“Come on Delryn!  Is that all you’ve got?  Or did you attain your knighthood based on your courtly manners rather than fighting skill?”

 

A snicker erupted from the sidelines, but whether it was for Rhiann’s taunts or Anomen’s sudden look of distressed indignity, no one could say.  The paladin and the knight had been sparring for the better part of an hour, and both were tired and winded, though neither was quite yet ready to admit defeat.

 

“You wound me Lady.”  Anomen panted, his hair matted with sweat and a dangerous glint in his eye.  “And you confuse me as well.  What could you possibly find lacking in… my personal style?”

 

Amongst the watchers Imoen quickly clapped a hand over Kelsey’s mouth, deftly stopping the mage from making a very pointed (and no doubt lengthy) reply.  He revenged himself by licking the palm of her hand lasciviously. 

 

Ignoring the startled squeal from her sister, Rhiann said, “Well, for one thing Anomen, I could drive an ore cart through your defenses.  Your shield is drooping and your stance is off balance.  So I must either assume that a simple spar is beyond your abilities or that you are working beneath your skills because you think a woman could not match you otherwise.  The first is disappointing and the second is insulting.  So, which is it then?”

 

“I love it when she does this.”  Imoen whispered, to which Jaheira replied with a nod and a knowing smile. 

 

“Is this all part of some strategy then?”  Kelsey asked.

 

“Oh yes.”  Jaheira whispered with a smile.  “Just watch.” 

 

They were soon rewarded with a flurry of action as Anomen, taking the bait, launched himself at Rhiann with series of furious blows.  She met the knight’s onslaught with practiced ease, though the weariness of her own limbs was beginning to take its toll.  He really wasn’t so inept as she had pretended, and she would have to end this soon, or face the possibility of losing this “friendly” battle.  That was the danger of using this particular strategy after all, that one’s opponent might respond with more fervor than one could reasonably handle.  Fortunately for Rhiann, she was at least partially correct in her assessments of Anomen’s defenses.  In his anger he left himself open to her blade, and she prudently took the opportunity to send the man crashing to the ground.

 

A cheer rose up from the little audience as Rhiann placed the point of her blade at Anomen’s throat and said, panting, “I win.”

 

When it was over, and all the bruises (if not all the egos) had been healed and armor had been doffed, Rhiann gathered up soap and brush and began heading off in the direction of a nearby pond. 

 

“I am surprised my Lady,” Anomen said smoothly, “That a paladin would think of her own comforts before seeing to the basic duty of caring for her armor.  I would think that a member of The Order would be more circumspect.  Yet there your armor sits, filthy and untended, cast off without a second thought.”

 

Stifling a sigh, Rhiann turned and said, “The sun is near setting Anomen.  I prefer to bathe while there is still light enough to see the dirt.”  Turning again to go she grinned and added “After all, not all of us are possessed of so shining a character that we glow in the dark.”

 

Anomen’s ears went pink and he muttered, “Blasted woman!  I do not understand her!”

 

“Give her a break Anomen.”  Imoen said cheerfully.  “She’s not so tough to figure out.  Besides, she’s got a lot to worry about right now.”

 

“Humpf!  No doubt those worries will soon be assuaged by a simpering, unseemly Drowish smile and some damned, lofty poem!  Confound it all…”

 

“Then why don’t you find another way to ease her worrying Anomen?  Or are you not up to the challenge of competing with Solaufein?”

 

From their places across the camp, Kelsey and Jaheira went silent.  This, they thought, should be quite interesting.

 

“I assure you my dear Imoen that I am more than up to any challenge that foppish Drow might think to present.  Not that your sister would notice.”

 

“Oh, no doubt,” Said Imoen pleasantly.  “But I think you’re going about this all the wrong way.”

 

“Am I?”  The knight said incredulously.  “And why should you so suddenly care how I go about things?  You’ve never been so solicitous to me before.  In fact, you’ve taken pains to be quite the opposite.”

 

“Look Anomen, I really don’t care which of you succeeds with my sister just so long as she is happy.  She deserves to be happy.”

 

“When you put it that way, I suppose…  Alright then, what do you suggest I do?”

 

“Well, it’s not for me to suggest anything Anomen.  But perhaps you could start by lightening her worrisome load a little…”  She nodded in the direction of Rhiann’s untended armor.  “But you have to decide for yourself.  After all, for me to help you would lessen the challenge, and that would hardly be fair.”

