Deepwoods (Book 1) (22 page)

Siobhan resisted the urge to go find a flat, hard surface
and start banging her head against it. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to
find the right words to explain. “Rune, I said
help
. I meant, go protect
Denney and discourage the lack-heads from flirting with her. They’re drunk and
mistaken about her profession. That’s not a crime worth losing their lives
over.”

Said drunks were nodding vigorously in avid support of this.

She could just tell by Rune’s expression that he still
didn’t get it. Was his training really that deeply ingrained, or was she just
not explaining it right? Giving up for the moment, she ducked around the men
and offered a hand up to Denney.

Conli beat her there, hands frantically checking for any
injuries even as he demanded, “Are you alright? I couldn’t see what happened,
did these men hurt you before Wolf got here?”

“I’m fine,” Denney assured her uncle, then Siobhan. “Fine.
Rune hit those two hard and fast, and I lost my balance too, I was so
surprised. But I’m fine. Conli, your packages? Where are they?”

“I dropped them all,” he admitted. Peeking over his shoulder,
he said morosely, “I think some of them broke. I heard glass cracking.”

Oh joy of wonders. That meant he’d have to go
back
to
the store to replace things. This was turning into quite the shopping trip.
Blowing out her breath, Siobhan started pointing fingers at people. “Wolf, you
and Rune go finish the shopping with Sylvie. Then meet us at the herbal store.
Conli, Denney, let’s wrap this up and get back to Iron Dragain.”

The faster they left this potential hotbed of trouble, the
better.

ӜӜӜ

Siobhan’s punishment for adopting an assassin without
thinking it through was having to
deal
with said assassin and his bad
habits. After returning to Iron Dragain the day before, she’d done her best to
explain the do’s and don’ts when helping someone out of a sticky situation.
She’d also tried to explain that she hadn’t taken Rune away from Vakkiod
because she’d wanted an assassin at her beck and call. Rune had assured her he
understood, and that he wouldn’t kill people unless necessary, but he’d still
looked confused at the end of the conversation.

She could only hope that he would figure it out on his own,
as she didn’t know how else to explain.

A full day had passed since their disastrous shopping trip
and her worries were only growing. Siobhan had mistakenly believed that if she
could just find Lirah and her missing escort, then all would be well. But in
truth, their rescue carried a great many troubles with it. Rune just
complicated matters more.

She sat outside and looked up at the half moon overhead, her
toes just grazing the tip of the pond water. It felt ice cold to her skin, but
strangely pleasant, probably because she’d once again been on her feet all day.

A door opened and closed behind her. She smiled as she
recognized the heavy tread and greeted without turning her head, “Evening,
Wolf.”

“Evening.” He sank down to sit beside her, making the wood
of the porch creak under his weight. “You out here thinking again?”

“Yes.” Blowing out a gusty sigh, she whined, “What do I do
with Rune?”

“Ah, finally see the trouble that boy brings, eh?” Wolf
responded in a distinctly unsympathetic tone.

“
You
never went around randomly trying to kill
people,” she responded indignantly, trying to justify herself.

“
I
was never an assassin, I was a mercenary,” he
refuted calmly. “There’s a difference.”

Yes, apparently quite a difference. She started grumbling
under her breath, unable to argue the point.

“It might get worse.”

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. “Why?”

“He’s disappearing during the day.”

“What?!”

“He did it yesterday, after he saw us back to the compound,
and again this morning.” Wolf rubbed a palm against his jaw, making a rasping
sound against his night stubble. “I don’t know if he’s trying to get back into
his old guild or not. It might be that he’s just not comfortable here, in his
old enemy’s headquarters.”

She let her head thunk against his shoulder. “Great.
Wonderful. Now what do I do?”

“Nothing you can do. You can’t control a man’s heart,
Siobhan.”

That was less than comforting.

