They walked through the marketplace to the courtyard with the fountain, and Seed saw the bench was occupied by an old man. He nudged Lekton, "Go find out if that's him."

"Me?" startled, Lekton looked up at him, "Why me?"

"Well, you wanted to come along," Seed grinned.

Lekton took a deep breath, "All right. He looks pretty old though."

"Old guys have a lot of life experience."

Culgan considered stopping him but decided not to, instead standing back and scanning the crowd.

Lekton sat down on the bench beside the old man and waited for him to say something, but he looked over at Seed and saw him gesturing for him to say something, so he asked, "Are you Lyle?"

The old man raised his voice back, obviously hard of hearing, "WHAT?"

Lekton flinched at the volume and looked over at Seed and Culgan, mouthing, 'I don't think it's him.'

"Whaddya want, whippersnapper? You're on my bench!"

"What?" Lekton looked puzzled, "I don't see your name on it, old man."

"Respect your elders!" he yelled.

"Come to think of it," Seed said to Culgan without looking away from the bench, "I have seen that old guy sitting on that bench before."

The old man reached for his cane and yelled, "Get off my bench!"

Lekton hopped up and moved out of the way when the old man took a swing at him. "We're waiting for somebody, mister! I can't just leave!" He looked back over at Seed and saw him laughing, then wondered if he put him up to it knowingly. Seed waved him over, so he jogged back. "Did you know he was violent?"

Seed grinned, "I would never put you in harm's way. Wouldn't want Senna mad at me."

"Well—hey, wait a minute. What about my well being?"

"Go find out if that old guy wants a drink. Maybe we can lure him away from the bench," Seed suggested.

Lekton sighed and walked back to the old man on the bench. "Hey, can I get you a drink, my respectable elder?"

Culgan noticed a slender boy in knickers and a newsboy cap watching them with amusement as he ate his apple, but he dismissed the spectator and kept an eye out for what might look like a reputable detective.

"Bring me a dozen plums!" the old man commanded.

"What? I'm not your errand boy-" Lekton moved out of the way as he swung his cane at him again. "All right, all right!" He ran off into the market to get some plums. He pictured himself laying them out in a trail so the old man had to get off the bench, but he wondered if bending over would throw out his back. When he came back with the dozen plums, he said, "Okay, old man. I'll give you the plums if you let me borrow your bench for a while."

The old man grunted, "No deal."

"What?" Lekton looked at the plums then the old man. "Come on!"

The old man ignored him, pulling out a bag of bread crumbs to feed the birds.

Lekton looked at Seed, who was leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed, watching, and Culgan, who was still looking around for their contact. As ridiculous as the notion was, he felt like if they sat on that bench and waited, the investigator would magically appear. "I feel like a terrible person doing this, mister, but I need that bench." He snatched the bag of bird feed from the old man's jittery hand and backed away.

"Thief!" The old man waved his cane at him and slowly stood up.

"Come and get it!" Lekton said, backing up.

"When I catch you, you're gonna get it, boy! Your parents should have disciplined you better! Delinquent!" the old man rasped and croaked as he followed him waving his cane.

Seed shrugged as he stepped away from the wall, "Well, I didn't see that coming. But I guess it's a good thing we brought Lekton with us. I don't think I'd have it in me to steal his bag of bread crumbs." Seed sat down on the bench beside Culgan and spread his arms out along the back of it, enjoying the sun pouring down on them.

Culgan leaned forward on his knees, still looking through the crowded marketplace.

"Just be patient," Seed started.

Culgan raised an eyebrow at him, "You're telling me to be patient?"

Hearing him sound so incredulous made Seed crack a grin, "Weird, I know. Usually, it's the other way around. But you're looking around so much, you didn't enjoy the show. He'll come."

The boy Culgan had caught eavesdropping on them before circled around the fountain and stopped in front of them, taking another bite of his apple as he looked them up and down. Getting a closer look at him,Culgan realized that he was a she.

"Are you Lyle?" Culgan asked.

