Chapter 17

My fingers scrabbled at the dirt, as I tried to push myself off the ground. I made it a few inches up, before something heavy gently pushed me back down. Panic swirled in my mind as I tried to figure out what this was. Not the Timberaine Tyrant, which was some relief. What else could it be?

A soft touch trailed up my leg, and I flinched away, unable to stop a gasp, followed by a shout. “Help! I—”

Hysterical peals of laughter cut me off as the weight on my back vanished along with the touch. After giving myself time to simply breath for a second, I slowly pushed myself over. Monsters didn’t laugh like that, but perhaps bandits? Had The Howlers followed us all the way out here? Byron mentioned them doing something in the woods.

What met my eye wasn’t some muscular bound meat head in a yellow headband. Instead, I found a woman standing nearby, doubled over as she clutched at her side. Her shoulder length white hair framed her red face, and the ears and tail marking as her as a Cathinil flicked back and forth as she howled with laughter.

Fear was slowly forming into annoyance, and I knew that Poker Face wasn’t doing anything to stop the red that was forming in my cheeks. When she met my gaze, I could see the twinkle of mischief in her hazel eyes, along with the open mockery. With a hiccuping laugh, she straightened up and adjusted the flintlock rifle strapped across her back.

It was a hefty weapon, with a stock made of the same black material as Rita’s sword. She wiped her eyes, and then adjusted her clothes.. They were the practical things Hester had talked about. A white shirt, and long black pants. Even her belt had several small holsters for what appeared to be enchanted bullets. The only part of her outfit that seemed designed for fashion over function was the small blue vest she wore.

“Your—” she gasped out, before she shook her head. “Your face…”

“Who the hell are you?” I asked, as I pushed myself to my feet, and not even Poker Face could keep the scowl away.

“Oh my goddess above,” she said, her voice a touch breathless but with the typical southern drawl. “The way you shouted. Help! Like a scared child..”

I took a step back. “Who are you?”

“Aww, sweetheart, you don’t recognise me?”

She took a step forward, and her hand trailed down her side, highlighting the fact her figure was far more pronounced than Rita’s. Not that she didn’t look fit, just curvier, giving her a figure closer to Myrtle. At my glance, her grin widened.

“But that’s ok. We’re here to talk about you.”

Before I could take another step back, she had moved; her form blurring slightly as she closed the distance. Her face was inches from mine, and I could tell without her boots she wouldn’t be that much shorter than me. She leaned in, pressing herself against me, and my nose filled with the scents of the woods and something else.

Panic filled me, and I wanted to step away again. Then she sniffed me, breathing in deep before shifting to place her head against my chest. A hand grabbed my arm when I made to move, and I could feel the claws digging into my skin. The warning was obvious, and I heeded it.

“You’re the one I smelled around the house this morning,” she said, her words matter of fact. “The one I scented on Rita.”

While I didn’t pull away, I couldn’t help but shift on the spot, the accusation making me uncomfortable. “There was... I didn’t…”

“Relax, you didn’t bed her, I know. But you’ve travelled with her for a while, haven’t you?” She breathed in again, and I could see her tail flicking in agitation.

“Yes?”

“Truth.” She didn’t pull away, and instead seemed to press closer. “Why are you with her? Why did she bring you here? I know you’re not a doctor. Not dressed like that. Those clothes are from the capital, not from Crecia.”

I blinked, surprised that she was the first person I had met who had picked that up. “You know where my—”

“Answer my questions,” she hissed, and her claws dug in a touch further, cutting me off.

“Right.” I took in a shallow breath. “We met on the road. She helped me with a goblin problem, and some other stuff. I agreed to come help her run the business. That’s who I am. A Fixer. Chad Burling.”

After a moment, she gave a small nod, as though satisfied by my answer. “And you have Reeds Coach. Why?”

“Sheryl gave it to me. Let me borrow it. While Reeds is recovering from being shot.” I couldn’t help but squirm, which made her chuckle.

“Hmmm.” Her tail flicked out and snaked around my leg, and the tone of her voice changed. It grew softer, almost seductive, though the fact she had ambushed me and was marking up my arm didn’t exactly help with any form of romantic feelings. “Tell me, Chad Burling. What do you intend with Rita? With us? Is this your attempt at creating a little beastkin harem? The high and mighty capital city boy with his three country bumpkin wives?”

