Under fallen stars

XIX

10 Kythorn, the Year of the Gauntlet

Jherek stood in the cool shade of an elm tree and looked back at the sparkling blue River Chionthar snaking through the hilly terrain. Breezerunner had vanished from sight hours ago and he found he missed the ship.

He was dressed in his leather armor, which stank badly. He hadn't been able to care for it while in Breezerunner's brig and it hadn't quite dried out from its earlier drenching. While they'd walked the remaining hours of the day, the wet leather had chafed him. He worked at the sore spots, trying to find some degree of comfort.

"You'd be better served taking those things off, young warrior," Glawinn said. "They'll take longer to dry with you wearing them, and we've a long way to go tomorrow. If you press on too much like today and ignore that chafing it's giving you, you're going to get blisters and sores."

"I don't know that I'd be much more comfortable out here without armor," Jherek said, turning toward the paladin.

Glawinn had shed his helm and upper armor, hanging it from a rack one of his two packhorses carried. He'd fed and cared for the pack animals first only so he could devote more attention to the great war-horse he rode. While the big animal crunched noisily in the feedbag over its head, the knight painstakingly scrubbed the horse down with a currycomb. Without his armor and next to the horse, the man looked smaller than Jherek would have expected a paladin to look.

"It's a wise man who plans for tomorrow while taking care of today," Glawinn said.

"Meaning you think I should take the armor off?"

Glawinn faced him, a good-natured twinkle in his green eyes but steel in his voice. "Meaning I insist that you do exactly that."

"No disrespect intended," Jherek said, curbing his anger and surprised at his own impertinence, "but I hardly think you're in a position to tell me what to do."

Glawinn put the currycomb in one of the saddlebags near the tree he'd claimed as a sleeping area for the night. "Ah, now there's anger. That can be a warrior's truest weapon, you know, provided he makes it serve him instead of him serving it. A man who's righteously angry ignores pain and guilt and second thoughts, and glories himself in doing the right thing."

Jherek swallowed hard. "I'm sorry. I was out of line. After all, you've been nothing but generous with us."

Glawinn started stripping out of the rest of the armor. "Actually, you weren't out of line," he said in a softer voice. "I know it's the woman that you worry about most. You don't know me, yet you and she find yourselves somewhat dependent on me."

"We didn't mean any hardship for you," Jherek quickly said. "If we're imposing, I know we can make it on our own."

After the paladin had intervened between Tynnel and him, Jherek had readily agreed to the knight's offer to accompany them for a time, and he'd even lent one of the pack-horses for Sabyna to ride, having to sacrifice some of the supplies he'd carried with him. Jherek had kept up walking, but only just, and he'd had to argue with Sabyna several times about sharing the pack animal. She'd stubbornly insisted on walking beside him a few times, but she didn't have the strength or stamina he did.

"Nonsense," Glawinn said, sitting down and putting his back to the tree. He crossed his legs and sat with his broadsword resting across both knees. "If I'd thought you were going to be that much trouble, I'd never have offered."

Jherek sat across the campfire from the man and lifted an eyebrow in doubt. "Leaving a woman out in the forest to fend for herself? That doesn't seem very knightly."

Glawinn laughed, and the honesty of the sound made Jherek feel good, safe despite the forest surrounding them and twilight coming on.

"And what would you know of knights, young warrior?" Glawinn asked.

"I've read about them in books."

"What books?"

Jherek named some of the books Malorrie had given him to read over the years. For a phantom, Malorrie had always seemed to have an extensive library.

"Ah, the romances," Glawinn said when he finished. "I've meandered through some of them myself. I find them very prettily written and good for a few evenings' entertainment but as far as training a paladin how to think?" He shook his head. "No, young warrior, a knight listens with his heart, the greatest gift his chosen deity has seen fit to equip him with. Have you ever read 'Quentin's Monograph?' "

Jherek nodded. That had been one of the first things Malorrie had put before him. "It speaks about the virtues a paladin should have."

"Yes, and it's a very concisely written piece, with some practical information on the care of weapons and animals, and a few of Quentin's own adventures." Glawinn ran his fingers down the spine of his sword blade, hardly touching it. "Modestly expressed, of course."

"Aye."

Glawinn smiled. "But you prefer the romances, of course?"

Jherek grinned bashfully. "Aye."

"No worry, young warrior, there's no shame in holding to an ideal. I just hope that you aren't too disappointed by the things you see outside those books."

Jherek nodded. "I know the difference between the books and real life." He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Almost everything in life was different than what was shown in those books.

