Author's Note: Certainly been awhile, hasn't it? I've made getting this story done my new year's resolution. One chapter a month, without fail. If I don't manage it, feel free to pelt me with internet stones for my failure.
Matthew: Shadow's Ruse
Merlinus wasn't too horribly pleased with how thoroughly Matthew had picked through his entire stock for exactly the right supplies for his mission, nor was he entirely happy with how much the spy ended up taking. But Merlinus never had much cared for Matthew, and the feeling was certainly mutual. Still, for all of his distaste for the blubbering suck up of a merchant, Matthew had to admit that he kept a good stock and ran an efficient caravan.
Which is probably what made it all the more annoying for him when Matthew systematically picked through everything and messed up his careful organization. But regardless of how much it inconvenienced the merchant, Matthew had a job to do, and he'd be damned if he was going to give it anything but his entire focus.
That was kind of the point, after all.
Setting out on his horse(not the one Lord Hector gave him, of course. That one had the arms of house Pherae branded clear as day on it's shoulder and was too obviously a noble's horse. Matthew traded that one out for a less noteworthy working man's horse with no branding at all), which was a bit loaded down with gear, provisions and money, the canny spy set off for Bern. There was bound to be trouble brewing in the country that Nergal worked the largest part of his evil in, and Matthew was just the man to ferret it out and keep Lord Hector apprised of the situation before anything got out of hand. Of course, the first order of business was to figure out how to go about obtaining this information.
Mulling over some ideas as he rode, Matthew came to the conclusion that he had a few options open to him, depending on what kind of information he was looking for...and what level of danger he was willing to put himself in. Naturally, the better information, such as that which would come from the nobility and upper ranks of the military, carried with it the greatest danger. Generals and their like tended to handpick their staff, and not leave room for any potential spies to work their way into positions where they would be able to hide in plain sight. Not that such a task was beyond Matthew's abilities of course, but it would take quite a while to finagle his way into position, and even once he was there, the danger would still be extremely present. There are reasons why the men who know the most tend to have elite bodyguards, after all.
A better option might be to try the lower ranks of the army. Not enlisting, certainly, but managing to find some role to play that would allow him access to the rank and file, without being one of them. Especially if he could work his way into a place where he would be encountering the soldiers while they were off duty. Off duty soldiers liked to gossip as much or more then small town matrons around the village well, and Matthew was skilled enough in the arts of rumormongering that he could likely glean the true tidbits of knowledge from the dross and outright bull. He would be able to keep a much lower profile while rubbing elbows with the grunts then he could with the officers, so that would certainly be safer, though not completely safe. He would still be surrounded by enemy soldiers, should someone figure him out and raise the hue and cry.
The last of the options he had, was the one he honestly liked the least. Keeping to the common populace and picking up the rumors from them, as well as greasing the occasional palm of an enlisted man to bring him better news, was certainly a far sight less hazardous then getting into the middle of anything, but that was part of the problem. It was too safe. Pulling this kind of super cautious job is the mark of an amateur who can't get themselves into a better position with a higher chance of reward. For someone of Matthew's skill to play it that safe would be nothing short of outright cowardice, in his opinion. But if security even around the rank and file was too tight, then he might not have another choice. Good thing he was never much the type to care about labels like cowardice then.
Continuing to think in this vein, weighing his various options and plots for infiltrating the informational structure of Bern, the lone Ostian made his way northward to Tania. From there, he could take a pass through the mountains to Bern.
Lovely. Just bloody lovely. Staring at the mountain pass between Tania and Bern, Matthew was not particularly pleased with what he saw. Rocks, and lots of them, were now blocking off the path he was planning on using. And it looked like they'd been there for awhile. A rockslide. This is exactly what I needed right now, what with the time sensitive mission and all. Praise to St. Elimine. Keeping his vaguely blasphemous thoughts to himself, the spy simply sat atop his horse and eyed the blocked pass for a bit, looking for any way that one man, and hopefully one horse, could make it across without killing themselves.
