Skulduggery 2

by Logan Jacobs

  The few hours it took to travel back to the stables seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, we were turning down the alley next to the theatre. As we parked in the back, I saw a lantern’s glow underneath the stable door. It was probably Cimarra, but a brief wave of panic brushed against my heart. I never knew what to expect at any time. It could’ve been the Elven Guard or even Hebal waiting for us.

  “Would Cimarra still be up?” Dar asked as he pointed to the yellow glow underneath the door.

  “I sure hope so, or else we have some unwanted company,” I whispered as each of us reached for the blades at our sides. “Penny, open the door and I’ll head in first.”

  “Got it,” Penny said, and then she moved into position outside of the wooden barn door.

  I nodded to the redhead and strode in through the door with my blade drawn, but I relaxed as soon as I saw Cimarra leaned over a bag of yeast as she tried to open it.

  “Welcome back.” Cimarra glanced up at us, unaware that we had just put away our weapons. “Grain looks ready for the next step.”

  “You saved us a lot of time, thank you,” I said as I knelt next to her and helped cut open another bag of yeast. “It looks like you organized all the supplies, too.”

  “I had a bit of free time,” the beautiful dancer said, and then she leaned her head on my shoulder and kissed it.

  “It does look a lot better in here,” Dar remarked as he glanced around at the organized stock. “Glad we have someone with some business sense around here.”

  “Hey, I have business sense,” I snickered.

  “Well, yeah,” Dar said as he wiggled his eyebrows, “but you are an even better thieving bastard.”

  “That’s true,” Penny laughed, and then she sat down on the haystack and started to pet Azure.

  “You get what you needed from the elf?” the dancer asked as she stood and dragged one of the bags of yeast closer to the elephant tub.

  “We did,” Penny said as she held up the rolled up painting for her to see. “By the way, where should I put this?”

  “Put it on the table.” I pointed over to the rickety table. Then I yanked the other bag of yeast over to where Cimarra had dropped hers off.

  “Did the elf see you at all?” Cimarra asked with her hands on her hips.

  “No, he was as blind as a bat thanks to the darkness,” I chuckled and dodged Azure, who was busy running around and greeting each of us with licks from his sandpaper tongue now that Penny wasn’t petting him.

  “You ready to work, buddy?” I asked and dropped to my knee by Azure.

  “Sure he is,” Penny said as she kneeled next to me and stroked his back again. The pixie’s voice was like a squeak as she cooed to the dragon.

  “Great.” I stood and then dumped a small bucket’s worth of water on the crushed grain to top it off. “We need to heat this.”

  The dragon waddled over and took his usual position near the bottom of the vat. Then he tilted his head as he waited for Penny to sit next to him.

  “You need any more water?” Dar asked from beneath me on the ladder as he held the lid of the vat.

  “I think we’re okay for now,” I said as I looked over the grains and stirred slightly with the club. “I need heat, though.”

  “Comin’, comin’.” Penny smirked at me, and I noticed she seemed to spend a little longer looking at my face than she normally did.

  Or maybe I was just imagining things. The redhead was a difficult woman to understand.

  “Okay, thanks … ” I cleared my throat as Penny knelt next to the dragon and lifted her emerald eyes back to me. Her face was stained with sweat and dirt, and her red hair was a mess on top of her head like a flame caught in the wind.

  She was beautiful.

  “What’re you looking at?” Penny asked. “Do I have something on my fa--”

  “Nothing, go for it.” I averted my eyes as I stirred the grains, and the heat from Azure’s flames blanketed my legs.

  “What kind of painting is this?” Cimarra pondered aloud as she unrolled the scroll atop the rickety table.

  “A fucked up one,” Penny responded in between a kind whisper to Azure.

  “Lemme see, I haven’t even seen it yet.” Dar leaned the lid of the vat against the wall and moved over to Cimarra. “How long ago do you think this battle happened?”

  “I’m not quite sure,” I said as I continued to stir the grains. “Dar, I’ll need the yeast soon.”

