Chapter 32

Once again it was Sir Tanel, Wendel, Celeste, and Lilith eating dinner together in the banquet hall. A few other pages and advisors were also eating but gave the four of them a wide birth.

Lilith was eating mostly meat still but had a potato with lots of butter on her plate. The others ate slowly and talked about the days events. Celeste was recounting her duel with Sharl which Sir Tanel found particularly entertaining since he hadn’t beat Sharl in a duel once in the past 6 years.

“I think Lady luck had him win a different prize today.” Lilith said with a smile.

“Come now stop teasing! Out with it girl.” Sir Tanel demanded setting his fork down.

Lilith gave a quick glance to Celeste who gave her a nod before she looked down at her plate bashfully.

“When she was helping him up Celeste may or may not have tripped and landed a kiss on our brave champion.” Lilith said with a devilish smile on her face.

“I did not trip!” Celeste said in abject denial.

“Oh so it was on purpose then?” Lilith asked as her tail swishing back and forth under her dress.

The group erupted in laughter and Sir Tanel called for a cask of wine to be brought out. Soon he had poured everyone a drink and began a toast.

“To our brave new Wizard Celeste, Slayer of Champions!”

Everyone drank their cups and continue to eat what was left on their plates. Lilith, having downed her plate in record time when she saw the wine being brought out, stole a few pieces of fatty meat that Celeste suddenly wasn’t interested in. Wendel began to tell Sir Tanel how one of his castle guards tried to shoo Celeste away when she was in the form of a 12’ tall giant eagle and was promptly disarmed.

“Wait. It was Tom wasn’t it?” Sir Tanel asked incredulously.

“Yes!” Wendel said barely able to say it over his laughter.

“I knew it. I swear if a dragon ever lands in the city walls he will be the first to fire an arrow at it and doom us all.” Sir Tanel said while gesturing with his wine goblet.

“Well I still have some more spell energy do y'all want to try a bit more spell practice in the tower before we call it a day?” Lilith asked while looking at Wendel and Celeste.

“I could be persuaded.” Wendel said.

Celeste simply pushed back her plate and stood up.

“Well I still have some reports to read and respond to so I will be in the master study and thanks for asking.” Sir Tanel said in a pretend snoot.

Lilith gave him a knowing look and a half smile. As she got up out of her seat.

Now just the three of them they left the Ducal Castle cutting across the grass to the wizard’s tower.

Once inside they proceeded up to the second floor each of them making themselves comfortable in the library. Celeste and Wendel sitting in comfortable chairs while Lilith found the ottoman more to her liking.

Wendel seeming to relax a bit in his chair after the food and drink sat there quietly for a minute or two before asking “So what did you want to try first Lilith? I trust you had something specific in mind.”

“I would like to do sending again using pact magic just like before but to a different person this time.”

“Ok. Who did you have in mind?”

“Lady Morwen.” Lilith said while raising both eye brows.

“No! Absolutely not. Sir Tanel said not to do anything that might tip off her captors that we might be trying to rescue her. If they get wind they will move her or kill her or move her then ward the new location.” The master wizard raised his voice in a very uncharacteristic manner as he sat forward on his chair clearly adgitated by her presumption.

“Wendel, he saw her today, in chains, alone and it nearly broke his heart. You don’t really think we can leave her like that in good conscience do you?” Lilith pleaded while extending an open hand in his direction.

“Wait you scryed on the duchess today?” Celeste asked with genuine surprise.

“Yes, but we didn’t get much information just that she was in a prison cell and it is somewhere on the sword coast. She was alone at the time and we could only see daylight outside of the window.”

“But if we contact her directly she may be able to tell us who has her and exactly where she is.”

“It is still risky if she speaks out loud or tries to look out a window. Anything out of the ordinary could make them probe her mind. If there is a wizard there, they could find the memory in only a matter of hours.”

“Ok then. What if the first thing we do is tell her to act normal, for the sake of her own safety. Do you think she would understand the implication?”

“She should. The Duchess had a strong will and a keen mind. If her faculties are all there she should have no trouble following our lead.” Wendel admitted.

