Prompt Serial: Part 3
Matters progress. More people are met, commitments are made, and information is gathered. Also, all of this missing party now have names!
This piece runs to 2,868 words and I hope that you enjoy it.
Index page.
Finmauw looked from Zamberey to Milld and back again. "A new Adventurers' Guild official took me out of my team, put in a replacement, and then sent the five of them off on an out of city assignment. I was forbidden to join or follow my friends and their new associate. The assignment was supposed to take three weeks. It's been six. They aren't back and haven't sent word. Someone has hired me to find one of my friends." She took a deep breath and went on. "As I expect to get very little time with the official who had me replaced and sent my friends out to wherever, I want to make my questions count. One of my missing friends is Alladel Deboraiscasi who has a physical counterpart who I understand is an associate of yours." The two men glanced at each other. "While asking other people if my friends told them where they were going, it was suggested that in their travels someone might have taken advantage of an opportunity to grab Alladel for," Finmauw grimaced slightly, "exotic collection purposes. It also occurred to me that if Alladel had returned to the city and didn't want to be found, then if she based herself in this area, no-one in her normal haunts would think twice about reports of a human-cat hybrid coming from here."
"So, your questions are?" Apparently Mr Milld had had enough background.
"Six weeks or so ago, was your associate being troubled or annoyed by anyone trying to collect her because she's an exotic female person? And in the last six weeks have there been any sightings up here of a cat-human person who is not your associate?" Finmauw almost held her breath. Would they reject her requests for information out of hand? If they didn't, what would they demand in payment?
The men exchanged looks again. If Finmauw had known them she might have been able to read their response from their expressions. It was Milld who spoke. "Mr Straun will require a service from you in payment for this information."
"The performance of a legitimate task using my professional skills." Finmauw's response was firm. The two men would probably kill her with little effort if they decided to, but no information had yet been provided so there was still time for both parties to walk away.
"Tough of you to set conditions," replied Zamberey, a thinner and slightly longer than human tongue flicking briefly over his lips. "A person might think that you thought you were at an advantage here."
"Not at all," she was trying to be calm. "My reputation is of someone who uses my skills in ways that are legal under the law. Losing that reputation would lose me my livelihood. In fact, that reputation might raise the value of my service to Mr Straun by making it harder for others to cast aspersions on what I expect would be a beneficial outcome for him."
Zamberey thrust his face almost into hers and almost hissed at her, "Why would you expect it to be a beneficial outcome for him?"
"Because I've always heard that Mr Straun doesn't make foolish missteps. Why would he undertake something that's not going to prove beneficial for him?" Finmauw steeled herself not to flinch backwards.
Milld hummed for a moment and then asked, "Are you that chit that opened the safe in the Degolanais place after the fire?"
"Yes, I am." Finmauw had been fourteen at the time so she had no argument with then-her being referred to as a chit.
"Would you have any objection to waiting two days before you set off to find your friends?" Mr Milld obviously had a task in mind.
"Much as I would like to leave immediately, I might not be able to finish speaking to the other parties I need to talk to today," admitted Finmauw. "Then, based on what I've learnt I'll need to decide whether to take anyone with me, and if so, who that should be. Assuming they are available. I believe that I will be in the city and available in two days' time." She added, "Does this mean you'll answer my questions?"
"It does," replied Milld. "No reports of what could be a second human with feline features in the city have made their way to my ears in the last six weeks."
"Or mine," said Zamberey. "I haven't heard of any flesh mongers working their way up here after the unwilling either. Not in the last six weeks. Last lot that came to our attention was," he appeared to be thinking, "last quarter of the old year."
"Indeed, I must concur," added Milld. "They were seen off, with losses to them."
Zamberey carried on smoothly, "’Course, if anyone turns up trying to 'complete the set' we will let you know."
"Thank you, that would be appreciated." Finmauw thought that she was going to get out of this meeting in one piece. "Will you contact me through the Adventurers' Guild when you are ready for me to undertake the task for Mr Straun?"
It was Milld who replied. "Mr Zamberey will come and find you when we need you. I do have a question for you, Mistress Finmauw."
She looked at him, suddenly alert to possible danger.
Milld went on, "Why do keep referring to our 'associate' instead of using the young lady's name?" There was something in his voice that hinted at menace.
"I don't know her name, Mr Milld, and I was trying to be polite. I know she keeps her distance from Alladel, and I was, am, trying to limit the intrusiveness of my approach." This, she thought, could be where it all goes wrong.
