X: His Faithful Servant

Kenny

"We need to find that maid, doc," Kenny said the moment Laurens stepped out through his front door.

He'd already waited at the foot of the stairs for an hour, pacing in tight little circles. The thought of that missing maidservant was a fire in his brain. She'd slipped out from under their noses, and because everyone in this fucking city thought of themselves before others, they hadn't even known she was gone. That's solidarity for you: "everyone into the boats after me". Damn it—suppose this was what the word 'tantalising' was good for. She'd been so tantalisingly close. It felt like they almost passed each other in the hall yesterday. If only they had known right away that she was missing… but it didn't matter now. There was nowhere she could hide where he couldn't find her unless she went outside Wall Maria, and no one was that stupid.

Oh wait, forgot all about the Survey Corps. Guess some people really are that stupid. Anyway, the point was, he had to find her.

Yesterday's miserable wetness had retreated with greater haste than an MP in a dark alley, and autumn's pale sun swam through a sea of deep ultramarine. And much like the doc's inscrutable countenance, the sun's light held no warmth.

"I would like to inform you, Mr. Hunter ," the doc replied with something that might have been sarcasm, "that not only is it wholly inaccurate to refer to me as 'doctor', but it is also deeply insulting to equate my superior study of the human anatomy to that of a witch-doctor, who grinds and administers herbs for a living."

"Heck, would ya rather be a speech impediment? 'Cause 'phys' sounds pretty stupid if ya ask me."

The doc did not bother to reply but stared back at him, and the arctic pause that followed led Kenny to the inevitable conclusion that, no, the doc would not prefer to be referred to as 'phys' after all.

Laurens was first to break the silence, "There is something I must hear from you."

"Sure."

"Did I do right when I—when I did as you asked yesterday? I tell myself that I did and that no harm came of it... And yet I feel soiled." His brows knit together and he drew a deep breath, pushing his shoulders back and his chest out. Like a frog working itself up to a mighty croak. "You wouldn't have hurt the girl, would you? I mean, I know of your past eh-" he groped for a good word to use, a kinder word than the obvious one perhaps, "deeds," he finished, looking relieved. "But there's a difference between attacking armed men set on killing you, and hurting women—or children."

Kenny nodded. "There is."

He had just never been able to see it. That wasn't what the doc wanted to hear though, because that wouldn't alleviate his conscience. Many claim they want the truth, but truth is like tea—everyone will praise its flavour until they get a taste of it. Even Uri. The king accepted that the price of life and prosperity within the walls was a certain amount of cruelty. But confronted with its stark reality, he could not stand to look at it. Maybe that was why Uri held out his hand that day, why he needs Kenny—because there isn't anything he can't stand to look at.

"Oh good." The doc sounded relieved. He let a huff of air out and sagged back into the depths of his coat, the same one he'd worn yesterday. Paired with his immaculate side comb and smooth cheeks, he looked like a boy trying on his father's clothes.

"Come on." Kenny started walking.

"Local Garrison stable. Need horses if we're gonna check out the gates."

"The guard outposts would have registered if she left Wall Sina, good thinking," he said, but then his bright expression collapsed. "By my recollection though, Rose's territory is more than twice the size of Sina's, and Maria is larger than both of them put together. How would we ever find her?"

"Easy," Kenny said. They turned a corner onto the wide intersecting street, green pastures with wooden fencing coming into view half a mile or so up ahead. The facility had two points of access via tall iron gates, both of which were guarded by the Military Police regiment. He eyeballed the aforementioned guards as they approached. No one he'd seen before, good.

"If ya just know a few tricks," he continued, "finding people ain't as hard as ya might think. They need to have certain things within reach; food, water, someplace to sleep. These folk living off the land way out in Maria might take a little longer to track down, but in the end ya get them because they settle down, build houses, form communities. If our maid's gone out there we'll start with a little look at the register, find out where her mother's settled down, and go pay her a visit."

"The register?" the doc said, incredulously.

"Uhuh."

"As in the Royal Register of Citizens?"

"Think any other old register would do us any good? Yeah, that one." Wasn't Kenny supposed to be the uneducated one here?

"But his majesty the king alone has access to the archives."

They reached the uniformed guardsmen, who made perfectly synchronised gestures for them to halt.

"Who goes there?" barked the soldier on the left, and at the exact same time the soldier on the right shouted, "State your business!" They gave each other an accusatory look.

The one on the left turned his attention back to Laurens and Kenny.

"Well?" he said.

Kenny pushed his hand into his inner pocket. The damned thing inside always got stuck when he tried to pull it out, its corners digging deep into the lining of his coat. Grunting, he pulled out the rectangular metal disc imprinted with the king's seal and showed it to the two soldiers.

"Open the gate. We'll take two of your fastest horses," he said.

The soldiers stared hard at the king's seal, and then all at once, they became very eager to do just as Kenny had said. They swung the gates open and shouted for two of their comrades to saddle a pair of horses, going as far as to offer their goodbyes and well wishes when Laurens and Kenny rode out. The horse's steel-shod hooves clopped against the paved roads until they reached the point where stone traded place with hard-packed dirt, the residential houses shrinking into the distance. Acres of twisted grape vines spread out in uniform striped patches, stretching all the way to the horizon. Thick, knobbled trunks spread their many fingers towards the fading sky, gnarled branches plucked bare, still shy of the season's first signs of life.

