“Must be rough having your own room,” Gunnar said, unable to help himself.

He and Em sat at a small table, facing Niall. The room was small and sparse, probably a mate’s cabin, the only furniture a small bed and the table and chairs. But it sure beat sharing the deck with the rest of the Nighthawks and the ship’s crew too.

Niall rolled his eyes. “Smart ass jibes may work on some, but I’ve no patience for nonsense.”

“Yeah? Then, what’s this about? We’re not required to report everything we do to you.”

“You’ll report whatever I tell you to report, you insolent little—”

“Myyy gaaawd!” Em moaned. “Will you two chill?”

Niall furrowed his brows. “Chill?”

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s a saying where I’m from. It means to relax.”

“Relax… hmm, shifter folk are strange.”

Em merely nodded. “What it really means is that this game of Whose is Bigger? is going to get really old really fast, and it’s not going to do any of us any good in Mavenport.”

Niall considered this for a moment, glanced at Gunnar, who merely shrugged, and then, they both nodded.

“Gunnar,” Em said, “Niall is your superior officer on this mission.”

“This isn’t the damn military.”

“And what do you know about militaries?” Niall asked. “You’re a New Recruit. This mission is your primary opportunity to prove you’re worth our time.”

“Leilani thinks I’m worth the time,” Gunnar said.

“And she put me in charge of you, though I am beginning to think she merely wants me to prematurely gray. Leilani’s approval is the only reason we are here talking. If I had my way, you’d be off the side before we got out of the city.”

Gunnar glanced to Em as if to say, I told you so.

“But Leilani has asked that I look past your unwarranted self-assurance, and give you a chance. And I shall do so, under the condition that you accept my authority on this quest. If not, I’ll turn you over to the Red Cloaks before we pass the checkpoint out of the harbor.”

It pained him a little, but Gunnar nodded. “Alright.”

“You gained more than a little notoriety after your crypt caper, and you can bet that your name was the first to come to mind when word got out that there was a break-in at the Mermaid.”

“We weren’t caught,” Gunnar said.

“But you were seen,” Niall said. “You’re a Nighthawk now, and going forward, your known actions will reflect on the guild. You very easily could have led Red Cloaks straight to this ship.”

“But I didn’t.”

“Fortunately, for all of us. If you endanger this guild’s mission, we will gladly see you out the door.”

Gunnar really wanted to point out that this entire thing had not been his idea in the first place, but he didn’t think that would help the situation—with Niall, or Em—so he forced himself to acquiesce.

“It was reckless,” Gunnar acknowledged with a pointed look at Em. “The timing was terrible. But it was… important to a key ally, and it was in line with the ideals of the Nighthawks.”

Niall raised a querulous brow. “Was it?”

“Slavery and prostitution aren’t high on your list of values, I trust,” Gunnar said. “But I will try to be more calculated in the future.”

Raising a hand to his chin, Niall considered Gunnar for a moment, then nodded. “Very good. I confess that I’m impressed you managed to escape. With one of Sykes’s mermaids, no less.”

“Three actually,” Em corrected.

“In Mavenport,” Niall said, “I trust there will be a bit less commotion and little more discretion.”

Gunnar nodded. “Understood.”

“Everything hinges on what we do the next few days, and you’ve an important part to play.”

“I do?”

Niall nodded, expressionless. “You’ll know more at the meeting tonight. Our quest is but one of many pieces that must occur seamlessly. This will require three separate teams—Alpha, Beta, and Delta.”

“Greek, I like it.”

Niall ignored him. “I will lead team Alpha, obviously. Em and Gunnar, I would like you to lead Delta and Beta, respectively. All goes according to plan, we come back having impressed the Masters, and having driven a dagger into the heart of the Empire.”

“We’re killing the Empire?” Gunnar asked.

“A bit hyperbolic,” Em said.

Niall grunted. “It’s not a perfect metaphor. The point is we will disrupt their plans.”

“A disruptive dagger,” Em said.

“Almost as bad as the killing kind,” Gunnar added.

“Don’t make me regret this decision,” Niall said with a groan.

***

Their ship passed the Red Cloak checkpoint at the neck of the Thailen harbor with little issue. Turned out, this was literally a spice trading ship—salt, mostly—an altogether boring cargo to inspect. And it was apparently standard protocol for traders like this to carry a few paying passengers aboard. There were twelve Nighthawks total, with more traveling on other ships. Niall’s crew all bore forged papers that passed the uninspired inspection of the Red Cloaks.

Once they were safely at sea, Niall gathered the Nighthawks belowdeck. After giving a rather cliche Ra-Ra speech about how this was their chance to prove themselves, their leader introduced the three teams, split evenly amongst the dozen of them.

