Rita didn’t appreciate my plan, even after I explained exactly what I wanted her to do. It was simple. She caused Reeds to have a coughing fit, and I slipped in when Myrtle and Abel went to check on him. It was foolproof. Provided it all worked the way I thought it should.

  “We are not making him worse,” she hissed at me as we sat in the dining room. “Plus, Sheryl would kill me if she found out. Not to mention that she would do far worse to you. No.”

  “Well, I don’t need you to set him off badly. Just get him to cough, and then knock on the door to say you’re worried.” My words didn’t so much as make a dent in her resolve.

  With her arms crossed, she glared at me. “No. Try something else. Anything else.”

  “You’re the boss,” I said, as I rose to my feet and adjusted my suit jacket. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  I could feel her eyes boring a hole into my back as I entered the kitchen. Mulvinia looked up at me, but Tobias was too busy with his food to pay me much mind. After a small nod to the wolf girl, I made my way out the back and took a small stroll to the stables.

  All the stalls were full when I entered, and I let myself examine the horses in the light of the several lanterns. I went through the motions, glad to see they were in good condition, even as my mind raced. Whatever was behind that door was important, and I had the feeling it would explain several things that Myrtle, being from the city, didn’t.

  The poison flowers for one, and the massively expensive door for the other. Neither pointed to anything good, and Mulvinia’s admittance that the Lace Courier Company was involved made me more curious.

  Hubarrah snorted nearby, and I moved over to calm him. There was something going on at this place, and it bugged me not to know.

  “You don’t want to panic for me, do you, boy?” I asked, as I gently stroked his neck. “Cause a ruckus?”

  All I got was another snort, and I sighed. “No, I couldn’t do that to you. Has someone brushed you down yet? Let me see…”

  As I spoke, I looked around for where they kept their gear. It hung from a rack on the wall, and I moved over to study the tools. None of them were particularly expensive, but it all looked well used. If nothing else, I could say the people here took care of the horses. That was something. Important. My father would have given them the benefit of the doubt from that alone.

  Then I caught a detail that ordinarily wouldn’t have made me smile. Rust. A closer examination showed me exactly how worn some brackets were. Though Abel appeared to have put new screws in as a stopgap measure. An idea formed, and I glanced around, my smile widening as I saw a screwdriver sticking out of a hay bale.

  The handle of the tool felt rough in my hands, so different to the quills and well made papers I was used to. There was something about the combination of the weight of it in my hand, and the idea in my head that filled me with excitement. Was this what the people I had hired felt? No wonder they were so eager, though I’m sure the gold I put in their pockets helped immensely, too. With careful movements, I picked up the tool and got to work.

  The door to the kitchen opened without a creak, as I stepped inside, and to my delight, found both Tobias and Mulvinia still inside. I nodded to them before moving over to a bucket of water and quickly washing my hands for the second time, making sure no flecks of rust had stuck under my fingernails.

  “A pleasant walk, sir?” Mulvinia asked, her clipped tones a touch concerned.

  I glanced at her, and nodded, though when I spoke my voice was firm. “Quite. Though I was wondering if Tobias here could check on the horses? Hulbarrah’s mane is quite matted, and I want it dealt with.”

  “But I just washed my hands,” the young boy said, as he looked towards me, his expression petulant.

  “Do you enjoy looking after the horses?”

  “Yes,” he said quickly, before he added. “S-sir.”

  “Well, what do you think would happen if your mother heard you didn’t brush them down properly?” I gave him the same look I gave to those who tried to undercut my employer’s prices, annoyed and disappointed. “Because I don’t think she would be happy.”

  “Please don’t!” He yelped the words and got to his feet.

  “I won’t. She doesn’t need to know about this conversation. Not if you check the horses. Use the bigger brush, yes?” I watched as he nodded.

  “Yes. But can I finish my desert first?”

  “Of course,” I smiled at him, and he grinned back before sticking his spoon back into the pie that no one had offered us.

  Across from him, I caught sight of the way Mulvinia hunched. She looked at me, nervous and unhappy. Her gaze darted to the boy, and she slowly rose to her feet. It was clear she was worried about him.

