There's always time and water," she said, briskly wiping the dirt from her fingers, "out among the bounties of Our Mother. You need to be more trusting of people."
"What?" Whitlock's brow curved down, and his forehead filled with furrows, but he didn't look up from his cooking.
"We're out here, and not at one of the roadhouses, because you don't trust people. You'd rather be out here alone than have to worry about who presents a threat and who doesn't, or if a thief is going to creep into your room at night. Your instincts are good, and I'll admit you've been keeping us well protected, but Whitlock, not everyone's an orc."
Whitlock looked up at his sister, who still stood at the edge of the firelight. He couldn't hide his irritation.
"Look," he said bitterly, "everything is going just fine the way it is. Let me worry about whether there's danger or not. Besides-"
"I can help take some of that responsibility, you know. This journey is just as important to me as it is to you."
"Besides," Whitlock said again, stressing the word and narrowing his gaze, "we will be in Tilverton by tomorrow night. You can sleep in a bed then."
Melann shook her head again. Did he think her so soft?
"This has nothing to do with sleeping in a bed or on the ground," she retorted. "This is about you believing that you have to take care of me and be the sole guardian over the both of us. I can take care of myself. Lifting the curse is my foremost goal too."
Melann rubbed her fingers, working away the soil. She turned, and as if to prove her point to Whitlock she prayed to Chauntea, calling on her power to place a ward around the campsite that would protect them while they slept. When she was finished, she lowered the holy symbol pendant she used to focus the warding and sat beside the fire. Whitlock stared at her in silence, and she stared back.
She dumped the berries out of her pouch and onto the ground.
Whitlock looked down into the meal he was preparing. The truth was, he actually did prefer camping outside to the often more dangerous roadside inns. Tales of diabolical innkeepers who overcame their patrons in the night and murdered them for their possessions or sold them into slavery were common in the more unsavory parts of the faraway Moonsea region. Melann just couldn't understand the dangers that reared around them at every turn.
He had not cared much for staying at the Abbey of the Golden Sheaf, either, but that had nothing to do with distrust. Holed up in that walled fortress, tending to their gardens, those people didn't have any idea of what the world was really like. They didn't understand the dangers and the truth behind the evils in the world. Zhentarim, brigands, monsters, undead-one needed to be both strong and aware to survive in a world with such threats. Soldiers, mercenaries, adventurers-they understood. They knew the horrors that lurked in dark caverns, evil temples, and dimly lit alley-ways, and they were prepared to face them. Like the priests in the Golden Sheaf, his sister was too concerned with lofty religious ideals and not the harsh realities of life.
Neither spoke again as the fire died. Whitlock ate, but Melann waved off any offer of food. Sounds of crickets and buzzing night insects filled the darkness.
The walls of Tilverton rose high above the flat plain on which the city stood. As Whitlock and Melann came just within sight of the city, traffic grew noticeably more congested as smaller paths joined with the road. People slowly traveled to and from the city in heavily laden carts and on fine, tall horses as well as on foot. Situated in the strategic mouth of Tilver's Gap, the city watched over the only easy way between the Thunder Peaks to the south and the Desertsmouth Mountains to the north. Outside of the city, Whitlock and Melann passed a number of homes, most of them herders' and horse ranchers'.
Tilverton had once been an independent frontier town. Now it was under the protection and rule of Cormyr, a powerful kingdom to the south and west.
Fortunately, the hand of King Azoun IV was light and beneficent, and Tilverton prospered in the care of the city's Lady Regent, Alasalynn Rowanmantle.
The city offered thousands of people a home, safe behind high walls, safe against the dangers of the surrounding mountains.
The road took them past a stockyard that smelled of cattle and other livestock. Eventually the road wound to an open gate offering a means through the protective wall. The noise and smells of thick crowds rose above the wall as they approached. A the sun set, the city's lights guided them easily along their path.
Inside the wall, the streets were alive with humanity. Dancing, colorfully dressed people frolicked in the street to the sounds of melodious horns and stringed instruments. Voices-some beautiful, some not, but all filled with emotion-rose from all quarters of the town, joined in song.
Midsummer had come, and both Melann and! Whitlock had completely forgotten it.
This was a festival the siblings had taken part in! many times on their own in Archendale. On this day each year, everyone celebrated life with wild festivities, food, wine, and music. Young unwed maidens would hide in the woods, waiting for their suitors to find them and propose marriage. The Long Night, as it was sometimes called, was a time of love and happiness, but it hardly fit into Whitlock and Melann's current plans.
A guard, dressed in surprisingly severe plate armor, brandishing a spear in one hand and a turkey leg in the other, stood by the open gate. His helmet rested at his feet, along with his shield. Juice from his meal ran down his beard. When he looked up, wiping his beard, he saw Melann and Whitlock. The two remained mounted and looked at the festivities with wide-eyed surprise.
"You won't find a room here” he told them. "Inns and rooming houses are full-up. It's the festival." He shooed them off with the turkey leg and looked away.
They could barely hear the guard's words over the music and singing. Whitlock leaned closer to the man, far to one side of his mount and shouted, "Isn't there somewhere we can stay? Anywhere at all?"
The guard paused and stared for a moment. "Well, you could try the Flagon Held High," he said, louder this time. "You can get something to drink there and ask around about a room. Maybe someone will know of someplace." He pointed with his turkey leg. “Follow the Street of the Sorceress until you get to Phorn's Lane. You'll find it." With that, he took a hearty bite from the leg and turned back to watch the dancers in the street.
Melann had little interest in dripk, particularly in comparison to her desire to find some information to help them find the Crypt of Chare'en. She looked to Whitlock and simply shrugged rather than attempt to be heard over the noise. He nodded a thank you to the guard. The two rode down the street, carefully avoiding dancers and merrymakers.
The Flagon Held High was a large tavern with new, smooth stone walls and fresh paint on the sign. The drinking, eating, singing, and dancing clientele had spilled out onto Phorn's Lane. Like the rest of the city, the tavern that night bustled with all manner of patrons, rich and poor alike. Tilverton, as a community, apparently wasn't old enough to develop a strict segregation of classes. Melann enjoyed that about the place. Whitlock didn't seem to notice.
The two dismounted and tied their horses to a post a few buildings away from the tavern-as close as they could get. Whitlock pushed his way into the crowd, but Melann slipped through the teeming throng faster than he. He grabbed her arm and held it as they moved. They stuck together as they threaded their way through the wilderness of people.