Nemeash licked his dry lips. His posture relaxed after a few moments and then he spoke, “I was actually charged with solving a mystery. Actually, no, a puzzle. That would be the proper way to describe it.”

“There is a box with Leyandur. They are a known firm of solicitors. It is a part of a will and they are the executors of the will and I was tasked with opening the box.” He took a deep breath as he finished.

“This does not explain anything? come to the point.” I was at the limit of my patience.

“Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself or rather my skills. I specialise, like you, in a specific task. I procure things for my clients. I mean, not in the sense of a thieves guild sort of procurement but we have our own code and ethics.” He offered while signalling the waitress to come.

“We?”

“Oh yes, I am a member of the order of Vagrant Knights. We are an unconventional knightly order. We are always on an errand. We take tasks which normal knightly order or regional authorities cannot handle or involve in.”

“That is how the guild of assassins would describe themselves.” My cynicism poured out with my sentences. One more elusive answer is all that would take for me to turn my blade on Nemeash.

“Definitely not. I understand how this would seem to you but we are a Knightly Order though most other Orders does not endorse us. We do not involve in illegal or morally questionable actions. In fact, each of our members has their own additional code. Most of our quest involves finding lost items, heirloom, lost knowledge, loved ones,.... and I have my own code. I refuse quest that would bring harm to anyone and if it is not altruistic in nature”

“Then why the secrecy? Something does not add up.” I was still sceptical.

“Well, I accepted the quest in the beginning because it seemed like I would be lending my skills to fulfil the dying wish of someone. I mean after all what could go wrong in trying to open a puzzle box.” He made a dry attempt to laugh at his own humour.

“I know how to move in circles, connect with people, gather pieces of information but I am no spy, though I know when I am being observed. Ever since I started on this quest to unlock the puzzle box, I was being observed, reported and monitored and occasionally physical attempts were made.”

“Like the last time?”

“Yes.” he gave a nod. He was above to say something when the waitress approached us. He held his tongue until we placed an order for two flagons of ale.

“We are even unaware of the exact contents of the box.” He continued further. “But it must be something important, the will also stipulate Waroendil to make the necessary resources available.”

Waroendil, now that is a big name.

“How does Waroendil factor in this?”

“Well, I think the original assets are invested with Waroendil and provisions are made for Leyandur to avail the necessary from the assets. I am uncertain on how the will was implemented.” For once Nemeash gave an honest answer.

But the answer was not surprising since most Noble houses have some sort of investment with one or the other big banking houses. Despite our racial dislike, I had a few dealing with Waroendil’s firm myself, though I never met the elf himself.

“If you have enough resources, why not hire guards while you try to solve?”

“Due to the complexity involved. For one, I would rather move inconspicuously. Secondly, it has to do with the quest itself. Or rather the means to unlock. In short, I need to move among a certain group of people and gain their trust. Not an easy task if I have armed guards with me.”

So that was his reason for tagging with Dar. Since Dar has a working relationship with most of the nomadic people and being his apprentice helps him open doors or tent flaps as in this case.

In the meanwhile, the waitress returned with our order. Nemeash immediately passed her a few coins. From where I sat it was not possible for me to infer the amount but the bright smile on the waitress’s oval face implied that it was more than the usual price.

“Now, we will not be disturbed for a while. I was supposed to meet my contact in the city but as you might have guessed, the mysterious adversary got to them first and hence I turn to you. I confess, in the beginning, I was a bit suspicious of you. For a while, I thought you were hired by them. But after seeing you the previous night, I have no reservations. If you could deliver my message to Leyandur, I would be really grateful. And Naturally, you can name a price with Leyandur. I am sure you are short on coins.” His eyes were earnestly pleading as he spoke with me.

Nearby a loud boorish voice shouted, “Come on have some mercy, give the lad a chance,”

Soon a few more voices joined in the chorus and there was cheering.

“He might be a bit younger than you, but look at him. He is so earnest. Has the eyes of a poor puppy.” another voice sounded.

“Actually, he might be younger by a few hundred years,” voiced someone else.

“Lad, so sorry for you. You are enamoured with a dark elf.”

“Perhaps that is his preference,” and then a chorus of laughter continued.

Clearly, the patrons sitting nearby watching us got it all wrong. And now they are cheering for Nemeash’s supposed lovesick begging.

“Just hand me over the message but I will think over it through the night. Meet me in the morning.” with that, I quickly grabbed his missive and exited all the while I was been cheered by other patrons.

*****

As I reached the barn, the sounds of barking from the two guard dogs intensified till a loud voice from inside the house commanded them to silence. The barking stopped soon after.

I made my way to the enclosure with the goblins. True to the instructions, the goblins all stayed within the enclosure though they were obviously not thrilled with the confinement. I waved a few casual greetings at a few of them.