“So then we warn her, then ask her for information.” Lilith said wanting to confirm their plan.

“Fine but no going off on a rescue attempt unless we get it approved by Sir Tanel.” Wendel said in a calm voice.

“Ok. But I know he will approve it.” she confirmed fixing the master wizard with her gaze.

Wendel rolled his eyes and stood to begin activating the scrying orb. It was similar to the one he had in the master study in the castle. He activated it and focused on the signet ring of the Duchess. There she was in near total darkness a Single flame somewhere in the corridor illuminated only a small section of her stone prison cell. She seemed to be awake rubbing part of her manacles against the stone floor. All three of them couldn’t help but respect her resolve and her effort in what was surely an impossible task. They were all standing now, around the crystal watching her efforts for several minutes before they decided to take action.

Believing that now was as good a time as any Wendel and Lilith formed a pact to continuously cast Sending on Lilith for the next hour or until she spoke the words ‘Lathander Protects.’ With the pact complete and executed Lilith began to speak to Lady Morwen.

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“Lady Morwen do not panic and do not move. I have been searching for you on behalf of Sir Tanel of Daggerford. You can speak back to me in your mind as many times as you like but it is imperative that you do not make any outward noise or behavior that would alert your captors to our communication.”

In the orb the other two could see the lady look around and stop rubbing her manacle against the stone. She sat there just as she was before but now her eyes closed.

“This is welcome news indeed. I am glad someone has finally noticed me missing after a year.” The Duchess said with noticeable relief.

“Yes they were using an impostor in your place but she is now imprisoned by my hand and at the orders of Sir Tanel. Now if you don’t mind I would ask you to tell me who your captors are or where they have you held prisoner. We would like to come for you discreetly.” Lilith asked in a calm tone her mind focusing on the task at hand.

“I am being held by the Baroness Wynne Cromm. She came down here when I first arrived to gloat. This is most certainly her hovel of a castle if you can call it that. It is near the coast only half a day from Daggerford. Sir Tanel will know exactly where.”

“That is most helpful. Along the lines of rescuing you, are you left alone at night? And are you under any kind of armed guard that would endanger you if your manacles or say a section of the wall were removed.” Lilith was trying to be as polite as possible in the hopes that it would keep the Duchess calm.

“By trial and error I have found that this wing is completely unoccupied at night and I am the only resident. I think they want to keep my presence a secret. So they limit the number of eyes that see me. There is one guard during the day but they just clean and feed me and occasionally dispense the odd abuse. At night would be the best time for a rescue, but my cell walls are mostly underground. Only the top foot with the window is above the surface.”

Looking through the scrying glass Wendel turned the sensor to face the wall with the torch light reflecting off of it. There, 8’ up its side was a single 1’ x 1’ window with metal bars. Just the minimal needed for ventilation and lighting. The room had two buckets one with a lid and the other with a cup sitting next to it. Both within reach of where the duchess sat chained. There she was wearing linen rags and sitting on a small bed of hay.

“Do you know what side of the keep you are on. Does that window get the morning sun or the evening sun?” Lilith asked

“It gets the evening sun but not very directly I think it is facing North West. Wait you can see me as well. How can you cast two spells at once?” She asked sounding a bit confused.

“Sir Tanel has retained the services of three wizards in your absence. It seems he is very serious about finding you.” Lilith figured it wouldn’t hurt trying to talk Sir Tanel up some. But if the Duchess had feelings for him she was keeping them to herself.

“Well good, as he should be. Now tell me how long till I can expect a rescue?”

“If all goes well it should be tomorrow night. If more preparations are needed it will be within ten days at the most.” Lilith said this with as much confidence as she could muster.

“I can manage that, though I suppose I don’t have much of a choice.” The Duchess lamented.

“I suppose you don’t. But just to help with the rescue effort I should warn you your rescuer may be completely invisible or may appear with glowing red eyes. So don’t hesitate when either arrives.”

“I understand.. I think.”

“Then I will report what we have discussed and we will begin our planning. Please have as restful a night as you can and I hope to see you soon and remember ‘Lathander Protects’.