"I can tell by the markings on your face and body that you've been traveling the rougher side of life for the last little while."

"Aye. I was at the battle of Baldur's Gate."

"Baldur's Gate?" Glawinn sat up straighten "I am only lately come from Cormyr. I've no news of Baldur's Gate."

Jherek glanced toward the copse of trees not far distant from them where Sabyna had gone to study her spellbook. He'd been hesitant about letting her go off but in the end he hadn't had a choice. She'd been adamant about not missing her studies, though Jherek also thought she wanted to be alone to deal with what had happened with Tynnel and Breezerunner. He quickly brought the knight up to speed on the events at Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, and the ships that had been taken in that time as well, because Glawinn hadn't heard of that either.

"The sahuagin are uprising?" the knight asked when he finished. "Does anyone know why?"

Jherek shook his head.

"Surely no one believes these are unrelated events?"

"I don't know," Jherek answered. "Sabyna and I were kidnapped from Baldur's Gate the night of the attack."

Glawinn gazed into the campfire for a moment, obviously thinking about what he'd been told. "You and your mates only just escaped the pirates from the Inner Sea who took part in this attack?"

"That's what Captain Tynnel told me the pirate captain Vurgrom said. You could probably ask Sabyna for more in-depth information."

"Have you ever heard of Vurgrom before?"

Jherek shook his head.

"So he could be telling the truth and he could be telling a lie?"

"Aye, and I wouldn't know the right of it."

"Then why do you pursue him?" Glawinn asked.

"Personal reasons."

"With the demeanor and focus you're wearing, I wouldn't have thought it was any less," the knight said sagely.

Jherek didn't feel comfortable not telling the knight all of it, so he did. He tried to trim down the way he'd felt about being the recipient of the pearl disk, but he found he couldn't do that completely either.

"So you don't think the old priest was right in giving that disk to you?" Glawinn asked.

"No."

"Why?"

Jherek shook his head and forced a smile he didn't feel. "If you knew me better, Sir Glawinn, you wouldn't even need to ask that question." He felt the burn of his father's tattoo on the inside of his arm.

"Ah, the wisdom of youth."

"What do you mean by that?" Jherek asked.

"To be young and think I know so much again," Glawinn said. "That would be properly painful. I'd much rather know for certain there is much I still yet need to learn." He looked at Jherek. "Meaning no disrespect, young warrior, but you've hardly put in enough years to give any real weight to the guesses you make about what the gods would or wouldn't do."

"One thing I do know and am sure of," Jherek said, "is that they wouldn't have anything to do with me."

Still, Jherek remembered the voice that had haunted him since childhood. He almost asked the knight about it, but stopped himself. Once he'd dealt with one fantasy, he didn't need to start working on another.

Glawinn let the topic slide. "So now you pursue Vurgrom to the Inner Sea?"

"That's where he's got to be headed. He told Tynnel he was from the Pirate Isles, and even claimed to be the pirate king of Immurk's Hold."

"Oh, I agree entirely, young warrior. Have you ever been to Westgate?"

Jherek shook his head.

"That will be the first city Vurgrom heads for," Glawinn said confidently. "He may pass through Teziir, but it'll be Westgate that's his destination. It's a pirate's haven, and he's sure to have men waiting for him there."

"You've been there?" Jherek asked.

"A number of times. None of them pleasant or particularly long. Nor were they in any way uneventful." Glawinn fixed him with his green-eyed stare. "Which begs the question of how you think you're going to get something back from Vurgrom if he doesn't want to give it back?"

"I don't know," Jherek admitted.

"The trip to Westgate is at least a tenday's ride, young warrior, even at the pace we've been pushing these poor horses and with the shortcuts I know from having journeyed there before. You'd better give your actions some thought."

"I will," Jherek said, then added: "I am."

"And Westgate is no place for a lady."

"Aye," Jherek replied. "I tried to get her to listen to reason and go back with Breezerunner, but she'd have none of it."

"I gathered that from the way she was acting toward the captain when I arrived."

"I still don't understand Tynnel's behavior."

"You don't?"

"No."

"And you read those fantasies?"

"What do those-"

"It's as obvious as the nose on your face," Glawinn said. "Captain Tynnel is in love with her."

The paladin's words hit Jherek like physical blows. Now he understood better why Tynnel hadn't told Sabyna about the events in Athkatla. He tried to let nothing of the sudden aching pain and fear that threatened to consume him show on his face. He tried to understand why he felt the way he did. Images of the voyage from Velen to Athkatla flashed through his mind. He remembered the times and conversations he'd shared with the pretty ship's mage, and the meals.

