Sophraea started to tell the gravediggers that Gustin wasn't her young man, but realized that would plunge her into even more lengthy explanations. Instead, she nipped quickly out of the door that Fish opened, promising that she and Gustin would return shortly and keep a sharp eye out for reptiles and other threats. Gustin lingered in the doorway. "Sewyrms?" Gustin said to Feeler.
The man held his two hands far apart, indicating the size from nose to tail tip. "Big ones," he replied. "Some say that there's even a great albino sewyrm, down in the darkest, deepest sewers, living off the garbage. That it's grown so big that it can't even move through the tunnels anymore."
Sophraea snorted. "That's just story! Albino seawrym in the sewers of Waterdeep. Like nobody has ever heard that one before!"
"Well," the wizard began. "I don't think that I've…"
She grabbed Gustin's sleeve and tugged him through the door.
"We're just going a little way," she said over his shoulder to Feeler. "Just beneath the graveyard. It will be dry as dust and twice as safe as above ground."
"Come back quickly," the gravedigger prompted.
"We will," Sophraea promised.
The door shut firmly behind them. Sophraea nodded in approval as she heard the latch'click down. It would never do to leave Dead End House defenseless on the lowest level, a lesson drilled into her as soon as she started to beg her mother to be allowed to accompany her brothers through the tunnels leading from the basement to the upper streets of Waterdeep. And, although she would never admit it out loud, it was a little comforting to know that Feeler and Fish would wait by the door until they returned.
She gave a quick glance up to the dark outline of the door's watcher. One stony wing was folded halfway across its horned head and its bearded chin was tucked firmly into its shoulder.
"That has to be the ugliest statue that I've ever seen," remarked Gustin, holding the lantern a little higher to cast a light into the niche above the Dead End door.
Sophraea looked upon the ugly creature with affection. She could just make out the slightly notched left ear. Bentnor had jumped up on a bet with Leaplow to pat the watcher's paw. And, of course, once Bentnor did that, Cadriffle had to get high enough to tweak its nose. And once the twins had done that, Leaplow had to best them by twisting the left ear a bit askew. No wonder it kept its wing extended over its head after that!
She opened her mouth to explain the watcher to Gustin and then shook her head at her own foolishness. Such knowledge should only be shared with members of the family and the others who dwelled at Dead End House. No matter how friendly Gustin was, he could not be considered family.
"Come on," she said instead. "We don't have much time."
"So where exactly are we?" Gustin asked as Sophraea hurried down a short dark passageway.
"Into the old sewer tunnels, heading directly under the City of the Dead," she said. She paused for a moment, waiting for the special tug that signaled she was passing under the walls of the City of the Dead. "This is an access tunnel used mostly by the cellarers' and plumbers' guild. If you go the other way, it turns south toward Coffinmarch."
She went a few steps farther in and immediately knew exactly where they were.
"Good, there's the Deepwinter tomb," she glanced up but nothing could be seen in the lamplight except the dull masonry holding the earth above them. It was all instinct that guided her, but she was certain that they were directly below the big mausoleum.
If she closed her eyes, the tunnels around them disappeared. She could picture herself standing on the gravel path twisting through the rain-soaked shrubbery around the tomb's north corner.
"We'll need to turn at the next branching of the tunnels to reach the spot that we want," she told Gustin, opening her eyes and looking up at the wizard.
"Are your eyes blue?" he asked her.
Surprised, Sophraea shook her head. "No, brown, like the rest of my family. Why do you ask?"
Gustin tilted his head to one side, staring at her. "It's gone now. But, just for a moment, there was this flash of blue."
"Trick of the light," Sophraea guessed, heading into the tunnel that led them past the Deepwinter tomb and deeper under the City of the Dead. "Everything always looks a bit strange down here."
"You use these tunnels much?" Gustin moved easily at her side, his long legs easily covering twice the ground as her shorter, quicker steps.
"We all do. Feeler and Fish the most, because it's the quickest way in and out of the graveyard, and many of the portals that they use are below ground these days. The rest of us use the tunnel to Coffinmarch for a shortcut if it's raining too hard to go by the upper streets. Lots of families have entrances in their basements that lead to these tunnels."
She didn't try to explain to him how she felt like she was walking in two places at the same time, one Sophraea in the City of the Dead above them, the other Sophraea in the tunnels below. It was a slightly disconnected, somewhat floaty feelings but not altogether unpleasant.
As they rounded another turn, passing by a shadowed doorway, Gustin remarked, "I'm surprised they don't get more unwelcome visitors in their basements. This looks like the perfect arrangement for housebreakers."
"The underground doors are well guarded by stout locks and magic. Besides, we're under the graveyard here. That door just leads into the old Narfuth crypt. There's nothing there worth anything."
"Magical protections on the doors, really? I didn't feel anything in your basement."
"That's because you entered from above, as a friend of the family. The Doorwatcher would have known that and let you alone. Although"-a gleam of amused speculation lit Sophraea's dark eyes-"I suppose that could be why your spell rebounded so spectacularly on you."
"Can't wait to meet this Doorwatcher," said Gustin, but he sounded more intrigued than aggrieved.
"You already have," Sophraea started but then they rounded another corner. Huddled around a couple of torches, shadowy figures blocked the way. Gustin pulled Sophraea into an alcove and shuttered the lantern, leaving them in darkness.
"Best wait until they pass," Gustin whispered in Sophraea's ear, tickling her dark curls with his breath.
"Probably just some neighbors heading home from a party. The City of the Dead's gates would be locked by now and they are using these tunnels instead." But her explanation sounded weak to Sophraea. Most folks avoided going anywhere near the graveyard after nightfall, even underground. Something about how the group scurried together, hands clutching their dagger or sword hilts, and the constant glances back over their shoulders did not suggest a late evening party of revelers.
"I thought that halfling said that she would lead us to treasures," whined a slender man clad in black silk from head to heel. He passed close enough to where Sophraea and Gustin hid that they could hear the whisper of his trousers.
"Who would have thought her hands would be so cold," answered his female companion, a well-rigged fighter bristling with knives, sword, and even a short shield. Another tall man stalked at her side, well-armored and with a hint of ore in his scowling features.
The fourth man, more drably dressed than the others, stopped and stared back into the darkness. He looked straight at the alcove where Sophraea pressed back against Gustin. She held her breath. Gustin's hand tightened on her shoulder.
Then the swarthy bravo shrugged and turned to follow his companions, saying as he left that section of the tunnel, "Well, if there are not treasures to be had tonight, I'm for hot wine and a warm bed. Let's go."
The sounds of this odd quartet died away, leaving the tunnel empty and silent behind them.