Over the course of a few days, Liam brought Nora with him to go hunting with the Direwolves. However, Doran did not venture out with them after the first time since Liam handed over a good portion of the crystals and ancient coins as well as the general location to find more crystals the day after. However, he was very adamant about going to meet Lamorak, or Lam as he called him, again as soon as he set up the mining of the crystals and the exchange of the resources.

During the few days that he brought Nora along, he hoped she would grow more accustomed to the Direwolves. To an extent, she could handle being around them, but as soon as one tried to sniff her or something, usually Percival, she tended to freeze or pull away.

On the morn of the fifth day after returning to Crey, Liam relaxed in the bathtub even though there was no hot water option. However, the quality of life here certainly beat most of his outings on missions back in the day.

“Hey,” Nora said, ears twitching as she opened the door. A blanket was wrapped around her. Most likely, she did not have any clothes on underneath. “One of the guys from the Blue Vultures showed up just now and said they’ve got some sort of bodyguard mission today.”

“That’s pretty short notice…” Liam muttered, rolling his eyes.

“They’ll wait for us at the clocktower. The same one from before.”

“How ironic…”

“Is it? Seems like a normal meeting place to me.”

Waving her off, Liam pulled the drain plug out with his foot and stood. Water dripped from his body to the water below, eventually gurgling down the pipes. Before he could step out to grab his towel, Nora grabbed it from the towel rack next to the door and handed it to him.

“Thanks,” he muttered, taking it.

In return, she smiled before returning to the bedroom to put clothes on. Liam watched her for a moment and briefly wondered how they ended up like this so quickly. Although not a one night stand exactly, their first time having sex may as well have been. Sighing, he dried himself and left the bathroom, leaving the towel on the rack on the way out.

Suddenly, he noticed something flying toward him out of the corner of his eye and his arm instinctually snapped upward to catch it. It was his pants. Nora giggled from across the room. A few days earlier, she tossed an apple at him even though he was not looking directly at her but he caught it anyway. Ever since, she had taken up the habit of randomly throwing things at him. For some reason, she got a kick out of it.

Looking inside the beltline, Liam muttered, “At least you sent briefs along with them.”

“Despite my looks, I’m a nice person,” she replied, grinning from ear to ear.

“Mhm. Right,” Liam muttered while pulling on his trousers.

* * * * *

Later in the morning, Liam and Nora met Ekram and his Blue Vultures on the opposite side of the clock tower from where they previously infiltrated. The group of well-armed mercenaries stuck out like a sore thumb in the shopping district, but nobody paid them much heed. In fact, the attitudes of the passersby implied that seeing mercenaries was a common occurrence.

One of the men from the previous visit, Cairnech, approached them. His white hair was slicked back neatly. Even his salt and pepper stubble highlighted his weathered face. Most of his armor consisted of a combination of steel and padded leather. All of it had been painted or dyed black with sky blue highlights. Nodding cordially, he said, “Good morning, Liam and Nora. Come with me. Ekram will give you the details of the job.”

Dipping his head in acknowledgment, Liam followed.

“Good to see you again, friends,” Ekram called out, one leather-covered arm raised in greeting.

“You too,” Liam replied.

Once they were face to face, Ekram asked, “You comfortable with an escort mission?”

“Sure,” Liam answered, placing his newly purchased travel pack on the grass next to the road. “I’ve participated in similar operations before.”

Nodding, Ekram said, “Good. It’s a simple, three wagon procession. We are to protect a member of the Merchant Guild along the way to their branch in Azgara.”

Since he had never heard of the place before, Liam glanced at Nora. In response, she stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “It’s on the coast.”

Although raising a brow at Liam’s lack of knowledge, Ekram said, “You can either ride on the front or the rear wagon.”

“Rear,” Liam instantly replied.

“No surprise there, I suppose…” Ekram mumbled, crossing his arms.

“Does the client have a name?” Liam asked.

“Iloryn something or other. Name’s hard to pronounce. Elvish, most likely.”

Interesting, Liam thought. I guess Elves exist here, too.

“Speaking of the bitch, here she comes…” Ekram said, pointing down the road.

Horse hooves clacked against the hardened dirt road in the distance. Two horses per wagon pulled around the Clocktower Circle in front of the mercenaries. The front and rear wagons were simple covered wagons, but the middle wagon, or rather, carriage, obviously carried a person of influence based on the intricate design, gold and purple paint, and the high-end clothing of the driver. A latticed window built into the carriage door slid down to reveal the veiled face of a woman.

“I assume you are all prepared for the journey?” she asked, voice refined and sure as one who spoke with full self-confidence yet lacking the haughty air of a person blinded by pride.

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll head out shortly,” Ekram replied, nodding respectfully in spite of his last statement. Then, facing Liam, he said, “Go with Kael to the rear wagon and don’t forget your bags.”

Nodding, Liam hoisted his pack over his shoulder again and walked with Nora to the back of the rear wagon. A flap opened and Kael poked his head out.

“Well, come on, then,” he said, waving for them to jump in.

Before Liam could step up the small ladder, Nora placed a hand on his shoulder and used him to hop in. Clicking his tongue, Liam grabbed the edge and hoisted himself into the wagon. Inside, he and Nora set down their travel packs in the far corner with the rest of the luggage before sitting on the floor with Kael and Conor.

Up front, the driver checked to make sure everyone was settled in. A minute later, the wagon lurched forward.

“Well,” Conor said, “looks like we’ll have a few days to get to know each other better.”