"I see you have some feelings for the girl yourself," the knight said.

Jherek forced himself to speak. "I like her."

"And that's all?"

"It's all I know," the young sailor said.

"But you enjoy reading those fantasies of yours," Glawinn said. "How can you not want to be in love? How can you say only that you like her?"

"Because it's all I dare," Jherek answered. "I'm no highborn prince or liege man or warrior of high renown."

"You're a warrior. You stood at the battle of Baldur's Gate, and you stood up to that ship's captain without a sword in your fist."

"I'm no warrior," Jherek said, uncomfortable with any confusion that placed greatness on anything he'd done. "I'm just a man who's fought for his life."

"Most soldiers feel the same way."

"As for Tynnel, I couldn't have fought him."

"You would have let him kill you?"

"I don't think he would have."

Glawinn reached into his saddlebag and took out two apples. He tossed one to Jherek and kept one for himself. He polished the fruit on his shirt, then took a bite. "He would have killed you," the knight stated flatly. "Men in love sometimes do foolish things."

"I could not have fought him," Jherek said. "He wasn't my enemy."

"Tynnel saw you as his because you were taking away the woman he loves."

Jherek felt uncomfortable. He rolled the apple between his palms, but the anticipation of taking a bite had already tightened his mouth. "I didn't take her away."

"You were the reason she left."

"I didn't ask her. I asked her to stay."

"And if you did," Glawinn said, "that had to have angered Tynnel even further."

"She's stubborn," Jherek said. "And willful."

"Qualities that can work for good or ill in a man or woman."

"If she loves him," Jherek said, "she should have stayed with him. She owed me nothing that would come between them."

Glawinn bit off a piece of his apple and offered it to the war-horse. The animal took it daintily from his palm and whickered in satisfaction. "You don't listen very well. I said that he was in love with her. I said nothing about her being in love with him."

Hope flew in Jherek's heart, but it only took remembering that it was his father who slew Sabyna's brother to quash it. Even if that had not stood between them, what did he have to offer her?

Glawinn hesitated. "Perhaps I presume on territory that I don't belong in, but have you told the lady that you… you like her, young warrior?"

Acting on the small amount of irritation he felt, Jherek asked, "Why do you keep calling me that? I have a name."

"Malorrie?" Glawinn shook his head. "That's not your name."

Jherek's face colored and he felt shamed by his continued lie. Perhaps he could have told the knight his real name if they'd met alone, but Sabyna was there. She already knew he hadn't told her the truth about his name, but he couldn't give it, either, in case she'd heard about him being unmasked as one of Bloody Falkane's pirates.

"It's the name I choose," he replied.

"Yet hide your true name? I have to wonder what else you hide."

Jherek returned the man's level gaze. "I must ask you to judge me on what you see, not what a name may contain. If you choose not to trust me, I ask only that you take the lady to safety."

Glawinn held up a hand. "I'll not desert you, nor her. For all I know, you're why I'm here."

"Why are you here?" Jherek gladly shifted the conversation away from him.

"I'm on a quest, commanded by Lathander himself."

"He speaks to you?"

"Not in words," Glawinn admitted. "He found me when I was lost and brought me into his temple. I was not always as you see. As a young man I was uncertain and lacking. My love and understanding of the Morninglord, and my eventual dedication to him has made me what you see now. Not that you should be impressed. A paladin's life isn't exactly what you read in those romances." He chuckled.

"But to serve a god," Jherek said. "That would be-"

"A humbling experience, let me assure you. Though I serve him with my convictions, my teaching, and my sword arm every day, we don't converse. He fills my heart with a wanderlust that is as true as any compass, and I ride. When I arrive, then I discover where I'm supposed to be. It doesn't take long before I figure out what it is I'm supposed to do."

"Now you're bound for Westgate."

"Yes, and perhaps beyond. I don't know yet. I only know that I itch to travel, and that's the direction I must go."

Jherek tried to fathom that. "But you don't know why?"

"Not yet." Glawinn gave more of the apple to his horse. "What are you to do then?" Jherek asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I'm no teller of fortunes, young warrior. I'm much more a man of action. Like yourself."

Jherek shook his head. "I'm no man of action."

"Sure you are," Glawinn said. "I can see it in the way you hold your eyes, the way you balance yourself on your feet when you move. You're no stranger to the sword, are you?"

"I've had some training," Jherek admitted.

"You must have to have survived the wounds I see on you now."

"I've only a mean skill at best." Jherek felt bad about that because it undercut all the training Malorrie had given him over the years.

