[coronatiger]

25th of Mitra’s Second Month, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

The day had come, and I didn’t feel like going to bed. I went downstairs for breakfast instead. Xipil was there, but the others were sleeping late, I presumed. I asked a maid how Lord Madan was doing. She claimed he was just fine. Xipil asked about Lady Isa, and got a rote reply about the whole family being well. The maid was able to tell us that the guards had found Nujan at last, just an hour ago. She thought they had locked him up. Xipil asked if she could procure a map for us, to which she giggled and told him to talk to Groman. Xipil was very talkative this morning. He wanted to know what we were going to do once Grogg and Lunari got up. I yawned and said I didn’t know. After the meal, Xipil went for a walk outside. I remained in the dining hall, forcing myself to remain awake while waiting for Grogg and Lunari.

Lunari arrived around noon, just as large bells in town started tolling. The servants explained that the bells meant there was an announcement from the city council. Grogg came down after having had a bath, and Xipil returned to join us for lunch. Lunari mentioned teaching Pak to play the flute, but Xipil said he was in the inner courtyard, out of bounds for us.

The others left again after the meal, but I asked the servants for pen and paper. I wrote a note to Remi, asking for my belongings from the dungeon, and left it with the servants. I was embarrassed when I came up to my room, where my backpack stood waiting. I sat down on the side of the bed to rest my eyes for a minute, but Xipil knocked on the door. He asked if I wanted to come and test the magic lamp we had found in the tower. I vaguely remembered that something had given off a red light in the top room of the tower, but with everything that had been going on, I hadn’t paid much attention to a seemingly unimportant lamp.

Lunari was waiting for us in a ruined tower on the other side of the island, playing his new flute. I thought he was playing very well, and he seemed completely enraptured with the experience. The lamp had been shining blue when Xipil and I arrived, but it changed color to red once we got within fifteen meters of it. Xipil had me touch the lamp, and then it turned blue again. Evidently, it shines red if someone unknown to the lamp comes too close, and blue otherwise. Lunari “borrowed” a hen in the village and discovered that the lamp didn’t react to animals.

We returned to the fort, to Lunari and Grogg’s room, where the troll was sleeping with the magic needle in his neck. There was that magic box, lined with fine cloth and too small to hold the star box, that Lunari wanted to test next. He opened it, and a swarm of bats erupted from it, flying up to the ceiling. We went outside and closed the door, but remembered that Grogg wouldn’t be safe if the bats decided to attack, so we went inside again, just as the bats were stooping down on the sleeping troll. Lunari hurriedly removed the needle, and Grogg bounced out of bed in a panic, nearly trampling Lunari while running around waving his arms at the bats. I nearly bent over double, laughing at the spectacle. The swarm disappeared once Grogg had smacked enough of the bats. Lunari cheered with the discovery of the box’s powers.

Grogg wanted to go back to bed with the needle, but Lunari convinced him to play the flute instead. He was actually good, and Lunari joined him with his violin. Xipil and I danced, enjoying the festive mood. Lunari suggested that we take the party to the village, but a maid waited outside the door; she hadn’t wanted to interrupt, seeing the sock on the door handle. Remi wanted to see us.

We met the chief servant in the dining hall, and received a formal invitation to join the nobles for dinner in an hour. We accepted, of course. I went upstairs again to put on my makeup, delayed slightly to explain to Xipil that we couldn’t go to dinner naked.

Remi escorted us into the inner courtyard, to another dining hall, where servants waited with bowls of rose-scented water to wash our hands. We rose when the nobles arrived. Remi pushed Lord Madan in a chair with wheels, followed by Lady Isa and Lord Mir. Lord Madan had looked fine, yesterday, except for being in excruciating pain, but now he looked like a man who had been sick for a decade, dazed like his mind wasn’t there. Pak, Groman and Nujan entered through another door, and we all sat down at the table.

I cast my eyes around the table. Lord Mir seemed pretty normal, but Lady Isa looked embarrassed for some reason. Groman was grumpy and Pak was sad as usual, but Nujan grinned. Remi wished us all welcome on behalf of Lord Madan, and thanked us for what we did yesterday. Then servants arrived with food, wine and a fine dish with meat I didn’t recognize. The trolls got milk as well, and double-sized helpings. Remi had to feed the lord. Lady Isa talked baby language to Kraa for some reason, but the rest of us sat in awkward silence. I studied Lord Mir. He was a half-elf, and well-behaved, but took his meal in silence. Groman, the only one who had ale, belched loudly to announce that he wanted more, and a servant complied.

The second dish was also a meat dish, and I noticed that some extra pieces found their way from Xipil’s plate to mine. He’s a vegetarian, and only ate the fruit mix stuffing from inside the chickens. The third dish was a small meat pie, some cheese and sausages, all glazed in honey sauce. Groman belched again, having drained his tankard. Lunari, seated across from me, was getting a bit tipsy; he was really enjoying the expensive wine.

Once the servants cleared away Groman’s plate, he stood with a bang, but seated himself again when Remi clinked on Lord Madan’s glass with a spoon. His speech oozed of falsehood, stuffed with assurances that everything was fine with the Aldera family. Lady Isa shook her head through the whole séance, but Lord Mir was unaffected, almost like a doll, I thought. Remi finished by saying that those who wished to mingle, could do so in the lounge upstairs.