With the sudden increase in light as the grimy window shattered, the room with its blood stained wood floor and patchy plastered walls, looked shabby rather that gloomy.

Still, I had no time to fully take note of the room as the knife was still flying towards me.

Despite saying that, it seemed like the blade was not as fast as it should be. I tried to move, but found my body acted sluggish. Still, I did my best to catch the knife.

Sadly, I failed.

The moment my fingers touched the handle, time sped up. The knife brushed past me, clattering to the floor somewhere behind me.

I reached down and unbuckled the straps from around my ankles.

‘H-hey, what are you doing?’ The hero, Raider, who had been asking questions a moment ago, asked.

Ignoring him, I rushed over to the window and looked out. The person who threw the knife at me was nowhere to be seen.

Not that that surprised me.

What did surprise me was the street was full of soldiers. They were wearing mail and conical helmets with a nose guard. Over the top of the mail they wore a stark, slate grey surcoat. Their tall kite shields were painted the same slate grey as the surcoats.

Looking down at them from above as they finished marching in organised ranks down the street was an impressive sight. There were over 50 soldiers that I could see. There were probably more somewhere nearby. Leading them was a man wearing a similar outfit to the rest, but the helmet was a closed face helmet and coloured purple. His shield was smaller and round. It was quartered slate grey and purple.

‘Pass me the knife,’ I said.

‘No.’ The hero who had been questioning me moments ago dared to answer back.

I turned round and looked at the three people in the room with me. I recognised all three of them, not only from when they arrested me earlier but from their reputations.

One person, the one nearest the door, was tall and slender man who wore an outfit which reminded me of a jester I had seen in a play when Gomes had taken us to Schoresditch a few months back, complete with their jangly bell hat. The mask they wore was reminiscent of the carving of a mask above the entrance into the main theatre on the river island. Their hands were bare and showed that Jester had brown skin.

The other hero wore padded armour and leather greaves, arm guards, and leather gauntlets. They also wore a leather armoured cap with a closed face, somewhat reminiscent of the helmet the leader of the troops downstairs was wearing. They seemed somewhat slender and slightly short to be a man. But I couldn ’t say if they were a man or woman. The armour hid too much for me to be certain one way or the other.

Finally, was the bearded man with speckles of greys running through his luscious and long deep bushy brown beard. He was somewhat stocky, but from the strain in his pale blue outfit around his waist, he had let himself go recently. With the brown leather trousers, the longer-than-normal pale blue tunic with its decorated cuffs and neck hole, and the simple leather strap belt around his bulging waist added to the bushy brown beard and the metal spectacled helmet which hid his identity it really looked like he was a historic coastal raider from the Suetidi lands.

‘Look outside,’ I told him, waving him to the window.

He gave me a look and walked to the window. As he did that, I went and picked up the knife. A simple solid black throwing knife with no obvious markings on it. I had seen these knives before, in only one place: in the hands of the fanatical Order of Sonteus, an assassin order of the temple.

A small group had spent time on the isle causing havoc for us guardians, before a group of guardians gathered to kill them all. In the end, it was a mutual destruction between both groups. One sister of the Order lived long enough to mock the guardians who followed, including me, claiming that the Order would repay their destruction eleven-fold.

No other members of the Order of Sonteus ever came back to the isle as far as I was aware.

‘Who are they here for?’ I asked.

The bearded man tugged his beard as he looked out of the window at the scene below.

‘By Aitan’s balls, I have no idea.’ He turned to me, standing squarely, and sighed. ‘If you’re so clever, then. Tell me.’

‘Me.’

He shook his head and then turned back to looking out the window.

I wasn ’t certain, but it was the best guess I had. The timing was right, yet there was something odd about the situation. Just how had they got an impressive force here with such good timing? Also, no one had mentioned to me about a force of temple soldiers being in Three Bridge. During the celebration last night, I heard many strange and weird rumours about the Three Bridge temple and their doings; if only a few were true, then I was worried that one day I might have to protect the citizens of Three Bridge against the temple itself.

Though, I also heard of the many good things the temple had done for the citizens of Three Bridge. Including sending its clerics and priests to Lundein to shield them against the excesses of the Lundein heroes, especially the three of them in this room with me. Two separate people last night had even mentioned that the Head of the Temple themselves had saved them.