 

Jaheira rolled her eyes and Kelsey managed to cough rather than laugh.  After a moment’s indecision, Anomen settled himself by the campfire with Rhiann’s armor and set to work with a polishing cloth.

 

Sidling up to Imoen, Jaheira whispered, “That was very naughty of you.”

 

“Yes.  It was, wasn’t it?”  Imoen smiled, without a trace of remorse.

 

“And is it also part of your plot to allow your sister to stumble across Solaufein as he bathes?  Hmm?  You know very well that he headed for the pond before the sparring ended.”

 

“Maybe…”

 

“Imoen, do not take your game too far.  Rhiann would not appreciate being manipulated into an embarrassing situation.”

 

Heaving a deep sigh Imoen gave in. “Oh, all right.  I’ll warn her off the pond then…  Killjoy.”  Then, smiling her devilish smile Imoen said,   “Tell the mage to keep his seat warm for me, will you?” and bounded off into the trees toward the pond.

 

* * *

 

The water was still and clear and thanks to the heat of the day, comfortably warm.  Solaufein floated contentedly on its surface allowing the tension to flow from his tired muscles.  Bits and snatches of pastoral verse floated dreamily through his mind.  This was bliss. 

 

His respite quickly ended however as a startled gasp shattered the peace of the waning afternoon and brought him to battle readiness.  Almost.  His swords were too far off to be reached, lying in a heap on the shore with his discarded clothing.

 

“Oh…  I-I’m so sorry!”  Rhiann stammered, her eyes wide and her cheeks red. 

 

Suddenly aware of his own nakedness, Solaufein backed sheepishly into the more comfortable, waist-high depths.  “No apologies are necessary.”  He said, keenly aware of the lady’s discomfort.

 

“I-I should go!”  Rhiann said suddenly.

 

“No!” Solaufein said quickly.  “I lost track of the time.  I’ll go.” 

 

“Oh… Ok...”

 

They stared at each other for a long moment before Solaufein pointed to his clothing and said, “Um… I’ll be needing those.”

 

“Oh!  Oh, Damn!”  Rhiann blushed again furiously, shut her eyes tight and began inching her way blindly and backwards back into the stand of trees.  “I am so, so sorry.  I’ll just…  I’ll just be… um… right.” 

 

Solaufein watched Rhiann’s rapid retreat and smiled.

 

* * *

 

“Oh me, oh my!”  Imoen smirked as she saw her sister rushing toward her.  “I haven’t seen you blush like that in just ages!”

 

“If you’re planning on having a bath Immy, you’ll have to wait.”

 

“Oh I know.  Sola’s in the pond.”

 

“You know?  How do you know?  I didn’t know.”

 

“Well of course not, he left while you were busy trouncing old pompous pants.”

 

“You knew Solaufein was already bathing and you let me walk right into… Imoen, I could strangle you!”  Rhiann was fuming.

 

“Oh relax sis.”  Imoen smiled brightly.  “I was coming to warn you, you were just too fast for me.  Besides, if you strangle me you can’t tell me what you saw… Can you?”

 

Despite the fading light Imoen could see the color rush back to her sister’s cheeks.  It made her smile all the more.  “Good” She thought.  “You could use a bit of loosening up.”

 

“So…”  She said in a conspiratorial whisper.  “What did you see?”

 

“Everything.”  Rhiann sighed wistfully.  “Every glorious detail.”

 

“And when do you plan to tell him?”

 

“Tell him what Imoen?  He was right there, he knows I saw…”

 

“No, you idiot, when do you plan to tell him that you like him, a lot.”

 

“Oh that.”  Rhiann said, suddenly focusing on something in the distance.  “Um… Never.”

 

“What!?  Are you crazy?  Why won’t you tell him when he so obviously likes you!?”

 

“Oh don’t be ridiculous Immy.  He’s not interested…”

 

“Not interested?  Sometimes you’re as dense as a stump, you know that?  He is completely gone on you!  Cripes, why do you think he’s forever inventing reasons to talk to you?”

