Oathtaker Rising - Book 2 Preview

OATHTAKER RISING – BOOK TWO OF THE OATHTAKER TRILOGY

 

Chapter 1

It was, Katya Greenleaf thought as she ducked a flying mug, hardly the ideal place for a close-quarters fight. A crowded room, full of people and furniture, alcohol and emotions in abundance, and egos on the line.

 

But she would be lying if she said she wasn’t completely in her element.

 

The night had started slowly enough for the Townsguard - two shopkeepers arguing over who owned a wall their stalls had in common, a minor fire at a café, a group of noisy children bothering a group of older folk.

 

In other words, a typical Saturday evening in Fandalore.

 

In short order, however, a few unexpected elements mixed together at a local ale hall called the Tall Tales Brewing Company, a new one-room tavern that catered to large gatherings of revelers, especially younger ones:

 

-two groups of young men celebrating the upcoming marriage of one of their number ended up at the tavern at the same time;

-a group of young women celebrating the upcoming marriage of one of their friends noisily bustled into the same spot a half hour later;

-and, finally, one man from each group, attempting to catch the fancy of the same woman, exchanged words that couldn’t be taken back or smoothed over with a friendly drink.

 

Soon, words became fists or chairs or broken glassware, and, egged on by the increasingly drunk ‘ladies’, the fight was on. The bartender sent a runner to the Townsguard Watchhold, and here they were.

 

By the time Kat and her squad of Sergeants arrived at Tall Tales, it appeared as if the walls of the tavern had taken on a life of their own, moving and shaking in response to the melee inside, like the breathing of some enormous wood-and-stone creature.

 

Normally, the six highest-ranking Guardsmen in town wouldn’t all be working at the same time, let alone at the same incident, but this was the first weekend that Katya’s new team would be making itself known to the people of Fandalore.

 

“May as well start big out of the gate,” she’d reasoned.

 

“Wow,” said Blackwood. He was an archer, young and half-elven, whom Katya had added to the Guard shortly after taking the reins. “I think I’m on the wrong side of the door. Looks like a hell of a party.” He looked at Katya, favouring her with a grin that had been the downfall of more than one young lady around town. “What do you say, Cap? Time for me to clock out?”

 

“Nice try, and you know you’re swimming up the wrong stream. Save the charm for the schoolgirls, Rook.”

 

“Yes, please do,” chimed in Selene, her voice dry. “Your appeal, especially to yourself, is overrated.” She pushed a strand of the long, shimmery hair common to Sylphians back from her forehead, the gaze from her sharp blue eyes settling on his face. “You fare much better when your bowstring talks for you.”

 

Rook grinned again. “One day you’ll give in. I know there’s a heart beating under all that frost.”

 

“Doubtful,” she said, resting her hand on one of the twin blades at her side.

 

“Enough!” Everyone, including Katya, jumped. Zara was clearly spoiling for a fight. “You two flirt later. Let the boss talk.” The massive half-orc nodded at Katya, equally massive axe slung across her back. “Go ahead Cap.”

 

Katya nodded in return. “Thank you, Zara.”

 

“Okay, people, this is what we’ve trained for. Keep tight until we figure out what’s happening. No one needs to take a punch to the head before we even get through the door.”

 

“Shields?”

 

Katya looked at Dain, briefly considering the suggestion. She had learned quickly that Garran Dain, despite the scarred face and metal jawbone, was a patient and thoughtful warrior, a tactician through and through.

 

“Not yet. Keep them at hand, though. No sense giving the tongues over there any more to wag about before we open the door.”

 

Katya gazed at the crowd that had inevitably gathered outside the establishment. It was a warm and pleasant summer night, after all, and the town square was full of people shopping, eating, enjoying entertainers, or simply basking in the fading sunlight.

 

She turned back to her team and lowered her voice so only they could hear. “We have eyes on us, folks. Let’s show them that the time and coin we put into rebuilding and retraining was worth it.”

 

“No need to worry Boss. We won’t drop the orbs.”

 

Kat suppressed a smile. “I know you won’t Thorne.” Like all dwarves, he was short, stout, serious, and completely sincere.

