33. Difference of Opinion

Haden had to take a few breaths after they left the main hall to cool himself off, standing in the heat of the midday sun.

“Kiren is an absolute nightmare,” he said. “I can’t stand him.”

“H-He’s not so bad,” Tommyn said. “He’s j-just a bit…”

“A bit of a prick?” Haden suggested.

Tommyn flashed a nervous smile. “I think he’s a good person. Just t-t-territorial.”

Haden snorted and crossed his arms. “What could he possibly have to be territorial about? I haven’t done anything to him.”

Tommyn chuckled into his hand. “Haden, you’re too clueless for your o-own good. He likes Lace.”

“Yeah, and?” Haden asked. “Even I can tell he likes Lace. What about it?”

Tommyn motioned to Haden’s body. “Well, lo-look at you. He obviously feels th-threatened.”

“What? He thinks I’ll snatch Lace out from under him? That’s absurd! I already told him I’m not interested in her.”

“K-Kiren clearly isn’t the trusting kind. He doesn’t have the same background as you or m-me. He must be used to people lying to him. Be-e-sides, he doesn’t know…”

Haden shook his head and looked out over the wall of the Lodge, at the clear blue sky beyond. “I guess I can understand that, to an extent. Doesn’t excuse him acting like an absolute pissant, though.”

“I-It doesn’t,” Tommyn said. “But he’s getting better at apologizing, right?”

“As long as he doesn’t get in the way with those Villains, I’m fine with him. We should probably head out, though, huh?”

They did just that, setting out from the Lodge by foot.

They headed over to the jail, but Captain Renalt directed them to the captain of the guard precinct in the district. Renalt didn’t actually have an eye on ongoing crime, only criminals that were awaiting sentencing or a transferral to Wailing Hill.

It had been Tommyn’s idea to help Kiren and Lace on their mission to begin with. He had taken a liking to the two of them. Of course, he was too shy to admit it, so it fell on Haden’s shoulders to serve as the middle-man.

Now that his family was being targeted, however, he was going to have to take this more seriously.

Using Renalt’s directions, they ended up at a larger guard station in South Side, within spitting distance of Sunpeak Square. The place was led by a man named Captain Gaustard. He was a corpulent man, his bulk spilling out of his comparatively minuscule chair and hitting against his desk. His cheeks were marked with rosacea, and he licked his lips every few seconds as he scribbled something down on a paper.

He didn’t look up when Haden and Tommyn entered.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of two young Heroes in my office?” Gaustard asked, allowing them just a shadow of a glance. He placed his signature on the paper and set it aside. “Well, Heroes-to-be.”

“We’re looking for information,” Haden said.

“Aren’t we all? You’ll have to be a little more specific.”

A Villain named Magpie, and another two named Hyena and Snapjaw. We’ve been tasked with hunting them down, but we lost their trail.”

“We haven’t sighted anyone by those names,” Gaustard said firmly. He looked up at them and leaned back in his chair with a low groan. The chair creaked and shifted under his weight.

“S-Still,” Tommyn said. “We thought you could maybe t-tell us, um, if any crimes have taken place in the, uh, last few h-hours.”

Gaustard sighed and stared off into space for a few moments.

“Why would this be worth my valuable time?” he asked. “You’re no proper Heroes, I can tell by a glance. I lose nothing in refusing your request.”

Haden approached the guard captain’s desk and placed a hand on the tall stack of papers on top of it. “This Magpie is planning a heist,” he said. “A big one. We want to stop him. If you give us what you have, we’ll have a better chance at that. Now, if we succeed, you can let the Heroes take care of the sentencing, have the Villains carted off to Renalt, and save yourself a whole lot of paperwork.”

Gaustard remained quiet for a second, watching Haden with silent intensity.

Then his fleshy lips broke in a wide grin.

“What a fine idea!”

He brought up another stack of papers off the floor and leafed through them with a practiced hand.

“It’s a relatively slow day,” Gaustard said. “We receive messenger reports of crime happening throughout the city. Though, as you may understand, there is a time lag of a few hours for any crime that didn’t take place immediately in this district.”

“Sure,” Haden said. “Just tell us what you can.”

“A farmer claimed his prize donkey was stolen on the way to selling it by his jealous brother,” Gaustard said. “His claim is being heard in a few days.

“A man was stabbed and killed near the outskirts of Small Miracle this morning. Hmm, let’s see…

“Ah! A smithy was robbed just a few hours ago just off Sunpeak here in South Side.”

Robbed. That sounds more like Magpie than any of these other crimes.

Only question is, why would you want to rob a smithy?

“Have you carried out an investigation into the blacksmith robbery?” Haden asked. “Is there anything more you can give us?”

“A preliminary one,” Gaustard said. He grunted. “Carried out by Guardsman Lobe, so don’t expect any stellar brainwork. He took a statement from the blacksmith, who claimed he didn’t see hide nor hair of anyone, just that he turned away for a few minutes and when he returned to work he had been robbed.”

“What was stolen?” Haden asked.

Gaustard shrugged. “Just stupid stuff, like an iron rod, a large crowbar, a spare rope, and some miscellaneous scrap.”

A crowbar. If Hyena and Snapjaw could jam that into the vault door, I bet they could pry it open.

“And you’re sure that no one saw a possible culprit?” Haden asked.

