The first thing Ratface did was close the window.

  A few months ago, she might not have trapped herself in here with the knight. The little goblin always listening to the fear in her heart. She still feels it now. Yet still she closed the window.

  “I couldn’t tell you,” said Ratface.

  “Wouldn’t, you mean,” said Abigial. She doesn’t usually engage in the pedantry with Ratface like this so Ratface considers it. Ah, the knight thinks she made a choice.

  “You would have stopped me.” She chose her words carefully. Abigail’s eyes narrow just for a moment as Ratface throws her own wording back at her. When she responds her voice is a little clipped. Tightly controlled anger mixed with something else.

  “Yes, I would have, because the way you did it was stupid.” Abigail grabs Ratface’s hand and pulls her down to sit next to her on the bed. Her grip is firm but not painful and Ratface guessed if she had pulled away then Abigail would let her. She sat down anyway. She could feel the slight tremble in Abigail’s hand. Worry was the other thing, Ratface realised. The old woman had been worried for her.

  “Were you caught? No, you wouldn’t be here if you were.”

  Ratface couldn’t argue that, so she did the wise thing for once and said nothing.

  “Why did you only take Halmir?”

  “The others wouldn’t understand.”

  “No. I mean why didn’t you take Krysa?”

  Ratface stopped. It hadn’t even occurred to her to take the glamour.

  “If you had to break in, she was the best choice. She is capable and I imagine has some tricks she’s yet to show any of us. Yet that’s only part of it.”

  Abigail was standing up by now and pacing. The knight still looked angry, but her tone was lecturing, like she was taking Ratface through logistics instead of berating her.

  “From a social perspective, she’s also the best to get caught. Not only are elves held in high regard, but they are also expected to deal with goblins. She could have argued that she deserved the information by that right alone. Why not get her to ask when the guild was open?” Abigail stopped pacing and turned to face Ratface.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Instead, you took the only two members of our group who would be killed on sight. Do you know why you did this?”

  “We’re the only two that are good at sneaking,” said Ratface. It sounded weak outloud and Abigail snorted.

  “Albert is from a family of hunters. No. You took only you two because you considered this a goblin duty, right?”

  Ratface looked away. It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but the knight wasn’t wrong.

  “I’m meant to help goblins,” she said.

  “Tell me how the raid group being on high alert will help them?”

  Ratface frowned. In her head she hadn’t planned for being caught but she should have. The problem with all your plans ending in dying if you failed meant you didn’t make a backup.

  “I’m sorry,” she said at last. Abigail sighed and leant against the wall.

  “I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to think before you get yourself killed. Did you get the location at least?”

  “Halvin’s Rest.” Abigail frowned. “That’s bad?” Ratface asked.

  “Even without the raid, they’d still be in danger. Halvin’s rest is a place infected by the Emptiness.” Seeing Ratface’s confused face she explained. “It eats away at magic and brings the dead back wrong. Most adventurers don’t like to go there. It’s an excellent spot for the goblins to hide. If they can survive there.”

  Abigail ran her hands through her hair. The anger had fled out of her and now she just looked overworked. It occurred to Ratface that the adventurer had worked alone before being saddled up with five newbie adventurers. Two of which that were still getting used to having their own bodies. Ratface sympathised. She’d struggled taking care of younger goblins even when they weren’t in life endangering situations.

  “We’ll have to move fast if we’re going to help them,” said Abigail. She glanced at Ratface.

  “I need you to make a decision before we do. How serious are you about helping these goblins?”

  “Very.”

  “Then I need you to follow my orders without question.”

  “Fine.”

  “The first thing is, we won’t be leaving tomorrow.”

  Ratface went to ask why but the knight’s gaze held her in place. She looked away but didn’t question it.

  “In the meantime, tomorrow you are going to go into the guild with Krysa and look for the most boring quest you can find inside this town.”

  Ratface’s face twitched under the urge to ask if she was being punished but she managed to stop herself. Abigail saw it and smiled.

  “I’m not punishing you. A raid will take longer to move than we do. If we give them the time to leave before us, we can do so without suspicion.”

  Ratface’s eyebrows raised. She hadn’t thought of that. The knight had been doing this for a long time. She understood how these people worked in a way that Ratface didn’t.

  “Okay,” said Ratface. Abigail clapped her hands together.

  “Excellent, then it’s time for you to rest up. Tomorrow you and I will be waking early to run laps.”

  Abigail left with a grin and Ratface leaned back into bed. So, she was still being punished. At least it wasn’t that bad. With a sigh she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She hated running.