All eyes in the room turned to us.
Children of all ages froze in the middle of playing and reading at round wooden tables. Near the end of the room, younger children, sitting in a semi-circle, turned away from a man with receding blonde hair, resting a book in his lap.
The girl we met at the door was whispering in his ear. He looked up at us and our drawn weapons with a confused face.
Off to the side, a large man rocking a toddler in his arms glanced at the metal pipe hanging from his hip. On the other side, a younger man around my age reached for his machete.
"Hey! Everyone relax," Castille said.
"I agree. Eric, hands off your weapon," Arwen said.
His accent reminded me of Mother Geslin but with more sophistication.
Eric licked his lips, his eyes shifting from me to Castille.
She sheathed her sword, raising her open hands. I was frozen. They were staring at me—fifty children, maybe more. In their shocked faces and wide eyes, I saw the boys from my orphanage—some friendly, some cruel, all broken.
"Jacob. Jacob... Jacob!"
I blinked. Castille was staring at me.
"What?"
"Your weapons."
"Oh yeah... right."
I slid my short sword back into my cane.
Eric let go of his machete and raised his hands to mirror Castille.
"See, everything’s OK. Everyone’s OK," Castille said.
“But why are you here? This is a daycare.” Arwen said.
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"A daycare? What's a daycare?" I asked.
"An experiment. A real successful one when armed men don't bust in and scare the children."
Dugan walked up a moment later, his axe already tucked in his belt.
"Wait! I know you. You saved Van Lagos at the party. And you! You're that elf the whole town’s talking about. What’re you doing here?"
The kids were unexpected, but we had a job to do.
"You're the main suspect in the attempted murder of Van Lagos.”
Arwen's confused face flushed red.
"Murder?! I-I would never do that! It would start a war! Put my men—these children—all of Steeltown in danger."
He was a good liar; I believed him.
“Then why were so nervous at the party?”
“Heh! Of course, I was nervous. You think that type of crowd likes me? And look, I was right! They ginned you up to come hunting for an innocent man.”
Castille furrowed her brows.
"I think he's telling the truth."
She looked to Dugan, who nodded in agreement.
This couldn’t be happening.
"Castille… We have a job-"
"Jacob..."
I looked over my shoulder to see Isla behind me. She shook her head.
"Are you serious? After everything we've been through. Everything that’s on the line!"
"I'm not in the business of selling out innocent men," Castille said.
"How do we know he's not lying?!"
She walked forward—past the children staring from the tables and the ones cowering on the floor.
Arwen waved back his bodyguards. He locked eyes with the woman towering over him from his seat.
"Were you in any way involved in the attempt on Van Lagos' life?"
Arwen pulled his shoulders back, sitting straight even as sweat trickled down his face.
"No."
After a long moment, Castille spoke.
"It's not him."
My shoulders slumped.
"Then we're back to the beginning."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Castille said over her shoulder. "Do you know someone called Mother Geslin?"
"That crazy bird? Yeah, I know her. Is she still alive?"
Arwen! Now I remembered the name. It was one of the people Mother Geslin rattled off the morning we left Southsun.
"We've been to your village. We came here to break the curse," Castille said.
The book fell off Arwen's lap.
"That's impossible! No one knows what the curse is or how to break it!"
"Um..." Isla stepped forward. "I do."