“A bandit group organised enough to penetrate the Tower’s defences?” Rince said, surprised. “Certainly sounds interesting. They trust us to just hand them back their artefacts?”

“The artefacts are mostly trinkets, and a few are more dangerous to the user than anyone else.” Frejr explained. “Besides, you’d need quite the collector to sell it for any reasonable price, and the Tower would be looking for you. Not the kind of pressure one person can take.”

“I guess so.” Rince noted. “They’d probably declare open season on us.” He shook his head. “Do we know where they are? Or do we have some kind of lead we can use?”

“A rough estimate.” Frejr said wryly. “There’s a cave system northeast of here, isolated and easily defended, it makes a good place for them to hide away from the Tower.”

“I won’t be much good in caves.” Numen said with a frown. “I suppose I could try melee ambushes, but it’ll be tough. I don’t suppose anyone has mapped out the inside of it before?” she mused, looking between us. “I guess not.” She said with a shrug.

“What should we prepare before we go?” I asked. From what Frejr said I would expect a myriad of interconnected caves. I’ve never been a spelunking type of person, so this would be my first experience, I’m sure the guano will make it quite interesting.

“I would think a few ropes would be useful.” Azarint said, “Normally I’d suggest pitons and the like, but we’re not exploring the caves, only going where they’ve gone. I doubt they’d put in climbs, to spare those in heavy armour at the least. Torches might help if their light doesn’t give us away, a thieves’ lantern perhaps?”

“A thieves’ lantern?” Qent asked, slightly incredulous. “What’s that?”

Azarint laughed. “It’s a term the guards use for lanterns that were made to shine in one direction, some thieves would buy those kinds of lanterns, fix a hood to it, and use it while searching around in houses. It made for less light seen from the outside, though the many who tried to emulate the method quickly learned it was not a crutch.”

Frejr shrugged, leaving it to our discretion. “The cave walls will likely be narrow, so don’t use any weapons that might catch on them. A mistake like that will kill you.”

Well I have the pick, the sword should be short enough that half-swording it will do fine in a pinch. I assume Frejr has her own short weapon stored away somewhere.

Azarint roped Numen away with him, to prepare what we would need for the coming expedition. “You know, it would be nice if we had a place to store all this equipment, have it ready for whenever we need it.” Rince remarked. “It’s probably a lot of money though.” He noted ruefully.

“We’d need infrastructure in many different cities.” I noted. “We do have a building back in Torven, but honestly it feels strange how we were accepted so easily.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Rince said. “It’s too quick, like it was rehearsed or staged. Something’s also up with the Republic. According to a lot of people they’ve been really active lately, moving all sorts of goods around their domain. I can’t shake the feeling like there’s something more.”

I could have told him about the conjecture regarding the Republic and the other kingdoms, but that would be idle gossip. I’m fairly certain he’s heard about the others swearing fealty to them already. I don’t think it will really affect us. I thought. Though I may just be optimistic, or wilfully blind.

Rince brought the rest of us to the inn where they had been staying. I and Frejr paid for the two rooms we’d be using, and I went for a walk outside. The buildings here were less crowded, there was a method to how they were laid out, a plan. Thanks to that it was less of a maze than the other cities, a welcome change I never realized I’d missed.

I removed a piece of wood from the waste the woodcutters had thrown out, walking off with it back to the inn. As I entered I found Rince at the bottom floor, he waved me down. “Hey, we haven’t really talked before.” He waved me to a table at the corner of the room, asking for two beers before I could react. My hand twitched up for a brief moment, then I let it fall. What the heck. I shrugged.

“So tell me about yourself.” He said. I looked at him for a moment, having barely sat down. “Right, my name’s Rince. I’m from a little to the east of Torven, small village, you’ll probably never have heard of it.” He paused. “I… learned to fight with the spear, there was a wyvern attack. A pair, hardly ever even heard of, I joined the irregulars who went to fight it, and never left.”

His tone had gone from jovial to demure over the course of his explanation, the atmosphere was a little oppressive now. “My name is Kael. I was once part of a military, now no longer. I helped out in Soren for several years, then the gnoll attacks happened. Frejr and the others asked me to join this, because of my ability as a Sensitive.”

“Oh, you’re a Sensitive?” Rince said, thinking to himself. “They didn’t really tell me about that, some of them were talking about your skill in a fight. Frejr said that your armour makes you very versatile. Sorry, I’m just kind of curious what you thought was the reason you got chosen.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry.” He paused. “What do you think about the others? Like Frejr and Qent.”

The drinks arrived at the table and Rince took a nice long sip at it. I looked at mine, thinking for a moment, then wet my lips on it. It didn’t seem like he’d let me go without answering unless I was a brusque bastard. “Frejr takes her job seriously, she’s experienced and in a fight she’ll keep everyone safe to her best abilities. I think if Qent was being seriously threatened she’d prioritize him first.”

