"It was you!" Emriana said suddenly, realizing that Evester and not Uncle Dregaul had promised Denrick he could have her. "You told that lecherous worm that he could violate me! You gave him permission to take me!"
She struggled to get up, then began kicking to try to break free, but it was too late; her brother had already bound her tightly.
Evester chuckled and said, "I was just being a good businessman, Em, taking full advantage of the resources at my disposal. Remember what I said the other night about risk and reward, and how none of the Houses in Arrabar would take chances with each other? I had something Denrick wanted, so we struck a deal. It was just business, sister, just business. It's a fearless man's game, running a great House in Arrabar, and I'm just the fearless man to play it. With my two trusted partners, of course."
"Vambran won't let you get away with it," Emriana said, trying to sound convincing, for her own sake as much as for her brother's.
Evester laughed again.
"Vambran?" he said. "Unlikely. Not when the rest of his family is in danger. He's just a little too idealistic for his own good, little sister. He and Dregaul are just alike, more so than either would care to admit. Both of them spent all these years protecting the family, hiding Vambran's dirty little secret from the world, though for very different reasons. He's not about to jeopardize his kin to stop me, sis. He'll sacrifice himself thinking he can save you, just as Aunt Xaphira did for him. Problem solved. It'll be a pleasure to be rid of his brooding, self-righteous presence."
Emriana could not speak, she was so furious, hurt, and stunned. She would never in a hundred years have imagined that Evester could be so callous. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, saw in her mind's eye her world crashing down around her once again.
"Well, it's time to go downstairs," Evester said, pulling a magically illuminated rock from some hidden pocket and lighting the room with its pale, pearly glow. "I'm sure Denrick will be happy to see you've been rounded up once more."
With that, Evester stooped down and hoisted his sister up over his shoulder. He carried her back out the door of the library.
Vambran blocked a quick stab at his head and backed up a step, then jumped to his left as Denrick slashed low with his sword. The lieutenant planted his feet against the wall and pushed back the other direction, going high, and parrying another rapid slice with his own blade. He landed on the banister of the balcony, then had to swing out over the sitting room a story below, one arm wrapped around the closest column, to escape yet a third slash from Denrick. Vambran came back around to the banister again, with that column between him and his opponent. Denrick's blade smacked sharply against the column as Vambran jumped down to the balcony again.
"I guess all that service with your soldier buddies was good for something," Denrick scoffed, advancing again. "You may not fight worth a damn, but at least you're good at the acrobatics."
Vambran ignored the other man's jibes and concentrated on matching his moves. The lieutenant had to admit that the Pharaboldi whelp was an excellent swordsman. He had already pushed Vambran back three times, and the mercenary officer was beginning to wonder if there was a way inside the man's defenses. Though Vambran's blade was a bit longer, Denrick was very fast with his, and he always seemed have a parry in place when Vambran attacked.
"Come on," Denrick said, "the night's not getting any younger. If I'm going to have any time left for your sister's charms, we've got to finish this sometime in the next few hours."
Vambran knew the man was just trying to rattle him, and he worked hard to tune out the scathing words. But every time Denrick mentioned Emriana, the lieutenant wanted to smash his head against a wall. The first time Denrick had taunted Vambran with his carnal intentions, Vambran had let his emotions get the best of him and jumped in for a fierce series of slashes and cuts, thinking to put the upstart down then and there. But Vambran was rudely awakened when he took a cut across his wrist. It was a glancing blow, and Denrick's blade wasn't turned at precisely the right angle, but it had opened Vambran's eyes to just how cunning and talented his foe really was.
As Denrick closed for a new attack, Vambran dropped down and sliced at the man's feet. Denrick leaped over the swing and used his momentum to turn a back flip back out of the way as Vambran came up suddenly, thrusting into the air where Denrick had been a split-second before.
Vambran's rush carried his center of balance a little too far forward, though, and Denrick came back in with a downward stroke, trying to cleave Vambran's head in half. The lieutenant rolled to one side, grabbing at a pedestal with a bit of ancient Netherese pottery displayed atop it. Vambran pulled the pedestal down and around, clipping Denrick's knee as the scoundrel's blade clanked off the pottery, shattering it. Vambran rolled away and spun around again.
Denrick smiled as he came closer again.
"Arm getting tired?" he asked casually. "I can cut it off if it is," he added, smirking.
Vambran noted that members of the Sapphire Crescent were gathering below, and several more of the mercenaries were ascending the stairs, coming to aid him. Denrick would quickly be outnumbered. Though he suspected the man could take a soldier or two down before he himself dropped, Vambran would prefer not to lose any of his men.
"Your time is up," Vambran said to his foe. "It's only a matter of time before we drop you. Let's spare both of us a lot of pain and end this sensibly. You don't want to die, do you?"
"No, but I want you to die," the younger man retorted, charging in on Vambran again. The lieutenant was forced to spring to the side of the new rush, and he slammed against the railing of the balcony again, overbalancing and tumbling over the top of it.
For an instant, Vambran seemed to hang in midair, flailing as his body tilted awkwardly, his sword spinning out away from him. Then he managed to grasp hold of one of the spindles of the railing, jerking himself to a stop, but wrenching his shoulder in the process. He dangled there for a moment, his arm twisted painfully over his head, and let go, dropping down to the sitting room below, just as Denrick lunged out over the banister to try and stab at him.
Vambran's escape permitted several of the mercenaries watching the melee from below to get in a clean shot with their crossbows, and Denrick took two hits as he tried to straighten back up. One bolt grazed his arm, marking a clean line diagonally along the forearm, and the other sank deeply into his thigh. The young man howled in pain and staggered back from the railing, sinking down onto his backside in a whimper.
Vambran heaved a sigh of relief as several more soldiers moved in around Denrick, taking him prisoner. The lieutenant looked up and saw Kovrim, Adyan, and Horial among the troops, and he smiled at them.
"Good timing," he said. "I owe you, boys."
Kovrim nodded, and Horial started to say something as the men upstairs forced Denrick to his feet and began to march him back toward the stairs. But everyone stopped short as a clear, calm shout echoed through the sitting room.
"Vambran!" It was Evester. He stood at the railing of the highest balcony, one level above the study, where Old Obiron's library was. Beside him, standing stiffly, was Emriana. She had a sorrowful look on her face, and Vambran suddenly realized that she was bound.
The lieutenant shook his head.
"Evester?" he called out, "Are you all right?"
"No," the mercenary's older brother called down, a hard edge to his voice. "No, I'm not. You've ruined everything, you stupid lout."
"I did what?" Vambran said, moving to a different spot where he could see better. "What are you talking about?"