"Another traveler caught unawares by the rocks, eh son?"
Matthew's attention was swiftly brought back to his surroundings by the voice of an older man, and he put on a slightly sheepish expression while inwardly berating himself for his inattentiveness as he turned to face his unexpected company, "Haha, guess I was. Just came here by way of Santaruz, and news that the pass was blocked hadn't gotten that far, I guess."
The old man nodded, stroking his beard, "Not a surprise. The only horses in this little town are the ones travelers bring with 'em. I don't suppose you'd be any more willing to turn around and ride the news back to civilization then any of the other lads we've had trying to get through to Bern, hmm?"
Sizing the old man up as he spoke, Matthew dropped further into his character and even relaxed a bit when it became obvious the old timer was no threat to him. He was rather thin, but still looked strong enough for someone his age. A bent back and hands covered with old calluses betrayed that he still worked for a living. Shaking his head apologetically, Matthew did what was expected of him and declined the joking request, "Sorry old timer, I'll just have to let the next guy be as surprised as me. I've got family over in Bern, y'see. Need to get out to 'em as quick as I can."
Chuckling, the old man bobbed his head again, "S'about what I expected. Everybody's got a reason they need to be in Bern by yesterday. I expect the other end's having the same trouble with people who want to get outta that place soon as they can. Makes more sense then people wanting in, considering what's been going on over there."
Matthew nodded along with the old man, keeping himself relaxed and agreeable while he started to think of how to work some questions into his conversation, "Well, can't speak for the others, but family is where family is, and not much you can do about it." Casting an irritated gaze at the pile of rocks, he decided to take a chance with the direct approach this time, "Don't suppose you know any little one-horse-paths or the like I could squeeze through on, do you?"
Shaking his head, the old man had only poor news to deliver, "Afraid not, son. There are other paths of course, but to be honest you'd have to be a goat to cross 'em."
Having expected as much, Matthew nodded and grinned rather irreverently, "Happen to know where I can trade a horse for a riding goat then?"
Laughter echoed through the small, but crowded, tavern as the old man told his story between swallows of ale, "And then, quick as you please, the lad asked me where he could trade his horse for a riding goat! Can you believe that?" slapping Matthew's back, he laughed even harder, "Imagine this tall young man right here riding up the mountain on goat-back! Hah!"
Matthew kept his patented Like A Fool grin on his face while he laughed along with everyone else and fished out a couple more rather grimy coins to buy another drink for the old man. Matthew, of course, was still on his first.
After Matthew befriended the old man with his silly quip and simple demeanor, he struck gold by asking if there was a place to have a drink while he figured out what to do next. As luck would have it, there was. And what a place, at that. Under normal circumstances, this dinky little Tavern At The Pass(yes, that was it's name. The owner was obviously quite an original chap) wouldn't even rate a second glance, as a likely place for either drink or information, from the lanky spy. But right now, with the pass blocked, the Tavern was filled with all kinds of disgruntled travelers. From those trying to get home, to peddlers, to even the odd mercenary trying to reach Bern to find work, the place was positively bursting at the seams with patrons. And with that many travelers, all displeased with the current situation and drinking their irritation away, well let's just say this is the kind of informational gold mine that spies like Matthew love finding.
Too bad it was on THIS side of the Lycia-Bern border.
Still, there was a lot he could learn here just by purchasing a few drinks and telling some lame jokes. Thankfully, coin and lowbrow humor were both things the spy had in abundance(though he certainly didn't let the former show too much), so within an hour of sitting down, Matthew had managed to attract a small group of men, all more then willing to have a drink on the tall young man's dime and lament about the road being blocked off.
"So like I was saying," one of Matthew's newest 'friends' said for the third time in one minute, "there's another way over into Bern if you're willin' to risk bandits. Gotta head up into Araphen and slide through a corner of Sacae to do it though. Araphen's a bit of a wreck these days and who knows what goes through the heads of those savages, right?" The man spit in a nearby bucket to emphasize his opinion of the Sacaens before taking another swig of the swill he was drinking.
