table of contents – (spoilers)
That night was not restful for anyone in the barracks. A number of the men had nightmares, shouting and crying out in their sleep. The angry reactions to this disturbed the others’ sleep even further. It was a long night.
Peep had been sleeping in the armory room since they had come back to Bristlehump and was able to ignore all but the worst of the racket. Knuckle and Pinch were bunking in the barracks with the men, however, so they suffered along with them. Both of them were bleary and scowling while Choke gave them the morning’s orders. He and Peep were going to go to the church to report to Brother Barrelmender. After breakfast, the men were to continue on the work outside the palisade under Knuckle’s supervision. Pinch would stay in charge of the watch on the north gate. If Peep and Choke had not returned by the time Aoelric and Hargarl came to the base, Pinch was to send a man to the church to let them know. They would then come back to take the guests to Barrelmender along with Knuckle.
With everything set, Choke and Peep grabbed some bread and cured meat to gobble down as they walked to the church. They were expecting to have to wake Barrelmender up, but were surprised to find him in the church preaching to about a dozen worshipers.
With a sermon in progress, Choke and Peep took a knee and traced the Wheel over their hearts before taking seats in the pews. Barrelmender nodded to them as they did, and continued with his sermon. While the performance lacked somewhat in energy, it did have proper form and was being delivered in a steady and pleasing voice. It seemed that it was being well received. As to the flock, they were a good representation of the community at large: about an even mix of men and women of various ages.
It took only ten minutes for Barrelmender to finish up. He blessed all there with his Holy Book in hand before making an announcement:
“Thank you for coming. Those of you who wish to take confession, please wait until I have finished with my apparitor, Lieutenant Pekot, and Otilla of the Holy Fire. I am sure they are here with purpose. Of course, you all may stay here and pray for as long as you wish. Stron bless you.”
The flock bobbed their heads as they murmured thanks and prayers.
Barrelmender looked to Peep and Choke:
“Shall we converse in the kitchen, then?”
Peep and Choke followed him there through the back of the church.
“It’s early. I take it you have a good reason for coming here at this hour?” Barrelmender asked as they took their seats at the table.
“Yeah, it is early. And it aint Sunday is it?” Peep asked, jerking her head quizzically back towards the main church.
“It is not. Sunday Mass is tomorrow. But those ones came here early, seeking solace. Some of them in the middle of the night. So I thought I should do what I could for them. Some have been asking for confession and repentance, so that is going to be an ordeal to get through. Cousin buggery and all the other diddlings that pass for sins with wretches such as these. They’ve been having dreams, apparently. Goblins and hellfire and other such things. Some of them are quite imaginative. One saw devils making a road of our bones for the legions of Hell to march into the world upon. Is this why you are here? Have you been receiving visions as well?” Barrelmender asked Peep earnestly.
“No. But some of the men were yelling a bunch last night. So it seems to be going around. I guess it’s good that these ones are coming here to see you about it, Brother,” Peep said, giving him a thumbs up.
“Is it? I suppose.”
“Have you been having any dreams, Brother?” Choke asked.
“I’ve been having fits of them. Since I quit drinking, my nights are racked with a parade of horrors. Are they portents of doom, or just my normal passengers now free to play? I don’t know. Either way, there’s nothing to be done about it. If only I could draw the same comfort as those sheep out there from children’s stories and Holy Book puppetry.”
Peep gave an amused snort.
“Well, I am sure you have given them much comfort, Brother,” Choke said. “We are all grateful for it. But we are here on another matter, actually. I don’t suppose you heard about the two riders who arrived yesterday from Spitzer with the returning lumber wagons?”
“I don’t know. What of them?”
“Well, we had dinner with them last evening, at Royce’s. It turns out they are sent from Marrovique. Employed by something called a law firm. Possibly on behalf of a mystery client. They were teleported from Marrovique to the mage tower in Strana. They have been sent to collect information on the situation up here. They seemed particularly interested in Otilla, I might add,” Choke said.
Barrelmender blinked at Choke, who nodded as he finished speaking. Barrelmender stared into space for a long moment, his features inscrutable. Just when Choke and Peep had thought he might have lapsed into some sort of episode, he inhaled sharply and leaned forward energetically.
“From Marrovique. They told you all this?”
“Yes,” Choke said.
“And more,” Peep added. “Although, they didn’t. The one guy did. A real chatterboy. Aoelric’s his name. Bastard son of a Bitanian lord, he says, although he won’t tell which. The other one was… something else.”
