Impostures

Jevon is followed.

5.

Impostures  

 

“So what do you think the note said?” Jevon asked Rick as the two of them left the guild building at the end of the work day.

“I don’t know, but it sure didn’t look good.”  

“Do you get the feeling that something is going on that we don’t know about?”

“Yeah, I’ve felt that all day, actually.”

“Apparently Tadd and Mutt don’t sense it.”   Jevon nodded toward their two coworkers who were leaving in the company of their Halfling girlfriends.

Rick just shook his head, “Mutt sure is a smooth talker to get such a pretty Halfling girl to be so fond of him.”

“He’s a charmer, that’s for sure.    Those two have better luck than we do.   So how is your mood now that you’ve had all day to think?”

“Oh, I guess its better.    You know, I really don’t blame the girl - it would be hard to love someone who you knew would age and die while you stay eternally young.   It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

Jevon nodded rather grimly, “No, it wouldn’t.   That’s why I don’t get too carried away with elf girls, Rick.   They’re gorgeous and I think human guys like us are drawn to them like magnets, but in the long run it isn’t a good idea.”

“Well, I’ve seen the light, I think.   What about you, though?”

Jevon shrugged, “I’m drawn to them, but a part of me holds back.    I just enjoy their company.”

“But sooner or later, you’ll want to find someone to have a family with, won’t you?   What will you do then?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

“What if you’re in love with an elf girl, though?”

Jevon suddenly stopped in the street with a serious look on his face, “Rick, we’ve known each other for probably 10 years, since we were hired to work on that coach.    If I tell you something, will you swear to me you won’t tell anyone?  I mean, not even Mutt, Tadd, Syndi or Muld.”

Rick agreed, puzzled by what his friend was going to tell him.

“Okay… what is it?”

Jevon pulled his hair back from his right ear, “What do you see?”

“An ear?”

“It is about like yours, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess… why?”

“I was born like this.”

“Okay…I don’t understand.”

“Rick, I’m actually a half elf.”

“What?   You are not!”

“I am.”

“Your ears are not even slightly pointed and you are taller than I am!”

“I know.    You see, my parents were both half-elves - like Duke Aaron’s parents.    When two half-elves have kids, most times their children inherit their half-elven looks.   But occasionally the children inherit elven characteristics from both parents, or human characteristics from both parents, instead of a mixture of human and elf from both.    In these cases, a child of a half-elf can look like a full-blooded elf or a full-blooded human.”  Jevon gestured to him and they resumed walking down the street.

“So you’re saying that you are one of these cases?”

“Yes, exactly.    I can easily pass for a human.”

“So what about aging then?”

“I’m 62 years old, Rick.”

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

Jevon shook his head, “I’ve not told anyone.   I sensed the growing animosity in Aeropolis toward non-humans when I was growing up, so my folks suggested that I move to Northmarch when I was old enough and I came first to King’s Reach, then on to Westmark, posing as a human.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“Oh, they’re still alive - they’re Bitter Dregs still living there.”

“But you’ve not seen them?”

Jevon grinned, “They visited me for a week this last summer.”

Rick looked amazed, “You don’t mean those two half elf lumber merchants from Southgate that were so inept in their attempt to sell the guild lumber!   They were the poorest salesmen I have ever seen and yet you seemed to like them so much!   They stayed around for a week as I recall.”

Jevon laughed, “That was them!    They were meeting with the Dregs here about something.”

“Well they were not too convincing as lumber merchants!   They didn’t even have samples of the wood they were supposed to sell.   Even Muld was annoyed at them coming to the guild every day when we were so busy!   They were your parents?”

“Yep.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“A brother who is a sergeant in the Southgate militia.   He has the typical half-elf features.”

“So if you’re half-elven, you won’t get any older.”

Jevon’s smile faded, “Not exactly, Rick.    I had the same Burning Tree dream that all elves and half elves had, but half elves can choose to not age or to age at the same rate they used to age before Yesh changed things.   Most half elves lived to be about 170 to 200, a few lived longer and the maximum age I have ever heard about was 250 years.”