Nodding along like he agreed wholeheartedly with the man's sentiments, Matthew managed to avoid rolling his eyes at the ignorant fool. He already knew about heading up through Araphen way, and had already considered doing that himself, but he hadn't heard about the territory lapsing into a bad state. Even as skilled as he was, it probably wouldn't do to travel in a bad place alone if he could help it. Even he had to sleep sometime.
But even more interesting then the news itself, was seeing how his fellow stuck travelers reacted to it. Most nodded along passively as Matthew himself had done, or just shrugged away the concept of heading up through Sacae as if it were completely out of the question. But one gentleman seemed to be paying a bit closer attention to that news. Perhaps even seriously considering it himself. Sizing the man up, Matthew took note of everything about him. His dress, his posture, his speech patterns, even down to the type of liquid refreshment he seemed to prefer.
Paying only partial attention to the conversation that followed, the spy took his time studying the man who was interested in the northern pass. This might just be the ticket he was looking for, but caution was the rule of his life. Hmm, dressed well for the road. His clothes have seen their share of travel, that's for certain. Plenty of pockets and a sturdy fabric, that's dressed for utility and comfort more then looks. Carrying some extra pounds on him, means he's likely got a cart instead of riding or walking. Very neutral accent, wonder if he trained it out of his voice? He looks Lycian enough, but I can't peg the territory. Drinking wine, not ale or beer, and he's only had a couple more then I have. Not slurping it up like the rest of these lunkheads. Doesn't look dangerous, but all that means is that if he is a threat, he'll be a nasty one. Smart money says he's a peddler, though. I think I can use this.
Nodding along through the next few minutes of conversation, Matthew waited until someone else mentioned Araphen again to play his next card. Listening to one man talk about how the Marquis had taken ill and a good number of his own troops were taking advantage of this to play the bandit, he shook his head and let slip his carefully considered phrasing, "Soldiers gone to brigands? That's a damned shame and that's the truth. Place certainly sounds like it's gone to the wolves since last I heard any news about it. I sure wouldn't wanna head up through that mess by my lonesome, though I might give it a thought if there was a few others wanting to go as well." Taking a sip of his own drink he shrugged and added, "Safety in numbers, right? And dangerous or not, it sounds like it might be the only way across for a good while. Don't know about anyone else, but after all the stuff that's been going on, I can't imagine any of the lordships around here will be going out of their way to get a pass to Bern open anytime soon."
No few snorted in agreement at that, though nobody leapt to their feet to accept his offer or anything. That's alright, he wasn't expecting any immediate responses anyway. He was pleased to notice the man he'd pegged as a peddler sizing him up from the corner of his eye. Not wanting to scare the man, or to let on that he himself was more then he seemed, Matthew pretended not to notice he was being appraised. Instead, he grabbed his own cup, and a few more empty mugs to clear space, and walked up to the bar to see about getting some food. Even if everything went perfectly, he certainly wasn't getting out of here before morning at least.
Sleeping in the stable with his horse wasn't really the best way for someone as sensitive to noise as Matthew to get any rest, but it still beat sleeping on the open road. Well, except for the smell, that is. Between the noises the animals made, the snoring of the other travelers forced to share stable space with their beasts for lack of room, and the occasional person going in and out of the stable at odd times of the night, Matthew wondered how he got any sleep at all. Still, when the fact that it was morning was made quite evident by a local rooster, the Ostian found that he was considerably more well rested then he expected to be, and got himself up and out of the stable before the others he was sharing with started crowding the door.
No sooner had he gotten out of the stable and brushed himself off, then he spied the peddler fussing with his own horse by the side of the tavern. Taking advantage of opportunity where he found it, Matthew mosied on over that way, waving a greeting when he got close, "Mornin'. Looks like I'm not the only early riser here, eh?"
