Memories came with their arrival in the kingdom's capital. Anichka felt her lips form a frown she couldn't seem to banish.

"We're not staying here, Annie. Delivering this load of junk and heading home." Tammy knew her emphasis on the last word worked when Anichka stopped frowning for a moment. "Bad memories?"

"From another city. Too many people and too much happening." Squeezing Tammy's hand, Anichka leaned over and used Tammy's shoulder to rest her head. "I wonder how they're doing back in Northridge?"

"The wolves are still calm. I imagine if things went to shit back there, they'd be trying to rip their way out." Shrugging, Tammy put an arm around Anichka's shoulders and squeezed. "You can even hide behind me, if you want?"

"No. I can handle it." Always aware of how Tammy acted around people she didn't know, Anichka wasn't going to abandon her to the societal wolves. "We're almost done." Shaking herself mentally and a little physically, she stood up and grabbed hold of the door frame. "Come on. That's a lot of wealth we're dumping, and I want to make sure we're giving it to the right people."

Tammy groaned and closed her eyes. "Don't you even think that we would accidentally give all this to the wrong people! Ugh. Annie, you're the worst sometimes. Let's get this done and hope they don't ask us to leave our weapons somewhere."

"Now who's tempting fate?" Anichka started checking the powder charges on her pistols for the third time that day as the train slowed down for its station.

Walking to the end of the car they were in, Tammy looked back on the flatbed loads behind them. The first of the huge wagons blocked her view of the rest of the train. When the final jolt came, she smiled. "Nearly done."

Stepping off the train, Anichka rolled her shoulders and slowly buttoned up her duster. "Tam, do you ever think this kinda thing will be over?"

"You said that when the northerners left. I think, with Northridge, life is going to be full of moments li—" Tammy's words were cut short by a kiss on the cheek.

"That's for saying the best thing ever when I need to hear it." Drawing back, Anichka reached to her duster to unbutton it again. "We didn't account for it being warmer here, did we?"

"I don't think it hurts for two guards in charge of a lot of wealth to show they are armed." Likewise unbuttoning her duster, Tammy waited with Anichka while the train backed up against a ramp on a side track. Walking alongside it, she noticed that the squad of guards that'd accompanied them were on the other side. "It's nice to work with sensible folks."

Nodding, Anichka let out a piercing whistle with two fingers in her mouth, giving a thumbs-up to the few guards that turned their heads her way. "Weird, though. I don't think I've ever really trusted anyone but you in a fight. But them? I trust them."

"More than me?" Tammy asked.

"What? No. But they've been through Northridge with us. Fought and died and fought again. All that." The wagons were being carefully rolled down, with big block and tackle rigs to make sure they didn't just take off on their own.

"Those the guys we're meant to be giving this lot to?" Nodding her head toward two soldiers in plate and mail, who also wore a white tabard with a golden crown on it, Tammy walked in their direction.

"You're the delegation from Northridge?"

Nodding, Anichka reached into a pocket and pulled out the paperwork copy she'd gotten from the councilors. The twitch in the stance of the two guards reminded Anichka that seeing someone with sixteen loaded barrels worth of pistols wasn't all that common. Passing the papers over, she smirked. "We didn't expect too much trouble on the way, but better to be ready for it and not face it, than face it and not be ready for it."

Grunting, one of the guards said, "True enough. Got yourselves a gunsmith up north now?" He waited for his partner to verify the documents as, in the background, he took stock of the big wagons being unloaded. "Those aren't large enough to carry as much gold as was reported."

"They don't. Councilor Sellswell sent a manifest." Shifting the rifle on her shoulder so its strap didn't bite as much, Anichka nodded toward the wagons. "It's all approved weights, whatever that means. Where are we doing the handover?"

"We have two squads coming. Until they arrive, it's still yours." Passing the paperwork back, the guard nodded toward Tammy. "Are those adamantine?"

Talking shop should have meant relaxing, but Tammy was too aware that they had four big wagons that they still hadn't passed off. "And filled with shot. Annie's got a good eye at any range, but with these I don't have to be."

Anichka was antsy. She had a fortune behind her and two guards acting like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "We have some hounds in the wagons, too, guarding them. It won't be a problem if we let them out to stretch their legs?"

Looking at Anichka with wide eyes, Tammy figured it would work, but there was a lot that could go wrong. "Uh, Annie, is that wise?"

"There's a lot of eyes wandering toward us. They'll make a good distraction."

The guards, curious, shrugged. "Sure," one said, "if they bite anyone, it better be while they're reaching their hands toward your gold, though."

"It's fine. I doubt anyone will be thinking of gold with our doggies out and stretching." As the wagons rolled closer to them, Anichka walked to the back of the first and the guards there. "We're letting the hounds out to stretch their legs."

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"They haven't signed for the delivery?"

Rolling her eyes at the question, Anichka shook her head. "They have some guys who are going to do it soon. I asked them if we can let our hounds out for some air." With the laughter of the guard of the second wagon in her ears, Anichka unhooked the door of the wagon and whispered, "Good girl. Fife and Travis said if I mention their names, you'll keep being friends, right?"

When Anichka opened the door a little wider, a snout was the first thing to poke out. The second was a tongue that licked from the bottom of her chin to the top of her forehead—twice—before she managed to splutter and step away from the huge Bloodied Wolf. Almost predictably, the wolf used a paw to widen the opening of the doors and jumped onto Anichka, knocking her down and standing over her, licking her face repeatedly.