“But I think you’re more worried about other things, and
less about Rune.” He cocked his head as he looked down at her. “You’re
wondering why Lirah’s group was attacked, aren’t you?”

She nodded in grim agreement. “There’s too many holes in her
story, too many things that don’t make sense. It’s like I’m staring at a puzzle
with half the pieces missing.”

“It’s not our job to solve the puzzle,” he pointed out. “Our
job ended when we found Lirah. It’s just because you’re worried about them that
we’re staying on and letting Conli treat everyone.”

“Well, yes, I know….”

“But?” he prompted, knowing well there was a ‘but’ coming.

“But it doesn’t sit right with me to just let the mystery
hang like this. I don’t see anyone stepping forward and trying to solve it,
either.”

Wolf slipped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her into
him. “I know you don’t like things left loose like this, unexplained, but we’ll
be walking into trouble if you try to sort this one out.”

“I think we’ll be in more trouble if we
don’t
figure
it out. My instincts say that, anyway.” Siobhan sat there, weighing out options
for a long moment, but in reality she knew what they needed to do. “Erik.”

Wolf jerked his head down to look at her, eyes wide in
surprise. She’d only ever called his true name a handful of times in the past
ten years.

She looked up at him with firm resolve. “We shouldn’t sit
here. Lirah might not be able to move, but we can, and we should. We need to go
to Coravine and investigate, find out what they’re up to. Otherwise we won’t
know how to prepare for the storm that’s coming.”

He nodded solemnly. “Eh, I agree. It’s folly to sit here.
But you think this small guild is strong enough to go there alone?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll face trouble just by
traveling there, though. We’re not directly connected to either Iron Dragain or
Silver Moon. We’re small enough in number that it won’t look odd for us to
travel toward Orin. And if we need a cover story,” she realized, bemused and
amused, “We’ve got one on hand. Markl will be our stand-in client.”

“Ah?” His head canted as he thought about it, before he
shrugged ruefully. “It’s not even a lie, quite. Heh. I like it. We can even
stay for several days on the excuse that he’s studying things. Right, well.
Leave in the morning?”

Siobhan wanted to, but life wasn’t quite that convenient.
“We’ll need to find a boat first. And make preparations. We’ll be lucky to get
out of here the day after tomorrow.”

“Well, might not take as long, if we ask Jarnsmor for a
ship,” he pointed out.

True, that. Although it would still take them three or four hours
by ship to cross the Dual Channel to reach Orin. Never before had Siobhan
regretted the limits of Pathmaking like she did now. Why, why wouldn’t it work
over water? The fact that it was restrained to land—and only fertile land, to
boot—drove her mad some days. “I’ll ask him first thing in the morning.”

“Ya won’t be able ta if ya don’t sleep now,” Rune’s voice
laconically pointed out from…somewhere above them.

Siobhan jumped—now when had he gotten into the rafters
again?—but Wolf nearly leaped out of his skin. He scrambled to his feet like a
guilty teenager caught kissing his girlfriend, and even in this dim lighting it
was easy to see the vivid blush on his cheeks.

Rune laughed outright from the safety of his hiding place,
amused at Wolf’s reaction. The laughter helped her pinpoint his position
better. He’d found some sort of crawl space between the roof and the ceiling,
apparently, as he had to be almost directly above her head.

Seeing the murderous look that Wolf aimed at the ceiling,
not to mention the way his hands twitched as if hungering for a weapon, Siobhan
put a constraining hand on his shoulder. “You can’t kill him.”

He shot her a look that said,
Want to bet?

“It’s one of those unwritten rules about being a guest,” she
explained mock-somberly. “You’re not supposed to kill people in someone else’s
home.”

Rune cracked up laughing again.

“Just maim him a little bit, alright?”

Wolf gave her a predatory smile. “Define ‘a little.’”

The ex-assassin’s nerves broke, and with a yelp, he quickly
scrambled out of the area.

