She refuses

Teysa shuddered. She remembered the last time she had done a "favor" for the Eel: she had broken the back of a rival operation, a gang of lizardmen. The whole affair had left a sick taste in her mouth. It wasn't that she was opposed to fighting criminals, but the idea of putting herself at the disposal of a petty warlord like the Eel offended her. It was a debasement of her holy purpose. Back then, desperation had driven her to a bargain she would never have made on her own.

Now she owed the Eel nothing. She bowed deeply and tried her best to keep a respectful tone. "Thank you for your generous offer, milady," she said. "Unfortunately, I will have to decline. We will gladly pay your tribute, but I am not for hire."

"Oh? Ith that a fact?" The Eel affected a shocked expression and laid her palms against her cheeks. "My word! You're off the market? Thuch a thame. Well, that'th all right. I'm thure we can come to an accommodation." She waved a hand dismissively. Only then did Teysa realize she had been holding her breath; only then did she relax slightly. Her shoulders sagged with relief. All around her, she couldn't help but notice a similar release of tension. Hands that had moved subtly to rest on sword hilts were taken off, and the flow and bustle of conversation resumed. With the prospect of entertaining **** past, the Eel's motley courtiers dispersed, and she lounged in her chair.

Jez'ria led them out through a different path than the one they had taken to the dais. She stopped in front of a large cage built against the wall. A marble counter ran along the inside, with a window in the middle at which sat a bored-looking drow male. Unlike the other inhabitants of the hall, he was dressed conservatively and even had tiny half-moon spectacles perched on the end of his nose. He looked over these with an expression of withering scorn as Jez'ria approached. "Ah, the drider," he said. His voice was high and fussy, each consonant precisely clipped. "Your tax estimates for this quarter sum to eight hundred and fifty crowns." He slid a sheaf of vellum across the countertop. Jez'ria snatched it up, stared at it, and then handed it to El'keth. "Payment due upon completion of our businezz?" she asked venomously. The drow smiled and steepled his fingers. "Of course. We're not barbarians, you know."

Jez'ria fumed as they trundled out in the comparative brightness of the market square again. "That'll be nearly all our profitz gone," she spat. "Damn koboldz. And damn that bitch in the high chair." She wheeled on Teysa. "You couldn't just vork for her again? Whatever she vanted, I'm sure it vas vorth eight hundred fifty crownz!"

Aliara jutted her chin out defiantly. "Why don't you do it, then? If it's so easy? 'That bitch' is right. She's dangerous, and she wouldn't make that offer if she didn't think she'd profit from it."

Jez'ria looked up and down for a moment, and then snorted. "Vell, you're right there. I vouldn't vant to do her vetvork any more than you do." She nodded a head at the cart. "Ve'll get this set up. Vhy don't you two do your errand, then meet us at the Golden Cockatrice? She pointed with one hand at a nearby building which seemed to be doing a bustling trade. "They let out roomz. I usually sleep in the stablez. How about that, eh, El'keth?" She jostled the smaller drider, who winced and put on a strained smile.

"That sounds... very interesting, Jez'ria," El'keth managed. "It will be a new experience for me."

Teysa saluted. "Well, then. Good luck," she said. She hesitated."I'm looking for a priest of Agamor. Do you know where I might find one?"

Jez'ria looked amused. "Vhat do I look like to you, a surface dweller?" she asked. "I don't come here for the good of my soul. Check over there." She waved a hand vaguely towards a cluster of squat buildings at one end of the cave. "Sometimez I see god-botherers milling around at that end of the market."

Teysa let the gibe wash over her. She knew there was no malice in it. "Thank you," she said. Arm in arm with Aliara, she set off across the cave.

The buildings had seemed small, but Teysa soon determined they were just very far away. As the pair drew closer, the facades loomed overhead. They were decorative, Teysa realized, carven fronts for buildings hewn into the wall of the cavern. The stalls at this end of the market were sparser, farther apart, offering well-crafted goods and fine art.

