Chapter 26

Celeste continued to bet on Lilith every time. Unlike the other patrons, she had come with a 15 gp coin purse supplied by the Regent and wasn’t afraid to use it. However, when she tried to place a 10 gp bet on the demoness, Sharl gave her a look of despair as if to say ‘please have mercy’ causing her to relent and only bet 5 gp instead.

Lilith continued to win each match easily and had even started making funny faces at the other competitors just to see their reactions. The sight of a young lady with a distorted expression caused fear for some and hysterics for others depending if she got the expression right.

Finally it came to the last competitor and her last suitor. This young man had carried a sizable pack with him giving him the look of a traveler of some sort. His athletic frame and expensive looking clothes set him apart from most of working class men that had challenged her thus far. He introduced himself as Kevin Demura and professed his love to her in a kind but sincere tone. He ended his speech by saying “You truly are like a beautiful red orchid in a spring field and I want to be your hummingbird.” In an obvious reference to the design adorning the top of her dress.

Lilith didn’t know what to think. She had never been confessed to before. His words seemed to blind side her as she thought it had been abundantly clear that she was there to have fun and enjoy the competition. Even so, it was obvious to her that this guy was serious and not trying to mess with her to gain some advantage. Besides, contestants couldn’t bet on a match they were in nor did he look like the type to scheme with others. He wasn’t bad looking, but even so she had to reject him preferably with kind words as he was one of the few men in the room who was armed. Saying nothing in response didn’t seem like an option either due to the intensity of his gaze after he sat down across from her. ‘Damn it, I have to tell him something. Maybe I can use the competition to my advantage.’ She thought finally deciding to throw his own flowery words back at him. “Then beat me in this test of strength and this orchid shall be yours.” She said while smiling back at him with a knowing look.

Kevin Demura swallowed to clear his throat. In his mind he now had more on the line than anyone else in the room. But he was wrong it was Lilith who had more on the line but luckily she didn’t have any plans on losing.

With their eyes locked the two placed their right hands on the table while gripping the edge with their other. Their hands met and held fast as the room grew silent. Sharl announced that betting was closed before Wendel stepped up to the edge of the table lowering a hand until it was just above head level. Lilith pouted her lips at her opponent as a tease but he seemed to take it in stride only raising an eyebrow in response.

“Begin!” sounded in the tavern as the patrons let out a cheer.

Lilith had steeled herself just in case as she was supremely motivated not to lose this bout now that there was more on the line than just her pride and Celeste’s money. It was slow but he pressed against her harder and harder testing her. His grip also tightened until she felt an extreme amout of pressure like her hand was being crushed in a vice. So far she wasn’t in pain but the sinsation caused a bit of panic to show on her face for the first time. This of course got the crowd cheering bot for and against her. Many of the patrons were cheering for “Kevin the lost son” while Celeste yelled for her, betting slips in hand. Steadily the force built as there seemed to be no end to his strength. Luckily Lilith was able to match him thus far both their arms shifting as they each countered the force of the other. ‘Why didn’t he start out with this much strength’ she wondered ‘Was he trying not to hurt me?’

But then her mind shifted as the table let out a loud creek that got everyone's attention. The sound was so clearly audible over the cheers and din of the tavern causing some to go silent focusing their gaze on them while others took a step back, including Wendel.

Lilith finally began to make a bit more progress moving past vertical as she began to bring him down. Just as they passed 45 degrees metal hardware began to pop off the bottom of the table as it became clear this bar table, meant to be able to survive a decade of abuse in a rowdy tavern, was not long for this world. As Lilith pulled his arm down near the face of the table she felt his strength surge again stopping her. Suddenly, along with that force she felt another, her left hand give way as a piece of board came loose in her grip. The table disintegrated in a shower of wood, splinters and dust. The two competitors fell forward landing on the ruined scraps of table, their hands still clasped. There they lay for but a second as the crowd gathered round at the odd sight. Lilith was laid out on her stomach, Kevin his side and between them Lilith's hand was still on top. She continued to lay there her body and arm tense afraid to move as she was still in shock and coming to grips with her new prone position surrounded by bar patrons.

“Lilith Wins!” Wendel shouted still not believing what he just saw.