The sound of something hammering against a wooden block echoed. No doubt Dar was keeping up with his promise with the barn owners. I noticed that Theko was absent from the pack but at a distance, I could see Theko rushing with some chisel and some wooden block towards the barn. Theko definitely volunteered to be Dar’s assistant.

I soon found Arlene. She was doing her usual rounds keeping the dire boars calm. I approached Arlene but she was not the person I was seeking.

“Have you seen Provost Vitalia?”

“Something tells me that whatever you had in mind worked out far better than your expectations. My Mentor should be around here. Somewhere.” saying that Arlene went back to patting the dire boars.

I chose to sit and wait till the fae manifests herself on her own. True to my expectations, the fae appeared as the moon rose.

“So how did it go Rylon?” She used my name without any honorific. So it is safe to address the issues without constraints with her now.

“Before I begin, thanks for helping with the note. It really did the trick.”

“I was a bit surprised but I am sure you would explain now.” She raised an eyebrow intending for me to explain. She is the type to hate being kept in the dark.

“I suspected that there is more to both Nemeash and Razzia. Something about this whole ordeal made me believe that he was hiding his true skill set. It is the way he spoke and addressed me that gave me the impression that he is not just a vagabond looking to make some earning.”

“What made you suspect that?”

“For one thing, did you notice how Dar addressed me? He was always trying to associate one title or another to my name. One time it is a Madame and the next it is Lady. On the contrary, Nemeash was never bothered in my presence. His tone was always polite and friendly and not terrified. So he is someone who is used to working with Nobles and other high circles. I thought he might be a man of letters so I tested my hypothesis.”

“And?”

“About that, he claims to be a member of some order of knights, called Order of Vagrant Knights. Does it ring any bell?”

“Not these clowns. They are just a bunch of kids playing with their sire’s tools and pretend to believe in their own lies. It used to be that to be an order one needs a certain measure of competence, morality and code of ethics. But these days, any dimwit with their friends can call themselves a knightly order.” Vitalia sounded as if she was reminiscing older times.

“So I take it that you are aware of them? I need your opinion.” I pushed my advantage.

“If you want my unbiased opinion, here is what I know about them. They call themselves a Knightly Order but they do not have any specific goal. You could call them odd job men if such a term exists among knights. Though most of the time they are employed by wealthy collectors to fuel their hobbies. Occasionally, we use them ourselves in fact. Mostly to collect obscure literary works or last surviving copies of works. They are competent it that I would give them credit for that.”

I narrated the information that I obtained from Nemeash at the inn. Vitalia listened intently and spoke once I completed my narration.

“You can trust them on one point. They usually do not get themselves entangled in unethical tasks. They have a very broad code of conduct but the members strongly adhere to it. So Nemeash’s version might be believable to an extent.”

Vitalia made a brief pause as if to allow her words to sink in.

“I would say we should accept his request. If at all, you would get a foothold in Sarenthill. Needless to say, this would also open a door to work with Leyandur. Having someone like that indebted to you would ease with the registration process.”

I nodded silently but I had an additional motive. One that I did not bother revealing in the fae’s presence. If Nemeash is as competent in his mission, then there is an alternative to chasing Aram. Initially, Aram was my only means of seeking out the whereabouts of Lyria but now, I could probably pass it off as an assignment to Nemeash. Lyria is a competent weaponsmith and I am certain her blades would possess an ethereal quality on their own. Nemeash would have no trouble, given his skills to find the identity and location of the weaponsmith. So I not only needed Leyandur but also Nemeash for my own personal selfish reasons.

*****

The following day, I found Nemeash close to the peddler’s wagons. He was busy tending to the horses. He wore a bright smile as he saw me approaching.

“I have thought about it, I will deliver your message. But I have a few conditions.”

“Thank You. I am sure Leyandur and associates could accommodate.” His smile brightened even further.

“I would like to personally hand over the letter to one of their partners. That means, find me away. Better if you make it two letters, one to open the doors for me and the other with the exact contents. Second, you will state exactly the role The Aberrant Irregulars played in the last conflict.“

If Nemeash had any questions pertaining to my request, he did not address them immediately. He simple shook his head with a renewed vigour.

“Take your time, Pass me the letters later.” saying that I excused myself and went to focus on other tasks that awaited for the day.

*****

Dar soon made his morning appearance. I could infer what he had in mind.

“I will be with you in a moment, Dar. Please give me some time. I will be fast, I promise.”

“Please, I can wait. No need to hurry,” Dar was especially relaxed this morning.

I made my morning ritual of greeting Maapu and Theko separately. Taltil was still enjoying her sleep. So I choose not to disturb her. After a final nod with Arlene, I made my way to Dar.