 

As for being called Boss or Cap…well, no matter how often she told her team she didn’t like titles, they insisted that both terms were a mark of respect that she had earned through her tough, but always fair, leadership. She eventually stopped fighting it.

 

The pewter mug engraved with ‘BOSS’ that Lili had snuck into her office one day may have been a bit too much, though.

 

Katya looked to the air above the tavern. Not seeing Fayne, she whistled. A few seconds later, the falcon zipped around the corner of the building, settling on Kat’s shoulder with a flapping of wings.

 

“I never get tired of seeing that bird show up,” Rook said. “Like she’s magic.”

 

Fayne looked at the young half-human and squawked approvingly. She then turned her attention to her mistress and rattled out a series of bird noises. To the average person, they were exactly that, noise.

 

To Katya, however, the information was as good as gold coin. She faced her team.

 

“She was perched at the back window. Pretty much every male in the place is fighting, most of them around Rook’s age. They’re dressed to impress.”

 

Garran shook his head. “Warrior’s Farewell party, then. Maybe more than one.”

 

Katya nodded. “It sounds like it. There’s also a group of young women tucked away on an upper balcony, throwing coins and ale down on the fighters and, as Fayne put it, exposing various parts of their anatomy. They’re all in white, so likely a Maiden’s Journey bash.”

 

Selene sighed. “I will never understand human customs. Sylphian bethrothal ceremonies are quick, with the celebration coming after.”

 

“Don’t shoot it dead until you’ve tried it.”

 

“Later, Rook.” Katya quietly ran through a plan in her head. “Ok, Selene and Zara, you hook to the right. There’s a stairway up to the balcony. I’ll leave to you how you get these, uh, ladies, to stop.”

 

She turned to the rest of her squad. “We’ll hook left. Fayne said the front entryway is almost clear. Once we’re in, shoulder to shoulder skirmish line while we see what’s happening. Does everyone understand?”

 

Kat received five nods in return.

 

“Alright, let’s do this. Stack up next to the door.”

 

As one, all six Guards moved up onto the broad porch of the tavern and took up positions on the right side of the door, closest to the handle. They pressed against each other, back to front, in a tight line.

 

“Ready?” Katya was in the lead position. After a few seconds, she felt Zara tap her shoulder three times, the sign that everyone else in the stack had signaled that they were indeed set to go.

Kat reached out with her left hand, keeping her sword hand clear, and with a quick motion opened the door. She then stepped up a half step and kicked the door open.

 

As soon as it swung wide enough to enter, she moved through the doorway, pushing the door fully open as she went. She ducked to the left, keeping the line of the wall to her support hand side, following it until she reached a corner, Thorne, Garran and Rook behind her. On the other side of the room, she could hear a heavy tread mounting the staircase. She spared a quick glance that way, to see Zara and Selene moving quickly upstairs, just as planned.

 

Finally, she turned her attention to the melee in the main room.

 

She had to admit, as far as bar brawls went, it was impressive. There was virtually no furniture left intact and most of the bottles and casks behind the bar were broken or leaking. A dozen individual fights were happening around the room, none of which, Katya was thankful for, involved any weapons more dangerous than an ale mug.

 

The men at her side looked at her quizzically.

 

“Are we going to try and do this in formation?” Garran asked.

 

Katya shook her head no. “Not in this mess. No, play this game your own way. Arrest if possible, subdue if needed.”

 

She looked over to Zara and Selene, standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for her signal.

 

“Before we do this, you better say it, Captain, just to be sure.”

 

Kat sighed. “I know Thorne. It just seems so futile.” She shrugged. “Still, rules are rules.”

 

She turned to face the melee. Raising her voice she said “I’m Captain of the Guard Katya Greenleaf. By order of city ordinances against fighting in ale houses, I hereby order you to cease fighting and leave immediately. Anyone who leaves will not be arrested or charged. This is your only warning.”

 

A few of the fighters closest to Katya, (all townsfolk who knew Katya by reputation,) took her suggestion to heart and quickly headed for the door. A few others in the main brawl looked her way and seemed to weigh their chances.

