Chapter Twenty-One

“That’s… not what I expected to hear.” The man named Reval said grimly, giving the man Rogan a sideward glance. Rogan seemed non-plussed, although his posture now held a bit more tension.

She had told them about the attack, and the wraiths. She did not, however, tell them about Sevastian. Or Master Eujin. While she didn’t get the sense these two were enemies, she also admittedly had no idea about who they were or what their motives were. For all she knew, they could be working for someone even worse. Which, now that she thought about that, made what she’d just done the stupidest swiving thing in the world if that was the case. Here’s hoping that it wasn’t.

Turning back to Ven, Reval appraised her with a discerning look, his lambent grey eyes scrutinizing her.

“Forgive me for asking, but how is it that you managed to survive, when no one else did?” He asked.

Ven shrugged.

“I don’t know. I blacked out at some point during the attack, and woke up to a destroyed town. Just got lucky, I guess.” She said.They didn’t need to know about Master Eujin, or about Sevastian. At least until she had a better idea of their motives and intentions

Reval studied her again for a long moment before speaking again.

“I see. Well, assuming what you say is true, then things are even worse than we thought.” He said pensively. “I’ve been following rumors of wraith sightings for nearly a year, but never more than one or two. What would motivate dozens or even hundreds of them to work in unison to destroy villages?”

Before Ven could respond, a familiar voice spoke behind her unexpectedly. Had she not spent countless hours training her startle reflex away, it would have caused her to jump clear out of the alley.

“A Sa’Cari is commanding them.” Master Eujin said, stepping beside her. “We’ve been hunting him since the attack on Renning, but the trail has run cold since then.”

Reval and Rogan both started at the unexpected arrival, both of them reaching for weapons until it became clear he was not an immediate threat. Reval seemed to be trying to place something about Master Eujin. Then his eyes went wide.

“You!”

Master Eujin smiled.

“Marshal Rosencrantz. It’s been a long time.” He said, then turned his attention to the man Rogan. “And the Marquis de Winter. Small world.”

At this, Rogan’s eyes also swelled in recognition, and his hand shot behind his back. Reval went to pull his rapier from its sheath.

“You treasonous-!” He started, but stopped mid-draw when a crimson flash placed Scarlet Whisper gently against the side of his neck.

“There’s no need for that.” Master Eujin said lightly. “We can discuss my past indiscretions later. For now, however, it seems as though we may be on the same side for a change.”

Reval scowled at him, his eyes flicking nervously back and forth between Master Eujin’s face and the weapon at his neck.

“I am not interested in cooperating with you, you-!”

The pretense of a smile vanished from Master Eujin’s face, and it hardened into an implacable mask. He pressed the edge of Scarlet Whisper against the man’s throat, and Ven noticed the tiny red thread of blood that trickled from where blade met skin.

“Marshal, I am working very hard to be civil. But if you insist on bringing that up one more time, I am going to cut your head off.” He said evenly, in a tone that made every hair on Ven’s body stand on end. “Now, what do you say we make an effort to collaborate for a change? You might even like it.”

Reval swallowed hard, and sighed heavily.

“Fine.” He said, sliding his weapon back into its sheath and putting his hands out in front of him. “Let’s talk.”

Master Eujin nodded, and in a blur, stowed his blade away again. He shot a glance over to Rogan.

“Uncock the pistol, de Winter. We both know that if I intended you any harm, you’d be dead before it cleared your waistband.”

Rogan grimaced, but nodded. There was the faintest of clicks before his hand returned from behind his back.

Seemingly satisfied, Master Eujin gave them both a crooked smile.

“Well now, that’s not so bad, is it? Now that that’s settled, how about we take this discussion inside? I find speaking with people who want you dead is far easier when each of you has a drink in your hand.” He said.

Reval and Rogan shared a glance, and Reval nodded.

“If you insist.” He said.

The four of them took the table Ven and Eujin had been sharing a few minutes before. The large spread of food Ven had ordered previously arrived moments after they sat, and at Ven’s goading the two men helped themselves to some of it.

In the midst of their time together, the energy between Master Eujin and the other two was strained at best, but true to the agreement outside, they did seem to be doing their best to be civil. The whole thing was deeply intriguing to her. How on earth did Master Eujin know these two? And why did they seem to hate him so badly? Was this how everybody treated Shikari who had made a name for themselves? If that was the case, Master Eujin’s warnings before he’d agreed to train her made a lot more sense.