“So you chose immortality, didn’t you?”   Rick asked, sensing something.

Jevon shook his head, “I haven’t made a decision.”

“Why in the world would you choose to grow old?”

“Seeing people age is tough, Rick.    My parents and my brother chose immortality, but I’m still unsure.”

“Well, how long do you have to decide?”

“There is no time limit, but we continue to age until the decision is made.    That is why I look about thirty years old.”

“Jevon, that is nuts!   If you can live without aging, then for heaven’s sake, do so!”

“I don’t know, Rick.    It all depends on the reason for living so long.   I’ve waited to decide because I made up my mind to only choose immortality if I found an elven or half-elven woman who would love me while assuming that I was a mortal human.    If she would willingly love me while thinking that I was going to age and die while she stayed young, then I’d decide for immortality.    But if I fell in love with a human woman, I’d not put her through the torment of watching her age while I never changed.”

“That makes sense, but you’d still not age as fast as a human woman, you know.   If you fell in love with a twenty year old human woman now, she’d age twice as fast as you do.”

Jevon nodded slowly, “Yeah, I know, which is why I hesitate to get involved with anyone - elven or human.”

“Jevon, you’ve got to come to terms with this!    You’ll run out of time if you don’t make a decision.”

“So what do you think I ought to do?”

“If I was in your situation, I’d choose immortality.”

“Yes, but you’re viewing it from a human standpoint.”

“Exactly!   You have a great gift available to you, Jevon!   Look at it this way - if you choose immortality, you’ll have much longer to find the perfect woman.   You don’t have that long as a mortal.”

Jevon considered that thoughtfully.   “That is true.    But I have friends, Rick.    I don’t want to watch you, Tadd and Mutt grow old and die.”

“We’ll do that whether you are aging with us or not, Jevon.”

“That’s true… I don’t know, Rick, I’ve been thinking about it a lot since we met those Losasidhe girls.   But I don’t think Braellia was exactly right for me anyway.   She was too frivolous and flighty.   All she wanted to do is have fun and nothing was serious to her.   She was a lovely girl, but I don’t think we were really compatible.”

“Well there are plenty of others here in Westmark.”

“I know… I’ll think about what you said, Rick.    But what about you?   You don’t have my worries and you are under a time limit.   Yet you said you were burned out on all women, this morning.”

“I was just frustrated and hurt.    Us mere mortals get that way, you know.”

Jevon frowned, wondering if his revelation to his friend was a mistake.  Would Rick resent him now as well?

“Just don’t give up on women, okay?”

“Oh, I won’t, I just need time to lick my wounds.”

“Well, we’ve reached your street.   What are your plans for this evening?”

Rick shrugged, “I have no idea - probably just go to bed early.   I have a feeling that we’ll soon find out what the note Syndi received today was about and we’ll be involved.”

“I get that feeling too.    Rick, don’t mention what I told you to anyone, okay?”

“Don’t worry, bud, I swore to you that I wouldn’t.   But think about what I said, okay?   If you have the opportunity to keep from growing old, take it.”

“I’ll think about it.   See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

Rick turned and started down the street toward the apartment he leased, leaving Jevon alone with his thoughts.

 

***

 

He didn’t feel much like being alone, for what Rick has said to him had got him to thinking.    So Jevon went to the city’s oldest and most popular inn, The Muddy Boot to get something to eat and to think.

As he waited to be served, he pondered how it would feel to age while his parents and brother stayed the same.    It would break his mother’s heart.   She had been only slightly older than he was now when The Burning Tree dream had given them the option of immortality.    They had quickly chosen to live as elves.   Now he was almost as old as she was and looked it.

Could he do that to her?   She had seemed so sad when she had seen how much he had changed.   Oh, he still looked almost the same, but a mother could see differences.

“I guess Rick’s right,” he said aloud, looking up at the rafters above him, “I’ve been pulled in this direction anyway.   Lord Yesh, I hope this isn’t a terrible mistake, but… I formally choose to live as an elf.”

