The inside of an office [https://i.imgur.com/6iJBOQQ.png]

THE GUARD

Aside from the official insignia above the door, the Guard station didn't stand out from the rest of the buildings. Monte thought of Guard headquarters in the Capitol. It was a stalwart stone fortress, embodying the ideals of the men inside. Here, the station was a shabby converted row house. He could only hope the comparison ended there.

Had Neera been right? She told him the Guard wouldn't be of much help. Monte was sure she was mistaken, but how would he know? Monte thought very highly of the Guard. From a young age he aspired to join their ranks. If not for the rumors surrounding him and his father’s death, he would be. Terran said they didn't see much of the Guard in this village outside of mandatory duties. Was he about to be disappointed? He pressed open the faded red door and stepped inside.

Any doubt Monte had about Neera's apprehension vanished the moment Monte entered the office. Seated in near darkness at the only desk was a dark-haired man. He was staring absently out the window, a lit pipe dangling from his lips. His chair reclined, and his scuffed up uniform boots were on the desk. It didn’t seem to matter to him that the desk was covered with papers. Monte noticed the clutter included what looked like unanswered official Guard memos, letters from concerned citizens, and other bits of ignored work.

The Guard Monte unofficially worked with in the Capitol would never light a pipe on duty, report without pressing their uniforms to a crisp, perfect crease, and certainly wouldn’t wear their jacket unbuttoned as this man did. The discrepancies made the man seem foreign, but he wasn't entirely a stranger. After a longer look at the man's profile, he realized he was looking at Mavlo. Neera was right, and coming here was a waste of time.

The office was dark and quiet. Mavlo had not yet bothered to meet Monte's stare. The cat trotted to the window and jumped onto the sill, and Mavlo didn’t move. He hadn't reacted at all and spoke up just as Monte started to wonder if he was even awake.

"State your business." Mavlo said sullenly.

Monte cleared his throat.

“Sir, we met last night in the tavern.” Monte said. He thought the honorific might remind the man of his station and encourage him to act accordingly. It was a trick he learned at the Academy. When the senior Guard would get a little too confident, Monte called them ‘sir’ to bring them back down.

"Right, the Market lover. What is it you want?" The man removed his pipe to say it and heaped exasperation onto his words. Had his trick worked here too?

"I believe the Guard need to get involved in the burglaries impacting the village, sir." Monte mustered his most official tone.

Monte knew better than to issue orders, even to this excuse for an officer. But he knew if he wanted to be taken seriously there was no point in beating around the bush. He half expected Mavlo to tell him to get out and not come back. After a few silent puffs on his pipe, he finally replied.

"You seem to know a good deal, stranger. If you have information, do tell." His tone was high pitched with a forced curiosity.

With his words Mavlo placed his feet back under him, turned in his chair and leaned forward, placing his arms on his desk. He did his best impression of an inquisitive look. Monte had seen enough to know he was being mocked, and he had to be careful.

"I'm sure I don't know as much as the Guard, sir-" Monte kept up his official tone.

"Name's Mavlo lad. No need for high talk. I'm afraid I didn't catch yours." Mavlo cut him off.

Mavlo didn’t know his name? He thought back to the tavern and realized he never offered it. He cursed himself for forgetting his manners. It certainly didn’t help his case that he kept his name to himself.

"I'm Monte, s--" He swallowed the honorific at the last moment, as requested. Malvo's smirk gave away that he heard Monte's near mistake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Monte concluded.

"Well, we met last night, I'm sure you recall. Enough with this. You must see I'm busy. Bye now." Mavlo said it dismissively and resumed puffing his pipe.

Monte could see plainly that Mavlo wasn't busy at all. Even though he was clearly dismissed, he thought he might be winning Mavlo over. His father sometimes pulled this kind of thing with him as a boy. He would make sure Monte really earned his attention. Monte wasn't about to give up so easily.

"I know where The Company has made camp, I've been there myself. I believe the Guard can make quick work of driving them off and returning the stolen goods to the village." Monte kept up his confident tone as he said it.

Stolen story; please report.

"And how might you know that, stranger?" Mavlo narrowed his eyes in the same manner he had the previous night, as though straining to thread a very small needle.

"I'm tracking The Company on behalf of the Capitol Guard and my information led me to their camp last evening, just before we met at the Tavern." Monte continued, telling mostly the truth.

"And you didn't say anything then, how convenient." Mavlo mused, seemingly to himself.

Monte was quite sure that telling valuable information to strangers in a tavern was not a great way to maintain his reputation as a tracker. He was sure the man opposite him knew that.

"Stranger, word spreads quickly in this village." Mavlo began. Monte had seen it himself. At this point just about everyone must know about him.

"Just this morning, the market buzzed with stories of an out-of-towner with a fine blade on his back working his way through the market, causing trouble." Mavlo confirmed Monte’s hunch. He didn't remember things exactly that way, but certainly someone may have.

"Last night I penned a request to my superiors in the Capitol, and just before you arrived, I got a response." Mavlo said.

