NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: Adventures of the Creeping Bam (BOOK 2: One Cold Trail)

CHAPTER ELEVEN: KESLA

By the time we got out again it was clear it was gonna be too late in the day to think about paying a visit to somebody who's still a complete stranger out of the blue, given the amount of distance we'd have to cover between Rederra House and the Drumhalt. We still had light in the sky for another hour, but it was already starting to draw late, most of the day staff were clocking off to head home. So instead we made our goodbyes to Daste and her incredibly efficient manservant, who both wished us luck, and made our way back out to collect our horses. The Terrors were still watching Driver 8 from a cautious distance, but he still seemed entirely indifferent to them, while Krakka was sat on the bottom step while they both chatted amiably about nothing much.

Ceinog saw us off on the last leg heading to the gate, and while for the most part his attempts at conversation seemed harmless enough I could tell he was subtly trying to needle fresh information out of us. He seemed pretty and pleasant in manner, but he's definitely not my type, and mostly I wanted to drive my fist right through his face the whole time. Even if he wasn't one of the fuckers who invaded my country when I was still little more than a child, there'd still be something about him I just don't like.

We made the journey back down the Midway Mile at a steady trot, and nothing further came up to trouble us during the journey through the Square of Commerce and on through to the Slowspan. By this point the sky was very red and the sun was well below the horizon, and Art said it'd be best for us if we were across before the night came, so we hustled to one of the half dozen bridges spanning the river's wide but sluggish waters. Then we were in poorer quarters of the city and he was happy to take over as our guide.

The night we took the job Thermyse offered to put us up in one of the nicer hotels so we could have easy access to the hill, but knowing Untermer at least as well as I do I figured that might not work out so well for some of us. Instead she made arrangements for us to stay in the best accommodations she could arrange on the other side of the Slowspan, meaning once we'd crossed we only had to ride a hundred yards along the bank to the Iron Shark. It's popular with many of the more experienced and successful seafarers passing through Untermer's port, but given its relatively high prices it tends to be frequented mostly by captains and higher-ranking members of the most well-paid crews. Certainly it's the first time I've ever been inside before.

It's a sturdy, well-made building, but even so in deference to the nervousness of the staff and, in particular the proprietor, Driver 8 elected to remain downstairs, instead setting up in the backroom of the ground-level bar, which they offered to clear out for him. In the end he politely turned them down, instead simply shunting a table and a few chairs aside so he could hunker down in the corner and almost immediately power down, his glowing red eyes growing dim the way he does when he "rests". The rest of us dropped our gear off in our rooms before coming back down to grab a good, filling dinner in the bar and suck down a few drinks before turning in for the night. Art, true to form, hit it off with the prettiest of the barmaids within the first half hour, and he vanished with her impressively early, guaranteed not to resurface before morning.

Waking up quite early, I found the sun was just starting to climb when I leaned out of my window to take in a big breath of surprisingly fresh air and a big whiff of brine on the breeze, something I always found particularly refreshing in my travels. Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that, if I ever live long to be old and rich enough to retire, I might just get a quiet place a little further down the coast and spend my final years waking up to an ocean view every morning. Feels like a dream worth cultivating.

Needless to say Yeslee was up ahead of me, already dressed and ready to head down again, so once I was washed up from the fresh-filled basin and dressed in a fresh set of clothes we went down to hunt up some early breakfast and wake Big Man up again. We took our time eating as we settled in to enjoy the growing morning and waited for the others to come down and join us, figuring it'd take a while for some to rouse themselves. I certainly wasn't wrong in Art's case, he was last down and looking almost indecently pleased with himself, which caused immediate eyerolls from most of us. Interestingly, Gael didn't join in this time, instead remaining quiet and reserved about the whole thing, but they've been unusually cold with him the whole time since.