It was nearing sunrise when I arrived, so thankfully the streets were almost deserted. I assumed my usual place in the storeroom and decided to sleep through the day if I wouldn't be allowed peace to do so at night. I used a rag to clean myself as much as possible. I would have to do laundry soon. Once again, however, a proper rest was denied me. Digby came in with a stub of candle in his hand.

“Well, haven't you had a busy night.” his said cheerfully setting down beside me.

“Yes, and I would appreciate having a few hours of actual sleep if you don't mind.” I grumbled at him.

“Guess again, friend. I'm not paying you to lay in bed, taking up my valuable storage space. You have work to do.”

“Whatever it is, I'll see to it later. I'm in no mood to deal with more trash.”

“Not the work I was talking about. You need to make a full report of what happened last night. The enemy made their move on you much quicker than I was expecting.”

I sat up and relayed the night's events to the ridiculous little man. I knew he was a goblin, of course. I would have known that even if I had met him in Idaho. The way he moved, the way he gestured, it was just obvious. I told him about the man in the bowler hat, about Brit, about the five thugs that had tried to punch my ticket, about the chance encounter in the church, all of it. For his part, Digby nodded along, asked a few questions, and quickly stitched up my leg as I spoke. Finally, I caught up to the present.

“Satisfied? Mind if I get some sleep now?” I was getting irritable now. The night's events had really tried my patience.

“Just a few minor points we still need to go over.” said Digby, his cheerfulness really grating on my nerves. “First, do you have any idea who you just tangled with?”

“I keep telling you: No!”

“We've known for a while that this town's official government was crumbling. Now that Ganth has essentially withdrawn its aegis from this area, that much was inevitable. Garth-Morhead has largely stepped in to fill that role, but the conflicts between their interests and those of the town's inhabitants make some kind of clash a certainty.”

“What? You think bowler hat is a corporate spy? Why would he be watching an inn?”

“Inns are often centers of political discourse. He and others like him are probably watching several key areas of the town for signs of a rebellion in the works.”

“It's not as though he was a good spy. He stuck out like a sore thumb.”

“Even better. You can't be very sneaky in such a small town. Much better to work by intimidation rather than subtlety. You looked at him and he saw that you weren't afraid. That made you a threat, and he had forces on hand to deal with threats.”

“So those men at the inn work for Morhead?”

“The man you killed was a warehouse security guard. I don't know about the others, they might be on an official payroll or they might not. The good news is, no one has come forward to implicate you in the killing, so far.”

I rolled my eyes. “How gratifying. Five men tried to murder me, and I've been let off with a warning.”

“Be serious Raymond.” said Digby, suddenly shifting gears. “If you get involved with the law around here, I won't be able to keep you off the chopping block. The fact that you're a stranger here means your legal standing is all but non-existent.”

He brightened again, giving me his usual emotional whiplash. “Luckily, the guards will likely be too frightened to try anything after last night. When five attack one, they usually expect to win.”

It was nice to have a reputation as a formidable person, to an extent. But it could also attract more serious threats in the future.

“How about those Morhead bastards? They know that I'm a threat to them now. You think they'll make a move?”

“Almost certainly. An organization built on fear can't tolerate those who do not fear them. It's only a matter of when they will try again, and how. They may try to lure you into an ambush, or sic the local authorities on you, or...” he trailed off.

I waited in silence. The next bit of the conversation was obviously “or what”, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. I don't like being fed my lines.

Digby gave in. “or they might call on their allies to deal with you on their behalf.”

That possibility had, in fact, already occurred to me.

“What would I do then? The last time I dealt with one of them, I got turned into a fox.”

“I take it you haven't cracked open that book we gave you?” said Digby.

“Gee, been a little busy lately. Guess I need to catch up on homework.”

“Knowledge is power, Raymond. That's doubly true when dealing with the Fair Folk. Read the book, then read it again. If they knew you had that book, they would stop at nothing to destroy it and you.”

“Why? What's the big secret?”

“Secrets. Plural. Fae can do many things that humans cannot, but humans can also do many things that we cannot. A human armed with the knowledge of our powers and vulnerabilities is a serious threat. We wouldn't have given you that book if we weren't desperate.”