Kevin was the first to release his grip, Lilith soon following suit. She held her wrist as it felt like it had just received a vigorous workout for the first time that night. She was dumbstruck. How could a man his size have so much strength? It was impossible according to the laws of physics. And then she remembered that she was not only in a world of magic but also in a world of magic items. Looking up at Kevin’s waist, Lilith could easily see an over-sized red leather belt with a silver face and black fur trim. ‘It must be a belt of fire giant strength’ she thought as several of the magical runes etched into the silver face seemed to dance like fire.

Kevin noticing her gaze and raised his hands in a sort of apology before he extended one to help her up. “Good match fair lady. It seems I have been found wanting.” She said with a bit of humor in his voice as he helped her back to her feet. “If you would permit me but a kiss on your hand I will be on my way.”

Lilith was still speechless, literally stunned at what had happened. She had almost lost herself to what was obviously an adventurer, the first one she had met. Her hand still in his, Lilith stood shakily on the pile of wood finally she managed a nod and then offered her hand to him. Slowly he bent over his knee going down to the broken pieces of the table until he kissed her hand softly and then released it. This was the first time she had been kissed since arriving in Faerun. The realization making her feel both excited and lonely at the same time as he withdrew from her to begin searching for something.

Now facing away from her, the adventurer picked up his pack which was sitting against another table behind him. Lilith stood there her hands clutching each other as she watched him. The pack included a bed roll a few potions and a longsword that seemed to give off some kind of blue light. With the pack now slung on his back, Kevin walked past Lilith but paused near Wendel’s side and saying “Well I almost had her. Thanks for the invite.” A few more strides to the door and the adventurer had left never looking back.

Lilith looked around briefly before she sat back down in her chair corssing her legs over the cracked pieces of the wrecked table. Then with a firm gesture she pointed at the chair on the opposite side of rubble while looking directly at Wendel. In a loud voice she spoke but a single word. It came out like a dagger plunged into a cutting board the command resonating through the cavernous room, “Sit!”

Without hesitation Wendel sat down propping his arms on his legs, he then rest his forehead on his hands hidning his face before looking up to see Lilith's frustrated scowl.

“Was I having too much fun? Is that it? You had to call in a ringer.” She asked, slowly as the room grew more quiet.

“No Lil. I … I invited him before you got here. Long before you started arm wrestling.” He insisted with a nod, making sure to look her in the eyes.

The demoness let out a sigh, looking down at the rubble before looking back up at him. “Well, you should have warned me. I almost had to sleep with that man!” She complained through gritted teeth in a hushed voice that everyone could still hear. Some of the patrons turned away heading to Sharl, others threw their betting stubs in the air as it seemed there wasn’t going to be a fight.

“Well you could do worse.” Wendel said in a sarcastic tone as he pointed at her with an open hand.

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“You still should have warned me.” Just the thought of having to spending a night with an amorous man that she had no way of pleasing was spurring on her hanger. The embarrassment giving her more fright than any orc ever could.

“And how was I supposed to know you would make that deal ‘this orchid would be yours’ and such.” He asked still in a mocking tone.

“Is he a friend of yours?”

“He has been a reliable ally yes and perhaps a friend. He escorted me between towns a few times as well as to some Nethereze ruins.”

“So you decided to play match maker without asking me?” She asked sounding a bit indignant and less angry.

“Well its a party Lilith. You almost broke my ribs with a simple hug the other day. At least with Kevin you wouldn’t risk crushing him to death when you……” Wendel’s sentence trailed off as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“When I?” After Lilith said these words she began to realize she had misunderstood something. Wendel wasn’t trying to set her up with just anyone. He was trying to set her up with someone she wouldn’t accidentally kill mid coitus. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know she could never get that far. It was hers for keeping it a secret. But a secret it must remain. So she gave Wendel a wry smile raising her eye brows at him twice, daring him to complete the sentence.

“When…. You…” Wendel turned a distinct shade of red as he declined her challenge.

“Lil, I won 20 gold!” Celeste exclaimed as she put a hand on Lilith’s shoulder, forcing her to look away from her prey.

Wendel took the distraction as a chance to run for his life. He quickly went back to the reserved tables where he poured himself a glass of wine and joined Sir Tanel in conversation. Looking back from the safety of the regents side, he wondered if Celeste had meant to save him from that situation or if it was just his good luck. Either way she was handling her assignment to Lilith quite well even if he felt she was getting a bit too friendly with their demonic visitor. There had been no missing people and no complaints from any business owners or citizens and his report to Sir Tanel that morning reflected that.

