Nature Abhors a Vacuum

  Chapter Two

  “Who’s your friend?” Nellise asked, looking at Pacian who was still staring at her.

  “Pacian Savidge, an old mate of mine,” Aiden answered while Pacian tried not to choke on his food.

  “You look to be about the same age,” Nellise observed. “Did you grow up together?”

  “Yep,” Pacian answered once his mouth was clear. “Someone had to keep an eye on Aiden, ‘cause he's one shifty character, always getting into trouble and whatnot.” He aimed one of his charming smiles straight at her, the kind he used on local girls to devastating effect.

  “I have the distinct impression you are describing yourself there, sir,” Nellise chided, evidently aware of Pacian's intentions. Aiden grinned at her shrewd observation, judging it to be right on the mark. Pacian merely laughed, not ashamed at being caught out at his little game.

  “So I presume you want to leave town too?” Aiden interjected before they strayed too far off topic.

  “I’m sure everyone here wishes to leave, for different reasons,” Nellise pointed out as she folded her hands on the table before her. “My concern is for our supplies. I've asked around and it seems the entire town is running low. Bracksford relies on traders bringing in goods and buying produce from the local farming community. This lockdown is strangling the town.”

  “Perhaps we should have another talk with the mayor?” Aiden mused. “It seems like madness to keep the place shut for so long.”

  Nellise nodded. “He is most definitely agitated about something and refused to listen to reason. I don't have as much influence in this town as I'd like.”

  Aiden raised an eyebrow as he picked up on something. “Are you someone who would normally have influence?”

  “In my home town of Culdeny, I help run the local church. I'm an acolyte with the Resolute Heralds chapter of the Church of Aielund.” Nellise explained.

  “Oh, I see,” Aiden replied, slightly crestfallen, though not nearly as much as Pacian. He was fairly certain that priests took a vow of chastity, or something similar. It put an end to certain plans that may or may not have been forming in the back of Aiden's teenage mind.

  “Well, I can't wait around in town forever, hoping that the mayor has a moment of sanity. I’ll stop by and have a few words with him and see if I can’t convince him to let me through.”

  “The word on the street is that there are bandits preventing travel to the north,” Nellise reminded him. “Even if we can arrange passage through the gate, we could well be facing armed and dangerous men.”

  “We’re pretty sneaky,” Pacian said with a wink at the lovely woman. “I’m sure we can find a way around them.”

  “And then what?” Nellise pressed. “If the roads are still dangerous for merchants the town is no better off.”

  “I hope you’re not suggesting that we fight them?” Aiden asked incredulously. “That’s for the town guards to deal with.”

  “Not that we can’t handle ourselves, mind you,” Pacian added with a dash of bravado.

  “Well that’s good to know, but have you noticed an abundance of guards in town of late?” Nellise inquired pointedly. “Most of them were recruited by the King when his army swept through town recently. I doubt those who remain are up to the challenge, which is why we’re stuck here. But, I have an idea.”

  She turned and caught the attention of Colt, who still sat at the bar nearby. He glared at her curiously for a moment before heaving his bulk off the stool.

  “What?” he asked rudely. Aiden knew where this was headed and groaned pre-emptively.

  “Won’t you join us, Colt?” Nellise offered, gesturing to an empty chair. “I might have some work for you.” The big man seemed to consider this for a moment before accepting the invitation.

  “What’s the job?” he grunted, ignoring Aiden and Pacian completely.

  “If I’m not mistaken, you are wearing the attire of a Royal Ranger,” Nellise remarked. “These two young gentlemen and I wish to travel north and require an escort.”

  “I should point out that we don’t have money to pay you,” Aiden interrupted before things got out of hand, words which Colt seemed to take issue with.

  “I’m not a bloody mercenary,” he growled. “I work for the King so keep your coins to yourself.”

  “If you’re a soldier, why aren’t you with the King’s army with the rest of them?” Pacian asked with a sly expression.

  “None of your business,” Colt answered with a spiteful glare. “It’s a moot point anyway, as that damn fool Olaf won’t let anyone in or out of town.”

  “We’re going to see him about that,” Aiden warned, determined to find a way out.

