"Arthur, why is it you always wear your armour " asked Pyp as he fiddled with the cushions on his seat.

"Just in case there's any trouble Pyp, if I had it my way you would be in armour as well," said Arthur, who was busy lifting one of the cartwheels out of a crack in the road.

"Now come down here and help me lift," said Arthur.

Ignoring him Pyp said, "I could never wear armour it looks too heavy and uncomfortable, and I don't need it to play my flute".

Arthur heaved the wheel out of the gap and glared at Pyp. He disappointed Arthur more and more with every passing day. The son of a High Prince, a prince, and here he is trading in sword and armour for his flute. He may not yet be a man, but boys show their colours early and Pyp’s colours were not that of a High Prince.

Later, as the sun fell from the sky, Arthur spotted a man sweeping the steps to his small house.

"Hello sir," said Pyp from his seat on the cart, the man slowly looked up his gaze settling on Arthur who placed a hand on his longsword. The man was old, his hair had receded far back on his head and his face was gaunt, his features were twisted into a mask of displeasure.

"What are you doing here," he spat, "This city's dead and it's no place for a child".

"We are here to see the Baron Wenceslas" replied Pyp, the old man's eyes swung round to young Pyp.

"The Baron’s probably dead like most folk in this city" said the man "and you should be leaving" he turned to his door ready to leave.

"Wait man! The night is close would you tell us to trek back to the gates through this dangerous city", the man stopped and turned to face Arthur.

"What is it you want" he asked his eyes boring into Arthur.

"A place to stay for the night, and directions to the Baron’s Keep, this city's a maze and I'm starting to feel like a rat in a sewer".

The man laughed "Finepoint can be quite daunting to navigate for newcomers, even worse now" he looked around the street seemingly in thought. "Alright you can stay" he said finally "only cause your boy there reminds me of my son".

"There's no spare beds so you'll have to sleep on the floor. But I've plenty of food, people were in such a rush to leave they left most of their things,” said the old man.

"The name's Joth" he held his hand out to Arthur.

"Arthur" Arthur replied as he shook the man’s hand.

"And I'm Pyppin," said Pyp as he entered the house.

"You'll want something warm to eat" Joth said, "there's some stew in the pot".

Pyp went straight to the fire and helped himself to a bowl.

"So why are you still here, you said it yourself the city's dead, why stay?" Arthur paced around the room. It was sparsely furnished but the few pieces that littered the room were well-made and ornate.

"I got nowhere else to go, I've never left the city before, my whole life is here "said Joth. Arthur began to remove parts of his armour.

"You mentioned you've got a son, you could have gone with him."

"He left Finepoint years ago, went off to be a soldier, fight in the spymaster's war" said Joth bitterly.

"I fought in that war, it was messy business lots of politics not a lot of fighting," he remembered when they executed the old High King, the realms had yet to recover from that war.

"Me and him never got along, I wanted him to succeed me, be a surgeon, but he wanted to see the world and 'make a name for himself' silly little shit," said Joth. "Want a drink? I've got some wine somewhere, a fine Everlan vintage", Joth began rooting around in a small cabinet and pulled out a corked glass bottle.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Arthur mulled over the offer, "I'll have some" said Pyp looking up from his bowl. Joth Laughed. “Sorry lad, this stuff’s not for children".

"Please my father never lets me have wine." Pyp held up a small cup.

"No lad you'll have plenty of time to drink when you're older and I'd rather not go against your father's wishes" he said looking over at Arthur.

Arthur snorted "he's not my son, I'm just escorting him to the Baron".

"Why are you going to see the Baron" asked Joth. "Must be an important person to get an invitation to the Baron's castle". Arthur looked at the man, he was unarmed and there were no visible weapons in the room.

"Must be" said Arthur, staring the man right in the eyes.

"Not a very trusting one are you." Joth leaned back and sipped his wine whilst eyeing Pyp. "Must be real important" he muttered under his breath.

Arthur considered what the man may be thinking, and wondered why he kept the prince’s identity a secret. His orders were simple- get the Prince to the Baron then return. Now with Finepoint reduced to a decayed husk, Arthur was unsure of what to do.

"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night," said Joth as he stood up and made his way to the stairs. "Don't make too much noise I'm a light sleeper" he said before he ducked out of sight.

"We should turn in as well Pyp.”

"Okay."

He got up and lay down his bedroll and soon he was quietly snoring. Arthur sat facing the door and began sharpening his sword, wondering if the witch would show up again.

Arthur woke up to the frenzied banging on the door.

"Mister Szel" shouted a voice, "please Mister Szel".

Mister Szel? thought Arthur before Joth came bounding down the stairs. Joth threw open the door and rushed in the pair who were standing outside.

"Clear some space on the table" Joth shouted at Arthur, he hurriedly carried the woman inside.

"What happened to her" he asked the small man who brought her.

"We were looking for a boat at the Baron’s docks, all the other boats have been taken; we thought nobody would have gotten in once he sealed the gates an-" stammered the man.

"Focus Arett, how did she get the injury!" asked Joth removing a portion of the woman's clothes to reveal a small black stab wound below the heart.

"Well, we were passing the Baron's hall, it was dark, and we would have been hard to spot, then suddenly one of the Baron's men appeared in front of us" Arett swallowed. "We tried to reason with him, but he'd gone half mad, black smoke was leaking out of his eyes and mouth, and then he just attacked us". Arett was a small man with a narrow face, he wore a rough spun tunic and carried a small dagger strapped to his waist.

"Alright, step back let me work" said Joth, waving them away from the table.

Arett stood by the door watching Joth work with a worried expression on his face.

Arthur approached him and asked, "You said the Baron locked up his hall".

"He sealed the entire upper district of the city, all the gates are locked and guarded by those possessed men at arms" said Arett his gaze never leaving the table. "Why you asking?"

"I need to see the Baron,” said Arthur.

"Don't think he's accepting guests right now."

"Or maybe he's just not accepting criminals."

Arett turned to look at Arthur. "You haven't been here long, so I bet you don't know how bad it is; there's nothing left in Finepoint no people working the fields to fill the market stalls."

"All the Lords and Ladies were gone the morning after the attack leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. It was chaos, the city guard broke and fled some of them used the confusion to settle old scores some just used it to pillage the city before they ran" said Arett staring hard at Arthur.

"We were just doing our best to survive and that means getting out of this cursed place".

"I doubt the Baron's men saw it that way."

"They weren't the Baron's men; they were empty husks that only moved to kill!"

"How did you get into the sealed district."

"That's a costly secret," said Arett with a gleam in his eye.

"Then what do you want for it" asked Arthur bluntly.

"You look like a dangerous man, if you get me and her down to the Baron’s docks, safe, then I'll show you how to get into the Baron’s Keep itself" said Arett sticking out his hand "Do we have a deal?".

Arthur thought over the proposal. He did not like it. Though he had few other options, they could approach the gates and try to gain entry themselves. But this Arett’s description of the guards seems similar to the witch he encountered the first night in Finepoint. Arthur shook Arett’s hand. "Deal. But we leave now".

Arett glanced over at Joth. "How's Mern."

"I don't know" replied Joth "I've never seen a wound like this, the skin is blackened but it's not the rot for she has no fever. I'll keep her here; leech her and wash her wounds with boiling wine, and we will pray it is enough." Making the sign of the Dove he stood up. "Help me move her to the bed".