She looked in the direction he’d retreated, even though she
couldn’t see through the wood. “Apparently he didn’t realize I was kidding.”

“Apparently he realized I wasn’t,” Wolf growled, a wicked
gleam in his eyes. With a gentle pat on her head, he wished her a good night
before stalking back into the building.

Siobhan watched him go and said under her breath, “Run,
Rune, run.”

Siobhan preferred not to make major decisions that affected
the whole guild without discussing it with them first. After her conversation
with Wolf the night before, she felt that this was one of those times where she
needed to hear everyone’s opinions. So she called for a general meeting of the
guild before breakfast. They retreated to the common room, the only space that
could hold all of them and had enough privacy where they could talk without
interruption.

Everyone found a place on either the couches or chairs.
Denney chose the floor next to Conli’s feet, where the dogs could curl in next
to her. Rune was in the farthest chair, not directly facing the group, although
the way he had his ear cocked in her direction made her think he was at least
listening in.

Once they’d settled, she drew in a breath and began.
“Alright. We have a decision in front of us. Our original job is complete—we
found Lirah and her people, we’ve notified Blackstone where they are, and she’s
got the protection she needs to make it safely back home again. For all intents
and purposes, we’re done.”

“I hear a ‘but’ in that somewhere.” Grae sat forward, eyes
studying her carefully. “Is there something else going on, Shi?”

She nodded somberly. “Grae, I don’t feel right walking away
at this point. There’s too many unanswered questions. Why this elaborate setup?
Why would a guild from Orin attack Blackstone? What is so important that a game
should be played at high stakes, using people’s lives as the chips?”

“It’s bothering me, too,” Sylvie admitted with a troubled
sigh.

“You want us to investigate,” Fei said neutrally.

“Can you think of someone better to send?” Siobhan asked him
while spreading her palms. “We intimately know the ins and outs of the
situation, better than anyone in Iron Dragain does. No one from Blackstone is
fit to leave and look into it. We have two natives of Orin right in this room
that would be able to find out more information than an outsider asking.”

“Just as vital, we need to know.” Hammon had open approval
on his face. “If this—whatever this is—can hurt Blackstone guildsmen this far
from home, what is to prevent it from happening again in Goldschmidt itself?”

That was another worry that had occurred to her last night.
“Exactly.”

“I personally don’t like the idea of having an unknown
enemy,” Wolf added darkly.

“As much as I hate to agree with him,” Tran grumbled, “I
feel the same way.”

“Any objections?”

“Have you talked about this to Jarnsmor or Lirah?” Beirly
asked her. “Guildmasters are a touchy bunch. They don’t like people going off
and doing things without their knowing.”

“I plan to ask them next,” she assured him. “I just didn’t
want to go talk to them about it without hearing your opinions first. After
all, this delays us going home by days, weeks, I have no way of knowing.”

“I don’t think that really bothers anyone.” Beirly looked
around the group.

Siobhan did the same, reading their expressions. Sylvie
didn’t look particularly happy to be going to Orin, but she never did. Her
parents usually gave her trouble when she was within arm’s reach of them.
Denney, Conli, and Grae seemed ambivalent with the idea. They felt the need to
go and get answers and didn’t particularly mind if that delayed their departure
home for a few weeks. Her enforcers were already gearing up for potential
trouble, and, judging by that smile, Wolf looked forward to it.

Only Rune didn’t seem to care or have an opinion. He still
didn’t face their direction, but only sat there because she’d called him into
the room. Well, he was a problem she’d have to sort out later.

Siobhan blew out a breath that she hadn’t realized she was
holding. “I think we have a general consensus here. You realize we’ll be
walking into unknown danger?”

“I think I prefer that over keeping an eye on our backs for
the next several months.” Denney raised a hand. “All in favor of going to
Orin?”

Every hand went up into the air, almost without any
hesitation.

