I'm sorry! Sorry it's been so long! I've been away without Wi-Fi. It was...dreadful. *sniffle sniffle* Never again. Ever.
The door was answered by an elderly woman, who looked hardly capable of standing upright, let alone committing homicide. She squinted at us through ebony-rimmed glasses.
"Yes?"
I coughed back surprise and confusion, but Kai offered a friendly smile. "Hi. We're from the Moon Guard. Is everything okay?"
"Why wouldn't everything be okay?" she snapped. Okay, so this one obviously wasn't the nice grandma type. She sounded incredibly defensive.
He pointed at the bloodstains with a half-shrug. She scowled and tried to shut the door in our faces, but Becky slipped her foot in the way.
There were suspicious sounds of furniture moving and running feet coming from behind her. I shuffled sideways to peer down the dark hallway. One of the shadows moved, and I knew someone else was in.
"I hurt myself," the woman said shakily, "while gardening. Now, I thank you for your concern, but I really must-"
"Could we take a look inside?" I asked sharply. Every second she delayed us, the fugitives got a little further away.
"Well, that depends. Do you have a warrant?"
"Do we need one?" Kai raised his eyebrows. He gave Becky a firm nudge, and she got the message, striding around to the back of the house to cut off any escape routes.
A loud crash eliminated all of my doubts. Someone was trying to escape the house, and that gave us probable cause to break in, as far as I was concerned. My hand slid to the hilt of a blade, and I took a step forwards. "Ma'am, if you could move out of the way..."
She bristled in the way only old ladies can. "No, I couldn't. I have a bad hip."
Kai sighed, resigned to having to wrestle a senior citizen. "Move. Unless you want to be arrested too."
"This...this is harassment," she protested firmly. "I can report you, young man."
She couldn't, but I'm not sure she knew that. Kai was the prince, and immune to criticism even he had been doing something wrong, which he hadn't. As far as we knew, she was protecting a murderer. We could have quite legally rugby-tackled her by this point.
Kai didn't resort to anything quite so extreme, though. He gently, but firmly moved the old woman to one side, taking care to support her weight. That left the corridor clear for me to dash past. And I did so, drawing a long knife as I did so. When dealing with shifters, you can never be too cautious.
It was dark enough in the house that I had to squint. Every shadow resembled a crouching person, every flicker became movement. I turned into a messy living room, and the hairs of the back of my neck stood up.
"Sav, behind you!" Kai shouted.
I whirled, bringing the blade up instinctively. But before it could cross my body, someone slammed into me. I fell hard, my arm colliding with a coffee table, and my head hitting the side of a sofa. My attacker groped blindly for my throat, and squeezed.
He was clumsy and slow, but heavier than me. It took two attempts to throw him off, using emergency procedures from training. He hit his head against a wall in the scuffle, and slumped to the floor, dazed. I scrambled to my feet, despite the pain in my muscles. My attacker blinked to awareness, and found my blade brushing his throat.
Kai, quite sensibly, had found the light switch. As a bulb flickered on, I could see my surroundings properly for the first time. The person who had so ungraciously tackled me, was a just a boy. He was maybe eighteen-two years older than myself, and stocky.
I had got the better of him so easily because he was already injured. Long, half-healed scratches to his abdomen, which had opened up in the struggle. They wept blood now, straining his shirt in long streaks.
"Good work, Sav," Kai said with no small amount of satisfaction. His arms were covered in new gouges, like fingernail marks. No doubt the old woman had tried to delay him.
His next action was to call the rest of the patrol in by mind-link. Becky, who had been nearby, returned dragging a boy in handcuffs. I would guess this was a brother of my captive, just by their familiar features.
"He jumped out of a window," she said by way of explanation. "I just had to untangle him from a rosebush."
Becky attached the runner's cuffs to a radiator and turned her attention to the boy who was still glowering at the end of my knife. Together, Becky and I pushed him heavily onto the sofa. We hovered at his shoulders, in case he had to be restrained a second time. Kai took a seat opposite and leant over the table, putting his weight on his elbows. It was an interrogation, and the boy knew it.
"So," Kai began jovially, "do you want to tell us why you're covered in blood?"
"No."
"Really? Because at the moment, you're the prime suspect in a murder investigation."
The boy scowled. "I didn't kill him," he said slowly.
"But you know he's dead. How's that?" Ben and Alex had quietly made their entrance, not looking the least disappointed about missing all the action. They had helped the old woman to a seat in the back room, well out of our way. Now, Alex yawned. His voice dripped with boredom.
