29th day of the 7th month 610th year of the 8th era

Ingirid woke up with the sounds of a chirping bird singing by the window. Quietly, she stepped across the room and picked up Logan’s sword. She collected her dress from the floor where she threw it last night and opened the door, shoes in hand. In the corridor, she tiptoed to the stairs and out the door. In the street, she dressed and hurried down the road. She wove her way through the streets and came back to the brothel. She pushed open the door. Davin sat in the corner and nodded at her as she entered the brothel. She showed him the sword, then proceeded up the corridor and up the stairs at the end. She came to her room she shared with Anatoli and pushed open the door.

Anatoli lay sleeping on the double bed in the corner of the room; two other women lay with him.

Anger flashed through her and she drew the sword. The screech of scraping of metal on metal woke Anatoli. He jumped up, standing on the bed. The women screamed and stood in the corner of the bed against the wall, hugging each other.

Anatoli smiled at Ingirid and stepped off the bed towards her.

“One night I am gone on a mission for you and can’t …” she raged.

“Is that the sword?” He stepped closer to her.

“It is the sword I will kill you with.” She swung the sword around and pointed it at him.

He stopped with the point of the sword on his chest. “If that is how you feel about a couple of prostitutes, go ahead.”

She rested the sword on his collar bone.

“I will kill you.”

The two women whimpered in the corner.

“Go ahead.”

She shook and then dropped the sword. He stepped past the sword and slapped her across the face. She spun from the impact, a bruise forming on her face, and landed on the floor.

“Get out!” he yelled. The two women ran from the room.

“You slept with another woman,” Ingirid whimpered from the floor.

“I will do what I want with who I want.” He stepped closer, grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up. She struggled to find purchase for her feet underneath her body as he dragged her to the bed and threw her onto it.

“What are you going to do with me?” she sniffed, tears streaking down her face.

He said nothing, grabbed the front of her dress and hauled it over her head. Naked she lay on the bed. He left the bed, collected the sword and gently examined it.

“This is not my father’s sword,” he said. He sheathed the sword, strode back to the bed, raised a fist and hit her in the face. The bed cradled her.

“How dare you bring me the wrong sword,” he spat. “Then you dare to threaten me.”

He strode from the room.

***

Logan awoke feeling cold. He opened his eyes and saw the room was empty; the woman from last night had gone. He smiled to himself as he stretched. He sat up, pulled on his trousers, and stepped into his boots. He pulled on his shirt as he looked for his sword and belt. He checked under the bed and beside the bedside table. That woman must have stolen it.

He opened his door and stepped into the corridor. Holding his pants with one hand, he walked to the stairs and descended to the tavern common room.

A clerk at the reception desk watched him walk past and nodded at him. Logan turned back and walked up to the desk.

“Did you happen to see a woman in a green dress leave here with a sword?” Logan asked.

“The woman you went up with last night?”

“Yes, the very one?”

“She left a little while ago. Carried her dress and your sword and left the building.”

“Do you know who she was?”

“I know her.”

“Can you tell me?”

“She is a prostitute.”

“She didn’t charge me.”

“I thought your sword was the price for last night.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand. “Please just tell me where I can find her.”

The clerk smiled, “She is good, isn’t she?”

Logan gave him a blank stare and the clerk pulled out a small card and wrote on it.

“She is at this address.”

“Thank you,” Logan said, taking the card and leaving the tavern.

He walked outside, card in one hand and the other holding his trousers up. He walked down the road and found a vendor selling belts. He quickly found a simple leather belt and paid the vendor. As he slipped the belt through the loops in his trousers, he looked at the card which gave him the address in the nearby brothel district. He strode on, leaving the markets behind him. He walked down the main street and turned in a small cul-de-sac that ended with an enclosed plaza. A simple blue door stood at the far end of the plaza. He stepped up and pushed open the door.

Behind the door he came to a small room enclosed by silk draperies. A woman dressed to entice stepped up to him and ran a hand along his chest.

“Are you looking for some company?”

“I am looking for someone.”

“Am I that someone?”

“No.” Logan pushed a silk drapery aside and stepped past the woman.

Behind the drapery, Davin sat on a chair asleep, at the entrance to a long corridor with several doors lining each side. Logan walked past Davin and came to the first door.

He pushed it open and looked inside.

“You can’t come in like that!” shrieked the woman.

The guard awoke and stood.

Logan punched the man on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious, and continued to walk down the corridor, pushing open doors and checking the occupants.

At the end of the corridor another man descended the stairs. He drew a long rapier and pointed it at Logan’s chest.

“What is the meaning of this?” Reg demanded.

“A woman from this brothel stole my sword last night. I want it back.”

Reg smiled. “I think that is kind of the point of a whore.”

Logan smiled back. “She took that sword too, but she took my cutting sword.”

“Did you pay for her?”

“Well no, but she didn’t ask for money in advance.”

“How do you know she came from this brothel?”

Logan looked at him blankly. “The clerk at the front desk knew her, I guess she frequented that tavern.”

“Let me take you to the boss,” Reg said.

Logan nodded and followed Reg up the stairs.

***

Tunio woke and got out of bed, dressed in his trousers, slipped his sword’s strap over his head, and stepped into his boots. Leaving his room, he walked down the corridor as Aquillia opened her door and stepped out into the corridor.

“Good morning,” she smiled up at him.