"Are you going to do this every time?" Anichka put up with the attention mostly because she had no way of actually stopping the horse-sized wolf. "And now I have three more to open."

When the wolf was all licked out, and was far more content with petting than standing over her demanding scratches, Anichka closed up the wagon and led the way to the next. If the wagons hadn't drawn people's attention already, a wolf that was as tall at its shoulder as the woman beside it had. What Anichka liked was that people were edging away from them, rather than toward them.

Sergeant Thomas Brave slapped his face with his hand. "Annie, is it wise to let dungeon monsters out in the capital?"

"Dungeon monsters? Nah, these are our hounds. Big hounds. Big and friendly hounds. Definitely hounds." Anichka was giggling by the time she walked past. "Besides, a threat isn't a threat if it's hidden. I didn't like the look of the folks trying to get closer to us."

"When are the King's Guard going to pick up this lot? We'll be getting a train ride home as soon as we're done."

"Wait," Anichka said. "We're going home right away?"

"Do you really want to get bored in the capital and not get back to Northridge as soon as possible?" Thomas asked.

"That's a good point. Okay, minimal fuss. I want to get home and find out what's the next insane thing I get to do." Walking down the wagons, repeating the line to each of the Bloodied Wolves, Anichka collected all four while keeping to the side of the wagons nearest the no longer crowded street.

It took nearly an hour for the promised guard squads to arrive, during which time Anichka and Tammy had spent their time walking along the wagons, letting the big wolves sniff and rub against whatever they could find, and generally make distractions of themselves while the squad of Northridge guards kept a closer watch.

The biggest problem seemed to be when one of the wolves started marking the wagons, then they all started marking the wagons. When the first started walking toward the King's Guards, however, Anichka had to distract them.

As the troops approached, an older woman rushed toward the caravan and, trying to figure out who she should talk to, focused on the sergeant of the guards. "Excuse me? I believe we have the same client."

"I doubt that. Please, move along. We're on import—"

"Travis, the dragon dungeon of Northridge?" Brevity Delling didn't often get a chance to put someone completely off-balance, but this was one moment when a light breeze would have knocked the man opposite her over. "I heard a delegation from him was arriving, and seeing this little show you're putting on, with four Bloodied Wolves acting like they aren't literal killing machines incarnate— It wasn't a very large leap of deductive reasoning. My name is Brevity Delling, and you're very lucky I'm here."

Thomas Brave, used to weird situations as he was, still wasn't going to let the woman walk all over them. "Look, my job is to keep the wagons safe. Whatever you're trying to sell me—I'm not in the market for." He was welcoming the sight of the King's Guard approaching, expecting Brevity to leave.

Lieutenant Saber was not the kind of man who put up with silliness. He looked at the wagons, at the woman who'd rushed over, and felt a headache approaching. "This is the delivery from Northridge?"

"It is. Do you need to count it?" Thomas tried to keep his tone even, but the truth was he had had enough of the job. It was part of his duty, though, and he would still ensure it was completed—but if he had a choice, he'd rather spend a year on night watch.

"He will." Brevity cut in before either man could say another word. "And you'll have to have a representative present while they do. That way no one can claim the numbers were wrong."

Saber shuddered at the thought. "We won't need to count it. We will weigh it. I understand it is three quarters gold and the rest is in adamantine?" At Thomas' nod, he smiled. "Excellent. We'll weigh all four, unload them, and then weigh the wagons for the net weight of the product."

Stopped in her tracks, Brevity gave a nod. "That sounds acceptable. My clients will be present, of course."

"'Clients'?" Saber asked, turning to look at Thomas.

"I don't know, sir. She arrived and claimed she's employed by our boss. I've never met her before." It took Thomas up until this point, though, to realize she had given him an out. While he wanted to trust the King's Guard, he realized that if they tried to screw him over for a chunk of the gold, it wouldn't be his word that was trusted. "But, if that's the protocol, I guess we'll have to do it."

When the King's Guard directed his men to move the wagons and Thomas was left with Brevity nearby, he turned his attention to her while his guards took care of watching the wagons. "I'm not going to pay you, but thanks."

"Travis paid me already. I keep telling you, he's my client. I'll send him a bill." Brevity, as much as she loved the idea of having a client who's a dungeon, still wasn't going to go hungry. "How did things work out with the undead dungeon I had sanctioned for him?"

Now that she'd pointed out a specific event, Thomas realized her story might be straight. "He took care of it, but only because the Balavians invaded, besieged the city, and were going to do something bad to use the undead dungeon to attack us. He moved his entrance into the city, aided the verdant dungeon in doing the same, and saved all of us a dozen times over.

"So, your arrival and sprinkling Travis' name around—it didn't sit right. Now I know you were saying that to try to help, it's not a problem anymore. You know why we have three million gold worth of wealth here?" When he was done, Thomas gave her his best I'm just a guard, ignore me look.

Brevity could guess why such a ridiculous number would be appropriate. There was a specific thing that only the king could grant and took such largess. "Buying titles?" When Thomas smiled at her, she laughed aloud. "A good gambit for preventing a leadership takeover by a titled-but-not-landed noble. You kept this quiet enough, too, that it will likely work. You're returning to Northridge?"

"After a brief shopping trip. We'll be hiring a train to take us back."

"Would you be willing to take one more?" It was Brevity's best chance of contacting her client directly, and even if it would disrupt her work, she was not going to miss the opportunity.

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