 

Unfortunately, at that moment, a very pretty, very buxom blonde on the upper balcony stepped forward. At the top of her lungs, she yelled ‘HEY BOYS! Who wants to fight for THESE?” She then proceeded to dump the contents of a full mug of ale over her head, turning what Lili would likely call a ‘cute top’ into a see-through-shirt that left nothing to the imagination, before thrusting her chest forward.

 

Her invitation seemed to make up the minds of the few fighters who appeared to be contemplating retreat, and fists began flying once more.

Katya sighed again. Still, a part of her was amused, as she couldn’t say with total truth that she had never done something similar during a night of reveling. In Kat’s case, it had been a flagon of red wine that stained her armour for weeks.

 

At least, Kat thought, I was just drunk and not showing off for a bunch of rowdy farmboys.

 

A farmgirl or two, maybe.

 

Despite herself, it was hard not to sneak a peek at the now ale-soaked blonde. She was only human, as Lili would say.

 

Knowing that her team’s eyes were on her, Katya brought herself out of the temporary reverie. She raised her right hand and slowly closed her fingers into a fist, signaling that her Guards were now free to engage.

 

They moved into the melee before them.

 

As usual, Kat would take time later to replay the ensuing brawl (for, at this point, it couldn’t be called anything but,) in her mind, flashes of what was happening all around her captured as still images, like an etching or statue. It was an extremely effective elven technique for reviewing what both she and her team did.

 

Thorne, short and stout, making his way through the crowd and using the simple tactic of firmly dropping the very heavy head of his war hammer on the feet of various fighters. When they inevitably stopped to grab their injured limb, generally accompanied by a torrent of swearing, the dwarf would push the now off-balance combatant over, leaving them rolling on the tavern floor in pain, but not crippled.

 

Rook, standing atop a miraculously intact table, grin wide, bow drawn and picking his shots. He was scanning the perimeter of the room, and anytime someone got close enough to a wall, post, or the bar, he let fly with an arrow. Before long, half a dozen protesting men were pinned by their shirts to wooden objects around the room and taken out of the fight. Every time he completed a successful shot, he gleefully yelled ‘Ten points!”

 

Katya shook her head. The term ‘man-boy’ had been created for people like Rook.

 

Garran, no nonsense, striding amongst the crowd, grabbing flailing arms or wrists when the opportunity arose, letting him bodily throw the unlucky fighter across the room, where most of them hit a wall or broken table hard enough to daze them. The few who didn’t have the good sense to at least pretend they were woozy quickly took heed when Garran placed his hand on the hilt of the short fighting stick he wore at his side.

 

Zara, holding two of the women from the balcony off the ground, one per hand, as they kicked and complained. One of them, a short brunette, landed an impressive kick on Zara’s shin, only to be met with a result like kicking a tree trunk. She began yelling about broken toes, leading Zara to lecture her on the futility of kicking someone, much less a half-orc, while wearing what were basically slippers.

 

Selene, as skilled a fighter as Katya had ever squared off with, choosing to use her speed and stealth over force, in complete contrast to Zara’s brute force. In the blink of an eye, she had swooped around three of the drunkenly shouting women, binding their hands behind their backs with lengths of leather cord before gently pushing all three to the ground, sitting with their backs to the wall.

 

Katya smiled. Despite the tremendous differences in her two female Sergeants, they spent considerable time together training, learning how to make their fighting styles complement one another, and had become friends as well as compatriots.

 

Watching them in action made Katya realize she had chosen her Sergeants well. One of the conditions of her taking on the role of Captain was that she was allowed to build her core team as she saw fit. The guards who were there when she began were nice enough, and competent fighters, but their technique was all about hack and slash.

 

Kat was looking for more subtlety among her Guard, so she made it known far and wide what and whom she was looking for. Within a few days, the seasoned warriors spread out around her had responded and accepted the posts Katya offered them.

 

With that settled, she disbursed the existing guards out to quieter posts across the city where they could neither cause nor encounter too much trouble. They made perfectly good watchers for places like the Archive and the Public Works spread around the city.

 

Kat was just about ready to concede that there would be no work for her in cleaning this mess up. Her team had done an excellent job; by now most of the crowd had either finally decided discretion was the better part of valour and left or were trussed up waiting to spend the night in a holding cell.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, however, Kat noticed that one young (Katya had to think of him as young – he looked to be right around Lili’s age) man was still standing. He was tall, lean and fit. Kat pegged him as a courier, maybe a scout for one of the local trading houses. He was holding most of a broken mug in his hand.