  “Got it.” Dar stepped away from the painting and then moved toward the bags of yeast.

  “What do you think it means?” Cimarra asked as her hair hung over the painting while she studied it. “How does this lead us to the next chest?”

  “Is there anything on the back?” Penny wondered as she sat down next to Azure and kept a hand on his back.

  “Let me check,” Cimarra muttered and flipped the image over.

  “A little hotter.” I glanced to Penny and the dragon, who obeyed with a flick of his tail. I needed to wait for the water to boil before I could add the yeast, though.

  “Nothing on the back,” the dancer huffed. “Maybe there’s a hidden map?”

  “Yeast me,” I said and motioned for Dar to hand me the white bag by his feet.

  “That might be the weirdest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Dar laughed and lifted the bag on his shoulder so I could grab it. “Are the keys tellin’ you anything?”

  I felt everyone’s eyes turn to me as I tilted the bag over the vat’s edge. The yeast combined with the grains and water to form a thick bubbling substance.

  “I haven’t heard anything,” I said as I crumpled the opening of the yeast bag and handed it back to Dar below me. “Not yet, at least.”

  “What do we do then?” Dar placed the half-empty bag off to the side and looked back at me with a raised eyebrow.

  “We make whiskey,” I said as I began to stir the yeast and grains together. “Azure can stop now.”

  “Okay.” Penny nodded and whispered to Azure, who happily stopped his flame.

  “That works for me,” Dar said as he shuffled over to where his bed was. “One step at a time.”

  “That’s right, my friend,” I said while I observed the sour bubbling liquid in front of me.

  The whiskey was my main priority. If the keys never spoke to me again, then that would be fine with me. If they did, then I knew they were going to lead me wherever I needed to be. We had plenty of other things to take care of in the meantime. Like, waiting to hear if Count Kieran would be interested in partnering with us, keeping the elves and Hebal off our backs, and distributing our product throughout the realm.

  “I’ll keep studying the painting,” Cimarra said as she covered her yawn, “but for now, I need to get some sleep.”

  “Sleep sounds good,” I agreed and stopped stirring. “Penny, can you hand me the lid?”

  “Yeah,” Penny said as she lifted the lid just enough so I could grab it and slide it on top of the vat.

  We were all exhausted, especially since the adrenaline from the heist had worn off.

  “Would you want to sleep in my room with me?” Cimarra asked, and at first I thought she was talking to me, but she was looking at the pixie, who looked stunned at the invitation as well. “My roommate is gone, and I figured a girl would prefer to sleep in a place that isn’t … ”

  “A stable?” Penny laughed and nodded. “Uh, yeah, that would be great.”

  “In the same bed?” Dar asked with a smirk and looked over at me with wide eyes. “Will you both touch each other and--”

  “No,” Cimarra chuckled and brushed her hair back with a hand.

  “Fucking ass,” Penny scoffed and grabbed a few of her belongings from where she usually crashed most nights.

  “What?” Dar raised his hands in protest.

  I would’ve loved to join them both in Cimarra’s room if they invited me, but I knew Penny didn’t want anything to do with me. I was just ecstatic to see my two women friends interact outs
ide of giving each other weird looks.

  “I’ll keep Azure nice and warm for you, Penny.” I smiled at the pixie and made sure the lid was secure around the vat.

  “You better,” Penny said as her eyes searched me and almost made me reconsider staying in the stables.

  “Sleep tight.” Cimarra waved, and both she and Penny left the stables for the night.

  “Damn, looks like they’re getting along,” Dar whistled and draped his shirt over a railing.

  “Why wouldn’t they?” I asked as I climbed down the ladder and thanked Azure for his hard work.

  “Ummm, because they are both madly in love with you?” Dar chuckled.

  “Uhh, Penny isn’t,” I groaned.

  “Fuck, you are a bigger idiot than she is,” my friend snickered.

  “It’s too late to have this conversation,” I sighed at the halfling, grabbed the lantern from the hook on the far wall, and raised it toward the painting on the table in the middle of the room.

