{-Kaylin-}

She tried to hide all of her feelings on the matter. She feared that things were only going to get worse—especially if Rennyn stayed like this. They couldn’t do anything without their hero. No one else stood a chance. Yet… she was beginning to wonder if even the hero could do anything.

“Oh! I think this is the place they mentioned,” Noa said, dragging both her and Rennyn out of their own thoughts. “The sign matches up, anyway. Looks nice.”

“It looks like we don’t want to know what they do in the basement,” Rennyn remarked.

“It’ll be fine so long as we don’t get involved in other people’s business,” Kaylin dismissed. “Noa, be sure to stay with the two of us, alright? And don’t talk to strangers. It’ll be in your best interest not to mention your connection to Lord Aymer until it’s time to meet with Queen Vaeri.”

“I’m not as gullible as I probably look, you know…” was Noa’s mumbled response, but it was good enough of an answer.

Kaylin first waited for Rennyn to lead the way but, when he didn’t, she did. As she opened the door, she continued, “Maybe we can try to find the other companions here as well. Someone might know a story similar to Noa’s, or heard it from someone else. It’ll give us a little more to work with.”

“You think so?” Noa asked thoughtfully. “I guess it’ll be fitting if it could. Most heroes in stories find each other in taverns. Even if I know this isn’t a story.”

“It definitely isn’t,” Rennyn muttered. “We’re more likely to run into trouble if we ask around in a place like this. They’re all too drunk to care about us—let’s make sure it stays that way.” Then he moved past Kaylin and started talking to the person at the counter.

Kaylin gave one look to Noa and sighed. “I’m sorry about this. I swear, he wasn’t always like this. I don’t know when it started…”

He shook his head and very clearly forced a smile. “It’s alright. I mean, I can’t blame him. I don’t know what he’s gone through before now, but I think I can guess why he’s doing this. He doesn’t want others—or himself—to get hurt.”

“That’s no excuse for this.” She had enough resolve in her tone to surprise herself. “We were friends once. He could at least stand to try to consider your emotions a little more…”

“I get what you mean, but you’re not really making it much better…”

Rennyn came back before she could say anything else. He gestured to one of the open tables. “He said he’d get a room ready for us in a couple of minutes. I ordered a proper dinner and it should be coming out soon.”

They all sat down at the table, the only thing keeping them out of silence being the ambience of conversation around them. The meal Rennyn ordered came; it was modest, but enough for the three of them, and likely a luxury were it not for what Aymer had given Noa before they left.

It was then that Noa asked, “So, what are we doing now?”

“Listening,” Rennyn answered simply. “We’ll get just as much information that way as we would by asking around, but no one needs to know that we’re doing it. Lord Aymer said that one of Queen Vaeri’s people will come to us when she’s ready for us, so we just need to wait until then.” He definitely reluctantly added, “We can look for the other two in the meantime.”

“I… know they’re nearby, at least,” Noa said. “Or, I should say, closer than they were in Ilatenes. But Zaitha’s still a big place…”

“We should make sure we’re weary of Dhymos’s plan,” Kaylin added almost absently. “Allyna should inform us if she learns anything, but we shouldn’t leave all of it up to her…”

There was a mumble of agreement, then they fell silent to listen to the mutters around them.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Rumor has it that guy is one of the best in the business. Must run in the family.”

“Really? You think I could hire him, then? I could use the extra muscle when I make the trip to Cambria.”

“You might not need to worry about bandits, though. I’ve heard King Dain’s pretty good at keeping Askoria clean of that kind of stuff.”

“You forgot something: he’s a kid. I’m not gonna trust my life and merchandise on a kid…” A brief pause. “You didn’t actually answer my question. You think I could hire that merc? Do you know his rates?”

“Charity work, it seems like.”

“Huh?”

“He’s one of the best guys you’re going to come across, but he’s rarely available. When he is, it’s only for a couple of days, nothing too long and definitely nothing out of this area.”

“What else is he doing, then?”

“Do you remember all the talk about that girl a few years back? The one who lurks around the Archives? He’s been around her a lot. It’s hardly worth his talents, if you ask me. I doubt he’s being paid nearly as much as he should—she isn’t anyone special.”

…

“Can you figure anything else out about the other two?” Rennyn asked.

Noa shook his head. “No… I know I’ll be able to recognize them when I see them, but that’s probably going to be impossible…”

Kaylin stayed silent, because she felt she had nothing to say. What she overheard the night before… it was familiar, in a way. But she couldn’t tell if that was because of the matter at hand or if it was because she’d heard similar stories elsewhere. It wasn’t too unusual, after all—for someone strong to protect someone weaker. That was, ultimately, what Rennyn was doing to her.

“I—I don’t know,” Noa continued. “Let’s just wander around and see what we can find. The Zaitha Archives are somewhere around here, right? Maybe we could look at those.”

Kaylin nodded. “Sounds like the best idea we have at the moment.” It was where that girl was—and possibly where that mercenary was, too. She wouldn’t have to say anything; just see if Noa recognized them.

Rennyn mumbled something that she knew was disagreement.

She sighed. “Come on, it’s not going to be bad. Quite frankly, with the amount of guards wandering around here, nothing can happen.”

Actually, now that she thought about it, there were a concerning amount of guards. Had something happened..? Or did it speak to the international travelers Zaitha would receive that nowhere in Ilatenes would?

“And any trick Dhymos might pull is best done under the cover of a crowd,” Rennyn pointed out. “Then we’d just get more people involved.”

“Well, nothing would’ve happened last time if you’d listened to anything I’d told you.”

Noa nervously shuffled, reminding them both that he was there. “Do I, uh… want to know why Rennyn apparently doesn’t like libraries?”

“No,” Rennyn answered simply. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just go to the Archives. You two can focus on finding something, I’ll make sure that no one working for Dhymos gets near us.” Like most things, it seemed that there was no point in arguing; he was already pushing his way through the crowd to where the Zaitha Archives were.

Kaylin glanced at Noa. One of them had to have a plan about how they were going to spend that time. “I’m going to try to find records about anything Dhymos might be doing—if he’s done anything here like in Ilatenes. Do you think you could recognize names, or pictures? There should be something about the residents of Zaitha or other places in Kositeia. You might be able to figure out who our other two companions are from there.”

“I can try, at least,” he said nervously.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t find anything right away. We’re going to be there anyway, though, so we might as well try. It’ll definitely help move things along if you could.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see what I can do. They’ll probably be close together, right? Since they’re both kinds of records?”

She considered it for a moment. “They should. If they aren’t, we can go together to pick some out and actually look through them somewhere we could be close. It would probably be better if we’re together—that’ll make Rennyn feel better.” Or, at least, she assumed it would. She still wasn’t sure why he was acting this way for something honestly self-inflicted…

“Did… whatever happened last time done when you were alone?”

“No, we were together. But I’m sure it’ll help if he can see us both. He’ll feel better if he knows he can protect us if he needs to.”

“Then what… did happen?”

“I don’t see why it’s worth bringing up.”

“I do. Remember that talk earlier about both of you treating me the same way..?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter here. Suffice to say, I gave him a fair warning. It was his curiosity that caused the rest of it.”