  “I went and spoke to him a few days ago myself. Told him I'd throttle the pompous bastard if he didn't let me out of here.”

  “The fact that you are still here leads me to think that you weren't altogether successful,” Aiden observed dryly. Colt looked a little ashamed as he reluctantly nodded.

  “He called the guards on me. Took a knock to the head from one of their billy-clubs and woke up in the local barracks.”

  “Oh Colt,” Nellise admonished, shaking her head. “Force isn't going to work here. Olaf requires a delicate touch.”

  “I propose we all go over there and calmly explain the situation to him, and how critical it is that the gates be opened once more,” Aiden suggested. “We won’t threaten him” - Colt gave him a sour look but remained silent - “but we're not going to leave until we get what we need.” Tom ambled over from the bar with a plate of food, placing it on the table.

  “Cheers mate,” Colt rumbled. “Look, getting out of town is one thing, but fighting a bunch of bandits is another. I mean, look at you - a couple of unbearded lads and a lady of the cloth. Have you even been in a fight before? Have you killed a man?” Aiden and Nellise exchanged an uncertain look, but Pacian didn’t hesitate.

  “Yep, more than one,” he boasted with quiet confidence.

  “Sure you have, killer,” Colt growled, “and underneath this rugged exterior I’m actually a petite redhead.”

  “I -”

  “Save it, I’m not impressed,” Colt interrupted. “I’ve fought bandits in the King’s forests for five years and it’s nothin’ to joke about. Maybe you’re tellin’ the truth and maybe you ain’t, but your mate and Nellise are as green as they come. Don’t get me wrong, I hear you when you say the town’s in strife, but even with my help we’d be hard pressed to clear them out. So no, I’m not going along because that’d just encourage you.”

  “A potentially dangerous confrontation wouldn’t be my first choice,” Nellise answered delicately, “but somebody has to make it through to Culdeny and it seems to me we’re it. So I’m going to try, which is more than I can say for you, sir.”

  “Ouch,” Pacian chuckled as Colt’s expression darkened.

  “So you lot are lookin’ to break the blockade?” Tom interjected. “I used to do caravan escort work back in the day, but I’m too old for that sort of thing now. I’m glad someone’s thinking about steppin’ up, but I don't think it’s any place for a lady or a couple of lads to go without someone of more experience helpin’ out, Colt. You’d be doing the town a big favour if you went along, mate.”

  “What, so I'm a babysitter now?”

  “I'll clear your tab if you go,” Tom offered bluntly. Colt blinked in surprise and appeared to be giving the offer some serious thought. When he abruptly left the table Aiden thought he had rudely refused the offer, but then Colt reached down and purposefully picked up a large sword and a longbow wrapped in oilcloth from a dark corner next to the bar.

  “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Tom chuckled.

  “Let’s go,” Colt grunted, heading for the door without waiting to see if they’d follow. Aiden gave the innkeeper a grateful nod as he passed by, with Pacian and Nellise joining him as he hurried to catch up.

  “Not a mercenary, huh?” Pacian pointedly asked of Aiden
as they headed outside.

  A short walk through the muddy streets brought the small group to the mayor's office, which appeared to be a converted two-storey house. After stepping through the doorway, Aiden was impressed by the lavish furnishings within, including an elaborate candelabrum perched on a small polished table. On the wall above a comfortable looking sofa hung a painting of a strange desert landscape, and colourful woven carpets covered the floor.

  Across the foyer, a pretty young lady with narrow lips and large brown eyes sat behind an oak desk, busily sorting through a pile of papers before her. Although it was unlikely she missed the entrance of the four people, she nevertheless remained focused on the task before her.

  “Pardon me, but we'd like to see the mayor, if he's available,” Nellise asked politely, moving to stand before the desk.

  “The mayor has only just risen for the day and isn't ready to see visitors yet,” she informed them curtly. Although young, she had great potential to become the irritating, obstructionist secretary to which such people aspire. Her parents must have been very proud.

  “We can wait,” Nellise conceded, turning to the others with a shrug and indicating they should make themselves comfortable. Pacian, appearing bored, exchanged a look of exaggerated suffering with Aiden before he walked past the secretary and into the room beyond.