"Then strip out of that wet armor and let's have a look at it." Glawinn got lithely to his feet.

"Now?"

The knight took a long sword from his saddle and tossed it to Jherek. "Of course now. There's no better time. When we arrive in Westgate either your quest or mine may see us crossing sword blades with others. Perhaps I'll even need someone to stand at my back."

Jherek flushed with the honor he was being given. He took off the leather armor and hung it carefully from a tree so it would better dry. He also took off his wet shirt, not wanting it to slow his movements and so that it wouldn't get torn any more than it was because he had no other clothes. He also took off the kerchief he'd had tied around his head, being careful not to let the paladin see his tattoo when he lifted his arm.

"You've a wound on your head," Glawinn said. "Have you had it tended?"

"Aye."

"It doesn't appear to be healing well."

Jherek felt self-conscious, remembering that the wound was the reason Sabyna was there. "Circumstances haven't allowed it to heal at its best."

"Let me see it." Glawinn crossed over to him and examined it more closely. "It's healed some, but I can help still more if you'll allow me."

Jherek remembered the tales he'd been told, of how a paladin could heal and cure diseases with but a touch. He smiled and said, "I guess not everything in those romances are fantasy."

"A gift from Lathander, young warrior, and no doing of my own." Glawinn placed his hands on Jherek's head.

The young sailor experienced a moment of disorientation, a flicker of pain, then he immediately felt better than he had in days.

Glawinn stepped back. "How's that?"

"Good," Jherek answered. "Thank you."

"Your thanks may be premature, young warrior." Glawinn grinned and paced back to the center of the clearing. He raised his broadsword into an en garde position. "Move too slowly or awkwardly and I may bequeath you another rap on the skull for your trouble."

Jherek saluted him, then cut with the long sword to get the heft of it. The balance was good and it moved well, like it had been made for his hand. "All right," he said.

The paladin came at him without a word, and the sound of steel on steel rang out. Hesitant at first, Jherek held up a defense, then he started in with his attack, pushing at Glawinn's defenses.

After long moments, the knight stepped back, a smile on his face. He saluted the young sailor. Jherek saluted back, startled by the sound of clapping. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Sabyna standing there. Her copper-colored eyes held the glitter of excitement.

"Very good," she complimented.

"Lady," Jherek said, bowing slightly. Then, aware that he was shirtless, he went to the tree to get his clothes. He pulled his shirt on with his back to her, covered with sweat and breathing hard from his exertions.

"The boy is good," Glawinn said, sheathing his sword with a flourish. "With the proper training and time, he stands a chance of becoming an accomplished swordsman."

"I see. While the two of you were so gainfully engaged, did either of you happen to think about dinner?"

Jherek glanced up, noticing the deep plum color darkening the eastern sky where Westgate lay. "No, lady, I'm sorry. I'll take care of it straight away." He felt embarrassed, knowing he should have remembered how hungry she would be after getting no sleep last night and traveling all day.

"Actually," Sabyna said mischievously, "there's no reason to worry. I've already taken care of it." She held up a stringer of catfish. "I took a little time off from my studies."

A gin split Glawinn's short-cropped beard. "And a profitable time it was too, lady. You have our humblest appreciation."

"I caught them," Sabyna announced, "but I'm not cleaning or cooking."

"I'll take care of it, lady," Jherek offered.

He studied her face as he took the fish, noticing the fatigue clinging to her features. She hadn't said anything about Tynnel's actions or what they meant to her. She and Tynnel had been together for awhile. He couldn't help feeling that he'd torn them apart. If he hadn't shipped aboard Breezerunner none of the resulting confusion would have happened. He carried bad luck with him, just as Aysel and Tynnel had said.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

Jherek smiled at her. "I'm fine. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I could help. I really don't mind cleaning fish."

"No," he said. "You've done enough, and I'd like some time to myself. Maybe when no one's looking I could grab a quick bath."

She nodded, and turned away from him, walking back to the knight and the campfire.

Too late, Jherek realized he might have hurt her feelings by rejecting her offer. She'd just walked away from everything she'd known out of a debt she felt she owed him. He thought of calling out to her, then decided not to. If she grew angry with him, maybe she would accompany Glawinn while he pursued Vurgrom the Mighty. Maybe he could even persuade the paladin to see her back to the River Chionthar and find a ship that would take her back to the Sea of Swords.

He walked down the hillside where the stench of the fish cleaning wouldn't overpower the campsite. One thing he was certain of: Where he was headed was no place for a woman.