"Everyone does. The whole village. But I. didn't. kill. him."
"So who did?" Kai demanded.
He shook his head. "I don't know. None of us. We were fighting them, yes. But no one was aiming for the throat. We just wanted to chase them off. Your Llewellyn minions were trespassing. What would you do, if there were Rochester mutts on your turf?"
"The same," Ben piped up. "But that's beside the point. How many were there?"
"A dozen-maybe more. All Wynhold boys. They thought it was funny, I suppose. Wanted to take out their anger on some Rochesters, and thought we would make easy targets. They even accused us of poisoning the queen, as if we're to blame for what the king does."
Kai glanced at me and nodded. "Okay, so it was their fault. It still doesn't excuse murder."
"How many times?! It wasn't us!" The boy tried to stand up, but Becky and I both hauled him back down and held him there. His brother wrenched at his cuffs. Suddenly, he found the attention of our entire patrol focused on him.
"And you?" I asked. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"The same as him," he insisted stubbornly. "They attacked us. We defended ourselves. That's all."
"Then why did you run?"
He rolled his eyes. "Don't you get it? It doesn't matter if we're innocent. He"-a wild gesture at Kai-"is a Llewellyn prince. You think he would side with us over his own men?"
"While I'm in Moon Guard uniform, I'm impartial," Kai said truthfully. "I'm sorry that the Wynhold House attacked you, and they will be disciplined for it. But if what you say is true and you didn't kill Isaac, then we need to know who did."
"We don't know-aren't you listening? Last time I saw the kid, he was breathing. He tried to stop the fight. With another boy. I recognised him from school. The neighbourhood halfwit-Patrick."
"Woah, Patrick was there?" Alex demanded. Our prisoner nodded. "This just gets better and better. You have any idea where he is now?"
He grunted. "Yes. Holed up in the hills with his friends. They went to ground in a hunting cabin to tend to the injured. A dozen of our guys are watching them."
"Perfect. Thank you." Kai smiled, his usual cheery self. "Looks like we're going hiking. Any volunteers to escort these two to Evarlin?"
Ben and Alex glanced at each other and nodded. They had been getting on well, despite their obvious differences. As glad I was that they were friendly and enthusiastic, I would have welcomed the chance to go home myself. This job was tiring.
Becky raised a hand and smirked. "I volunteer to stay here and continue investigating."
Kai rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. You have a few suspicions about the militia girl?"
"Indeed. I think I might need to interview her. If you two can handle some alone time, of course."
"Rebecca Lochwood, you are on duty. If this isn't breaking the rules, I don't know what is," he reminded her.
She rolled her eyes. "Then I suggest you keep quiet about it."
***
The hills were incredibly scenic, I thought. Really beautiful. With rolling fields, a tangle of forest, snaking rivers and short, rocky cliffs, it looked more like Yellowstone than Anglesey. At least, in my opinion.
And the hunting cabin was nestled in between the two tallest peaks. That meant a great view for them, and a long trek for us. But with good company and excess energy, the time passed quickly. Kai and I talked the whole way, which really kept my mind off the exercise.
We reached the cabin in late afternoon. As our informer had promised, a ring of Winterusk shifters surrounded it. They were just watching and waiting for us to arrest the wrongdoers. They weren't all that pleased when Kai calmly informed them that we would be playing detectives first.
But still, we were allowed to pass and approach the cabin. I stepped onto a rotting porch to knock on the door. Suspicious eyes peered out of grimy windows, but eventually, a familiar face appeared to let us in.
"Patrick," Kai greeted him cheerfully. "Good to see you again."
The Wynhold boy spluttered and stammered out an inaudible response. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. He had always struggled with social interactions. And just about everything else as well, really.
"Kai!" That shout came from another boy, a few years older. He pushed his way through a throng of battered companions to reach the doorway. "Come on in."
We received a warm welcome in the cabin. They recognised me as a Fairborne, and our two families-both sworn to Llewellyn-had always been friendly. And Kai, as the prince of their house, was treated like royalty. Oh, wait...
"You've come to help us, right?" one boy asked hopefully.
"Not quite," Kai said. "You'll be allowed out of here-to return home and everything. But first, we have a few questions."
The leader, who Kai had called Noah, nodded. "Fire away."
I thought I might take first crack. It would be better if Kai wasn't the one to piss them off, when he would need their support in the upcoming struggle for the throne. "What are you doing here? This isn't your land, and Winterusk have accused you of attacking them."
"Oh, really?" Noah scoffed. "I suppose they were only too happy to forget all the times when they attacked us. Just last week they beat a female unconscious on our turf. This feud goes back a very long time. I'm not even sure who started it."