  “Excuse me, you can't go in there,” the young lady protested. Colt laughed softly and shrugged to the young lady as he followed Pacian. Seeing his attempt to coerce the mayor with subtlety slip away, Aiden groaned inwardly and followed them, with Nellise right behind him.

  Stepping into the dining room, Aiden saw his friend standing before a middle-aged man of means, wearing expensive clothing and sporting a carefully groomed grey moustache. He sat at a fine table near a blazing fireplace holding a spoon in one hand, with a bowl of untouched soup before him. His gaunt appearance told Aiden that he hadn't been eating properly for some time now.

  “Are you the mayor?” Pacian asked shortly.

  “I am indeed,” he replied gruffly, startled at their appearance. “Who in blazes are you?” The old man was clearly upset about the interruption to the breakfast he wasn't eating.

  “I tried to stop them, sir,” the lady called from the other room.

  “Yes, thank you Miss Spencer, top job there,” the mayor replied sarcastically.

  “Look, my friend and I are travellers who happen to be stuck in this damp little town of yours, and we want to leave,” Pacian continued. “I don’t think anyone else living here is enjoying it too much either.” Despite his initial shock at the abrupt introduction, the mayor quickly recovered.

  “I thought I said I never wanted to see you in here again, Mister Colt,” he added, noticing the burly man looming in the background.

  “Relax Olaf, I'm not here to threaten you,” Colt grunted. “These three have something important to tell you.”

  “Three? Oh yes, Nellise and some... friends,” Olaf remarked. “Is this impertinent rapscallion an acquaintance of yours?”

  “I only just met these two, Your Honour,” Nellise protested, raising an eyebrow at Pacian.

  “I see. So, you want me to throw open the gates - I’m sorry, but it’s out of the question,” the elderly man muttered impatiently in the manner of one who was used to being obeyed. “The town is sealed for our protection. I assure you, I am not insensitive to the plight of the townsfolk, but it is simply far too dangerous to allow anyone to travel outside the walls at this time. Thank you.” The last was delivered with a note of finality.

  “If we can't leave today this town is going to go hungry,” Aiden pointed out. “Hungry people do desperate things, and I don't think we're the only ones either.”

  “Honestly, this could not have come at a worse time,” the mayor muttered. “I have something of a personal crisis going on which has me rather distracted.”

  “I see,” Aiden remarked, not really seeing anything. “Well, we're just seeking permission to leave via the northern gate to Culdeny so -”

  “The north road? Good heavens no,” the mayor interrupted, standing up quickly. His clothing, while rich and fine, hung from his shoulders, giving the impression the man had lost a lot of weight. “There are bandits to the north sir, and word has reached me here that savage tribesmen are gathering to the east. With our local garrison depleted, I dare not allow anyone to travel outside the gates until we have received reinforcements.”

  “Olaf, why didn't you mention things were this dire before?” she quietly asked.

  “To be blunt, my dear Nellise, this was none of your concern,” Olaf explained. “When His Majesty swept through here months ago, I protested at the quantity of soldiers he requested, but my words fell on deaf ears. I’ve had to cut back on patrolling the highway, and the result was predictable – lawlessness and brigandry.”

  “Why did he take all the guards with him?” Pacian asked.

  “There’s a war on, or have you had your head in the dirt for the past two months?” Colt grunted. “Olaf, have you tried sending someone to Fort Highmarch?”

  “I have sent several messengers, and two of the remaining town guards over the past ten days. Upon their return they informed me that the fort is shuttered to all traffic and did not permit them entry.” Olaf paused and looked around at his guests. “Perhaps now you understand our predicament a little better?”

  “You said that you refused to people wander about because of the danger,” Pacian observed, “but that’s our choice to make. If something happens to us, you’re not responsible.”

  “Simple clothes, sparse equipment,” Olaf mumbled as he inspected each of them. “You hardly seem capable of dealing with any of the threats to this town, and I wouldn't wish to endanger your lives.”