  “You’re right, I’m hittin the hay, literally.” Dar unleashed a loud yawn and stretched his thin arms over his head. “We’ll give Selius a visit, first thing. I told him to lay low and keep the guild’s back door open for the next few days.”

  “Thanks, Dar.” I tilted the lantern toward him, and his black eyes squinted against the light. “I’m glad to be doing this with you.”

  “Of course, no one else could.” Dar grinned and vanished from my sight as he laid down.

  Then I turned the lantern back to the painting on the table.

  The canvas curled on the edges and cracked in the colored spots like wrinkles on an old face. What did this aged face need to tell me?

  The keys were silent, and after a few more moments, it looked like I had to follow my own advice and wait. So, I blew out the lantern and dropped into my pile of hay I’d grown to love. Azure coiled himself up underneath my arm, and we welcomed the darkness of a much-needed sleep together.

  We needed to talk with Selius, so Dar and I started our morning off by driving the wagon still full of our catering supplies toward a familiar place, Guilder Street.

  We munched on some stale bread for a late breakfast as I maneuvered the wagon through the busy streets of the Halfling District. There was an odd amount of halflings gathered around socializing in the small cafes, so I turned to Dar.

  “Is there some sort of holiday today or something?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so …” He squinted and thought about it. “No, there isn’t.”

  “Weird, there seems to be a lot of folks out on the streets today,” I said as I sniffed the air and smelled cinnamon from the spice market down the road. It actually felt good to be back in the district I’d called home for a lot of years.

  “You’re right, that is a little odd.” Dar shrugged. “Make the next left. It might be quicker that way.”

  “There looks to even be more Elven Guard.” I pointed out two elves on the corner of Guilder Street after we turned. Most elves usually didn’t hang around in this district unless they wanted to partake in Madame Rindell’s dancehall parties.

  These elves didn’t seem interested in any party, though.

  As I watched, one of the guards grabbed a halfling and lifted him into the air as if the smaller man was a caught rat. Then one of the elves pointed in the halfling’s face before they tossed him aside like a stuffed animal.

  They were shaking everyone down.

  “Fuck.” I slowed the wagon down and saw two more Elven Guard officers on the opposite corner of Guilder Street.

  “This ain’t good at all.” Dar swallowed the last bit of the bread and turned to me with concerned eyes.

  “I’d rather be on foot just in case we have to run.” I steered the wagon over to the side of the street near a shoe shine stand. Most halfling’s ignored shoes, but for those who wore them, they loved to have them shined.

  “I agree,” Dar said as he hopped down from the wagon and ensured the rear door was shut. “I don’t want to deal with Marver if these supplies are stolen.”

  “They won’t be. Let’s go,” I said as I gestured for Dar to follow me. I wanted to get moving and avoid the elves as much as possible. The less interaction we had with them, the better.

  We’ll be watching, human.

  The new commander’s voice replayed in my mind as I kept my eyes on the four guards standing on the corner. Maybe this was his way of watching. Fucking cocksucker.

  “If they’re planning on being here all the time, that might make distribution in this district a little more interesting,” Dar muttered as we tried to blend in with the crowd as much as possible.

  “Let’s hope that isn’t the case.” I nodded toward another human, who had a bunch of dead branches strapped to his back. “Let’s use this guy as some cover.”

  “Got it,” Dar agreed.

  Then we quickly moved behind the man and reached the corner where the guards were. Maybe I was paranoid, but I didn’t want to give the elves any chance to notice us.

  Besides, I’d survived this long by being cautious.

  When we turned down Guilder Street, the guards on the corner didn’t seem to budge, but then I saw even more elves questioning a few other people about who knows what.

  “What the fuck?” Dar breathed. “We have nothing to hide, so we should be okay, right?”

  “I sure hope so,” I said as I tugged my friend into a nearby alley just to be safe.

  “Should we turn back?” The halfling’s eyes were wide with worry.

  Whenever there was an increased elven presence, it was never a good thing. They were here for a specific reason, and my gut was telling me maybe we were that reason.