Without breaking his stare, he placed a finger on one of the bits of paper strewn about his desk. Monte noticed it bore the official seal, like the one above the door and on Mavlo's shoulder patch.

"Now this letter says they don't know a thing about any trackers out this way." Mavlo said it and waited.

Monte didn't know how to respond. He hadn't lied about his situation, exactly, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either. Technically his work with the Guard was strictly off the books, but he hoped his friends in the Capitol would have at least explained Monte wasn't a thief. At first, he wasn't sure where Mavlo was going with all this, but the insinuation was now quite clear. Mavlo believed Monte was involved in the robberies, maybe even involved with The Company.

"I would be a hero in this town if I locked you away right now." Mavlo gestured with his head behind him down an unlit corridor.

"I'm not a patient man, and I like being the hero." Mavlo stood up as he said it.

"But regardless of how you know, if you can take me to The Company's camp - and something tells me you're not half the tracker you claim, and you can't - maybe I'll think about looking the other way for lying to the Guard." Mavlo might as well have winked as he said it.

Monte felt a little relief wash over him. Some combination of things Monte said must have made him at least a little believable. He still didn't fully trust Mavlo would do the right thing. At least Monte would get a chance to prove it was the Company behind the robberies, not him.

As soon as the rising dread began to wash out of him a new worry took its place. What if the rest of the village believed he was the thief? He cursed himself for walking around in broad daylight with a metal sword. He hadn't known it would make him a target of the thieves, now he realized it likely also made him a suspect. Only someone involved with the crimes would walk around with what was being stolen. At least it explained all the dirty looks.

"We can head out in a few minutes, but let's leave that sword here. We don't want any trouble." Mavlo said. Monte didn’t like the idea of going back to the camp unarmed.

“The Company are armed. Don’t you think we should be too?” Monte made his case. Mavlo shook his head.

“I can’t have you walking around with that thing on, people are talking.” Mavlo replied. If they had to be unarmed, Monte thought they shouldn’t be outnumbered.

"There are only a handful of Company men from what I saw, I think if we request four or five more Guard--" Monte was cut off again.

"Oh no no lad, it will just be us. You see anyone else 'round here?" Mavlo looked around sarcastically.

"It's just me and that will have to do. Now hand me your weapon." Mavlo extended his hand as he said it.

It felt like the wrong choice, and the only choice, so Monte unbuttoned his sheath and handed his blade to Malvo. Mavlo walked toward the back wall of the station, giving the hilt a good look. He looked like he was about to pull the blade from the sheath when he tripped on something underfoot.

“Bloody cat, how did you get in here?” Mavlo said, more embarrassed than upset. Monte picked up the cat. Had Mavlo not seen her come in? Mavlo gave up on drawing the sword. He opened a long drawer and placed the sheath inside and shut the drawer again. Then he produced a key from his pocket and locked the cabinet shut.

Monte carried the cat to the window and placed her on the sill.

“Nice work.” Monte thought as he gave the cat a scratch.

Mavlo didn't say another word, and as far as Monte could tell hadn't noticed anything familiar about the sword. Even a shoddy Guard would know just about every sword in their village by sight. That meant Monte at least had one more question answered. If Mavlo didn’t know the sword, then he hadn't seen the replica. And if he hadn’t seen the replica, it wasn't from this village.

"Now about that book." Mavlo placed his hands palms down and looked at Monte expectantly.

Monte stared back for a long moment. Mavlo saw the book on the table last night in the tavern. He was a member of the Guard, after all. Despite his less than meticulous uniform, he had a well-trained eye for clues. Monte cursed himself again for his carelessness.

Since the ledger was the only thing that tied him to the Company camp the night before, Monte knew he had to keep himself from giving anything else away. Mavlo proved himself more capable than Neera had led him to believe. Should he lie and say it was a diary? He might get himself in even deeper if he did. No, the best course of action was to simply state the facts and the truth would take care of itself.

"I found it. At the camp last night, it was inside a tent." Monte said. He off his pack, laid it on Mavlo's desk, reached inside and quickly found the ledger. He slid it halfway across the desk, saying nothing more. Mavlo picked up the book without looking down, flipped through it to the last page and took a long look. Monte noted it was almost the same set of actions he had taken the night before.

Mavlo began to lose all expression as Monte watched his eyes dart around the page. He looked afraid, and Monte understood the names must mean something to Mavlo. Monte couldn't guess what. He hoped the ledger had some connection to the robberies and would clear his name. He hoped the truth would take care of itself.

After a brief pause to compose himself, Mavlo lowered his head towards the desk as though someone might overhear him. Mavlo's face was blank, he looked like he had aged a decade since the moment Monte walked in.

"Boy, there is something you need to know." He began in a quiet half-hiss but before he could explain further, the door burst open.

Monte started to turn to see who came in behind him, and noticed what color Mavlo had left was now completely gone. As if on cue, Terran was standing next to him. His flushed face and shortness of breath made him look even more burdened than he had earlier.

"Mavlo, there's been another robbery."