  “It’s come to the point that we're being endangered just sitting around town, slowly starving to death,” Aiden retorted. “Culdeny is nearly three days’ travel from here, so the sooner we leave, the sooner supplies and reinforcements can make their way here.” Olaf seemed to consider this, and then his expression took on a more considered look.

  “I have my doubts as to your intentions, so I'll tell you what,” he offered. “I'll give you a little task and if you can get it done, you'll have convinced me of your resourcefulness and genuine desire to help the town.”

  “You’re paying us, right?” Pacian hinted with a distinct lack of subtlety.

  “Of course.”

  “I suppose that's fair,” Aiden hedged, disliking the direction of this conversation but having little choice but to carry on. “What's the task?”

  “A former associate of mine is seeking to discredit my name and oust me from my position as mayor,” he explained. “She wants five gold sovereigns to keep her silent.” Aiden's eyes inadvertently widened in surprise – it was a small fortune by anyone's measure.

  “I've tried reasoning with this individual but she simply won't co-operate. I'm not one to employ 'strong-arm' tactics myself, but if you were to... persuade her to see reason and return the documents she is attempting to blackmail me with, you will have proven your worth.”

  “Do you expect trouble from this person?” Nellise inquired. “I doubt she will simply hand over something quite so valuable simply because we ask her to.”

  “I can be very persuasive,” Pacian offered, smiling coldly.

  “Violence shouldn’t be necessary,” Olaf replied, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand. “By all means, talk with her but do not underestimate her. If she still refuses, feel free to use whatever means you deem necessary to change her mind.”

  “This sounds like the sort of work your guards should be undertaking,” Nellise pointed out.

  “This is a personal issue, Nellise, and I’d rather not bring them into it if it can be avoided. I’m paying extra for your discretion in this matter.”

  “A discrete inquiry it is, then,” Aiden agreed, simply wanting the conversation over and done with. “Who is this person
and where can we find her?”

  “Her name is Merin, and she resides in a small house on the eastern edge of town, right next to the smithy,” Olaf explained. “Just follow the main street down towards the gate, and you’ll see it just off to the right.”

  “Okay, we'll do what we can,” Aiden agreed. Without another word, the small group donned their longcoats as they headed out the door. Aiden was the last to leave, avoiding eye contact with the secretary as he went past and closed the door behind him. A few people moved along the street in the dim morning light, similarly garbed in longcoats or the more old-fashioned hooded cloaks, going about their lives as best they could.

  “So, instead of being allowed to leave, we're doing his dirty work now?” Pacian observed wryly.

  “Who the hell asked you?” Colt growled.

  “He makes a valid point,” Aiden retorted. “Just the fact he didn’t want to bring the local guards in on this suggests he’s hiding something.”

  “It’s more than I’ve been able to get out of him all week,” Nellise remarked.

  “Let's just be cautious, shall we? Pace, do you have your knife?”

  “Always,” he replied, reaching inside his longcoat to rest his hand upon the kitchen utensil turned weapon.

  “Nellise and I will try to reason with her first. If that doesn’t work, just grab her and search the place.”

  A short walk down the main street in the ankle-deep water brought them to a sturdy cottage next door to the town smithy, where a solid-looking oaken door with metal bracing around the edge practically screamed 'go away'. With a strong desire to get this over and done with, Aiden knocked and waited for a response.

  “Who is it?” came the muffled voice of a woman from the other side of the door.

  “Merin? Good morning. My name is Aiden and I need to speak with you.”

  “I'm not interested in anything you have to say,” she replied after a moment's hesitation. Aiden glanced at Nellise, who shrugged in silent reply.

  “It really is quite urgent that I speak with you, ma’am,” Aiden tried again, this time more forcefully. “I must insist that you open this door immediately.”

  “Let me think about it for a moment,” Merin replied, pausing for only a fraction of a second before she added, “No, I don’t think I’m going to do that. Go away.” Aiden was on the verge of yelling at her, but Pacian put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, gesturing to himself with his other hand.

  “Very well,” Aiden said, forcing a note of defeat into his voice. “Perhaps I can meet with you later in the day, as I have other business to attend to. Good day.” He motioned for Nellise and Colt to follow him, as he walked away from the door and stood nearby to watch what came next.

