Chapter One hundred ninety-one (Patreon)

Raff kept a close eye on the people around them as his ragtag little group entered Wheldrake. The little pink puppy - Kyla - was holding the dragon beneath her cloak. And how was that for a kick in the arse? That Pellis-cursed Iron-fang rat Blue had been hauling around for weeks turned out to be a damned dragon. A tame, tiny dragon that any number of people he could think of would do almost anything to own. Fortunately, the puppy was doing that ‘don’t look at me’ thing, and she was in the center of the group, so as long as they didn’t attract too much attention, it should be fine.

Of course, since that group was made up of a couple of Imperials, one of whom was entirely too pretty for anyone to ignore, a blue-skinned demihuman, and said cloak-covered kobold, Raff didn’t have high hopes that they’d remain unnoticed for long. For once, Raff himself practically blended into the background, a thought which made his mouth turn up in a wry grin.

His gaze slid over several people towing empty or nearly empty handcarts back out of town. It was mid-afternoon, and it must have been a market day today. The gate was busier than usual, but almost everyone was leaving to head back to their homes in the surrounding smaller settlements, which only made Raff and the others stand out even more.

He caught sight of a tall man with hair almost as red as his own, and felt his grin widen. Glancing toward Lianhua, who actually looked tired for once, he tilted his head and said, “Let’s head this way. I see someone I know.”

The small woman glanced up at him and nodded. At her side, Blue turned as they did, stumbling over his outsized feet. Raff had heard Lianhua talking to the kobold last night, and if this was really what the kobold thought humans looked like, how did the little guy keep from busting up laughing every time he saw one of them?

“Oi, Foss!” Raff lifted a hand, giving his most cheerful ‘everybody’s best buddy’ smile.

The guard looked up from the merchant he was talking to, and the short man immediately took the opportunity to scurry off, no doubt without paying whatever tax or fee Foss was trying to talk him into. Scowling, the red-haired soldier shifted, setting one mailed fist onto his hip, near his sheathed sword.

“If it isn’t Raff,” he said, “the merc who ran off without paying his gambling debts last time he was in town.”

Raff’s eyes widened. “What? I reckon I must have clean forgotten.” He let his accent stretch. The more he sounded like an uneducated sharecropper, the more people like Foss tended to underestimate him. Besides, the only reason he ‘owed’ Foss anything was because the other man had tucked a duo of dragons into his sleeve when he was dealing. Ironic, because Raff was now sneaking a duo of kobolds and an ace of dragons into the guard’s town.

Making a show of it, Raff dipped his fingers into his storage bag, fishing out two of the gold coins Lianhua had given him before they left the mountain. She’d forgotten to pay him again since, but that was all right. Raff had done just fine for himself during their little foray through that pointy rock, and though he had no interest in ever doing it again, he didn’t regret it. Much.

Flipping one of the coins to Foss, Raff let his grin widen enough to show teeth. “That oughta cover it. Interest, too.” He wiggled his hand, and the other gold coin walked across the back of his fingers. It was an Imperial coin, without the red tinge of a Holiander groat, and therefore worth its literal weight in gold. Foss’ brown eyes locked onto the coin, and he only blinked when the coin vanished with a flick of Raff’s fingers.

“D’you know if th’ Jeweled Chalice has any openings?” he asked nonchalantly, flipping the coin high into the air. “Got a lady here who needs a good bed.” Raff let his grin take on a wicked edge. He didn’t like the implication, but he knew men like Foss, and sure enough, the guard responded with a guffaw, his hand darting out to snatch the coin before it could land again. 

“Sure,” Foss said. “You should hurry on through, though. Some poncy lord’s son is in town, and he’s taken up the whole second floor. If you want a room with a nice, big bed,” his eyes flickered over Lianhua, who flushed, “you’d best get on.”

Raff clapped the guard on the back, using perhaps a bit more force than absolutely necessary. It was that or let Chi Yincang deal out retribution for the implication that his lady would indulge in such activities with a common mercenary like Raff. The Imperial didn’t often show emotion, but there was a tiny twitch at the corner of his eye right now that did not bode well for Foss. Not that the corrupt guard deserved any better, but letting Chi Yincang cut the man in half would definitely attract attention.

“We’ll do that, then,” Raff said cheerfully, and ushered his companions through the gate like a gaggle of ducklings. Well, ducklings with one awkward and ugly gosling mixed in. Poor Blue had not come out on the winning end of his attempt at transforming into a human. Half a dozen birds could perch on that nose, and his broad shoulders and muscular chest were currently hidden beneath the baggy robe Lianhua had loaned him. Only his boat-sized feet poked out, kicking up clouds of dust every time he took a step on the packed dirt road.

