It was a restless night for Starfall. While Liza and company were infiltrating the lord’s manor, all the earl’s guards were rushing towards the Thegass noble estate. They created a safety net, surrounding it from all sides.

Inside the house, Weasley Thegass came out of his room wearing a loose robe over his naked body. He looked around and saw his guards scurrying about with nervous expressions on their faces.

“Emef! What’s going on?” he shouted.

Emef was on the first floor talking to one of his subordinates when he heard the call. He couldn’t help but frown. After giving his last instructions to the man, he sent him away in a hurry. Knowing he’d have to deal with his young master next, he stretched his neck and let out a long sigh.

“You called, young master?”

“Yes! What’s going on? Why is everyone running around?”

“We’ve got an intruder sir, but she’s nowhere to be found.”

“What? An assassin?” asked a frightened Weasley.

“Probably not, don’t worry. She’s one of the fugitives the earl is looking for, though I’ve no idea why she barged into here. The earl is going to show up soon and since we can’t find her anywhere this is going to be a headache.”

Relaxing visibly, Weasley strutted out. “You deal with this, I’m going to get something to drink. Also, get rid of the trash that’s on my bed.”

Holding back many expletives, Emef walked into the bedroom. A young, average looking woman was sprawled on the bed. Her body was covered with purple marks and her neck was bright red. She was beaten and strangled to death. Emef shook his head and stood there, pondering.

“Maids!”

Two women hurried into the room and gasped. They lowered their heads, making a curtsy with their trembling hands. “You called us, mister Emef?”

“Get that woman cleaned and dressed in man’s travel clothing. Do it with haste. Later tell her family I’ll need to see them in two days.”

“Yes milord.”

-

Somewhere else, in one of the many backstreets of Starfall, two men in their undergarments woke up with an acute pain on their heads.

“Aarrghhh, my eye! MY EYE!”

“Urgh, what’s going on? What happened? My head hurts.”

It wasn’t easy for Bret and Carl to calm down, especially Bret who was now one-eyed. Eventually they managed to simmer down just enough to ponder about their situation.

“I can’t believe it! We had him! We fucking had him! Then, out of the blue, that fucking thing explodes, and I lose my eye! My fucking eye, man!”

In anger, Bret tried to kick a pebble, but missed due to his now out of whack depth of perception, which left him even angrier.

“Bret, they took our uniform and our armor, we’re done for! Forget your eye, we’re going to lose our heads!”

Carl’s outburst was like pouring a bucket of cold water on top of Bret’s head. He was furious about losing one eye, but that was nothing compared to losing his life, which was a sure thing after this mishap. He started walking back and forth, hand on his chin, thinking furiously.

“What are we going to do Bret? What about my wife and kid? They can’t survive on their own! My child is just a little tyke, how is he gonna grow up without his da?”

“Shut up! Let me think!”

“If we make out of this alive I’m quitting! I’ll move to Kelna with my family and become a farmer. My wife’s folks live there, I’m sure she will be happy to return home. I’m telling you Bret, I’m done being a soldier, I don’t care what the cap’n says,” murmured Carl.

“That’s it Carl! Didn’t you save the captain’s life on more than one occasion?”

“Yeah, we’ve been through some close ones when dealing with smugglers and black-market traders.”

“Great! It’s about time you collected that debt!”

-

Emef was waiting outside the entrance to the Thegass residence with two of his men. Inwards he was cursing the useless son of his liege that couldn’t be bothered to play his role and never did anything right. He silently waited the earl’s arrival, going over how he would deal with the situation on his head.

On the streets all around the house were several of the earl’s soldiers, all waiting to pounce in case the fugitive managed to get away. One of them was the third captain of the earl’s guards, a grey-haired man named Vimez, who was approached by a kid from the slums.

“Hum? What are you doing out during curfew kid? Go home, stay out of trouble!”

“Wait mister, there’re two men on that alleyway saying they want to talk to you!”

Vimez narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Are you trying to lead me to an ambush pipsqueak? Should I let you spend some time locked up?”

“No, I swear! They said they’re guards just like you, Carl and Bret be their names! You got to believe me mister!”

Furrowing his eyebrows, Vimez agreed and followed the kid to the alleyway where he met two poorly dressed men, their faces swollen to twice the normal size.

“Good lord, what’s this? Is that really you Carl? And is that Bret, the bastard? Did you lose an eye? Why are you in your underwear?”

“Cap’n we were ambushed! Fucker got my eye and they took our stuff! It was one of the men the earl is looking for.”

“What? We’ve got to report that right away!”

Carl rushed past Vimez and blocked the way, preventing him from leaving. He grabbed the captain by the shoulders, tears falling from his eyes.

“Cap’n if you report this right now we’re done for! The earl is going to send us to the gallows by the end of the night! We already screwed up once and this one was big. Come on cap’n, I’ve saved your life twice before, help me out here! I need to take care of my wife and kid! I can’t die!”

Vimez was visibly shaken by the plea. Carl had indeed saved his life in other occasions and he could clearly see how desperate the man was. He knew the earl wouldn’t let this mistake slide.

“Think about it cap’n, it won’t matter if you delay the report for a bit. We’ve been knocked out for who knows how long; the fugitives probably used the uniform for what they wanted already. If they didn’t use them by now it means they’ll use them tomorrow at the earliest, so it won’t matter if you delay the report for some time,” said Bret.