He expected some sort of feeling to come over him or something, but instead he was just startled by a waitress clearing her throat.  He turned to her, blushing, “Sorry.”

“That’s quite alright, sir.   Is something up there?   A bird or something?”   

Jevon just shook his head and glanced at the barmaid.    She was a very pretty young woman with large blue eyes, pale skin and long silvery hair.   Clearly a grey elf, which were very seldom seen.

“You’re new here; I don’t recall seeing you,” He said to her.

“Yeah, actually I just started today.   I’m Fierya Quinoryn.”

“Nice to meet you, Fierya; I’m Jevon Pieros.   You’re a grey elf, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am!”   She smiled so sweetly that he had to grin along with her.

“You don’t see too many grey elves around here.”

“My family came with the refugees from Aeropolis last year.”

“You’re from Aeropolis?”   Jevon asked eagerly.

“Well, we originally came from Albyia… my parents and I were brought to Aeropolis with the first of the slaves when the Southern Empire invaded the island.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I heard about that.”

“We were slaves until the peace treaty was forced upon the emperor by King Eleazar during their trouble with Marksylvania.    One of the conditions of the treaty was that all non-human slaves or prisoners would be released and allowed to leave the Southern Empire.   So we came here last autumn.”

“I see.   How do you like the city?”

“I like it!    Everyone is so friendly and there are so many different races here!   It’s nice to be able to freely walk the streets without anyone saying something hateful to you just because you are an elf.”

“Yeah, it is a great place to live.”

“So what can I get you, this evening?”   Fierya asked and so he ordered a chicken sandwich and tea and she hurried off to put his order in.

Jevon was left to think about his decision for a while, until the lovely waitress returned with his food.

“Here you are, sir.”  She placed the tray in front of him and he noticed how smooth and graceful her neck was as she leaned in front of him.

“Thanks.”

“Can I ask you something?”  

“Sure.”

“You work for the Practical Magician’s Guild, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I thought so - I saw you speaking to a group of people a few days ago when your guild master was missing.    I guess you found him again, huh?”

“Well, I didn’t personally find him, but yeah, he’s back.”

The grey elven girl smiled, “He’s rather… unusual, isn’t he?”

“He’s one of a kind,” Jevon chuckled.

Fierya seemed encouraged by his reply and so she squatted down next to him and leaned in closer.   “I’ve heard that he’s hated by the pirates that are plaguing the northern part of Marksylvania.”

“They’re not too fond of him or any of our guild.”

“It must be worrisome having pirates out to get you.”

“Hopefully that is behind us now.”

“So all the pirates have been defeated?”   The girl asked.

“We have no idea.”

“Then your guild could still be in terrible danger.”

“I guess so.”   He was a bit curious why the girl was so interested in the guild’s relationship with the pirates, but perhaps she had lost someone in their attack on the city several days ago.  

“I hate pirates… I was nearly killed last week when they attacked the city.    One of their catapult stones crashed through my apartment building.   My next door neighbor was killed.”

Jevon sighed sadly, “How horrible, I am so sorry to hear that.   They’ve got to be stopped.”

Fierya agreed, “They’re sneaky, though.    They probably have spies all over Marksylvania.   They’ll try anything to further their ends;    murder, robbery, bribery and even kidnapping.”

“My guild certainly knows that.”

“You’d think that some of the people that they had harmed would band together and think of a way to kill them.”

“That would be tough, since we aren’t sure how many there are and where they are hiding.”

Fierya arched her eyebrows, “I’m sure there are people here in Westmark that know where they are.”

Jevon looked at her with suspicion.   She seemed more concerned about talking to him about the pirates than waiting tables.   

“You act as if you know more than you are telling,” he said to her.

She shrugged with a gleam in her eye, “Waiting on tables, you catch bits and pieces of information.”

“But you said that today was your first day here.”

“It is… working at this inn.   I never said this was my first waiting job.    Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better get back to work.   I’ll check on you later.”

