alone from abroad. In that time, the project was still ongoing in small pieces. Whatever Wynn Hygeorht brought back from foreign lands, it was more than just a few old scrolls or an obscure tome. But it wasn't all that she'd brought.
Wynn had brought fear to her guild, though they hid this as well.
It didn't matter that these sages dismissed a connection between one folio and the deaths of two of their own. Their emphatic certainty didn't weigh in the balance.
Captain Siweard Rodian believed—knew—this, as sure as his faith.
Chapter 4
After finishing half a supper, alone among the others in the common hall, Wynn carried a wooden crate filled with empty milk bottles out through the gatehouse tunnel.
Everyone living within the guild grounds equally shared regular duties. Tonight Wynn took her turn in the kitchens, and any errand to get away from staring eyes was welcome. Chopping vegetables had been especially unpleasant, considering who'd been in charge of meal preparations. Regina Melliny was a nasty beanpole of an apprentice in the Order of Naturology, and the ringleader for those whispering most behind Wynn's back.
Whether it was snide comments about Wynn being 'above herself,' or just that she was a fool with all her mad talk of dhampirs, undead, and assassins, Regina had a hand in it. She was like the head of a motley troupe of street players, who picked a passerby to mock for everyone else's amusement.
Perhaps the venom stemmed from a zealous approach to her order's pragmatic pursuits in natural and earth studies. Or maybe it was just her noble upbringing. Either way, Wynn couldn't wait to escape the kitchens during cleanup.
She trudged to the inner bailey's gate and settled the crates with a note on top, requesting a full wheel of goat cheese with the next delivery. In the morning a dairyman would pick up the empties, leave full bottles, and fulfill requests for goods that were available.
Wynn lingered awhile, breathing the damp night air and watching her own breath billow like fog in the cold. Then a strange thought popped into her head—or rather a memory.
As Captain Rodian had shoved her out of the Upright Quill, she'd glimpsed a shimmer, like fur touched by distant street lanterns, as something ducked into the alley. Again she found herself missing Chap to a painful degree.
Wynn peered down Old Procession Road running straight into the city. She didn't really notice the dim glow from all of the scattered street lanterns. Or rather she peered into each pool of light upon the wide cobbled street, one by one, searching for another glimpse.
She shook her head and scoffed. That was all she needed—to lend more credence to her fame for addled wits, even if only to herself. She reluctantly turned up the path and was nearly to the gatehouse when she froze.
Large torches, their blazing heads girded in iron bands, were mounted to either side of the tunnel. But someone stood in the entrance's darker shadow, just out of the light's reach.
Nikolas Columsarn inched out into plain sight.
Wynn sighed, heart still pounding in her chest. It had been too long a day, and she wasn't up to this. But the closer she stepped, the more his lost expression wrenched her. His straight brown hair hung partly over his face, but didn't quite hide his nervous, shifting eyes.
'I heard the captain brought you back,' Nikolas said softly, uncertain whether to whisper or not. 'Did he tell you anything about…?'
'Jeremy and Elias?' she finished after he faltered.
'My only friends, except maybe Imaret.'
'I saw her today. She asked after you.'
He brushed his hair aside. 'How is she?'
'Sad. You should go see her.'
Wynn stepped past him into the tunnel, but he didn't follow. She should've left him there if he was just going to lurk about, but she reached back and pulled him once by the arm.
His shuffling gait sent the sound of scraping leather on stone rolling around the tunnel until they entered the inner courtyard. Wynn turned aside rather than head for the main hall. Nikolas quickened his step to catch up as she walked around the courtyard.
'Does the captain know anything yet?' Nikolas repeated.
'Why are you asking me?'
'I can't ask Domin High-Tower, or the premin… or anyone else. They wouldn't talk to me. Do you think the captain will find whoever did this… punish them, execute them?'
Wynn stopped. Clear hatred and hunger for vengeance surfaced under those shaky words. She was already certain the killer was undead, but Nikolas had sought her out for a reason. If he harbored any blame for an innocent, it had to be dispelled immediately.
Then again, she'd known vampires who'd fooled her into believing they were mortal—at least one or two. Welstiel, Magiere's own half brother, fooled her for a while, and as to the other that had once tricked Wynn…
But she also remembered Rodian's warning not to meddle—or from hn tdle—or er own perspective, not to get caught doing so.
'If you know anything,' she said, 'you must tell the captain.'
Nikolas quickly shook his head. 'I couldn't, not him. There are things in my past… But Jeremy and Elias were easy to be with. They might've laughed at some of what I told them, but not to make fun of me.'
He paused.
'I could tell you,' he said, 'and you can tell the captain.'
Wynn was a little lost and really not up to this. Nikolas spoke of something more than friendship that he shared with two lost companions. Something out of the young man's own past was tangled in his loss of Jeremy and Elias.
'Tell the captain what?' she asked.
His eyes narrowed, and anger seeped back into his voice. 'Elias was courting a merchant's daughter named Elvina.'
'Courting?' Wynn blinked. 'When would he even find time?'
Nikolas shook his head again, dismissing the question. 'Have you heard of Baron Âdweard Twynam? Only one generation noble, barely above a commoner, but his son Jason wants Elvina, too. Eight days back Jason cornered Elias behind the soap shop in the eastern district… and threatened to kill him if he didn't stay away from Elvina. Jason said no one would miss a useless little sage.'
Wynn exhaled slowly. 'Why didn't Elias tell the domins?'
'He'd just made journeyor and was still waiting for his assignment. The domins would've told him to stay away from her. And who knows where they would've sent him to make sure of it.'
Nikolas was correct, though he still should've told someone about a death threat. But Wynn's own conclusions wavered a bit concerning the deaths of Elias and Jeremy.
What if il'Sänke was right? Was it possible they were killed for such an explainable reason, and not by something out of memories that still plagued her dreams? But it didn't all add up, if this Elvina was interested in a minor noble's son with wealth and means. Sages generally led austere lives, and only a few found their way into some wealth. So why had Elvina given Elias any note?
And if this story was true, why had Jason even felt threatened, unless he was that petty and controlling?
'How could Elias afford to court this girl?' Wynn asked.
'He borrowed coin from Jeremy.'
Wynn was losing patience. 'So how did Jeremy get the money?'
Nikolas started fidgeting again. 'He was working…'
Wynn folded her arms and glared at him.