She felt relieved at their willingness but also strangely
tense, as she realized that she had taken on another set of problems and
responsibilities as her own. Walking into unknown danger hadn’t been an
exaggeration. But she truly felt that she didn’t have any other choice. “Well
then. I’ll go find Jarnsmor and see if I can convince him.”

ӜӜӜ

Jarnsmor, as expected of a major guildmaster, could not be
easily pinned down. Even with help, Siobhan spent a good hour trying to find
him in this huge labyrinth of a compound. She only managed it because he always
had breakfast at the same time in the same place. Once she found Nortin, he
knew where to direct her. Otherwise she knew with absolute certainty that she
would have spent the rest of the day searching for him in vain.

He sat in this out of the way little room that seemed to be
made entirely of windows, like a greenhouse, with a single round table in the
center that took up most of the space. She entered and abruptly slowed at the
doorway to avoid running into anything. The windows let out over the same
garden she had been in last night, only with the morning sun now pouring
through, she could see much more of it. Waaahhh, what a pretty sight to stare
at while eating. No wonder he had breakfast here without fail.

As soon as she stepped into the room, Jarnsmor looked up, a
cup halfway to his mouth, and he dipped his head in greeting. “Guildmaster
Maley. I trust your sleep last night was comfortable.”

“Quite, sir. Thank you. You are a good host.” Wolf had
coached her to say that, just in case. It was the right thing to respond with,
as Jarnsmor openly beamed at her. “I wanted to speak with you, if that’s
alright?”

“Of course, of course.” He waved her into the chair across
from his. “Sit, eat.”

Siobhan felt it odd to discuss business
without
eating, so she sat without further encouragement and loaded up a small plate
with different foods before pouring a hot cup of tea. “I had a thought last
night,” she began.

“About?”

“This whole odd situation. Markl mentioned that he found
this nameless guild in Orin strange. If they knew about the monopoly you were forming
here, why attack and try to destroy it? Why not join it instead?”

Jarnsmor grunted. “He’s quite right.”

“I thought so as well. I think that someone needs to go to
Orin, investigate further, see if we can pinpoint who it was exactly that sent
assassins after Blackstone and why. It’s the ‘why’ I truly want answered. My
sixth sense is telling me that there’s a very deep and compelling reason for this
reaction.”

Holding his cup with both hands, he stared over the rim at
her. “You want to go.”

“Do you have a better candidate?” she replied, not trying to
come off as arrogant or cocky. “One of my people is from Coravine. I have two
that are from Orin altogether. I’ve traveled that continent many times. We are
not tied down here for any reason and are free to go and investigate. More, we
are fully aware of what the situation is and so know what to look for.”

His open palm accepted the argument. “I have no qualms with you
going. In truth, I’m in a quandary over this. You see, I have my own people
that are in Coravine to keep an eye on things.”

She nodded in understanding. Every major guild had at least
a few spies in their neighbor’s guilds. It was common business practice.

“I lost contact with them several weeks ago,” Jarnsmor
admitted with a troubled frown. “We’ve sent several messages but haven’t received
any reply. I’m afraid that they’ve been found out.”

And most likely executed or imprisoned. She could see why he
was worried. “You can’t send any of your people in after them.”

“Not without giving the game away,” he agreed, mouth in a
flat line. “If they are undiscovered, but unable to respond for some reason, I
risk exposing them. It’s a small chance that’s the case, but I don’t dare react
hastily. But no one knows you or your connection to me. It would be safe enough
to send you in, I think. But I want you to report your findings to me.”

“I had every intention of doing so,” she agreed, mouth
quirked up mischievously. “But if you want me to go and bring news quickly,
it’d help if you lent me a ship.”

“Ah,
that’s
what you’re after.” His eyes crinkled up
in amusement. “Alright, I’ll arrange it. Be ready to depart in the next few
days.”

“I will.” Well, that was one problem sorted. Now to make
preparations for everything else. “Can I ask when exactly you lost contact with
them?”