She hurried off, leaving Jevon wondering about the whole encounter with her.    Certainly barmaids were good sources of information, for they picked up a lot of things from drunken patrons.    She claimed to have no love for the pirates and hinted that she might know where they were hiding.    But something just didn’t seem right to him.    Why would she just open up like that to a complete stranger?   Perhaps she chatted with him to see if what she said would have loosened up his tongue.    She might be a spy herself!

Jevon decided that he should watch her closely.   The inn was packed as it usually was, but he was curious to see how she acted toward other patrons.    He located her bringing meals to a group of Halflings across the room.    She spoke to them for less than a minute, and then hurried back toward the kitchen.    He wasn’t completely sure, but he thought that she might have glanced across the room toward him as she rushed through the kitchen doors.

Though he waited and watched, she never came out of the kitchen.    He stared at the door for a quarter of an hour, but she never returned.    Another waitress waited on the Halflings and then came by his table and asked if he needed anything.

“No, I’m alright.   Tell me; what happened to Fierya?”

“Who?”

“Fierya - the new barmaid that started tonight.”

The waitress gave him a blank look.

“She’s a grey elf - long silver hair and very pretty.”

“We don’t have any grey elves working here, sir.”   She replied with a troubled look.

“Well, she waited on me and brought my order!”

The girl looked a bit frightened.    “Let me go talk to the kitchen manager; I’ll be right back.”

While she was gone, Jevon finished his meal.   A few minutes later, the waitress returned with a middle-aged human lady.

“Sir, I’m Ceylia, I manage the kitchen.    Lilla tells me that you thought we had a grey elf waitress working here tonight.”

Jevon told her all about Fierya that he had learned.

Ceylia listened politely, nodding at times as Jevon gave his account of his interactions with the girl.   When he had finished, she dismissed the waitress and said to him, “It is nothing to worry about, sir.”

“Nothing to worry about?!”

“Calm down, sir, and please keep your voice down.”

“Doesn’t it concern you that someone was posing as a waitress?”

Ceylia’s subtle smile surprised him until she said softly, “She was here with our permission.”

“Then you knew about her?”

Ceylia nodded.

“But why?   Who is she?”

“Well, who knows for sure?   It is like everything in life; a struggle.   Life is wearisome,” Ceylia mumbled, her palm over her heart.

 Jevon knew the call-sign, for, at his parents’ urging, he had served as a Bitter Dreg - briefly- in Aeropolis, though he had not revealed his status to anyone in Westmark and had remained inactive since arriving here.   But immediately he put his hand over his heart while saying, “Hard of toil”

“Tainted water.”   The kitchen manager replied.

“A Bitter Dreg,” Jevon replied, finishing the secret formula.

 

Ceylia smiled, satisfied, then stood up and glancing around said, “Now that you understand, will there be anything else?”

“No, nothing.”

“Good… nice meeting you… brother.”   The lady turned and walked away.

So the mysterious Fierya was a Bitter Dreg, apparently trying to find out information about the pirates.    But why was she so focused on questioning him?    

Jevon threw some coins down for the meal and hurried out of the inn, deciding whether to go immediately to Muld and tell him all about what had just transpired, or else wait until morning.

 

 He didn’t want to regret it later, so he pulled his cloak’s hood over his head and slipped down the street as quickly, yet stealthfully as he could manage.

Jevon had travelled less than half a block when he noticed someone shadowing him.     The figure kept back in the shadows, far enough removed to make identification impossible by night.

He wasn’t at all convinced that the fake barmaid was truly working for the Bitter Dregs.    What a perfect cover for an assassin.

Yet he didn’t know what the girl wanted.    Jevon slipped quickly down a dark alley that he was somewhat familiar with after they had searched the neighborhood for Muld a week before, when he had gone missing.

He chanted the levitation spell that he had used each day for months during his work enchanting items.   This time he touched himself at the completion of the spell and then jumped upward to boost his speed.  

The spell carried him up the side of the alley and he stopped his ascent near the top of the wall.   Pulling forth his short sword, he watched the alley below as if he was Yesh looking down on everyone.   

As he expected, a few moments later a silent form rushed around the corner, hesitating for a long moment before cautiously creeping forward.