The spell ended but they could still see the Duchess in her cell in the dim light. She was up on her knees, looking at the window before she sat back down fully. She then clutched her hands and began to say a prayer.

Seeing this Wendel broke the connection and looked at Lilith who had started moving again and began motioning like she was ready to speak.

“She didn’t know much. They kept a hood on her when they brought her in and they do not speak to her. She is alone in that wing and there is only one guard during the day. It seems they are trying to keep her imprisonment secret so there is just the one guard that feeds her and cleans her.”

“That's all you could get?” Wendel asked sounding a bit disappointed.

“Yes I’m afraid. I told her that a cleric of Lathander was coming in a week and we might have better means of finding her then.” Lilith was lying about all of this but she had her reasons.

“So she is praying to Lathander then.” Celeste asked.

“It seems so.” Wendel said.

“Well darn I was hoping we could give Tany some good news.” Celeste said while pounding a small fist into a small hand.

“Ya me too.” Lilith said while looking down at the now blank scrying orb.

“Well I will report this to Sir Tanel in the morning. Now the two of you should be getting to bed.”

“Yes Master Wendel” Lilith said mockingly.

Celeste just gave Wendel a bow and went to walk Lilith out of the tower. When they got down to the bottom floor Lilith stopped the conversation and started a new one as she gave her friend a serious look.

“Celeste, tomorrow I don’t want you to cast any spells. Keep yourself fully rested and don’t tell anyone. After Wendel goes to bed you and I are going to go on a scouting mission. Ok?” Lilith asked in a hushed tone as she held one of Celeste’s hands with both of her’s

“Ok but why all the secrecy?” she asked as she brought her other hand over to meet Lilith’s grasp.

“Because I suspect they had help inside the keep to kidnap her without anyone noticing. So it will be just the two of us and no one else must know.”

“I understand. But why me? Why not tell Wendel and enlist his aid?”

“Because we make a great team.” Lilith said with a big smile.

Celeste nodded and looked down at their clasped hands.

Lilith took the cue and released her hand she had been holding nervously. After a quick wave and a goodbye Lilith left the tower for the night. Walking back she had her doubts but that did not show up in her body language as she walked quickly as ever straight and proud past the guards and down the hall to the third guest room on the right. Her room.

Lilith changed into her evening gown and laid down in her bed on top of the covers. She had not been hot or cold since she arrived in Faerun and didn’t see the need to mess up the bed if she didn’t need to. She also didn’t light any candles unless she was going to be drawing or writing. She could see perfectly well in the dark. As she lay in bed looking up at the ceiling she felt conflicted in her actions. She was being deceitful and involving her friend in her plot. Was she trying to be cautious or was she trying to hog all the glory for herself. In truth she didn’t know. So she prayed for guidance in the hope that a path would become clear. She often prayed at home. Usually to say thanks but also when she was conflicted. Sometimes just getting the words out helped on its own.

“Dear lord, please guide me as I go down this path of peril. Please protect those that rely on me and guide me with a wisdom greater than my own so that I may be triumphant over evil. In Jesus name I pray, ah men.”

Still lying there her hands back at her sides. Lilith’s mind drifted off to thoughts of Celeste as a giant eagle and perhaps riding on her back as a means of transportation. Then she thought of their destination a small hold, not worthy of being called a castle. Then a memory came to her of how she felt when she was trapped in the magic circle even for just a minute and then the image of the Duchess with her Silver hair and noble face shackled in a cell. She was sure getting the Duchess out in the quickest way possible was the right answer. And as long as she was working to that end then her actions would be the correct ones. So tomorrow night it would be.

With her peace restored, Lilith drifted off, deciding to sleep under the covers as they kept her from rolling off the bed.

The next morning she was awoken by the smell of breakfast. No one had come to wake her. But Lilith was quite happy to wake up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and a new smell. Could it Be waffles? She sat up with a start and almost flung open the door but decided even she couldn’t go to such a public place wearing only a night gown, even if it did go nearly all the way to the floor. After all the white material was see through in places where it was shear to her body.

