X-Sender: sherrian@pop.dimensional.com
From: Sherrian <sherrian@pagan.net>
Subject: Back at the Inn...

    I considered telling Jeren and Kestral to buzz off, that this was a
private conversation, but a look from Kriella stayed my tongue.  she wanted
to see what bothered me for herself, and that suited me just fine.
    Kestral grinned, giving me a fine view of his teeth.  "We're glad to
see that you made it back in one piece, my dear."
    "Might we join you?" Jeren asked.  He too grinned, exposing those sharp
eyeteeth.
    I nodded.  "Of course.  Just let me get up and make room>"
    "No need," Jeren told me.  He plopped cheerfully down in the booth next
to me, trapping me against the wall.  Kestral eased in next to Kriella.
The dark elven Dreadknight gave him a sharp look.
    "You are welcome to sit by me, but I am spoken for, and will tolerate
no shenanigans," she told him.
    Kestral gave her his most charming grin.  "A lucky sod, to be sure."
Kriella bristled but said nothing.  It was obvious that both of them were
making her as uncomfortable as they were making me, especially Jeren.  The
feel of the spellsword pressed next to me in the booth gave me a wierd
crawling feeling, as though bugs were squirming under my skin.  It was all
I could do not to climb over him and flee.
    The Nord spellsword waved a barmaid over.  She was all smiles until she
saw the two men.  "Ah.  Tis you again.  Don't make waste Joel's good ale on
you again, Master Elf!"
    "Twas but a pinch, lass!" Kestral protested, his gray eyes dancing.
    Meghan put her hands on her hips and said, "Aye, and a pinch leads to a
tumble later!  I'll be having none of it, thank ye."  she smiled at me.
"Be ye wanting the usual?"
    I nodded.  "Ale for all of us."  I grinned wickedly as I eyed Kestral.
"And bring a fifth one, in case our friend needs cooling again!"
    Everyone, even Kestral, laughed at this.  I thought for a moment that I
might have been wrong in my suspicions, but then Kestral's gray eyes
narrowed at me, filled with cruel anticipation.  'Just you wait,' those
eyes seemed to say.
    I swallowed.  I was relieved when Jeren changed the subject saying, "So
how was your mission?  And who's your new friend?"  He studied Kriella with
great interest, but it was not the interest that a man stared at a
beautiful woman with.  Rather, he seemed to be sizing her up as a potential
opponent.
    Kriella smiled coolly.  "I am Kriella Khan," she said with equally cool
politeness.  "And Nyxalinth accorded herself with honor and bravery against
the  vile spider daedra."
    I smiled, blushing under her praise.  "Your illusion was of great help,
friend," I told her.
    Kestral and Jeren suddenly seemed highly uncomfortable for a moment.
Finally the wood elf said, "Well, it's good to see you made it back.  We'd
hate to know that you perished at the hands of such a fiend."
    Kriella shook her head.  "Nyxalinth does her job well.  Even if I had
not been there, I am certain that she would have defeated the beast without
difficulty.  She is, after all, the Heroine who recovered Battlespire."
    "I see."  Jeren stood up.  "You are most formidable, my ladies.  We
hate to drink and run, but we just wanted to stop by for a bit.
    Kestral stood as well.  "Well see you later...we hope."  They left the
taproom.
    "Well?" I asked Kriella.
    She nodded.  "When Kestral sat next to me, I just wanted to crawl out
of my skin.  I don't know if they are Red and Blackie, but something is
definately wrong with them."
    "Well, at least I don't have that 'bugs crawling under my skin' feeling
anymore.  And this might sound crazy but when Jeren was sitting next to me,
I kept getting this crazy idea that Blackie would come bursting out of
Jeren's skin like one of those horrid parasites that live in Black Marsh."
I shuddered.
    She shook her head.  "What are you going to do?"
    I quaffed the last of my ale.  "I need to make sure--absolutely
sure--that my suspicions are correct.  I don't want the blood of innocents
on my hands, but this has gone on long enough.  I'm going to find out who
they are, and what they're up to.  I'm going to break into their room."