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Lureene nodded, looking troubled. "Did Korvan ... bother you?" she asked with
a little frown.
"It is not that," Shandril said. "Please trust me, and wake him not. I'll tell
you, but it is better not to rouse him."
"Then I'll not leave your side unless your man or Gorstag is at hand to
protect you while you are here," Lureene said firmly. "You can tell me what
you like after you've rested." She reached out her hand. "Come here by the
fire."
Shandril let herself be led and sat in a warm chair with a high back. Lureene
poked the fire up into new flames and set fresh, dry wood on it, and went for
a bowl. When she returned, Shandril's head had fallen onto her shoulders, and
she was asleep.
Narm held the bridles of both horses, tense ready to flee hurriedly if need
be. He looked about him in the moonlit mist of the road, but he heard no
creature moving in the rolling silence. Wait, Shandril had said. Come after me
only when you have stood so long that you grow cold and if you
p GREENWOOD
wait that long, mind you come most careful, ready for War. Nairn shifted
nervously. Was he cold enough, yet? There was noise within.
Then the door that Shandril had entered was flung wide. A burly, craggy-faced
man with gray-white hair and level gray eyes wet with tears strode out. He
stretched out a strong arm to Narm and said, "Well met, and welcome to the
inn! I am Gorstag. You are Shandril's Narm?"
Narm met his gaze squarely and swallowed. "Yes.-I was here almost two months
back with the mage Marimmar. Shandril has told me of you, sir. I am at your
service."
Gorstag chuckled. "Well, you can be of service," he said gruffly, "by leading
one mount around to the stables with me." He set off with a horse and three
mules in tow.
Narm followed him into a place where a sleepy boy on night watch unhooded a
lantern for them and fetched water, brushes, and feed. In companionable
silence, they set to work.
"You know the art?" Gorstag asked softly, as they both bent to the same
bucket. Narm nodded.
"I was trained in Shadowdale as a conjurer. Shandril and I have come straight
from there, where we were wed under Tymora." Narm felt suddenly shy under this
old man's stern, clear eyes. He said no more, then, as he turned back to
Warrior, who rumbled appreciatively. He turned from the horse's flank a few
breaths later to find his gaze collected by Gorstag's. Unconsciously, Narm
took a step back, but he said nothing. At last, Gorstag nodded and turned back
to the first of the three mules.
"Tell me, if you will, how you met Shandril Shessair/' he said softly. The
mule pricked its ears at him, but it was clear that he expected no answer from
it. Narm studied the innkeeper's broad shoulders for a moment.
"I saw her first here and... liked what I saw, though we did not speak. In the
morning, I left with my master, and we made our way to Myth Drannor"
Gorstag's arms stopped their rhythmic brushings for a moment, and then
resumed. "We met with devils, and Marimmar, my master, was slain. I was
rescued from the same fate, by the Knights of Myth Drannor, who patrol there.
SPELLFIBE
"Later I returned to Myth Drannor and saw Shandril from afar. She was the
captive of a cruel mage, The Shadows!!, and I tried to free her. I called on
the knights for aid, and we ended up in caverns where a dracolich laired.
Shandril and I were trapped together when the cavern collapsed during a mighty
battle of art. We thought we'd never get out, so..." Narm paused, studying the
mule before him, and then sighed and turned to face Gorstag. "We came to care
for each other. I love her. So I asked her to marry me."
Tb Nairn's surprise, Gorstag nodded and chuckled. "Aye. It is the same for
me." He made a clucking noise, and the sta-bleboy reappeared immediately.
Gorstag nodded. "See to them all... the very best, mind, as if a fine lord and
lady rode them." He waved to Narm to follow him out, and then turned back to
the boy and added, "Because they do."
As they went back around the side of the inn in the moonlit, misty night,
Gorstag said, "My house is open to you both, but you seem in much haste. How
long can you stay?"
Narm hesitated. "We must leave on the morrow, sir," he said quietly. "Many
have tried to slay us slay Shandril, actually these past days, and they will
no doubt try again. Mfe dare not tarry. Elminster told us to be sure to call
on you, and Shandril insisted too, but there is danger to us here, waiting,
and we would not bring it upon you."
"Can you say more?" Gorstag asked. "I will not stay you, and Elminster is a
name I set great store by, but I would rest easier, Narm and call me Gorstag,
mark you! to know where and why the little girl I raised these years passing
is riding, and who would do her ill, and why."
"I have not the right to answer you, Gorstag," Narm replied. "Only my lady
should speak on this. I can say that those who pursue us are of different
causes, but all, it seems, are powerful in art. Therein lies your peril and
Shandril's secret."
They went inside the inn, only to find Lureene regarding them with a finger to
her lips, as she knelt beside a chair before the fire. Narm raced forward at
the sight. Behind him, Gorstag smiled.
"She sleeps," Lureene said softly as Narm bent anxiously near. Shandril moved
her head and murmured something.
ED GREENWOOD
They all came close to listen.
"Narm," she said. "Narm, we're here. We're home. Wait here... wake Gorstag...
come carefully, ready for war ..."
Narm kissed her cheek, and in her sleep she raised a hand slowly to pat at his
head, smiling. Then, suddenly, she was upset. "She went for you," Shandril
cried faintly. "She went for you, and there was not time! I had to burn her!"
"Shan! Shan!" Narm said urgently, shaking her awake. "It's all right. . .
we're safe."
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