“No.” I didn’t hesitate in my answer, and her tail unwrapped itself from my leg. “Rita is my employer, or will be once we sign the paperwork. You and Sasha are fellow employees. That never goes well, and I don’t intend for such things to impede potential profits.”

It wasn’t the first time I had to give this speech, both for my benefit and for others. Those sorts of relationships rarely worked out, and even those that did meant an employee more often than not vanished from the company. A problem when it was almost always the more useful one.

“Besides. I never understood the appeal of multiple partners unless you’re looking to maximize income streams. But the taxes would likely negate it, anyway? If you wanted to do it efficiently, you—”

A laugh cut me off. “You’re telling the truth. I can hear your heartbeat, smell your fear. That’s good. You’ll keep it that way, yes?”

“Of course. This is a professional arrangement,” I agreed without hesitation.

“Hmm, not too professional, I hope. You have to be some fun.” As she spoke, she let go of my arm and embraced me. “You can be like our big brother! I’ve always wanted one of those, and it means I won’t shoot you. Unless I get a better offer.”

I paused, waiting for her to laugh to show she was joking; she did not. “Would you be willing to sign something on that?”

“Nope!”

With another grin, a genuine one, she let me go and danced backwards. I watched her as she stopped, a hand on her hip as she eye’d me appraisingly. A shiver ran up my spine, and I moved to pick up my fallen jacket. She didn’t take her eyes off me as I did, and only turned away once I had gathered everything.

“Come on,” her voice was light and cheerful. “Sasha should have finished cooking breakfast! Rita sent me to come get you because you were taking forever.”

“And she told you to ambush me?” I asked, as I limped after her, my bath partially undone by my contact with the road.

Her tail flicked, a sign of her joyful mood. “Nope! That was all for me. Had to make sure you weren’t going to be a problem. You aren’t. Not right now, at least. Besides, I like the fact that someone here clearly wants to make some money.”

“You’re not happy with how things are being run?”

That was interesting. I had expected everyone to be on board with what Rita was doing, though it made some sense. If, whoever this was, knew where my clothes were from, she had either spent time or perhaps grown up in Peol. Which should mean she understood how valuable money could be.

“I like it well enough.” She shrugged as she continued to half walk, half skip, ahead of me. “Rita lets me shoot a lot of things, which is nice. Oh! And Sasha helps make me alchemically infused ammo when we have the funds. Plus, it is nice to be outdoors like this.”

“But you would make changes?” I tried to sound casual, and her ear flicked back towards me.

“Maybe? I would like to explore more. We don’t get to go to the surrounding villages much.”

She stopped, and I did the same, stepping back as she whirled towards me. With an outstretched finger, she gestured to me, and her grin widened.

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“You!” Her shout was loud enough that I swore I heard a flock of birds nearby all flee at the noise.

“Me.” I paused and then looked at her. “You know you never gave me your name Miss…?”

She clapped her hands, and all but jumped in excitement. “We can travel now that you have the coach and the horses. Sure, we’ll have to find somewhere to stable them, but that’s fine. Oooh! This is going to be great!”

Without answering my question, she dashed forward and grabbed my arm. I didn’t have time to protest, as she pulled me along the road, rambling about all the places we could visit. There wasn’t much consistency, but I learned there were a couple of towns south and east of here that might need help. None were much bigger than Yuliosa, but it was still something.

As we reached the hut, the first thing I caught was the smell of cooking meat. My stomach gurgled, and I caught my ambusher’s grin widened.

“Hungry?” she asked.

I nodded, not feeling shame. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, what with everything that went on in town. She didn’t hesitate, and pulled me along faster, forcing me to jog to keep up. My sides and legs hurt, but I had a feeling that dragging me along the ground wasn’t something she would be too against.

We soon found ourselves at the firepit, and I spotted Rita sitting on an upturned log, her sword resting over her knees, as she chatted with a woman I suspected to be Sasha. She was another Cathinil, dark-skinned, with curly black hair and wearing a leather apron over a practical green tunic. At our approach, she glanced at me, and her slitted yellow eyes flicked from me to the woman next to me.

