Rafe

Rafe arrived about a foot from the ground. When he landed, the resultant thunk alerted the owner of the shop to his presence. The room was a mess. The desk was piled with paper, cups, bowls, and other such detritus. The sofa in the corner was piled with blankets, pillows and clothes, and the floor was in dire need of a broom. Rafe had seen it worse, so he ignored it all.

“Rafael, my boy,” called the shop owner cheerfully as he opened the door and entered the office. He was of average height, round of waist and quickly losing his hair. Laugh lines revealed his age to be more than forty cycles, although Rafe could not be sure. He wore a bright purple waistcoat over a black tunic with similarly purple breeches. He was feeling whimsical today. “What have you got for me?”

Rafe handed the man the stack of documents he was carrying. He whistled his surprise and pleasure as he leafed through the pages languorously.

“Very nice, very nice,” he mumbled. He looked up at Rafe before continuing. “Caused quite a stir this one. Even Bathus himself came out. On the one hand a prominent figure was slaughtered in his home, alongside his guards. But on the other hand, twelve youths were reported to have been kept in his secret dungeon. One of whom was the son an equally powerful man. Our old captain doesn’t know which way to turn on this one. Davers’ progeny are kicking up quite a stink.” Sal chuckled at his own words.

“Have to see how the wind blows on this one before I start liquidating his assets. His spawn are going to be quite upset.” He leafed through the documents some more before setting them aside.

Rafe waited, knowing that Sal could not be rushed. The older man sat down behind the mess he called a desk, steepled his hands and looked hard at Rafe.

“The butler? Really?”

Rafe raised his eyes to the ceiling, pushing a harsh breath of irritation and exasperation through his nose. When he looked back at Sal, he saw the man was still watching him.

“Winnifred,” Sal stated.

Rafe simply nodded his confirmation.

“In a mood, is she?” Sal chuckled, as if the mess Winnie had left behind that was previously a butler was a situation worthy of his mirth. “Send her to me next time.”

Again, Rafe nodded, albeit reluctantly. He likely would not send Winnie his way. He may have preferred the ends they gave the guilty to be swift and clean, but he could not deny how Winnie’s mood improved when she was sent out. It felt almost like a duty to his kin.

“Now,” Sal began tentatively. “Given all the recent changes, does our little miss wish to continue?”

Knowing the question was most likely coming and had in fact already been answered by Auraya and his kin, Rafe nodded his assent.

“Good, good.” Sal looked sceptical for a moment, then it cleared. Rafe presumed Sal had thought he would need to convince them, but the vote had been unanimous. They would not forsake their task. Sal put away a sheet of paper, mumbling about hard work going to waste, before unearthing another stack of documents.

“Aah,” he breathed at their retrieval. “Mrs Felton and her missing boy.” He tossed a wallet full of coins at Rafe.

“For Winnifred,” he mumbled. “Sad to say, she’s not the first. Homeless youths have been disappearing for a while now. More so over the last cycle, I reckon. Some related, some not. Some recovered, some not. It’s still too early to tell. So little is known, and there’s too much ground to cover.” He leaned back and looked up at Rafe, “My boy over in Whiteoak has a few of the same. We’ll see, we’ll see.” He trailed off in thought for a while.

“An acquaintance of mine came to see me,” he continued, focusing on Rafe. “One of his… working girls has been misplaced. She had a plan, you see, to go away with one of the other girls. They were in a relationship and had been saving their coin for a few cycles, yes? They would’ve had enough for their little cottage in about two. Last quarter, this girl just up and disappeared. No money taken, just gone.” He frowned at this. “My acquaintance looks after his girls. No beatings, no disease, nothing they don’t want. His girls all have a plan, and he helps them with it. They don’t usually just run off. There’s no need. They’re free to leave whenever they want, and he never withholds their coin.” He shook his head, looking at his hands before looking back at Rafe. “My acquaintance spoke to some like-minded business owners, and found they had a girl or two disappear without their coin or their things.” He took a breath and looked through the documents in front of him.

