[from the diary of Baron Howard Tailor, council member for Northridge]

Today's meeting was important enough that I feel writing it down is required to fully collect my thoughts. While the two most heavily armed ladies in the kingdom stood outside waiting for me, I caught up with an old friend willing to speak plainly; a rare occurrence in political meetings.

The northern earldom of the kingdom is under attack. I hope that gets the attention of whoever is reading this. No less than seven cities in the last ten years have had their leadership flipped from their preexisting ruling councils or nobles to a noble from the Western Reaches, and in particular the Fitzgerald line.

The resistance we encountered in Far Reach is most likely due to this. Their previous lord had an accident and died, then was replaced by a conveniently placed noble in the city who took over without anyone raising a fuss.

The little spy problem in Northridge is definitely revealed in a new light now. This isn't a targeted strike, but another step in a plan to take over an entire earldom. I don't know what we can do about it, other than provide a stable and safe center for anyone in the earldom who needs to take refuge.

I will, therefore, recommend we execute Liz as soon as feasible. Even if we never find the conspirators, we cannot afford to allow her to keep acting within Northridge and, at the very least, deny West Reaches one of their agents.

Also, I think we need to make contact with the King and make an official complaint. Anichka and Tammy are going to be furious to know their services will be needed for more rides to the capital, but we still need to send two more of us there. I will muse further on this while we travel to Northridge.

The good news, though: Earl Judith Sanderson of Hearthhome welcomes our efforts to connect with her city, and will announce such in two weeks. This should get me passed through Far Reach and avoid being a target. More of a target than I am already.

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Putting his journal down, Howard looked out the window at the countryside speeding by. "We'll be there before morning?"

"Yeah. We should be another two hours out. We'll get our rides unloaded and leave as fast as we can. Keep your duster on." Anichka had been spending her time counting and checking her ammunition. Her pistols hadn't been converted to being breech-loading yet, but she had fifty rounds for her new rifle—and she'd counted them five times already since leaving Hearthhome.

"Excellent. It will give me enough time to leave a rumor with the gate guards on the way out. I'm sure they have spies crawling all over the city." Howard watched Anichka's frown grow more intense. "You don't like this traveling, do you?"

"Not one bit. The alternative, though, is sending you with a bunch of guards who aren't as good a shot as I am. If this had turned to violence, and you died, it would have left all of Northridge weaker. So we came because Northridge has done so much for us, and we have a duty to keep it safe for everyone else." Unlike last time, Anichka was a little less worried about traveling since they'd gotten their own cars at the back of the train: the rear one had their horses and the next was theirs. Outside of unpredictable attacks from the exterior of the train, danger was only able to approach from toward the front of the train, it meant they only needed one person on watch.

"How many hours are you up to?"

"I'll wake Tam when we're slowing for the station. I'm at seven hours awake. I can sleep in my saddle and let you lead my horse."

Howard asked, "You trust me that much?"

It surprised Anichka to think about it, but she nodded. "Yeah. You're pragmatic."

"I'll take that as a compliment. So, we have an hour to kill." Noticing Anichka's eyes drifting to his diary, Howard asked, "Do you read?" When her eyes hardened a little and she looked away, he added, "Would you like to learn?"

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Tammy woke to the sound and feel of the train shifting from a constant pull to coasting and then to slowing. She cracked her eyes open to see Anichka leaning over something that Howard was pointing at. Sitting up slowly, she stood and walked toward them.

Tilting her head, Anichka saw Tammy was up and smiled. "I was going to wake you soon. It's been over two hours since the sun went down."

"If you'd like, I could teach you to read and write too?" Howard, feeling the train jostle as it slowed, began packing away his diary and tablet. "But it will have to wait until we're home."

"You'll be too busy when we get home." Despite herself, Anichka was smiling. The word home now meant a place that she would reach and spend time at again.

"With an assistant or two, I could have some spare time to teach you both." Standing up, Howard held onto a leather strap as the carriage bucked and shifted. He wanted to stretch his legs, though, because soon they'd be riding like an army of goblins was after them. "Far Reach, like Northridge, farms a Verdant dungeon for food, so there isn't as much land that is claimed by them. That will mean a much shorter detour for our railway."

"Is that important?" Tammy asked.

Howard nodded. "Everything is important. Do you remember the shortest path between the railway station and the northern gate?"

"Yeah, and it's not a straight line. The shortest has a lot of turns and thin alleys to get past. If we take the wide open thoroughfare we can stretch their legs a bit and outpace anyone trying to run a message to the gate." Anichka looked a final time at the door that led to the front of the train. "But we'll have to move fast. Come on."

That Howard carried one of the guns she'd normally sling over her own back made Tammy smile despite the grim situation. She let Anichka take the lead, Howard between them, while she watched behind. The jump between cars was annoying only because the railcar with the horses wasn't made to be accessible from a passenger car.

