1

“Ingrid, I can’t believe you’re still drinking that swill.”

Ingrid swirled her cup gingerly then took a sip.

“Perry, if you’d only give it a chance. It brightens the mind and enhances vigor.”

“Ale will do the same! Only it doesn’t taste nearly as terrible as your coffee does.”

Ingrid shook her head then took another sip.

“More for me then.”

“So, Uncle Perry?”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think?”

“Think about what?”

Ellis frowned, watching as Perry gnawed at a piece of extra crispy bacon.

“The special request? To catch the thief!?”

“Oh right…Ingrid, what was that about again?”

“Agh! Uncle!”

Ingrid put down her cup and brought a spoonful of porridge to her mouth.

“Mhm.” She patted her lips with a cloth before continuing. “Sir Perry, this was what I brought up to you last night, after we returned from the market. Do you not remember?”

Perry swallowed his food and put his fork down on the table.

“Forgive me, but I do not recall.”

“Was there something distracting you last night?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“I see.” She took another bite of porridge before continuing. “The man that approached us is a local merchant named Byles. He owns a shop that deals in oddities and bartered goods. He believes that over the last several weeks, coins have gone missing from his store.”

“Is he sure he hasn’t simply misplaced them?”

“To date, he has lost nearly twenty pence.”

“Oh? That is quite a lot.”

Ingrid nodded.

Perry took a gulp from his tankard, spilling some of the liquid onto his beard. He casually brushed it away as he spoke.

“So, he believes one of his men has been stealing from him?”

“He is not sure,” Ingrid admitted. “In total, he has five employees, several of whom have worked for him for many years.”

“Well,” Perry said as he put his hands behind his head and stretched, “Circumstances change. One of these workers could easily have decided that thievery is better than honest work.”

“So, what do you think?” Ellis butted in.

“What do I think?” Perry asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Are you gonna take the job?”

Perry laughed loudly, patting his chest and shaking his head.

“Why has he not sought out Rothwell’s militia?” Perry asked. “They were created specifically to deal with petty crimes such as these.”

“He does not wish to involve Rothwell.”

“You mean he does not wish to incur Rothwell’s fee.”

Ingrid shrugged.

“Merchants…” Perry mumbled under his breath. “Does he think we will work out of the goodness of our hearts?”

“He is prepared to offer you exclusive bargaining rights to any valuable items he comes into ownership of. In addition, he says he will spread the good name of the Starspawn Guild, and of Sir Perry Mannigold, to his many contacts.”

“Exclusive bargaining rights!?” Perry laughed so hard that he accidentally inhaled bits of bacon and began to cough.

“No need to worry, Sir Perry,” Ingrid assured him as she took another bite of porridge. “After breakfast I will personally inform Byles that his request has been denied.”

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“Wait, Ingrid.”

She stopped mid bite, surprised by Perry’s response.

“I think that this may be a good opportunity after all.”

“How?” Ingrid asked, bluntly.

“I could not care less about his merchandise, but if this man is a traveler, spreading the name of the Starspawn would work in our favor.”

Ingrid kept her eyes on Perry.

“For what reason would that benefit us?”

“What organization would not benefit from renown or good will? Besides, there is another reason to accept this man’s request.”

“And what would that be?”

Perry smiled as he looked down the table at his nephew, who was currently tearing apart a particularly fibrous piece of beef. Across from him, Mary was cutting her eggs meticulously while shaking her head at Ellis.

“I think it’s about time that Ellis and Mary had the opportunity to show us what they’ve learned.”

Mary’s eyes widened as she scraped the knife across her plate, letting out a high-pitched screech. She looked up at Ellis who caught her gaze; his eyes were wide, and a gnarled piece of beef hung from his mouth.

“What!?”

2

It was mid-morning by the time Mary and Ellis had made the trek to the market district of Viemen. Their breakfast was cut short as Perry had wasted no time in rushing them off the grounds and towards their first official guild mission. The two of them had tried to come up with a plan while they were walking, but unfortunately…

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you even listening to yourself!?”

Mary pulled Ellis off to the side of the road to let some merchants go by.