“Yesterday, a lovely but sad woman came to me claiming her sister had gone missing. Betrothed, she was. To a blacksmith near Betty’s. Happy, I’m told. A love match, it seems. On her way back from her job at the tailor opposite our dear Bettina’s, she just up and vanished too. Working late alone on a big order apparently. I have a few more cases of disappearing, seemingly happy women, but it’s much of the same.”

Suddenly, he rose and moved around the desk.

“I need you to take me to the temple in Ash Chapel.”

Rafe raised his eyebrows at the abrupt request, before flicking his eyes to the door.

“I locked up when I heard you arrive,” he said cheerfully. “No need to worry, my boy.”

With the assurance, Rafe laid his hand on Sal’s shoulder and took them to Ash Chapel. They landed in an empty alley near the temple. The place was deserted. Ash Chapel was a small fishing community with little excitement, situated beyond the east gate of Jude.

They emerged from the alley and walked down the cobbled street to the temple. It was an impressive but small building made of local stone, with a small steeple at the front. The windows were intricately designed with the likeness of the Pair in multi-coloured glass. The front entrance was made of thick dark brown wood and had images of the Pair carved into it. They made their way inside, looking around.

In front of them, several pews sat leading them to the front where a stand lay before an altar. On either side were large stone statues of the Pair, the male on the right and the female on the left.

A man in priest robes came out of one of the side doors, looking pale and dishevelled. He attempted to smile, but it looked strained. He looked no more than twenty-five cycles with light brown hair tied at his nape. Hazel eyes somewhat haunted.

The priest, Lawrence, came over to them, welcoming and open. Sal accepted his greetings and began to exude his own unique charm. At the mention of a woman’s body, the priest froze, looking wary. Sal began to lay it on thick at that point, claiming to have a worried husband for a client, frantic to see his loved one returned. Praying to the Pair every night with his devastated children. He had come to identify or rule out the woman, to put their fears to rest, and potentially bring peace to their poor, poor souls.

Lawrence was so engaged in the story, Rafe almost believed Sal was using his talent of persuasion, but he knew that was not the case. Sal had never been activated and his magic remained in its depths. He simply had a gift borne of hard work and experience.

Eventually, the priest took them through the door he had appeared from. He took them through another that descended to a basement. It was cold, but well kept, free of dust and moisture. On the table in the centre of the room lay the body of a woman. She was in an awful state, bloated, veiny, and bluey-grey in colour.

Sal spent long moments inspecting the woman, noting her injuries, and mumbling his distaste.

Whilst Sal catalogued the woman’s state, priest Lawrence seemed to lose control of his tongue. He informed them that this was the fourth body to wash up on the beaches of Ash Chapel in just as many turns. The city guard had been dismissive, and he had heard nothing of their investigative efforts. He had sent several missives to the high priest and hoped something would be done soon.

They left the priest to his woes soon after, making their way back to Sal’s office.

“Curious,” he mused, almost to himself. “Very badly beaten, she was. Interfered with, no doubt, given the location of some of the bruising. All four of them in a similar state, it would seem. This is quite dire, my boy.”

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He walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room and poured himself two fingers of dark liquor, before throwing back two thirds of it with barely a wince.

“Damn guards,” he huffed, letting his anger show. “Absolutely useless. First the young ones, now the women. And doing nothing about it. Despicable. Not to mention those ruffians they brought in for the west gate. Bloody useless.”

After draining the cup, he topped himself off with another two fingers, then headed to his desk. He seemed to collect himself before looking back at Rafe.

“We need to investigate the temples along the river, see if any bodies have turned up elsewhere. Forest Wall, Ivy Harbour, and Castle Stone Harbour. Wheatpole too, just to be thorough, but it’s unlikely the current would carry a body that way. Maybe get one of your shadows in the central temple, see what the fanatics are up to.”

Sal handed the documents to Rafe with a nod and a hard look.

“Keep up surveillance on Dennison and Rothers, but don’t move until the Davers issue has died down.”

Rafe narrowed his eyes a touch, more than enough to convey his displeasure.

“Unless the situation is dire, it would be wise to be cautious, given the attention you and your kin are now getting. McGavin has begun to move.”

Rafe nodded with a sigh.

“Good, good.” Sal’s face once again reflected sunshine and merriment. “Now, off you go.”