He looked at her killer-lawyer hard for a moment, then said, "Your respect is noted Mistress Finmauw. You may leave now, through the front door, and we will be in touch. Good day."
Finmauw bowed, and left.
Her next stop was the Mercenaries' Guild.
To give the Guild their due, the building was easily defensible - just drop a few gates, lock them and the external doors, and it would take a siege to get them out. Which seemed odd these days when the place was surrounded by the streets and laneways of the city but when it was first built it had been just beyond a bow shot's reach of the city wall because, for some reason, those in charge at the time hadn't wanted a large group of armed men and women with no loyalty to the city inside their walls. The Guild hadn't moved but the city had grown out around it and when the walls had been rebuilt to encompass that growth, the Guild building had been included. The building's outer walls were fine grained black stone, mostly quarried from the site on which it stood, and it was an entire city block on its own. On the inside there were two courtyards, barracks for Guild members, two armouries, practice rooms, a weapons smith, kitchens, a well, and hot baths. Guild members tended to be very clean while they were in the city. The front courtyard was directly behind the main gate and was used for melee weapons and unarmed combat practice, while the back courtyard beyond the kitchens, storerooms, and dining hall contained the archery butts. Finmauw presented herself to the gateman on duty and asked to speak to the Guild's Hospitaller.
That request got her directed to the administrative offices that occupied the front of the building, and an unhelpful gentleman behind a counter who refused to help her at all. According to him there was no-one available in the entire Guild who could talk to her about her missing friend, Raithard, or the missing new addition to her old team, Avair. The man rather reminded her of Master Tyroque, in both appearance and tone. She turned and went to find someone she actually knew - the Marshal of Archery would be somewhere about even if no-one else was. It was then that the officious man behind the counter said, "I'll just see you to the front gate then."
Finmauw turned on her heel to face him and hissed, "I am Finmauw Guildfoster. I am on your books as a paid up associate and registered as an archer. This Guild's charter does not permit you to prevent me from speaking to the Marshal of Archery. As I have told you that I am being paid to find one of an overdue group that two of your Guild members left town with, I had expected you to be a little more helpful." She glared at him.
"Little girls should stay at home with their family and friends," he snapped back, "instead of playing at whatever it is," he made a sweeping up and down gesture with his right hand to indicate all of Finmauw, "you think you are doing."
"Raithard, Alladel, Brother Mandolar, and Skeith are my friends," she returned sharply. "My dearest and closest friends." She leaned in and hissed upwards into his face, "I am not playing at anything - this is who and what I am."
At that moment a door up the stairs behind the counter minder opened, and two men came out of the room beyond it and began to walk down the stairs. One of them was Guild Master Delmauscotti, in his customary daywear of worn black leather over linen, and the other was the tallest man that Finmauw had ever seen. His face looked like it ought to be familiar to her, but she didn't think she'd ever met him. Guild Master Delmauscotti caught sight of Finmauw in confrontation with the counter minder and said, "Mr Ironsson, here's someone you should be talking to instead of me. Mistress Finmauw, may I make known to you Mr Longmorn Ironsson? He's one of young Raithard's brothers - apparently the family is becoming concerned because Raithard's letters haven't been getting to them."
That interested Finmauw because Raithard always wrote to his family once a week, even when they were travelling. The counter minder spluttered, "I'm sorry Master Delmauscotti. I was trying to get her to leave. I know-"
The Guild Master cut him off, "Why would we want to send Mistress Finmauw away, Loqutree? She is a friend of this house, and this house is a friend of hers. To my certain knowledge, she has been coming here for archery practice since she was eight." He smiled benevolently in Finmauw's direction."
The counter minder, named Loqutree it seemed, spluttered something about dabblers and time wasting. Finmauw thought he was half speaking in Moquetran, a language she had very little of, and she got lost when his verbs didn't make sense to her.
Guild Master Delmauscotti cut him off with a gesture and said, "We will speak about this in my office later, Loqutree. In the meantime, Mistress Finmauw, how can we help you today?"
"I've been hired to find Brother Mandolar, Guild Master. As Raithard and Avair left the city with him, I came to ask whether they visited the Guild before they left, and if they did, did they say anything or request anything, advice or equipment, that might give me a clue to where they were going? Or even have told someone outright what they were doing?"