I exchanged a look with my comrade. "How long?"
He frowned at me, and gestured at Kai. "Since his father was murdered, at least."
Okay. That could be checked with older members of the guard later. So now we had got the tricky part out of the way, we could crack onto the real reason for our presence.
"Speaking of murder," Kai raised his voice for the whole room to hear. "Anyone like to explain what happened to Isaac?"
The Wynhold raiders went silent. Some of them shuffled in place. One coughed. Noah averted his eyes. "We were fighting. They must have got carried away..."
"And now, how about the truth?"
That got them all defensive. "It is the truth."
"Winterusk are quite adamant they didn't touch him," he explained. "As I very much doubt he ripped a chunk out of himself, someone killed him. Don't you have any idea who?"
The cogs in my brain span faster and faster. And suddenly, it was obvious. I spat out a curse and whispered to Kai, "The injury-it was on his back."
Noah's head whipped up. He looked like a trapped animal, obviously realising we knew. But still, he refused to admit anything. "So?"
"So maybe someone from his own side killed him. Maybe he was trying to stop the fight. Maybe someone's blood was up, and their wolf got a little carried away," Kai suggested mildly. Realising Noah wasn't about to break, he turned to Patrick. "You were trying to stop it too, weren't you? What happened, Patrick?"
And that easily, he crumpled. Patrick pointed straight at Noah, who glowered right back. But that was all we needed.
"Hands behind your back," I ordered, unclipping cuffs from my belt. Alone, he didn't pose a threat to us. But it was a good idea to restrain him before the other Wynhold boys found their balls and decided to involve themselves.
"You can't-" Noah began sharply. He was interrupted by Kai slamming him against a wall, who was also clearly aware of the impending danger.
As the Wynhold boy found his arms roughly twisted behind him, I let the cuffs click into place. We made a sharp exit after that, dragging the prisoner between us. The others muttered amongst themselves, but none of them dared to actually get involved. It was a long march to the village, and not one I enjoyed.
I took the time to reflect. The houses were starting to fight amongst themselves. To the point where they would kill their own to do so. I had only vague memories of the last uprising, but this was certainly how it had begun. We were headed towards civil war, and soon. As soon as the Queen drew her last breath, I suspected. Then it would be a bitter battle for the throne.
And with this little stunt, we were punishing our own side. I wondered if that had been deliberate on Peyton's part. Maybe he had suspected a Wynhold killer, and sent us to drive a wedge between Kai and his supporters. Little did he know that by the display in the cabin, none of the other Wynhold boys liked Noah much. He had murdered one of them in cold blood.
Noah complained the whole way, despite our constant attempts to shut him up. The way he complained only made him sound guiltier. But it irritated me all the same. It was a relief when we could hand him over to Becky, who had met us outside the village.
Then Kai took a short walk back into the forest. I followed. With our job done, I welcomed a few rare moments alone together. He stopped beside a small lake, and I halted too. The water was shining like mirror in the summer sun, displaying a perfect reflection of the world around it. Us included.
I saw a silvery-pale girl next to a tawny boy. So different, yet so alike in the dark Moon Guard uniform. My attention kept slipping back to Kai, and I finally realised I could stare without making it obvious what I was doing. Just at reflection him, not real him.
"The second we get back, we can call your mother. That'll get Nathan off your back," he promised.
"I somehow doubt it," I muttered under my breath. When he threw me a concerned look though, I shrugged it off and added, "I don't want to talk about Nate now."
Kai raised his eyebrows, a smile on his lips. "Oh, really? Whatever shall we do, then?"
"Something fun for a change."
We were close. And when he turned form the lake to smile at me, I was suddenly aware of just how close.
His tone couldn't possibly get any more suggestive. "Anything in particular?"
"This." In a flood of carelessness, I caught hold of his harness straps, and dragged him closer. Courage and confidence I had no idea I possessed made an appearance, beating my common sense to oblivion. And then I kissed him.
It was about damn time, I thought. Kai seemed to freeze for a moment, until his instincts kicked in. He kissed me right back, and for longer than my lungs would have preferred, we were a tangle of limbs and tongues.
It was nice. Perfect, really. I had been crushing on this boy since the first time I laid eyes on him, yet something felt oddly wrong. As if there was a single piece missing from a complete puzzle. That left me conflicted for the rest of the time we sat by the lake, kissing and talking quietly like love-struck puppies.
And as we journeyed back to Evarlin afterwards, I began to wonder if he was the only person I was crushing on.