Shadows of Amn

"I have to go back there," he told her and turned back to the barrel.

"To find your wife?" she asked. He heard her light footsteps approaching him from behind.

"She's not my wife," Abdel told her simply. "I don't care if you don't believe me."

She came up next to him, and from the corner of his eye, he saw her smile. "In the morning I can take you to see someone from the militia or someone from the council, maybe."

He knew she was trying to humor him, and he only grunted. She smiled again in answer to that and stepped up to the barrel. She dunked her head into the water and came back up quickly, letting it cascade over her shoulders and onto the light fabric of her dress.

"That does feel good," she said quietly, ru

The wet dress began to stick to her, outlining small details of her body that drew Abdel's eyes as they would any man's. She noticed him noticing her and glanced down. Abdel was too tired and too worried about Jaheira but most of all too disappointed in himself to blush.

"You can touch me," she said. "I want you to."

He sighed and took one step back. "I have to go."

"In the morning," she said, stepping toward him, stopping less than an inch away from his bare chest. "Please."

"I love her," he told her.

"She could be dead," Bodhi said too bluntly, and Abdel restrained himself from backhanding her across the alley.

"That's why I have to go," he said instead.

Bodhi didn't follow him when he took three steps away from her and bent to pick up his shirt.

"She must be very beautiful," she said.

Abdel didn't feel the need to answer.

"I can help you." He looked at her with a wrinkled brow, and she continued, "You need gold, don't you? Gaelan knows where she is. He knows things like that, but he's serious about the gold. You can kill him if you want to, but he won't tell you anything unless you pay him first. It's what he does."

"What are you asking me to do?" he asked her.

"Aran Linvail," she said, "have you heard of him?"

"No, should I have?"

"He deserves to die," she said, "and there is a price on his head."

"Am I an assassin now?"

She smiled, and Abdel looked away, so he wouldn't return the smile. "You can be a bounty hunter. Linvail is the assassin—a very prolific one."

Abdel figured he'd have to take her word for that. The shirt ripped again as he tried to put it on. It was too small for him, and now that he was wet, it didn't seem like he'd get it over his chest. He was only half listening to her.

"I know someone who will pay thirty thousand gold pieces for his head," she said. "They've got the coin, Abdel, and they will pay it."

He stopped, gave up on the shirt, and looked at her sternly. "You want me to kill for gold?"

She smiled again, and Abdel was struck by how pretty she was. Her dress was still wet, and she wasn't making any attempt to hide herself from him.

He turned away, moving to the door, as she said, "Can you afford not to? You've got a pair of my brother's old pants and a stolen sword, Abdel, and that's all. By your own account, you're not even from here. I like you, but not everyone will."

He sighed and turned away. If he hadn't been so tired, and didn't have somewhere to go, he might have hit her after all.

Jaheira had a vague memory of the sound of water, and there was the motion that made her think she'd been on a boat. She was outside—or had been—and it had been night, but she couldn't see any stars.

It took her three tries before she actually regained consciousness. Her eyelids opened only with great difficulty, and one side of her face was awash in a dull, throbbing ache.

"She's alive," a voice said. It was a young woman's voice, tired and unenthusiastic.

Jaheira turned toward the voice, and something hurt her neck. She winced, and that made her face hurt. She closed her eyes, which filled with tears, but tried to keep her breathing steady.

"Where am I?" Jaheira asked, her voice scratchy and uneven.

"A cave," the voice replied.

This time Jaheira opened her eyes and saw the girl who had been dragged with her through the storm drain by the vampire woman. The girl was chained to the wall by a wide leather collar fastened tightly around her neck. The pain in Jaheira's own neck came from an identical strap. The half-elf tugged at her bonds, but they held fast, anchored firmly into the wall.

There was a torch hanging in a crude wall sconce guttering out a smoky orange light from maybe twenty feet above Jaheira's head. The ground she was sitting on was smooth, uneven stone. Above her hung stalactites of varying yellow, gray, and dull brown. It was a natural cavern, probably carved by an underground stream. The ceiling was high, but the walls were close on two sides. The cavern went off into the thick darkness on either side as if they were in a tu

"My name is Jaheira," she said to her fellow prisoner, looking up to catch the young woman's surprisingly steady gaze.

The girl was dirty, disheveled, and tired, but still undeniably pretty. Shoulder-length auburn hair framed a smooth-ski

"Imoen," the girl answered. "Nice that you came around. I'm happy for someone to talk to."

"How long have we been here?" Jaheira asked, determined to settle some facts of her situation, so she could have some chance of escaping it. The question seemed to upset Imoen.

"I have no idea," she answered. "Hard to tell in a cave, actually. I fell asleep for a while, I think. Maybe a couple of days."

"Since the storm drain?" Jaheira asked.

"Storm drain?"

"We need to get out of here," Jaheira said simply, not entirely surprised that the girl hadn't been conscious of that part of their journey.

Imoen smiled pleasantly and said, "Gee, think?"

The girl's tone made the fine hairs behind Jaheira's gently pointed ears stand on end.

"I am your friend," she whispered in a voice as solid as bedrock. "We can help each other."

Abdel tried to think of Jaheira, but this woman's presence was overpowering. He closed his eyes and turned his head sharply to one side. She seemed sad but confident at the same time, hopeful and consumed with sorrow. He wanted to reach out to her, but he took two steps backward instead.

She took two steps toward him, keeping the distance between them constant. Her eyes were a pale gray that Abdel couldn't possibly ignore.

"I can get you weapons," she said quietly, "armor maybe, too, but you'll have to kill him. You just have no choice."

Abdel's brow knitted, and he sighed.

"You've killed for gold before, Abdel," she said, even quieter now. "I can see that on your face, in the lines of your arms, on the backs of your hands. You can do this. You can get the gold you need to pay Gaelan to tell you where your—"

"That's enough," he said, turning away.

She stepped closer still and touched his shoulder. Her fingers were cold, but soft. He wanted to flinch away from her touch, but he didn't.

"He's a Shadow Thief," she said. "Aran Linvail. He's an assassin for the Shadow Thieves. He kills for gold every day. Shouldn't he die that way too?"

"I don't do that anymore," Abdel said, not turning around. "I've changed."

"You can change back," Bodhi whispered, "if you love her enough."

Abdel knew what Jaheira would say if she were there. She would remind him of how far he'd come since he watched Gorion die. He wasn't a hired thug anymore. He didn't kill out of anger anymore.