He waited until the figure had reached the center of the alleyway and was checking each of the four doors that emptied out behind the building.

They were locked and there was no other exit out.

He allowed himself to drop down at the entrance to the alleyway, already prepared for his next move.

The figure saw him descend, spun around with a sword drawn and rushed at him.    But Jevon had anticipated this reaction and immediately cast a spell, pointing at the charging figure as soon as he finished.

He had selected Push since he had cast the spell numerous times while enchanting cannons.    The effect was powerful.   The charging figure was flung backwards into the stone side of alley.   

Jevon did not wait a moment, rushing forward up to the crumpled form, yanking back the hooded cloak.

But what he saw made him jump back in alarm.

Something was happening to the figure’s skin.    It seemed to be bubbling and shifting as if it were liquid.

Yet only for a few moments, then it stabilized into a smooth alabaster colored appearance.    The figure was female in form, but her features seemed worn down, as if someone had sanded them down partially smooth.   It was almost like she was an animated statue of a woman.     She had pale white hair and dark shading around her eyes and looked very mysterious and exotic.  

Even though she did not now wear a barmaid’s dress, Jevon was certain she had to be the same woman as the one who questioned him in the Muddy Boot.   Obviously she was some sort of shape shifter, but he had no idea of her race.

She was beginning to come to, moving slowly, her hand going to the back of her head.

He held the blade of his short sword against her neck, waiting for her head to clear enough before he spoke.

“I want you to tell me who you are, as well as what you are and why you are following me.”

Slowly she opened her eyes, which were all white, with a clear iris.   “I’m not your enemy.”

“Friends don’t sneak behind other friends and don’t charge at someone with a sword.”

“You startled me.    My name is Ant.”

“So what are you?”

“A Changeling.    I have already met with your guild master and his lady.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you… here.”

“So why were you following me, then, if you are supposedly a friend?”

“I can’t tell you that, either…yet.”

“So when can you fill me in?”

“Soon… after tonight.”

“So I should just take everything that you tell me at face value and let you get up and slip away?”

“Yes, that would be best.”

“Alright.”   He pulled the sword away from her throat, moved back a few steps and extended a hand to her.    The changeling was completely surprised by his compliance and she just stared at his extended hand.

“Well?”   He finally asked, “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“I didn’t expect you to comply.”

“That is exactly why I did it.    You don’t know what secrets I have or powers that I can use if you betray my trust.”

A faint smile crept across her mask-like face.    “Actually, I know everything about you, Jevon.    I am a telepath.”

“Uh huh,” He responded, suspecting a bluff.

“You are a second generation half-elf that decided earlier this evening for elven immortality.  Your parents are Bitter Dregs, like I am.”

“So if you know so much about me, why would you follow me?”

She finally accepted his hand and stood up slowly.     This action caused her head to swim and she slumped against him.

“Easy, now.    I guess my spell worked pretty well.”

“You probably gave me a concussion.    My head hurts.”

“It serves you right for following me, but I’ve got a healing potion at my apartment.”

She stiffened and pulled away from him, “I’m not going with you anywhere.”

No sooner had she said that then she again staggered and he caught her.

“Your head is injured, Ant.    Let me help you.”

“I don’t need anyone’s help,” She said weakly, her hands covering her eyes.

“You certainly can’t walk on your own.”

“I’m very dizzy…”

Without further comment, Jevon reached down and swept her up into his arms.   She was very lightweight and only groaned slightly, her eyes closed as if fighting vertigo.

“If this is a trick by you, Ant, to catch me off-guard, then it will probably work and you should be able to stick a dagger between my ribs while I’m carrying you.    If that is your plan, I just want you to know that I conceived of it, so don’t think you are too crafty.”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” She said weakly, “Right now I’m at your mercy.”

“My apartment is not far from here.”

“I know…I scanned you back in the Inn.”

“Well just hang on and wrap your arms around me so you won’t fall if my grip slips or something.”

The changeling agreed and he began carrying her through the streets, receiving several odd looks as he hurried along.