Acknowledging Matthew's presence with a nod, the peddler kept seeing to his horse's morning feed, "I suppose not. I've never been able to sleep much past dawn myself."
Matthew chuckled, Heh, that sounds like...ugh. Focus. Keeping a smile on his face, though his humor was now entirely feigned, the spy cast a wondering gaze towards the tavern door, "Hey, you come from inside? Know if they've got anything to eat ready yet?"
The peddler shook his head, "Afraid I don't, no. Wasn't in time to get a room myself, either. My man Jake and I slept in my cart."
"Fair enough. I guess I'll just go see for myself." As he made his way to the door, Matthew schooled his expression to stop the real smile from creeping out. Heh, 'random' comment about having a guard, eh? Yeah, I think he's the real deal. Excellent.
A luck would have it, there was in fact some simple bread to be had this early, and that with some water was all Matthew really needed, or even wanted for that matter. Taking his breakfast, he wandered back outside and found himself a small stump to sit down on while he ate, and watched the peddler out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough, the man cast a few looks his way, and eventually dusted his hands off and cautiously approached.
"Erm, excuse me, but you're the young man who was talking about wanting to take the northern pass yesterday, aren't you?"
Matthew shrugged, "I suppose so. Wouldn't say I want to take it, though. Just doesn't seem like much of any other way to Bern right now."
The peddler nodded, as if that was what he expected to hear. Matthew hoped it was, at least, as that's precisely why he said it. "I'm considering taking that route myself, actually. I don't relish the thought of bandits, but I have business to do in Bern and every day I delay it is more money I'm not making." Pausing a moment to see that he still had Matthew's attention, the man saw that he did and continued, "Look, I'll cut straight to the point here. If you're at all handy with that sword you carry, I could use an extra guard. I won't be paying you much, but you'll have more then just yourself on the way up through Araphen and Sacae, and you'll get to Bern alot faster then if you waited here."
Pretending to think it over for a moment, Matthew eventually nodded, "Wasn't expecting to work my way across, but I'll not turn down a chance for some extra coin where I can get it. How much is not much, here?"
"Half of what I'm paying Jake. Traders guild rules say that's the most I can pay someone who isn't one of us, you know."
Matthew did know, but he shook his head like it was a foreign language regardless, "That so? Well, I'll take your word for it. I've got nothing to do with any guilds, just a coppersmith's apprentice. And yeah, I'm no master or anything, but I'm not bad with a blade. Been between Bern and Lycia more then once, figured I may as well learn how to protect myself."
The peddler's reaction, a bit of relief and a look as if he were already counting the coins waiting for him in Bern, was exactly what Matthew was hoping for. Standing up, he offered the man his hand, "Name's Mathias, I'm from out Santaruz way. Seeing as I'm gonna be working for you for the trip, should I be callin' you sir, boss or what?"
Shaking Matthew's hand, he shook his head, "Ranad will be fine. I only require formality from professionals. They're being paid well enough for it, after all. Well Mathias, I hope you find leaving today to be suitable? I think two guards should be enough to get us through, we won't be looking for fights after all, and I'd like to leave as soon as possible."
Matthew nodded amicably, though he had his own doubts about whether two guards would be enough or not. Well, if push came to shove, Ranad here was getting far more then he was paying for. He just hoped that it didn't come to it, as he'd prefer to refrain from displaying his full skill while there were people who he didn't intend to kill around. A fighting style like his was something people talked about, and the last thing he wanted was having his swordsmanship, or anything about him for that matter, as the topic of tavern conversation.
Fetching his own horse as he worked over ideas for avoiding ambushes, and lies to justify his knowledge of such things, the lanky spy joined up with Ranad and his wagon and made ready to hit the road.