  “No, no, we’re almost there, pal.” I cleared my throat. “Were these assholes here when you talked with Selius?”

  “There were a few more than usual, but not an invasion like this,” Dar said as he scratched the back of his neck.

  “Speak your business!” an elf’s voice shouted.

  My heart jumped, and I reached for my dagger. Then I exhaled when I realized the elf wasn’t talking to us.

  “I’m just working,” the human who carried the bushel of sticks squealed as he was pushed up against a wall by the elf.

  “They’re looking for someone or something.” Dar’s eyes drifted from the captured human and then back to me. “You think it’s us?”

  “We didn’t do anything they could arrest us for. Well, we have but …” I rubbed my head, peeked around the corner, and saw the human was pinned on the ground with the elf’s knee on top of his neck. “Nothing they’d know about.”

  We weren’t the only ones watching. A small group of halfling’s had stopped in the middle of the street to watch the apparent show, too.

  “Do ya think we were seen last night at the noble’s house?” Dar’s eyes bulged from his face as he leaned his head back on the alley wall.

  “There’s no way.” I shook my head as the other human bastard was dragged by his foot down the muddy street. The branches he once carried snapped and scraped against the road just like his hands as he tried to slow the elf’s pull.

  “We should get the fuck outta here,” Dar hissed as he elbowed me in the side. “The crowd is starting to disperse. We can use them to get to the guild.”

  “Okay. ” I peered down the road again. “The guild isn’t far. We can make it.”

  “Ready?” Dar sniffed.

  “Let’s move,” I said as I pulled up my hood and stepped back onto the street, but it might as well have been a step off a cliff.

  “Fuck,” Dar whispered over and over as he followed me.

  If the elves were looking for someone, maybe even me specifically, then I had to get shorter. So, I squatted and hunched my back as we walked.

  “Right side.” Dar nudged me, and we moved behind a group of halflings who were busy smoking near a restaurant’s patio.

  We hesitated behind the group for a moment and then saw another elf across the stre
et.

  “Let’s sit here for a second,” I said as I took a seat at one of the tables on the patio.

  “Okay,” Dar grunted and sat opposite me while he kept his eye across the street.

  “I’m so sick of the elves forcing us to take their poetry courses on our holidays,” I overheard one of the halfling’s in the group next to us. “It’s Midsummer for pity sake.”

  “At least we had the day off.” Another halfling shrugged as he eyed me and Dar.

  “Midsummer?” I asked as I turned to Dar.

  “Stupid holiday,” he said as he adjusted his hood tighter around his face. “That’s why I forgot about it.”

  “Do you think that’s why the elves are here?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Dar admitted as he tilted his head.

  I was starting to think the Elven Guard knew about the stolen painting.

  “Can I help you fellas?” the restaurant owner yelled out to us from the front counter.

  “Give us a sec?” Dar held his hand out toward the owner.

  “If you ain’t eatin’, you ain’t sittin’.” The owner gestured for us to hurry it up.

  “Okay, okay,” I responded to the owner, and then I saw the Elven Guard across the street turn the other way to talk to another pedestrian. “Time to move.”

  “Good,” Dar said as we both slipped back into the street.

  “Almost there,” I whispered as I saw the guild was only fifty yards away. After we reached the guild, we slid into the alley that ran alongside the building and hopped over the small wooden fence that led into the rear courtyard.

  “Definitely looks abandoned,” Dar noted as he nodded toward the fountain in the middle. The water was stagnant and smelled like rotten eggs. The chairs we’d all once sat around were layered with dust and fallen leaves, and the cooking pot still had porridge caked along the rim and sat over a pile of ash in the firepit right where we’d left it.

  “We have elf company,” I whispered as I tugged Dar down. Then we both made ourselves small against the fence. We couldn’t make a move for the back door since the elf would see us for sure.

  The elf’s boots dragged along the gravel and kicked some loose stones against the wooden fence. He paused on the other side of where we crouched, and his magic stung my nose as we held our breath. After a few moments, he turned around and marched back to where he’d just come from.