Patrol 3: Darkness & Light

Chapter 12

"Good morning, Vania," Eddin said, nodding as she walked up. "Everything okay?"

"Fine," Vania grumbled. "How's Prant?"

"He's fine, luckily. He only got a very small dose of the poison. Had to leave him home to rest today, though." He looked at her. "Why'd you contact me this morning and say we needed to meet outside?"

Vania dropped her hood; her dark blue hair was pulled back in a simple braid and then tied to hang in loose loops. The spines on her head poked up out of her hair, tips glinting in the sunlight. The sunlight also caught on the gold emblem on her black uniform.

"Ah, I see. New uniform, and you haven't had a chance to get it spelled yet the way your other one was. For hiding some things." He smiled at her. "I like your new hairstyle. Looks lovely."

Vania scowled at him and flipped her hood back up, muttering, "Commander's orders."

"She commanded you to do your hair differently?"

"No. She told me to stop hiding."

"Ah. Then," he tugged at the back of her hood, exposing her head once more, "stop hiding. Let everyone see how beautiful you are."

"Easy for you to say—she didn't order you to expose yourself." She crossed her arms, turning her back to him with a huff.

His eyes instantly riveted on her wings, hanging loosely at her back, framing her cloak.

She flushed and grabbed at her cloak, hauling it over her wings and around her shoulders, clutching it tightly closed over her chest. Her figure immediately smoothed and straightened as the masking spell on the cloak covered her. "Just. Stop looking."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. If you like, you can go wait in Tarva's stall. No one will bother you there. I can go inside and get our orders and meet you." He reached over and gently pulled her hood back over her head. "Go wait with the horses; I'll be back soon."

She shivered, pulling her cloak tighter. "We already have orders."

"You already spoke to Captain Murrick?"

"No."

"Then how can we already have today's orders? I thought you said she told you to carry on your duties as normal unless she—" he interrupted himself, saying instead as the conclusion dawned on him, "She already gave you an assignment."

"Yes."

"Then I will go to Captain Murrick and tell him we're working on your orders from Commander Aleira today."

Vania bowed her head, still clutching her cloak close. "Thank you, Eddin."

"It'll be okay, Vania," Eddin said. "Just you wait and see." He smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. "Go. Do you need anything from inside?"

Vania sighed. "We're gonna need old case files. But trying to sort through them in the stable seems impractical. But, I just can't—"

"Yeah, I get it. Everyone's inside right now. Wait for me in the stable, anyway. If you stay with Tarva, no one will bug you, even if they do go in to get a horse; hell, if you hide behind her, no one will even see you. I'll meet back up with you after I speak to Captain, and we can discuss how best to tackle this; once everyone else has gone out to the streets for work, we can go inside."

Vania nodded. "Thank you, Eddin."

Piled parchments made walls on the tops of their desks. Eddin and Vania sat, scanning documents for references to the Dark Eaters and any hints as to what the organization did and where it resided.