“Is that sympathy?” I wondered as I tried to work out exactly what that look entailed.

“Why are you covered in dirt?” Sasha asked, as I finally found my arm released. “Rita said you were off to bathe. Did your mother not teach you how?”

Her accent was odd, southern obviously, but subtle, with hints of other things. It reminded me of the sailors from Mr. Fisher’s ships. Men and women who had spent too long on the sea or in foreign ports and had lost their natural accent amongst the blend.

“Your compatriot here ambushed me on the way back,” I hissed, as I moved to take a seat on the log.

The fire blazed, and I left my still, somewhat damp jacket near enough to dry it. Sasha rolled her eyes, and Rita scowled at the white-haired woman, who simply shrugged and took a seat with the other two. She didn’t appear cowed by the looks.

“Not my fault he’s unobservant.” She sounded amused. “Though he screams well enough if we need a distraction. Too much of a coward for you, Rita, at least I would have thought. Unless you have a hero complex you didn’t mention?”

“What did you do, Penny?” Rita said, and I could see the tension on her face even as she ignored the teasing words.

“Chad told you. I ambushed him. He was all like: Ahh! Help me! Help!. I’m surprised you didn’t come to his aid.”

Sasha shook her head. “You know we have to work with him, right? Please stop trying to scare off all our help.”

“Please.” Penny rolled her eyes. “He’s still here, isn’t he? Plus, he’s our big brother now, and I made sure he isn’t here for weird sex stuff. You should thank me.”

Rita’s eyes grew a touch wide, and Sasha reached over to flick Penny’s ear, who glared at her as she rubbed at it.

“Behave. It’s good to put a face to the name Chad,” Sasha said.

“Likewise.” I smiled at her, though not with anything close to my usual charm with Penny sitting there. “You’re the alchemist? Rita mentioned you a few times. Said you told her about Sapphos and Lenos flowers, which helped on our trip.”

“I am, and did it? She mentioned nothing about that.”

Her gaze moved to Rita, who shifted uncomfortably. It was so strange to see her like this. The Rita I had travelled with had always remained poised and quiet. She had carried herself with what I had imaged to be a warrior’s dignity. To see her like this was something else. I wouldn’t have called her unconfident, but she seemed more nervous and I didn’t miss the fact she wasn’t meeting my eye.

Rita’s tail curled tight around her waist, and her ears fell flat against her head. “It wasn’t a big deal. We were fine.”

“You know I’m going to have to check you over.” The way Sasha said it made me think it was the start of an old argument.

“We didn’t drink any tea—”

“It’s not just useable for making tea!” Sasha threw up her hands as Penny laughed on Rita’s other side. “Chad, what did you two drink?”

As their attention fell on me, I shrugged. “A pretty poor wine, mostly. But I haven’t felt sick recently, and it tasted normal. Why?”

“Right, both of you are coming in for a checkup after breakfast.” Sasha said, and she gestured to a nearby shed.

It didn’t look like much. A simple wooden structure with a chimney and several large windows that I assumed were for ventilation. Rita bit her lip as I shrugged.

“What are your qualifications?”

Sasha leaned forward, her eyes flashing. “I trained at the alchemical academy in Lakeside. You’ll find no one around these parts that can do better at detecting poisons and magical reagents than me.”

“That’s because there is no one else,” Penny stage whispered at me, placing a hand against her mouth. “But don’t tell her I said that.”

“I can hear you.”

“So can he!”

As they devolved into squabbling, I looked at Rita, who tried to put on a brave face. She didn’t speak. Instead, simply collected a small stack of plates I hadn’t seen and dished up breakfast. I wasn’t familiar with the meat being served, and when I met Rita’s eyes, she shrugged.

“If you’re curious, Penny went hunting this morning. Sorry, we’re out of vegetables. That was for later today.”

“We’re not out,” Sasha said. “Penny didn’t get any.”

Penny let out a soft snort. “It’s not my fault Mr. Jenkins has been asleep anytime I visit. He’s old!”

“You’re meant to be getting them from Liane,” Sasha said.

“Oh, you know she always gives him too much. Besides, Ted doesn’t like giving us stuff without doing jobs and he hasn’t had anything.”