  “What was the point of that?” Colt inquired.

  “We have other methods at our disposal,” he answered, nodding to where Pacian was attempting to pick the lock. Colt grunted in understanding and huddled into his cloak for warmth while Pacian carefully went about his work. Aiden glanced around casually to make sure he wasn't drawing too much attention, but he needn't have worried – the townsfolk were too mired in their daily lives to bother with one man appearing to have trouble opening a door.

  A few moments later, Pace turned the handle on the door and opened it a crack, peeking through the narrow space and signalling the rest of them to come closer. Checking to make sure everyone was ready, Aiden nodded to Pacian, who opened the door carefully and stepped inside.

  Despite being only a modestly sized cottage, it was comfortably furnished. It was warm and dry, and the aroma of freshly cooked food hung in the air. The small entryway featured a curiously short hat stand next to a very small and highly polished round table. The height of it was ridiculous - one would have to crouch to make proper use of it.

  Several pieces of art were hanging on the walls leading to the rest of the cottage, but they were all hanging below chest height. Finding this whole house very strange, he led the others into the dining room, complete with what appeared to be a child's dining table and chair. A small girl in an elegant dress sitting at the table looked up at them in surprise, and then smiled in a very devious way.

  “Breaking into my house, hmm?” she observed coldly. It was the same voice which had spoken through the door. “That’s very bold of you. I'm actually surprised you made it past my door - I should probably have invested in a better lock.”

  What Aiden had thought was a small girl was, in fact, a very small woman and it suddenly dawned on him that she was from the Rael Islands. Commonly referred to as the raelani, they were a diminutive people who were in many respects the same as humans but roughly half the size.

  “You are Merin, yes?” Nellise inquired. “We have come from the mayor's office to talk.”

  “Is that why you were so insistent?” she inquired rhetorically, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, Olaf was bound to send someone over sooner or later. Four tallfolk seems to be overkill for one little raelani woman, though. Did he tell you to 'toss me about' or ‘rough me up’, as is custom in these situations?”

  “Not at all,” Nellise assured her, maintaining her calm demeanour. “We have simply been instructed to have a chat with you. Tell me, why are you blackmailing the mayor?”

  “Because it's good money, my dear,” Merin grinned with a measure of condescension. “The man’s not exactly a saint, either. I can't tell you what it's been like for me having to live in a boring little pile of dirt like Bracksford for the past year. No, I’m moving on and Olaf's indiscretions are going to pay my way. Don’t be too concerned for him - he knew what he was getting in to when all this started.”

  “We have made an arrangement with him,” Aiden said, curious at what her words alluded to. “You have some documents of importance - I request you to hand them over, immediately.”

  “Hand them over?” she balked. “Unless Olaf had the sense to conscript or deputise you, you don’t have any authority, sweetie,” she winked. Aiden was suddenly shoved aside by Colt, who towered over the diminutive woman.

  “Hey, pint-size,” he snarled impatiently, “if you don't hand over the stuff, I'll smash your annoying little face in. If you’re innocent, you’ll just call for the guards, right? I’m sure they’d be interested in doing a quick search while they’re here.” Merin's smile vanished instantly, and her eyes widened.

  “Okay, look, I don't want any trouble,” she replied with a tremble to her voice. “I can see you're clearly not as stupid as your friend there, even if you do smell a lot worse.” Colt clenched his gloved fist and seemed ready to do as he promised, but Merin quickly changed her attitude. “Just take the documents and go, please. They're in the drawers behind you, just... don't hurt me.”

  “That's more like it,” Colt growled, nodding to Pacian who immediately walked to the drawers. Aiden frowned, looking down at Merin cautiously. Certainly, Colt was an intimidating presence to the tiny woman, but she seemed to give in a little too easily after her earlier defiance.

  Pacian reached out and attempted to open the top drawer, but found that it was locked. At this moment, Merin called out ‘Now!’, and Aiden noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, turning to see another raelani - this one male – suddenly appear from behind a cupboard on the opposite side of the room and throw a small dagger in the direction of Colt’s head. Reacting instinctively, Aiden lunged forward and pushed the big man out of the way, sending Colt sprawling on the floor.