 

He was looking around, apparently confused as to where his sparring partner had gone, unaware that Garran had taken him out of their fight when the mug-holder looked away for a few seconds.

“What the hell? We weren’t done yet!” He looked up to the balcony, where, even as Zara and Selene had settled them all, the women there still hooted and yelled in response.

 

He looked intently at Katya. Even though he didn’t know who she was, the epaulets on the  shoulders of her leather armour marked her as someone who had some authority.

 

“We were just having fun, Lady Guard.” By his voice, he had been drinking but didn’t quite seem to be to the point of intoxication.

 

Kat shook her head. “Your fun is over, friend. I hope you all enjoyed what you had up till now because you’re all leaving one way or another.”

 

While she had been speaking, the younger man had taken a half step closer. He had subtly shifted his body, blading himself towards Katya, making his profile smaller, and had moved the hand holding the mug down to his side.

 

Katya smiled, but the smile didn’t touch her eyes, which were cold and watchful. “Don’t bother.” Her mind took her back to the last time she had been mixed up with a bar fight, where she had been the aggressor, tore up a tavern, and almost killed a card cheat.

 

That had been back in the depths of her darkness; in fact, it was the last step of her long downwards fall before redemption began to present itself in the form of Jiris the healer, Athena the witch, and Lili the…

 

Well…Lili was lots of things.

 

Katya’s inner voice came to life. Focus, elf. Plenty of time for pleasant thoughts after you put this kid in his place.

 

The man furrowed his brow for a moment before becoming all smiles again. “No, you’ve got me wrong, Lady Guard. I just want to hear you better.”

 

Katya glanced around the room, where every member of her team was ready to either launch a weapon or jump to her aid. She shook her head slightly while lifting her hand a few inches, and they all relaxed, wary but still watchful.

 

“Yes, I’m sure that line would work with the ladies up there, but where you are is just fine.” She stole a glance at the mug remnant in his hand. “You’re already spending the night in a cell. Don’t make me add a stop at the healer’s first.”

 

The man shrugged. “Plenty of room for us both.” With this, he quickly closed the gap between them, bringing the mug piece up like a knife, aimed at Katya’s midsection.

 

To her side, Kat heard Rook whisper to a prisoner in his custody “Oooh, watch this.”

 

There were several ways Katya could counter this, both deadly and non-lethal. Since no one else was in immediate danger, she didn’t feel the need to kill the man.

 

Still, the occasional public lesson on good manners and how tourists should act in Fandalore was not a bad thing.

 

She stood her ground, waiting until the shard of broken ceramic was almost touching her. In all honesty, her armour would have stopped the makeshift weapon, but no sense in taking chances. Warriors she had fought with had died for sillier reasons.

 

She pivoted on her left foot, moving backwards and to her right. At the same time, with her left hand, she caught the man’s hand holding the makeshift blade and squeezed two nerve points. The man gasped in pain and, without any resistance, dropped the mug, which fell and broke into small pieces on the wooden floor.

 

With the threat of the weapon gone, Kat took a step closer to her opponent and swept her right arm towards the man, tucking her arm in so that her elbow struck him between his ribcage and stomach.

 

He gasped again, much louder this time, and fell to the floor, both wind and fight knocked out of him. Kat flipped him over onto his front with the toe of her boot, then, mindful of the broken glass and ceramic covering the floor, knelt and secured his hands with her own length of cord.

 

She stood up and motioned as if she were rubbing her hands clean, then looked around the room.

“Would anyone else care to add to their time in the cells?”

 

Aside from various moans of pain, and the occasional burst of tears from the women upstairs, the room was silent.

 

“Excellent. Let’s all stand quietly now, shall we?”

 

Around the room, downed fighters began getting to their feet, many of them limping.

 

Katya took up a spot by the door. While Zara and Thorne corralled the occupants at the back of the room, Selene, Rook and Garran paraded them one by one to the doorway. There, Kat recorded everyone’s name, let them give a quick account of their part in the brawl, then decided to either let them leave with what little pride they had left, or hold them for the night until they were sober.

