“You don’t mess around, do you?” asked Nolan.

  Rori looked up from the bowl of stew he had been idly pushing a spoon through while he was lost in his own thoughts.

  “What happened to ‘copper for your thoughts’?” asked Rori.

  “I don’t need to pay a copper to know your thoughts. I got two gold right here that say it’s written all over your face.”

  “You don’t know anything,” said Rori.

  “Care to wager on that?” asked Nolan with a smile.

  “Don’t bet on anything with him,” said Sean leaning back in his chair from the table beside theirs where Sean, Ian, Baxter and Wergen sat. “But then I guess I don’t need to tell you that.”

  “Why is it always two gold with you guys?” asked Rori trying to shift the conversation.

  “Oh, that’s a good story. Rori asked ‘why two gold’,” said Sean leaning forward to his own table.

  “Brilliant! I love that one. You tell it, Baxter. I love when you do the bit with the cleric,” said Ian.

  “Rori, come over here. You’ve got to hear this one,” said Sean sliding his chair over to make space.

  “No thanks,” said Rori starting to stand up. “I think I’m going to go for a walk.”

  “Okay, we’ll tell it while we walk,” said Baxter starting to get up.

  Wergen, seeing the look on Rori’s face said, “You’re under house arrest of a sorts, remember? Two soldiers at all times.”

  “Oh right,” said Rori sitting back down. “Never mind then.”

  “Are you going to eat that?” asked Baxter pointing with his spoon at Rori’s bowl. “Seems a shame to waste it. The food’s actually decent here tonight.”

  Rori looked down at the bowl and realized he hadn’t eaten a bite of it.

  “You can have it. I ate a huge lunch,” he said handing over the bowl.

  “So anyway,” said Baxter simultaneously diving into his story and the bowl of stew at the same time. “It was Dade, Nolan, Humphrey and that skinny guy who was only with us for a couple months.”

  “Tomas,” said Wergen.

  “No, it was Anders,” said Ian.

  As the story continued, Rori leaned back to his table and set his chin on his hands.

  “I take it back, you’re much worse off than I originally thought,” said Nolan with a smile.

  “What are you talking about?” said Rori testily.

  “Women, that’s what. If I hadn’t met and heard about Nika I would guess this was your first plunge into that particular pit of trouble. Is it who I think it is?”

  “Shut up, Nolan.”

  “Okay, consider me shut, but if you want to talk about it, I’ve had my share of trips down that road.”

  “I’m not swooning over a girl,” said Rori. “I’ve got a problem, and I don’t know how to solve it.”

  “I stand by my initial statement, but we can play it your way if you want. I may only be able to give pretty decent advice when it comes to the fairer sex, but you’d be hard pressed to find better advice when it comes to problem solving. Lay out the details and we can sort it out together. Remember, the heaviest load is the burden unshared.”

  Rori eyed Nolan, unsure if he was being teased or not. Eventually he lowered his head and said, “Sorry, I can’t tell you. It’s possible I’m going to have to do something I can’t get others involved in.

  “Sorry?” replied Nolan. “But I think you just said that there was something out there you didn’t want to get me involved in and I can’t think of anything I want more to be involved in than whatever it is you think is something I shouldn’t be.”

  “I don’t want to cause people trouble,” said Rori. “I may have to do something less than legal. Or at least it will appear that way and I don’t want anyone losing their job in the military over me.”

  “You’ve forgotten two important things, Rori.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “What’s that,” said Rori looking up again.

  “I’m not actually in the military, and I’m well acquainted with ‘something less than legal’. So, tell me all about it,” said Nolan leaning in so that they wouldn’t be heard.

  “I need to steal something,” said Rori, then in an even lower voice he added, “from a Senator.”

  “Like I said, you don’t mess around do you!? Maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private.”

  “Okay, let me see if I got this straight,” said Nolan leaning back in the wooden chair that sat in front of the small table in the room they had rented from an inn in Willowsbrook. Having finished his retelling of the day’s events, Rori continued pacing back and forth in front of him.

  “Ulbricht’s dead husband was a little dirty and was associating with some other senators who appear to be a lot dirty. He kept notes that would make everyone aware of their respective dirtiness, but the bad guys stole the journal and are now using it to blackmail Ulbricht. Even though they keep it in plain sight around one of their necks, she can’t get it back. And since you are smitten with her you think you can. Only it’s not as simple as all that because he’s a senator and you’re not. Also, if you try and get caught or noticed, you and possibly she could be in a world of trouble. Is that about it?”

  “Um, I must have forgot to mention that the Senate will be back in session soon and the senator in question is heading back to Lorenthia in two days. Or possibly tomorrow,” said Rori with a sheepish grin. “Also, I’m not ‘smitten’.”