Gunnar hit his squad with Scan as they were introduced—a short and lanky goblin, a ratkin, and a young human boy who couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen years old. All but the kid were fellow New Recruits, and all of them ranked lower than Gunnar in Glory. Em and Keto’s group were all ranked as Novice members and looked to have some potential. Niall, of course, had the most impressive group, tall and formidable-looking assassins of human and elf origin.

“Get to know one another,” Niall said. “You’ve been matched given your experience and strengths, and you’ll all have an important part to play in the days ahead.”

The groups began to disperse, but Gunnar grabbed Niall’s arm. “Seriously? This is it?”

Niall didn’t hold back a grin. “You’re a noob. Did you think I’d put you in charge of some of the finest blades in the guild?”

“We’re not going to do any killing?”

Niall shrugged. “I’ll send you the quest description near the end of our voyage. But you love dramatics. I expect it will be no trouble for you.”

Gunnar groaned.

His crew hurried over to him. The goblin eagerly brandished a dagger in his hand, as though a mark might appear at any moment.

“Rorak,” the goblin said, “good to meet you, sir.”

“Er, you too,” Gunnar said, trying to muster some energy, despite the massive deflation to his excitement for this quest.

The ratkin stood less than three feet tall and carried no weapon that Gunnar could tell, though its long incisors were menacing, at least. He reminded Gunnar of a humanoid version of the spined rats he’d encountered in the crypt while it was still under the necromancer’s control. Those had looked frightening at first, but had been pretty basic to kill. Which didn’t give him much hope now.

“Sauvage,” the ratkin said in a nasally sort of voice. “At your service.”

And the boy was, well, a kid. His voice hadn’t fully broken and still had that squeaky flare to it. He stood with hands at his hips, inspecting the other two members of their party, and then, eyed Gunnar.

“So? You are?” Gunnar asked.

The boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked haughtily at Gunnar. “Kid Killer.”

Gunnar almost smirked. “Cuz you… kill other kids?”

“I’m a kid, and I’m the killer they never see coming. I’ve done more for the Nighthawks than the rest of you combined, and that goes for you too.”

“That why I’m leading the crew?”

“Bunch of ageist assholes.”

Gunnar liked him instantly, and he could share the boy’s frustration himself, maybe not for his age, but certainly for lack of recognition of his accomplishments. He’d passed his guild trial with style, and his side quests with Sykes were surely impressive. To be fair, the kid was the only Novice-level member.

The kid glowered at all three of them.

“Everything alright over here?” Niall’s voice was becoming more and more grating every time Gunnar heard it. Their leader clasped Gunnar on the shoulder from behind and squeezed just a little too hard.

“Just swapping experiences,” Gunnar said. “Though, it’d be more useful if we knew what was ahead.”

“Be prepared for everything or you’ll fall for nothing.” Niall looked annoyingly satisfied with his quip.

“Does that even make sense?” Gunnar asked.

Niall leveled his gaze. “Think a little harder, and perhaps it will come to you.”

“Okay, well, we’re all good here, and I’d hate to keep you from your own squad.”

“Yes, yes, very good. Oh, by the way, Ashwood, I forgot to mention you’ve got first watch in the crow’s nest tonight. Call it a thank you for your little adventure this morning.”

Gunnar merely, nodded, not willing to give him the satisfaction, despite the fact that he was currently operating with a Stamina debuff.

Nearby, Em was practically glowing as she spoke with her crew, looking like she’d just woken from a slumber rather than pulling off an all-nighter heist.

Rorak, Sauvage, and Kid Killer were all scowling.

“Niall’s a dick,” Rorak muttered.

“Can’t say I’m his biggest fan either,” said Sauvage in a weirdly prim and proper tone.

Kid Killer simply huffed and glared.

“He’s our… commanding officer,” Gunnar forced himself to say.

“He’s the reason I haven’t had a chance to prove myself,” Rorak said.

“He thinks I’m just a damn kid,” Kid Killer said.

Gunnar was half-tempted to chime in, but he didn’t really think that was going to get them anywhere. If he disrespected Niall in front of them, it could set a bad precedent for how they might speak of him too.

“Look, the way I see it,” Gunnar began, “we all got something to prove for one reason or another. We can either bitch about the cards stacked against us, or we can try to do the most we can with the chance we’ve got. I don’t know what our quest will entail, but you can be damn sure we’ll be ready for it. Got it?”

They all seemed to perk up at his firm tone. And all nodded.

“Good,” Gunnar said. “Now, tell me about your skills.”