Brynne

Brynne let out a contented sigh, deciding to take a few more minutes to relax before getting out of bed. A bed, how long has it been since I actually slept on a real bed. Not since our last night in Kakren. She realized.

There was a point in her life when she hardly would have called what she was lying in a bed, but now this lumpy thing was a luxury beyond. They had spent a good portion of their remaining coin to stay in the inn, even though it was the cheapest they could find in the southern quarter. Apparently, there wasn’t a lot of space in the city and the prices had gone up. Brynne almost didn’t care about the expense because last night was the best sleep she had gotten in months.

Eventually, she decided she couldn’t laze around any longer, and she began to ready herself for the day. She pulled on a plain shirt and trousers over her shift and topped off her look with the cloak she had been using the night before. She hated to meet with her family in such plain clothing, but it couldn’t be helped.

Brynne exited her room and walked down the stairs where she found Terk sitting at a table in the corner of the common room, a fair distance from any other table in the room. A plate was sitting in front of him with only a few scraps of food left on it. She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with him.

“So, you finally decided to get up?” Terk said with a grin.

Brynne only gave a beaming smile in response.

“You’re looking a lot better today.” Terk said as he speared a final piece of sausage with his fork. “I have to admit you had me worried last night. You didn’t look well.”

“Let’s just say I’m happy that this is almost over.” Brynne replied. “Where’s Ainsley?”

“He got up early and said he would go out to get the news from around the city. It always pays to listen to the local rumors.”

Brynne nodded, this kind of information gathering had saved them several times during their journey to Spectralia. She eyed the Terk’s plate for a moment before speaking once again.

“Is there any more where that came from or are you going to keep it all to yourself like Ainsley would?”

“I would never!” Terk said in mock outrage. He waved at one of the servers, and she disappeared into the kitchen only to quickly reappear with a heaping plate of food.

“I made sure to have a warm plate set aside, just in case you decided to get out of bed today.”

“Thanks, Terk!” Brynne said, quickly helping herself to the eggs and sausage on the plate. The food was amazing. She hadn’t expected much because of how cheap the inn had been, but as she realized that it wasn’t the food that was good, it was just the fact she hadn’t had a real meal in so long that even greasy sausages and overcooked eggs seemed like a feast.

Halfway through her meal the door to the inn opened and Ainsley walked in with a grim expression and sat himself at their table.

“What is it?” Terk asked. “Did someone learn that we entered the city?”

“No,” Ainsley replied. “This is much worse.”

What could be worse than that? Brynne thought, the bad feeling from the night before returning with a vengeance.

“The bounty on our heads. It was put out by house Deserrow.”

“That’s impossible!” Brynne shouted out, then continued more quietly when the inn’s other patrons glanced their way. “Why would my family want to kill us. That makes no sense.”

Ainsley shook his head. “I don’t know why. They’re trying to hide it, but it’s definitely the Deserrow family. I asked around about where to collect on the bounty on our heads and nearly all the locations are affiliated with the Deserrow house in some way. Anyone who hasn’t worked for the family probably wouldn’t realize, but I’ve worked for your family quite some time. This isn’t something that can be faked.

“What does this mean for us?” Terk asked, just as grim as Ainsley.

“It means we can’t count on any help from house Deserrow. Our best play might be to flee as far away from their center of power as possible. Maybe even go to Shael. If house Deserrow wants us dead, we can’t hide here in Spectralia.”

Brynne kept eating her food, but the taste was lost to her now.

“This has to be Larik’s doing,” Brynne hissed, “Somehow he managed to turn my family against me.”

“Maybe,” Ainsley replied, “We don’t know for sure. In fact, we don’t even know why your family put out the bounty. Let’s learn more before we give up on contacting house Deserrow entirely.”

A growl of frustration escaped Brynne’s lips.

“Fine,” She said, “I want to go with you. I’m tired of sitting around and waiting while you two go off and risk your lives.”

Both Terk and Ainsley looked uncomfortable with the idea, but neither voiced a word of complaint. They must have seen the determination in her eyes.

“Well,” Terk said, a grin growing on his face. “You can’t possibly be worse to work with than Ainsley.”

“Hey!” Ainsley said, giving Terk a punch on the shoulder. “I know I’m not the best to work with now, but just wait until my mustache grows back.”

“Please no.” Terk said with a groan, “The best part of running for our lives was when you finally shaved that monstrosity.”

“How can you two always joke around?” Brynne asked, trying to maintain a scowl on her face, though a grin threatening to peek through.

“It’s easy,” Ainsley whispered conspiratorially. “Especially when you're travelling with someone who’s entire existence is a joke made by Novian himself.”

