A Fool's Blade

Chapter 24 - The Dinning Hall

        The arrow silently flew towards it's target, plunging itself into their victims neck before he had time to do anything. There was a small splash as Hern's fresh corpse fell into the lake. Jade scanned the area from her treetop perch. Hert was still hard at work, tossing logs into the large saw and chopping the smaller pieces into fire word, completely unaware of the fate her husband had just befallen. Jade dropped down, returning to the Sanctuary, where Astrid was waiting for her.

        "We need to talk."

        "Of course Astrid. What is it?"

        "I'm not sure what's going on exactly with all this Listener, Night Mother thing, but what I do know is that if our Unholy Matron really did give us this contract, we'd be crazy to ignore her. Go. Go to Valunruud. Meet this Amaund Motierre, find out what he wants. Oh! And if you don't mind...take Cicero and Veezara with you."

        "Cicero and Veezara? Why?"

        Astrid groaned leaning against the wall. "Because I'm pretty sure that if anyone in the Sanctuary hears another one of Cicero's songs again, we'll all just become as crazy as him. Veezara, because you'll need someone sane to talk to."

        "Understood." She replied trying not to giggle. Nazir wasn't in the  main  hall so, Jade proceeded the dinning room. "By Sithis Nazir, are you ever not eating?"

        "Bhawflawllllwammwasha." He spoke scarfing down a piece of bread. "Aren't you the one who only eats apple dumplings and sweetrolls?"

        She scrunched up her nose, "I don't eat them all the time, but you're in the dinning hall 24/7, and every time I come in here you're eating something."

        "What else do you do in a dinning hall?"

        "Cook, talk to your family members, play with Lis."

        "Why would I want to play with Babette's pet frostbite spider?"

        "Because it keeps you from eating four breakfasts, six lunches, five dinners and gods know how many snacks between them."

        "Look here Jade, I have my sword, my contracts, and my food. That's all I need. Speaking of contracts, were you able to complete yours?"

        "Of course. The orc will never again be able to sing a note with a slashed throat. The vampire now lies in the waters of his mill."

        Nazir nodded in approval, mildly impressed.  "No sarcasm this time. You faced a vampire and lived to tell the tale, and if you contracted Sanguiare Vampiris, be sure to get it taken care of." He chuckled a bit, "Unless you plan on spending the rest of eternity with Babette and the Night Mother."

        "Anymore contracts?"

        "Well aren't we the eager one? No contracts right now, but I'll assign some to you when they come in. Although I believe you have a more important task at hand at the moment. Just remember, you may be the Listener, or just a lunatic who's hearing voices, but either way, Astrid is still your mistress, not the Night Mother."