Waiting for Tammy to swing out around the side of the train and into the door of the railcar, Anichka caught her and pulled her in with the horses and Howard. "We should still have a minute or two. Let's get saddled and ready the moment it stops."

Hefting saddles on, tightening girths, and tacking the three horses took all the remaining time until the train was barely moving, and when it finally stopped, Anichka hauled the door open and jumped onto her horse.

They ignored the curses of the station staff as they rode down to the street and took off at a canter. After dark, the streets of Far Reach were quiet apart from their horses. No one attempted to intercept them before they reached the north gate of the city.

Howard slowed his horse first and the two women did likewise to flank him—he noticed both had loosened their dusters despite the cold weather.

"Ho there! Leaving so late?" the guard at the gate asked.

"Heading for Northridge, with big news. You know how it is." Howard could see the guard's brow raise a little. Information would buy them a quicker time at the gate, which he was fine with. "I'm bringing word back from Hearthhome—with all the trouble that Northridge's council were having getting permission to extend the railway from Far Reach, they're going to bypass the city completely and link directly to the earl's city."

The guard whistled appreciatively. "I guess that's what happens when someone drags their feet."

"All way above my head," Howard said while rolling his eyes. "I just carry the messages. Oh, another good one?" The guard was his to ply now, and Howard took full advantage of it. "Turns out the council in Northridge went and purchased themselves some nobility. Three newly minted barons! They must be hitting it rich up there to afford that."

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Weighing up delaying the courier until someone else could verify the information, the guard tossed the idea. It was a normal thing to pay for a quick pass with a juicy rumor, and these were both going to get him paid a bonus. "Go on through. Make sure you get the good news through to them and get some rest, it sounds like you're going to need it!"

Not needing to be told twice, the three urged their horses into a trot, a canter, and finally a gallop away from Far Reach. Howard waited until the city was out of view around a bend before he breathed a sigh of relief. "That went well."

Tilting her head this way and that, Tammy caught scent of their tailwind and said, "We're being chased. I smell different horses behind us."

"Numbers?" Anichka asked.

"Can't tell. Maybe a few. Maybe a lot."

Dozens of thoughts crowded Howard's mind. He wasn't a military man, but he could reason his way around the options. "Far Reach has sent people out. They wouldn't do that at night unless they had very good reason. Hunting down and killing a noble from their enemy is one. It won't be an emergency dispatch to deal with brigands." Howard had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Save three shots for us. I don't want to get captured and killed without a talisman."

"Can I shoot them?" At Howard's nod, Anichka hardened herself for what she knew would be a terrible night. "Tam, scoot forward on your horse. Howard, take my reins and lead him for me." Anichka turned side-saddle (ignoring how everything now poked into places she wished it wouldn't) and, when she got close enough to Tammy's horse, used her stirrup to help her jump across and get her leg over so she could face backward. "I think I might want that new rifle."

Slinging the weapon over her shoulder and passing it back, Tammy wrapped the reins of her horse around her right arm. "I've got fifty rounds for it too. Make them count."

Slowing to a canter, Howard and Tammy kept their horses moving at a long gait that ate distance. The road to Northridge had a few bends immediately outside of Far Reach, but after making it to the first long straight, Anichka finally saw the riders.

"That's at least three guard squads. No colors on them, either, but they're wearing armor. Dammit, they're driving their horses hard now. Hold us steady, Tam." Anichka raised her rifle to her shoulder and sighted down it. A horse at (now) a gallop was not the most steady platform to fire from, but nonetheless she lined up on the group and aimed for the largest mass.

She missed. Anichka cursed under her breath and waited out the horse's stride until she had the ideal moment and fired again. She didn't pause to see if the shot landed. Lifting the rifle away from her shoulder, she broke it at the breach and pulled out the two spent casings—tossed them in her pouch and put two fresh ones in. "Armor don't mean shit. These rounds have a little pin of adamantine Tinpot put in them."

The sight of a riderless horse made Anichka smile with grim determination. She lined up again, waited a cycle of motion, and then fired at the figure in the lead. By the time she got to the end of her supply of bullets, she had managed to hit one shot in three. She cursed after every miss, but had learned to love the new rifle. "I got about a third of them. They must have talismans, or they'd be running."

"We've got a reputation, Annie." Risking a glance backward, Tammy saw there were a lot of angry soldiers in the distance still chasing them. A bright, full moon was doing a great job of lighting things up, which was a small grace. "If that moon found some clouds, we could slip off the road somewhere."

"How is your horse keeping up?" Howard asked them.

"We need to swap," Tammy said. She looked over at Anichka's horse. "Can you bring him closer?"

Moving from one horse to the other went smoothly, and once again Anichka was facing backward and had Tammy's bag of ammunition. "Okay, hold him steady." She couldn't afford to miss too many shots, she knew, but when the next straight section of road gave her the chance to start firing, she didn't do any better.