“Any idea what that “stuff” that the Seelie gave to those two might be?”

“I don't know, but the Seelie have many gifts to offer those who serve them. Most likely, it is something to make them more powerful for a time, while also making them dependent on the Seelie's continued good will. You witnessed them laying claim to another mortal. He will probably be their slave for the rest of his life.”

“Why, though? What are they actually after? Are they trying to take over the town?”

“Not in the way that humans take things over. The Fae don't bother much with claiming territory. We prefer to have influence over those in power. That way, if they turn against us, we can simply shift our support to their rivals. The Seelie certainly have plans for this town, but it is too early to guess exactly what that might look like.”

Digby left me to consider his unhelpful words. I knew I couldn't actually trusty Digby to give me the straight story, of course. For all I knew, the book I had been given was nothing more than a long propaganda leaflet intended to turn people against the Seelie Fey. My own encounters with them had left me with the impression that they were manipulative, conceited, and largely indifferent to the rights and well-being of humans. Trouble was,what I had seen of the Unseelie led me to believe they were basically the same but with a different paintjob. Come to that, humans had also made a pretty poor showing in recent events.

I lay in my bedroll and flicked through the pages of the manual, trying to scan for the kind of strategic facts that could give me an advantage the next time I ran into them. I already had a way to see through their disguises. A way to avoid being transformed by them would also be useful. Unfortunately the book was not organized by topic. Information was simply disseminated in a seemingly random fashion. The book did not have any sort of index or helpful cheat-sheet that I could find, so I eventually settled in to read the book cover to cover. Much of the writing was vague and hard to follow. I often found myself wishing I had put more points into Dark Fae.

After reading the first few chapters, I found that my initial suspicions were somewhat justified. According to the book, the Unseelie Court had arisen as a sort of resistance movement to the growing power of the Seelie Court, hence why they had chosen to define themselves purely in terms of their opposition to Seelie methods. The Seelie had discovered a set of techniques which they called Glamour, but a better term might be marketing. They had specialized in creating appealing images and experiences, and using them to ensnare and addict greedy, superficial humans. However, the Seelie were not above using straightforward theft, murder, and enslavement if it suited them to do so.

In response, the Unseelie had specialized in protecting themselves and their homes from incursions by the Seelie and their human servants. This often involved occupying places where humans were unlikely to venture, and wreathing themselves in an air of mystery and danger. This tactic was frequently enforced by killing the humans who offended them or intruded into their homes in extremely violent and sadistic ways. The Unseelie weren't painting themselves as morally upright, but they were trying to portray an image of victim-hood. It was an effective propaganda technique, but I was more interested in tactical info. What I had read so far was more like legend than historical facts. Specific, people, places, and events were few and far between.

Interestingly, in addition to the Seelie and Unseelie, there were large groups of Fae that were considered Wild, neutral in the conflict between the two courts. These were often employed as mercenaries by both sides. All relationships between the Fae were based on pacts. Friendship and family relationships were considered alien concepts. Fae could make pacts with one another, with other spirit beings, and occasionally with humans. Then I read a passage that made me wish I had a pencil so I could underline it three times.

“The Fae are free to lie, cheat, steal, and murder with no trace of guilt, but to violate a pact is simply unthinkable. Making a pact and then forcing the other party to break it is a common form of murder among Noble Fae. Most Fae pacts include a clause that allows the pact to be fulfilled in a more costly way, such as the permanent enslavement of one of the parties. Simply making a pact and then willfully breaking it would result in physical, emotional, and political ruin.”

This was as close as I had come so far to a universal weakness among the Fae. I could see why the Unseelie Queen I had met in the cave had not attempted to make any sort of bargain with me. A clever human could abuse a pact they knew about to completely ruin a Fae. I found myself wondering how many actual lawyers would be finding their way into this world, and what kind of havoc they might wreak. The Fae were used to humans with no real physical or mental defenses against them. How would they react to the new kind of humans trickling into the world?

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. I was surprised, as no one had knocked on the door of the storeroom once in the entire time I had been sleeping here. Anyone other than Digby would be driven away by the smell, and Digby himself had apparently never heard of knocking.

