A Light in the Darkness Book: The Moonlight Murderer

Chapter Thirty-One: I fought the Law

Jan winced as Talia dragged him back toward the entrance to the Liar's Den. She probably wasn't trying to make him uncomfortable, but he was. Not because of tension in his arm either. The feeling lingered long after she'd released him. He thought he'd be excited to be closer to avenging Drex or even angry this murderer was using their ancestral blade for their crimes. But all he felt was a sense of dread and uncertainty.

It didn't take them long to find Caro and question him about the night he spoke with Nick. The conversation didn't reveal much new information and Caro was adamant that he never told any one else about what Nick had asked him. Though they all knew it wasn't beneath him to lie, it was also apparent fibbing offered nothing in this circumstance. Therefore, they accepted his account.

Nick had also been interested in magical artifacts when he'd come down here on his quest. He'd been on his way to see Blair when the attack had happened. According to Talia, that meeting had never taken place. Thankfully for them, she was hanging around the other end of the Liar's Den, going through some junk that their friend the Weasel had set aside.

Jan agreed to approach her himself, since they had a long history. He also hoped that she might be able to discuss his other problem since he'd been unable to meet with Onesimus yet. Talia stood off at a distance while he approached. He causally greeted Blair, but she seemed engrossed in her task.

"What're you doing down here?" He asked. "I figured you'd be out busting heads with the rest of your flaming fanatics."

"I'm getting a bit old for that," she sighed. "I'm just trying to stay out their way, and as you well know this is an excellent place to lay low."

"Yeah, staying out of people's way seems to be a specialty of yours," he remarked, but immediately regretted it as soon as the words passed his lips.

"Look, let's not start this bit again!" she snapped. "If you have something to say to me, spit it out. I don't have all day to entertain you."

He took another look at her. She looked so old. More so than usual. It was hard for him to pay attention to subtle changes over the decades, but they added up. Having known her for over forty years now, he could read her facial expressions well. Something else was bothering her. If she really wanted to avoid the Inquisitor, some out of the way nook in the Sanctuary would probably be far more comfortable them this place. Why come here?

"I'm sorry didn't mean to trouble with that again. There was something I wanted to talk about, but you look upset. If there's something else bothering you, I'm willing to listen," he explained.

After conversing over some more small talk, it became clear Blair hadn't heard anything about the dagger. In fact, when he told her about it, she was in utter shock.

"So, it's just sitting there in the palace? I don't know what you've gotten yourself involved in, but it doesn't sound good. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

Jan glanced over at Talia. She was chatting up the Weasel some more, probably trying to gather other leads. It didn't look like she was impatient for him to finish his discussion. This only made his decision more agonizing though. He had known Blair for a long time but because of her conflicting loyalties, the idea of trusting her with this was nervous. He hadn't made it the Chapel of the Exile and he couldn't go back to talk to Wilbur, not that he wanted to. In the end he decided to take a chance.

"Hey Blair, in all the time we've known each other would you consider me to be crazy or a liar?' he asked hesitantly.

"I think you've been either of those things at one point or another, but never both at the same," she said good humoredly. "Why?"