  Merin glared at Aiden, now standing right in front of her, and began weaving her fingers in an intricate pattern, whispering words in a strange language. Before he could figure out what was going on, a stroke of electrical energy crackled from her fingertips and hit Aiden’s left arm, sending him reeling backwards as he clasped his burned limb.

  Aiden’s backpedalling crashed him into a surprised Nellise, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Colt regained his footing and drew his massive sword, taking a swing
at Merin's tiny frame, forcing her to duck underneath the clumsy attack as she pulled a dagger out of a small scabbard attached to her right boot. All signs of her earlier levity had vanished, and the raelani woman now moved with practiced speed and skill.

  “Pace, over there!” Aiden slurred, silently wishing he had a weapon. Pacian snapped his gaze around to Merin’s accomplice and charged. The little man threw another dagger but Pacian, expecting the throw, dodged left and the small blade only gashed his shoulder instead of catching him in the chest.

  Pacian leaned forward as he ran and would have slammed into the raelani with his other shoulder had his target not rolled out of the way. He whirled around and recovered in time to square off against his opponent while Colt engaged in a game of hit and miss with Merin.

  Pacian had always been nimble and light on his feet, but the smaller raelani was quicker still and managed to gash Pace’s arm when he didn't move fast enough. Seeing his friend in desperate need of help, Aiden quickly looked around for something that he could use as a weapon.

  Seeing nothing but miniature cutlery, he reached out for a small ceramic bowl and flung it at the back of the little man’s head. The bowl struck true, shattering and dazing the raelani for a brief moment, giving Pacian just enough time to step in and finish him with one quick stab.

  Colt was having far less luck against Merin. His greatsword may have been a fearsome weapon on the battlefield, but in a small house attacking an even smaller woman, it was next to useless. Merin landed a series of quick slashes on the big man’s leg with her tiny dagger before dashing between his legs and making for the exit.

  Her escape came to an abrupt end as Pacian's knife thudded into her back. She gazed at Aiden with empty eyes as spreading blood stained the front of her dress, and then slumped to the floor, dead. The silence was broken only by the heavy breathing of those still alive as the realisation of what had just occurred sank in.

  Pacian reached over and removed his bloody knife from Merin’s back, absently wiping it on his tunic. A stunned Nellise had one hand over her mouth, clearly appalled by what had just taken place before her very eyes.

  “What have we done?” she whispered.

  “We defended ourselves against a pair of crooks intending to do bodily harm,” Pacian shrugged, unconcerned. “Better them than us.”

  “We weren’t supposed to kill them,” Aiden exclaimed in a hushed voice. Colt went to the window and peered out through the curtains.

  “I don’t think anyone heard the fight,” he muttered. “We can keep this quiet.”

  “Keep it quiet?” Nellise repeated incredulously. “We are complicit in the deaths of two people.”

  “They started it,” Pacian pointed out. “We just happened to end it.” He sifted through the bloody remains for anything of value, his expression devoid of feeling. Aiden looked over Merin's prone form, lamenting that this was not the first dead person he had ever seen.

  “We must have had them backed into a corner,” Aiden surmised. “Innocent people don’t attack superior numbers who also happen to be twice their size.” He hissed in pain as he tried to move his arm.

  “Are you alright?” Nellise asked.

  “I'm alive,” he replied, wincing at the burns on his arm. “I wasn't expecting her to shoot lightning exactly, but I’ll live. You’d think Olaf would have mentioned she could use magic.”

  “I’ve heard it’s pretty common amongst raelani,” Colt grunted, “but I didn’t get a chance to mention that before she tried to kill us.”

  “Hold still for a few minutes,” Nellise instructed absently, fidgeting her shaking hands around in a small leather pouch until she produced a crystal. “Just clear your mind and I'll take care of that arm.”

  “I don't know who her friend was,” Pacian observed, gesturing down at the late Merin’s mysterious friend, “but he wasn't short on coin. His clothing isn't anything special and there was nothing else of interest on him. Maybe he was her 'special friend'?”