 

Every time the door opened, Katya could hear the crowd outside, which sounded like it had grown considerably, burst into laughter at the sight of whoever it was either walking or being escorted out by one of the other duty Guardsmen that had made their way to the tavern.

 

Garran marched up to her with two men, held by their shirt collars. Both were in rough shape. One sported an eye that was already beginning to turn dark around its edges and had various cuts on his face; the other was holding a cloth to his head that Kat could see was stemming a flow of blood.

 

She half-smiled. “Whom do we have here, Sergeant Dain?”

 

“Our grooms, Captain.”

 

The half-smile became a full one. “Really. Well, gentlemen, I daresay you made quite a spectacle of this evening. Do either of you have anything you’d like to say to try to explain all this?”

 

Both of them stood sullen and silent.

 

“Don’t feel like talking, hmm? I’m not surprised.” She nodded towards the door. “We’ll hold them Garran.”

 

“Yes Captain.” He tugged them towards the door. “Come on boys, you can sleep this off and be lucky it wasn’t worse.”

 

One of them chose that moment to refer to Katya with an extremely unflattering curseword. Garran pulled him up short.

 

“What did you say, boy?” He shook him. “I don’t think we heard you…”

 

He repeated the epithet, this time throwing in a few more anatomical descriptors for variety.

 

Garran let go of the other groom, who stood rooted to the ground, eyes wide. As Garran moved to put the cursing man face down on the ground, Katya put her hand on his arm.

 

“That won’t be necessary, Sergeant, but thank you.” The groom who had narrowly avoided being flattened stood smiling, apparently smug in the knowledge that in the morning he would pay a fine and walk away none the worse for wear.

 

Katya didn’t like that.

 

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Are these men local, Garran?”

 

“I don’t know Captain. Names. Now.”

 

The less brave of the two blurted out his name. Connected to a farming family a few towns over.

The other stayed silent, still smirking.

 

“I said name, boy.” Garran shook him again for emphasis, coming within a hair’s breadth of slamming him into the wall.

 

The man is no-nonsense, that’s for damn sure.

 

Katya was pleased.

 

The reluctant groom finally stated his name, and things came together for Kat. He was part of a large, reasonably wealthy family who were involved in several different businesses – grain, vineyards, a brewery, a large smithy and a tannery. They lived just beyond the edge of the town limits on a well-appointed estate.

 

“So, they are local, then, Sergeant Dain.”

 

“It would appear so, Captain.”

 

Katya smiled, a plan coming to mind.

 

“Hold them here for a moment.”

 

She moved behind the bar, rummaging until she found what she needed. Within a few minutes, she moved back to the door, two notes in hand.

 

She whistled for Fayne, who fluttered down from the rafters. Katya spoke to her briefly, then attached a note to each of her talons. She opened the door and watched the falcon rocket into the sky.

 

Dain looked at her quizzically.

 

She laughed. “I thought we should make sure these boys get into safe hands. I’ve asked their respective brides to make their way here at haste to retrieve their grooms.”

 

Both men stared at her, wide-eyed and apparently unable, or unwilling, to speak.

 

Garran came as close to broadly smiling as she’d ever seen. “Well played Captain. They’ll cool their heels in the cells until then.” He called to Rook, and the archer joined him. Each took one of the now-dazed grooms-to-be out the door.

 

Katya shook her head. This was the kind of problem-solving she had never had to do as an Oathtaker.

 

Selene came towards her from the foot of the stairs, marching the blonde girl who had put on the earlier show on the balcony. Selene had apparently found a blanket somewhere, as the girl was now covered, albeit still handcuffed.

 

Her predicament hadn’t changed her demeanour that Katya could see. She was still smiling and laughing, contrary to Selene’s stoic face.

 

“What’s her story, Selene?”

 

“Aside from an annoyingly bright disposition, she’s drunk, Captain. Maybe something stronger…pipeweed maybe.”

 

“I see.” Katya locked eyes with the younger girl. “Do you have a name?”

 

The girl smirked. “Are you asking personally or professionally?”

 

Selene pushed her slightly. “Enough. Answer the question.”

 

The blonde tossed her hair. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours, red.”

