“Who is this?” Mila eyed the newly arrived weather-beaten old man. He was standing next to the door, glancing around, clearly uncomfortable in the company of so many people.

“He will help us with your operation.” Silinth wolfed down the breakfast. It didn’t explain anything, but there were too many ears here.

Mila’s group and Hanna’s family were sitting around the table doing the same, albeit at a slower pace.

The morning had been more unpleasant than usual for Mila. Her body was sore, and that was understandable, but after falling asleep in Isabel’s hands, she had wanted-

Well, to wake up in the same hands.

When the city’s bell announced the arrival of the morning, Mila had expected Isabel to be the first thing she saw, but her angel was nowhere to be found.

Instead, she was still in yesterday's clothes, tucked under a blanket. Mila narrowed her eyes and looked at Isabel, who returned the look. She didn’t even blush… Much.

Which likely meant Isabel had done nothing to her. Mila was a bit peeved by it. It wasn’t like she wanted to be touched in her sleep, but that had been the perfect chance for Isabel.

Was yesterday's melancholic mood at fault? Mila had rambled for a long time. It was but a single dream for her, but it contained so many memories. And even then, she had not reached the end of it.

It really wasn’t that big of a deal. But it did dampen Mila’s mood a bit. Had her ego bloated to such a degree? Isabel responded so cutely to Mila’s flirting and flaunting that she had forgotten her body and looks weren’t exactly a prime example of human beauty.

Mila stabbed the stubborn piece of meat with a fork and did her best impression of Silinth, and she stuffed it in her mouth. The damned chunk had refused to succumb to the dull knife. She chewed and then swallowed, not minding the silence that reigned over the room.

“I am glad to see you again, Morn.” Hanna finished her plate and greeted the man with a nod.

“You as well, Little Hanny.” Morn nodded back and revealed a toothless smile.

So what? Wasn’t the defenceless her enticing enough? Mila didn’t believe it. She looked at Isabel again and basked in the shine of her girl’s smile.

Well, at least someone was feeling good about herself. Mila awkwardly smiled back.

This was so strange. Most of the people in the room had smiles on their faces, but the mood was sombre.

“I am not a little girl anymore, Morn.” Hanna admonished. “I am the head of the Obron family now.”

“You are always going to be a little girl to me, Hanny.” Morn nodded to the housekeeper when he placed a new chair for the man. “Glad to see you too, Galtron. Still sticking around, eh?”

“Just doing my duty, Mr Morn.” Galtron bowed before leaving.

“So,” Hanna spoke. “How is your family doing? Did Trip marry that girl he was chasing? I remember you mentioning something about him doing that. It was years ago now.”

Morn’s shoulders sagged. “He did, yeah, he did.” He sighed. “So you still remember.”

“Well, Trip is a colourful fella. Your son really needed a beating to get anything done. I hope he has changed by now.”

“He was.” Morn sagged even more. “In the end, Trip did get his life together, yeah.”

There was a moment of silence before Hanna spoke again. “I am-” She paused. “I am sorry for your loss. Trip was a good man.”

“He was. They got all of ‘em. Even Bondy and Ish.” Morn blankly stared at the table. He blinked before seemingly cheered up. “But I hear Silinth is planning something to get back at ‘em. I came as soon as he asked.” His face turned sinister.

“We will speak about this later.” Silinth looked at the man. “What about the rest?”

There was another moment of silence, and Silinth sighed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Norn chuckled. “And tell you what? You are not taking it well. Not at all. I feared you would snap. There are still-” He looked around. “Ah, that’s not a talk for here.”

“What are you talking about?” Nordly finally couldn’t hold his curiosity.

“Secrets.” Silinth dismissed him and got up. “Let’s go. We have a couple of things to sort through.”

“Aye, I guess we do.” Morn showed unwillingness but still followed Silinth.

As for Mila? She was currently contemplating whether or not she could have held back from at least poking Isabel in some places if their roles were reversed.

The results were inconclusive.

“Shouldn’t you go with them?” Isabel whispered in Mila’s ear, making her shudder.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I guess I should.” Mila was a little unwilling, but this was important. With some inner whining, Mila pulled her mind out of the gutter and got up. “I’ll see you later.”

She followed Morn and Silinth outside, then to Silinth’s room. Morn glanced back at her several times, but after Silinth didn’t stop her, he said nothing.

When Mila stepped inside Silinth’s room, which happened to be mostly the same as hers, just with additional items strewn about, Morn finally could not hold back any longer.

“Umm, lass, this is a private talk.” He tried to shoo her away.

“It’s her plan.” Silinth stopped him. “Her name is Mila. She is-” He hesitated. “Important.”

“How so?” Morn furrowed his brows. “She one of the elder kids? I have not been in touch with ‘em, but I don’t recall anyone like that. She is too young.”

Mila looked at Silinth, wondering how he would explain her presence.

“Let’s move to the plan.” He didn’t explain anything, which was modus operandi of Silinth lately.