After a hundred bullets, Anichka had thinned their numbers down to twenty riders on horses. There were plenty of horses still galloping along with their kin, and more than a few riders slumped dying-but-not-dead on their mounts. It pained her more to see injured horses. She could see that while the penetrators in her bullets were striking clear through the soldiers' armor, the deflected metal of the outer bullet along with misses were leaving a lot of mounts that would need to be put down.

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Eliza Sussaridge groaned and sat up. Raising one hand to her left nostril, she blocked it and blew. There was nothing there, but even so she blew harder as the horrid feeling of filled sinuses assaulted her freshly alive again brain.

She hated to admit how close she'd been to getting caught this time. "Ugh, I despise that." She blew her nose again, uselessly, trying to fight off the urge. "You need to get me to the Lord Chancellor." She lifted her head and looked at the priest who'd brought her back from the dead. "How long was I—?"

"No more than five minutes. I sent word the moment you appeared," the priest replied.

Turning and sliding off the altar, Eliza looked around for her clothes and equipment. Spotting them, she walked over and set about getting dressed. Something she noticed was that none of her weapons, poisons, or spare talismans were among her things.

Her mind raced. The air was far warmer, which made it clear she was in the West Reaches city itself rather than the north lands. She was back far earlier than she should have been, so they knew the news was bad.

It wasn't even like she'd failed before.

Calmly, she put her clothes on, taking her time, trying to not show she was feeling on edge. "Where are the rest of my things?" she asked, but the priest was walking away already.

"It's standard for all visitors to the Marquess' grounds to give up their weapons."

The voice came from the entrance of the temple, and Eliza's head turned on a swivel to spot the two big guards flanking the man who'd spoken—the Marquess David Fitzgerald of West Reaches himself. She bowed her head to him, earning a chuckle from the man. "This won't happen again," she said.

"Of that we are both in agreement. Eliza, what occurred out there?"

"Someone was working directly against me, had spotted my acts and myself, and knew the exact methods to disarm my schemes. The local dungeon paid for the three council members to buy baronies. When your representative arrived, who seemed greener than anyone else you've ever sent, sir, they revealed their defenses and attempted to disarm me. I barely got my backup poison out in time." When Eliza raised her head, it was the Marquess himself who reached out with a knife to pass to her.

"That's partly my fault. You could say we are a victim of our own successes—I have few enough nobles I can control to send!" Laughing, and glad to see a smile on Eliza's face, the Marquess reached out his arm to settle it about her shoulders. "Come. Walk the grounds with me."

The knife, Eliza knew, was symbolic. She set it down on the items table and followed the Marquess to the door and out into the warm sun.

"Do you know who the counterspy was?"

It was a complicated question, and Eliza wanted to make sure that was known. "Yes and no. The dungeon there is now part of the city. Its creatures walk freely in the town, and it has been offering the elderly the chance to become minions in it. It— It turns people into kobolds. The one who figured my plan out was a kobold named Steph, though I have heard him called Stephan. No last name was given. I knew he was smart, but not so smart he could out-maneuver me."

Crouching down at a flower bed, the Marquess was delighted to find a few weeds that looked like they'd sprouted that day. Kneeling beside the errant interlopers, he began dispatching the invaders. "They're the hardest ones to see coming. We will have to send some more persuasive agents to deal with these problems. What of this dungeon?"

"Well, dungeons—plural. They have a Verdant animal dungeon too, but the main force in the city is a dragon dungeon, the type of which I couldn't discern. It paid for the titles and it is exerting pressure to build a railway. It seems to have an agreement with the city's genius loci; many I spoke with talked of the two forces working together during the siege there."

The words were unbelievable, but still the Marquess filed them away for later unraveling. "What of my niece?"

"She doesn't like you, sir."

"That's putting it mildly! I've never seen such hate in a young lady's eyes before! A firebrand if ever there was one—just like my brother. Harold was supposed to keep her in line." Here, he sighed. "That didn't go well, I can assume?"

"None of us had titles, sir. There were two barons in the room. They also had a dragon, who I think made Harold soil his pants." The laughter from the Marquess filled Eliza's ears and brought a slight smile to her lips. "I tried to regain control, but then they made it clear they knew what I was. I—"

Standing up and removing his gloves, the Marquess tossed them aside. "Couldn't be helped. That you stuck around that long was a testament to your loyalty, Eliza." He took a slow, deep breath. "You were worried I'd be angry?" He noticed her shadow nodding, but not looking at her as he was, he couldn't see her face to judge it. "I offered you a dagger to defend yourself, if you felt you needed it. You put it down and walked past my guards."

When the Marquess turned to face her, Eliza let out a sigh. "Like a dagger would have hurt them anyway, father."

"Smart girl. Still, that only highlights your intelligence, which deserves reward. You'll be recognized, bastard or not. I have arranged for a title of baroness for you. There are no lands, which is where your next mission comes in. There's a little earldom I'd like you to have—once we've finished softening it up."

Eliza swayed for a moment as the words made sense to her. Dropping to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks, she took the offered hand of her father and kissed the ring on it.

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