The Ranger camp was exactly how Ralan pictured the Outlander villages would be—tents and fires and sentries. It was small and without women or children, so it was obviously an outpost and not a village, but add those pieces, and Ralan would have considered this an Outland metropolis. Clearly he was wrong, and the idea of an Outlander city intrigued him.

After stabling his horse, the two Rangers walked Ralan through the camp. Men would greet them and look at Ralan with curiosity. But no one talked to him, and no one seemed particularly confrontational.

They approached a larger tent in the center of the camp, and Bode said, "Captain Jesser is not one for niceties. He's a good man, a strong man, but he will not say words to comfort your feelings or cushion any verbal blows."

Ralan nodded. "I understand. I appreciate that. Being in the city, you deal with quite the opposite from the money-counters." Bode and Grey both nodded their head. Ralan felt good. He was being considered one of them.

There were two guards in front of the tent, although the camp was so well defended, Ralan wasn't even sure they were necessary. "A Knight from the Wall has a mission in the Plains. We bring him to discuss his mission with Captain Jesser." Both guards looked Ralan up and down with a practiced eye. He was certain that they had assessed him as a threat without even having to examine him for weapons.

"Wait here," the one on the left said and entered the tent. A few minutes later he returned with four other people. They all were muttering as they walked out. "Captain Jesser would like to see you alone." He pulled back the canvas of the tent and motioned over his shoulder.

"Thank you," Ralan said as he walked through the entry.

The tent was about thirty feet square, and was divided into two sections. The part where Ralan entered was sparsely decorated and included most of the area of the tent. There was a wooden desk with two chairs in front of it, and an open area with more chairs rather chaotically spread about. It appeared to be a combination office/meeting room.

A thin man sat behind the desk. Although height was difficult to determine, Ralan got the sense that he was tall. He had a fierce look, with thick, full curly hair and a closely cropped beard of similar dark curls on his chin. His dark skin was similar to Alard's, although that was where the similarity ended. He looked at ease, but confident.

He was dressed in brown, but wore leather armor, unlike the Rangers in the field. "Come in," he said, motioning to a chair. Ralan walked slowly but confidently forward. "I'm Captain Jesser." He spread his arms wide. "It's not often I am visited by a thief." He motioned again to a chair and smiled. "Welcome. I cannot wait to hear your story."

It took all of Ralan's concentration not to reveal his surprise that Jesser knew he was a thief. Ever since he had met Bode and Grey, Ralan thought he was doing a good job playing a role that was part lie and part truth. As he took his seat, Ralan decided that the best thing to do was to be honest, at least to a point.

"Your men thought I was in the Knight Guild." Leaning back, Ralan folded his arms across his chest and peered at Jesser.

Jesser's demeanor continued to be thoroughly relaxed. He continued to smile and replied, "There are a lot of rumors about the Wretched Quarter—it is haunted; it is deadly; even the Knight Guild has abandoned its protection. There are others, but you get the idea. For a thankless and dangerous guild like the Rangers, there are reasons to perpetuate the legends of the city being dangerous."

"It minimizes deserters," Ralan stated. Jesser shrugged in reply. Ralan was tempted to ask Jesser what he knew of the Old Quarter, but he considered the question an opening to a conversation he did not want to have. So he remained quiet as Jesser stared at him.

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Finally, Jesser spoke up. "I have heard of Guildmaster Pietro's death. My condolences."

"Thank you. He was a great man." Ralan lowered his head.

"For some reason, even Quinto liked him, even though Pietro traveled to Gaotteland."

"Do you mean the Outlands?" Bode and Grey had mentioned Gaotteland, and Ralan wondered if it was some specialized name for the area where the Outlanders lived.

Jesser shook his head. "Does no one care about what happens outside the Wall?" For the first time, he looked upset. "Gaotteland is the capital city and the name of the nation that lives at the edge of the Plains before the Great Desert." Jesser pulled out a knife and stabbed his desk at the edge to Ralan's right. "Here is Ness." He then stabbed about two inches closer to the center. "We are here." And then nearly all the way to the other side of the desk he stabbed one more time. "Here is Gaotteland."

"That's very far," Ralan marveled. Was Karch traveling all the way to there?

"Not so far that the Outlanders haven't been able to send raids nearly to the city. We do our best, but they are becoming very aggressive."

"So the Outlanders are attacking Ness?" There was so much that Ralan didn't know.

"Don't be foolish. No. The Outlanders are attacking us, the Rangers Guild. We are stopping them from attacking the city."

"Why would they do that?"

Jesser smiled. "Seeing as they are constantly raiding our stores and appear to be trying to create a supply line to the north and the Outer Fields, I would guess that they are looking for food. But who knows?" Jesser frowned. "So I assume Alard is the Guildmaster Thief."

Ralan wasn't sure how to reply, but it was obvious from Jesser's tone that he would not be happy with Alard as the Guildmaster, and Alard himself had told him that the Rangers hated him. So Ralan told a partial truth. "No. The other guildmasters named the brother of one of their own as the guildmaster."

"Oh, that's just delightful," Jesser said, the smile once again appearing on his face. "I don't even know what your guild does other than walk the Wall outside the Wretched Quarter, but having someone other than Alard as the guildmaster can't be bad."

Ralan relaxed. He finally had the information he needed—how much did Jesser know? The answer was not a lot. Jesser placed his hands on his desk. "Enough chit chat. I assume you are working for Alard even if he is not the guildmaster."

"Why would you think that?"

"Alard has a well-known affection for the Outlanders. I am sure that he was waiting for old Pietro to die off so that he could send a permanent ambassador to Gaotteland." Jesser leaned forward. "Is that your mission? Or are you replacing Mio?"

Ralan had no idea who Mio was. "No. The new guildmaster is obviously close to the other guildmasters, and he was aware of a plot to betray Ness by one of the money-counters." Ralan smiled inside. He enjoyed the dismissive slang of the Rangers. "I was to stop him."

"What is this plot?" Jesser looked unconvinced, which worried Ralan a bit.

"I know not. I know that he left via the Great Gate and is heading to talk with the Outlanders." Ralan wondered how Jesser would respond. His men seemed to think that Karch's mission was a suicide mission.

"Are you to kill him?"

Ralan thought for a moment before answering. "I'm to stop him."

Jesser nodded. "If he left via the Gateway you are far behind already. There is no clear road to the river from this side, and the river crossing south of here will be slow and treacherous. Is your horse fast?"

Ralan nodded. "Very."

"Then you will catch him, but it will be days before you do." Jesser shoved his chair back and stood up. "I will provide you with an escort to the other side of the river. At that point, you are on your own. You may run into Quinto's forces as you rejoin the road. Our main encampment is north of there. If you do so, make sure to mention my name and that we talked."

Standing up, Ralan wasn't quite sure to make of the Rangers. Jesser walked over and shook his hand, while calling out for someone. The Rangers seemed dismissive of those that lived in the city and yet lived in the harsh conditions of the wild and risked their lives to defend it. Jesser knew Ralan was a thief, and yet he trusted him.

As they walked together to the front of the tent, Jesser paused. Ralan stopped and watched as Jesser turned to him. "I never liked that Guildmaster Pietro visited the Outlanders, but the attacks always lessened for a few weeks after he visited."

And without any further explanation or questions, Jesser walked Ralan to the stable.

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