“Now that’s just going too far.” Terk said, “You shouldn’t say things like that about Brynne. She might get upset.”

“You two will never change,” Brynne said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get back on topic. How are we going to learn more about why my family wants us dead?”

“That won’t be too hard,” Terk said, “Deserrow is one of the great houses, so there are always people buying and selling information about them. We should be able to find someone who already knows something about it. After all, a house actively trying to murder one of its own isn’t normal behavior.”

“Yeah,” Ainsley added on, “But we’ll need to get some funds. Buying information about great houses isn’t cheap.”

“Are you saying that we need to work for the money?” Brynne asked, “Because I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Not exactly,” Ainsley said, a massive grin plastered all over his face. “I was just wondering if you knew anyone who hates us that might have a surplus of funds we can easily borrow.”

Brynne furrowed her brow before realization dawned on her face. She let out a chuckle, and then a full-on laugh.

“You’re saying that we should steal from my family, and then use the money to buy information on them? That’s downright devious.”

“I don’t have any qualms about stealing from someone who is trying to kill me.” Ainsley said with a shrug, even as his grin grew wider. “What do you think Brynne? You seem to be taking this surprisingly well. It’s not every day you learn your family wants you dead.”

“Nothing in my life makes sense anymore. I never would have believed it a few months ago, but now anything seems possible. At least we know how to finally find some answers. Besides, I wasn’t fond of my family even before they were trying to kill me.”

Terk and Ainsley both nodded at the words. Even though they would joke around and put on a brave face, Brynne knew that they wanted answers as much as she did.

“Before we make any more plans, you should probably finish the rest of your food.” Ainsley said with a smile. “I learned some other interesting tidbits that I can share while you eat.”

Brynne looked down at her cooling food seeing that she had stopped eating in the excitement of the moment. She dug back in and listened as Ainsley told them what he had learned.

“If either of you were wondering why the city is so full, there are a couple of reasons. Apparently, a succession war started in Shael, and a lot of Shaelen refugees are fleeing to Spectra. Many of them have made their way to the city. Moreover, it sounds like the dark creature we ran into wasn’t unique. Small villages and farms all over the eastern side of the country have been attacked. Citizens are flooding into Spectralia looking for sanctuary. That’s why it was so expensive to get rooms here.”

“That’s not all though, because of the influx of people there has been a lot of unrest in the city. It hasn’t been helped by the High Seat. Apparently, he’s been acting erratically. No one is sure why.”

Brynne frowned, taking a break from eating for a moment.

“Really?” She asked, “He always struck me as both kind and wise. I wouldn’t expect him to do anything to harm the city.”

“You know the High Seat?” Terk asked, raising both eyebrows.

“Of course. My uncle would always invite him to family functions. I saw the High Seat regularly, and I spoke with him several times.”

“Arbiters.” Terk muttered, shaking his head. He looked like he was going to say more, but he cut himself off when Ainsley started to speak again.

“It sounds like his daughter might have died, or gotten sick, or something. It’s some big secret apparently. That’s not what I’m worried about, though. One piece of news has me really nervous.”

“What’s that?” Terk asked.

“Someone is gathering the shapers in the city. They have big rewards for anyone who can catch one.”

Silence descended on the table as Brynne and Terk thought through the words. Brynne could only think of one reason why someone would want to bring together a group of shapers.

“Someone is organizing another expedition to Eloria.” Brynne said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Ainsley replied “Not only that, but they are definitely linked to house Deserrow. They’re called the Soul-Sworn, and they are one of the organizations offering a bounty on our heads.

Brynne shoved her mostly empty plate toward the center of the table and buried her head in her arms with a groan.

“Well, I guess it’s just another reason to learn more.” Terk said. Maybe we will find out if Larik actually came to Spectralia. He could be the one leading these Soul-Sworn.”

Brynne brought her head up out of her arms and eyed Ainsley. He was happily munching on the scraps of food she had left on her plate. The man swallowed and grinned unapologetically.

“Don’t look at me like that Brynne.” He said, “You didn’t seem interested in eating it. I decided to help you out.”

“Whatever,” Brynne said, “Let’s get started today. We used up the rest of our money last night, and I don’t want to sleep on the streets tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Terk said, “What do you know that can help us steal from your dear family.”

“Plenty.”

--

The sun had passed far behind the high walls of Spectralia, but that didn’t tarnish the sight in front of them, in fact, it might have enhanced it. Terk let out a low whistle.

“I’ve never seen it this close up.” He whispered, “Sometimes I forget just how important you are, er, were, Brynne.”

“Yeah,” Ainsley added, a little awe in his voice. “This place is beautiful.”