With the barest of nods, Rafe sent himself back to the castle; to the study next door to Auraya’s that he had claimed as his own. He added the documents to the pile he needed to go through, before walking out and heading to see Auraya. He could sense her magic and knew he would find her at the desk she had claimed. He nodded to the guards stationed outside and made his way through the antechamber and into the room proper. She was sat at the desk reading from a large tome, taking notes. Gina, from her desk on his right, looked to be doing something similar, but related to mathematics. Neither of them acknowledged his presence, but they were alert to him regardless. He walked to Auraya’s desk and sat down in front of her. Waiting for her to reach a place she could break away.

He took the time to think on all he had been told. He would need to organise trips to each of the temples to make enquiries about the dead. Bec would suit that role. She was approachable and charming, drawing people in. He could send her with Alan to reduce the travel time between the four temples. After that, he would need to set up a schedule to check on each of the temples every few days. He would need an early update from the Rothers and Dennison teams. He could then incorporate the surveillance teams between the several targets. They did not have sufficient evidence on Rothers to move forward yet. They would have been ready to hit Dennison that day, but now he had to change the plan. Rafe thought back to why they had a strict code of only exacting their wrath on those they could prove guilt without a shadow of a doubt. It drew a slight smile and a shiver of guilt all at once. He shook off the memories and continued his planning. He thought that perhaps he should send a few of his team out to see the homeless youths. It would be good to get firsthand accounts of some of the disappearances.

“How is the old goat?” Auraya asked, finally setting aside her work.

“The same.”

“So,” she said with a slight frown. “He has a new case for you.”

Rafe briefly explained what Sal had told him about the disappearances of the homeless youths, the women and about the trip to Ash Chapel. Once he began, Gina set aside her work and made her way over to sit next to him. He could feel her distress but could barely see it on her face. Auraya did not hide her annoyance. The disappearances had been going on for a long time and they had not known about it. It was understandable, they couldn’t know everything that happened in their city, but it still chafed.

“One case or two?” Auraya asked.

“Unsure yet,” Rafe replied. He then explained what he intended to do. Auraya agreed but worried they were being stretched thin. They talked about the coming Initiation and which of their kin may be suited to join Rafe’s team. Not only did they need a desire to join the team in the first place, but they also needed to be patient, perceptive, inconspicuous, and adaptable. It had taken Rafe great pains to slip on a mask and pretend to be someone else. As he was naturally quiet and introverted, he had had to push himself to come across otherwise.

They talked about Ridley. He had joined Rafe’s team at the last Initiation. The boy had been persistent about joining in the time leading up to the ceremony and Rafe had secretly been charmed by his eagerness and upbeat personality. He took to sleuthing, charming, and persuading well. In a fight, however, he was a little overconfident and that often led to recklessness and injury. Rafe had had to tailor his training to rid him of his bad habits. He had a fair way to go, but was improving steadily.

A call interrupted their musings. Rafe told them to come after confirming with Auraya. Taylor emerged from his shadow moments later.

“Smythe’s day was mostly mundane,” Taylor relayed after greeting them all. “It’ll all be in my report. Before I swapped out though, the former queen barged into his office. She was hysterical. She’s afraid you,” he looked at Auraya, “are going to do something to her and her boys.”

Auraya simply rose a single brow. The nobility were so used to stabbing each other in the back that they expected it from everyone.

“He told her not to worry, he had ordered McGavin to investigate us.”

After thanking and dismissing Taylor, Rafe confirmed that Sal had told him something similar. He told them that he would pull Jerry from the Rothers case to map McGavin’s network. Auraya frowned. They were indeed being stretched.

“I agree the spymaster needs to be watched, but…” Auraya trailed off, staring into the middle distance.

“It’s fine, O,” Rafe consoled. There were several questions left unasked. Would Jerry manage on his own? Would the Rothers team manage without him? How long could they go on stretching themselves? Were they putting their kin at risk? There were no definitive answers he could give her, but he believed what they were doing was necessary. So, they would find a way. For the moment, the situation was still manageable. They would find a way.

