He dismounted and handed the horse to the man at the door.
"Excuse me, could you take my horse to the stables?"
The man gave him a nasty look, but nodded. Ahro cast his eyes up to look at the sign.
"The Fat Dragon." He whispered.
This was the place Finnean had talked about. The pouch in his pocket started to feel heavier with every step he took. He had only a thief's word that the man would be here.
Suddenly he felt really stupid. He had left Calandra alone in the woods while he was here, searching for a man he knew only by face.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside. The tavern was filled with men who obvioulsy had too much gold to spare. Their clothes just screamed out they were so expensive that it had taken a carriage full of gold to pay for them.
The men had decorated themselves with more jewels and golden ornaments than Ahro had ever hoped to see. How was he supposed to find Writath in a crowd like this?
He wrestled his way up to the bar and took a look around. His eyes glided over the crowd of fat men, wallowing in luxury and surrounded by their footmen. He was disgusted by this image, but then realised that he had been doing a similar job himself just a few days ago, waiting on people who had so much gold they could buy their own city.
Suddenly he noticed a group of men in a darker corner of the tavern. A large man, dressed in somewhat more sobre clothes than his friends, did most of the talking. Everyone around him laughed at every word he spoke.
Determined, Ahro stepped forward.
"Excuse me, sir." He said in a clear voice.
The laughs died down and they gave him a curious, almost disgusted, look.
"'Ere...'o are you?" said one of the other men.
The man had a large scar running across his face, as if he had been slashed by a sword and had only just gotten away. Ahro looked at him and tried to copy Calandra's superior stare. The effect was somewhat lessened because he looked like a beggar to these people, but it still seemed to work.
"My name is not the issue here. Writath's, however, is. I have some business with thee, sir." He said, turning to face the man he knew from the inn back in Jabol.
Writath raised an eyebrow and stared at him. "What business could you have with me? Unless you have come to beg for money, I do not know what you could want with me."
"I have no need for your money." Ahro replied, feeling slightly annoyed by Writath's condescending tone of voice.
He had not come all this way just to be insulted.
"I have come to talk about a bet you made with a girl in Jabol. I do believe you've been searching for the young lady."
The smiles around the table disappeared and Writath suddenly grasped Ahro's wrists forcefully.
"You've been informed well, boy. Tell me...you know where she is? She owes me..."
Ahro swallowed difficultly. He suddenly wished he had never agreed to this plan. He was no match for a man like this, he had never dared to speak to anyone like this. Finnean had been trained to speak smoothly and knew how to keep his face straight in a situation like this. Finnean should have gone himself.
"I...er...I do, but-"
"Wonderful! Wonderful, lad. Well, come on. Out with it."
Slowly Ahro realised what Writath had wanted to find out with that question. He shook his head.
"N-no...no, I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. I came to you with different intentions."
Writath bit his lip and gave the others at the table a tiny nod. He stood up and placed a heavy hand on Ahro's shoulder. Ahro felt as if he was being driven into a corner, but there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment.
"Very well. Tell me about your business." Writath said calmly.
Ahro resentfully allowed Writath to stear him away from the table and out of the tavern. The walk through the city was far from comfortable. Ahro felt not only like he was being watched, but threatened as well. Somehow he would have preferred talking about this in the tavern than alone with Writath in the streets.
"So tell me, why did you search me out if not to tell me the young lady's whereabouts."
"I know she owes you a great sum of money. Five thousand and two hundred gold pieces."
Writath nodded. "That is indeed what I am owed. Has she been able to gather these funds?"
"...Not...not quite."
"Ah, so what are you? Her benefactor?"
Ahro forced himself not to let his face grow red. "...Something like that."
"Listen boy. I ran into her friend and he already directed me here...if you have not come to tell me where she is or to pay me the money then you should not have come."
They turned a corner and Ahro found himself facing a door. He tried to stay calm.
"Come inside." Writath said as he opened the door.
"I'd rather not." Ahro said forcefully. "I'll say what I have to say out here. I have the money you want."
Writath pretended not to hear him and shoved him inside. Before Ahro knew what was happening he had been pushed into a chair and was handed a richly decorated goblet made of silver.
"So you came to pay the bet after all." Writath said as he sat himself down in a comfortable chair across from Ahro. "Does the girl know this?"
Ahro took a sip from his drink and Writath gave him an intense stare.
"I'll take is she does not. Then where is she if you are here? Surely she must be searching for a way to raise the funds."
"She is." Ahro found himself saying before he knew it.
"Really...Interesting. You'll be going to let her know you've dealt with this problem, I suppose. If it's a long journey, then I will keep you no longer. You can pay me the gold now and I will let thee go so the two of you can be reunited as soon as possible."
Ahro looked up at this curious remark. Writath had a glint in his eyes that Ahro couldn't quite distinguish. Was it a playful remark or was there more to it?
Writath laughed at his curious glance. "I just assumed that you and the young lady...Well, you did come al this way to pay her debt. Surely you must have strong feelings for her if you traveled so far and so long into a city you do not know for this kind of matter. At least that's what I assumed. And I, by no means, wish to keep two lovers apart too long."
"It's not that far..." Ahro said uncomfortably as he took another sip of his wine.
He let his hand slide into his pocket and tossed the heavy pouch onto the table.
"Here is your money."
Writath took the pouch and opened it, letting a small stream of coins slide through his fingers.
"The lady must be glad that she won't have to do anything drastic. And you must be pleased as well that she won't have to undertake something dangerous."