“Ellis,” Mary said, snapping back towards him, “You can’t just walk up to people and ask them if they stole something!”

“Why not?”

“Cause they’ll lie!”

“B—”

“And it’ll tip them off that we’re looking for a thief.”

“So, what do we say, then, since you know it all!?”

“Hmph.” Mary straightened up and folded her arms. “We have to lie to ‘em first.”

Ellis’ face scrunched up at Mary’s suggestion, but before he could voice his confusion, he felt a chill run up his back. The sensation that they were being watched.

Mary didn’t wait for an answer from Ellis. She turned and continued marching down the street. Ellis shook off the feeling and jogged after her.

“Alright, so we lie to ‘em. But what do we say?”

“I say we tell ‘em that we’re thinking of working at the shop.”

“Mary…”

She waved him off.

“We tell ‘em we’re thinking of working there and we’re trying to find out what they think. Ask em things. Like how long they been there? Do they like the boss? Things like that.”

“And that’s not suspicious?”

“Better than your idea!”

“Fine. Fine.”

Ellis wasn’t good at lying. In fact, he was terrible at it.

He tried to run scenarios in his mind of what he might say, or how he might act, but he was again interrupted by the gnawing sensation of prying eyes.

The more he tried to push it from his mind, the more the sensation intensified. He hadn’t noticed until this very moment, but all of his training with Telhari had put him in tune with his instincts. It was how he had managed to survive his duel with Telhari, and it was why he knew that someone was approaching him from behind with hurried footsteps.

Ellis’ hand drifted to the hilt of the dagger on his hip. He kept his normal pace so as not to alarm the attacker and lose the advantage of surprise. His eyes were trained on Mary as she marched in front of him, oblivious; so long as he was between her and the attacker, he could protect her.

He waited, feeling the sensation intensify. A pressure rose up from behind him and his hair stood on end.

Here it comes!

Suddenly, he felt the slightest sort of pressure on his belt.

He’s going to grab me!

“Mary!”

Ellis called out to her, trying to alert her so that no matter what happened next, she could be ready. Then, he spun around and grabbed the arm of his attacker and drew the dagger.

“Ellis! Stop!”

Mary’s voice was loud and clear to him, but even if she hadn’t called out, he would have stopped himself.

The attacker was a child.

The boy’s arm was so small that Ellis’ entire hand fit around it with room to spare. He was so light that Ellis nearly lifted him off the ground as he grabbed. His face was dirty, and his hair was unkempt. He wore a tattered cloth shirt that was so large for his body that it hung down almost to his knees. He could not have been more than seven years old.

“Please!” the boy begged, “Don’ kill me!”

Ellis was prepared to yell right back at him but held back the words— the boy’s cries had started to draw attention.

“I’m not! Just stop yellin’!”

Ellis let go of the boy’s arm; he immediately yanked it away and started rubbing it.

“We won’t hurt you,” Mary said as she walked over. “If we was anyone else, though, you’d have lost that hand.”

The boy looked down at his hand and winced, imagining the fate Mary spoke of. He then glared at her, furious that she had even suggested such a thing.

“Hey!” Ellis waved at the boy’s face. “We’re serious, kid. No more stealing, got it?”

The boy looked at the both of them with a fearsome scowl before nodding three times in a row. Then, before either of them could say anything, he sprinted off into the crowd.

“Hmph. What a little brat.” Ellis let go of the dagger at his hip and rested his hands on his belt. “He should at least be thankful.”

“He’s probably an orphan, Ellis. Ain’t got no one to look after him or feed him. Don’t be such a jerk.”

“I’m the jerk!? He’s the one who tried to steal from us. I don’t care who he is— it’s wrong.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what it was like?”

Ellis looked at her with surprise.

She met with him pensive eyes, bright green and settled calmly on his face; beneath them the faintest hint of sadness and pain.

He looked away.

“Course I still remember. If it wasn’t for Uncle Perry…”

Ellis shook his head. He didn’t want to think about the past.

“Still shouldn’t be stealing, though,” he said firmly.