Thankfully, nobody stopped him and soon he was carrying the strange girl up the front steps of the apartment he rented.    At Muld’s suggestion, he had put a voice-activated door lock on his front door and he was especially glad for it tonight.   

Ant was struggling to stay awake and seemed not too lucid as he gently laid her down on his couch.    A few moments later he was pouring healing potion through her statue-like lips, wondering if it would heal her completely.    She swallowed the potion, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, then opened them again.

“Well?   How do you feel?”  He asked.

“My head doesn’t hurt now and I’m not dizzy, but I can’t shape shift.”

“Is shape-shifting a natural talent of your race or do you mean by spell?”

“It is natural.   But sometimes when a Changeling is injured or under heavy stress, they are unable to change their form.   I should be fine by morning.”

“A Changeling, huh?    Is that like a Doppelganger?”

She explained to him that she was a daughter of a Drow woman and a Doppelganger male and gave her full name as Antheeya Ar’Rilla.

“I took the surname of Matron Alleania’s family, which is the custom in the Underdark,” She explained upon completing her tale.

  “You still haven’t explained what exactly is going on.”

Ant sighed, but nodded, “Alright, it is probably safe to explain here, but you have to keep it secret.   Not even your co-workers can know, yet.”

He agreed and she explained about Muld and Syndi’s note, their fear of being spied upon by scrying device, and the news of her parents.

“So you think all these things are connected?”   Jevon asked.

“We’ll know more after they keep the appointment with this wizard tonight, but I suspect that they are.    I suspected that this wizard might have paid off someone working for your guild to provide information to him, so I began checking on those closest to Muld and Syndi.”

“Well I’m not a traitor!”

“Yes, I know that.    That is why I engaged you in conversation at the Muddy Boot - specific questions asked by a telepath can usually help us see if someone is lying or not.   You passed easily, so I knew you weren’t a traitor.    But I worried that your suspicion of me, especially after you found that I was a Bitter Dreg, would cause you to mention me to one of your co-workers or let Muld and Syndi know what I was doing secretly.   If this mysterious wizard hears anything and was to learn what we were doing in secret, it could be very bad for the Losasidhe king and queen.    So I hoped to keep you from saying something and compromising everything.”

“You could have given me a clue that something was going on.”

“Not without that wizard potentially seeing it by crystal ball.    I just hope that he is not spying on us right now.”

“There has got to be a way to prevent that.”

“Thick lead walls are the best, especially when combined with protective glyphs.”

“Now that you’ve determined that I’m no danger to your plan, what do you plan to do next?”

“I’ll need to interview your coworkers, but not until I learn the outcome of the meeting between Muld and Syndi and this wizard,”   Ant sat up slowly, “I’ll have to disguise myself before leaving - I don’t like anyone seeing my natural form.”

“Why?”

She threw her hood over her head, “I scare people as they don’t know what I am.   I’m almost always morphed into one of a handful of forms when I walk on the streets.”

“Such as Fierya?”

“Yes; I have four forms I regularly wear, and twice that amount that I will use occasionally.    I have each of their histories, families and personal quirks all set so that I can jump into a different form easily.”

“Are they vastly different?”

“No, not in appearance.    Doppelgangers can morph a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but Changelings are far more limited.     I can only change my height by about four inches and weight by about 40 pounds.     Skin pigment can vary from albino white to dark elf black and I can change eye color in the same range.”

“What about your hair?”   Jevon asked as she adjusted her cloak around her.

“By a few inches as well - from cropped short to about as long as I wear it as Fierya.    It takes the longest to change my hair color, for Changeling hair is not like human hair.   We regulate the pigment through concentration.   To go from a pale color to dark black would take me about an hour.”

“But you do actually change the shape of your body and your facial features?”

“Yes; Changelings’ skin is clay-like to a degree, but it is limited to alteration of features.    I can make my nose appear larger or smaller, pointed or stubby - things like that.    We can appear older or younger, but I couldn’t appear as a baby or a small child, nor could I morph wings or a tail, or even male organs.    Most Changelings do as I do - create a handful of forms that they focus upon, and then it becomes easier and quicker to change.   To impersonate new forms takes several hours, but once we have successfully taken a new form, to assume it again is quicker.”