“What was that all about?” Lianhua murmured once they were well past Foss.

Raff snorted. “You didn’t think they were just gonna let Blue and a hooded kid in here, did ya? We would’ve spent a good hour an’ a much larger bribe dealing with the commander of the watch, but fortunately Foss there is chronically short of funds, thanks to his terrible luck with cards.”

“He beat you,” Lianhua said, raising her brows, and Raff just chuckled. She could think that if she wanted, but Raff liked to make sure he maintained a friendly relationship with at least one slightly shady guard in every town he visited on a regular basis. Losing a few coins here and there was a good way to do that.

Raff hurried them through the streets, taking the first turn off the main thoroughfare. Everyone and their horse was passing through there, and any one of them might take an interest in their group. The fewer eyes that touched them, the better. Frankly, Raff wouldn’t have brought them into Wheldrake at all if they didn’t need horses. Even then, if Lianhua wasn’t determined to go shopping, he would have left them in the care of Chi Yincang while he came in alone to pick up some mounts.

The Old Crow wasn’t the fanciest establishment in Wheldrake, but the food was inexpensive and filling, and Helmund knew how to keep his mouth shut. As an added bonus, it was in a more residential area, and was mostly frequented by locals in search of beer or lunch, and less often by travelers or members of Raff’s merc group, the Adamant Reach.

Lianhua hesitated when Raff held the swinging door open for her, staring up at the faded black bird painted on the sign overhead. She actually looked relieved, which Raff hadn’t expected. She was a strange one, though, with her scholarly ways and apparent disinterest in the kinds of things most young ladies of her age tended to prattle on about.

“Oh, good. I thought you told that guard we were going to the Jeweled Chalice. Isn’t that where we stayed with… before?” she asked.

Raff shrugged. “Slip of the tongue, I s’pose.” No such thing. Foss would sell information as easily as he accepted bribes to let people through without checking their bags and papers. Now, if anyone wanted to know where the fancy lady and her bizarre entourage were staying, they would head to the Chalice first. It wasn’t much of a deception, since a moment’s thought would suggest an Adamant warrior would go to the inn owned by a retired Adamant, but it was habit by now, this chumming of the waters, and a few minute’s warning could make all the difference.

They entered the inn’s common room, which was lit by several lanterns hanging from the walls. It was nice not to have to duck to avoid hitting his head, and Raff actually found himself standing a little straighter as he walked under the lintel.

A girl was standing behind the desk, polishing glasses with a little white cloth. One of Helmund’s passel of daughters, likely, though it was possible she was a local girl instead. This was a safe place for a girl to get a job, since Helmund didn’t let anyone hassle the women who worked here. Of course, he’d also taught his daughters to take care of themselves, and any man who tried to get too close to one of them risked losing a hand, just like old Helmund himself.

The girl, a tallish blonde with a generous figure, looked up as they entered, offering a practiced smile. Raff kept his answering smile friendly and easy, with no flirtatious overtones.

“Helmund in?” Raff asked. “We need meals, baths, and rooms for the night.”

Blue eyes flickered to his shoulder, where the gauntlet and sword of the Adamant Reach was emblazoned onto the dented pauldron. “He’s in the kitchen,” she said, and tapped a bell that sat on the counter beside the stack of clean glasses. A single clear note chimed out, lingering in the formerly quiet air, and Raff could see Kyla’s hood twitch as her ears moved. Blue’s head turned, tilted, and a small smile crossed the - kobold? boy? - his usually serious face. Blue liked the sound.

After a moment, the door behind and to the right of the blonde girl opened, and Helmund peered out. His face held a genial smile, which shifted to a disgruntled scowl when he saw Raff. Raff wasn’t worried. That false smile was far more frightening to those who knew the man.

“Oh,” Helmund said, “it’s you.” His sharp eyes, the same shade as the girl’s, passed over their group, lingering only slightly longer on the two kobolds than the Imperials. The smile returned, though it wasn’t quite as broad.

“How can I help you folks?” the innkeeper asked genially, taking a few more steps into the room and nodding to the girl at the counter. Without a word, she picked up a tray full of glasses and went back out the door Helmund had come through.

Raff shook his head, gesturing to Lianhua and the others. “None o’ that. These ‘uns are all right, even though they look fancy. We just need two rooms, meals, and baths.”

Smile slipping again, Helmund grunted. “Dinner’s at sundown, and baths are after dinner. Will you be wanting fresh water for each of you?”

Lianhua nodded vigorously, her sweet smile filling her aristocratic features with real warmth. Raff wished she’d stop that. It made her seem far too approachable, and she was less memorable as just another aloof noble. “Yes, please,” she said, her slight accent making the words sound exotic. “Do you have two attached rooms with single beds?”