Getting up from her seat Lilith congratulated her friend on her winnings as they started to make plans on how to spend it. Then returning to their table they rejoined Sharl, Sir Tanel, and Wendel as they finished off their food and began pouring from the second wine casks. At the other table Gonald and Hamlin were talking about finances to buy a significant amount of steel for the manufacture of the new spears and shields.

Soon Lilith finished a full plate of food and began drinking the wine after pouring it into on of the larger tankards. Giving her an odd look Wendel began to wonder outloud where Lilith was putting all the food she ate when Sir Tanel suggested it was being stored in her tail. Lilith’s tail then swished under her dress in agitation as everyone laughed at the timing. But since all the stares and pointing kept agitated her further, her tail continued swishing back and forth like that of an annoyed cat.

After a few minutes, when a particular jaunty song started playing, Sir Tanel stood and invited Lilith to dance with him partly as an apology for mocking her earlier. She considered declining but decided it would be a good time for them to talk since she had a lot on her mind. The dance floor was almost empty. However there were two couples dancing as well as one plastered boatman ‘dancing’ on the side of the room all by himself.

With her fingers held by his hand, Lilith and the regent walked to the dance floor and proceeded to have a bit of a physical argument about who was going to hold whom. After a bit of pushing and apologies she realized the difference between the hand placements and soon began to follow his lead.

Sir Tanel was doing a tripple step which kept in time with lively music. The band was a four piece group consisting of a violin, a cello a flute and a small set of drums. It wasn’t long before they completed the circuit of the dance floor ending up back in front of their table.

“This is nice.” Lilith said with a smile as Sir Tanel raised his arm to spin her for the first time.

“What is?” he asked as he brought her back in close.

“The party. Thanks for doing this for me.”

“Oh its not just for you its for the whole team. But it only seemed right considering how the last party ended so abruptly.” Sir Tanel said with a bit of a grimace. It was not his best plan but thanks to Lilith’s brute strength it had worked out just fine in the end.

“Ya I almost ended up trapped in a magic circle with that succubus for the night.”

“Yes, I am sure that would have been absolutely dreadful….. for her.” Sir Tanel grinned ear to ear emphasizing his joke.

Lilith took her hand out from his giving him a light slap to the ribs. “I was quite scared at the time. I was trapped in that circle, with a literal demon.” Lilith held her hand out for a second like she might slap his side again but then put it back in his before her expression softened.

“Hmm and how did you get out exactly? I still don’t understand how you pulled that off.” Sir Tanel asked.

“Well I prayed to my god from my world and it seems Lathander took action on his behalf.” Lilith said as she was spun and bent backwards, only Sir Tanel’s arm around the small of her back keeping her from ending up on the floor for a second time that evening.

“So you got out because of divine intervention? Ha! There are some clerics in Waterdeep that would be rather jealous if they heard about that.” Sir Tanel lifted Lilith back up and began to move again.

“Yes and then I spoke to Lathander that evening while I slept. Well he spoke, I listened.” Lilith admitted.

“I heard about that, he gave you a gift of power and it came with a green tail. Somehow I don’t think the clerics would be quite as envious about that one.” He said with a snicker as Lilith laughed along.

Sir Tanel asked another question but she didn’t respond. Instead she had stopped talking as her thoughts continued to wander. After a minute there was a new song and Sir Tanel slowed down their pace to match. ‘Lathander must be more connected to my world than anyone knows and he has told me that I am acting as his agent.’ She considered her lips moving slightly as her mind raced. Even so, she suspected she was missing something, something important, but she was brought back to reality as a large figure walked up and tapped Sir Tanel on the shoulder.

“May I step in here your grace.” Sharl asked in as respectful a tone as he could manage.

“Certainly I could use some more drink.” he said after looking to Lilith for a reaction that never came.

Lilith paused as the two unclasped their hands giving him a bow as he left. Sir Tanel gave her a smile in reply before he returned to their tables. Sharl began by lifting one of Lilith’s wrists and looking her in the eyes as they began to dance to the waltz that had started only a minute before.

