I almost punched the man in the face. I had my fist raised and everything. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that Trinadelle had a hand up and pressed against my fist before I knew it, and I would have to climb over the mayor's lap to get to his face and that would not help my case.

“Mayor Hoe,” Trinadelle gave me one last look before walking around the table. “I know this may seem strange and I will explain in a moment, but can you first tell me how you are feeling and what you remember?”

“I feel like I fell over and hit my head!” The man snapped, dabbing at the back of his head to look for blood. I have to give it to him, he had one hard cranium. “And I remember everything!”

I got ready to punch him if he went all Smith on us. I also noticed that Nel’s legs were once more hidden under her cloak, though her hood was still down, as long as she didn’t make eye contact with Hoe she should be okay.

“Everything?” Trinadelle asked.

“Well, most of it. It was like a dream but I couldn’t wake up and I had to watch as I…he…did things.” The Mayor shivered. The thought of having a wackadoo like Smith in my head made me shiver too. “and he would let me go, every now and again, so I could control myself but if I tried going for help or to signal someone or alert the guards he would just…push me to the back of my own mind.”

Nuala nudged Trinadelle out of the way so she could see to her patient. The mayor hissed and jerked away from her as she prodded his sensitive skull. His eyes went round at his sudden movement and I knew what was coming and had enough time to pull Nel closer to me.

The mayor threw up over the side of the table. Nel gagged next to me and that almost set me off. We moved back towards the door and its fresh(ish) air. I smiled as Twix did the same.

“Why am I so dizzy and what the hell is that sound?” The mayor growled, trying to look intimidating but wobbling like a drunken sailor with sick all over his chin. Nuala pushed him down so he lay flat on his back and pulled back his eyelids.

“Ringing sound?” She asked and then carried on without even waiting for his answer. “is the room too bright? Are you seeing stars?”

The mayor was trying to wrestle his way free, which I found immensely amusing since Nuala was doing nothing to keep him there except place an old withered hand on his chest. He was just that confused and fighting against air.

“Blast it, woman! Let me up so I can call for my own healer. A proper one!” He continued to roll around on his back, the table moving with his weight. I was starting to wonder if it would break.

“Perhaps you should all wait outside,” Trinadelle said. “I will st-”

“No!” The mayor roared, he gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. “You are going after the bastard who did this to me aren’t you?”

I don’t know why the rest of them didn’t answer but I knew my reason. This could just as easily be Smith controlling the man and trying to find out what we were planning on doing and I sure as hell wasn’t going to explain my whole plan to him, especially since it was so simple it would take very little to fuck it up.

“Aren’t you!” The Mayor looked around at us, his eyes a little out of focus. That hit to the head must have been harder than I thought. “Why aren’t you answering? You think he’s still up here, still renting space in my head?”

“Perhaps it would best if you rest, mayor.” Trinadelle went to help him back down but he pushed back against the old man and Trinadelle stepped back with a sigh.

“Fine. You don’t have to trust me, but I remember him saying he is going to bring an army and his thoughts were clear enough that I know he wasn’t lying. This is still my town and these are my people…I will do what I can to protect them, or are you going to exercise your power De’Vraga?”

Trinadelle met the (crossed) eyes of the mayor, holding his gaze as he judged the man. I was all for putting him in the ground or in a cell and going about our plan. Sure, parts of it were going to be harder, like getting out of the town but I was fairly sure I could manage it. The army side of things…well that was a little tricky but if I got to Smith first then maybe that problem would solve itself.

“I am here as a member of the Hunters Guild. No more and no less.” Trinadelle finally said.

“So what is your plan?” The mayor asked.

“I’m going to the port cities to seek aid. Trinadelle will remain here to help you with the defense of the town.” I said before anyone else could.

The old man's cold blue eyes settled on me and seemed to drill into my soul. I hoped my trust in him wasn’t misplaced and that he trusted me enough to see my point.

“That is not the plan-” he said.

My hopes dropped.