Well, maybe two guards will be enough... Some of Matthew's doubts about handling any brigands that caught them were dispelled upon meeting Jake face to face. Or face to pectoral muscle, would be more accurate. Matthew was a rather tall man, but the professional guardsman stood head and shoulders above him and was nearly as broad as he was tall.
This did not make Matthew any more comfortable about the trip, considering he neither liked nor trusted this man. It's not that Jake wasn't friendly. Heck, Raven was about the furthest thing from friendly you could get and still be an ally, but Matthew got along with him just fine. No, it was that Jake's friendliness was a rather obvious facade. Or at least it was obvious to Matthew. Ranad didn't seem to pick up on the large man's hidden mannerisms. He seemed to trust Jake just fine and Matthew didn't quite know how to mention that he thought the big man wasn't entirely on the up and up.
Y'see, that professional that you're paying twice what I'm getting? Well, I think he's a rat-fink and think it'd be best if we sent him out for some firewood one evening and then ditched him as soon as he was gone. Yeah, that'd go over real well. Frankly, there just didn't seem to be a good way to bring what he suspected of Jake to the trader's attention without giving himself away. And even then, there was no real reason for the man to take his word for it, and his word was all he had.
So he kept his opinions to himself, just smiled and shrugged whenever the large man decided to strike up conversation. This was hardly the first time Matthew had played the role of a country bumpkin, so it was easy enough to keep in character. Easy enough to disguise the fact that for all his size and might, Jake wasn't the most dangerous man here, not by a long shot.
"This is the life, eh boy?" Jake laughed as he took one last swig from his wineskin before getting back on the road, "Nothing but the open road, the empty sky and a profit to be made at every stop!"
Finishing off the last of his own lunch, Matthew had to smile at least a bit, "Think I prefer a roof and a good fire at the end of the day, but I had forgotten how much I liked traveling."
"Hmm." Musing over a thought, Jake was silent for a good few minutes, until they had gotten properly back on the road. After a bit he struck up the conversation again, "So, you said you've been 'tween Lycia and Bern a few times, eh?"
Matthew inwardly groaned, though he was visibly nodding, "Yup. Santaruz to Bern and back again a couple times. Never in a group this small though, always took up with real caravans and the like." Same answer I gave you when you asked the same question three days ago, moron. Could you possibly be any more blatant about priming me for information?
"Ever given thought to the life of a guard or a trader then, lad? It's a good life, if you're willing to risk a bit."
Now that's a new question. Matthew was quiet a moment, seeming to give the question some actual weight, then shook his head, "Eh, I don't think it's for me. I'm willing to risk some coins on a dog race or drinkin' game, sure. But putting my life on the line for coin isn't something I think I could do for long." Putting on a chipper grin, he added, "besides, I've put too many years into learning copper to change careers now. Uncle says I'm as good as most journeymen, really. Well, when he's not too busy yelling at me for little mistakes."
Jake's reply, if there was going to be one, was cut off when Ranad called out, "Jake! What do you think, are we almost out of Araphen?"
The big man nodded, "Should be. The Sacaen border can't be too much further. We should reach it by nightfall."
Ranad nodded but sighed all the same, "Keep your eyes open then, gentlemen. We've only run into one spot of trouble here, but I don't' expect the real risk to start until we enter the plains."
"Speaking of," Jake looked back to Matthew, "you handled yourself pretty well back there. I was half expecting that sword to be just for show, but you managed that bandit just fine."
Shrugging, the spy suppressed a chuckle at remembering how he'd had to actively try not to just kill the one man who rushed him, "Yeah, and you handled the other three. Never seen that kinda power put behind a sword before. Most big guys I've seen go for axes, come to think of it. Isn't a sword a little light for you?"
Drawing his giant iron blade from it's sheathe, Jake held it out at arm's length and smiled a rather unpleasant smile, "Not if you know the right smiths. Besides, the sword is the king of weapons, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Axes are for brutes with no skill and spears are for nameless infantry. And don't get me started on archers."