Seed could tell right away that she was a young girl, maybe a little older than Lekton. Seed nudged Culgan with his elbow, then said as if correcting an obvious error, "Varen said 'he'." He looked up at her with a smile, "Are you Lyle's assistant?"

The girl chuckled, "I'm Lyle. You must be my contacts."

Damn, Seed thought, I feel like I just lost a bet.

She tossed her apple core in the bin beside the bench and shoved her hands in her pockets as she leaned back on her heels. "So, what can I do for you two? Cheating wives? Missing child? Serial killer for a neighbor?"

"Have you seen a fat spotted cat called Moo?" Seed started.

"Ignore him," Culgan shot him a sideways glance. "There are corrupt military officials taking advantage of the state of disarray the new Republic is in, extorting businesses under the nose of the Mayor of Muse. Since he's out there, and Higheast is under his watch, he's largely unaware of what's going on. We want to collect evidence against them as proof of their misconduct and hand it over to Fitcher, presuming he's not also corrupt."

"That's quite the task," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin and beginning to pace. "This could get messy… real messy, real quick." She stopped and looked them over again, "But I'll do it. I don't much care for the new people in charge anyway."

Lekton came back then, rubbing the back of his head. "That old guy whacked me with his stick, but I lost him for now. He's probably going to come back." He looked at Lyle standing beside him, catching a glimpse of her freckled face. "Uh, hi."

Lyle smirked, "Well, you did steal his bird feed and run off. Serves you right."

Lekton felt his ears burn and stammered, "Oh, you saw that…" He looked at Seed, "Is she… er, he...?"

Seed nodded.

"I'm afraid I don't know much more than that," Culgan said, bringing their attention back to the subject at hand. "I did, however, find that one of the business owners being harassed is a shop keeper on the east side. His name is Douglas."

Seed was surprised, "How the hell do you know that?"

"There was a reason I didn't want to rush over to Varen's yesterday."

"You like doing your homework," Seed thought aloud.

"Douglas," she nodded. "Got it. I will start my investigation there. For something of this magnitude, I'm going to require twenty five hundred potch now and twenty five hundred when I'm done."

Seed whistled, thinking, That's pretty steep. "Lekton, I hope Varen gave you the money."

"What? Me?" Lekton looked at him and thought he was serious. "I don't carry that kind of potch on me!"

"Don't have a panic attack," Seed grinned, "I was kidding."

Culgan handed Lyle the money. "Varen, the man that sent you the letter, will pay the other half."

"You have an honorable air about you, so I know I can believe you," she smiled, "not like this one." She gave Lekton a playful punch on the arm.

Lekton rubbed his arm, his cheeks heating up. "I'm really not a bad person!"

"I shall start my investigation immediately," she said, tipping her hat to them. "I'll be in touch." She grinned at Lekton and looked to her left, "That old man is coming back and he looks madder than he did before." She walked away, whistling a song.

Lekton's head shot around to look for the old man, but he didn't see him. Still, to avoid being whacked by the cane again, he caught up to her and walked beside her. "Thanks for the heads up." He cleared his throat, "So, is uh, Lyle short for something? I mean, not that it isn't cute for a girl or anything."

She cast him a sidelong glance, "My real name is Delilah, but I took to dressing up as a boy and calling myself Lyle, and it's something that has stuck."

"Oh," he said, quiet for a little while. "So, should I think of you as a boy, then?"

She laughed, "I should have been more clear. Lyle was a disguise I came up with once while being chased after a botched investigation. I needed to hide, so I got some clothes off of someone's laundry line, tucked my hair under a cap and pretended to be a boy to shake them off. It worked so well that I've taken on the Lyle persona when I need to meet people and when I need to blend in."

"Oh, that makes sense. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to be a boy," he stammered. "I'm-"

"Lekton," she finished for him. "You're right. You're not a bad person. It was nice of you to ask."

He almost walked into someone and dodged them, "Uh, thanks... It was nice talking to you." He looked back for Seed and Culgan but saw they had already left and the old man replaced them on the bench.