 

Having dried and dressed Solaufein walked back toward the camp, hoping to meet Rhiann along the way.  He had never seen her so flustered before and he felt guilty for causing her discomfort.  But he also (he was ashamed to admit to himself) found her blushes and stammers quite charming.  As he mulled over how one might begin a conversation after a moment of extreme embarrassment, Solaufein stopped short at the sound of his own name, spoken from just a few yards away.

 

“Imoen, Solaufein is just being nice…”

 

“Nice?  All those tedious talks about philosophy and morality?  That’s not nice!  That’s a man desperate to get your attention, at any cost.  Of course, you seem to like all that boring stuff.”

 

“I do…”  Rhiann smiled warmly.  “It reminds me of all the talks I used to have with Gorion when…”  She broke off abruptly and turned away, the weight of grief and old memories catching the words in her throat.

 

Imoen slipped an arm around her sister’s shoulders.  Rhiann rarely spoke of their foster father, and Imoen knew why.  As their leader, Rhiann would not allow herself the luxury of falling apart in front of them all.  She would not allow herself to show ‘weakness’ in any form.  But Imoen also knew that this meant that her sister was terribly, terribly alone. 

 

“I miss him too.”  She said gently.  “But you still need to tell Solaufein how you feel about him.  It’s not fair to…”

 

“Fair?”  Rhiann looked astounded.  “Who said anything about fair?  Imoen, what exactly about our lives so far has been even remotely fair?  Honestly, even if he was interested, which he’s not, I’m doing Solaufein a favor by keeping my mouth shut.  I mean, what exactly to I have to offer?”

 

“A grim countenance and a legacy of familial evil?”  Imoen said brightly.

 

“Precisely.”

 

“Tsk.  You are completely discounting your feminine wiles and lusty figure.”

 

“Argh!  That’s it.  I’m going to the pond!”  Rhiann grabbed her things and stormed back toward the water.  “Go back to camp Imoen.  While you’ve been pestering me you haven’t groped Kelsey for fully fifteen minutes!”

 

Watching her sister disappear in the distance, Imoen spoke aloud.  “Well, poet man, I know you heard all that.  What you do about it is entirely up to you.  I have a mage to grope.”  And with that she left the stunned drow to his contemplations.

 

* * *

 

Moonrise and Jaheira was stewing something in a pot over a roaring campfire.  Or at least she had been attempting to stew something.  When Solaufein returned the Druid was menacing Kelsey with a blackened wooden spoon and shouting, “I said a fire you clod!  Not and inferno!  I wanted to cook the supper, not cremate it!”

 

“Aw, jeez, Jaheira,” Kelsey smiled sheepishly.  “I’m sorry, but it just got away from me. It happens.  I don’t suppose we could salvage…”

 

“No!  The meal is ruined!”

 

“That’s a shame.  So I guess we won’t be having stewed tubers… again.”  Kelsey heaved a heavy sigh.

 

Jaheira’s eyes narrowed.  Something about that sigh and that “again” sounded suspiciously gleeful.  “Well then.”  She said, a little too sweetly, “I suppose someone will just have to head into the woods and find us something else for supper.”

 

Imoen and Kelsey immediately chirped “I will!” in chorus, only to have Jaheira point her charred spoon menacingly at the young mage and say, “Not you!”  She smiled triumphantly.  “You are staying right here to scrape and clean that pot!  Perhaps that will help teach you not to let things ‘get away from you’ again, eh?”

 

Kelsey looked at the dismal wreck of blackened tubers and carbonized sauce that were now welded to the metal of the pot.  “Uh… can’t we just throw this one away and buy a new one?”  He said hopefully.

 

“No.”

 

“But… But, I uh… I can’t let Imoen go out into the woods at night, all alone!”

 

Jaheira was unmoved.

 

“Oh!  My hero!”  Imoen gasped, acting the part of the fluttering bower-maiden with hammy flair.  “If my champion cannot accompany my delicate self,” she warbled in falsetto.  “Then I shall not go!”  Then, swooning, she fainted dramatically before Kelsey, who, just as dramatically, failed to catch her.

 

“…ow…” 

 

During the next few minutes there was much fussing by Kelsey over Imoen, as she protested her “wound” and he offered gleefully to “kiss and make better.”  Anomen grunted his distaste for the spectacle and proceeded about cleaning his own armor.  And Jaheira simply looked to Solaufein in a mute plea for help.  Gathering up a crossbow, the Drow nodded to the Druid and headed back into the woods in search of their substitute evening meal.