  “Don’t,” I whispered, as I tapped my pocket where she knew I kept my money. “You don’t want to be involved. I was never here.”

  She sat, but I could tell it was with extreme reluctance. With a nod to her, I moved back out into the dining room. Rita was still there, sitting in the same spot she had been when I left. I joined her and glanced towards the kitchen. How long would he take? I didn’t know, but I hoped it would be soon. At least if my plan worked, it would be obvious.

  This one also had the benefit of almost guaranteeing that Myrtle, and Abel would leave the room. After all, few people would ignore the terrified squeals of their child. Across the table, Rita leaned forward, her voice a whisper.

  “What did you do?” She asked, one ear twitching forward, as the other one flicked back as though trying to hear something further away.

  “I worked with my hands,” I said, thinking back to what Abel had said about me. “Though I’m not sure our host will appreciate it.”

  She reached for her side, but her hand grasped nothing but air, so she returned it to the table instead. “No one’s going to get hurt, are they?”

  “It’s not part of the plan.”

  To my relief, she relaxed, and I did my best to engage her in small talk. We chatted about my childhood mostly, as she refused to open up on her own. I told her about the multiple days, when not with group tutors, my father had me by his side. How the fancy buildings we passed had captured my attention in a way no book ever had.

  “That my son,” my father had told me, as we waited to pick up a merchant and watched a lordling’s guards stop a thief. “Is why I pay so much for your education.”

  “So I can be rich?” I had asked him.

  He had smiled and ruffled my hair. “No. So you can stay safe.”

  Rita had looked away as I told her that story. It was a common reaction. I knew what she thought, that my father was overprotective. He wasn’t. Gold was power, and if you had it, you were safe in any society that coveted it. Though, I supposed that wasn’t always true, a fact proved by me sitting here now.

  Time ticked by, and eventually I heard Tobias gently ushered out the door by Mulvinia. More time passed, then there was a loud crash followed by a child’s cry and the whinny of horses. Mulvinia shouted, and I watched the door to the study burst open.

  Abel was running far faster than I expected a man of his stature to move, and Myrtle was right behind them. As they vanished into the kitchen, I took off towards the door, catching it seconds before it closed.

  I pointed to Rita, who watched me carefully, her back straight, and her feet in what I thought was a combat stance. “Watch the kitchen, ask them loudly what’s wrong when they get back. They won’t be long.”

  Rita nodded, and I ducked into the room. There wasn’t much inside, and I didn’t have time to go through the drawers. I looked at the crystal that was set on the desk and read the series of names next to it. Most were names that had to be other inns, but one caught my eye. A Mr. Jackal, LCC.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I filed away the name and then started searching around for anything that might be of use. The first thing that caught my eye after the messenger crystal was a thick ledger. It sat awkwardly jammed into a drawer, as though they had been in the process of putting it away before Tobias cries out. Jackpot.

  It took some wiggling to get it out, but soon enough I had the book in my hand. There wasn’t time to look through it, not without knowing when they might be back. Instead, I quickly searched for, and found, a blank sheet of paper. A thought activated my Instant Report skill, and as I flipped through the book’s pages, words formed on the paper on the desk.

  Before I had reached all the way to the end, I heard Rita’s yell, and the sound of Tobias crying. I cursed and placed the book back where I found it before I left the room. In a hurry, I balled the paper into my fist and stuck it down the side of my trousers. It went in, and I would have to hope the belt would keep it flush against my leg.

  What I walked out into was pandemonium. Tobias was crying and holding the side of his face. His mother fussed over him as Abel wrung his hands. He kept saying the same thing over and over.

  “I checked that bracket. It was fine yesterday, I’m sure of it. How did it collapse like that?”

  A pang of regret filled me at the way the boy screamed, and I slipped away from it all to the stables. Inside, the horses continued to neigh, whinny, and nicker. It took time to soothe them, and I had to step over the large assortment of tools that had spilled onto the ground. My plan had worked, which gave me an odd sense of pride.

