All in the Family

"You said he was enslaved at a mine run by Yunis. Short guy with a peg leg, right?" I nod. "Well, believe it or not, he's actually my brother."

"Is he really? I never would have guessed that" I say. "But I understand he's a regular at the Crescent Moon. I would expect him to come here instead, if he has family in the business."

Zal shakes his head sadly. "We had a bit of a falling out a few years back. I don't see him much anymore. But I should be able to secure your friend's release. Yunis owes me a favor or two."

"I'd be very grateful if you did that, Zal." I say.

"First things first, though, we need to get you out of here and to a safe place. Maris will expect you to come here. It wouldn't surprise me if he was already on his way. We'll need to come up with a disguise for you too. The skin dye won't come out easily, but that's ok, since Maris and his men are the only ones to have seen you like that, assuming they took care of those bounty hunters. We can, at least, get you a new outfit. That one your wearing is nice, but it's a little...small."

I nod in agreement. He summons Nadia into the back room. "Get Harry...I mean, Ilsa a change of clothes. Then take her across town to the Baran Monastary. The monks there will protect you if Maris trys anything, and the Sultan's men do not patrol there. I'll catch up with you after I've freed your friend. I'm going to close shop early today and head to the mine. If all goes well, I'll see you in a few hours, with your friend Don as well."

I thank him again and he sets off. Nadia leads me upstairs to her room, and offers me several clothing choices. I settle on a simple, relativley modest beige dress, a brown cloak, and sandals. Nadia asks a lot of the same questions Zal had, and I find myself telling my tale all over again, though she takes more of an interest in the details of life in the harem, and less on the political manueverings, as Zal had.

Nadia watches as I carefully remove the brooch with the De Freydair family crest from my discarded outfit. "So you got free, made it all the way back to Laralia, and then came back for Don?" she asks me, seemingly surprised by this course of action. I nod in the affirmative. Nadia sighs, and smiles happily at me. "How romantic! Your devotion to him is wonderful. I hope he feels the same way about you."

"Er..um,...It's not...I mean, I like him and all but we're not...." I stumble over the words, certain that I'm blushing like crazy.

"Of course", she says with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Anyway, let's get going. The monastary isn't far."

1. We make it to the monastary without incident, and are granted entrance.
2. We arrive at the monastarry to find it in shambles, the monks having been slain.
3. We run into Teran on our way out the door, and he is being pursued by grey cloaked bounty hunters (not the same duo I encountered earlier)
4. We run into Maris on our way out the door. "Didn't think you could get away that easy, did you?"

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