarlaxle ate to hear, which of course only brought a burst of howling laughter frorief," said the drow

"Only kind I&039; a beat

"I doubt it is uninhabited or&039;s to stay that way for long," Pratcus put in "I can feel the evilness e, for every monster in this corner o&039; Vaasa"

Entreri looked over at Jarlaxle and the pair exchanged knowing glances The strange castle, as with the similar tower they&039;d previously encountered, likely needed no garrison from without That tower had nearly killed thereatest artifact in the battle Entreri wondered how ht the castle be, for it was le tower

"Whatever your feeling, good dwarf, and whatever our fears, it is of course incuate more closely," Canthan put in "That is our course, is it not, Co in the undertones of Canthan&039;s words A familiarity?

"Indeed, our duty seems clear to that very course," Ellery replied

It see a bit too formal with the thin wizard, a bit too standoffish

"In the haht and he is not one to break his word"

"And so he has not," came a voice froard the old half-orc trudging up the side of the hillock, arm-in-arm with a woman whose other are and hulking speciest of the group, for he carried hiest that he presented a potential threat But the assassin was not looking at that one, not at all, his eyes riveted to the woht of their cah ar her, she see familiar about her wide, flat face, about the sparkle in her eyes and the tilt of herwarm about her, Entreri sensed soht of her had elicited rasped of a better tilanced his way and was locked by his gaze For a longin the air between theht ha the momentary enchantaze away

"The book was lost to us for a time," Mariabronne explained to the others "It was Arrayan who discovered it and the growth about it north of the city It was she who first recognized this dark power and alerted the rest of us"

Entreri looked fro hard to keep the panic out of his expression Meabalus buried those of that distant and unreachable warmth, and the fact that the woman was so&039;s stung Entreri&039;s sensibilities

He paused and considered that sensation

Why should he care?

The look Entreri gave to Arrayan when Wingham introduced her was not lost upon Jarlaxle

Nor had it been lost on the large escort at Arrayan&039;s other side, the drow noted

Jarlaxle, too, had been caught a bit off guard when first he glanced Wingham&039;s niece, for the attractive woman was hardly what he had expected of a half-orc She clearly favored her hurandparent, and more than that, Jarlaxle saw a similarity in Arrayan to another wo

If Dwahvel Tiggerwillies had a human cousin, Jarlaxle mused, she would look much like Arrayan Faylin

Perhaps that had helped to spark Entreri&039;s obvious interest

Jarlaxle thought the whole twist perfectly entertaining A bit dangerous, perhaps, given the size of Arrayan&039;s escort, but then again, Artemis Entreri could certainly take care of himself

The drow moved to join his coe of the hilltop Entreri was on the far side, keeping watch over the southern reaches, the short expanse of ground between the encampment and the city wall

"A castle," Entreri muttered as Jarlaxle moved to crouch beside him "A damned castle Ilnezhara told you of this"

"Of course not," the drow replied

Entreri turned his head and glared at him "We ca so si coincidence, wouldn&039;t you agree?"

"I told you that our benefactors believed there ht be treasures to find," the drow innocently replied He moved closer and lowered his voice as he added, "The appearance of the tower in the south indicated that other treasures ht soon be unearthed, yes, but I told you of this"

"Treasures?" came the skeptical echo "That is what you would call this castle?"

"Potentially"

"You&039;ve already forgotten e faced in that tower?"

"We won"

"We barely escaped with our lives," Entreri argued He followed Jarlaxle&039;s concerned glance back to the north and realized that he had to keep his voice down "And for what gain?"

"The skull"

"For auntlet? Hardly a fair trade And how do you propose we do battle with this construct now that the gauntlet is no iven you soht?"

Jarlaxle fought very hard to keep his expression blank The last thing he wanted to do at that lance at Arrayan, was explain to him the connection between Herminicle the wizard, Herminicle the lich, and the tower itself

"A sense of adventure, yian artifact, a tome, perhaps, or perhaps some other clue, awaits us inside How can we not explore that possibility?"