I slid the door open a crack. A town guard was at the door. I nearly panicked before I realized that it was Gerald, and that he was alone. I adopted what I hoped was a congenial smile.

“Ah! Good morning officer. What can I do for you?” I asked. He looked me up and down. He seemed to be in a sour mood.

“It's actually past noon, Mr. Raymond. May I come in?”

“If you don't mind the smell, be my guest.” I closed the door behind him. We seated ourselves on a pair of empty crates.

“Damn, you weren't joking about the smell. You sleep in here?” he asked.

I had to stop myself from pointing out that I had been trying to relocate. “For the time being. I don't plan on being in town for long, and Digby was kind enough to offer me shelter.”

“Have you heard about the disturbance at the inn last night?”

I shrugged. “Some kind of barroom brawl, I would guess.”

“You aren't a very good liar.” I was taken aback. I hadn't expected him to be so direct. He was right, of course. It said as much on my skills list.

“You think I had something to do with it?”

“I know you did. Several witnesses saw you go into the inn right before it happened, and they saw the other men enter and then leave. If any of them were willing to speak about the incident, you would likely be in prison and awaiting trial by now.”

“But I'm not. And if you were here to arrest me, I doubt they would have sent you alone.”

“You're right. There's no claim against you at the moment. I'm here because of the help you gave me with the break-in the other day. I'm also here because you're a stranger in our community, and you need to be aware of how things work around here.”

I rubbed at my temple. “By all means, enlighten me.”

“Being a guard is not, fundamentally, about enforcing the law. Laws are written in books, and hardly anyone in this town can read. No, what we do is to ensure peace and order. If someone is making trouble, we make the trouble stop. You helped me do that a few days ago, and last night, you did the opposite. As far as I'm concerned, you're back at zero. A clean slate.”

I remained silent, prompting him to go on.

“I'm sure you think that you had good reasons for doing what you did. You don't strike me as a violent person by nature. You just need to understand the kind of community you're in. My job is to keep the peace. That job is as much about what we don't do as it is what we do. We don't look for trouble. We don't poke a sleeping bear. You need to learn to do the same.”

I took a deep breath. “I don't think I can do that.”

“If you don't, what happened last night is going to happen again. And this time, you might not be so lucky.”

“That is probably true. What I need you to understand is that those men tried to kill me. They tried to kill me because I looked someone in the eye that everyone else was ignoring. I'm not going to spend my life staring at my boots, Gerald. If the town guards can't deal with those people, it falls to whoever else is willing.”

He sighed. I could feel the weariness in his voice. “I can understand why you'd feel that way. This town is a dangerous place, and it might not seem that the guard is doing all it should to help. But what we do is important. We make people feel safe.”

“Which people?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You're the only guard who even visits this part of town, Gerald. Do you really think that these people feel safe? This town has left them out in the cold. Now you tell me that there are certain people you aren't willing to tangle with at all. They're the ones you're really keeping safe.”

He was getting really angry now. “We do what we can with a bad situation. If it weren't for us, this town would be in total anarchy. You've been here maybe a week, and you feel that you are in a position to judge us?

“I know that there are people in this town who employ private henchman who, on a moment's notice, can be called upon to harass, intimidate, or even murder anyone who they choose. The town guards not only do nothing about this, they can even be called upon to assist the guilty against the innocent. So yes, I feel fully qualified to judge your fellow guards to be a worthless pack of honorless cowards, and I will continue to do so until I am proven wrong.”

He was seething now, which I chose to interpret as tacit agreement. “If we actually did as you have said, we would be wiped out, and the common people would have no one to protect them.”

“They would be no worse off then they are now, then. You see, I have a suspicion. The reason you're not arresting me has nothing to do with “claims” or “evidence”. Those are just words written in books, after all. The real reason is that I am now one of those special people that your organization is too chickenshit to confront. I'm one of the bears that you aren't willing to poke. You'll stand by and watch Garth-Morhead, or whoever the hell it is, take me down on their own. Put simply, I'm out of your league. Am I wrong?”

He glared at me. I could tell that a part of him was glad I would soon be chewed up by Garth-Morhead's machine. “Move on. That's my advice. Get what you came for, and get lost. You don't belong here. Anyone can see that. Keep making trouble, and eventually it will catch up to you. That's all I came to say.” He turned and went back out into the street.