"And why haven't you asked the Assignments Master at the Adventurers' Guild all this?" The Guild Master was, perhaps slightly less benevolent now.
"Because I don't expect him to let me have much of his time, I want as much information as I can get before I talk to him," explained Finmauw. "If I can't ask him many questions, then I need to make them count."
"A fair point," acknowledged the Guild Master. "Loquetree, you know Master Tyroque well. What do you think?"
The man gave Finmauw a nasty look. "Master Tyroque has as much reason to dislike dabblers as I do. However, I believe he will appreciate that you've gone to the trouble to do your legwork before you go to him with your questions."
While Finmauw was wondering whether she was supposed to thank the man for his observations, when the Guild Master said, "Mistress Finmauw, perhaps you could take Mr Ironsson to the archery butts for a little practice, while I have anyone who's in the building today who may have spoken to Raithard or Avair back then tracked down and sent to you." It was not a question or a suggestion.
"Thank you, Master Delmauscotti." Finmauw gave him a short and respectful bow, then turned to her friend's brother. "Mr Ironsson, have you seen the archery butts yet? If we go through the servery, the cooks might let us have a bit of something for a snack."
Longmorn Ironsson confessed that he had not been to the Guild's archery range yet, and Finmauw led him off in the direction of the kitchens and dining hall, thinking that Raithard had not, after all, been exaggerating when he had described himself as the smallest of his brothers. Raithard was two heads taller than her, and Longmorn was, in her estimation, another head and a half taller than Raithard. It was Longmorn who started the conversation, surprising her when he said, "Isn't eight a little late to be starting archery?"
"I spent the year I was seven finding out whether I had the predilections to be a magic user," she finished with a smile at him. "Since I took up archery the next year, you can assume that I don't."
"That's not quite the impression I got from my brother's letters." Longmorn smiled back at her. "He said that you are quite capable in such things."
"So is he," replied Finmauw calmly. "Iron charms and crossroads magic. I can't do anything with those things." As they came to the servery she changed subjects, "Would you like to see if the kitchen has anything we could sample before we find out whether the armoury has a spare bow that suits your height and arm length?"
He considered. "I would. The meals at my inn are portioned for smaller men."
They stopped at the servery, and Finmauw asked nicely if they might have a snack to take out to the archery butts with them, while Longmorn stood behind her looking, although she didn't know it, forlorn and hungry while he sniffed at the delicious smells coming from the ovens. Finmauw left with a slab of warm cake that was sticky with the fruit baked into it while Longmorn had acquired three pasties, a pastry wrapped sausage, and his own slab of cake, all tied up in a set of cloths. A final addition to their prizes was a canteen filled with clean drinking water from the Guild House's own well, and two clean cups. When they reached the butts, Finmauw had them marked as present by the Marshal's clerk and settled the two of them on the most out of the way bench to eat their collected largesse.
She let Longmorn eat and rinse off his fingers before asking, "So, can you tell me the date of Raithard's last letter and where it was sent from?"
Longmorn looked at her for a moment as he dried his damp fingers on one of the kitchen's cloths, then told her the date. It was a week and a half after the group had left the city.
"And where was it from?" That piece of information would put her a week and a half's travel and whatever else they had done closer to her friends.
"Some place called Satersfield," replied Longmorn. "None of us at home have ever heard of it." The Ironssons were blacksmiths in a large village a day's journey from the coast that lay south and down river of the city.
"It's a market town about a day's journey north of Lastbridge and about a half day as the crow flies west of the river," said Finmauw. "If they were there a week and a half after they left here, then they've been somewhere else first, or rested up a lot on the way. If everyone was fit, you could do that distance in four or five days."
"I don't have the letter with me," replied Longmorn, "but he did say something about taking the long way around because of the roads, and hoping that they hadn't made a mistake stopping in Lastbridge when they first headed out."
Finmauw said slowly, "I think that's rather useful. I'll have to check the maps to see where the roads go to from Satersfield. It also suggests that someone connected with their assignment has connections of some kind in Lastbridge."
"Mistress Finmauw, my brother has never missed writing home before." Longmorn was speaking slowly. "We thought it must be a problem with the mail, it happens sometimes."
Finmauw nodded her head in agreement.
"But this has been too long." He turned his head to look at her. "Do you think he's dead?"
She returned his look. "I hope not. I don't have so many friends that I can afford to lose them, and these are my four closest.