  “You tell it your way, I’ll tell it mine,” answered Nolan. “Overall, it sounds pretty impossible.”

  “I thought so,” said Rori his shoulders slumping in defeat.

  “Of course, pulling that sword and getting out of that room before a mountain of stones fell on your head was twenty times more impossible than this, so this should be a cake walk. Comparatively speaking anyway.”

  “Does all that mean you’re going to help me or not?” asked Rori.

  “Is there anything else to add? Any other liabilities or assets?”

  “Assets? Like what?”

  “Money doesn’t hurt. Did she say she would cover expenses or anything like that?”

  “I don’t know,” answered Rori. “Money never came up.”

  “Rookie mistake. Always ask for money.”

  “I offered as a favor.”

  “Because you’re smitten. But seriously, and I want you to think carefully on this and not just give me a knee jerk reaction because you know what I’m about to ask can’t be true. Because if you think about it, you’ll see that it could be true. I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying give it careful consideration.”

  “Okay,” said Rori warily.

  “Is it possible she’s playing you?” asked Nolan. “Getting you to do some dirty work, so she can keep her hands clean?”

  Rori stopped pacing, started to overreact and then paused. He resumed pacing in silence. After covering the width of the room five times in both directions he stopped again and said, “I suppose it is possible. But I can’t believe it. She would have to have a lot more knowledge about me than nearly anyone outside of our group knows. She’d also have to be an amazingly good actress. And yes, I am taking into account any possible feelings I might have.”

  “I’m impressed,” said Nolan getting up from the bed and straightening his clothes. “Okay, last question. Does doing this really matter to you? And be honest. I don’t care if it’s because you are smitten, or that she promised you political favors or that you both like the same color. For whatever reason you’re trying to hide, is it really worth it? Even if it means we could both end up in jail for a long time?”

  “But it’s her book. They stole it first,” said Rori.

  “Sure, but if we fail, nobody will care what we claim. We’ll have attacked a senator and we’ll both rot in jail for a long time.”

  Rori paced back and forth a couple more times in thought and then stopped in front of Nolan and said, “It’s worth it. Does this mean you are going to help?”

  “No, it means I’m going to look into it. I promise you nothing more than that. And to do that I need two things.”

  Second, I need to get in touch with an acquaintance of mine here in Lycea. Unless you think you can see yourself letting Brand help.”

  “Brand? Why him?” said Rori.

  “Because, you might not have noticed but he’s getting to be quite useful in situations like this. I was quite surprised you saw him when he was trailing us.”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Why did you have him follow us while invisible? He could have just walked with us.”

  “Because I had a feeling we might get attacked and I wanted to make it as inviting as possible. Three people walking down the street is a much less inviting target than two. Especially if the third one is in a soldier’s uniform.”

  “We can’t use Brand. If we get caught, he could get thrown out of the military.”

  “I’m not so sure Brand would not welcome that,” said Nolan. “But it’s your mission. So, it’s your call. All that leaves is the first thing that I need.”

  “Which is what?” asked Rori.

  “For you to tell me which senator has the book.”

  “That’s the other reason we can’t use Brand,” said Rori. “It’s his father.”

  “Senator Hargraves!” said Nolan practically shouting.

  “Hush! Do you want the world to know” said Rori. “Yes, Senator Hargraves.”

  “Senator Vander Hargraves is dirty? Who would have known? You don’t mess around, do you?”

  “Who?” said Rori in confusion.

  “Senator Vander Hargraves,” said Nolan. “Brand’s father.”

  “His name isn’t Vander. It’s Rowan. Senator Rowan Hargraves.”

  “Ah,” said Nolan. “That explains it. That’s not Brand’s father. That’s his uncle.”

  “Oh,” said Rori. “Well, that’s better then, isn’t it?”

  “Not really. Vander is a tough senator. Rowan is tough all around. Of the two, I’d rather it was his father.”

  Nolan moved to the door and turned back to face Rori. “I’m going out. I’ll be back. Be ready to move out in a moment if I come back tonight. Wear dark clothes.”

  “What about my two soldier guards?” asked Rori. “Won’t they just follow us?”

  “We won’t be leaving by the door,” said Nolan.

  “Sure sounds to me like you are helping me,” said Rori with a smile.

  “I’m just looking into it. Nothing more.”

  Rori paced for quite some time after Nolan left. Eventually, more because he was tired of pacing than any realistic expectation that he might actually fall asleep, he lay down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling trying to make some sense of it all. Trying to decide how they could get the book, but at the same time trying to decide what exactly he did feel about Karyn and how much that was coloring his perceptions.

  His mind raced back and forth between concerns until eventually he slid into sleep.