“Man, I’d heard about glass houses before, but I’d never actually seen one. Didn’t really need one in my neck of the woods.”
“Yeah, it was doing wonders. Marble’s been able to double the food she can make pretty much overnight with just the small one we’d made. We were actually working up to building a bigger one with some better features when, well…”
She gestured to the wreckage inside the glassblowing room. Ramus had insisted on having some time alone after having days of his work annihilated, and she’d granted it because she was almost as devastated as he was. She had no idea who could’ve done it, but she wanted their hide.
“So, we’ve got a few different people that are probably not to be the culprits,” she began. “I’m gonna go ahead and rule out the Trio. Larry might’ve been willing to do it at one point, but I think he’s having too much fun playing dictator to dare to pull such a stunt. Ramus, Cookie, and Marble are also pretty safe bets for not having done it. Cookie keeps to himself and seems mostly content with things, and Marble was downright grateful to have some shelter while doing her work.”
“That still leaves a lot of options,” Kila pointed out.
“Yeah. Not sure WHY someone would do it, but I guess it’s our job to figure that out. My first guess would be Weaver. He’s the closest thing we have to a problem child here. Thing is, he was helping Ramus out a fair bit, so this’d be his own effort that he destroyed. More than that, he’s been pretty well-behaved lately. Not a rising star or anything like that, but also just doesn’t seem like the sort who’d be trying his luck any further.”
“Who’s that leave?”
“Well,” said Len, running down the list. “There’s Valkar, the guard. Pretty useless leader, but also pretty nonchalant about things. Doesn’t seem to care one way or another what’s going on, and causing trouble just seems like more effort than he’s willing to put out. The miners seem content enough with things. They were already working pretty hard and their job’s gotten easier lately. I should probably ask Moe and Larry for their thoughts.”
They returned to her tent to enjoy some proper privacy and she summoned her Trio to talk about things. Larry was looking quite pleased with himself. Spending a couple weeks in middle management had done wonders for his ego and she worried that she might have to do some deflating of it soon. Moe, meanwhile, looked bulkier than he had when they’d gotten here. Continuous work in the mine seemed to agree with him. Curly just looked happy to be home and out of the weather.
“So, guys, what are your thoughts? Any guesses who might have done this?”
“My money’s on Valkar,” said Larry confidently. “Dude does nothing but sit around all day and sulk. I bet he’s just bitter that you replaced him and is looking to make things tough enough to drive you off.”
“I doubt that,” said Moe. “I mean, he doesn’t love the fact that actual work’s being done here, but I don’t think that translates to active sabotage. More food is an obvious win for everyone and he has no reason to work against that.”
“Bah, you’re just saying that because he shares some of that booze with you.”
“Valkar has booze?” Len put in.
“Yup, brews it himself out of mushrooms and some berries that grow in the woods. He has the hunters gather it while they’re out and shares the product with them. Tough to make a bunch of it, but apparently he was a brewmaster in another life.”
“Chalk that up as another craftsman sent to this little wasteland. Seriously, what is the point of the Army sending all these unqualified nobodies out here?”
“Beats me,” said Moe. “Anyway, I don’t think any of the crew with me has much interest in sabotage. Faug and Krem have been loving the extra help, and Klays and Veryn may have had some gripes when they first joined up, but they’ve gotten over it now that they’ve realized that things are pretty safe in there. Half the reason they’d fought so hard before was that they’d heard horror stories about losing workers in the past and were terrified of it happening to them. Now that they’re past THAT hurdle, they’re mostly content with things.”
“What about Weaver?”
“I mean… he’s an ass, and spends more time whining than working, but nah, can’t see him doing it either. He’s a coward and a slob, sure, but sabotage? Doubt it. Could always lean on him a bit to see if he knows anything. Doubt he’d have any problem selling anyone out, but at the same time, I doubt anyone would let him know anything useful. Dude wasn’t exactly popular BEFORE you tore him a new one and then proceeded to force everyone to be more active.”
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“Great. Well the hunters are out again, probably not due back for another week at least, so I think we can rule them out. That just leaves your guys, Larry.”
“I’m telling you,” he said stuffily, “none of them are your saboteur. They’re all too afraid of me to dare do such a thing. Besides, even if they were, I keep an eye on the barracks the entire night. No way they’d be able to sneak out without me. Valkar’s the only one that comes and goes, if someone’s the culprit, he’s your Orc.”
“Well, I suppose I could talk to him,” said Len skeptically.
She didn’t really enjoy talking with Valkar. He was always right on that line between passive contempt of her abilities, and active disrespect that she could use to tear him a new one. Always on it, but never quite overstepping, it was frustrating. More than that, she couldn’t help the feeling that if she pushed things too much with him, it might actually lead to a mutiny. She’d made some good headway lately, earning at least a little acknowledgment that she might know what she was doing, but for good or for ill, he seemed to have spent more time leading them than the rotating arrangement of failed commanders the Hovel had gone through combined. There was a respect for him that didn’t exist for her, and she tested that respect at her own peril.
She sent the Trio away and asked them to send for Valkar. They returned to their duties without complaint. Kila glanced at Len, clearly wondering if she was being dismissed as well, but Len waved that concern away and just waited for Valkar to arrive.
“Oh, this is interesting,” said Pitch with a formless grin. “Seeking the traitor in your midst? How exciting!”
“Not now, Pitch,” she said through clenched teeth, then glanced worriedly at Kila.
The Orc was frozen in place, lines of mild concern for her friend etched on her face. Len glared at the shadow creature, who offered an insincere shrug of apology.
“You wouldn’t want your friend to find out about me, now would you? Can’t have her questioning your alliances so soon after she dropped everything to come to your aid, now can we?”
Len pondered that for a moment, and then dismissed it.
“Actually, we can. Wake her up.”
“What?”
“Whatever it is you did to freeze her, undo it. She ought to know about you too, and it’s easier just to show rather than tell.”
“You’re… just going to let her know about the shadowy entity that tempts you towards madness for its own amusement? Really?”
“Yup. Just remember that your deal is with me, no trying to tempt her into a similar arrangement.”
“It’s your funeral,” the shadow replied, then shifted across the room to stand in front of Kila.
For a second, it seemed like it wasn’t doing anything, then Kila yelped in surprise and leapt away from it.
“What the hell is that?!?!”
“Kila,” said Len blandly, “meet Pitch.”
“A pleasure,” the thing said without a trace of irony.
“Len,” said Kila carefully. “Explain. Quickly.”
“You know that thing I did with the human we captured? That thing that gave me an edge in the Grand Proving?”
“Yeah…”
“That’s it, basically.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Basically, this is the thing I entered into a contract with. Long story short, it shows up sometimes to cause trouble.”
“How dare you?” Pitch asked in a voice that oozed mockery. “I seek nothing more and nothing less than to protect my investment from the outside forces that might ruin her.”
“What does it mean by that, Len?”
“Fuck if I know. I assume it’s just trying a really sleazy way of saying that it finds me entertaining. Might be more to it than that but it’s really not rushing to be helpful on that front. I’ve mostly learned to shrug it off, but I figured you should probably be let in on the little secret too, since it seems to know more about what might have happened to your Len than I do. Keeps calling me ‘Namethief’ which is actually a bit appropriate, when you think about it.”
“And you’re just cool with this situation?”
“Fuck no, I’m not. Thing is, I don’t have a lot of options right now. I don’t think it’s just gonna magically wander off if I ask it to. Besides, I’m not sure I want to just toss away its tricks unless I have to. Too useful to have around.”