 

Despite the situation, Kat laughed. She guessed that the girl had no idea that Katya had a century or so of age on her, despite her appearance. Elves pulled that trick off well.

 

“You certainly don’t lack for confidence, girl.” She nodded at Selene. “Just hold her as Unknown until she sobers up.”

 

“I’d rather you hold me, red. You look way more fun than her.” She gestured toward Selene. “Way too icy for me.”

 

From the stairs, it was now Zara’s turn to heartily laugh.

 

Katya shook her head, still smiling. “Take her Selene.”

 

As Selene walked past Katya, the girl pulled free from her grip. To Katya’s surprise, she threw herself against Kat, chest to chest, before kissing her.

 

Kat had managed to get her hands between her chest and the girl and she pushed her off, at the same time Selene pulled her backwards. It wasn’t the worst way someone had ever attacked her, Katya had to admit, and it wasn’t unpleasant as such. The girl had ample curves and very soft lips that tasted like wine, and, at an earlier time of her life, Kat may have been tempted.

 

Now, however…

 

“Selene, add a charge for Assaulting a Guardsman. And we hold…keep her until she gives us a name.”

 

“Of course Captain.” Selene looked stricken. “I’m sorry…”

 

Katya held up a hand. “It’s okay, Selene. That’s part of what this exercise is all about. Law enforcement is different from freelancing.”

 

The blonde, now being held in an armlock by Selene, grinned even wider. “Totally worth a day in court. Bye, red. Come visit me some time?”

 

Kat had to work to keep from smiling. “Don’t push your luck.”

 

Selene pushed her out the door. Zara moved up with another girl from the balcony.

 

“Boss, this one…”

 

Katya held up her hand, struggling with the laughter bubbling up from her stomach. “Zara, I need a moment. She’ll keep. Why don’t you help Thorne with the strays who are still here?”

 

Zara shrugged. “Sure, boss.” She stepped to the door and, in a smooth motion, jammed her battle axe between the door handle and the floor. “No one’s leaving anyways.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Katya moved towards the back of the tavern. Finding the kitchen, she moved among the shelves and stoves until she found a back door. She slowly opened it, listening for any signs of people behind the tavern.

 

Hearing nothing, she opened the door just far enough to peek out. She did so, quickly glancing both ways. The alleyway was empty.

 

Katya slid through the door to find herself on a back porch, one step from the ground.

 

She sat on the porch, crossed her arms, and rested her head on her forearms, listening as the volume of the noise inside finally subsided as the evening’s combatants began to let reality set in.

 

Then she let herself laugh until she cried, remembering the absurdity of the last few minutes and giving vent to some of the tension that always seemed to be hovering around her no matter what she was doing.

When she was done, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction. She had built this team from scratch, handpicking each member for their unique skills and quirks. They weren’t perfect, and they certainly weren’t traditional, but they worked.

They were hers.

“As soon as I heard ‘wedding party bar brawl’ I pretty much guessed you would be here. Can’t you ever do anything simply?”

Katya looked up. “Can’t you learn to walk a little more quietly?”

Lili laughed. She was standing across the alley from the tavern, having made her way there from her own tavern – or at least the one she managed.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be quiet enough for you, Kat. Thank you for not sinking an arrow into me.”

Katya laughed. “I know your gait by now. And they are bolts, love, not arrows. We’ve been over this.”

Lili rolled her eyes. “Yes, warrior princess. Arrow just rolls off the tongue more cleanly.” She gestured with her head towards the tavern. “What’s with the laugh attack? So undignified for an elf of your stature.”

Katya smiled and recounted the events of the past half hour, including the amorous blonde.

At that, Lili raised an eyebrow. “I see. Do I need to be worried, Kat? I mean, blondes just seem to throw themselves at you. She may even be younger than me.”

Katya laughed. “No, my love. Maybe at one time when I was younger and more foolish, but now that I’m an old crone I’m very happy with one blonde in my life. Especially when the one I already have is so appealing.”

Lili mock bowed. “Thank you.”

She smiled broadly, very unlike the Katya of a year before. ‘But remember that jealousy is an ugly emotion, Lil.”

