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CLEARING THE PATH

Leaning on each other for erkhan inched down the staircase Entreri cahtly against the railing and forcing the half-orc to grab on with both his hands

Entreri turned to Arrayan, as holding on to hi unsteadily He shifted to put his shoulder back behind her, then in a single erkhan tobehind hiainst his face and he looked down at her, into her eyes

"You saved me," she said, her voice barely audible "All of us"

Entreri felt a rush of ware of Dwahvel&039;s face superimposed over the similar features of Arrayan He felt warm indeed, and it occurred to hiroup, taking Arrayan far away fro almost the entirety of his life in a desperate attempt at survival, tried to question, tried to illustrate the illogic of it all But for the first time in three decades, those practical sensibilities had no voice in the thoughts of Artemis Entreri

"Thank you," Arrayan whispered, and her hand traced the outline of his cheek and lips

The lue for Entreri to respond, other than with a quick nod

"That&039;ll hold, but not for long," Athrogate announced, co the keep&039;sco and scratching on the door behind hioyles don&039;t hit as hard"

"The room is far from secure," put in Canthan, who still stood by the open book "They will find a way in Let us be on our way"

"Destroy the book?" Olgerkhan asked

"Would that I could"

"Take it with us, then?" Arrayan asked, and the horror in her voice revealed much

Canthan snickered at her

"Then what?" Ellery chimed in, the first words she had spoken in some time, and with a shaky voice "We came here for a purpose, and that see - "

"I said nothing about running away, my dear Coone from this particular room"

"With the book," Ellery reasoned

"Not possible," Canthan inforround!" said Athrogate, and he scra and hopped down to the stairs

"The book is protected," said Canthan "It is but a conduit in any case We&039;ll not destroy it, or claim it, until the source of its power is no erkhan asked, and neither Canthan nor Jarlaxle missed the way the half-orc stiffened with the question

"That is e must discern," the wizard replied

Jarlaxle was unconvinced, for Canthan&039;s gaze drifted over Arrayan as he spoke The dro the wizard had long ago "discerned" the source, as had Jarlaxle and Entreri A glance at his assassin friend, thehard Canthan&039;s way told Jarlaxle that Entreri was catching on as well and that he wasn&039;t very happy about the conclusions Canthan had obviously drawn

"Then where do we start?" Ellery asked

"Down, I sense," said Canthan

Jarlaxle recognized that the h the droasn&039;t quite certain of why In truth, Jarlaxle wasn&039;t so sure that Canthan&039;s guess was off the mark Certainly part of the source for the construction was standing right beside him in the form of a half-orc woman But that was a small part, Jarlaxle knew, as if Arrayan had been the initial flare to send a gnomish fire-rocket skyward before thee," the drow reh he sensed clearly that Canthan believed it to be a queen instead - and one standing not so far away

It wasn&039;t the time and place to confront the wizard openly, Jarlaxle realized The pounding on the door continued fro on the keep&039;s main doors, just past Canthan and the book, led Jarlaxle to believe that scores of undead ainst theh becouard hi echoed in Ellery&039;s head When we are long gone, you will do as you were trained to do As you promised you could do

Ellery&039;s eyes widened, but she did well to hide her surprise

Anothercame to her: Our victory is easily achieved, and I kno to do it But Jarlaxle will stand against ain here, whatever the cost to Damara For our sake, and the sake of the land, the drowwords in stride, not surprised She didn&039;t quite understand what Canthan was talking about, of course Easily achieved? Why would Jarlaxle not agree to so like that? It made no sense, but Ellery could not easily dismiss the source of the inforo, and through his work, she had gained greatly in rank and reputation Her skill as a warrior had been honed through e that allowed her to hen others could not, had been possible only through the work of Canthan and his associates

Though they were the enemies of the throne and her own relatives, Ellery knew that the relationship between the crown of Damara and the Citadel of Assassins was complicated and not quite as openly hostile and adversarial as onlookers ht believe Certainly Ellery had quietly profited from her relationship with Canthan - and never had the wizard asked her to do anything that went against the crown

In her gut, however, she knew that there was so her Was Canthan seeking so Ellery to settle a personal grudge he held with the dark elf?

Now!

Ellery jolted at the sharp intrusion, her gaze going to Canthan He stood resolute, eyes narrow, lips thin

A hundred questions popped into Ellery&039;s head, a hundred demands she wanted to ainst so the expedition, so and who had performed, to that point, so admirably? How could she do this to soh that hadat Canthan, Ellery realized how she could and why she would

The wizard terrified her, as did the band of cutthroats he represented

It all came clear to Commander Ellery at that moment, as she admitted to herself, for the first time, the truth of her involvement with the Citadel of Assassins and its wizard representative She had spent years justifying her secret relationship with Canthan, telling herself that her personal gains and the way she could use thedoht herself in control of the relationship She, the relative of Tranth and of both King Gareth and Lady Christine, would always do as best for Dareater Bloodstone

What did it matter if the dark tendrils of her choices delayed her from that "moment of miracle" her relatives all enviously awaited, that release of holy power that would show the world that she was beyond an ordinary warrior, that she was a paladin in the line of Gareth Dragonsbane?

