"That can't be right," said an older fellow with graying hair. "What reason would the Champion have in breaking into that infernal place."

His friend, also a man advanced in years, with one milky eye, jumped in. "I heard he stole an artifact of great power."

Meera squinted at that. Could he mean the Reflectora? Did the Warlord have it?

"Must be," said the third older man. This one had white hair and tanned skin. "Do you suppose he was behind the prison break as well?"

Meera looked at Tamas, who frowned. He didn't have super-hearing, so he couldn't make out the contents of their conversation.

"Now, why would he do such a thing?" said the first.

"Who knows? Maybe it was practice," replied the milky-eye. "Maybe he wanted to take out the King. There is talk amongst the soldiers that the King, Queen, and their son were all visiting the prison. They say the prisoners kidnapped the Queen, which is why he is hunting them so desperately?"

"Kidnapped? I heard from Corin that they killed her. What else explains the border moving on its own and the erratic behavior of the Mistblades."

"When did you order the hard liquor?" said the third fellow. "If the prisoners had killed her, His Majesty would have turned the kingdom over. The Bleeders would have run the streets red with blood."

Bleeders? Do they mean the Bloodstone Watchmen, or is it another group? She made a note to ask Tamas later.

He continued. "And how does Corin know anything? Is he some general high up in the army? He's a patrolman and a shitty one at that. The border could have moved because the King might have conquered the land diplomatically or is provoking the neighboring kingdom of Rothrium. Though, why the King wants to take over that accursed land is beyond me."

"The home of the Rakineyes," the one with the milky eye shuddered. "If the King pushes the border to that cursed forest, then we'll have a different sort of war on our hands. One that even Prince Narikas cannot win, not even with ten armies."

Meera stopped paying attention to their conversation and turned back to the chef, who was staring intently at her.

"How is it that you can be looking my way and still not be paying attention to me at all?" Tamas crossed his arms and huffed. "Let me guess, you have a skill for that?"

Meera snorted. "I do."

He shook his head. "You adventurers and your obsession with skills."

"Sorry, Tamas, I just heard some good information about the Champion. Apparently, he stole something from the Shadowsteel Warlord, and there's a hefty bounty on him."

"Wh-What?" His eyes popped open.

"Heard it from the trio over there." She motioned to the old men behind her, a little to the left. "And that the Queen's disappeared apparently, which is why the Mistblades are going haywire. They also think the Champion's killed the Queen, but he would never do that. Never."

"And how do you know that? You know, he very well, could've. Besides, the Queen was as cold-hearted as they came. You saw how ruthlessly the Mistblades hunted us. Besides, I don't think she's dead. She's too powerful to die, especially at the hands of a boy."

"You've seen him?" Meera asked.

"No, not directly, but he did come to dine with the King once a few months ago when they first realized he was the Champion. But why this interest in the Champion? Aren't you here for your brother?"

Meera nodded. "I am, but I am also a bounty hunter. If I see a bounty as juicy as that one, I can't help but get interested."

Tamas shook his head and leaned in. "What are your plans from here on out?"

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Meera shrugged. "I think I'll head to the capital or Shadowsteel Warlord's home. What did you call it? Tearsfell Prison?"

"Yes, that's the name, but you truly are daft if you want to head to that place."

"Hey, you said it yourself that my brother would go to join the armies, and this Warlord has two, and it seems it's the best place to get a lead on the Champion as well. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. What are you going to do?"

"I have some relatives in the north," Tamas replied, with a far-off look in his eyes. "I can stay with them for a while, hopefully, and then take the northern exit and head into the Marith kingdom. King Rokibor never dared to challenge them, not openly."

"Are they that strong?" Meera asked.

"Not from what I heard, but their old King, Draros, is a master strategist who has held on to his throne for fifty years and fended off numerous attacks. To the point, his people revere him like a war god." He looked around and whispered. "I don't think Rokibor or Narikas have the balls to dare challenge him in open war."

I wonder what sort of skills he has.