"Well, I suppose that settles it," Laurens said, out of the blue. "You, my friend, are surely his majesty's most trusted man."

Servant. The word Laurens should have used was 'servant'.

"I doubt it."

"Oh, pish posh, it is plain for anyone to see. Why else would he have put you in charge of this investigation?"

"No idea."

"I'll admit, at first I feared your disinterest would hamper our investigation. It seems I could not have been more wrong on the matter, and that I misjudged you entirely. In fact, you hold the king in the highest regard, don't you, Mr. Ackerman?"

"Not respectin' the strongest guy around always seemed pretty stupid to me. Tell ya what Doc, lemme pose a philosophical question: Does the frog love the water if it shrivels up and dies without it?"

The sun sagged slowly towards the horizon like an overripe grapefruit as they rode back into Mitras. Their maid had not exited through any of Sina's gates, which was both good and bad news, Kenny supposed. Fewer possible places where she might hide, but with her fleeing the house of her employer, she could be hiding in just about any of this diminished number of possible places.

"Let's see if the pig patrol's got somethin' interesting to snuffle about," Kenny said, although he'd have to send the doc in alone if he caught a whiff of any familiar stink. Most, if not all MP's who'd seen him in the flesh would've had a hard time blabbing about it, seeing as they would have been rotting in the ground for the past few years. But you could never be too careful.

"Pig patrol?" Laurens said, utterly bewildered.

Kenny sighed.

Ya gotta explain everythin' to some people.

"Them." He pointed to two uniforms making their way down the crowded street. The last light of day always saw much activity, grocers hurrying to their last deliveries, servants hurrying to make their last purchases, and paperboys crying frantically. Gamblers and other wretches had come crawling out of their dark side alleys, trying to blend into the crowds as they started their journey towards the backed-up gutter they would inevitably end up in, this night or another.

"Oh, you mean the military police patrols? I suppose someone ought to have seen her, but… what do we do with you?"

"I'll stay in the background, ya do the talking. Shouldn't be anyone around who'd recognise my face, but ya never know."

"And I should present you as Mr. Hunter?" Laurens said critically.

"No need to mention any names, just show 'em this if they make a fuss." He pressed the seal into Laurens' hand.

"I do feel we need to discuss your choice of name, however. Hunter does not exactly have a societal ring to it, and what should I say is your first name, if anyone asks?"

"Why the hell would anyone ask?"

"This is Mitras."

"Fine, ya pick one then."

"Alright, Wolstan might add some much-needed class to your person."

"Hold on. There are parents who'd name their kid Wolstan?"

"Yes, yours ," Laurens said, and smiled for the first time.

They dismounted and waited for the approaching patrol. They were young, male, and there was something off about their uniforms. Or to be precise, there was something off about the crest sewn onto their left breast pocket.

"Training Corps," the doc murmured out of the corner of his mouth.

"The hell would they be patrolling here for," Kenny muttered. At least they would not know his face. Might not even have heard of him.

"Greetings. Do you have a moment to assist us in our inquiry?" Laurens asked the two young men, who halted stiffly. Both were of similar age, but where one was of average height, thin-faced and wiry, the other was tall, light-haired and broad across the shoulders and chest.

"We're just stationed here for the weekend. Any official business you'll have to discuss with our commanding officer," the wiry, dark-haired one said. Something in his appearance made Kenny think of a weasel.

"Pardon my asking, but why are there trainees on patrol?"

"According to the higher-ups the MPB was short-handed this week so they sent the top ten from all branches to fill in," the weasel said and shrugged. "I think they want us to see what we'll be choosing."

"Oh, I suppose it is only right that you do so. Anyhow, we are looking for this girl. She works as a maidservant for the von Rohrs." Laurens presented them with the etching Traute von Rohr had provided. The two studied it until the tall, blonde boy straightened.

"Who's asking?" he said with utter dispassion. His stillness reminded Kenny of a dog waiting until it's figured out whether you are a friend or foe.

"I have the honour of being First Medicar Laurens Theil, and this is my associate, Wolstan Hunter," Laurens said with a bow of his head.

Maybe being known as 'The Ripper' wasn't so bad after all.

"Medicar?" the blonde one said, and didn't sound too pleased about it.

"Indeed, and your names are?"

"Nile Dok," said the first one. "That's Erwin Smith." He pointed at his friend, who was currently contemplating Kenny's face. Didn't look too pleased with what he saw there either.

"We saw her," Erwin said.

"Oh yeah, I remember. Two-three days ago now," Nile said and nodded.

"Are you certain it was her?"

Erwin tipped his chin. "If she looks anything like her picture, yes. She was wearing a maid's uniform, and she didn't look… put together the way most do before they go outside. She had no coat, for example. I wouldn't have thought much of it if not…" His voice trailed off.

"If she hadn't headed down the long stairway," Nile continued. "You know, into the underground city."