Teysa studied the facades, looking for something she recognized. There was a hammer crossed with a lightning bolt; she thought it was the emblem of one of the dwarven houses, though she wasn't sure. A sculpture of a female dwarf holding a set of balancing scales was surely some kind of courthouse, and an image of a dragon coiled over a bed of coins-- the coins picked out in gold filigree-- was probably a bank or counting-house. Some of the buildings had holy symbols: the double-headed axe of Orrum, the wheel of Tarsus, a cracked mountain that belonged to one of the dwarven gods. And there! Tucked in at one end was a modest chapel with high, peaked windows and the sunburst of Agamor etched above the lintel.

The ground around here was tiled with mosaic patterns that shifted and flowed into each other. As they approached Agamor's seal, the patterns became bright, dazzling rays of sunlight. They converged on a ring of citrines set in the ground itself, forming a gigantic sun around the temple's threshold. The front door was made of iron, and firmly shut. Teysa frowned. It was a dictate of Agamor that His places of worship be made available at all times to petitioners; she didn't think she'd ever seen a temple door closed before. She pushed gently at it, but it was locked. Her knuckles rapped against the iron with an echoing clang.

There was a pause, then a window slid open high up on the door. A pair of eyes stared out. They landed on Teysa's face and narrowed suspiciously. "Come back later," said a muffled voice on the other side of the door. The unseen speaker tried to close the slot, but Teysa was too fast-- she stuck one hand in and blocked the window's movement. "Wait!" she cried. "My name is Teysa, of the Order of the Golden Ray. What's going on?"

The eyes widened, and when the voice spoke again, it sounded fearful. "Golden Ray? If that's so, what is the motto of the order?"

Teysa took a deep breath. She had had this drilled into her from an early age. "The Golden Ray of Agamor's light pierces even the darkest shadows. Where evil rears its head, there we will be to disperse it."

For a moment, nothing happened. Teysa kept her fingers where they were. She could feel the little window pressing against them. Then the pressure slackened, and the voice spoke up, sounding pathetically relieved. "Thank Agamor, sister. Can you come back tonight? And mind you're not followed. Come after thirteen bells."

"Bells?" Teysa asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Just listen for the bells. You can't miss them. When you hear thirteen, come here. Will you do that, sister?"

Teysa nodded, then realized that the speaker couldn't see her and spoke up. "Yes. Yes, I will." She withdrew her fingers. The eyes on the other side of the window stared at her for a moment longer, then vanished as it clanged shut. She turned to Aliara. "What do you make of that, Li?"

Aliara rolled her eyes. "You holy types are terrible at this cloak-and-dagger stuff. But, I mean, this is kind of what you're for, right? Troubleshooting for the church?"

"You make it sound so... base," Teysa said. "But I guess you're right. My Order is meant to travel, but no paladin of Agamor can refuse to help the Church."

"We might as well kill time until then," Aliara said. "Let's go shopping."

They wandered the market, sampling everything from rice wine to brocaded silks. Aliara flirted coquettishly with a beautiful ivory fan, and Teysa admired the work of a shield-painter. The man's hand was so steady, his colors so vibrant; he painted the sigils of knights and noble houses alike, rendering dragons, manticores, mailed fists, tridents, and the like in bright oils. For a time, Teysa had carried a tower shield emblazoned with Agamor's sunburst. She had lost it shortly before their final trip to the Underneath, and had never had time to replace it. She was idly pondering the shields for sale when a loud noise startled her out of her reverie.

BONG!

She jumped nearly out of her skin, but all around her, business went on as normal. A couple of arguing gnomes looked up at the clatter and she flushed red. Before she had fully recovered, the noise rang out again.

BONG!

It seemed to come from behind and above her. She craned her neck in that direction to see a massive pillar, one of the largest in the room. Movement stirred near the top. Squinting, she could just make out the curved lip of an enormous bell as it began to swing again.

BONG!

When the last echoes had died away, Aliara looked up at Teysa and smirked. "Well, that answers that question, hm?" she said. "I thought you were going to keel over."

"It just startled me, that's all," Teysa complained.

Aliara tugged at her arm. "Come on, I'm hungry. Let's check out the Golden Cockatrice." Arm in arm, they made their way over to the building Jez'ria had pointed out earlier.