“So, they have basically admitted to being Alquinian spies. As far as these sorts of things are viewed by our sort, I mean. That is a curious approach. Tell me all you can about them both,” Barrelmender said.
“We can, Brother,” Choke said. “But we should keep it brief for the time being. The talker, Aoelric, wants to speak with you today. We arranged to meet him at the barracks after breakfast to bring him to you. When he arrives there, Sergeant Nikolas will send a man to alert us. So we don’t have all the time in the world.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to keep the spies waiting, would we,” Barrelmender said dryly. “Well, then, I suppose we should use our time effectively. Help me put on my armor while you tell me that which you think I must know.”
Choke and Brother Barrelmender went through to his private room where his plate armor was now on a rack in the corner. Barrelmender disrobed and helped Choke help him put on the armor. While they worked, Choke told him about their dinner with the men from Marrovique. Peep stayed in the kitchen and listened through the open door.
When Barrelmender was nearly armored, Mariola arrived through the back door and began preparing his breakfast.
“Is that you, Mariola?” Barrelmender called out. “Yes, good! This morning, please make a large pot of stugroot. We are expecting guests. Thank you!”
Mariola did not look up from the stove when Barrelmender and Choke came back into the kitchen. Choke did his best to ignore her as they took their seats.
“So, that’s about it, Brother,” Peep said. “Choke covered it pretty good. But at the end of it, there, after I showed the Hargarl guy the brands, and he felt the fire, he looked up at something and said, ‘she’s real.’”
Peep then went on the describe the strange distortion that she had spotted hovering above them, as well as the malevolent presence she had sensed behind it.
“A scrying sensor. That must be what you saw. Clever of you to spot it. They are not easy to see,” Barrelmender said, sighing as he pinched his temples with his thumb and middle finger and a pained expression.
“Sorry, Brother. What?” Peep asked.
“Scrying. It is remote viewing by spellcaster. You’ve heard the stories of wizards and the like using crystal balls and mirrors to spy on people from afar, yes? Well, that is precisely what they do. Not just mages, though. Clerics can cast the spell as well. When the spell is cast, their mind’s eye is projected anywhere in the world and they can see through an energetic sensor. These can be moved around at the spellcaster’s will, like a hummingbird.”
“So… what? They can just see whatever they want?” Peep asked, obviously disturbed.
“Well, it’s complicated. The short answer is: maybe. If a subject, or a location, is well known to them, the sensor will probably find them automatically. Then they may follow them around with it for the duration of the spell. However, if they do not personally know the subject, it is very unlikely to work. What I expect happened last night is that the spellcaster followed these agents to the dinner in order to observe you. This Hargarl was tasked with checking if the Holy Fire within you is real. He was obviously aware of the surveillance and gave his report directly.”
“Well, shit. I don’t like that. Who could it be?” asked Peep.
“A spellcaster of some power, at the least. Beyond that, there is no way for us to know.”
“So these wizards can just do this whenever they want? Cast the spell and shoot their eye out to creep on everyone? Wherever? That’s… that aint fuckin right!” Peep spat, now growing incensed.
“I understand your feeling. But, it is not entirely like that. There are limitations. For one, there are spells and wards for counter scrying. In fact, the hallowed ground of a church, as we are in, protects against scrying, among other things. As well, spellcasters being scried upon can counter-scry, to learn the identity of the spellcaster attempting to spy on them. Among spellcasters, scrying is considered an aggressive action and will likely provoke hostilities. But, these exceptions aside: yes spellcasters can, and do, violate the privacy of many for all manner of unpleasant motives.”
“Fuckers.”
“Indeed,” Barrelmender agreed.
Mariola took this chance to bring Barrelmender his bowl of morning gruel and mug of stugroot.
“Peep, and Bartholomew, d’ye want anything yarselves?” she asked.
“I’d take a little bite and a mug of stug. Sure,” Peep said.
“Yes, please,” Choke said, meeting Mariola’s eye briefly before looking quickly away as his pulse jumped.
Peep noticed his reaction and smirked, but let it pass. Barrelmender was staring into space as he errantly prodded at his gruel with his spoon.