Their food arrived shortly after. The woman wasn't kidding about the town's stores running low, as there was hardly any meat in their stew. They finished their meal quietly among the crowd, which had grown rather rowdy, but no fights had broken out yet.

The plump woman returned, trays of food in both hands. At first, Meera thought it was for them, but sadly it wasn't. "Hey, you two, so I talked with my man, and what do you know, he's opened up the attic for rent." She rolled her eyes. "For a gold coin each, you can spend the night."

"A gold coin," Tamas practically shrieked. "That attic better be the most luxurious attic in all the lands."

The woman gave a sad smile. "It's truly not. It's cramped, dusty, and filled with cobwebs, but I'll try to give it a quick sweep for you if you want it."

Tamas looked to Meera. She sighed. "Fine, we'll take it." She fished out the coins from her Belt and dropped them in the woman's apron.

After doing her rounds, the woman returned and showed them the way to the attic, and she wasn't kidding about the dusty part. The poor woman had to tie a cloth around her nose and mouth to keep herself from coughing as she broomed. It still wasn't much better once she did her cleaning job, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Dusty boxes were lying all along the walls. There was only one round window by the stairs, from where Meera could see the last light of the setting sun.

The woman assigned them a spot by the stairs, and that is when they learned they would have company, which arrived shortly. Judging by the number of people who showed up, the owner must've made enough money to keep this place running for a year.

Meera was so exhausted that sleep found her right away.

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"Come on out, single file!" Someone barked.

Meera shook awake at the loudness of the voice. She looked around, and there was no one there. She frowned and wondered if she had dreamed that, but then came a resounding boom of someone banging against a wooden door.

She looked down the stairs, and it wasn't the attic door. She looked out the window, and it was a misty night, which was not a good sign. She saw some soldiers talking with the folks at the next inn. If it weren't for the banging on the door, she might have heard what they were saying. The soldier was talking to the man and woman. It must be the inn owners. That must mean…

Meera gasped and shook Tamas awake. He rubbed his eyes, rolled over to his other side, and was promptly snoring again. She rolled her eyes, shook him again, and said, "Mistblades are here."

He nearly shot to his feet. "What? Where?"

"Okay, not Mistblades, but—"

"Open this damn door before we break it down," shouted someone loud enough to wake up several people. Most of whom cursed the man's mother for having birthed him.

Meera pointed to the window. Tamas rubbed his eyes and looked out the window, and all color drained from him.

"T-That's the B-Bleeders," he quivered.

"Who?"

"The Bloodstone Watchmen. Did I tell you about them?" He didn't wait for Meera to reply. "We also call them Bleeders. They're like the super police. They have jurisdiction all over the kingdom and are not particularly nice."

"I'm guessing they work hand in hand with the Mistblades."

"They've been known to, especially around the border."

"Then they are here for us," Meera whispered. "We need to go now."

"But where?"

"Can you get to your relatives using the Gateway Mirror?"

He nodded.

"Then that is where I'll take you."

"But that is one of the first things they put under their watch when they come into town. No one goes in or out without a Watchman's permission." Tamas looked out the window again and cowered below as if the super cop had seen him. "What do we do, Meera? The Mistblades just outright kill you, but these people like to torture. Draw it out as they slowly bleed you to death. I knew I should not have come back here."

"Get a hold of yourself and pipe down," Meera whispered. Thankfully, no one was fully up to see Tamas fretting about. "You're going to expose us. Now, be quiet, and let me think."

Meera looked out the window, and people from that inn were lining up in a single file. The loud banging had stopped, which meant the owners of this inn were also being questioned. Meera had only mere minutes to come up with a plan.

She hated being in such tense situations. Her brain refused to function properly, but thankfully, she had a skill to do her planning for her, but the only problem was it only worked when she was ambushing someone.

She looked out the window again, and only one Bleeder was interrogating the people at the next inn. He could be ambushed, and just when she thought that her skill started working. Plans formed and were discarded until she finally arrived at the solution to her problem.

Meera smiled. "We're going to get out of this town as Bloodstone Watchmen."