Auraya looked at him for several breaths before saying, “okay” with a nod. A small smile touched Rafe’s lips at her faith in him.

Another call came through. Rafe bade the girls goodbye and took himself to a rooftop at the docks in Ivy Harbour. Alan greeted him and indicated to where Louis was walking across the pier towards a burly, weathered looking man directing the activity near a ship. The exchange was relatively short. The burly man’s arms worked as he spoke, and he laughed often. Eventually, Louis shook the man’s hand and walked onto the ship, disappearing. A call confirmed he had succeeded in gaining employment and would set sail the following day.

After informing Alan about the new Dennison plans and relaying quick instructions, they both took their leave. Rafe landed in his office and sat at his desk. He dragged the Dennison case files forward and went over what he knew. When Sal had mentioned that they would have to hold off moving forward until the Davers mess calmed down, he had begun to reformulate his plan for Dennison. He spent the next quarter mark going over it and informing his team what they needed to do.

He then spent the next three quarters of a mark going through all his cases and ensuring everyone was where they needed to be. Bec and Alan were informed they needed to visit the temples, Jerry was reassigned to McGavin, Grace was sent to the main temple, Deb would visit the homeless youths, Reece was updated on the Dennison plan, and five steppers were informed they were needed that night.

He updated his board, showing where each of his team was, then decided to bathe before his new mission that night. He spent the rest of the afternoon practicing moving objects, without moving himself. The idea had come to him from one of the young ones. They had asked why his clothes came with him when stepping, and whilst he had explained about the cloak of magic that enveloped them, he had wondered if he could place his cloak on objects he wasn’t touching. It had been difficult at first. He had extended his cloak and then tried to disconnect it from himself. It had taken a few tries to not let his magic dissipate once cut off from the source, but eventually he had managed it. The only drawback was that it meant he needed to be close to the object. He wanted to be able to generate a cloak from a distance, and particularly without having to see said object. Without a teacher, they needed to figure these things out for themselves, which was tiring and often long-winded, but ultimately, rewarding. Reggie had only been so helpful. He was a healer after all, so his knowledge had mostly lay there, the rest had been left up to them.

After a fruitful afternoon, Rafe went back up to his office later that evening and waited for his team to assemble. Two were sent off immediately to complete their task, whilst the other three waited for the call to commence. It came just after the moon had risen.

Together, they each disappeared and reappeared in a warehouse in Ivy Harbour. Looking around, Rafe saw two men asleep on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Reece stood next to them, waiting.

“They’re all asleep,” he told Rafe. “They should be down until morning.”

“Good,” Rafe told him. “Show us then go join them.”

Reece nodded and made his way towards the back of the warehouse, weaving between boxes, furniture, spices, carpets, and all sorts. In a corner, shielded by tall wardrobes, they found several dozen knee-high earthen jars, sealed with large corks. Rafe nodded to Reece, sending him on his way, then ordered his team to take what they could. Rafe took a stack of four jars to meet the other two members of his team. The hole they were digging wasn’t quite ready, so he went off to collect more jars. It took his team about a half mark to collect all the jars. By the time they were done, the hole was ready.

Together, they placed all the jars at the bottom of the hole and then filled it in. Once the job was done, they made their way back to the castle and settled in for the night.

Rafe made his way to his room, changed, and lay down in his bed. He tried to sleep, but it was elusive. After several marks of lying awake, he made his way to the place he knew sleep would come easily. He landed lightly and slid down the wall to the floor. He rested his head back and fell asleep within moments. When he woke, a blanket covered him.

He went about his day, training with Auraya in the morning, training with Ridley after that, reading reports, and receiving updates from his kin. When the sun had reached its zenith, Reece informed him that Lord Dennison was none too pleased that his drugs had been stolen whilst his staff had been sleeping on the job. It had been obvious that they had been drugged, and the Lord was dying to find out who had done it. As far as Reece knew, the Lord suspected it was someone external to his organisation but had not ruled out the possibility that they had had inside help. So far, no-one had been caught up in the Lord’s wrath. He told Rafe that the next shipment had been brought forward to the next half turn.

Rafe hoped that the Davers mess had settled down by that time, but regardless, Dennison would be dealt with.