It was only by virtue of the small size of the opening and the narrow ledge beyond that Thugard's men were able to hold the temple. The attacks from the tunnel had lessened after many failures but every so often they were pressed. Thugard himself stood guard with five of his men and Jerrill with them. Jerrill had thrown a mage light into the tunnel allowing them to see clearly the narrow passageway. It was empty for the moment.
"What drives them so? Surely one prisoner escaping can't be worth all the lives it has cost them?" Jerrill looked down the tunnel. "They must know we can hold this for as long as we have supplies? Why push so hard?"
"I agree. There is no sense to it so I believe there must be something beyond sense. We don't know how Aeronwyn arrived or in what state. I suppose it's possible she did or said something that offended them but this much? It does seem disproportional." Thugard had long since washed off the whitish coloring they had used to try and make him pass as an Islander Captain. His skin shone in the mist of the nearby waterfalls and he was wearing his shipboard clothing. A few cuts could be seen on his skin where blades had come too close but Thugard had disdained Jerrill's offer of mage craft to heal them, saying that a few scars made the ladies take more notice.
"Captain?" Argrir, one of Thugard's sailors pointed down the passageway. "There is movement."
"I see it." Thugard acknowledged. Someone was coming down the passageway holding a black rag on a spear.
"Parley!" they yelled. "Will you speak with us?"
Thugard scratched idly at his beard. "Very well. But three only including whoever speaks for you." Turning to Jerrill he mused, "That's interesting. Parley. Huh! Haven't seen a black flag in years. Didn't know these folks used them!"
Three men climbed out of the tunnel. One, clearly a guard or soldier was carrying the parley flag. One of the others was dressed like a noble and Thugard assumed that he was a leader of some kind in this kingdom. It was the third man who gave both Jerrill and Thugard pause. While neither had ever met one nor cared to, Aeronwyn and Cadeyrn's description of Examiners was accurate to every detail. He wore the black outfit, the sash and sword and, Thugard noted, had a ring on which he remembered Cadeyrn saying was given to all the examiners. What in blazes was a Western Kingdom Examiner doing here? Thugard kept his face neutral, hoping the Examiner would not know he had been recognized.
"Well," Thugard said impatiently, "speak your minds."
The noble cleared his throat. "Is it Captain? " Thugard nodded. "Well Captain, you and your men have, I hope accidentally, been caught up in an internal matter of the City and Kingdom of the Spires. I do not know what you hope to gain by preventing us from entering here but I assure you, our battle is not with you."
"Not with me?" Thugard laughed. "Then why have you just spent the past few days trying to kill me and my men?"
The noble cringed. "Admittedly, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." Thugard snorted. "Still, Captain, all we want is to pursue and capture a dangerous escaped prisoner."
"Dangerous? How is this prisoner so dangerous that you would parley to gain what force of arms has failed to get you?" Jerrill asked quietly but with all the inflection of a Master Bard.
The nobleman looked embarrassed and glanced at the Examiner quickly. "She is, um, a rebel. She stirs sedition among the people and must be stopped. I am told that she..." The Examiner laid his hand on the noble's sleeve and the sentence died off. Thugard looked at Jerrill meaningfully.