Some of the conversation went over her head. It was clearly being spoken of in veiled terms that only the three men would understand, and that irritated her to no end. What she did understand, however, was that Renning was not the first village attacked in this way. It was the second, and Harrowden the third. The first was Thistlewick, which was a small village near the southern coast of the continent and far south of Renning. She had never heard of it, before or after the attack.

Reval went on at length about missing persons, and wight sightings, and even told a story about a highway patrol having a run in with a pair of the monsters and the resulting aftermath. It seemed as though the number of wight sightings was rapidly increasing, and their actions getting a lot more brazen, which was unprecedented.

Master Eujin and her shared what they had each seen of the attack on Renning, and Eujin described that he had been pursuing a man who, according to his contract, was responsible for causing these attacks. This last fact piqued the other men’s interests, and they asked numerous questions, only a few of which Master Eujin answered honestly.

Master Eujin also asked some pointed questions about Harrowden, many of which seemed to Ven to have little bearing on what they were looking for, but to her surprise, the two men seemed all too willing to answer them as thoroughly as they could. She figured they were probably lying as well, but knowing Master Eujin, he probably which were which just by how he asked.

Once the food was finished and the drinks down to dregs, the two exchanged a glance and finally excused themselves, seemingly satisfied with whatever they’d learned. To Ven’s surprise, they seemed far more friendly than before they’d sat down, though whether that was because of what they’d learned or because of the numerous cups of wine drunk between them, she couldn’t be sure. She turned to watch them leave, and once they were gone, she turned back to say something to Master Eujin, and froze.

The look that he gave her was so withering that she was afraid it would cause her to shrivel up and die.

“It seems that, despite your prowess with blades and magic and alchemy, you still lack even basic common sense.” He said coldly.

Ven scrunched even smaller.

“I’m sorry, Master… I-” She started.

“You just revealed who you were, what your intentions were, and your association with me to people you’ve never met.” He said, cutting her off. “People who could have been working for the very man we are trying to hunt. Or worse, who are trying to hunt you, or me. Do you have any idea how incredibly stupid that is?”

Ven’s face grew hot, and despite herself, she could feel tears forming in her eyes as she stared at the tabletop. She wanted to disappear, or run away.

“The men you were just talking to, up until a few moments ago, were convinced I was dead. A fact that has made my life significantly less complicated. Now, however, thanks to your brilliance, they are fully aware that I am quite alive.” Eujin continued.

“But who are they? How do they know you?” Ven managed to get out, her voice unsteady as she tried to keep herself together.

“The fat one is a member of the Grand Court. He has made a point of getting incredibly wealthy from a significant number of questionably legal ventures in the Hieracracy, including the drug trade and prostitution. He has also paid at least half a dozen Shikari to kill me, largely because I keep complicating said ventures.

The other one, Marshal Reval Rosencrantz, is one of the chief investigators of the Grand Court’s Intelligence Service. Which is to say that his job is to solve the crimes those in power want him to solve, and ignore the ones they don’t.”

“But, then, why are they working together and talking about attacks on villages? Especially when they seem to be convinced someone is trying to cover the attacks up?” Ven asked.

“That question, dear girl, is the only reason you are not going to be spending the next three months running laps around the city.” He said. He leaned back in the chair, his face pensive. “I don’t know. But the fact that one of the most well-connected nobles in the Court and one of the head investigators of the GCIS aren’t in on it is very, very intriguing, assuming that they aren’t lying and using this whole thing as some sort of trap for me. But I highly doubt that.”

He pursed his lips in thought for a long moment before he spoke again.

“Either way, we are going to Harrowden. It is clear to me that Sevastian was likely involved there as well, and given how recent the attack was, we may still be able to find a trail to follow.”

He locked eyes with her, his grey eyes lambent in the light.

“Tonight, you have gotten us a lead I have spent 6 months unable to find. You also made what could have been the greatest error of your time here, had things gone any differently. I am going to treat this as a wash. But,” He leaned forward until his face was less than a foot from hers, “if you ever do something this stupid again, there is not enough time left on this world for you to complete the punishment drills you will have to do to make up for it. Are we clear?”

Ven swallowed hard, and nodded.

“Yes, Master.”

“Good.” He said, rising to his feet. “Let’s get back to the safehouse. We have a trip to pack for.”