Page 34 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

Fenric shoved a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face, which was lightly streaked with sweat. “I’ll admit, though, I talked to Hapi last night about needing to scout Björnkill soon. Pomor was largely a bust for me in terms of earning a little coin. Would have been nice to get our deposit back, though.” Dropping his hand back to his side, he shrugged and released a sigh. “But what are you gonna do? There was no point in staying in Pomor any longer. It was a boring little town with nothing much to offer.”

“Is Björnkill bigger? More exciting? I’ve heard of Briani and Talmae, but not Björnkill.”

Fenric scrunched up his face in thought. It had been a while since his last visit to Björnkill, and even that had been brief. “Definitely bigger, but there are anthills bigger than Pomor. Björnkill’s not one of the biggest towns in Moorwood, mind you, but it is a popular stopover before reaching Briani and Talmae, which are bigger towns with giant ports for trade, especially trade with other kingdoms. Björnkill is lesser known, mostly just trades with other Moorwood towns, and will have a smaller dock fee for Rain to pay.”

Maxie continued to pepper Fenric with questions about Björnkill, his travels, and what it was like to be a devilish rogue thief. It was an enjoyable way to pass the morning hours. Around midday, they stopped under a copse of trees to enjoy the shade and a pleasant breeze. In the distance, they could make out farms dotting the surrounding green hills. Maxie’s dark olive skin appeared to deepen in color from the sun, but he seemed to be having no trouble keeping up with Fenric’s brisk pace. He might have spent his life as a merchant’s or noble’s son, but there was no sign of him passing the time as a lazy lump. Fenric could easily imagine him spending hours in fencing lessons and horseback training.

They munched on a light lunch of cheese, bread, and apples before finally approaching the larger town, where a group of travelers awaited entry.

It wasn’t the most auspicious entry into Björnkill as horses’ hooves thundered down the road. Fenric grabbed Maxie’s arm and just barely jerked the boy out of the path of the riders. He lifted his head, ready to shout at the morons for not watching out for pedestrians, but his curses died on his tongue and he swiftly angled himself and Maxie so no one on the road could clearly see their faces, blending in with the rest of the crowd.

Lance Carrington was in Björnkill.

The bastard with the golden hair and twinkling blue eyes sat astride a white charger like he was a gift from the gods.

He was actually a demon. A monster who crawled out to prey on the vulnerable and weak.

And Fenric wanted to rip his stomach out through his nose.

Or possibly just feed him some of Maxie’s cooking. That would work, too.

But before he died the most horrible, painful death possible, there was some information Fenric needed to get out of him.

For now, Lance rode into Björnkill with a dozen companions, all dressed in shining silver-and-gold armor. Their brilliant red capes billowed out behind them in the wind. As much as Fenric ached to do something right then and there, he couldn’t. Lance and his fellow heroes were all armed to the teeth with swords, bows, and more. He’d be overwhelmed in the blink of an eye.

Hapi had been partially wrong. There was someone he wanted to kill, too. It just wasn’t his main goal. He’d get around to Lance eventually, and he would savor every second of the bastard’s death.

“Fen?” Maxie’s nervous voice jerked him from his dark thoughts. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” He shook his head and forced a reassuring smile. “No, everything is fine. You just need to learn to watch out for idiots on horses.”

“Yes, of course. It was very thoughtless of me. I was just overwhelmed a bit.”

Fenric tightened his hand on Maxie’s arm, relieved that Maxie hadn’t asked about Lance. Maybe he didn’t know about the hero, which seemed impossible since all of Moorwood knew about him. It didn’t matter. There were more important things for Fenric to worry about. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure! Anything! What do you need of me?”

“Go straight to the port and wait for Rain to show up with the others. Tell them I’ve gone to look into an interesting lead. I’ll catch up with them later.”

The young man’s brow furrowed, and his bottom lip stuck out a bit. “You don’t want me to help you look for a new place? Is it because I almost got myself run over? I don’t wish to slow you down or cause you trouble.”

“No, no! You’re no trouble at all. I swear. This is just a good lead I can’t pass up. Remember when we talked about each person having their own quest? This is mine.”

Maxie’s expression lit up again, and he seemed both relieved and excited. “Just tell me and I’m happy to help.”

“Maybe one day. You just relay my message to Rain and the others.” He released Maxie’s arm to tap him on the tip of his nose with his knuckle. “I can’t miss out on this lead, and it might require some stealth. You still need some more training.”

A lot more.

“Okay. You’ll come find us, right?”

“Definitely. Just stay out of trouble. Go to the port. Nowhere else.”

Without another word, Fenric darted into the town. He tamped down the twist in his gut about leaving Maxie alone in a new city, knowing that trouble was attracted to him like flies to shit, but he couldn’t risk losing sight of Lance. Maxie could mind himself for just a little while.

Björnkill did feel a bit overwhelming after drifting about Pomor for nearly a month. The buildings were tightly packed together down the street leading into the large town and appeared simply constructed. People crowded the road as vendors with little carts sold their wares to anyone who paused long enough to check them out. The air was filled with a great clamor of people shouting, animals bellowing, and carts creaking under the weight of their contents. Ripe odors from humans mixed with the rich scent of cooked food, leaving Fenric’s nose burning.

Thankfully, the clot of citizens slowed Lance the Bastard down.