Lili’s effort to remain serious-faced only lasted for a few seconds before she laughed herself. “Fine, you got me. I hate the thought of sharing you.” She shifted how she was leaning against the wall. “So much for the quiet night you were hoping for.”

Katya snorted, wiping a stray drop of ale from her cheek. “Quiet’s overrated.”

They shared a smile, one that ended up lingering a moment more than it should have and took Katya out of focus for just a few seconds too long. Before either could say anything more, the faintest flicker of movement at the far end of the alley caught Katya’s eye, a shadow slipping out of the alley into the nearby square.

She was moving before she even had time to think. Lili’s voice called after her, but the words were lost as Katya raced down the alley, her boots kicking up loose dirt. If it was someone who had simply been looking to use the alley as a short cut but found it occupied, so be it. Katya’s concern was that it was someone looking to eavesdrop on the Captain of the Guard, or worse.

While Katya wasn’t really worried about an attack on her, information in all forms was essential and finding this mystery person might end up putting that very thing in her hand.

By the time Katya reached the end of the alley, the area was empty save for the faint clatter of a trash bin knocked askew and rolling across the ground. Whoever had been there was gone.

But as Katya turned to head back down the alley, a scrap of parchment weighed down by a piece of flagstone fluttered against the cobblestones, catching the moonlight that now filled the night sky.

She crouched, picking it up with careful fingers. The edges were frayed, as though it had been handled over and over, and although the ink was smudged the words were unmistakable.

Your absence weakens us all.  Return before it is too late.

Katya’s stomach twisted as her eyes fell to the bottom of the note. The sigil stamped there was one she knew all too well.

It was that of the Oathtaker Council.

Her fingers tightened around the parchment until it crumpled slightly. It had been just over a year since her last mission as an Oathtaker, months of rebuilding her life in Fandalore, far from the shadow of the Council. She had almost gotten to the point where her life with Lili, with Athena, with her new Guardsmen, convinced her she was done with them; a chapter of her life now closed.

But it seemed they weren’t done with her.

She folded the note carefully and tucked it into her belt before returning to the alley. Finding the area of the porch empty, she headed back inside the tavern.

The room was quieter now, the aftermath of the brawl still evident in broken furniture and spilled drinks. Her team was gathered at the far end, Zara and Thorne standing over a particularly belligerent patron who now sported a swollen eye and a healthy dose of regret. The rest of the unruly mob had quieted completely and were sitting on the floor as they waited for their turn to be dealt with.

Lili was standing at the bar, chatting with the bartender and trying to calm him down after the chaos of the last hour, her presence at what was technically a crime scene allowed due not only to the fact that she was the Captain’s love interest but that all of Katya’s team genuinely liked the girl.

Her expression shifting the moment she saw Katya’s face. “What is it?”

Katya hesitated. She trusted Lili implicitly as both friend and lover, just as she trusted her team. But trust didn’t make the weight of the Oathtakers’ summons any lighter. “Nothing,” she said finally, her tone neutral. “Just someone who doesn’t know when to quit.”

Lili didn’t press, but the concern in her eyes betrayed that she knew Katya’s denial was a pretense, put on for her team. It was enough to stir the unease coiling in Katya’s gut.

Wanting to move the night on, she forced a smile and clapped her hands, drawing her team’s attention. “Alright, folks. Let’s finish cleaning this up and get out of here. We’ll call in reserve guards and free ourselves up. It’s early on a Saturday night and we’ll have plenty enough work without babysitting this lot.”

She turned to Lili. “Alright, shoo little one. I’ll see you at home.” The look in Katya’s eyes clearly said that there was something to discuss, but later. Lili crossed the floor, gave the elf a quick peck on the cheek, and moved towards the back door of the tavern.

“Stay safe, Kat. Remember I love you.”

Katya smiled her first genuine smile in several minutes. “And I you.”

Lili returned the smile and, with an exaggerated toss of her blonde hair, slipped through the door to the kitchen and out of sight.

As they began clearing the wreckage, Katya slipped the note from her belt, her thumb tracing the edges. The Oathtakers had called her once before, and she had answered, giving everything she had to their cause – her life, her mentor, her memories,

Her soul.

She wasn’t sure she had anything left to give.