Chapter 11 – The Mediator and The Inn

Anad leaned in the shadows of the chimney on the building across from the inn. Tel – it was him, the merchant confirmed it – and his accomplice hadn’t returned yet, and Anad tapped his finger impatiently against the bricks. Maybe he should just go back down and…

No. No, their horse is still in the stables, as well as their packs in their rooms. I just have to be patient until they get back. Who’s the woman though?

From the description, she was young, so was she from the enclave like Tel? She was a sorcerer for sure, from what that slimy merchant Kulio had to say, but why was she with Tel? She had a horse, and it was nothing like the ones they’d found in the enclave, so what was the connection?

Hired muscle? She’d done a number on the guards at the shop…but the wounds were all superficial. From the mess he’d seen there, the glass cases had done more damage than the woman herself had. And what had Kulio said about the fight…she was flying?

That doesn’t make sense.

Flight magic wasn’t common, and the one time Anad had seen it, the chaos energy required had been tremendous. It’d left an echo strong enough to feel for days after. This woman’s chaos echo was barely noticeable an hour after she’d used her abilities. Unless Kulio was lying about when he’d seen them?

No, that also doesn’t make sense. He was happy when he saw me, a Mediator. He must’ve been connected to Sir Reghald finding the enclave. And been paid handsomely for the information.

So, what? Tel and that woman escaped the enclave together and came to Gravelburg? Why?

Anad blew out a deep sigh. Too many questions and not enough answers.

I’ll get my answers once I find them. Why Tel was even there first among them.

Anad leaned his head back and looked up at the night, the sky alive with hundreds of dancing butterflies that rose from all corners of the city. A kaleidoscope of colors swirled around, some of them moving in unison like a flock of birds, only to burst apart a second later in a shower of fireworks, while others streaked off in every random direction.

Chaos indeed.

Gravelburg had to be the only place for hundreds of miles in any direction where it could happen. Sure, Anad had heard the reports of it, but to actually see it?

Just how big are the bribes?

Anad turned his attention back to the inn; he wasn’t there to rein in the chaos, though there were surely more than a few in the streets below him who thought he was. The crowd had parted, people practically running in opposite directions at times, when they’d seen the black and white of his tuxedo. It was almost funny that a top-hat was more terrifying to most than a naked blade.

Speaking of which…

Anad activated the magic of his hat with a touch on the brim, the window of the inn across the street zooming into focus like it was right in front of him. The pack was still there on the bed, exactly where he’d found it hours before.

And no more chaos energy than anywhere else in this town.

The woman’s echo had been too faint to follow more than a dozen feet outside the merchant’s shop, and it wasn’t any stronger on the pack or horse. If Anad hadn’t been specifically told about how she used her magic in the shop, he probably would’ve never even recognized it as the same echo.

Which means her magic can’t be that powerful. Versatile, maybe, but not powerful.

The thought of powerful magic brought on another glance to the sky, but if there were clouds turning into whales and dropping out of the sky, they were invisible beyond the flashing lights of the chaos butterflies.

Attention back to the inn, they’d have to return soon. It was getting late, and they had to know Kulio would be looking for them, so they’d grab their stuff and run. If he was them, he’d lay low for a few hours, sneak back to the inn, then get out of town as quick as possible. So, he’d just wait and confront them when they came back. Ask Tel all his questions and…

And why am I hiding on a roof across the street? What am I afraid of?

That was easy – the last time he’d seen Tel hadn’t exactly gone well.

But that was years ago.

“Tsk,” Anad hissed and looked again at the inn. “What is taking you so long? You should be back by now… unless…”

Unless they weren’t coming back. At all. Did they bolt because of Kulio? The merchant had told Anad he didn’t know where Tel and the sorcerer were staying, but how would Tel know that? They might’ve left town straight away and Anad had been sitting on a roof all night for nothing.

The horse though. It was a beautiful animal. Not a common mount at all. No way they would leave it behind unless they knew there was something to fear back at the inn.

Something to fear?

Anad let out a breath. Tel had just come from seeing the enclave massacred. What did he have to fear? That was also easy.

“Me. They know I’m here.”

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Anad glanced down at the street to make sure nobody was below him, then stepped off the roof. One hand reflexively on his hat – though it wasn’t needed – the windows flashed by, and the ground raced up to meet him. With barely a bend of his knees, he hit the sidewalk and started across the street.

Surprised faces turned at his sudden appearance and then looked to the sky to see if any more Mediators would come raining down.

Not exactly whales, but just as terrifying for the average person.

Striding straight through the clearing that opened between the crowd, Anad crossed the street and entered the inn. As before, the older woman who ran the place sat at on a small stage at one end of the common room, a fantastic tale spilling out of her mouth.

“…and with its silver blades glinting in the moonlight, the Reaper…” she trailed off when she saw Anad staring hard at her. “Ahem, to be continued!” she said, standing up and throwing her hands in the air to a round of disappointed sighs.

The innkeeper spared only a second to grab a mug sitting on a table beside her on the stage, then hopped down and walked over to Anad.

“Which tale was that?” he asked as she approached. She had a nice voice, and a passion for story. If he wasn’t wearing his uniform – or been looking for somebody – sitting down and listening to her would’ve made for a good evening.

“The Battle of Fork Valley,” she said, eyeing the contents of her mug. “On the outskirts of Little Rock’s territory.”