  Once the horses had calmed, and I had gotten them water, I stepped away to check the report I had generated.

  {Financial Report for the Roadside Ravager

  Overview: There is an obvious discrepancy in several places with income versus expenses, including around the purchase and sale of alcohol. Their income is sporadic, but they have several consistent sources listed below.

  Notable Income:

  Southern Postal Service (Stabling) - One gold a month

  Lace Couriers (Unmentioned) - Fifty gold a month

  Geralds Brewery (Exclusive license) - Three gold, seven silver a month

  Construct Bakery (Exclusive license) - Two gold, four silver a month

  In this we….}

  There wasn’t too much in there that felt out of the ordinary. While I had dealt little with Inns, especially ones dedicated to travellers, simple license agreements and courier fees didn’t seem out of place. The prices listed, however, alongside the fact Lace Couriers’s reasoning was unmentioned, gave me pause.

  Fifty gold was more than some earned in a year. For this company to be throwing that kind of wealth around made little sense. I wracked my brain, but I still couldn’t think of a single time I had heard of them before this trip. Was it some kind of laundering scheme? Perhaps. But when combined with the enchanted door and the poison flowers?

  No, there was something more sinister going on here. No wonder the tax man had paused. I would have to. For an inn on the side of a road, though a main one, to be earning fifty gold a month? It nagged at me, but there was nothing else in the report I could see.

  “Did you find anything useful?”

  With a jump, I spun to find Rita standing behind me. She still wore Myrtle’s dress, and I shook my head, wondering how she was so quiet even in that. A small smirk flashed across her face, and I cursed myself for the display. The last thing I needed was her knowing she could sneak up on me.

  “Not really,” I admitted. “More about the Lace Courier Company being shady. I got a name, Mr. Jackal. Their expenses and income are wild as well. But we already knew something about this place was wrong.”

  “So we learned nothing from this escapade?” She sounded annoyed, and she crossed her arms.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. She was right, but I knew better than to admit that. No employer wanted to think I was wasting their time. There had to be a way to spin this.

  With a quick breath, I smiled. “No, not at all. We have a name, and we have proof that this place is involved in something beyond dirty. If we have to deal with these Lace people, such knowledge should only help us in our dealings.”

  “Is that so?” Her raised eyebrow told me she wasn’t buying it. “That’s something I suppose. You’ll be glad to know that they calmed Tobias down. He’s in Reed’s room listening to a story.”

  “Is he hurt?”

  The question appeared to surprise her, but she shook her head. “A small knick, but nothing that will even scar. I think it shocked him more than anything. Still, he didn’t deserve even that.”

  “It wasn’t my intention,” I said.

  “Damn your intention.” She jabbed a finger in my chest. “He was innocent.”

  I stepped forward, forcing her to shift her hand or bend back her finger. She chose the latter. “And?”

  Once more, I saw confusion on her face. “And what?”

  “What does it matter if he’s innocent?” I asked. “Lots of people are, and they get hurt. The workers of the men I hire are, in most cases at least, innocent. Do you think their employer cares much about that when they ask me who needs to be fired to help the bottom line?”

  Rita stared at me, and for the first time since we met, she appeared wary of me. Not afraid, no, simply a predator looking into the eyes of another. It almost made me laugh. I had no doubt even without a weapon she could kill me. She would have a skill, or simple practice, that allowed that. What did she have to fear from me?

  “I’m going to bed.”

  Without waiting for me to respond, she turned and walked away. I watched her go, curious. She was a mercenary, or reportedly claimed that she was. Is that why she needed my help? Could she not take on jobs that she objected to? Whatever the case, I hoped the rest of her trio wouldn’t be so softhearted.

  The sounds of her footsteps on the stairs faded away, and I waited several more minutes before I followed suit. For some reason, I was tired in a way that I hadn’t been in a while. When I collapsed onto the bed, it didn’t take me long to fall asleep.

  ***

  Rita didn’t speak a word to me for the rest of the trip. She was silent when we said our goodbyes to Myrtle and remained so for the next day and a half. I didn’t bother trying to interrupt her, and instead let her stare out the window. There were other things to pay attention to, like the report I had made. Though no matter how many times I scanned it, the information didn’t change.

