Ian awoke to gentle shaking from Ban. The carriage pulled up to a modest homestead in a long row of similar houses. The safe house was a mere stone’s throw away from the black wall that ringed the city. From this distance, Ian could make out the size of each carved block. The Great Pyramid of Giza had nothing on these mammoth slabs of rock. And again, the image of a wizard humming and waving a wand to move each block into place came to mind.

Ban paid the carriage driver while Ian helped Mal down the single step. The group waited until the vehicle was completely out of sight before approaching a knee-level wrought iron fence. There were two wide bay windows in front which gave an excellent view into the home when the curtains were open, as they were now. Ian admired the open design and the cleverness of a safe house. It was unassuming and bland. It reminded him of how they picked them back in D.C.

Ban pushed open the gate and held it as the others walked up the narrow path leading to the front door. After pulling a key from his jacket and unlocking the front door Ban leaned inside the doorway and tapped something on the inside wall. A faint hum emanated from inside and then suddenly faded. The door swung the rest of the way open and the minotaur stepped inside, welcoming his guests with a wave of his arm.

“Make yourselves comfortable, but please remove your shoes first,” Ban requested. Ban pulled his hammer from its clasp and hung it on a wall hook before picking up a small brush. He stepped outside and used the brush to clean out his hooves as Ian and Vale went in.

They pulled off their shoes and set them down by the door. The house was immaculate but very minimalist in furniture and decoration. From the sitting area, which was comprised of a few cushions around a low sitting platform-table, Ian could see into the kitchen. In the other direction, a tall wooden divider separated another space. Ian could make out the edge of a dresser with a mirror atop it. Probably the sleeping area, he thought. There was only one interior door in the whole house, which led to the bathroom.

Ian flumped down on a cushion in the living area. Vale joined him, getting comfortable while they waited for Ban to return. Ian allowed his head to hang down as he breathed a sigh of relief at the first relative safety he’d felt all day. The angle gave him a good view of his wolf-blood soaked clothes and hands. He knew that he’d need to get himself cleaned up, but first, he needed a moment to simply be still.

After Mal had a look around, he padded over to lay by the hearth in the corner, walking a circle before settling to face Vale. The strain of the day and his healing had finally caught up with the mighty wolf and he fell into a deep sleep.

Ban came in and went to the kitchen, “I’m going to make tea. Any takers?”

“Yes,” Ian and Vale chorused.

Shortly the stout minotaur came into the living space with a tray of steaming aromatic mugs. The pleasant scent made Ian’s nose twitch. Ban placed the tray on the table before seating himself in a kneeling position on a free cushion.

“I imagine you’ll want to know more about the Court,” Ban began. “Sadly, I don’t have much information to give, but I will share what I know. I infiltrated the Justiciar Law at the behest of the Order of Brass some time ago, trying to get some information on their dealings and ties to the Court. According to my contacts, the Court is attempting something that could change the world as we know it, and not for the better. But they are so fiercely secretive that I have gleaned no viable confirmation or details of their plot. And almost nothing in the law office leads me to believe they have ties to the Court. I was going to leave once my current cases were wrapped up. Aside from what you have already learned yourselves, that is all I know. I have worked with neither client nor colleague who could divulge anything further. Not a very successful reconnaissance mission, I know. Your meeting with the Partner, Dakon DeBarro, is the biggest development I’ve had. Or it was until tonight’s attacks and attempted abduction of Ian.”

“And what makes you think they were trying to abduct him?” Vale asked, arching an eyebrow.

“The Stunners,” Ban supplied succinctly.

“Ah. Yes, that is a logical conclusion,” Vale said after a pause.

“Ian being from another realm makes me think that the Court is attempting to expand their reach beyond Paragore,” Ban said as he sipped at his tea. “We cannot allow that to happen, who knows what sorts of destruction that would bring about. The easiest solution to all of this would be to get Ian back home, far from their clutches, would it not?”

Ian balked at the question. “That is exactly what we were trying to do when we went to Justiciar Law this morning. We were after information on St-”

“Ehrm!” Vale cleared her throat loudly, cutting Ian off, “We had that idea already, and I agree that getting Ian home is our most important goal. But, it would be best to discuss our options. Our original plan hinged on access to the law offices, and we cannot go back there. Those men we fought were members of the Court, and the only one who knew where we were staying was Dakon. It is not a great leap to assume that he is either a member of, or works for, the Court.”