“The one where almost two dozen…” Anad said, his cane rapping gently on the floorboards to emphasize the words, “…Mediators were killed?”

The innkeeper paused, eyes still on her mug. “Maybe not the best choice of stories considering the company,” she admitted, looking around the room.

“It’s a popular story,” Anad said to ease the sting of his early comment. He needed the woman’s help, after all. “And it sounds like you were just getting to the action.”

“Did it really happen the way the story goes? One Reaper against more than twenty Tail… er… Mediators?” she asked.

“I doubt it,” Anad said. “Though it was a bit before my time. I was still in training when it happened.”

“Ah, then Reapers aren’t really as scary as…”

“They are,” Anad interrupted, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up just at the memory of the few survivors that had made it back from the battle. At the fear in their eyes. Mediators…afraid? It had been a stark lesson for him. “They most certainly are. If you ever have the misfortune of being within a dozen miles of one…run.”

She was looking at him then, one finger circling the rim of her cup as she stared at his face, until she finally nodded and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind, but that look on your face…I’m going to use that when I get back to my story. That was real emotion there. Honestly didn’t think you Tailcoats felt…uh…ahem, anyway,” she coughed. “Did you find who you were looking for?” she asked, quickly taking a swig from her mug, but her eyes didn’t look away from his.

Just like the first time he’d come in. When was the last time somebody other than a Mediator actually met his gaze?

“No,” Anad said simply. “Have they come back yet?”

The woman took another swig from her mug and shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve been up there since last time I saw you.”

A convenient alibi, but also a good one.

“Maybe they snuck in while I wasn’t looking. You want the key again?” she asked, reaching into her apron and pulling out the heavy key she’d given him before.

Anad shook his head. He’d seen the bag from across the street, and the woman’s magic was something like flight. The odds of her having a second magic were so slim, they might as well not even exist. The bag was really in the room. The horse was really in the stable.

But, if the innkeeper wasn’t the one who warned them Anad was nearby, who was it?

He looked around the room, but everybody else was doing their best to imagine he wasn’t there at all. Most of the eyes stared into their own mugs, and the chatter was minimal.

“Do you have the coins they paid with?” he asked suddenly, and the woman’s face screwed up at the abrupt change of topics.

“Probably? Not set aside all special like or anything though. They’d be in with the rest of the night’s take,” she said, shrugging, and put the key back in her apron.

“Show me,” Anad instructed, and the woman gave yet another shrug before going over to the bar.

“Give me the strongbox,” she said to one of the two large men slinging drinks, and he complied without a word.

The heavy box thumped onto the bar top, a thick chain securing it to something under the bar, and the innkeeper pulled another key out of the neckline of her shirt.

“Normally I don’t open this out here,” she said. “But I figure nobody is going to make a play for it with you here.” With that, she slid the key into the box, and turned it with a loud click. Despite her words, she scanned the room to make sure nobody was close, then pulled open the thick metal top.

A small fortune of coins glistened up at Anad – Business is good – and he reached towards the pile, but stopped before his fingers touched the coins. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked her.

“Not unless you’re planning on palming a few coins,” she said, but she was smiling.

“Not a trick I’m very good at,” Anad said, his attention going back to the coins as he shuffled them around. Tel was at the enclave, and the woman was a sorcerer; any coins they carried would have a trace of their magic.

And yet, nothing stood out. Not a single coin held an echo, let alone one with the same magic he’d felt at the enclave or back at Kulio’s store.

Another dead end?

“Thank you,” Anad said, retracting his hand.

The innkeeper looked from Anad to her box of coins, and he waved his hand to show he was finished with it. The coins wouldn’t help.

What options did he have left? Go upstairs and go through their packs?

That would only tell me where they’d come from. No, I need to figure out who warned them I was here. But the only person who knew I was looking for them at all was on stage all night.

Anad’s hand clenched around the handle of his cane. He could make her tell him how she warned them. He had the right to, by law, in his pursuit of a sorcerer and a Clocksmith.

The two big men behind the bar seemed to come to the same conclusion, maybe there was something in Anad’s body language, and they both gently put down the glasses they were filling. They were large, too, each a solid foot taller than Anad was.

What are the men in this town eating to get so huge?

Anad watched one of the men stalk out from behind the bar to stand beside the innkeeper, his mouth a tight line and his eyes narrowed at Anad.

To almost anybody, that might even be intimidating.

“Slow down, Reggie,” the innkeeper said, her voice soft, and she put a hand on his muscular forearm. “Our friend here isn’t like the others. It’s not going to come to that, is it?” she asked, eyes meeting Anad’s for those last words.

A quick memory of the blood coating the enclave floor flashed in front of Anad’s eyes, and he forced his hand to relax. Not only had there been enough violence for one day, but that wasn’t the kind of Mediator the world needed.

“No, it’s not,” Anad said. “I know you warned them I was looking for them, and a small part of me applauds your bravery.”

“I was right here all night,” she said.

“I’m not going to insult your intelligence, so please don’t insult mine,” Anad said. “You sent somebody to find them. Somebody who would go unnoticed, but that would recognize them. More than that, they would need to recognize your messenger too, or they wouldn’t trust them. So, it was somebody who had spoken to them…and if not you…”

Anad turned and looked at the wall behind the stage, as if staring hard enough would reveal the stable and horse just beyond the wood. Who else had talked to them?

Easy.

The stableboy.