“That’s the mayor here, right?” I asked, more to stop them devolving into another argument than to get information I already had.

As I waited for an answer, I bit into the meat. It was tender and pleasant enough, though rather unseasoned. My mind drifted to some restaurants I had frequented. Chefs who had advanced their classes to specialize in certain types of dishes or ingredients. There had been days when I had eaten at high-class restaurants before even getting into work.

“He thinks he is.” Penny scowled and her tail flicked with irritation. “But he’s not. Leyloon doesn’t have a mayor. We’re not big enough. Plus, he’s not happy that Sasha here is seducing his son.”

“I’m not seducing Hester,” Sasha hissed back.

“Uh-huh. That’s why you happen to always be wearing skimpy clothes when you know he’s coming to visit.”

“My entire job is standing in front of a massive cauldron and a fire!”

“Yes,” Rita said, as they went at each other again. “They are always like this.”

Poker Face kept my true feelings hidden, annoyance and resignation mostly. “I see. But Ted doesn’t like your group then? Any other feuds I should know about?”

“No, and it’s not that he doesn’t like us. He’s just protective. If we get a contract, most will come through him, even if they’re from other people.” She took a bite of her own breakfast.

“That seems inefficient?”

“It stops people hammering on my door anytime they see something that might be a monster,” Rita muttered.

“Is that something that happens a lot?” I watched her as I ate more of my meal.

“Depends on the season.” She shrugged, and I found her more like her old, more confident self now. “Monsters migrate, and sometimes things wander where they shouldn’t. You’ll see it for yourself.”

My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’ll have to come on some jobs with us. See how we work? Isn’t that what you do?”

“No.” I shook my head, and put the plate down, no longer hungry. “Monsters are not my specialty. My job is to help you make money. You tell me what the business is and how it works. I extrapolate from there. It’s not my place to fight.”

“Plus he’s a coward~,” Penny sang out.

“Thank you, Penny.” I gave her a smile, which she returned with a confused look. “She’s right. I am afraid, and that’s why you don’t want me anywhere near such things.”

“But you helped with the fake monster in Ophilim.” Rita observed me as she spoke, her green eyes piercing into me.

“You claimed you needed help, and my job was to run away. With Sasha and Penny here, they can fill any such gaps.”

Rita raised an eyebrow, and her back straightened, returning her to the same woman I had travelled with. “I’m your employer.”

“Not technically until we sign the contract.” I pointed out.

Penny laughed, and Sasha shook her head before adding in an exasperated tone. “Did you two not work this out before you arrived?”

“To a degree.” My gaze never left Rita. “I’m not interested in putting my life on the line. Not for what you can afford to pay me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So that’s what this is about? Gold? Your cut?”

“It’s about resource efficiency.” I leaned back, or tried too, before I remembered I was sitting on a log and righting myself. “You have people better suited to it.”

“Sasha isn’t. Not really. What if I said I needed you to protect her? Free up Penny and I to fight, or hunt, or whatever else we needed?” Rita pointed out.

“Then why is she there?”

“To provide aid. Another pair of eyes.” Rita continued to watch me. “It might surprise you how much help it is to have an extra pair of hands.”

I shook my head. “Not interested. If you want me here to run the business, fine. But I’m not going off monster hunting.”

“Oh, we don’t just hunt monsters!” Penny piped up. “Sometimes we track lost people, or find herbs, or threaten annoying townsfolk!”

“That last one is something you do because you’re a pain,” Sasha huffed. “But she is right. You may not want to come on a hunt, but there are other jobs we could use your help with. Once we had to deal with hostages, and someone who had a bit more eloquence could have been of use.”

Penny glowered at her. “I’m eloquent.”

“You called them stupid, twice!” Sasha shot back.

“They were stupid.” Penny laughed. “They thought they could outrun a bullet.”

Rita waved them both to quiet before she returned her attention to me. “How about this, then? You don’t have to hunt monsters, but you have to come and observe some of our jobs.”

“Are these observations tied to pay and other things?” I asked.

“They could be,” Rita asked. “Why?”

My smile never wavered. “Because then I think we should get some paper. It’s time for the negotiations to begin.”