“-or at least not as I would explain it.” He went on and I had to resist the urge to fist bump him. “The Champion is going to travel to Kings Landing to seek aid from the guild. Twix will travel with him along with…his companion. I, along with Pruda, will remain here to provide our support to you and the town.”

“Do you think we will have time for help to come from Kings landing?” The mayor asked, his voice hopeful. He still hadn’t wiped the vomit off his chin and it matted in his trimmed beard. We all had trouble looking at him because of it.

“You have vomit on your chin. It is disgusting. Also, your breath is horrendous.” Nuala informed him.

Well, someone had to say something.

Embarrassed, the mayor insisted we wait for him in another room while he cleaned up. I half expected him to climb out a bathroom window and go yelling for the guards. If Smith was still controlling him, that's exactly what he would do.

I opened my mouth to say the same thing to Trinadelle but stopped, my eyes sweeping the room. “I take it, the absence of Twix means she is following the mayor and Nuala?”

Trinadelle nodded. His posture, even standing against the wall of the official dining room, was ramrod straight, his hand clasped lightly around the handle of his rapier.

“I also have Pruda keeping watch on the guards. Most have grown bored of waiting and drifted off, but the Captain and his right-hand man remain.” The cold eyes warmed briefly. “Just because I am willing to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt, that does not mean I am foolish enough to trust him.”

I settled down on one of the fancy chairs near the dining room table. If you could call the massive slab of dark redwood a table. It looked more like an alter to me, with intricate carvings running along the sides and curving down the middle. Candelabra were set at intervals down the center, the candles unlit and still looking new. The light in the room was provided by sunlight that came through the main doors leading to the room.

Pushing the chair back on two legs I kicked my feet up on the polished tabletop and put my hands behind my head. I scowled a little at the holes still in me, from Twix’s arrows. I wondered if I should eat the manacles that were still clamped to my wrists like fancy bracelets. I’d wait and see if something better was going to come along.

Nel was having trouble fitting into the chair, her spider legs made the straight back and narrow frame to tight for her and she let out a huff of annoyance before going to stand next to Trinadelle.

“Should we consider sending someone to Kings landing for help?” I asked.

“It takes a day at most to reach Champions Fall from here. It would take much longer to get to Kings landing, let alone the time it would take to gather a force of any size and bring them back. “

“Okay, yeah. Waste of time. Why does the mayor believe the plan then?”

“Perhaps he believes that Smith will wait to attack or he thinks it will take time to gather his troops?” Trinadelle shrugged his slim shoulders. “A man will fight with a bent blade rather than his fists.”

“What?” I laughed.

Trinadelle looked at me, his sharp brows pulling together. “It is an idiom. A man will grasp at any hope…you have not heard it before?”

“Oh, it’s like the saying ‘a drowning man will clutch at a straw.’”

“I prefer mine.”

Of course, he did. It mentioned a blade.

"So you think Smith will attack right away?" I asked

"I am..unsure," I could tell the old man didn't like his own answer. "I have no idea what a man who thinks as Smith does is capable of. He may be marching his army here as we speak, or he could be dancing naked across the Bruha Plains. All I do know is he removed any element of surprise he had when he told us his plans and now has no reason to truely rush."

"So not tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. I wasn't too keen on meeting an army along the road.

"Perhaps not...but soon. Very soon."

The mayor’s return was muffled by the thick carpet and he swept into the room looking much better than before simply because he wasn’t covered in puke. His eyes could also focus better. I know because he glared at me when he saw my feet on his precious wood. I rolled my eyes but let my feet slid to the floor. My chair righted itself with a little jerk.

Nuala came in a moment later, her hair fluttering, and she slumped into a chair beside me.

“He good?” I asked her quietly.

“He’s healing. But slowly. Probably some minor gift of healing. Whether or not he is controlled by this man you keep going on about, I cannot say.”

“Now that we are prepared. Let us go over the plan again.” The mayor said, settling down at the head of the table.