“So, Brother. What are we gonna do about these guys?” Peep asked. “I gotta say, I’ve been around some hard cases before, and they both seem like they could handle the likes of us without much trouble. At least they expect they could. Hargarl’s got this way about him. He don’t look like much at first, but when ye look into his eyes, it’s like he’s some kinda demon, or something. He’s wild. And Aoelric said he can’t control him. So who knows what that means.”
Barrelmender took a big spoonful of gruel and took his time chewing. Once he had washed it down with a sip of stugroot, he finally answered:
“I’m inclined to take this Aoelric’s words at face value. If they were sent to do evil, he easily could have lied. And given your situation, Otilla, and all that has been going on, it is not surprising that powerful people would be curious. The other thing to consider is that just because they were hired out of Marrovique, that does not mean that their employer’s client is from there. Marrovique is a huge metropolis with a powerful mage guild and an extremely developed underworld. If money is not an object, it is the place to hire this type of talent.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Peep.
“We speak with them. And we make our report. We are not in a position to challenge these men. Particularly when your instincts, Otilla, are screaming danger. If they are as they say they are, that is high-end operators out of Marrovique, then I think your instincts are precisely correct. We shall speak with them and see what they have to say.”
“Alright then. Here at the church?”
“Absolutely. I want them here under the Wheel. They may feel the weight of that, at least. As well, as I said earlier, the hallowed ground of the church makes scrying impossible. Here we can be sure we are not being spied upon.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” Peep said, brightening up.
“Indeed,” Barrelmender said.
They all sat and ate their gruel thoughtfully in silence. Mariola had moved on to the washing up, but the clatter did not seem to bother them. After some time, Peep spoke up:
“Ye know, this might be something. During dinner, ye called me Peep at one point, Choke. D’ye remember how Aoelric reacted? He really tweaked on it. It seemed like he was excited because he hadn’t heard my real name yet.”
“Okay…” Choke said, his tone uncertain.
“So… that means that with all the sniffing they musta done in Spitzer, they didn’t learn our real names. That means they never talked to anybody that was close to us. Right?”
“That would make sense,” Barrelmender said. “Where are you going with this?”
“I dunno. It’s just interesting, I guess. And good. I mean, if he never heard that my first name is Peep, then they can’t know that much about us, really. And he said he was up here to collect information on us and everything else that’s happening. But he never asked us shit about shit. He just spent the whole time letting Choke grill him on what he’s all about. He wanted us to know his whole story. He coulda lied about it and told us anything. And with whatever story he told us, say the hunter one he said he could use, he coulda asked us all about all the shit we’ve done. But no interest in that. It was just getting his story into our ears until Hargarl saw the brands. Then, it’s just fuckin done. That’s weird, right? Why did he want us to know all that?” Peep asked.
“This is a good point,” Barrelmender said. “Clearly, the confirmation of the Holy Fire within you was their main priority. Beyond that, we can only speculate.”
Just a few more minutes passed before they could hear a voice calling from the main church:
“Lieutenant! Lieutenant Pekot!”
Choke and Peep went through and found one of their men standing in the middle of the church amongst the worshipers.
“Lieutenant! Sergeant Nikolas said to tell you that the man is there and waiting,” the man said.
“Just man? There’s not two of them?” asked Choke.
“That’s right, sir.”
“Is it a hairy bushrat, or a fancy pants?” asked Peep.
“I guess the fancy pants, sir. He looks a real dandy!”
“That’s the one. Okay, then, we’ll come back with ye,” Peep said.
Choke nodded and turned to head back into the kitchen. “Brother—” he started.
“I heard,” Barrelmender interrupted as he came out of the kitchen door into the church, buckling on his weaponbelt with its longsword. “You go. Bring him here. I will wait.”
“Yes, Brother,” Choke said. He, Peep, and their man left for the main door.
Barrelmender clapped his hands at the assembled flock as though they were pupils in a kindergarten.
“Alright! We have need of the church for an important meeting. You must go on about your days. Leave here, I mean. You may return after lunch, and I will hear confessions then. Right! Off you go. Now!” Barrelmender advanced on the folk, waving them out the door. Even so, unlike most of his outbursts to that point when dealing with anyone troubling him in the slightest, his tone was not irate. It was clear, though, that he was to be obeyed immediately, and the pews cleared out quickly.
At the military courtyard, Aoelric was talking amiably with Pinch, while Knuckle loomed nearby. He gave Choke a friendly wave, and Peep a bow, as they approached.
“Good morning to you, Miss Otilla. Lieutenant Pekot.”
