Sorry for the short and very late update - I have only recently managed to catch up with things in my life. Enjoy, read and review!

"What did you sing to them, exactly?" I asked.

"Um… the one about whitethistle" Grobnar answered.

"I don't think it grows here, they probably have no idea what you're talking about, it may even irritate them."

I prayed Grobnar didn't just sway off between two lines to chat about his boots or his codpiece. A moment later I realized it was a vain hope; but heck, I keep switching back and forth just like he always does. I guess that's the reason I love him so much.

"Just practice some music here, then."

He smiled and began playing his lute, humming some incomprehensible song. It was a slow, calming melody. My mind wandered back to the day Sand decided we should go to Ember to investigate.

Sand, slime trailing after him, led us to Ember through a shortcut in the woods. I cannot even explain the destruction we saw there – I used to think I have seen enough when the duergar and bladelings attacked West Harbor, but here, no house was left intact, and the dead were lying around, their wounds gaping. Shandra used to know many of them; we all stood silent as she mourned her fallen friends.

"Very… interesting" said Sand, noting something in his pocketbook "now, Lailli, they say you caused this destruction…"

It took all my will not to strangle him, but in the end I just sighed.

"Then, case closed. I'm too weak to do this all by myself!"

"Not if you took Qara along, like you did that time when…"

I still regretted it, it took me ages to find a new shirt of my favourite color, seeing the old, blackened one.

"Oh, okay…" I said, as I knelt down to pray next to one of the bodies "what else? We did not find anything special…"

"Look!" Grobnar ran up to me holding a thick book "I found this! Maybe there are songs in it and… um… delivery from Port Llast, 1152 coppers… delivery from Luskan, not arriving… boring! But, we could still write a song about it!"

Sand suddenly walked to him with unusual excitement (I never saw him actually running, that's why I'm not saying that).

"Very, very interesting" he looked through the pages "Lailli, I think we're done here."

"Wait!" Casavir stopped us "I believed I have heard something coming from the well."

"I'm not going down into a pit of rats!" I said defiantly, hands on my hips.

"Maybe it's something else…" Shandra tried to suggest.

"Throw Grobnar in it, let's see how deep it is…" Sand kept on taking notes.

While we hesitated, Casavir descended into the well with the aid of a rope.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I went after him. A well is not too romantic, but still…

"You…" I heard a voice that nearly made me fall into Casavir's arms. Nearly, but I decided to fall anyway.

The little boy we met when we walked through here, Marcus, appeared in the shadows.

"You… looked like you, but it was not you… give this back to your ranger friend, I no longer need it…"

He handed me Bishop's skinning knife. Sure thing, it will find its way into his back… I would have so loved to stab him certain times.

"12 men… the one… you… was bald, and big…"

"Case closed, Sand! I am a woman!" I clapped my hands happily.

"No, you're a girl, and Luskans won't believe you. Thank you, my boy, you might want to see me at the trial."

"What? I'll still be put on trial?"

Stupid, stupid me.

Grobnar, only his head out of the water, didn't look too frustrated. He kept on looking around he well – which, to be honest, seemed more like a cave – with curiosity.

"Look!" he exclaimed suddenly "a passage!"

True, there was some half-blocked pasageway – no more water in it – leading slightly upwards. I didn't feel like climbing the rope again, but…

"What if it leads a to a monster-infested place, like an orc camp?" asked Shandra, worried.

"Nah, let's find out! I'm sure there's no orcs! And we have Casavir!" I followed Grobnar without hesitation.

I was totally right, there were no orcs. In compensation, there were giant, poisonous spiders. Ever mentioned how much I hate them?Bishop's knife wasn't of much help, either.

"Aaargh!" screamed Grobnar just when I finally thought we were over with those eight-legged abominations.

"What is it… oh, my Tymora…"

An even greater spider crawled to us from the darkness. Even bigger than some of the houses in Ember.

"Good spidey… nice little spidey…" I tried to force a smile while retreating.

"Interesting…"

Damn it, Sand! Was that the only thing he could say? Was he going to say the same during my execution?

"…it doesn't seem to be attacking us."

The way the spider clattered its fangs somehow did not reassure me at all.

"It looks hungry…" Sand said.

"RUN!"

"…but not for us."

I was already far, far away.

Little did I know that the rest of the caves held many surprises still, that this was not our last encounter with the spider, and that Grobnar would soon wind up to almos finding a girlfriend… or maybe even two of them!

He finished his melody, and looked up at me.

"Now this was really nice, maybe you could try playing it" I said.

How right I was! As soon as he put down his lute, a lady looked inside the tent.

"I thought I heard a bard playing here…"

"Oh! Right! It was me!" Grobnar jumped up happily.

"It was really good… I wonder if I could ask for a performance this evening, as Bildoobaris will officially open only then?"