Trinadelle took a seat on the other side of the table, opposite me. Twix settled in beside him as if she had always been there. I found myself both scared and intrigued by her stealth. Nel sidled up to me, one of her hands resting lightly on my shoulder as she stood behind me.

The next thirty minutes was a lesson in abject boredom. Trinadelle did most of the talking, which I was glad of, and answered all the questions the mayor and Nuala asked. The mayor, sneaky little bastard that he was, didn’t remember nearly as much as he had led us to believe and we had to fill in more gaps than we would have liked. I even had to repeat my story, but I was so tired of telling it that I kept to the bare bones of it.

Nel proved her…Broodyness..by flashing a little leg and the mayor had the grace to apologize for the way the town had treated the Denvii. Being a merchant by birth he was already thinking about future trade alliances.

My opinion didn’t change much in regards to the head honcho. He seemed okay, for the most part, a little entitled and commanding, a little sneaky and manipulative, and a little proud, but all in all not evil and malicious. I still didn’t trust him and we didn’t share our true plan.

I wondered briefly how Trinadelle would handle it once I left, especially if Twix had to come with me to add credibility to our lie, but I found I trusted him to work it out. I was starting to like the old crotchety fool. He was like a mix between Saza, Sanderson’s father, and me.

“I will need to speak to the guard captain.” The mayor said once the explanations had died down.

“Just be mindful that they could just as easily be possessed as you were,” I warned.

“Yes, though Smith had trouble with conflicting thoughts. He only managed to control me so thoroughly because I was his sole focus at the time.” The mayor shook his head sadly. “He even killed my staff.”

Oh crap, we forget to tell him about finding the bodies.

“He still managed to drop Twix and Trinadelle.” I pointed out.

“But by then I was unconscious and you said he couldn’t control De’Vraga too well.” the mayor rebutted.

“Second-guessing everyone will lead to nothing but time wasted.” Trinadelle interrupted us. “It will be best if we proceed as if Smith is far away and focused on controlling his army…but we will also be mindful that something may go wrong.”

With no better options, Twix left momentarily to get the Captain and his second, Tim…Trevor…Tony…yeah, Tony! The Captain and Tony walked into the dining room under the shadow of Pruda who followed closely behind, with Twix at his side. I was pleased to see my axe gripped loosely in the giant's fist, he had his hammer across his back.

The Captain saw me sitting there with my hands free, the broken chains of my shackles dangling from my wrists and he pulled out his sword. Trevor, crap! Tony. Tony pulled out his sword as well. Pruda raised a hand to swat them from behind but the mayor barked out a simple sentence and the guards put their weapons away, though they kept their glowers.

They were not happy when the mayor explained, in slim…almost skeletal…detail about what had happened and why I should not be killed. I noticed that he brushed over the deaths of the corrupt captain and Titus’s men rather quickly before piling on the bad news of a possible army coming this way.

The Captain of the guard seemed to swing between disbelief and dismay. His obvious loyalty to the mayor was at war with his obvious fear of invasion and or battle. Tony seemed a bit more stoic, his eyes shining with the misplaced determination of one who thinks battle is actually glorious.

Eventually, the Captain accepted that we weren’t all creating some elaborate ruse to let me, the bastard (his words), escape murder charges and fell in line. It was almost comical, the switch in personality, and I would have thought he was acting so we would let out guards down so he could stab me in the back later except for one little detail.

He lived in town with his family. He couldn’t afford not to believe us.

With a reassurance to personally see us to the gate tomorrow morning he left. Tony on his heels. That solved the first problem: The guards, and the second problem: leaving the locked downtown.

“I will have my staff…” The mayor looked around his quiet, empty, dining room at a loss as he remembered he no longer had staff. “I will have to put you up in one of the inns in the market district for the night. I will also provide you with the coin for any supplies you will need, Champion.”

I nodded.

“Will there be anything else you require?” He asked.

Something tells me Smith was going to be a boss fight.

I felt the familiar feral smile grace my face as I said. “I’m going to need metal. Good quality metal. And armor.”