“Some two months or so ago, we noticed that it had been a
long time since we’d received any information from them.” Jarnsmor picked up
his glass and twirled the liquid about in an idle way. “We don’t get regular
updates from them, you understand, just when they have something to report. It
could well be that their disappearance can be linked to the change of
leadership in Fallen Ward.”

Siobhan blinked. “Fallen Ward has a new guildmaster?”

“As of about six months or so ago. The old leader had quite
the funeral, I understand. I can’t tell you much about his successor, however.
Actually, it was because I wanted information about the new guildmaster that I
contacted my people. But ever since the change in leadership, we haven’t heard
a single peep from across the channel. I haven’t the faintest idea if the new
guildmaster is a man or woman. It could be some mythical creature for all I
know!” he said disgruntledly.

She nodded understanding, well able to imagine how
frustrating this must be. Information was vital when trying to conduct business
with other guildmasters. If Darrens had been here, he’d have likely hit the
table with a closed fist at this point, in sheer frustration. “I’ll try and
find every bit of information I can,” she promised him.

“Good. Thank you.”

They ate in companionable silence for a moment before
Jarnsmor cleared his throat and ventured, “The young man that is in your guild.
He bears a striking resemblance to an assassin that hails from this city.
Bloodless, I believe his name is.”

Hooo, so he’d figured it out that quickly? Or someone in his
guild had recognized Rune and reported it. She looked him dead in the eye. “His
name is Rune and he’s a member of Deepwoods.”

Jarnsmor held up a hand in a placating manner. “I’m not
trying to stir up anything. If he’s with you, he’s with you. I’ve seen the way
that young man responds to you, after all. I don’t expect trouble from him. But
I am curious, how did you bring him over to your side? I’ve met a few people
from Silent Order before and they are cold souls, like empty dolls. I’d never
thought that they could be brought into a good guild.”

Yes, she’d had a few doubts about that herself the first few
days with Rune. It was her experience with Wolf that had made her try at all.

“Did you seduce him away somehow?” Jarnsmor asked, head
cocked.

“No.” The memory made her smile as she answered. “I
scribbled on his face. Much more effective.”

“Eh?” Jarnsmor blinked, uncomprehendingly, then put his
breakfast aside completely. “Now, you
must
explain that.”

Chuckling, she obliged and told him the story as she ate.
Jarnsmor proved to be a good listener, only interrupting once to ask a question
and otherwise paying strict attention to her. But then, this man ruled one of
the largest guilds of the four continents. A man in his position had to be
very, very good at communicating in order to stay in power.

When she’d finished, Jarnsmor laughed aloud. “Card games and
doodling on people’s faces…now there’s a tactic I’ve never heard of before. I
salute you, madam, as your tactics obviously worked.”

“I think it was the kindness that worked.” She wore a sad
smile as she stared at her plate, idly moving a piece of fruit around and
around. “He doesn’t know how to respond to kindness, it’s such a stranger to
him. Being able to laugh and joke with us was just the final clincher.”

“Ah, I see.” His deep voice softened slightly. “But then, I
suppose you have experience in dealing with dark guild members.”

She looked up at him askance.

“Your enforcer Wolf has all the markings of a former
mercenary. I assumed that he was once in a dark guild as well. Am I wrong?”

This man…just how good were his eyes? “No, you’re not.”

“How long has he been with you?”

“Ten years.”

He pursued his lips in a soundless whistle. “A long time. Do
you plan to keep Rune with you that long?”

“That’s entirely his decision to make. I promised to help
him leave the continent in exchange for his help. What he does after we leave
Island Pass is up to him.”

“Hmmm.” Jarnsmor let the subject rest there and instead
switched topics. “The Blackstone guildmembers will be safe here while you go
and investigate. I sent my own message to Darrens assuring him of such. When
you do go to Orin, I request that you leave your physician Conli behind. He’s
been very helpful to us in caring for people.”