 

* * *

 

Her bath long finished, Rhiann wandered the wood, making her way slowly and indirectly back to camp.  Her conversation with Imoen had given her a great deal to think about and she was in no rush to be back among her company until she had thought it all through.

 

The night was warm and the moon shone full and bright.  Fireflies winked among the trees and everything was alive with sound as crickets, frogs and birds all sang their praise to the night sky.  It struck Rhiann just how lovely the world was at that moment.  It was the sort of night that bards waxed romantic about in both story and song… just made for lovers.

 

She looked up suddenly, her reverie broken by an odd sound and there, as if conjured by the thought, stood Solaufein.

 

 

* * *

For a moment as she looked into his eyes, (spurred by Imoen’s earlier prompting) a thousand what-ifs crowded her brain; a thousand possibilities, each with the same handsome and happy ending… 

She squashed them all, quickly and decisively.  To her way of thinking, the realities of her every day were too grim and too bloody to be bought off with a fantasy.  The bards’ tales all lie.  There is no happily-ever-after, and it’s best to just accept that and get on with one’s duty.

“Right,” she thought to herself.  “Duty.”

“Is something amiss, Rhiann?”  Solaufein asked.  “You are staring.”

“What?  Oh!  Oh, nothing…”  She smiled a bit sheepishly.  “I was lost in thought.”

“I see,” he smiled.  Perhaps it was a trick of the bright moonlight, but Rhiann couldn’t help but feel there was something rather knowing about his smile, something that bordered on the smug.

“And what are you about then?”  She asked, pointing to the crossbow in Solaufein’s hand.

“It seems that I am about finding us all some supper.  There was an unfortunate incident with Jaheira’s first culinary attempt.”  He smiled again.  “I believe pyrotechnics were involved.”

“Aha!”  She smiled herself.  So, we’ll not be having stewed tubers then?  I can’t say I’m disappointed.”

“I think nobody is disappointed except Jaheira.  Would you care to assist in the hunt?”

“I would, but I should really get back to camp and tend to my armor.  Anomen was clucking about its filthy state as I left.”

Solaufein looked puzzled.  “Filthy?”  He said. 

“Yes, our spar was a little too near the mud.”

“You and Anomen must have a different idea of filth than I.  I am certain I saw your armor when I went back to camp.  It was clean and polished and sitting on your bedroll.”

“Clean and polished?  That’s not possi…”  Rhiann stopped suddenly, her eyes wide as she made the mental jump from ‘not possible’ to ‘what if’ to ‘highly bloody likely.’  “I’ll kill him!”  She said through gritted teeth, suddenly quite angry.  Leaving off one hunt in favor of another, Solaufein followed Rhiann as she stormed heedlessly through the tangled forest growth in a straight line toward camp. 

“Presumptuous!  Arrogant son of a…”  She muttered, barely dodging low branches and carelessly leaping over fallen logs and debris.  Solaufein was surprised that he was actually having to make an effort to keep up with her, and would later note in his journal that, despite their often ungraceful appearance, humans could really be quite agile, and that he was hopeful that he would be treated to more (and varied) demonstrations of this particular human’s agility in times to come.

As they progressed toward the camp Solaufein observed that Rhiann was becoming more and more agitated.  It occurred to him that it might be prudent (not to mention safer) for all involved if she were a bit calmer before she confronted anyone.  He knew that she was not generally given to bursts of uncontrolled rage, nor did she often lack for self possession, but the stress of recent days had taken its toll on everyone.  Better that they did not take chances.

“Rhiann …” Solaufein began.

“WHAT!?”  She turned on him.  “What in the nine hells is it now!?” 

Instantly she realized her mistake.  Solaufein gave her an incredulous look and folded his arms across his chest, but said nothing.

“I… My apologies,” she said abashed, her anger receding noticeably.  “That was rude of me.  I’m not angry at you Solaufein.”

“Who is your anger for then?  Do you even know?” 

“Anomen… my anger is for Anomen.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he…”  There, she faltered.  He what?  He cleaned her armor?  Even to herself that seemed a pretty flimsy excuse for wanting to strangle a man with his own intestines.

“Because he what, Rhiann?”

