Wide-eyed Wanderer
a NWN fanfic
by Meagen

Book 1: Neverwinter

Chapter 5

 "That was a waste of time", Meagen commented, as she and Amadeus
made their way back up to Helm's Keep. 

 "At least we know where that tunnel goes", the sorceror said. "I
should've known the keep had a secret way out..."

 "Yeah, we've seen very few false Helmites, haven't we? They must've
all ran away. The smart ones, anyhow." Meagen continued as they
walked along a corridor which was recently the scene of several
battles. "Run away, change clothes, get back to your home and pretend
you were never- wait a moment", she stopped, peering into a room.

 "What is it? Did we miss one?", Amadeus asked, looking around the
small room urgently.

 Meagen shook her head. "Stay here", she warned, and slowly walked up
to a large bookcase along the right wall. She ran her fingers along
one shelf gently, and smiled with satisfaction as she felt a thin
wire there. She followed the wire to a small nail, which she tore
out, then the other way to a bunch of books. She examined the book
spines closely, then pulled at them.

 Four broke away easily, revealing a complicated mechanism behind
them. Meagen quickly set to work removing a few vital parts, then
called to her companion: "Okay, coast is clear. This bookcase was
booby trapped."

 "I didn't know rangers were so skilled at disabling traps", Amadeus
observed, walking into the room after her. 

 "Uh... Actually, I learned that from Tommi", Meagen admitted
sheepishly.

 "Oh. Is that where you learned to pick locks, as well?"

 "Ah, right, you noticed that." She looked a bit uncomfortable. "I
mostly do that to get stuff from the bad guys, y'know, like the ones
here in this keep. And I just like to, y'know, take a look around
sometimes... people keep things in their homes they'll never need
anyway..."

 "I'm sure you'll put the things you find to a *good* use", he said,
with no trace of irony. Meagen glanced up at him, but he seemed
sincere enough. She quickly went back to examining the bookshelf. 

 "A-ha!", she exclaimed, pulling out a rather heavy tome. "I did
wonder, why go to the trouble of trapping a bookshelf? Ten to one,
they didn't want people to get their hands on *this*."

 Amadeus examined the cover. "A book on summoning good spirits...?"

 Meagen grinned. "Remember the altar, where we banished the demon?"

*********************************************************************

 "Thank you for helping me return", the guardian told them. "Maybe in
time, this keep can become a proper temple of Helm once again."

 Meagen nodded. "I sure hope so."

 "In return for helping me, I will grant you a boon. Would you like a
weapon to smite evil with, a blessing from Helm, or a look into your
future?"

 She looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, I prefer to take the
future as it comes, and", she glanced back at Amadeus with a small
smile, "I have all the blessings I need. But a good bow would always
come in handy."

 "As you wish." The guardian made a gesture, and an arc of light
appeared in Meagen's hands, soon solidifying into a beautiful bow of
elven workmanship. She thanked the guardian, who soon faded away on
his own mysterious errands.

*********************************************************************

 After this small side trip, the two headed upstairs, and into one of
the least pleasant encounters yet. Fethick Moss was standing there,
looking so shocked and devastated that Meagen's heart nearly broke.
Amadeus asked him several questions which he all answered duly, with
ever-growing horror and disgust at himself.

 Meagen didn't realise she was inching closer to him. When she
slowly, almost unconciously put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt
to comfort him, she was shocked when he fell into her arms and began
sobbing. She hugged him as best as she could, and when Amadeus
finished his interrogation, added quietly: "Aribeth is waiting for
you. She didn't believe you had gone bad for a moment."

 He froze, then said in such complete horror that it drowned out even
his grief: "Aribeth? No, I couldn't... Not after all this time I
spent supporting Desther..."

 "I don't think you should be going back to Neverwinter, anyway",
Amadeus observed. "News travels fast, and if people believe you are a
traitor..."

 "No", the young man shook his head. "I- I have to go back. I have to
face justice for the crimes I helped commit... Go deal with Desther.
I will wait for your return."