Ahro emptied his goblet and felt the alcohol had made him a bit drowsy already. This had been very strong wine.
"Indeed!" he suddenly cried.
He had delivered the money and now Calandra was safe. He felt triumphant that he had handled the situation properly and for once he felt like an equal to Calandra and Finnean.
"She planned to rob the diamond transport!"
Writath leaned back and carelessly tossed the money on the table again. "Really?"
"Yeah." Ahro continued, feeling he could let his guard down now the task had been completed. "She had plans to lay a trap along the southern road to Marek. I'm glad she won't have to go through with it."
"I can imagine." The sudden cold change in the sound of Writath's voice snapped Ahro awake from his relaxation.
He looked up and stared right at Writath's face. The look in the man's eyes was enough to rid Ahro of any drowsiness caused by the wine and in one fleating second he felt the alcohol leave his body.
Ahro gasped. "I-"
She looked up as the birds settled in a tree nearby. The fire had died out, but she didn't bother relighting it. The sun slowly rose above the tops of the trees and the light was spreading across the landscape.
She had waited the entire night and nothing had come by. Not a single horseman had ridden past her hidingplace. She wasn't tired, she was used to nights like this. If she needed to, then she could wait for another two days and still be able to put up a good fight.
But it started to dawn on her that the transport hadn't taken the route she had expected it to take. Either that or it had been a false rumour...
She weighed two thoughts in her mind. Should she wait for the transport another day? It could have been delayed. Or should she just give up here and now.
It seemed to her that Ahro had been the smarter one of the two for once. But giving up so easily now was something she could not face. She was mentally too tired to make another plan.
She would wait in the vain hope that the transport had indeed been delayed.
"Please...Eleonora...Goddess..."
She did not even have the strength of mind to pray. She had forbidden herself to think of Ahro, but she couldn't help comparing him to Finnean.
She sighed and decided she had waited enough. No amount of diamonds was worth this solitude far from the city. If the transport had not come by now, then it was time for her to accept that it would not come at all.
'Perhaps it was all just a lie.' She thought miserably.
Perhaps the treasure did not exist. Perhaps the King's people had spread false rumours about it so that they would lead robbers like her astray.
With annoyance about all this wasted time, she got up regretfully and began to pack her bag. She sat down on a stone slab and clasped the straps of her boots. The urge to talk to the emptyness around her, just to hear some sound, was strong but she resisted.
'He who talks to himself has lost himself.'
She could hear Tehk's words ring in her mind.
'Never lose your mind or yourself. They are the two most valueable possesions you'll ever have.'
That's the way more than one good thief had found his end. And it's the way you can tell good and bad thieves apart.
'Bad thieves often talk too much.' He had added cheerfully.
She smiled. Thad day had always been special in her mind. One of the most special days of her youth.
Never talk when no one else is around. One of the most prized lessons Tehk had ever taught her. She stood up and fastened her bracers around her wrists just a little tighter. She took one last look around, checking she had taken all her equipment with her.
"Well Silta, it looks like we really are on our own." She whispered gently, caressing her horse's nose.
She took Silta's leads and led him away from the campsite. Loneliness was perhaps the best company you could have, Calandra mused. If you never had any company, then you would never know what to miss if someone left you.
She spat on the ground.
'Ha.' She thought cooly, forcing a disgruntled look on her face. 'A good thief needs no company anyway. A good thief can work alone and keeps it that way. Company only gets in your way or slows you down.'
She spat again, finding it a highly effective way to vent her anger.
A sudden rustle of leaves and twigs next to her made her look up. Her hand reached down to the sheath on her belt, ready to draw her sword if neccesary.
"Good e'en, miss Robin." A smooth voice said behind her.
She whipped around and found herself staring at a face she knew only too well.
"...I-"
"You do remember who I am?"
"I...I am sorry I have not been able to pay you your money...I did not mean to neglect my payment."
Writath raised his hand. "No need for apologies. Your debt has been paid, ever penny."
She looked at him, unable to hide her surprise. She was certain that she hadn't paid herself. Who else would be able to pay it and who would have wanted to?
"...Pray...sir...might I know who it was that paid my debt?"
She chose her words carefully, not wanting to sound too polite and unsincere.
If there was one thing she did not want it was to offend a man like Writath in the middle of nowhere. In her mind she remembered her conversation with Finnean. He had wanted to give her the money...so perhaps...No, he had already paid his share and he would never pay more than he owed.
She suspected that the 'investment' he had mentioned was simply keeping himself out of harm's way by just paying up.
Writath, to her surprise, nodded friendly. He whistled softly and a soldier came from behind him, pushing another man forward while holding a shortbow in his other hand.
"I didn't want to scare you, so I told them to wait." Writath said simply.
Calandra frowned at the sight of the two new people that came walking towards her slowly. This was not at all what she had expected.
As I write this I sip my beer and I think about how glad I am I decided to post this. It's really a nice feeling to be able to post this on the internet and know that people are reading it.
Grayangle: Well, grayangle, Finnean's health isn't really hampered is it….yet Ahro's safety cannot be assured at the moment. You'll find out in due time, perhaps against your liking. But keep in mind that Ahro meant well by leaving Lan's side, even though she doesn't know it. (I Like Ahro, the poor sap. He's a bit of a wuss and yet……he has a certain charm, don't you think?)
So what now? Calandra is going to face one heck of a weird situation in the next chapter. Just keep reading and reviewing and you'll find out ;)