The innkeeper’s brows lifted, but he nodded. “So happens my double room is available. Only two beds in each room, though, so someone will have to be friendly or sleep on the floor.”

Raff shrugged. “Not the first time. We’ll work it out.”

Helmund grunted, turning away to lift two keys from a nail with the hook that occupied his left wrist. He’d lost the hand in a battle more than a decade before, and could do anything he needed to with that hook. Well, everything except scratch his own back, which was why he kept his wife around, or at least that was what he said when he’d had a few too many beers.

The truth was, his wife was a treasure, and if she wasn’t as pretty as she’d been when she was a young barmaid who’d married a wandering mercenary all those years ago, Helmund didn’t care a bit. Raff could only hope to someday find someone to care about the way the crusty old ex-soldier loved his Elena.

Helmund stretched out his hook, with the keys dangling from it, and Raff started to reach out to take them. The point on that hook was viciously sharp, so most people didn’t exactly feel comfortable getting too close to it. To Raff’s surprise, however, a blue hand beat him to it, gently lifting the keys off without even scraping their metal against the metal of the hook.

Raff looked over, seeing that Blue’s eyes were fixed on the prosthetic, and the sort-of-kobold looked fascinated. Blue opened his mouth as if to ask about it, and Raff grabbed the pup’s shoulder, turning him toward the narrow stairs to their left.

“Second floor?” he asked, hustling the group forward. A soft hissing came from beneath Kyla’s cloak when Raff touched the young kobold, and he turned to offer Helmund a sick grin.

“Yep,” Helmund said, and now his eyes were narrowed as they rested on the peculiar blue-skinned boy and the cloaked child. He looked back at Raff, tapping his hook on the counter. The wooden surface was scarred with holes from previous impacts. “Five gold. Up front.”

Raff blinked. As a member of Adamant Reach, Raff shouldn’t have had to pay until he left. And a gold apiece was an exorbitant price for bed, bath, and meal. It would have almost covered a similar stay at the Jeweled Chalice.

He turned to Chi Yincang. “Numbers’re on the keys,” Raff told the silent figure, and Chi Yincang nodded, vanishing after his mistress. Raff still wasn’t sure how he had ever believed that Chi was Gaoda’s man, now that his devotion to Lianhua was so clear. It just went to show that sometimes the best lies were spoken without words.

Raff crossed back to Helmund, counting out five gold as he did. He laid them on the counter, ignoring the small splinters of wood already there. One by one, the gold chimed softly with disapproval as they settled atop each other.

Helmund watched quietly, then looked up at Raff. “A man has come by a few times,” he said. “Said he was looking for a lordling by the name of Grafton Fedorick Hillcroft. Tall, red-headed, might be working as a mercenary. I told him I didn’t know anyone by that name and sent him on his way.”

Raff’s stomach dropped. “Oh?” he asked, the studied nonchalance in his voice fooling neither of them. “Is he still in town?”

The innkeeper nodded, carefully picking up the coins with his good hand and slipping them into the pouch at his waist. “Staying at the Jeweled Chalice, of course. Apparently this Grafton’s sister is missing, and they think he might have some idea where the girl is.”

Jinn was gone? Last time Raff had heard, his sister was engaged to one of Lord Batton’s sons. Geoff? Jeffrey? That was a year or so ago. He’d assumed that by the next time he bothered to visit home, he might have a new niece or nephew to play with. After spending time with the kobold pups, he’d actually been considering facing his father and brothers in order to see their kids again. How such stodgy dullards had managed to produce so many joyful, vibrant offspring, Raff wasn’t sure.

Raff rapped his knuckles on the wood twice, an old habit that he rarely gave in to any longer. “All right,” he said, stepping back and heading for the stairs. He tried for his usual carefree grin, but was fairly certain he didn’t pull it off. “If I see this Grafton fella, I’ll pass it on. Or mayhap I’ll go check and see if that toff wants to hire me to look for the girl. I’ll be done with this job soon, anyway.”

He had intended to see if Lianhua wanted to hire him on for a while longer, even after he returned her to Cliffcross, which was the end of his current contract. He was genuinely curious what was going to happen with Blue and his pet dragon, and he actually liked the kobolds. Not something he’d ever have thought he’d say, but there it was. That mountain was full of enough intrigue and behind-the-scenes machinations to make him feel right at home, though not in a good way, and he really did enjoy playing with the puppies.

Heading up the stairs, Raff reached out and tapped the wooden wall. Once, twice. Two times for good luck. It looked like he wouldn’t be going shopping with Lianhua after all. He needed to go get a drink at the Jeweled Chalice instead.