“Come,” Kurth bade them, moving back into the room. “Let me show you other aspects of Ship Kurth, which you might find enlightening, perhaps even enjoyable.”
They moved down Kurth’s small tower and out the front door. A collection of soldiers rushed out ahead of them, crossing the bridge to the mainland and spreading out left and right. Beniago and a pair of wizards remained right behind them while a handful of light-armored warriors formed a rank directly in front of them.
They went into the city and moved along Luskan’s streets, heading toward the merchant section.
“You think it wise to walk with us openly so soon after the fight?” Drizzt remarked.
“Better now than when the extent of it is known to the three uninvolved high captains, and before the fool Rethnor can properly regroup,” Kurth replied with a laugh. “You’re clearly under my protection, of course, and who would go directly against a high captain, especially when that high captain is of Ship Kurth?”
They moved into the merchant square, where many were setting up their kiosks. The smell of fruits and herbs, thick in the air, mixed with other, more exotic scents.
“What is that?” Dahlia asked, crinkling her nose. “Perfume?”
“Of course, my lady. It’s all the rage in Luskan,” Kurth said.
Dahlia wore a skeptical expression. “In Thay, I would expect, but here?” Her expression turned to one of disgust as she looked around at the filth and mud so common in the City of Sails, at the dirty commoners and their ragged clothing.
“Have you ever sailed with pirates… privateers, I mean?” Kurth asked with a grin. “A truly smelly bunch-so much so that many are insisting that their shipmates mask their natural aroma.”
Dahlia returned that grin, though hers was a helpless one, defeated by the high captain’s simple logic.
“And I, of course, was first to note that trend,” said Kurth.
“Note, or foment?” Dahlia asked.
Kurth grinned and bowed. “And so I dominate the fragrance trade,” he said. “Something that might interest you as a benefit of serving in my employ. For yourself, perhaps even for your drow companion.” He looked at Drizzt. “No offense intended, of course, but battle does bring forth the body’s natural oils, and I’m not the first to note that drow carry their own peculiar scent.”
Drizzt remained too incredulous at the entire conversation to take offense.
“Oh, and something else,” Kurth said, as if the notion had just come to him. He stopped and turned to face a squat stone building, its windows still shuttered by heavy metal blinds. “I note, pretty Dahlia, that you have a fancy for shiny stones.” He tapped her left ear, where the ten diamond studs glittered in the morning light, then motioned to the heavy, iron-bound door.
Beniago stepped up to the spot, rapping out a rhythmic sequence. The merchant inside threw the lock and bolts, and in the group went. On Beniago’s warning, they held near to the entrance for a few moments as the merchant picked a careful path across the floor to the side of the room. He pushed through a curtain and the group heard the creak of levers being thrown, followed by the sounds of sliding floorboards.
He was disarming pit traps, Drizzt knew, and the drow looked on slyly, wondering why Kurth had so readily shown them some of the defenses of the place.
As soon as the merchant returned through the curtain and nodded, Kurth led them on a slow walk of the room, showing off rubies and emeralds and many other gems and jewels. Flickering candlelight bathed the room in a soft glow, and the stones glittered in their many glass cases.
“You fancy diamonds, I see,” Kurth said, directing them to one particular case.
Dahlia moved up beside him, her icy blue eyes glittering with their sparkling reflections. She didn’t hide her fascination with one stone in particular, prominently displayed in the center of the case.
“Another benefit,” Kurth offered. “Go ahead, lady, take any one you wish.”
Dahlia looked at him with open suspicion.
“Free of any cost to you,” Kurth assured her.
“Free, other than my agreement to be indentured to Ship Kurth?”
Kurth laughed aloud. “Lady, please,” he said, motioning to the case, but then he paused and motioned again to the shopkeeper, who rushed over and reached under the case to shift a few unseen levers, no doubt incapacitating a trap or alarm of some sort.
Then he motioned again to Dahlia as he opened the hinged top of the case.
Dahlia looked at Drizzt, smiled, and shook her head. “No,” she replied. “But you have my gratitude for your offer.”
“You will not be indebted,” Kurth assured her.
“I’ll feel indebted, and that’s not so much of a different thing.”
“My lady,” Kurth said with exaggerated exasperation.
“Perhaps you would care to purchase an item instead,” the merchant remarked, and the poor man knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he should have remained quiet. Dahlia looked at him incredulously, but that was by far the most benign of the looks coming his way. Kurth and all of his soldiers stared hard at the diminutive man. Beniago even took a step closer to him. The merchant made a little mewling sound and seemed to shrink, appropriately hanging his head.
Dahlia’s gaze went to Drizzt, who moved slightly back and slid his hands to his weapon belt. She nodded.
“Perhaps I shall do so, good jeweler,” she said in a light tone to pierce the tension. “Sadly, however, I’m short of funds at the moment.” She tapped Kurth on the shoulder. “Though that situation might soon be remedied.”
Her teasing hint that she might be open to some employment took the high captain’s mind off the merchant quite readily, something that was not missed by his obedient soldiers.
“He’ll give you the finest deal possible,” Kurth said, casting one disconcerting glare at the small man for good measure.
“You have given me-us-much to consider,” Dahlia said to Kurth. “Will we find you on Closeguard Island tomorrow at midday?”
“This day is only just begun,” Kurth reminded her.
“And I have not rested at all through the night,” Dahlia replied. “Drizzt and I will take our leave here.”
“You may reside on Closeguard Island,” Kurth said. He looked past Dahlia to a pair of burly soldiers, who quickly shifted to block the exit. “I insist.”
“We have much to consider,” Dahlia replied. “You understand that we prefer to discuss our plans in private, of course.”
“You will not be safe anywhere in Luskan, outside of my protection, lady,” the high captain said. “Do you think one minor failure will put off Ship Rethnor?”
“But now we know of the threat,” Drizzt said. “And so we’re not worried.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
“Then why would you want me in your employ?”
That set Kurth back on his heels, and for many heartbeats he just stared at the drow, as if trying to decide whether to lash out or back off.
“Midday tomorrow, then, on Closeguard?” Dahlia asked, and she pressed the point by walking over to Drizzt, who stood closer to the door.
High Captain Kurth looked to Beniago, to his wizards, then to his soldiers, and finally nodded his agreement. The burly soldiers moved clear of the door.
“He’s used to having his way,” Drizzt whispered to Dahlia when they were back on the market square.
“And yet he allowed us to leave, not even knowing our course.”
“Do you think he’s punishing the poor merchant now for daring to speak up?”
Dahlia looked at Drizzt skeptically, as if the notion was ridiculous, which of course, she knew it was not. “Why would he? What would be his gain?”
“His pleasure, perhaps,” said Drizzt.
“Finding one with a good jeweler’s eye is no easy task, particularly this far north.”
“But were it to his gain, he would beat the man to death with nary a concern.”
Dahlia could only shrug.
“It matters,” Drizzt remarked as they walked away.