Lilith got undressed and hunging up her gown and was about to put on her arming jacket when she decided to look at herself in the mirror. Her legs really had gotten bigger but so had her rear end. If she hadn’t made her underwear entirely out of that stretchy material it would have probably given way some time yesterday before dinner. Looking over her shoulder at the full length mirror she looked at the weird way her tail and buttocks came together and decided to give them a smack. ‘you are such a weirdo’ she thought to herself before she regained her composure and put on her arming jacket and her demonic plate armor.

Now standing at the serving table Lilith began filling her plate with eggs, bacon and a half piece of waffle. Sitting down it was only a minute before Wendel and Celeste came to join her. The benches for the tables were ideal for Lilith. She could sit down with her tail draping over the back unlike the difficulty she had with some chairs or couches. The metal skirt of her armor only seemed to complicate things.

“Has your tail gotten bigger?” Wendel asked, seeing it rest partially on the ground as he sat on the bench next to her.

“I don’t know. I looked in the mirror this morning, and there were so many things out of shape that I can’t be certain.” Lilith said thinking back to what she saw in the mirror and how it reminded her of something in her past that she couldn’t quite identify.

“Out of shape? I don’t think there is a single part of you that could be described as ‘out of shape’.” He said in a half joking tone.

“Well you know I haven’t been skipping any meals and I don’t think demons are used to food of this quality.” Lilith made some truly scandalous sounds as she savored the pieces of waffles and syrup.

“Yes you sure love your food.” Wendel mocked.

“Well I don’t know if it was working on so many new skills yesterday or the after affects of so much good food but I suddenly gained a lot of muscle yesterday. Most of it on my lower body. I feel about 30 lbs heavier.” Lilith said between bites of Waffles and eggs.

“That's interesting so it seems demons normally gain power by eating things. And it seems to pay off rather quickly. Maybe that is why they go on such a rampage when they enter the mortal plane.” The wizard surmised.

“Humm” Lilith agreed as she finished her plate. She halfway considered giving up eating at every meal but she doubted she had the self control for that, especially if her friends were eating.

“We are going to put you on a diet Lils” Celeste said Jokingly “Nothing but salads and raw carrots and tomatoes for you every meal”

“Oh please don’t.” Lilith said with mock timidness.

“So where are you off to this morning?” Wendel asked as he finished off his plate as well.

“I am taking your advice. I am going to go threaten Gonald with another dance and hope he agrees to train me in blacksmithing.”

“That was Sir Tanel’s advice and I thought he was joking.”

“Well the Joke is on Gonald. I have my dancing shoes on.” Lilith tapped her armored greaves on the marble floor of the banquet hall making a bit of a clatter.

Celeste let out a laugh and covered her mouth as she finished off the last of her food.

“How about you Celeste. What do you have planned for today?” Wendel asked of his apprentice.

“I am going to research more in the library and then maybe talk to Sharl if I can find him.”

“Oh what are you going to talk about?” Lilith asked, her tail swinging from side to side making her armored skirt rattle.

“I was thinking of attending the noon service with him at the temple.” she said with only a hint of blush.

“Ok I will go too. Can you wait for me outside the temple?” Lilith asked.

“Sure just don’t be late.” Celeste said with a smile.

“And what about you Wendel what are you doing today?” Lilith asked turning to her side to face him.

“I just got in a shipment of quicksilver so I am going to be adding a re-flux rune to the outside of the magic circle. It will drain some of Pencheska’s magical energy to renew the magic circle each day.” he responded in his usual calm voice.

“Well then, I will see you at noon.” Lilith said as she began to stand up from the table to leave.

“Cya Lils.” Celeste said as she waved

“Cya” Wendel said, as he stood to make it easier for Lilith to get up and out of the bench seating.

After waving goodbye Lilith headed to her room and retrieved her 100 gp coin purse. It looked like the bank would be her first stop. Walking out of the Castle she noticed that her gate had broadened. She almost seemed to leap from step to step. ‘Celeste is going to hate this’ she thought.

Luckily the bank was relatively empty so early in the morning and the deposit didn’t take long. This gave her over 200 gp in her account which was not a bad start considering she was near destitute only a few days prior.

Now going to the Blacksmiths guild for the first time, Lilith stopped and asked for directions eventually finding her way to Gonald’s office.