Now that Mila thought about it, he was always like this. Although she didn’t mind it this time. Her presence would be puzzling for anyone but their small group. Not having to explain anything was a luxury in cases like these.

“Uh, okay,” Morn sat down on the free chair while still looking at Mila with suspicion.

“Mila, would you be so kind?” Silinth plopped down on his bed, leaving Mila as the centre of attention.

“There is something we need to retrieve from the local Temple of Nature.” Mila began. “Only I can tell where it is, and I have to be close. Unfortunately, because of Silinth’s battle with Kaldiro, there are a lot of bounty hunters and Inquisitors running around the city-”

“You fought ‘Torch’!” Morn exclaimed in fright. “Are you mad?” He looked at Silinth in disbelief, his eyes bulging.

“The battle saved me and my friends.” Mila stared the overreacting man down. Morn shifted in his seat, clearly wanting to say more. “Madness.” He finally murmured.

“Besides, we are alive.” Silinth airily added.

Mila looked at the man who was currently dying at a fast pace but didn’t point out his dire situation.

“I am surprised you didn’t hear of this, seeing you are Silinth’s acquaintance.” Mila studied the man's tattered appearance.

“Yeah, well, I am living in the woods,” Morn answered. “Not much news reaches me there. But damn it all. The ‘Torch’?” He kept muttering. “Wait? What happened with that cursed man? If you are alive, then the ‘Torch’ is?”

“I lost but escaped.” Silinth extinguished Morn’s hopeful thoughts. “He is alive and probably hunting for us once more.”

Mila nodded. “We ran away, and now they are searching for us. That is why there is increased activity in our target. We have to draw some of the hunters out of their hole to increase our success chances.”

“That’s where you come in, Morn.” Silinth joined Mila. “We need you to make a mess. A large one.”

Morn looked at both of them. “That’s asking me to die, Silinth.” He finally said. “And you know that.”

Mila hid her surprise. She had asked Silinth if he could arrange something, but this- It didn’t sit well with her.

“I didn’t think you would come alone.” Silinth looked at the man without compassion.

Once again, Mila was reminded of the shift in the man's mind. This was not something Silinth should be okay with. The willingness to sacrifice someone for uncertain gains was questionable.

Especially since Silinth loved his order. But perhaps he hated the gods and temples even more.

Morn fell silent. For a while, he just sat there until a sigh broke past his lips. “I’ll do it. There isn’t much time left for me anyway.” He scratched his grey scalp. “When do you want to do this?”

Despite her misgivings, Mila said nothing to stop the man. “How much time do you need to get ready?” She asked instead.

This man was a stranger to her. He had made his resolution, and Silinth trusted him. His age played a role, as did his apparent loneliness.

In the end, Mila didn’t care about Morn.

“Not much,” Morn replied. “I guess it depends on how loud you want me to be.”

“Can you do this in a nearby village or town?” Mila asked. She also didn’t care how he would gather the attention of their hunters. “If they left the city, it would give us more time.”

“Sure. But it will take a day or two in that case.” Morn rubbed his eyes, then looked at Silinth. “Is it truly worth it?”

Silinth didn’t even flinch. “Yes.” He claimed with confidence, although they did not know if it was.

Mila glanced at the lying man but, once again, said nothing. This suited her just fine.

“And what about you two?” Morn raised a question.

“We have most of the layout on hand,” Mila explained. Mr Crow had worked overtime to scout. “Let us set the date two days from now, during the night. We will wait for Inquisitors to leave, then enter.”

“That’s it?” Morn blinked.

“The rest of the plan does not involve you.” Mila shut him off.

“I mean, that’s true but-” Morn looked disgruntled, then shook his head. “No, I get it. The less you say, the better. It’s just-”

“Wanna talk?” Silinth unexpectedly suggested.

“Yeah, I wanna talk.” Morn snapped at him. “And a drink. I’ll go get Galtron to bring us some. Let’s ask Little Hanny to join as well.”

“No need, I’ll do it.” Mila stopped the man. She would inform Hanna of the offer, but advise against taking it. The woman was already taking too much of her medicine. “I’ll let you catch up with each other, and we will speak again once you are done.”

Mila left Silinth’s room and headed outside to look for the housekeeper. This wasn’t perfect. Morn was-

A sacrificial pawn. Mila did not know what to think of it. She recognised the usefulness of such a move. Her memories contained such operations.

Morn wasn’t forced to do it. Not really. He, just like Silinth, was a bitter old man losing his claws, wanting to strike at their enemy one last time.

But it wasn’t a good mindset. It was dangerous and disregarded surroundings. Mila happened to benefit from it this time, but it made Silinth unpredictable.

It made him a liability. A danger to Mila and Isabel. In addition, his emotions were growing erratic. The corruption of his soul progressed daily despite Hanna’s efforts.

Silinth was still useful as a teacher. Andrew and Isabel benefited from his teaching greatly, and Mila didn’t want to be the one to take over that activity.

But as it was, Silinth had to go. Mila let her hand brush against the dagger hidden beneath her clothes. It was an ever-present companion to her.

There was more planning to be done.