Deserrow mansion shone like a jewel in the darkness. Hundreds of lights stood behind rows of stained-glass windows lining the outside of the building, reaching up the five spires that pointed to the sky like the tines of a crown. As much as Brynne didn’t like to admit it, mansion Deserrow was a beautiful place, even if she had spent a great deal of time trying to escape the place.

She let Terk and Ainsley gawk for a little longer. Neither had ever been stationed at the mansion despite working for her family for years. After a few more moments she decided they had stared enough, and it was time to get moving again.

“Follow me,” She whispered, “And be silent from now on.”

She started walking toward the mansion and the two men fell in behind her, their cloaks wreathing them in darkness. They had already gotten past the first few layers of security around the mansion, and they couldn’t afford to draw attention to themselves now.

Luckily for them, house Deserrow was as traditional as they come. That meant almost nothing changed, including the routes the guards walked each day. Brynne had always hated how traditional they had always been, but now it would work in her favor.

It wasn’t hard to reach the brick walls of the mansion, but Brynne’s heart was pounding in her chest all the same. They rounded the building, staying clear of the normal entrances which all had sentries. Soon, they reached their destination and Brynne pointed upward. She had already told Terk and Ainsley exactly how they would enter the mansion, so they knew what to do.

With a boost from Terk, Ainsley grabbed onto a lip on the side of the building and pulled himself up. He then jumped from the lip and grabbed onto the rail of a balcony. He disappeared from sight as he maneuvered himself over the rail.

A few moments later one end of a knotted rope fell near Brynne and Terk, and both quickly scrambled up the rope to the balcony. Ainsley helped them up before retrieving the rope just in case someone took a look at the balcony. They didn’t want anyone to realize they had been there until long after the theft was accomplished. Ainsley placed the rope in a pack he had strapped to his back, and Brynne walked to the door to the balcony, taking deep breaths to try and calm her pounding heart. She was pleased when the door opened at her touch. The latch had been broken since her childhood and nobody had bothered to fix it because of its location in a rarely used guestroom.

Brynne opened the door that led out to the rest of the mansion and peeked out to see the hall empty on both sides. She gestured for Terk and Ainsley to follow and started down the hallway that led further into the mansion. At this time of night, the building was empty and silent. The group moved quickly through the empty halls heading toward an intersection where two halls met.

A noise stopped Brynne in her tracks and suddenly a figure crossed through the intersection in front of them. Brynne was sure they would be spotted, but the figure, who she now recognized as her uncle Velin, walked purposefully through the intersection without looking to either side. She was almost surprised he hadn’t heard the beating of her heart that sounded like roaring thunder in her ears.

What’s he doing walking around this late at night? Brynne wondered as she waited a few moments before moving once again, crossing through the intersection. Her uncle was the head of the entire family, it was strange to see him wandering the halls at night.

She was still puzzling over the occurrence when they arrived at their destination. It was a small office filled with the trappings of wealth and prestige. Exactly how she remembered it.

Brynne ignored all of the decorations, heading toward a solid wooden desk that stood proudly near the center of the room, and opened one of its drawers. She pulled up the false bottom, and with a relieved smile, she pulled out a small iron key.

From there she walked deeper into the office where a small safe stood. She inserted the key into the locking mechanism and the safe clicked open. There were quite a few documents, but Brynne ignored them. She only had eyes for the fat pouches of coins that the safe contained.

She quickly handed the pouches to Ainsley who placed them in his pack with the rope. Brynne closed the safe door, replaced the key, and just like that, she was leading them out of the office back toward the guest room they had first entered.

Luckily for them all, they didn’t run into her uncle again, or anyone else for that matter. All was once again silent as they arrived at the empty guest room. Ainsley moved forward to the balcony, tying one end of the rope to the bars of the rail and throwing the other length over the side.

They quickly climbed down. Ainsley didn’t bother retrieving the rope. It would take time, and the Deserrow house would know they had been robbed eventually. Their only goal now was to escape from the grounds as quickly as possible.

Brynne once again led Terk and Ainsley as all three stole away from the mansion, retracing the path that they had taken on their way in. They had nearly reached the border of the property when a voice froze Brynne in her tracks. Two men were speaking on the main path that led to the mansion. Brynne recognized both voices. One voice was that of her uncle. The other was a voice she had heard before, but one she didn’t think she would never hear again.

It can’t be! Brynne thought, as she slowly crept to a place where she could see the two speakers. Her heart thudded in her chest even more than when her uncle had almost caught them walking through the halls of the mansion.

There, only a dozen paces away, stood her uncle speaking with a man Brynne had abandoned in Eloria, a man that should be dead.

Martin.