The captain’s face twisted as he struggled with what decision to make. On one side there was his sense of duty, on the other his affection and gratitude towards the companion who saved his life. Finally, he couldn’t bear to watch the sobbing Carl who wouldn’t shut up about “his little tyke” and gave in.

“Argh, all right! Only because it’s you Carl! Come on, let’s go to the armory. I’ll distract the quartermaster, then you two can sneak in and get what you need.”

“Thank you, captain! You’re saving my life! My kid won’t grow up without his da!”

“Don’t thank me yet, I still need to find a way to make the whole story stick. While we’re at it, you two better find some thugs to fight and arrest too, we need to explain your wounds somehow.”

“Brilliant idea cap’n! One can easily see how you got your post with such smarts!”

“Stop sucking my balls Bret. You’re lucky Carl was with you, otherwise I wouldn’t mind seeing you hang.”

“Ouch, that’s just harsh cap’n.”

-

The armory of Starfall was situated on the soldier’s barracks and was managed by a man named Barnes. It was his job to keep tabs on how many sets of armor and weapons they had, which units received them and all other logistics and miscellaneous tasks regarding the soldier’s equipment.

It was a quiet night for the quartermaster Barnes, like most nights were. He was playing cards under candlelight with his two assistants and was feeling jubilant because he finally had a good hand. He was sure he would be able to make back all the money he’d lost tonight and perhaps earn some. He was about to lay his trap when a grey-haired man entered the room bellowing.

“BARNES! I’ve heard that you’re giving premium equipment to the first unit and leaving my third unit with only the scraps! How dare you!”

With amazing vigor, Vimez grabbed Barnes by the cuff and tossed him on the floor where he pinned the man down. He balled his hands into a fist and prepared to swing them, but was held back by the two assistants. In truth they weren’t strong enough to stop him, but it served his pretence well, since he wasn’t actually trying to punch the poor man. Amidst the confusion, Carl and Bret snuck inside the armory and hastily grabbed what they needed before disappearing.

Moments later, after much explanation, apologies and some coin for good measure, the situation was resolved, with none the wiser about the truth of the matter. With his debt repaid, Vimez conscience was somewhat alleviated, though the fact he didn’t make a report still bothered him.

[Why would someone take the guards uniforms? Where would they grant you an advantage? The gates won’t open at night, no matter if you’re a guard or not. That leaves only the barracks and the lord’s manor.]

Having made his decision, Vimez began a thorough search throughout the barracks, looking for anyone he didn’t recognize or that were acting suspicious. Not having discovered anything unusual, he moved to the lord’s mansion to do the same. That was when he bumped into a sickly maid, her face completely pale and her legs unsteady.

“What happened to you miss? Are you ok?”

Hearing his words, the pale maid glazed eyes focused. “Oh, you’re captain Vimez, correct? I saw two guards acting suspiciously and then there was that noxious smell, and then…”

After speaking up to that point her eyes popped. She quickly clamped her hands against her mouth and took deep breaths through her nose. It seemed that whatever she was remembering made her want to puke. In contrast, Vimez eyes were now shining deeply.

[Good! She saw something! Now I don’t need to explain how I know the fugitives were dressed as guards! Consider my debt to you paid in full Carl!]

“Get a hold of yourself miss and show me were you saw them!”

-

At this time the earl Frederick Hampshire was arriving at the Thegass residence. He pulled his barrel shaped body out of the carriage and walked till he was face to face with a blond-haired young man.

“Greetings Earl Frederick, welcome to the Thegass’s humble abode.”

“You’re knight Emef, if I’m not mistaken. I’ll be blunt, did you catch her?”

“We did. Unfortunately, she was killed during the confrontation. Bring out the body men!”

The earl’s eye twitched but he said nothing. Soon he was presented with the body of a young woman wearing man’s clothes and donning a cape. Her body was slashed in multiple locations and there was an especially nasty gash on her neck. He couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t match any of the description his soldiers gave him.

“It’s of my understanding that she was caring a serpent monster with her. Where is it?”

“She had nothing of the sort,” replied Emef promptly.

Controlling his breathing with much difficulty, earl Frederick decided to change his strategy. “Would you mind letting one of my captains search the premises, knight Emef? I know the culprit has been put to death already, it would be more of a formality, really.”

“Why, not at all Earl! I’ll be happy to accompany your man in a tour of the house. I don’t even mind waiting here while he procures a welcoming gift as per tradition, of course,” said Emef with a broad smile.

“Very well! He’ll be back soon with a gift! I hope he’s received with all the care and attention, as per tradition…”

Fuming, the earl turned around and walked back to his carriage, slamming the door as he got in. Waiting inside was his daughter, who shot him a questioning glance.

“That knave! Why wasn’t I received by the viscount’s brat? He’s so much easier to deal with!”

“Calm yourself papa, tell me what you’ve learned.”

-

A couple days later the gates were opened, and the city finally regained its normalcy. Many guards could be seen riding away from the city to search the surrounding plains and villages, as per the lord’s order. Amongst them was Bret who accompanied a small family of three.

“I can’t believe you resigned,” said Bret, adjusting his eyepatch.

“I told you I would. Too many close calls recently, I couldn’t keep going like that. I need to be there for my family. That’s why we’re moving to Kelna, a small, peaceful farming village where I don’t need to be scared of being knifed in the dark.”

Hearing this, his wife smiled and squeeze his hand. Right now, she was feeling as happy as she could be.