It was much easier dancing with Sharl, the two of them having about the same stride. Lilith chuckled to herseft at the fact that she had been handed off like a baton. Then she laughed outloud at the thought and how ridiculous her whole situation was.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

“Oh everything is funny. This party. Me being here. This whole world is funny.” Lilith’s grin turned more serious as she looked back at Sharl

“Am I funny?” he asked as he cocked his head to the side

“Funny looking” she said as she stuck her tongue out at him just briefly.

“Heh I guess I danced right into that one. But I wanted to ask you, about what you said earlier.” Sharl questioned cautiously as if he was asking for permission to bring up the subject. Realizing what he ws likely to discuss, Lilith decided she needed to change the subject fast and remembered a pressing question she had of him that had been nagging her mind.

“Well I wanted to ask you about why people keep calling you a cheater.”

“Oh that's easy. You see I follow two gods, Lathander and Tymora. Good old Tymora is the Goddess of luck and this tavern was also made in her honor.” Sharl pointed at the giant coin above the entrance with one finger.

“How does that work? How do you worship a Goddess of luck? Doesn’t luck just happen?”

“Worshiping Tymora means living life to its fullest. Taking risks so long as they are in pursuit of your dreams.” Sharl explained as they circled the dance floor again.

“Well you seem to have that one covered, but why do they say you cheat?” Lilith asked putting extra emphasis on the word cheat.

“We have a prayer that we say ‘A copper to the Lady returns tenfold in gold’. Well when I started competing in the tournament I donated half my pay to the temple for good luck.” He let out a nervous laugh before he continued. “And I haven’t lost since. So I continue to donate every month.” Sharl explained as he looked up at the holy symbol of Tymora on the entrance.

“Half your salary? That has to hurt your finances some?” Lilith asked

“That's the funny thing, it all seems to come back to me in various ways. And its never in a way that I expect or even see coming. She seems to have blessed me because of my faith or generosity. I don’t know some people think its cheating but they could do it too if they wanted.”

“Hmmm” Lilith looked up to the ceiling in deep thought for a second ‘Is Sharl like the superhero Domino’ she wondered as she began to consider how you would even fight someone like that even if it was with a blunted weapon.

“Just like tonight I was about to lose 20 gold then that adventurer guy decides to take you on and half the pub bets on him especially with the 12:1 odds I was giving. Apparently he is well known. And just like that I ended the night up 35 gold.”

“So you had faith that I would win?” Lilith asked with half a smile on her face as she fished for a compliment.

“I had faith in Tymora. I don’t quite know what to make of you yet.” Sharl said with a smirk.

“Ya me either.” Lilith shook her head side to side, her red locks swinging across her shoulders.

“Oh what’s not to understand you’re strong, beautiful and brave. You seem to be pretty good with magic and you are a decent dancer.” Sharl sounded sincere as he pushed Lilith’s hand away while rotating it 180 degrees to make her spin at the edge of the dance floor, her dress expanding as she spun completely around and stepped back into his arms.

“Well now you are being a flirt. So if you live life to the fullest and gamble as a way to worship Tymora, what do you do to worship Lathander?”

“Lathander is all about self improvement. I mean I’m not going to be raising any babies or curing disease any time soon so that's the part I can work on. So I keep training. Keep learning.” he said with a nod as they continued to dance.

Lilith stopped to consider that self improvement might also go as far as to include redemption. But she decided to put that aside and ask another question. “I don’t know if you can answer this but, If you can worship two gods can a god watch over two different worlds?”

“Of course they can, and many of them do. Lathander especially so. There wouldn’t be light without him.” Sharl said with a smile.

With that last turn of phrase Lilith stopped dancing, her face turning serous. “What did you just say?”

“I said ‘there wouldn’t be light without him’ he is literally the light each morning.” Sharl gestured with a free hand now that they weren’t dancing any longer.

Lilith began walking off the dance floor while holding a hand over her mouth. Slowly she sat down in a chair pondering what she had just heard as part of that missing something was finally starting to make sense. They had the same length of year, the same length of day. The sun rises all looked the same. And Lathander had sent her visions of her own childhood during her dream as if he himself had been there to witness them. And that was because he had. It was the same sun. And it was the first words ever spoken on earth. ‘Let there be light’. Lilith had been taught that the Christian God had three parts, Father, son, and holy ghost. But what if it was actually an alliance of three gods acting as one. She thought ‘Which one was Lathander?’

Lilith was now 100% sure that Lathander had created both Earth and Faerun and she burst out laughing not knowing how else to process the revelation.