“I expect you’ll divulge what you were looking for when you are certain that you can trust me,” Ban said with a sigh. “Granted, we did just fight for our lives and leave quite a mess in our wake.” Surprisingly there was no anger in the minotaur’s voice, merely a sense of acceptance.

Vale had expected a burst of outrage in line with her experiences with minotaur, but when none came she relaxed. Her hand moving from behind her back to her lap. Ian noticed the movement and gave her a quizzical look, while Ban diplomatically pretended not to have noticed it.

“What about the area where you awoke, Ian?” Vale asked, diverting the conversation away from the Court and their mission. “You mentioned strange lights leading you out of the cave. Perhaps that warrants some investigation? Do you have any magical Sisters or Brothers nearby we could use?” She could not divulge any information about The Seer’s involvement and certainly not the Chart’s, they were not technically legal to possess. There would be severe backlash if word got out, even if Ban had only the best of intentions. “I am afraid that I have none suitable to call upon.”

“What? Yes, you do,” Ian blurted out.

“I did not say that I have no contacts with magical knowledge, Ian," Vale said, turning her gaze on him, “I said none were suitable. The one to whom you would refer is quite far from suitable, I assure you.”

Ian gave Vale a look that said, we’ll talk later but kept his mouth shut.

“I have a friend that could help. He won’t want to, but he’ll do it,” Ban said with a broad smile. “We’ll go and collect him from the Bazaar tomorrow, he practically lives there. For now, let’s get some rest and we’ll make a plan in the morning.” A yawn pried itself free from the minotaur as if to emphasize the point.

The group spent the next few minutes drinking their tea, in comfortable silence. Ian took it upon himself to make a dish of water for Mal, which brought a rare smile to the elf’s lips. Ian smiled back with as much charm as his tired muscles would allow. Ban finished his tea and got up. He walked behind the divider that hid the bed from the windows, coming back with an armful of blankets and pillows.

“I’m afraid there are no spare beds, but please make yourselves comfortable,” Ban said, then tossed the pile near the hearth. The floof of wind kicked up by the pile disturbed Mal’s slumber. The lupine looked to Ban then to the pile. He dragged himself forward and let his head land heavily on the blankets. Once again fast asleep.

“He is right to sleep soundly,” Ban said with a smirk. “The Order of Brass safeguards this home with simple but effective illusion magic. To any prying, or scrying eyes, we will appear as an unremarkable family of dwarves. A precautionary measure for my undercover mission at the law firm. The illusion will stand until I am reassigned, so enjoy it now. We will not have such luxuries on our journey.”

A heavy flop onto the bed was the last sound to come from the bedroom, leaving Ian and Vale in relative quiet. Ian rose and trekked to the bathroom. The blood on his shirt was all but dried, so he stripped it off to wash in the sink as best he was able. Once that task was out-of-the-way he located a washcloth and wiped off all the sweat and blood that he could see.

A few minutes later he emerged from the bathroom shirtless, leaving the soaking garment on the side of the tub to dry. He cast a glance around to find a rearranged pile of cushions with Mal taking up a vast majority of them. The wolf had moved from his spot by the hearth to the more comfortable nest of fluff, and to be by his companion.

Vale fluffed a cushion under Mal’s healed leg before slipping past Ian into the bathroom. Ian pulled the curtains across the window, blocking out the blue glow from the street lights. He couldn’t quite bring himself to push Mal aside, so he laid out on the floor, his head resting on the edge of a pillow. He could have slept on concrete at this point. He closed his eyes, only half hearing Vale coming back to the living area. She collapsed in the heap of bedding between Ian and Mal, whispering to her lupine in Elvish.

“Thank you for helping him today,” Vale said sleepily.

“I would do the same for any of my friends,” Ian said as a yawn fought its way out. “Besides, he helped me more than I helped him.

“We aren’t supposed to mention the umm… other mission?” Ian floundered after his tired mind refused to help him delicately phrase the question.

“No, not at all. I should’ve mentioned it before now but the elven involvement outside of myself should be kept a secret. Especially the object in question. They are rare, coveted, and highly dangerous, in fact in some nations they are outright outlawed. Now get some rest; we have a long day tomorrow,” Vale whispered back.

Ian felt a blanket settled over himself and cracked open an eye to see Vale sleeping next to him. He was too tired to consider if that meant anything, he was pretty sure it didn’t. After all, she was over ten times his age. For the first time since his arrival in this crazy world, he truly relaxed. She was safe, and he was safe. The rest they could figure out tomorrow. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.