Moonshadow (Book 1 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Juen'tal the Wildrun, Pt 1

"Good evening, gentlemen," Fykes said as he approached the guards in front of the manor.

Katerin felt her heart in her throat as he spoke. She hoped this would work. She did not want to fight Sahn-Raidar men. It seemed wrong, no matter how much she disliked military and mercenary work, seeing as Graiden had sent them up here for this.

The guards stiffened. "Food rationing isn't for hours yet," one barked, his hand on a cudgel at his side. He bore a scar across his face and his sandy hair was unkempt.

Fykes laughed, looking down at his armor and then pointedly at the man. "Do we look like we are here for food?" He scoffed, waving a hand at the guardsmen "Byron himself invited us." He did not even have to change his tone too much to easily convince the men that he was an important figure. All it had taken was a different cloak, a tie for his hair, and a spell over his armor to make it look far more expensive than it truly was.

"I haven't heard of any meeting," the guard said, glancing in confusion at his companions, as they shook their heads.

Fykes sighed, looking back at Arjiah, who was an excellent actress. She had magically altered her robes to a finer cut of cloth. She stood with her hands clasped and an elegant yet annoyed expression on her face. "The roads are still horrid, you know," Fykes began, as Arjiah scrunched up her nose. "Byron will not be pleased if we arrive any later than we already have. You know how he is when he's angry. I'd hate to have to give him your name, should we be delayed any further..." He left the threat hanging in the air, his lips pursed.

The man he was speaking to paled and the guards glanced at each other, bending their heads together, speaking in whispers for a moment. When they were done, they began unlocking the gates.

"Don't make any trouble," one warned as they were let inside. The inside of the grounds was just as quiet as the rest of the town, with the exception of the guard house near the gate. The guards led them to the door, then left them to return to their post.

Katerin let out a deep breath and Fykes smiled at her.

"Told you it would work," he whispered, as he opened the door.

The reception room was empty, and no sound came from within the manor. Katerin looked around with a scowl. It was eerily quiet. She had expected that unpleasant gnome, at least.

"Offices?" Her quiet voice too loud in the empty room.

They ascended the steps quickly and quietly but heard no one as they moved through the building. Finding Holter's office was simple, as Katerin retraced her steps and listened at the door. No sound came from within. When Katerin tried the door she found it unlocked, and she smiled as she slipped inside and looked around. It looked much the same as it had the first time she had seen it.

"Katerin, what are you doing?" Fykes hissed, ducking his head in after her.

"Sorry... one minute," she said. She moved to the desk and searched through the papers, looking for the book he had held up last time they met. She thumped it onto the desk and thumbed through it, and eventually, she found the page.

By now both Fykes and Arjiah had joined her in the room and quietly closed the door. It was a listing of trade goods, with 'Illixian Guild' And 'Drider Moonshadow' written next to it, with a date and a few other details. She thumbed to the more recent entries, but the pages told her nothing of Drider or Sulea. It looked like she was waiting again, after all. Wherever Sulea had gone, she had not come back here.

"Katerin, do you feel that?" Arjiah asked, staring at the tapestry on the wall.

"Feel what?" Katerin said, as she tried to replace the parchments as they had been, shifting them carefully back into place in the stack of papers.