"Heh. I just picked up the sword since that's what the old man down the street could teach me. Used to be a soldier or something, never got his whole story." It never ceased to amuse Matthew when he was able to pull out bits from his real life for one of his covers. Long before he was a loyal man of Ostia, he was a simple boy in a simple town. And the old retired soldier who lived down the street was more then happy to teach the young men of the town which end of a sword to hold.
Putting a mental cork in his little trip down memory lane, Matthew went back to the conversation with Jake, slipping in as many 'innocent' questions about the large man's fighting career as he thought he could get away with. Fortunately for him, Jake was a rather typical merc in one regard: he did so love to brag. As the miles stretched on, the spy was treated to tales of valor and daring-do. Some of which might have even been true.
They had passed into the plains near evening, and at Jake's insistence, pushed onward a few hours past the border. According to the large man, the worst raiding was always right on the border. Ranad didn't like pushing on too much after dusk, but he trusted his guard to know his work. And besides, that was certainly a reasonable sounding statement.
It was also full of horse shit.
Having begun to wonder if Jake was actually up to something or was just a sleeze pretending to be a nice guy, every last alarm in Matthew's head was ringing after that suggestion. He was up to something. There had to be a reason Jake wanted them past the border, and Matthew had any number of guesses as to what it could be. But when Jake asked him if he could handle the first watch tonight, it made one thing very clear.
No matter what his ultimate objective was, Jake intended to kill him, and he intended to do it tonight.
Want me as tired as possible, do you? Too bad for you I've pulled all-nighters and still been in killing form the next day more then once. Matthew had a little bit of work to be about while he was the only man awake, and he needed to do it as quietly as possible. A good thing that quiet happened to be one of his specialties.
It was a small matter to rig the wheels of the cart so they wouldn't move, even after the usual wedges were removed. He could easily fix his little bit of sabotage in the morning, of course, and this would prevent Jake from just running off with the cart. Not that Matthew really expected him to do that(at least not before trying to kill him), but he didn't get where he was today by not being paranoid.
The second order of business was to sneak over and take a look at something that bugged him a bit while they were making camp. A spot of land that caught his eye. Something about how it met the horizon set off his alarms, as if it was more then it seemed. Slinking his way over, the spy saw through the optical illusion of the land once he got close enough. Hidden in the tall grass of the plains was a large dip in the ground. In which three men were making a rough and lightless camp. Three armed men.
Quietly sliding away before the one who was awake saw him, Matthew didn't know whether to curse his ill fortune for falling in with a bandit in disguise or marvel at Ranad's good luck for picking up Matthew of all people. His original plan of letting Jake take his watch, pretending to sleep and seeing what the large man did wouldn't work now. Not if he had help already stashed nearby. If there was any way that the he and the trader were going to survive this, he had to act quickly...and coldly.
Can I seriously just do this? There's a chance...there's a chance this is all a coincidence. That he's not in on it. Observing Jake's sleeping form, Matthew silently debated his best course of action. There's a chance that he's not actually a bad guy. He hasn't actively done anything yet. Nothing besides be damn suspicious. And I mean really damn suspicious. I could be killing an innocent man. But if he is what I think he is... He noted Jake's muscles, his size. Remembered the ease with which he held that sword, the pure power he used to dispatch those clumsy bandits back in Araphen. ...if he is, can I afford to let him wake up?
"Wake up, and if you value your life, keep quiet." Just in case Ranad didn't seem inclined to follow Matthew's advice, he was holding the trader's mouth shut as he spoke.
"Mph! Mff..." Ranad's eyes snapped open, his initial look of surprise quickly replaced by mixed fear and anger.
Sighing, as he about expected this, Matthew kept his voice low and tried to explain, "Jake led us into an ambush. I caught it and took steps to ensure it failed. But there are still three bandits out there who don't know their inside man is dead. If you want to get out of here alive, you're going to need to do exactly as I say, and be very, very quiet. I'm going to take my hand off your mouth now. I swear if you scream or make noise I'm going to bolt and leave you to the bandits."