  We were halfway through the last day of our trip when I heard a horse snort, and the carriage rolled to a stop. Reeds cursed, and I glanced towards the door. Rita’s sword was laying across her lap, and she gripped it. Outside, I heard footsteps, heavy as though they were wearing thick boots. When they stopped, the voices began.

  The first was coarse, and sounded damaged, like the heavy smokers who hung around the seedier bars my father would take me to.

  “You Reeds?”

  It wasn’t a question, not really. This was just a way to start the conversation, and I let myself sigh. I had heard tales of travellers being robbed, though thanks to staying on the main roads and near the major southern cities, I had never been a target. My hand went to the gun in my pocket, but Rita shook her head and gestured for me to wait.

  I did. She was, ostensibly, my bodyguard as part of my deal, and I knew she could fight. Not wanting to waste my limited ammunition, I sat back. That earned me a nod, and she shifted in her seat, eyes locked on the door.

  “That I am,” Reeds said, tone friendly. “You fellas looking for a ride? I’m already booked, but—”

  “Who are your passengers?” the same person asked.

  Reeds coughed. “Friends of mine, heading into town for work. What’s this about?”

  “We’re bounty hunters. Got word that you might have a fugitive on board. Mind us having a look?”

  Another question that wasn’t. I found myself curious what Reeds might say, if he would sell us out, and if there actually was a bounty. That could make things more complicated for us. Though bounties were rarely given out. It encouraged idiotic behaviour like this, and people hated their days being interrupted.

  “I wouldn’t. She’s a bit high-strung,” Reeds said, and then cackled. “Her and her new husband haven’t got much alone time recently, if you know what I mean?”

  Someone snorted, but got told to hush by the voice. “All the same, we want to look. My friend here has a crossbow. It would be a shame if he had to use it.”

  “All the power to you then,” Reeds said.

  There were more footsteps, and I watched Rita shift, her sword held poised and ready. The door opened, and I saw a dark-skinned man with pale brown eyes. That was all I got before Rita’s sword slashed across his face. Blood coated me, and I recoiled. His body thumped to the ground, then was crushed when Rita jumped on it as she exited the coach.

  “You killed Jerry!” someone else screamed, and I heard a crossbow go off.

  Reeds grunted, and I leapt onto the corpse to find the old man slumped over. Another man, this one shorter and paler than the first, was laying dead nearby. Both wore armor, but neither had bothered to protect their necks. On the driver’s seat, Reeds was slumped over, his arm leaking blood.

  He started coughing, and I moved up beside him, checking him over. I was no medic, and so I pointed towards Rita.

  “Your friend is an alchemist? Did she teach you any healing?”

  “No! She brews potions. What are you talking about?” Rita called back.

  I cursed, and did my best to pick up Reeds, before I carried him into the coach. Once he was settled, I tugged off the shirt of the first man Rita killed and used it to cover him. Would that help? I didn’t know, but I had to do something.

  “Yuliosa isn’t far,” Rita said, now at my side. “Can you get us there?”

  “Of course. Which direction are we going?”

  She pointed with her sword, splattering the ground with more blood. “Straight, another hour or so. You can’t miss it.”

  As she climbed into the coach, I rifled through the pockets of both the dead men as quickly as I could. As I did, I examined them. Neither had the look of those I would suspect to hold their title. Most I had dealt with were professionally dressed men, with well cared for armor and the type of standing to make people move.

  These two didn’t have anything close to that. They had no identification on them, but they had a handful of silver and bronze coins, along with a single gold, which I took. There were no bounty papers either, which made me wonder if they were simple opportunists. My hands shook when I pulled myself into the driver’s seat and flicked the reins.

  Reeds had his beasts well trained, and they moved without hesitation. Behind me, I could hear Rita speaking to the old man, and I glanced at the whip that sat beside me. I left it there and used the reins to urge them onto greater speeds.

  With the sounds of hoofbeats thundering in my ears, the horses surged forward and left the corpses behind us.