Ratface looked at the goblin. His fine features scrunched in through as he rolled the broken core through his hands. She focused on him and sure enough he burned with mana.

  It was the glamour from before, the one that had man-handled her, Kryssa, and Halmir. She tried edging away while he focused on the core. Without the core as proof, they couldn’t get rid of the quarantine, but at least she could leave with her life.

  “Stop,” he said. He turned to her and smiled at amusement when he saw the knife she was holding.

  “Are you going to use that this time?” he asked.

  “I might,” said Ratface. A bluff and by the condescending smile he gave her, he knew it too.

  “Let’s cut through the part where I threaten you and you act like a cornered animal shall we? I’m not here for you.”

  He took a step back so that she had an escape route. Ratface frowned. Last time they had fought, his whole objective had been to capture her, so what was the game here. She moved out of her cornered spot and glanced behind her, an easy escape now. The glamour was throwing the core up and down as he watched her.

  “So, what are you here for?” she asked.

  “Elf stuff. This whole quarantine thing is making that difficult.”

  “So go deliver the core and be on your way,” said Ratface. The glamour stiffened for a moment and Ratface grinned. “I’m guessing officials being aware of you isn’t something you want huh?”

  The glamour stopped throwing the core and frowned at Ratface. It warmed her heart to annoy him like this.

  “Something like that.”

  “Alright then give me the core and we’ll be on our way,” said Ratface.

  “So you can tell the guards that I’m here? No, I don’t think so.” He stepped closer. She tried to run but he grabbed her before she could. She flinched when he did, and the glamour let go like he’d been burned.

  “I need you to promise not to tell anyone I’m here. Not even your little group.”

  Ratface rubbed her wrist. It wasn’t that he had grabbed her wrist too hard, no, it had been the opposite. It reminded her of how Abigail had grabbed her, how her mother had. Too gentle for an enemy.

  “Why shouldn’t I tell them?” she asked.

  “Because I don’t have to give you this core, can you afford to wait?” he said. He looked a little rattled and Ratface eyed him curiously. Different than last time, less violent. Maybe glamours were prone to mood swings?

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  “Can I afford to have you following me?” Ratface shot back. She took a step further away from him. The glamour ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

  “Fine. How about a trade then?”

  “What could you possibly give me?”

  “Information. Something that will help you on your quest to save you lost children.”

  “Deal, now tell me the information and we’ll call it square.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid? No, there is a city that you’ll come to in the future, Waterveil, when you go there go to their gardens and look for a statue of a fish swimming the wrong way. I’ll meet you there.”

  Ratface tilted her head. She was annoyed that her word wasn’t enough, but she supposed he trusted her as much as she trusted him. His requirement felt like a trap, but Ratface also knew he worked for a Lurian master. If anyone was going to have information on her village’s group, it would probably be him.

  “Fine, you have a deal,” said Ratface. She held out her hand for the core and he chucked it to her. She hated that it landed perfectly in her hand. Stupid talented people.

  Ratface turned away without a word and started to walk back to their camp. She paused when he called out to her.

  “A word of warning,” he called out, “be careful with using your eyes. Most may not be able to see it, but if anyone can it’d be in the land of their lady.” He’d left before she could ask him anymore, including how he knew about her eyes. Kryssa hadn’t been able to notice anything, so it wasn’t glamour related.

  She made her way back to their camp. It was only Abigail there and the knight looked up when she saw her. Ratface pulled out the core and chucked it over to her which she caught easily.

  “You look rattled,” she said. Ratface came and sat next to her, leaning against the other woman’s armour.

  “The shifter was shaped like a goblin,” said Ratface. Abigail’s sucked in breath told her she understood. “It cornered me, but I got lucky, and something hit it from behind. If it hadn’t, I’d be dead.” She looked over at the knight, the image she’d seen with the empty goddess had shown the woman surrounded by the dead. Despite that, Abigail was kind, so ready to reach out. Yet Ratface didn’t doubt she’d strike someone down if they crossed her. She’d seen that when the adventurers had threatened her.

  “How do you do it?” she asked, “how do you cut down someone with the same face as you?”

  The knight looked off in thought. She drummed her hand against the armour on her leg. It made a soft tip tap like rain under a roof. It was a safe noise and Ratface leaned into it.

  “I could tell you that it never gets easy, but it does. The first time you’re in that situation it’ll take true desperation, by the twentieth, it’s just an unfortunate reality.” The drumming continued as the knight looked into the past. “I could tell you that some people deserve to die. That might be true, but what a grim way to look at the world, that anyone is deserving of it.” She looked over to Ratface. “When you fought that Rat noble in the sewer, you were prepared to kill him right?”

  “It was him or me,” she said. She went to look away, but the knight stopped her.

  “Except it wasn’t just that was it? It was him or all of you. You fought as much to protect them as you did yourself.” She sighed, “Perhaps in defence of others is a good enough reason to kill. I think that sometimes, a necessary evil to protect my own. Still, I envy you that you have not, and I hope you never have to. Don’t strive for moments like that not to hurt. Keep looking for another way, if you can. It’ll be harder, but perhaps you’ll live a life freer of regrets, if it never becomes too easy an option.”

  The two of them sat at the camp waiting for the others. Abigail kept the drumming up and they sat under a rain that wasn’t there.