"It was nice talking to you too, Lekton." She looked back when he did and joked, "I guess your friends thought you'd have no problem asking the cross-dressing girl out on your own." She laughed and gave him a nudge with her elbow.

Lekton blushed and stumbled into a barrel full of apples in front of the fruit vendor's cart. "I, ah, um…" Oh, runes, how could this be any more embarrassing? he thought, then blurted out, "Would you? Be interested? Sometime, maybe?"

She looked at him, both eyebrows raised. "This is the first time I've gotten a reaction like that while dressed like this." She smiled, "I have a lot of investigating to do, but maybe when all of this is over with."

Lekton took that maybe as a yes and grinned, "Looking forward to it." He stopped, "I guess I should let you get to work then."

"Lots of work to be done," she said, skipping ahead. "I'll be seeing you, Lekton." She smiled back and tipped her hat before continuing her whistling.

"We met with your investigator," Culgan said. "As it turns out, Lyle is a girl around Lekton's age."

Varen was surprised, "A girl? Lekton's age?" He noticed Lekton wasn't with them when they came in. "I guess that's where he is now. How did the meeting go?"

"She took the job."

"Good." Varen started toward his study and said, "I'll reimburse you."

"No, that's alright," Culgan held up his hand. "She's collecting the other half of her payment after she's done. Twenty five hundred. You can pay that portion."

"Thank you," Varen said, taken by surprise again. "Would you like to sit down? Senna can brew some tea."

As tempting as it was, Culgan wanted to go for a walk to clear his head. "No, thank you though."

Seed held up his hand, "I'll pass."

"Well, I have a proposal to make to both of you," Varen said coolly. "Actually, it was Lekton's idea."

"What is it?" Seed asked.

"I am making an assumption that you haven't found permanent residence yet."

"You assume correct," Seed said, exchanging looks with Culgan.

"This manor has eight bedrooms, only three of which are being used. I'd like to invite you to live here with us."

Seed's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but he looked to Culgan first.

Varen continued, "My estate is already paid for, so I won't ask you to pay rent. Just help pay for the food and water you use, maybe help out around the house."

"That's very generous," Culgan said, rubbing his chin.

Turning to Seed, Varen added, "I know I said we need an HQ, should we go about raising an army in the future. My house is not big enough for that, but if you wanted your friend Christina to move in as well, there are still three more empty bedrooms that can be put to use."

Lekton walked in through the front door and asked, "Did you mention your big collection of books?" Varen glanced at Culgan. "Oh, and Senna bakes cookies," Lekton added.

"Count me in," Seed grinned.

"Really?" Varen asked, stunned at the speedy decision.

"If I hate it, I'll move out. And if you hate me, you can evict me. What's the worst that could happen?"

We start a war, Culgan thought. "I have to think it over."

"Rent free, beautiful house. What is there to think over?" Seed thought aloud.

"Like Seed said, you can leave anytime. But I understand your reservations, and you don't have to decide right now," Varen said.

"I thank you for the offer, Varen, and I will consider it."

Lekton walked past them into the hallway. "I'm gonna go tell Senna!"

Seed asked, "You're really okay with inviting Christina to move in too?"

"If she's devoted to the cause preferably. But if she's your girlfriend-"

Seed interrupted him, "No, she's not- my girlfriend, that is. I'll have a talk with her though." A thought dawned on him. "If there was someone else though…"

"I am going to trust your judgment, Seed." Varen could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Okay, then I'll be back in a couple days. And I'll cook you guys dinner."

Culgan cocked an eyebrow, "You can cook?"

"Are you kidding? I love to eat. How could I not know how to cook?"

Senna followed Lekton in from the garden in the backyard, delighted, "Is it true you're moving in?"

"Yeah," Seed returned her smile, "I'm going back to the inn now though, and I'll be back in a couple days."

"I'll make sure to bake some cookies since Lekton told me that was one of the selling points to convince you to join us," Senna said and ruffled Lekton's hair.

"Lookin' forward to it."