She took a deep breath.  She knew what Solaufein was doing and it both gratified and irritated her.  Gratified because it was a sign that he cared enough about her (at least as their leader if nothing else) that he would stop her from making a complete ass of herself;  Irritated because at her station as a Paladin, she shouldn’t need to be reminded of basic self-control like a rank amateur.

“Because…”  She struggled, searching for the real reason behind her anger.  “Because he presumed something he should not have.”  She said at last.

“Ah, I see,” he said gently.  “Tell me of this presumption then.”

They spoke together for a long while.  Solaufein supplying the counsel of many years’ experience as Rhiann poured out first the frustrations of her dealings with Anomen, and then those of her unwanted destiny as a Bhaalspawn.  It felt good, cleansing in a way she had sorely missed since Gorion’s death.  It had been a long time since she had confided in anyone besides Imoen.  But while Imoen shared her sister’s strange lot in life and therefore many of the same perspectives, she was not always up to the challenge of doling out sense and reason. 

“If his actions offend you then you must tell him so Rhiann, plainly and directly,” Solaufein said.  “But take care.  Your position and your nature must be heeded.  Be wary of the temptations of anger and do not be needlessly cruel.”

Something in the in the way he spoke caused a pang in Rhiann’s heart.  Yes, he would know much of needless cruelty, wouldn’t he?  But who did he have to confide in, she wondered.

“And one more thing my Lady…”  He said, moving in close and speaking in hardly more than a whisper.  “Please understand that my advice is not without bias or motive.  There is a part of me that would gladly see you roast that insufferable bore on a spit.  But for me to encourage such behavior in one so good would be wrong.  You would soon see that, and resent me for it.  And that would certainly be a tragedy, for then I would never again be allowed to do this...” 

His words trailed off as his lips found hers and caressed them with a single, sensual kiss.

* * *

It had been several minutes since Solaufein had tried to resume his hunt for their evening meal.  So far two rabbits and a flock of quail had crossed his path unscathed.  He was wandering the wood completely preoccupied with all that had happened in the last few hours.  He was so preoccupied, in fact, that unless some animal, in a fit of suicidal fervor, rushed from the trees and impaled itself on one of his arrows; it was unlikely that he would bring back anything at all. 

How strange his world had become since venturing to the surface, and how strange he had become right along with it.  “I’ve lost my senses,” he thought.  “I’ve abandoned the methods and the caution of centuries in the Underdark with barely a second thought.” 

To openly pursue a female, to take the initiative and then back away to let things take their course…  Had Rhiann been Drow, he’d have dispatched his rival and bedded her quickly to seal whatever alliance was needed.  Phaere would not have blinked.  Even the Phaere that had once loved him would have accepted his dalliance as a necessary expedient, she’d have encouraged it.  But that was the Solaufein of long ago, and Rhiann was not Drow.  He wanted more than an advantageous alliance, and for the first time in his long life he knew that he could have more. 

And Anomen, there was a quandary.  Pompous ass or no, the Knight offered much that Solaufein felt he could not.  Anomen was handsome in a surface-dweller way, he had status and connections among his kind.  People did not shriek or run or grab their weapons when he appeared.  He could offer Rhiann the comforts of a predictable human life with family and children.  Anomen was a decided threat.

“And yet,” he mused.  “I have not killed him, nor allowed him to be killed.  I even counseled Rhiann not to be cruel to him.  How ironic, to have yearned for so long for a world where honor is valued over treachery, only to discover that by being honorable I could lose everything.” 

He looked to the full moon.  Somewhere within its reassuring glow he was certain his Goddess was laughing.

* * *

Rhiann was again slowly picking her way back to camp.  Her lips burned deliciously with the memory of that kiss, and the heat it generated was spreading leisurely down the length of her frame.  The feeling was so intense that she would not have been the least surprised if she burst into flame there and then.

“I guess Imoen was right,” she thought, with no small amount of astonishment. 

She had an unpleasant task ahead of her, facing Anomen (or whomever) had tended her armor and letting them know politely, discreetly and with tact that if they ever assumed one of her personal duties again, she would hand them their still-beating heart on a platter.  She sincerely hoped it hadn’t been Anomen.  Things had become so complicated where he was concerned.  He was dead useful in a fight and a fine strategist, but his romantic attentions…  He was handsome, that was certain, and clever.  And he seemed to have gotten over his need for a tantrum every five minutes.  Achieving Knighthood had done a world of good for his outlook on life.  So why did she find his infatuation with her so… so irksome?