  “Could be,” Aiden muttered. “I guess we'll never know. Perhaps we should find out exactly what they were willing to die for.”

  “Stop squirming,” Nellise chided him, continuing to work on his arm.

  “Sorry. Pace, see if you can get that drawer open. I want to have a look at those documents she was bribing the mayor with.”

  “Sure,” Pacian agreed, then noticed Aiden's diminishing wound. “Hey, your arm is looking better. What is she doing?”

  “Channelling divine energy to heal him,” Nellise whispered, sounding more relaxed. Aiden looked at her with growing respect, for of all the members of the Church of Aielund, only a few were gifted with healing talents such as this.

  “Merin may have been a crook, but she didn’t strike me as being stupid,” Colt mused, his voice still sounding dry from his hangover. “If her friend had managed to put that blade in my head it would have just left your friend with the knife to do all the fighting. The more I think about it, the more I realise that if you hadn't reacted so quickly, we'd have been in some serious trouble. Thanks for that, by the way,” he added. “I prefer my skull intact.”

  “Yeah, who wouldn’t,” Aiden muttered, feeling mostly recovered from his injury. Looking down at his arm, he was amazed to see it was completely healed. “That's incredible,” he remarked as he looked back up at Nellise. For the first time, in decent light, Aiden could see her eyes were actually gold in colour.

  “You're welcome,” she said with a strained smile. “Pacian, when you're done over there I shall tend to your injuries.”

  “What should we do about the bodies? We can't just leave them here,” Aiden said, grimacing at the sight of the blood pooling on the floor beneath their prone forms. He noticed Nellise avoided looking directly at them.

  “We'll let the mayor know what happened and let him take care of it,” Colt replied gruffly. “It's his mess we're trying to clean up here.”

  “This whole business is wrong,” Aiden breathed, hiding his discomfort. Pacian suddenly made a triumphant sound as he pulled open the drawer, attracting everyone's attention. A few moments of rifling around produced a series of papers, which he handed to Aiden. He flipped through the papers, scanning them for any mention of financial transactions on a large scale.

  “You see anything weird?” Colt asked of Aiden impatiently.

  “Trading details, some notes about people to contact, nothing unusual.” He trailed off as he found something of relevance. “Merin's name is in here, and so is Olaf's. It looks like he was partnered in a deal with her and a few other people. She’s listed as an ‘expeditor’, whatever that is. Wait… there's a signed paper here from the mayor to Merin, to have her hire some local thugs up in Culdeny to put pressure on local businesses to accept bad deals.” The others looked incredulously at Aiden as he continued reading.

  “Most of these transactions are to or from a business called the North Shore Trading Company, based in Culdeny. I'm no expert on trade, but it seems from some of these numbers that they were forcing people to sell to them cheaper than normal, and then reselling at greatly inflated prices. Unbelievable.”

  “Interesting,” Pacian wondered, narrowing his eyes at Merin's bloodied corpse. “Does it say what happened to make her want to blackmail Olaf?”

  “No, but I think we can safely assume that the partnership dissolved in a less than friendly fashion. The dates on these notes start out over a year ago, and finish just last month. Whatever happened to them occurred only recently.”

  “No wonder Olaf has been under so much stress,” Nellise remarked. “His whole operation was going to be exposed and the town has been suffering as a result.”

  “He must have known we'd end up looking at these documents,” Aiden muttered to himself. “He's clearly broken several laws, and even if he doesn't know Pacian and myself, you two are members of organisations loyal to the crown, so you'd be obligated to hand this in to the local guards or something, right?”

  “I'
m not exactly popular with the Royal Rangers at the moment, kid,” Colt admitted ruefully. “In fact I’m sort of on a leave of absence - don’t ask me why, and Nellise is little more than an acolyte. Maybe he sent us here to get killed, giving him an excuse to have Merin imprisoned?” Although Colt was clearly joking as he said this, the thought of it was enough to steal the humour from his words. A long moment of silence ensued as the possibilities ran through their minds. Pacian broke the spell.

  “I think it's time we had a personal chat with our friend the mayor.”