“The next time it’s used, there’s no guarantee of survival. If you want to live longer, don’t use it.”
“Is that a threat?”
“True faith cannot be gained by manipulating someone into fighting by using their weakness against them.”
A body that did what one wanted, but a mind that was dead inside. That was simply a puppet, not a preacher or sufferer.
“So that’s just my little secret. I haven’t told the other preachers or the sufferers.”
“I would think summoning me here was a kind of threat on its own.”
“Then will you come right away the next time I call you?” she asked.
I left without a word.
“Come again sometime,” the woman said seductively over my shoulder.
In truth, I wanted to kill her, but my sense of reason just barely won out.
Part of that was my slim chance of winning, but she also had a finger on Arwin’s secret. Even if I was able to kill her, she might have set up some mechanism to spread that secret after her death. If I tried to reveal Samantha’s true nature, she would expose secrets in revenge. And if I acted foolishly, then as the letter said, it would lead to Arwin’s downfall.
Now I had to mind my actions.
I was well and truly up against the wall.
Back at Dez’s house, the family had returned. I ignored Ralph’s wailed questions about where I’d gone, and I faced off with Dez.
“Things are bad,” Dez said with a sour expression. “The guild headquarters has sent out a notice. They’re dispatching a new guildmaster soon.”
“Damn, really?”
So headquarters was going to cut the old man loose, then.
“The topic of the girl came up, too. ‘Don’t get involved,’ they said.”
So it wasn’t an adventurer’s job to shelter those wanted by the law. That meant we no longer had the option of paying adventurers to protect her.
“I know. They wanted to keep you under their thumb.”
It was well known across the guild that Dez and I were close.
“I know what you want to say,” I insisted.
There was a dwarf saying: Even a ditch digger lets the wounded mole escape. Dez’s sense of loyalty and obligation would not allow him to kick out a friend who came to him in a time of need. He would give his life to protect her. That was the sort of man Dez was.
“But this is my problem,” he said.
Dez already had too many things to protect. I couldn’t indulge in the safety he offered.
“I have a plan. Don’t worry. Get us ready to go—I’ll go wake up the squirt,” I said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He gave me an almost apologetic look. “Listen, don’t worry. She’s not going to blame you for anything.”
“You really care about the girl that much?”
“I don’t want to be a piece of shit who delights in tormenting a child, that’s all.”
Life wasn’t fair. Good kids like the squirt suffered unfairly, while pieces of shit like me got to live out their days until natural causes got us.
“Plus,” I added, “I think a certain princess knight’s nosiness has rubbed off on me. I think I’ve gotten invested in seeing things like justice and fairness win out.”
“So have I.” Ralph came stomping into the living room and began packing his own bag. “Where are we going next?”
“You think you’re coming along?”
“Her Highness asked me herself,” he bragged, puffing out his chest.
“You might end up being kicked out of the guild.”
“Betraying Her Highness’s orders would be far worse.”
Well, at least he’d learned how to talk like a man.
“All right, I’ll go wake up the squirt. Get her stuff ready.”
That night, I asked Dez to send a message to Arwin, and we left his house.
Sneaking carefully to avoid attention, we made our way to an abandoned house near Nicholas’s place. I knew it was empty, so I picked the lock. It had once been a business, so the front of the building was a store, while the back was the living area.
But people knew about me and Nicholas, I was sure. Plenty of folks had seen me coming and going around the area. It was only a matter of time before they found us there.
For now, we set up a sleeping area in the corner of the dining room. There were enough blankets and cushions from around the house to make a bed, which would make for a slightly more comfortable sleep for April. The extra blankets could be hung up for partitions so she didn’t have to deal with Ralph’s insolent gaze.
“You must be tired,” I said. “Sleep here tonight.”
“Thank you…”
April got down on her hands and knees over the bed. Her face was pale. She was putting up a brave front, but losing her place to stay over and over again was clearly getting to her.
“I know it’s been hard, but it’s just a bit longer. The old man will be out soon.”
“Yeah.” She laughed without any mirth.
Ralph stood guard near the door. I’d told him to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious approaching the building.
Nothing good had happened since the old man was arrested. If anything, matters were only getting worse. I knew the way to solve the impasse but wasn’t able to execute it.
“Good night.”
I blew out the candle.
My eyes opened. I expected to have just a quick nap, but I’d slept longer than I’d intended. I was sitting in a chair, so I felt stiff and achy. The sky was getting lighter outside; dawn was nearing. How much longer would we need to stay on the run? Ralph was getting exhausted, and April had to be at her limit, physically and mentally.
“And in the end, the location of the hidden treasure is a mystery,” I lamented. All that hard work for nothing.
“Hey, Matthew,” April said, sticking her face around the hanging curtain.