And what of Solaufein?  Whatever her doubts about his intentions before, she certainly had none now.  And why did she find herself wanting to encourage those intentions, despite the fact that all she could hope to offer any lover was a life of Bhaal-tainted turmoil and destruction?  Didn’t Solaufein have enough complications in his life already?

No matter how righteous her chosen path, (so she was endlessly told) death was in her blood and followed inevitably in her wake.  Inviting someone to share her life would be like inviting them to fall on her sword.  How could she claim to care for someone, Solaufein, Anomen or anyone, knowing that in doing so she was shortening their lifespan?

* * *

“Damn it!  Where is Solaufein!?”  Anomen was looking balefully at the empty space above the fire where supper should be.

“Maybe he’s having trouble finding game,” Imoen said.

“Maybe he and Rhiann are having wild sex in the woods,” Kelsey said under his breath.

Fortunately, Anomen did not seem to hear him, but Jaheira did and shot him a look of pure venom.  “That pot still looks dirty to me Kelsey…”

“Yes mother.”

“I’d make him muck out the stables Jaheira,” Rhiann said, smiling as she finally emerged from the woods.  “That was always my punishment for being ‘willful’, as the priests called it.”

“And were you willful often?”  Kelsey asked.

“Ha!” laughed Imoen.  “She spent so much time stable-mucking we used to call her Princess Manure!”

Even Anomen had to laugh at that. 

“Alas, we have no stables out here,” Jaheira sighed.

“Hey, if Kelsey is being a bad boy I would gladly volunteer to punish him,” Imoen purred and winked at the mage.

“Oooo! Kelsey wiggled all over.  “Punish me Mistress Immy!”

Anomen grunted in disgust.  “Get a room you two!”

“We don’t have any of those either.”  Kelsey said.

“No, we don’t.”  Anomen was irritated again.  “And I could live with that lack, and many others, if we just had some meat on the bloody fire!”

“So much for his lessening tantrums,” Rhiann thought ruefully.  “I’d better do something about this before it becomes a fistfight.”

“Alright,” she said aloud.  “We’re all hungry, tired and short-tempered.  I’ll go look for Solaufein and see if I can hurry the hunt along.”

“Hurry it?  Anomen said sullenly.  “Or hold it up even further?”

The ambient banter from the rest of the group stopped dead. 

“I beg your pardon?”  Rhiann turned to face him.

“Spare me the pretense of ignorance Rhiann.  It suits you ill.”

* * *

Having eventually marshaled his thoughts, Solaufein had been able to bring down enough pheasant for a substantial meal for the six of them.  Pleased enough with his success, he was approaching the clearing when he heard Rhiann’s raised voice…

“Explain yourself Anomen!”

“Uh-oh,” he thought.  “The discussion over her armor seems to have gone badly.  Perhaps I should…”  But that thought was cut short as he heard Anomen reply…

“Explain what my lady?  It is not for me to explain your indecorous behavior, you who are supposed to be a Paladin!  Or do you deny your obvious whoring after that gods-be-damned drow?”

Silently, in his mind, Solaufein indulged in a stream of Drowish obscenities.

* * *

Time stood still and all the world held its breath. 

Kelsey backed up a pace, placing himself between Imoen and the argument.  She took his hand, her intense grip betraying the bland expression she had fixed on her face.  Jaheira began a mental tally of the distance between herself, Anomen and Rhiann, an entanglement spell on the tip of her tongue.  The tension in the air was thick and oppressive.  Solaufein sunk further into the shadows and readied his crossbow, not knowing on whom he might be forced to use it; and enraged Knight, Paladin or… the Slayer.

If Anomen felt that he had overstepped, he did not show it.  His stance was firm and his chin held high, defiant. 

The tension increased as the silence stretched.  Rhiann stared at Anomen, her face unreadable and her next move unguessable until at last, she said quietly, “Whoring… Anomen?”

“Yes!”  He spat.  “Even the others seem to think you and that drow were off…” He gritted his teeth, as if forcing something vile-tasting past his lips.  “…having ‘wild sex’ in the woods.”

