174. Intimidation: Tabitha.

“I hear there was an altercation last night,” Captain Francis said.

“Yes, and I wish to lay a formal complaint against Lady Mary. She sprayed fire at me and I would have been burned if Lord Fredrik had not been there,” I said.

“Is that true?” the Captain asked Fredrik. He and Hale were there, but Mary was not.

“Tis a bit more complicated than that, and I would add there was provocation from the lass here. However, Mary did throw fire at her, and I did stop it. I doubt it would have hit the lass as she is quite quick on her feet,” Fredrik replied.

“You provoked her? Are you mad? Are you sure you wish to lay a formal complaint? It is not Mary’s first, and all she will get is a slap on the wrist and fined a few coins.” The Captian was looking at me like she was trying to work me out. Good luck with that.

“It was very traumatic. I couldn’t sleep last night, I kept seeing flames.”

“Too much, Lass. You were not even in the line of the fire by the time they were halfway to you,” Fredrik said.

“Yes, she was,” Hale butted in, “I saw her just standing there watching the flames get closer and not even moving like she’s an idiot.”

“The less said about idiotic behaviour from you, the better,” Fredrik said.

“What I am interested in are the three bodies the night watch found in the area.” Captian Francis said.

“Robbie and Jake are missing,” Hale said.

“Then you had best go to the morgue and see if they are there. Were they supposed to be with you last night?”

“Yes, they were on… Yes, they were.” It was clear Hale did not want to incriminate himself.

“How were they killed?” Fredrik asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“One with a knife and two by arrows.”

Fredrik was looking confused. He knew I had gone to that side but also knew I did not have a bow.

“I have a separate report from a Watch patrol of a man with a bow running full speed toward the area about the time of your altercation. All they saw was that he had long red hair. You wouldn’t know any archers with long red hair?” the Captain continued.

I shook my head, resisting a smile. “Are you sure it was a male? It is females who generally have long hair.”

“The report was definite it was male.”

“Captain, we are actually here to ask if you have found Otto’s killer yet?” Hale asked.

“You might be,” she said, “but I have Nobles attacking people in the street, dead bodies and a weird archer. The thing is, it all seems to be connected to Lord Otto. How about you explain what you were actually doing last night, and maybe I might be more accommodating.”

That shut Hale up. I could almost see his brain whirling, thinking of something to say that wouldn’t get him into trouble.

“I would be happy, too,” I said. “Modrica, Težka, my bond Dusk and I were coming back from a run outside the city when Lord Hale and Lady Mary accosted us, backed up by twenty or so fighters. They intimidated us by throwing around wind and fire and asking if we knew anything about Otto’s death. I explained I didn’t, but they didn’t want to hear that and were getting quite aggressive. If Lord Fredrik hadn’t stepped in when he did and calmed things down, I might have got burned.”

“I didn’t hear your provocation in that summary,” Francis said.

“I might have gotten frustrated at the repeated questions and suggested Lady Mary was Lord Otto’s lover.”

“That is fairly common knowledge. She wouldn’t have got upset at that,” Francis said.

“I believe the Lass actually said, ‘one of his lovers.’” Fredrik supplied.

“Ah yes, that would do it,” The captain said.

Now it appeared that Fredrik was backing up my story, isolating Hale.

“Do you have anything to add?” the Captain asked Hale.

“It wouldn’t have got out of hand if Mary hadn’t been provoked,” he said.

“You think you can go around the streets intimidating people, and it is OK if it doesn’t get out of hand? I don’t think so. You and Lady Mary will be up on formal charges, which will go to the Duchess. There may be more if I find out you had anything to do with this red-haired archer.” She turned to the door and yelled, “Sergeant!”

“Yes, ma'am.” was the reply.

“Please escort Lord Hale to the morgue to see if he can identify any of the bodies from last night.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Wolfkin indicated Hale to follow him, and they left.

“If there is nothing more from you two, I have work to do,” The Captian said, dismissing us.

As we exited the building, Fredrik said, “Wait a minute Lass. I would like a chat. Can I buy you a cup of tea?” He indicated a nearby tea shop.

I nodded. As we sat down, I asked, “How did you get caught up in this mess?”

“My own stupidity in listening to Hale. Thanks for the cover in there, Skygge, but I am fine taking responsibility for my own actions. Francis will probably work it out anyway. Hale asked for help if a monster bond went on a rampage. He didn’t tell me he was planning to cause the rampage by killing its bond.” Fredrik was pretty grumpy with himself.

“It worked out fine, and that was only after you stepped up.”

“If I make a mistake, I will bloody fix it. And It wouldn’t have been fine if I hadn’t been there. I can’t help but think Hale and Mary would be the ones not with us today. How did you move away while appearing to be standing still?”

“That’s a professional secret. Can I ask how you sensed it?”

“What profession would that be then?”

“Actress. I will get you tickets to the show.”

His eyebrows went up. He was obviously not part of the gossip crowd.

“My abilities are no secret. My eyes were saying you were there, but my Earth Sense was saying no one was standing on the ground there. I didn’t see you move, just a shadow of where you had been, and my eyes are still good, lass, so don’t go blaming them.” Fredrik must be older than he looks. Hard to tell with all the hair he had on his face. Dwarves and their beards! “I want to ask you about the orc and the bear.”

“Oh?”

“I could sense them. They are strong with the earth but have little control.”

“It is a new bond, only a few months old.”

“That explains the lack of control. It means they have a natural strength that is surprising, though.”

“Modrica has always been strong physically and mentally. I am not surprised it is also spiritual.”

“I have a place not far out of town. I’d be willing to give them some pointers. In compensation for the tickets to the show.” Dwarves, their compulsion to not owe anybody anything motivate this offer. His main reason will be to investigate us, though.

“Absolutely. That would be great.” I wasn’t going to turn it down for Modrica’s sake, and we can deal with the investigation. Probably.

We settled on a date, and as we got up to leave, he said, “The red-haired archer. Is he one of yours?” When I didn’t reply, he said, “Thought so. You claimed to be intimidated by Hale and Mary, but when you dig a bit, you are the intimidating one.”