He nodded, still listening.

“Qent is skilled, but he’s still unused to corpses, and what his magic does to people.” I sighed. “At least he won’t see them up close unless he comes down. He’ll get over it in time, but it’s sad that one must become used to such carnage.”

“What about Azarint?” He said, cocking his head.

“Azarint seems dependable, but I don’t know him very well, since I didn’t travel with him at all.” I looked to him. “You know him better than I. Care to tell me about him yourself?” I said, glad to shift the focus from me for a while, though he didn’t seem to be paying attention to what I’d said anyway. He’s fishing for something. I thought to myself. Life would be easier if he just said it.

“Well, he’s a nice guy, pretty professional, and relaxed.” Fairly certain those words don’t go together that well. “He knows his stuff too, taught me a lot about the spear, and gave me pointers on ambushing and fighting in different surroundings.” He said. “So yeah, he’s a pretty nice guy. Uh, what’d you think about Numen?” He asked, trying to catch my eyes, though his own slid away prior to contact.

What was this about? I thought, arching an eyebrow slightly involuntarily. I pulled it back before he saw it, he probably wouldn’t enjoy the scrutiny.

[Curious, he’s nervous about your answer to the question.] Page noted. [You already have a hypothesis don’t you?]

“Numen is a skilled tracker and archer.” I said. “Her stealth also lets her scout ahead. She’s keen on the idea of being an irregular, kind as well. I’m not sure, but I think her social skills outside people like us is hampered somewhat, I don’t know why.” I picked up the drink and took another sip.

During this exchange he paid rapt attention to me, sitting forward slightly. Time to test the waters. “You like her.” I said bluntly.

[Wow. Yeah, that’ll test it.] Page remarked. [Have to say I wasn’t expecting that.]

His eyes grew a little wide, and he looked trapped, caged for a second. His face flickered over several emotions, then he settled for a resigned nod. “Obvious?” He asked. I looked at him for a moment, then nodded. May as well be honest. “So what about you?” He asked, looking up to me, managing to find my eyes this time.

“I have someone already.” I replied. Even if I can’t remember her face or her name. A brief memory held me, when I watched her come into the library, she turned to spot me, I think she smiled, but I don’t know. It was before we went out, when we were still just friends, nothing else. A pang of melancholy struck me. Rince must have seen it on my face. He stared into his drink.

“Sorry.” He said. I looked at him curiously. “For bringing up bad memories.” He continued, looking up at me a moment. We sat there in silence, me nursing my drink as I thought of her, and Rince taking quick sips to try and finish up, occasionally seeming to squirm in his seat.

“You were worried about me sharing the room with her weren’t you?” I realized, taking a bit more of the drink. “It saves money, and I’ve worked with her for a while, it’s something we’ve done often. If you want I’ll talk about switching next time.” I continued, then paused. “Hmm, better not, would be suspicious. Besides, can we trust you and her together?” I said, smiling wryly. He coughed.

Better not tell him I thought she was a man then. I thought to myself. It doesn’t matter either way, but it’d give him some unnecessary anxiety. I finished my drink, and went upstairs. We ate the meat paste for dinner. I imagine the taste would grate on me after several weeks.

Once Numen fell asleep I spent part of the night carving the wood by moonlight. I fixed the image of her in my mind, tentative, scanning the room to find me. She wore a skirt, down to her knees, that I tentatively tried carving out, leaving out the pattern it had held. A short-sleeved shirt, it had been a fairly hot day. Her posture, I just about remembered, twisting the carving to flesh out each part. Her hair caught in that one motion, shifting with her.

I sighed, sanding at the parts with a strip of the Liaen. No face, I’d given up on being frustrated, I used to say it’s harder to be disappointed if you don’t have expectations, here the phrase bitterly echoed in my mind. Standing as she did, hand brought to her face, it was one of the most solid reminders I had that spoke of where I’d come from. I set it down on the desk, turning away to sleep.

I opened my eyes to see Numen standing at the desk, leaning down to view the carving. I swung myself into sitting position, and she turned to look at me. “Who is she?” She asked, gesturing with her head to the carving. “I’ve never had the chance to see any of your carvings up close.”

[That’s pretty fair, considering that you burned all the others after a few days.] Page remarked a little sardonically. I rolled my eyes at it internally. [It’s not like I’m lying am I? I don’t really even understand why you do it.]

“It’s… someone from home.” I said. It was hard to call her my girlfriend, was she still that now? A pang of sadness struck as I wondered how she was coping. Maybe it’d be better if she wasn’t anymore. Will I ever return?