This morning, Aoelric was dressed for the road. He had on riding boots and breeches with a wool hunting jacket over a fine, green linen shirt. The rig with the compact crossbow was slung over his shoulder. The weaponbelt with the hunting sword now also had a compact quiver on his right hip.
“Good morning, Aoelric,” Choke said, shaking the hand that the handsome man presented as he closed. “Is it just you this morning?”
“I am afraid it is. My associate was eager to get on the road, so he left just before dawn.”
Choke frowned.
“He left? Town, ye mean?” Peep asked.
“Indeed, Miss.”
“And he just left ye here?”
“Yes. I will catch up at our next stop,” Aoelric smiled.
“Which is?” Peep pressed.
“To the north.” With this, Aoelric’s smile transitioned to smirk.
Choke sighed. “Well, then, I suppose you are eager to get after him. I’ll just ask you to give me a second to talk to my sergeants quickly before we go.”
“Of course! Take your time. I really am in no hurry at all,” Aoelric beamed at Choke.
Choke glared at him in return and gestured for Pinch and Knuckle to step away with him. They left Peep and Aoelric together and went over to the barracks’ door.
“Did Hargarl leave while we were at the church?” Choke asked.
“No. Just the normal workday traffic,” Pinch answered. “And I got the report from the men on the gates last night. They didn’t say anything about the bushman leaving.”
“It aint hard to sneak outta here. There’s that hole under the fence by the river,” Knuckle said.
“Yes. And a couple of others, too. So he left on foot?” Pinch said.
“If he has indeed left, then yes, he must have. Fuck,” Choke said, as he stared off into space.
“So, now what?” Knuckle asked.
“Now we take Aoelric to see Barrelmender is what. And we have to hope that Hargarl isn’t hatching some scheme out in the bush with accomplices,” Choke said.
“D’ye want me to check at the tavern if Hargarl is there?” Pinch asked.
Choke thought for a second before shaking his head. “No. Whether he is or not, it will not change what we’re doing, and it might provoke him. The men are all outside the wall working?”
“Yes. Dom’s got them,” Pinch answered.
“Okay. Pinch, I want you to get them back inside the wall. I want six men on each gate. Two men up the watchtower. Spread the others out through town in six-man patrols.”
“What are you thinking here?” Pinch asked.
“Hargarl is a creature of the woods. For all we know, by now there could be a hundred bandits out there with him. I don’t think that’s extremely likely, but better safe than sorry. And it’s about time we drilled this sort of alert anyway. No bells, though. Treat it as a drill. I don’t want the townsfolk panicking. They’re spooked enough already with these dreams.”
“Yeah, them and us both, man. I’ll get on it. Right now?” Pinch asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” Choke said, clapping him on the shoulder to send him off.
“And I’m going with ye to the church, right?” Knuckle said.
“That’s right. And I want you to stick close. Not so close as to be rude, but near enough that you can sort him out in an instant, if need be. If things kick off, I want you to put him down, Knuckle. Don’t kill him, though. Smash his arms and legs. Barrelmender should be able to heal those wounds. Or, at least, keep him alive from them. But if things go wrong, we need him alive. Right?” Choke asked, meeting Knuckle’s eye.
“Fuckin A right. I got it, man.”
“Good. But only if it kicks off. If he makes any sudden moves, you act, though.”
“Got it. Not a problem. I got ye, Choke.”
“Good. I know you do. There’s not another man in the world I’d have backing me up like this right now, Knuckle.”
“Thank ye, Choke. There’s no one else I’d rather be backing up. Or following. I got ye, man.”
“Good. Let’s go and see what’s what here,” Choke said as he clapped Knuckle on the shoulder.
Knuckle nodded and held his fist out close to his body between them. Choke gave it a solid bump before they moved back out into the courtyard to rejoin Peep and Aoelric.
The two were conversating in a friendly manner. Peep was standing in a relaxed posture just inside arm’s reach of Aoelric, with her hand on her shortsword, smiling up at him. He seemed to take no notice as he continued speaking:
“Oh, Marrovique is a wonderful city! Once you get used to the smell, of course. The best and worst of everything there. You really must go someday, Miss Otilla.”
“Yeah, maybe I will. We all set LT?” Peep asked Choke.
“Yes. Let’s go to the church, shall we?” he said.
“Yes, let’s!” Aoelric exclaimed as they fell into step together.
Muse Vassal 