 Amadeus nodded thoughtfully, then said, "I'll go do that. Meagen,
you stay here with Fenthick."

 She nodded absently, but then sprang up, outraged. "Absolutely
*not*!", she cried, glaring daggers at him. "I'm going with you."

 He blinked, rather taken aback by her sudden transformation.
"Meagen... he *needs* you..."

 "There's nothing I can do for him", she said bitterly, with a glance
at the broken man. Looking back up at Amadeus, she pulled out the
blade he'd given her, and pointed to the inscription. "Remember this?
It says 'To protect', not 'To stay behind like a good girl so you
won't get hurt'! I'm a protector and that's what I'm going to do,
wether you like it or not!"

 "I can take care of myself... He cannot", Amadeus tried to explain.

 "He's not the one going to face the head of a dark cult with unknown
powers", she shot back. "You're not getting rid of me, so don't even
try."

 He looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable, then
turned towards the stairs up with a shrug. "All right", he said,
"let's go."

*********************************************************************

 The mob dispersed slowly, various people commenting to each other
how they hadn't seen a proper hanging in a while, and how nice it was
to see traitors get what they deserved. Lady Aribeth, who had watched
the proceedings but had been powerless to stop them, was left to
grieve alone, under the dangling body which had once been her
beloved.

 Amadeus Mandrake would have liked to comfort her, or at least try
to, but he had his hands full with another female. In contrast to the
bowed, somber, but silent paladin, Meagen was alternately crying,
sobbing, and cursing in several languages, some of which even he
didn't understand. "It's not *fair*", she repeated once more, hanging
on to the sorceror for dear life.

 He smoothed her brown hair with one hand. "No, it's not", he said
quietly. "This isn't justice, it's just pointless, bloody revenge.
And against one who doesn't deserve it." He sighed. "I thought this
might happen..."

 She nodded, remembering their last meeting with Fenthick. "You said
so..." Suddenly, a thought struck her as she recalled the
conversation. "You... told me to stay with him."

 Amadeus nodded. 

 Meagen blew out her nose, and looked thoughtful as she sniffed. "I
thought you wanted me to stay out of trouble... But that wasn't the
reason..."

 He nodded again, his gaze fixed on Aribeth.

 "You told me... to protect Fenthick." Meagen was putting the pieces
together. "When you left, I could've dragged him out through the
secret passage, taken him somewhere safe until people forgot..." Her
voiced hushed to almost a whisper. "I could've saved him..."

 Tearing his attention away from the paladin, Amadeus looked down.
"Yes", he admitted. "I didn't want to say all this out loud at the
time... But I thought that was what you wanted."

 Thier eyes met - deep blue and silver - and Meagen suddenly realised
that Amadeus *knew*, he had known perfectly well of her feelings for
Fenthick. If she had taken this opportunity, the young man would not
only be safe, he would be with *her*... And perhaps, in time, he
might have forgotten Aribeth, and she in turn would assume him
dead...

 But this scenario would have been highly unlikely even if Fenthick
had been still alive. And in the current situation, it simply could
not be. Meagen broke eye contact, and dug deeper into Amadeus' arms
instead. He tightened his embrace, and it made her feel slightly
better.

 "I want to go", she murmured. "Away from here."

 "Of course", he said reassuringly. "The quarantine is lifted. I can
book you passage on any ship or cart leaving the city."

 He was surprised when he felt her shake her head. "Please...", she
said, face buried in the robe on his chest, "Please come with me."

 "All right." She broke away to look at his face, and he smiled
encouragingly. "Where would you like to go, my lady Image?"

 Hesitantly, she let go of him, and stood back. "You don't have to
say that..." She summoned up a brave smile of her own. "Just call me
Meagen."

 "Well, Meagen, my question stands... where to?"

 "I don't know. Anywhere. Anywhere peaceful and quiet where we can
rest."

 He nodded. "As it happens, I've heard of such a place. A small
kingdom called Penultima... It's supposed to be quite a nice place.
Boring, actually."

 Her smile developped into a grin. "I could use some boredom about
now."

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