"I was there in my younger days," Kovrim informed the mercenary. "It was only after I grew too old and soft to put up with the hardships of the campaign trail that I retired and took up an administrative position within the temple."
"Well, if you ever decide to un-retire, I'm sure Vambran'd be able to find a gentle horse and a good use for you," the sergeant replied in his easy accent.
Adyan ordered a small detail to mind the prisoners and he, Kovrim, and the rest of the troops moved back up the main path to the house, ready to rejoin the other half of the Sapphire Crescents.
Once they were together with the rest of the troops, the Crescents broke into smaller squads and prepared to move through the house room by room, not sure how strong the resistance would be, but clearly understanding that members of Vambran and Kovrim's family were in potential danger inside. As the Crescents entered the house and fanned out, Kovrim realized for the first time that Xaphira was not with them. He worried for her briefly, but then the priest dismissed such thoughts. The woman had been able to take care of herself for quite a long time, and her skills were formidable, as she had already demonstrated several times in the past couple of days. She was lurking somewhere, ready to spring out when she was most needed, he decided.
The priest accompanied Adyan and two other mercenaries as they moved into the large dining room of the Matrell estate. One of the soldiers had a lantern, but otherwise, the room was dark, which Kovrim found disturbing. Normally, the servants would have lit lanterns and candles to brighten every room in the house, but thus far, the Crescents had found everything dark and silent. The priest was just about to suggest that they move on when a cry rose up from the kitchens, just through the next door, followed by the sounds of battle.
Weapons drawn, the mercenaries rushed through the portal. Kovrim was in the rear, but he saw that another group of Crescents had stumbled onto a contingent of house guards who were accompanying two other men moving through the kitchen, perhaps to sneak out the back way onto the grounds. The guards engaged the mercenaries, leaving their charges to retreat to safety.
"Don't let them escape!" Kovrim called out, and a pair of Crescents pushed through the swirling fight to pursue the men.
Kovrim picked his way more carefully, dodging a sword swipe in the process, and finally reached the door that led out onto the tiled patio off the kitchen. The two soldiers were facing off against one of the men, whom Kovrim recognized as Grozier Talricci. The other man, a somewhat shorter, flabby fellow, cowered behind Grozier, watching the whole skirmish through a pair of spectacles that were slipping off his nose.
Suddenly, the timorous fellow reached into a pocket and drew forth a handful of something that Kovrim couldn't see. He knew well enough that he was watching arcane magic, though, and tried to shout a warning. The paunchy wizard was too quick. He popped something in his mouth, casting his spell before the priest could make the mercenaries aware of the danger. Rearing back, the wizard suddenly belched forth a spray of something, thoroughly covering one of the two mercenaries in the liquid. The man began to scream and claw at his own body, and Kovrim watched in horror as the substance, obviously some sort of acid, began to burn him.
Without thinking about it, Kovrim darted across and approached the man, who was down on the tiles, rolling in misery, his clothing half-burned away and his flesh covered in open sores and smoking. The priest grasped his talisman of Waukeen and knelt beside the anguished mercenary, praying to the goddess for the power of healing. Heedless of his own danger, Kovrim placed his hand upon the burned man's chest and let the healing energy flow. The spell didn't completely counteract the effects of the acid, but it was enough to ease the mercenary's pain and keep him breathing.
A commotion right behind him drew Kovrim's attention once he was finished applying his divine magic, and he realized that he was right in the wizard's line of sight. The priest dived across the body of the now-unconscious soldier, hoping to buy himself a moment or two to recover his wits and defend himself. As he tumbled across the tiles and turned back to face whatever danger might be coming toward him, Kovrim was relieved to see that several more Crescents had arrived and were quickly surrounding the wizard.
"Watch it!" Kovrim warned. "He's spraying acid from his mouth!"
One of the mercenaries gave the priest a funny look, but the wizard didn't attempt his deadly trick again. In truth, Kovrim had doubted it could be done more than once per use of the spell, but he didn't want to take any chances.
"Bartimus!" Grozier shouted when it was obvious the two were quickly being overmatched. "Get us out of here!"
The wizard simply shook his head and held his hands up, indicating that he was out of ideas and would no longer resist. With a resentful snarl, Grozier threw his weapon to the side and surrendered, too. The mercenaries quickly kicked the weapons clear and forcibly took hold of the two men, some patting them down for hidden weapons, others pulling bits of rope out of belt pouches and restraining their prisoners.
Kovrim approached the head of House Talricci.
"How did it come to this, Grozier?" the priest asked. "The murder of innocent people, just for the sake of profit? Waukeen has her limits, you know."
The other man simply glared at him.
Vambran crouched at the corner of the hallway, listening. Behind him, Emriana made no sounds as she hovered, waiting to see what her brother was going to do. Jaleene had been sent to find the other servants and get out of the house, if she could. The woman had not wanted to be separated from her charge, apparently still fearing for the girl's well-being, but Emriana had insisted. Vambran was thankful for his sister's courage. He wanted her with him, both so that he could keep an eye on her and so that she could be there when Denrick went down. But having her personal maid along would have been too much. Jaleene was a kind woman and cared very much for Emriana, but the servant was in no condition mentally to resolve the situation, and it was better off for all of them if she got out of the middle of it. She had left with one last teary-eyed look back at Emriana.
The house was strangely empty, which worried Vambran more than a little. Even when many of the family members were not at home, he could recall numerous staff and the occasional house guard moving about, taking care of their appointed duties. At that moment, it was like a tomb. He did not care much for that analogy. He tried to consider where Uncle Dregaul might have taken the rest of the family if he intended to usurp total control of the house. Most likely, they would be confined to their rooms, but he had not found any of them there. It was possible, though unlikely, that his uncle had sent the lot of them down into the basement to be locked in the old cell that had been built. Vambran didn't want to consider that a viable possibility until he had exhausted all the others, though. It was simply too base for him to believe.
Then again, he told himself, Dregaul has lost his faculties.
Vambran still had a hard time believing that the man would stoop to taking his own family hostage and offering up his niece's flesh for the sake of an alliance in order to run the House the way he wanted. Dregaul had always been an intense man, but that just seemed too out of character.
When Vambran was satisfied there was no one in the main sitting room, he crept forward. He could barely discern Emriana padding along behind him. Vambran considered whether he should check the basements after all. The only places in the main part of the house he hadn't yet searched were there, the kitchens, and Dregaul's study.
He would leave the basement for last, the mercenary decided. He had to deny that choice for as long as possible. The study it was, then. He turned to follow a new hallway to a flight of stairs that led up to a balcony surrounding the sitting room. That's when he heard the shouting.