“But it sounds like you are always just playing a role - you are never really just yourself, if you know what I mean.”

Ant nodded, “Our mentality is different; it is a life we are used to.”

“But do you enjoy it?”   Jevon asked.

“It is all I know, and I am content.”   She replied.

“So you don’t want anyone seeing that you are a Changeling?”

“Correct.    I regret that you saw my natural form as well.”

“Well, I don’t think your cloak is going to do the trick.”

“What choice do I have?  We are most vulnerable while in our natural shape.”

 “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why don’t you just stay here tonight and rest?   I won’t bother you - since I was responsible for your injury.   You can take my bed and I’ll sleep on the couch or vice versa if you prefer.”

She shook her head, “That would be morally improper.”

Jevon held up his palms, “I’m only suggesting this to keep your cover safe.   If that wizard spying on Muld sees your natural form, your whole operation might be in jeopardy.   And as an inactive Bitter Dreg, I am obligated by the oaths of the brotherhood to provide shelter and food to my fellow Dreg.   Since I haven’t served the brotherhood for years, it could be some way I could help.”

“I would feel uncomfortable staying here,”   Ant said flatly.  

“Alright - I’m just trying to help you.    You can read my thoughts, so you know I won’t try anything improper.”

Ant smiled slightly, “Yes, I know that… it is not you, it is just something that I have a problem with.   Thank you for your offer, though.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“No,”   She answered, but she paused as if contemplating a sudden new idea, “On second thought, maybe we could make this work.”

“Make what work?”

“I don’t want this whole encounter with you to jeopardize my attempt to find out more about this wizard.     I doubt he was watching you tonight, as he is probably preparing to contact Muld and Syndi by scrying device.     But I need an easy way to get access to your other guild members without drawing too much suspicion.”

“So how can I help?”

“If the wizard had servants watching all the guild member’s homes, he may have seen you carrying me into your apartment.   Or else some of his spies may question people who saw it tomorrow.    I imagine he wants to keep track of all of your guild’s important members.”

“That sounds reasonable to me.   So what do you have in mind?”

Ant threw her hood back, “I think I will stay here tonight.    If one of his spies sees me leaving in the morning, wearing the form of Fierya, then perhaps he will think we engaged in a carnal relationship tonight.”

Jevon had to laugh at her odd descriptive term.    “But you want them to think that?”

“I will appear as Fierya, and we’ll lead them to believe that the two of us have become lovers.    Then that will explain me hanging around the Practical Magicians’ Guild - to see my boyfriend.    Then I can scan the other guild members and find out if there is a spy in your guild.”

“Well, okay, that sounds logical.”

“You won’t mind the ruse for a few days?”

“No, if it won’t bother you.”

She shrugged, “It is part of my job.”

“Okay then; would you like my bed?   I don’t mind the sofa at all.”

“The sofa is fine.    It will be tomorrow morning before I can look like Fierya again.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing - just leave me in peace to heal and sleep.”

“Alright; let me get you a pillow and blanket and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”   She replied, “You don’t know how uneasy this idea of mine makes me feel.”

“Don’t worry; I won’t bother you at all.”

 

Jevon opened a large chest at the foot of his bed and brought out a soft pillow and a light blanket.

“I’m not used to having guests, so please excuse the meager accommodations.”

Taking the items, Ant bowed respectfully, “They are fine.   Now please go to your room and don’t disturb me until dawn.    I don’t mean to be rude, but I won’t sleep soundly until you are sleeping in another room.”

“Okay… good night.”

“Good night.”   She nodded as he turned around and retreated to his bed chamber.     As soon as she heard his door click shut, she quickly cast a Wizard Lock spell on the door, and then slipped onto the couch for regenerative sleep.

Jevon plopped down on his bed fully clothed, pondering the mysterious and slightly creepy Changeling in the other room and hoping she wouldn’t kill him in the night.    Despite his fears, he was asleep in several minutes.