“Good morning.”

“Any more dreams and visions?”

“Not last night.”

“Pity, I think we are at a dead end.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Come, I need to tell you something.”

They descended the door and Aquillia saw Logan burst out the door.

“I hope you both had a pleasant night,” the clerk behind the reception desk said.

Tunio looked at the man. He furrowed his brows. “Yes, I did.”

“Good,” the clerk gulped.

“What happened?” Aquillia asked.

“That man had a prostitute last night and wanted to find her again,” the clerk said. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

Aquillia smiled at him. “It’s okay, we won’t tell anyone. I promise,” she glanced at Tunio, “will we?”

“Not any of my business,” Tunio said.

“Thank you.” The clerk gulped and sat on his chair.

Aquillia guided Tunio through to the tavern common room and they sat at a table. A barmaid came, took their order for breakfast, and walked away.

“I have a confession to make to you,” Aquillia said.

“What’s the matter?” Tunio said. He placed a hand on hers.

“I have been working with another man to solve this riddle.”

“I see.” Tunio took his hand back from hers and turned to face the table. “Why?”

“We weren’t getting anywhere, and his help has gotten us where we are now.”

“I thought you were coming up with those clues,” Tunio said, clenching and unclenching his hand

“No, I don’t know enough of the history of the area. The man I have been working with just wants a share in the prize money.”

“You should have told me,” Tunio demanded angrily. “Now we have to share the money with another person.”

The barmaid came and placed their breakfasts on the table: steaming plates of hot eggs and toast with a side of a mashed root.

Tunio went quiet. He smiled at the barmaid and paid her; she returned his smile and walked away.

“What was it you were after?” Aquillia asked.

“I need the money,” Tunio said. “The money the captain gave me is running out and I have no skills that will help me in a city.”

“Without his help we wouldn’t have gotten the last clue.”

“Where is he?” Tunio asked as he started to eat his breakfast.

“He left as we came down the stairs. He was the one that had the prostitute last night.”

“Are you sure he won’t just take our clues and find the Belt of Veritas himself?”

“I doubt it.” Aquillia took a mouthful of her breakfast.

Tunio swallowed his food. “What makes you believe that?”

“He seems very keen on sharing his information,” Aquillia said around her mouthful of food.

“I see,” Tunio said, taking another mouthful of food.

“Please don’t be mad,” Aquillia pleaded. “He said that without the clue about the statue, he would have been stuck on the first clue.”

Tunio swallowed. “Once we helped him past the first clue, he helped with the next one.”

“That’s right.”

“Okay,” Tunio said, mopping up the last of his breakfast and popping it into his mouth.

“Are you still mad?”

Tunio shook his head and swallowed. “What information did he provide?”

“He worked out that the clue on the statue had two parts: the courthouse and a school.”

Tunio pointed a fork at Aquillia. “Don’t go helping out other people without checking with me. Otherwise, any new partners will get a cut of your share. Am I understood?”

Aquillia tilted her head and looked at him. Then she nodded. “I think we stand a better chance of finding the belt together than not.”

“What was the clue at the school?”

“History is worth fighting for. Learning can elevate,” Aquillia recited.

Tunio frowned. “That still makes no sense. Are you sure we are on the right path?”

“I think the clues are meant to be vague, otherwise the king would have been able to find the Belt of Veritas on his own.”

“I don’t think kings actually do anything,” Tunio muttered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“My family was killed because of a king, but the king sent others to do the dirty work for him.”

“You make an excellent point.”

“Have you tried to forgive the king of the dark elves?”

“I don’t think that is possible, but I am trying to put it behind me.”

“Forgiveness is not for him, it’s for you,” Aquillia said, placing a hand on Tunio’s shoulder. “When you forgive someone, you set yourself free. Let the gods work out who is guilty and who is not.”

Tunio shook his head. “I think I still need more time.”

“Fair enough.”

Metilia and Gazali burst through the tavern door.

“Good morning to all,” Gazali declared to the whole tavern.

Aquillia stood and walked over to them.

Metilia elbowed Gazali in the ribs and he laughed.

“Good to see you this morning,” Aquillia said, embracing them both in a big hug. She stepped back as Tunio arrived beside them.

“Thank you,” Metilia and Gazali said in unison.

Metilia outstretched her arms and gathered Tunio into a big hug.

“Thank you, for helping with Mother.”

“What did he do?”

“I also have a confession,” Tunio smiled.

“He helped us have the time to work things out,” Gazali said.

“Whose idea was that?” Aquillia asked.

“My mother’s,” Metilia said.

Aquillia looked at Tunio. He smiled back at her and shrugged. “I really needed help but if they hadn’t had come to me asking to keep you busy, I would have asked them to help us.”

Aquillia walked over to her table and sat down. The others followed her and Tunio sat in his seat. Metilia and Gazali took the other seats at the table.

“What did you need to work out?” Aquillia asked.

“Just our future,” Metilia said. “We decided to leave things as they are but not to progress our relationship any further than it is.”

“I would like grandchildren,” Aquillia stated. “Don’t waste all of your time.”

“Don’t worry mother,” Metilia soothed. “I am sure you will live along enough to have more children and they can have children of their own. For us, we aren’t going to have children.”

“You don’t know how long you have, Metilia,” Aquillia said. “He has the normal human lifespan.”

Metilia smiled at Gazali. “I know, I am okay with that.”