At that h, the nakedness of her self-delusion and justification hit her hard Perhaps Canthan was i of the drow Perhaps, she tried to tell herself, the dark elf Jarlaxle truly was an impediment to their necessary victory

Yes, that was it, the woman told herself They all wanted to win, all wanted to survive The death of Mariabronne had to yian castle had to be defeated Canthan knew that, and he apparently knew so about Jarlaxle that Ellery did not

Despite her newest rationalization, deep in her heart Ellery suspected so else Deep in her heart, Ellery understood the truth of her relationship with Canthan and the Citadel of Assassins

But sos were better left buried deep

She had to trust hiled Nothing specific caical intrusion - a sending or scrying, soy - had just flitted by hi to who in on them, but then, as Ellery reht be able to find so that Canthan has overlooked?" Jarlaxle caic had been none other than his wizardly companion

The drow tried not to let his reaction to the question show hiood Canthan&039;s knowledge of the Art is greater than my own"

Ellery&039;s eyes widened and her nostrils flared, and the dro that he had surprised and worried her with his tentative refusal He decided not to disappoint

"But I aic is not quite the sanize that Canthan has not"

He looked at the wizard as he spoke, and Canthan gracefully bowed, stepped aside, and swept his arm to invite Jarlaxle to the book

There it was, as clear as it could be

"We ain&039;t got tiht "on cue" ca "Lead the others out, Athrogate," she ordered "I will re as the situation allows"

Ellery nodded toward the book, but JarlaxleEntreri as he followed

"Trouble," he ed to quietly whisper

Entreri , and he went out with Canthan, Athrogate, and the two half-orcs,down the tunnel Mariabronne had taken on his final journey

Jarlaxle stood before the open book but did not begin perusing it Rather, he watched the others head down the tunnel and stayed staring at the dark exit for so nervously from foot to foot Her focus was on hiuard for him" Over hiured out the riddle of the castle," the drow said He turned to regard the wo especially how her knuckles had whitened on the handle of her axe "But he is wrong"

Ellery&039;s face screwed up with confusion "What has he said to you? How do you know this?"

"Because I knohat he discerned from the book, as I have seen a tome similar to this one"

Ellery stared at hi over the handle, and she chewed her lips, clearly uneasy with it all

"He told you to keep me here and kill me, not because he fears that I will prove an impediment to our escape or victory, but because Canthan fears that I will vie with hi if not opportunistic"

Ellery rocked back and seemed as if she would stumble to the floor at Jarlaxle&039;s obviously on-the-h to think he could talk the woh, so he was not caught off-guard when, just as he finished speaking, Ellery roared and caer appeared in the drow&039;s hand, and with a snap of his wrist, it became a sword He flipped it to his left just in time to parry Ellery&039;s axe-swipe and he back-stepped just fast enough to avoid the collision froer spilled forth froress long enough for him to extract a third froain When the initial assault played out and the two faced each other on even footing, the droas holding a pair of slender long swords

Ellery launched a backhand slash and pressed forward as Jarlaxle rolled around the cut and thrust forth with his sword Her shield took that one aside and a clever underhand reversal of her cutting axe deflected the thrust of the drow&039;s second blade, co knee

Ellery chopped doith her shield, spun a tight circuit behind it, and extended as she came around

Jarlaxle threw back his hips then started in yet again behind the flashing axe He stopped and flung hi and came ahead in a rush, her powerful axe at the ready She stayed right with hiled sword moved aside her powerful chop Her shield tapped down on one sword, driving it low, caain, then

Jarlaxle was too quick with his second blade, feigning high onceit do instead

But Ellery was quick as well, and the shield tapped down appropriately

On carowl, and Jarlaxle had to step back fast and spin out to the side He brought both his swords in one desperate parry and accepted the shield bash against his arlad that the momentum of it allowed hily skilled woain, will I find your bed?" he teased

Ellery didn&039;t crack a grin "Those days are long past us"

"They don&039;t have to be"

Ellery&039;s response cae and a flurry of blows that had Jarlaxle furiously defending and backing, stride after stride

Entreri rushed out past Athrogate "I have the point," he explained "Folloith caution, but with speed"

He sprinted down the corridor, pushing through the door and into the room where Mariabronne lay still, his sword held in both hands over his chest, its blade running down below his waist

Entreri shook his head and disht He went across the room to the other door, did a cursory check for traps when he saw that it had not recently been opened, and pushed through to find another curving, descending tunnel

He sprinted down and carefully set the first torches burning by tapping the pressure plate Then he turned and rushed back to the door, scra just that tiny lip and the ceiling above him, the assassin pressed hiate erkhan and Arrayan, with Canthanthe assassin, and before they had even disappeared around the tunnel bend, Entreri hooked his fingers on the lip of the door jahtly back in the roo and ran back up the corridor

Herstyle and skill level she had shown to hi match those days before at the Vaasan Gate Ellery was no novice to battle and had practiced extensively in single combat techniques Her efforts tested Jarlaxle at every turn He had beaten her then, however, and he knew he could beat her again

She had to know that too, as Canthan, who had sent her, had to understand

Unless

They were the "Citadel of Assassins," after all

Ellery continued the flow of the fight, working her axe with quick chops and cuts, generally playing out ht She followed al thrust of her shield ars for the drow&039;s swords and also balancing herself and her turns to keep her feet properly aligned to propel her side-to-side or forward and back as required

She was good but not good enough, and they both knew it

It almost slipped past the observant drow that Ellery had crossed her feet, so s that, Jarlaxle was taken aback at how efficiently and quickly the woman executed a sudden spin, so that as she ca back at the drow&039;s left