Kelsey blanched, realizing that Anomen had heard his quip after all.  There was only one thing he could think of to say, and he did say it, before he could stop himself.

“Oh, shit.”

For a fraction of a second Solaufein considered changing his aim and loosing a bolt at Kelsey’s head, but he decided against it.  He liked Imoen after all and puncturing the mage’s skull would probably upset her greatly. 

Rhiann turned to Kelsey with an inquisitive look.  Embarrassed, he could only shrug his shoulders. 

Spurred on by what he saw, taking it as confirmation of his suspicions, Anomen continued.  “The mage betrayed your confidence just this evening.  Not that I couldn’t already deduce the real reason for your extended… ‘bath.’”

“It was a joke you moron!”  Kelsey bellowed at Anomen. 

Solaufein chose that moment to make his presence known, and emerged, still armed, from the forest into the moonlit clearing.

“And to think…” Anomen went on angrily, glaring at Solaufein but directing his words to Rhiann.  “That I bent my knee to your service, that I held you in such high esteem.  You, who were to me a shining example of…”

Imoen made a rude noise. 

At which Jaheira laughed in hearty approval. 

Then Kelsey, fed up with Knights in general (and this one in particular) launched into a tirade at Anomen.  Who, being primed for a fight, willingly gave back as good as he got. 

Face to face, Kelsey was yelling at Anomen who was yelling right back.  Jaheira was yelling at both of them which got Imoen started on Jaheira for yelling at Kelsey.  Foul language was flying as were references to tubers, pots, deductions, pompous asses and piety.  Soon, it was impossible to tell where one argument left off and the next began.

Rhiann stepped back several paces and watched the scene with a kind of indulgent resignation.  Solaufein stepped up to her side and in a conversational tone said,

“I brought dinner.”

“Oh, good.”

“Should we not put a stop to this?”

“Not yet, but soon.” 

“I see.”

“Familiarity breeds contempt, and I’ve kept us all cooped up together for far too long without a break.  Now they need to get it out of their systems.”  She sighed, “I should have seen this coming.”

“A commander is ultimately responsible for all that occurs under her command.”  He said gently.

“Just so, Solaufein.  Just so.”

As they watched, Anomen made a rude gesture at Kelsey and the Mage responded by punching the Knight in the nose.  The argument became fisticuffs.

It was rather like seeing an old, familiar play.  The progression was not only predictable, it was inevitable, and would inevitably lead to disaster if let go too far.  The trick was to time things just so, allowing for the release of tension without the release of anyone’s vital organs.

Sighing again, Rhiann retrieved a clip from her pocket and used it to secure her long hair at the back of her head.  Then she leaned in conspiratorially and whispered something in Solaufein’s ear.  He smiled, nodding in agreement at her words.

Imoen made the mistake of coming between Anomen and Kelsey at the wrong moment and paid for it by taking a poke in the eye, (though from whom it was hard to tell.)  Turning on her attacker Imoen threw a crushing left hook.  Both Kelsey and Anomen dodged and Imoen, over balanced in her rage, fell on Jaheira.  Thinking she was now under attack, Jaheira fought back, and almost as a matter of course, Kelsey and Anomen fell in.  The fisticuffs had become a brawl.

“Remember,” Rhiann told Solaufein.  “If you see a weapon or a spell strike quickly, don’t wait for me.” 

“Aye,” he said with a smile.  “As you will it, my Lady.”

Rhiann looked at the Drow.  Something about the way he’d said “my Lady” revived a bit of the heat that had earlier threatened to melt her where she stood.  “When he stole that kiss…” she thought.  Impulsively, she leaned forward and took back what he had stolen, and a little more besides.  The surprise on his face was extremely gratifying.

The brawl continued increasing in volume and intensity, and Rhiann moved quickly.  Within less than a minute she was across the campsite and donning her gauntlets.  Solaufein exchanged his crossbow for a wand, slipped into position and waited.

He didn’t wait long.  Rhiann crept to the edge of the imbroglio and grabbed hold of the first body she encountered.  Taking advantage of Jaheira’s surprise, Rhiann spun her round and flung her bodily across the camp and straight at Solaufein, who then neatly finished her off with a discharge from his wand.  Jaheira landed with a thud, fast asleep.

It was all over quickly; soon the combatants lay scattered about the campsite in snoring heaps. 

* * *