Gaustard looked at the report a little closer. “Now that you mention it, Guardsman Lobe did find some kind of feather on the anvil. Black and white. He said it might be a sign that the Unmaker has cursed the smithy.” He laughed, and his jowls quivered. “Now, wouldn’t that be something? A black and white feather sounds like something that would be left behind by this Magpie, though, no?”

“You’re absolutely right. That must be him.”

“N-No two ways about it, then,” Tommyn said. “They’re t-t-targeting the Estate.”

Haden nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get back to the others quick. I hope they’re not in trouble.”

*****

Kiren struggled to stay still, despite the infuriating, fluttering sensation working its way through him. He glanced over at Lace, but she kept her eyes fixed on the ground below.

They sat in a bedroom on the second flight of the Trodvis Winter Estate, looking through a window at the spacious yard to keep an eye out for the three Villains.

Lace sat on the edge of the massive bed on the right-hand side of the room, and Kiren sat on a chair next to her.

So far, they had seen nothing apart from a couple squirrels.

The housekeeper kept bugging them about this and that, so Kiren had locked the door with a key he had been given.

Kiren had enough bugging him already.

He found himself wanting to reach out and touch Lace’s hair, short and straight and tucked behind her ears.

Instead, he looked away.

I have to tell her. Can’t let things fester again.

“Could we talk?” Kiren asked.

Lace looked up and smiled at him. That patient smile which made his heart beat just a little bit faster. He was unable to look away. He let his gaze run over her pale countenance, her straight nose, her rosy lips. Lastly, it settled on her big, brown eyes.

He choked up. Suddenly, he didn’t know the words. His doubts flared up, and he could only see Haden and Lace dancing together before his mind’s eye, their bodies pressed close.

“Uh, nothing,” he said. He looked back out of the window. “Nothing important.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing to me,” Lace said. “You look like you sold your horse and lost the money.”

“I don’t have a horse,” Kiren muttered.

Lace smiled once more. “Just an expression.” She paused. When he didn’t say anything, she sighed. “Come on. You know you can talk to me. Is it about the fight we had? I’m really sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean for it to turn out like that.”

“No, it’s…” Kiren shook his head. “It’s not about that.” He couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze anymore. “I guess I’d just like to know what you think we are. You and me. Just friends, or… whatever. If you prefer Haden, you can tell me. I wouldn’t flip out. I just want to know where I stand in all this.”

Lace stood up off the bed, walked in front of him so he was forced to look at her, then stooped so that their faces were almost touching.

“You really are bad with women, huh?” Lace asked.

“Yeah, no shit,” Kiren said. “I’ve not exactly had much time to chase tail growing up.”

“I don’t like Haden,” Lace said firmly. “He’s just a nice guy. A friend. He could be your friend, too, if you didn’t keep things mucking up.”

Kiren blew out his cheeks. “I’ll give that a hard pass.”

“Friends or not, we all have to learn to work together. As apprentices and as Heroes. That last fight made it pretty clear that just going in hard and hoping for an easy win isn’t going to pan out.”

“Whatever.”

“Kiren. Promise me you’ll do your best.”

“Tommyn was the one who dropped the ball last time! I—”

Lace slapped him across the face. Kiren hissed and leaned back, touching his stinging cheek. “Ow.”

“Promise me!” Lace said. “Last time, Magpie let us live. He might not be so charitable a second time around. We all need to be at our best.”

“I promise,” Kiren muttered. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if it means putting up with Haden.”

Lace smiled, and Kiren’s heart fluttered. “Good.” She leaned in close, her hair tickling his cheek, her breath hot in his ear. “And, for your information…”

She paused.

“I haven’t decided what to do with you yet. Maybe, if you treat me nice, I’ll…” She trailed off.

Kiren felt a light, feathery kiss on his cheek.

Lace hurried away and sat back down on the bed. She put her face in her hands, but Kiren thought he could see a hint of a blush between her fingers.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

He’d be fine with getting slapped a hundred times if he could get that kind of treatment afterward.

He touched his cheek.

I think that’s a point for me.

Suck a dick, Haden.

*****

They met Haden and Tommyn in the foyer not long after.

Haden walked with a hurried gait, Tommyn trailing behind him.

“Have you had any trouble?” Háden asked. “Is the vault safe?”

“No sign of any Villains,” Lace said. “The Vault is safe. We checked just ten minutes ago.”

Haden nodded. “Good.”

“M-Magpie is coming here,” Tommyn said, catching up with Haden. “He robbed a blacksmith’s for tools to break open the v-vault.”

“I stand corrected, then,” Kiren said. “So, how do we defend this place?”

“We could inform Titaness of the danger,” Lace suggested. “Maybe we could convince her to omit the fact that we tipped her off. She has reason to stay in her own estate, after all. If she happens to encounter the same Villains we were looking for, well…” She shrugged.

Kiren raised his eyebrows at her. “Lace Amar, when did you learn how to break the rules?”

“Bloodhound’s judgment was unfair and uncalled for, considering what you did to stop Hulda,” Lace said. “I have no qualms deceiving him.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Haden said. “Unfortunately, my aunt is a lousy liar.”

“K-Kiren has to do it,” Tommyn said. “Anything else will undermine his c-claim to stay in the Guild.”

“Makes things a little more complicated,” Kiren sighed.

“We can think of something,” Haden said, offering Kiren an unsure clap on the arm. “Magpie is likely to make his move under cover of darkness, so let’s get someplace more comfortable and plan before then. I’ll have Vendrig whip us up something nice and refreshing.”