From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Feb 28 09:24:37 1995
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From: tolsen@leland.Stanford.EDU (Tanya Ann Olsen)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [Cernborn] [At the Inn] Cernborn's Tale Part II
Date: 25 Feb 1995 17:22:23 -0800
Organization: Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
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>Cernborn paused again to take a sip of his wine.  It was
>getting quite late and many of the patrons of the Dragon's Inn had
>retired for the night.  Athorbalo stifled a huge yawn.  "I hope this
>is not boring you, my lady."

Athorbalo shook her head, "No, I believe that perhaps wine wasn't as good
an idea as I thought." She smiled, looking into Cernborn's eyes, knowing
that he wasn't quite telling all the truth. It was slightly entertaining
because he was such a poor liar. She took her eyes from his and said,
"Please continue, I would like to hear this story finished."

Cernborn resumed the story, "The rest is actually quite simple.  We
interviewed everybody at the palace connected with the princess to
determine who knew of her infatuation with the merprince.
Unfortunately, it appeared that everyone knew!  A gossip had heard and
that was that.  This gossip appeared to be quite well informed and we
were finally able to find out from her that a certain strange,
bad-tempered, and quite deadly young man named Marque was actively
courting her when she eloped.

"The king's advisors met and could not determine a political enemy
would might have taken such an action so we were left with only one
possibility.  This Marque was power hungry.  His father and two older
brothers had just recently died under questionable circumstances.
Since then, he had acquired his father's lands and was steadily
acquiring more land as he challenged the landholdings adjacent to his
own and usually acquired them.  It seemed likely that he had been
courting the princess to gain access to the throne directly and now
that path was blocked, he wish to break the throne in other ways so
that eventually he could take power.

"My companions and I, in seeking out more information about him, managed
to foil one of his power ploys.  Nobody seemed suspicious about him
though when we looked at all the so-called accidents and other things
that had recently happened around and to Marque, many doubts about him
were raised, and we were starting to cause more people to question his
motives.  We still had no proof, however, that he was involved with
the ransom.

"We were still poking around trying to dig up more information about
him and his resources when we found out that he was planning a
journey, a long journey from the sounds of it.  Our chance to confront
him seemed to be now or never.  He had left by the time we arrived at
his hold.  We followed his trail, slowly catching up; he appeared to
be loaded down quite heavily.  

"We caught up with him as he arrived at his apparent destination.
Somehow he had not realized that we had followed him and thus was
caught unawares.  We came upon his camp which had been made in a small
clearing.  This clearing had a large arch, apparently made of some
form of white marble and appeared quite ancient.  The arch itself
showed no flaws, but the growth around it was quite ancient and
unkempt for at least several centuries.  Marque apparently knew what
it was, for he played with rods placed in both sides of the arch while
consulting a scroll.

"He looked up suddenly, directly at us, and, though we were concealed in
the undergrowth, he knew we were there.  He gave us a sinister smile,
took off his hat and made a deep bow, just before he stepped through
the arch.  The archway turned black as night, and he disappeared.  His
retainers moved immediately to change the settings as no doubt
instructed.  But, we were able to prevent them before anything had
been moved.  Certain that if I did not move quickly, we would lose
track of Marque, I moved to step through the archway.  My companions
tried to stop me, but I made it through before they totally realized
what I was doing.  I do not know if any of them followed me.

"I blacked out and when I awoke, I was in a small clearing just a mile
or so away from this city.  There was no sign of Marque, my
companions, or the white arch.  It appeared to be late afternoon and
storm clouds were gathering.  I walked into the city and found the
first respectable looking inn."

Cernborn took a deep draught of wine.

"Now that my needs are satisfied, as least for a time, I need to find
Marque.  His actions have proven to me that he is involved in the
ransoming as well as in gathering forces against the throne of that
land.  He needs must be returned to face trial for his crimes against
the state."

Cernborn looked directly at Athorbalo.  "I am not sure what Marque is
involved with but somehow he has achieved great personal power and has
become quite dangerous.  He caused a cold spell so cold that trees
exploded because the sap had frozen.  He did that just to kill a duke
and his son who used to be his best friend.  He appears to be able to
influence people and animals to perform actions they would not
normally do.  He enjoys picking duels and so far has won every time,
since he always duels to the death.  Are you still interested in
helping me find him?"

Athorbalo nodded.

"Very well.  But, you must promise me that you will allow me to deal
with him.  I will not allow him to harm another if I can help it, and I
am not sure that you could handle him on your own."

She chuckled, looking at him from under her eyebrows reprovingly. "Please
don't get too chivalrous with me, I will agree not to instigate anything
with this Marque that you are following, but I must assure you that if
necessary I will and can protect myself from him." She sipped her wine
and smiled at Cernborn, still quite amused.

Cernborn continued, slightly taken aback. "I do not know what kind of
contacts you may have in this city, but perhaps we could start by
getting people to look out for him.  He will probably call himself
Lord Marque and dress well.  He is of slightly more than average
height and very thin.  Brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a
surprisingly wan complexion.  He will always carry two rapiers, one of
which is jeweled in the hilt.  When he fights, he uses both rapiers
and very effectively.  

"I do not know if he was planning on coming here.  Somehow I think it
was a mistake, but I do not know for sure."  Cernborn glanced around
the inn and noticed for the first time a dark-skinned, exotic
looking human who appeared to be taking an inordinate interest in the
conversation.

In lower tones, he resumed talking, "Think it over tonight.  Although
I am refreshed in many ways, I am quite worn out from the past several
days occurences.  If you are still interested in the morning, meet me
here at daybreak.  I must retire and get some rest.  Again, thank you,
my lady, for the use of your bath.  If ever I can aid you in the
future, do not hesitate to ask.  I always repay kindness."

Cernborn stood, took her hand, and quite deftly planted a kiss.  Then,
he retreated up the stairs to his room.  The fires in the fireplaces
were getting low, muffled snoring came from the commons room; few of
the patrons at the tables were still conscious.  Heavy rain still
punctuated the air with the drumming sound it made as it hit the roof.

Athorbalo watched Cernborn disappear upstairs, shaking her head. She looked
around the Inn and the stranger was sitting in a corner watching her. She
finished her wine and walked over to his table, taking a seat casually. 

"And what did you learn this evening, that you didn't know before?" She
grinned and said, "Besides the fact that you need to be more
inconspicuous."
----------------------
Lord Captain Cernborn       tolsen@leland.stanford.edu
Athorbalo                   hilanse@wkuvx1.wku.edu  
Gyles Dormani		    virtuesr@gps1.laafb.af.mil