As far as Windust went, it was difficult to place Anders' reputation.

  There were many stories circulating about Nik and how brutal he had been at this time or other, beating whores who tried to steal from him, branding or maiming men who tried to cheat, and generally keeping all misbehavers in line.

  Anders, though, was a figure that existed for Petyr in the same way that the gods did. He’d heard of him once or twice; he suspected that Anders was likely real at most points, while having doubts at others, but generally saw no reason to dwell on the topic.

  The little he’d gleaned about the mythical figure over the years was that he was in charge of the bandits, that he did not care much for being out and about, and that he was terrifying and crazy.

  As Anders and his two bodyguards approached, Nik whispered, “Keep quiet and then get out of here. Both of you. Understand?”

  It was so rare to ever hear Nik on edge. Petyr wasn't sure he'd heard it before.

  But he could hear it now. And that's what I hear after he's suppressed most of what he feels...

  “Anders,” Nik said calmly as the man in green got closer. “It is good to see you.”

  Anders stopped at the porch, his cold, downturned eyes scrutinizing all three of them. Petyr noticed that they were a bright scarlet. The eyes of the female bodyguard were a brown that were also heading into reddish, while the male bodyguard’s were a dullish red.

  Out of nowhere, Anders smiled broadly, but without showing any teeth. “I came to meet your guest.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you to come,” said Nik, putting on a grin so wide and so unnatural that Petyr knew it couldn’t be genuine.

  “Hopefully I won’t disappoint you,” said Anders.

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  The bodyguards said nothing; they followed after the two men as they proceeded into the tavern and then as they made their way up the staircase to the second floor, proceeding towards Nik's office.

  “His eyes…” said Mora. “Did you see that?”

  “They were red. All of them had red eyes.”

  She startled, frowning. “Really? All of them? Are you sure?”

  “Pretty goddamn sure.”

  “Just like him." She hesitated to specify. "Like Captain Vares Reed.”

  “Your pirate friend,” he said, tossing an accusatory glance.

  Mora sensed it the disgust and sighed. “He didn’t kill Jayne. If he did the monkey probably would’ve chewed her face off…”

  Petyr couldn’t make sense of what the hell she was saying. “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing! Never mind…”

  He suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the entrance.

  Mora was a bit taken aback by the forceful way he pinned her against the side of the building, seemingly ready to strike. “What are you doing?”

  How could she play this dumb? “You’ve been here forever! You must’ve heard things while being around Nik all the time. I want you to tell me the truth: have you ever heard of a man called Squeezer?”

  Mora flailed uncomfortaly under his grip. “Why?!”

  “Just answer the question. Have you, or haven’t you?”

  “It sounds familiar, I guess?… But I have no idea who that is.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t even seen Anders before today, genius.”

  “What does Nik really do? What do the bandits do?”

  Mora opened her mouth to answer but remained frozen and puzzled. “I don’t know…”

  “You’re here all day! You have to know. If anyone knows, you know!”

  Mora kicked him in the balls and slipped away.

  It all happened so fast that she was already behind him by the time he fell to his knees, clutching at his groin, the wave of pain shooting up through him until it emerged as two full tears in the corner of his eyes.

  Why... This little bitch!

  “You’re such a bastard!” she screamed. “I told you, I don’t know anything!”

  Without saying another word, she ran off as she was used to doing, speeding effortlessly down the hill.

  By the time Petyr found the energy to say a single word and get back up to his feet, she was long gone. I just want to know what's going on...

  Admittedly, he may have pushed her too hard.

  After all, maybe it wasn’t that impossible to live somewhere your entire life and not know what was going on. His father had apparently been closely working with the bandits for years and that escaped him completely.

  It could also be that I'm just dumb.

  The real question was, why had Anders appeared here, exactly today of all days?