I had even heard of tales of priests, clerics, and lay members daring to stop groups of heroes when they were on their way to cause havoc in Three Bridge. There was a wall within the temple, or so I was told, where those who sacrificed their lives to save others were memorialised: An-chau told me this, so I had no reason not to believe it existed.

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After a while, he sighed. ‘Why would they come for you?’

‘You’re from the Brook Gate Fellowship?’ I waited a while. No one said anything. ‘Jester, Solider, Raider.’ I pointed to the three of them. ‘The Three Jobs’

Still, they said nothing. But Solider started clenching their fists and Jester ’s bells rang quietly. Raider, tugged on his beard. Normally, I would let things stew for longer, but I was worried about what the temple soldiers were doing outside.

‘You three are the main heroes of the Fellowship.’ I looked at each of them yet none of them were showing any signs of doing anything. ‘They only call the three of you out when something major is going on.’

‘So you’re a fan, well done, you’ve met your heroes. Now answer me this: why would they come for you?’

I shook my head at his response. ‘Never said I was a fan. I— Dislike the three of you.’

‘Enough of this,’ Raider shouted.

So he was feeling anxious, and a touch worried. Good.

‘You three have caused more trouble for Three Bridge than every other guild combined.’

‘Damn rats scurrying outside the walls,’ Soldier said, so she was a female. ‘Always coming in here and causing an issue for us. And killing innocent citizens who are doing their best to make a living. Those four lives need retribution, and blood is the best way to do that.’

I shook my head at her diatribe.

‘Collection agencies are only permitted to collect fees from authorised areas.’ I said.

‘Those fools outside the walls,’ Soldier said, walking over towards me, then prodding me in my chest with a finger, ‘they cause most of the trouble here. So why not go after them? It makes things easier for our people. ’

I nodded in a mocking fashion.

‘Enough, Soldier,’ Raider said. ‘He’s a suspect. Don’t let him get under your skin like that.’

‘You’re right.’ She said, sneering. Before backing away from me and heading to the corner.

I need to let Castor know about what I heard. Maybe she could do something about it. Saying that, I didn ’t know just how the fee paying structure for Saint Evaine’s Defiance was going to work. Though I guess, between Castor and the Temple, that was a kind of simple thing which wouldn’t be overlooked.

But was I still a student? I mean, could a guild master be a student at M ægen Scōl?

Did I really want to be a guild master?

Would I be a good one?

I had never really had any people under my command before … Normally I was used to either operating alone or operating alongside other groups.

‘So you can’t think of a reason they would come for you?’ Raider said. ‘Is that why you’re not giving me an answer?’

‘Was thinking about something else.’

‘So just what is so important that got you thinking about it right now? ’ His voice was full of mocking insincerity.

‘How am I going to get paid. And who is going to pay me.’

‘Pay?’ Raider tugged his beard again. ‘You’re worrying about pay, now? You are going to the gallows for killing a collection agent when they were carrying out their duties. All of your belongings are forfeit and now belong to the collection agency.’

I shook my head. ‘Good luck getting them from Mægen Scōl.’

‘Why would we be getting them from…’ He looked at me. Truly looked at me, at my height and width and at the scars which showed up on my neck. At my pale pink skin, and my short pale blond hair. He tugged his beard hard. ‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’ This last, he screamed.

‘What is it?’ Soldier asked.

‘He’s Berwyn, the new guild master for that piece-of-shit-guild outside the walls.’

‘Just kill him. Take that knife and stab him in the heart with it. Say that it killed him.’ Soldier said.

It was a solid plan. There was just a single problem with that plan: me.

I turned to Soldier and gave her a wicked smile. She unconsciously took a step back; hitting the wall as she did so.

‘We demand that you release the infidel Berwyn of Crossroad Island into our custody for crimes against the Temple.’ A loud voice called from outside the building.

With a knowing smile I gave Raider a nod, as if I was saying: told you so.

I made my way over to the window.

‘You can’t escape, you know,’ Raider said mockingly. ‘We’ll be happy for them to punish you on our behalf.’

‘We’ll see,’ I said to him.

I looked out of the window at the neatly arranged troops below. After a quick calculation, I decided to jump.

I smiled and gave them a nod.

Before they could even register what I was planning on doing, I jumped through the wall.