As he removed his hand, Matthew was quite relieved to see the trader nod very slowly, though the look of suspicion still hadn't left his eyes. That was fine by him, Matthew didn't need the man to trust him completely right now, just enough to follow directions. Pointing off towards the dip, he explained in hushed tones, "See where the grass doesn't look quite right? There's a dip there, and three brigands are waiting in it. They've got a nice little camp set up. My guess is that they're just waiting for the signal. But if it doesn't come soon enough, I bet they'll come out looking for the reason it's late. And we don't want to be here when that happens."
Ranad squinted his eyes and stared at the area that was pointed out, then widened them in surprise when he managed to see the dip, "How did you know all that? How do I know you're not the bandit? You're not any coppersmith, that's certain."
Shrugging, Matthew gave him the obvious answer, "You know I'm not the bandit because you're still alive. I could have killed you in your sleep as easy as wake you. And no, I'm not. My name is...Raven, I'm a mercenary in the employ of Mage General Pent of Etruria and I've been entrusted with a message for someone in Bern. Sorry for the deception, but when you travel alone like this it's best to try and appear as unassuming as possible." Looking Ranad dead in the eyes, Matthew was quite thankful that he could maintain any expression he wanted no matter what lies he was spinning, "You can believe that or not, but unless we move soon then we're both going to die. I hope you believe that much at least."
It was a flimsy story, of course, but it did hit all the right notes with the peddler. It explained why 'Mathias' wasn't too willing to talk about himself, why he was able to handle the bandit early, and why he could spot this ambush. Even though it wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, it gave all the answers Ranad needed to hear right now, which was why the man relaxed after a moment of thinking and nodded again.
Then he did the one thing Matthew did not want him to do: start moving for the cart.
Quickly snapping out his hand to catch the merchant's shoulder, Matthew shook his head hastily, "Not a good idea. They'll hear the cart moving and I'm not sure I can kill three men. Sorry, but I'm not going to risk the Lord's letter to save your goods."
Ranad's face fell, "What? But...this is all that I have! You're suggesting we just run away and leave my entire business behind?"
"We can't outrun them with the cart. Let's get to the horses and just take them, I didn't see any horses in their camp so they'll never catch up to us if we're mounted."
The merchant thought for a moment, but Matthew could see in his eyes that his mind was made up. And sure enough, Ranad shook his head, "I'm sorry. Thanks for the warning, but I have to take my chances. If I lose this profit then I'm as good as dead anyway. Look, if you help me here I'll pay you everything I was going to pay Jake. I don't know what his lordship is paying you, but this is a fair amount of money on top of that."
Matthew bit down on the sigh that threatened to escape. He wanted to help the man, but there was no real way to save him from his own folly here. "Not against three men when I don't know their skill. I'm good, but I'm not that good." Pointing at the wheels, he added, "I saw Jake put blocks under the wheels before he went to sleep. That's what tipped me off. Good luck running then, I'm getting out of here."
He waited a moment for the man to change his mind, but as Ranad went to free the wheels from the blocks Matthew put there, the spy just said a quick prayer in his mind and slipped away. While he wasn't sure he could outfight anyone Jake picked to work with him on his own, he was quite sure that they would never find him in the planes. Above and beyond anything else, stealth was Matthew's strongest skill.
So when he wanted to simply disappear...he did.
Author's Footnote: Yeah, I know that's a bit of a cliffhanger ending there. But I think that style works well with Matthew. Off screen action also works well with him. You know Jake is dead from what he says to the merchant, but do I really need to describe the event? I don't think so, it's enough to know that Matthew will kill someone in cold blood like that. It's a difficult balance to strike between having him be One Of The Good Guys and also a thief/spy/assassin, so things like this come up.
And as always, please excuse spelling/grammar/etc errors. I run it through a spell checker but that doesn't stop me from using the wrong correctly spelled word.