We made a visit to a few prospective clients in Westerleygates but our luck thinned out. Despite my best efforts, most were unwilling.

Not even the caravan guards were willing to work with The Aberrant Irregulars. In the end, both of us felt dejected and left the walls of Westerleygates with unfulfilled expectations.

Back at the barn, We sensed the commotion as soon as we reached. The goblins were excited and their longing eyes followed my every step. Soon Maapu came close and pointed towards the bundles which were packed on one side. The cloaks and other items that we ordered have been delivered.

“Go ahead, distribute them. It is all for you.” My permission was granted and soon the buzzing activity of distributing the cloaks and beddings began. I watched with morbid curiosity for a while before Nemeash approached my location.

“Here,” he handed over two sealed packages and swiped back his hair,” I have both the letters. The package marked with a red seal is the one you would want to give to the partner. The unmarked one is for you to gain your entrance.”

“Thanks,”

“I hope you will not run into any troubles,” Nemeash seemed genuinely concerned while he spoke.

“We will manage. You saw us in action. By the way, what would you do now?” I framed the question more as a sort of formality than concern.

“I will try to work on unlocking the box. Just a few more to go.”

I was about to question him on what he meant by unlocking the box and would have succeeded in my attempt, had it not been for Razzia. She lithely covered the grounds and straightened her posture as she came close to us.

She cleared her throat a bit to grab my attention. Not that the gesture was needed. Both Nemeash and me consciously stopped our conversation mid-sentence as we became aware of her presence.

“Could I have a word with you?” she uttered with a pleading note to her voice. That was the cue that Nemeash needed and excused himself, leaving us alone.

“I don’t know if Arlene told you anything, but I thought it might be worth giving an attempt,” Started the girl with a meek smile.

“Yes, She did give me the basics,” I uttered while controlling my emotions.

“I just wanted to make the same offer. In fact, I can give you a bit more information. I would like to preserve a measure of privacy for my employer but please believe me when I say, they are an honourable family. They are or were an affluential family but now they have fallen on hard times.” She stopped a looked at me apprehensively and then continued further.

“They are just trying to survive. Some high elves have been draining them. They just need some information about dwarven runes in these parts. Then they could get the whole deal done with. Would you mind helping them? I am not asking you to blindly trust me. Please, I can arrange a meeting with them. You can meet and decide for yourself. Can you please give them a chance?”

I tried to process the information that Razzia provided. So, Razzia and Nemeash both had their secrets and at this point, it became apparent to me that both were working on different missions with different priorities. This again begs the question, was the attack targeted towards Nemeash or towards Razzia?

“So the previous attack was aimed at you?”

“I don't think so. I did not gather any important information in the past few days. I mostly observe and report. I do not set things in motion. But who knows.” She shrugged and took another hand full of herbs from her pouch and began chewing.

The day must have been a day of interruptions for before I could answer Razzia, Dar quickly strode in.

“I might have another client,” said Dar with a huge hesitancy. It was not Razzia’s presence that was the source of his hesitation.

With a small apology, Razzia made her exit.

“Though I don’t know if it would be up your alley. The mage is a bit of a difficult person.”

“Necromancer?”

“Actually, Syrune is more of a scholar than a mage. Knows a lot about Arcane things, but rarely any practical magic. A lot of Sorcerors and Warlocks have respect for Syrune.”

“So why the threat?”

“Now this is something I only heard from other folks, so take it as a pinch of salt but I have heard it said multiple times, so there should be truth in it. Syrune makes women uncomfortable.” My initial thought was that Syrune is a woman but apparently, I was wrong.

“Oh.... I am sure he would find neither me nor Arlene, an easy target.” I said with a grin.

“Syrune is not physically strong and no reports of him getting physical, it is just that his gaze is, how is it called? Disturbing?”

“What?”

“Yes, that is what I heard. I met him once. I would call him arrogant and a bit condescending but women have a different perspective than me. So I don’t know.”

“So what does he want a mercenary company for?”

“On some expedition, but what he now really wants is some company till Sarenthill,”

“Is the trail dangerous to be traversed by a lone mage?”

Dar just shrugged.

“He might just be interested in your company because of...” Dar did not bother finishing his statement and there was no need for him to complete it. The message was obvious.

“How much is he paying?”

“A bit more than what you would make with a caravan. In fact, a lot more.” Again Dar’s expression seemed that he was more worried about my safety than his coin pouch.

“Then pass on the word, we are taking the contract.” I declared.

“But don’t you want to meet him at least?” Dar sounded reluctant.

“No need for such formalities. It is only for a couple of days. Pass on the word that we are ready to move at any notice”

“As you wish Madame.” Dar finally resigned.