"A dragon&039;s lair often contains great treasures, artifacts even, and by all reasoning such a hunt would constitute the greatest of adventures," Entreri countered with understated sarcasm "When we are done here, perhaps our &039;benefactors&039; will hand us maps to their distant kin One adventurous road after another"

"It is a thought"

Entreri just shook his head slowly and turned to gaze back at the southland and the distant wall of Palishchuk

Jarlaxle laughed and patted him on the shoulder then rose and started away

"There are connections a our companions that we do not yet fully understand," Entreri said, causing the dark elf to pause for just a lad that his companion remained as astute and alert as ever

"What&039;s it about, ye skinny old lout?" Athrogate roared as he approached Canthan on the far western side of the hillock, where the wizard had set up his tent - an ordinary inverted V-shaped affair suitable for one, or perhaps for two, if they were as thin as the wizard

"Be silent, you oaf," Canthan whispered frolanced around The others seemed perfectly content and busy with their own affairs Pratcus and Ellery worked at the fire, cooking soood, but in truth, there was no food that didn&039;t sate On the northern end of the flat-topped hill, Arrayan and Olgerkhan sat staring off into the darkness, while across the way to the south, that daone to join his swarthy friend Mariabronne was off so with the odd half-orc Wingha, the black-bearded dwarf dropped to his knees and crawled into Canthan&039;s tent There was no light in there, other than the distant glow of the caate needed no more than that to realize he was alone in the tent But where had Canthan&039;s voice coate asked

"Be silent, fool, and coate&039;s face brushed into a rope hanging down from the apex of the tent "Up?"

"Climb the rope," came a harsh whisper from above

It seemed silly to the dwarf, for if he had stood up, his head would have lifted the tent froh to understand the wizard&039;s weird ways, however, and so, with another shrug, he grasped the rope and started to cliate felt as if he had left the confines of the tent Grinning ently, hand-walking up the rope Where he should have bumped into the solid barrier of the tent roof, he found instead a strange foggy area, a h and ran out of rope - it siate threw hi He tue room, perhaps a dozen feet square, and well-furnished with s, a couple of hardwood chairs, and a small pedestal atop which sat a crystal ball Canthan peered into the orb

"Well," said Athrogate, "if ye was to bring such goodies as these, then why&039;d ye make a tent fit for a dwarf on his knees?"

Canthan waved at hihed at the dised it away, stood, and walked across the soft carpet to take a seat opposite the skinny wizard

"Naked halflings?" he asked with a leink

"Our answers, fro the naate&039;s s expression

The dwarfin His wildly distorted face filled the globe and brought a yelp frolowered at hi, except yerself," said Athrogate "And ye&039;re skinnier than e&039;er!"

"A wizard h it"

"Then why&039;d ye call lanced around the roo hearth across the ith a pot set in it "Got anything good for eating?"

"The citadel&039;s spies have searched far and wide for answers," Canthan explained "All the way to Calimport"

"Never heard of it That a place?"

"On Faerun&039;s far southwestern shores" Canthan said, though Athrogate was not at all impressed "That is where our friends - and they haven&039;t even changed their nainated from Well, the drow came from Menzoberranzan"

"Never heard of it, either"

"It does not matter," the wizard replied "The two of theo, accompanied by many other dark elves from the Underdark"

"Heard o&039; that, and yep, that&039;d be where thehed and shrugged

"They tried to conquer the back streets of the city," Canthan said

"Streets wouldn&039;t give up, would they?"

Again, the wizard narrowed his eyes and glared at the dwarf "They went against the thieves&039; guilds, which are ht to control the cutpurses and killers of Caliate considered that for a few moments, then took on athe saht any allies with them, from all we&039;ve seen," explained the wizard "Perhaps they have been hu us Perhaps not, and if not"

"Yeah, I knoe kill &039;e almost bored

"Ellery is ready to deal with the drow"

"Bah, I can swat em both and be done with it"

Canthan came forward in a rush, his eyes wide, his expression wild "Do not underestimate them!" he warned "This is no ordinary duo They have traveled the breadth of Toril, and for a drow to do so openly is no s his gnarled hand in the air to calm the volatile wizard "Take care and caution and all that Always that"

"Unlike your typical ot me where I am" He paused and hopped up, then did a quick inspection of hiers "With all me pieces intact, and what do ye know about that?"

"Shut up"

"Keep saying it"

"You forget e came out here? Knellict sent us with a purpose"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah"

"You just be ready," said Canthan "If it comes to blows, then we can hope that Ellery will finish the drow The other one is your task"

Athrogate snapped his fingers in the air

Even with Athrogate still sitting there, Canthan started to go on, to work through a secondary plan, just in case But he stopped short, realizing froate really didn&039;t think it necessary