“Thank you for your advice.” I called as I slid the door closed.

I meant it. I knew he was trying to make the best of a bad situation. Someone with all my advantages shouldn't judge someone without them so harshly. The fact remained though, that he needed to understand that the way the town guards did things was unjust, unwise, and would eventually lead to disaster. He might be the one person in authority around here with enough brains and guts to do some actual good.

I rested for a while longer, then headed out into the street. The sun was already on its way down, and it looked as though it had been snowing earlier, while I had been in bed. I had already squandered the better part of the day, so I had little expectation of accomplishing anything worthwhile. I needed to improve my knowledge of the town and its inhabitants, now that I was more or less committed to entangling myself in its intrigues. But what I really wanted to do was test out one of the new skill specializations I had just picked up. According to the description, “Talent Scout” would allow me to sense what other people were good at. Even if I had no other ability than that one, I could earn a decent living off of that skill alone in the right environment. With that in mind, I decided to peruse the poorer section of town and do bit of people watching.

Initially, I had no success, but this only proved that practice and experimentation were necessary to get the most out my abilities. Nothing leaped out out at me as I walked past the crowd of people milling about their daily lives. Occasionally I would spot someone and catch a glimpse of their importance, their potential, in the way they walked, or spoke, or just the lines in their face. I soon found that no matter who I looked at, if I observed them for a moment or so, I would catch a faint notion that they were somehow noteworthy, important, no matter their present occupation. I saw an elderly woman with a bulbous nose tending to a chicken coop, and saw something of her enduring strength and inner warmth. I saw a blind man with a long gray beard tapping his way along, and for an instant I thought I caught a glimpse of deep thoughts moving behind his eyes, like whales moving beneath a calm sea. I was more certain than ever that each person in this town was unique and worthy, and as different from one another as they were from me. However, I knew there had to be a way to get more specific information out of my ability. I changed my approach.

The ability was called Talent Scout, so I decided to take on the role of a talent scout. I decided to look at each person I passed, and try to imagine them singing. Actually listening to people's voices or asking them to sing for me would be cheating, obviously. I wanted to be able to spot talent by sight alone. This approach proved a success. I found that if looked at someone with a specific question about their abilities in mind, the answer suddenly seemed obvious. I passed dozens of people, and out of them I found six who had a reasonable degree of vocal ability. Most people could sing well enough for most purposes, although they would never earn a living that way. I did find it odd how many people I encountered who were simply awful. It seemed that Dogberry Lane in particular had an overall very low level of musical ability.

I tried combat ability next. Each person I looked at, I tried to imagine how they would handle themselves in a fight. Again, I could make a reasonable guess at their potential in that area almost immediately. I had no way of actually testing my conclusions, which bothered me, especially when I kept spotting people that seemed quite physically frail, but my mind insisted to me that they were dangerous combatants. I spotted three such individuals at work repairing a roof. To look at them, they seemed too old and thin to manage, but they working merrily away in font of me. They didn't even seem tired. They all seemed conspicuously unkempt, as well, and many had physical deformities or odd physical quirks. Their eyes would seem too small, or their facial hair would be patchy and uneven, or their would be a odd rhythm in the way they moved their limbs. A suspicion formed in my mind, and I imagined them each trying to sing. They were all awful. Terrible even. Now the pattern had been established, I remembered over a dozen other people in the area with the same combination of traits: High combat ability, thin limbs, awful singing, unusually unappealing appearance. When I was certain no one was looking at me, I pulled out the Serpent's Egg and snuck a peek.

Goblins. They were all goblins. A third or maybe a half of the inhabitants of Dogberry Lane were goblins. Now that I had the profile, I hardly needed the magic rock. There were dozens of them in town, all over the poorer section of the community. This town had a secret diaspora of the dark fae. And Digby had not thought that this was something I, as an ally, ought to know. Why? And how many of the human inhabitants were aware that so many of their friends and neighbors were inhuman immortals with teeth like sharks and skin like alligator shoes? How would they react if they found out? I needed to have another word with Digby.