Page 22 of Feathers of Ash and Hope
“Nothing so far, but anyone could use the trees as cover,”she answers. She’s right. I stay where I am, wide out in the open, where Daeva can swoop down and grab me.
My contact hesitates, his eyes flicking up to Daeva, but he finally comes to me when I don’t move.
“I’m not doing this anymore,” he blurts out as soon as he reaches me. “They know someone is asking questions.” He looks over his shoulder like he expects someone to jump out and catch him talking to me.
“We have an agreement,” I reply. My voice is cool and composed, but I want to yell in frustration. He’s the third one to back out in the past two years.
“Find someone else to do it. You found me, didn’t ya?” He squirms under my scrutiny. “Alright, alright.” He searches the pouch on his belt and slaps three gold coins into my palm. “Here is half of what you gave me. I did half of the time we agreed on, so we’re even.”
At least he didn’t just vanish like the first two men.
One is dead, and the second may be, too. I pocket the money. I don’t blame him for wanting out after six months, even if it is inconvenient for me. At least he has the decency to tell me.
I nod, and he sags in relief.
“There have been six more raids on travelers and hunting parties. Same course of action as the rest,” he says. “Only high-ranking members of society and good connections were spared and released against money or maybe information, but the families are very tight-lipped about it.” He shrugs. “Not one of the victims breathed a word of recognizing crests or colors.”
Disappointment and frustration simmer inside me. The icy blue of the Mras Family should be easy to identify.
Why can no one remember something important like that?
“You can’t expect prey to remember the fur markings of its attacker. They may do many things, but thinking or being observant is rarely one of them.”Daeva tries to appease me.
“How come I can remember then?”I grumble.
“You are no prey and never have been.”That’s her simple answer.
I turn my attention back to the man in front of me, gesturing for him to go on. I know it makes him uneasy to witness my conversations with Daeva, if he even realizes this is what I am doing. His gaze catches on the lines of my markings, visible beneath my sleeve.
His eyes come back to mine, and he swallows. “In one case, the attackers were forced to retreat in haste, and they left the body of one of theirs behind.” I perk up at that. “He was stripped down, so I don’t know what crest or colors he wore.”
“What happened to the body?” I ask, holding my breath. Maybe I finally have the breakthrough I’m waiting for.
“He supposedly was handed off to one of the healing houses,” the man answers, pushing his hair out of his face. “But when I asked for him, no one knew who I was talking about.” He shrugs. “My guess is, his people found a way to get the body back.”
I curse. A part of that man in the right hands could have gotten me some answers. Three and a half years since the attack that turned my life around, and still no progress.
They’ll pay for what they have done.
“But a guard of the armed party that broke up said attack close to the Barrier Mountains found this at the site.” He pulls a crystal out of his pocket, about the size of my thumb. It’s a smoky gray, the hexagonal form pointed at both ends and tipped in gold. I reach for it, but the man quickly closes his hand over it.
“I paid him five silver for it,” he says defensively. Nice try. I simply wait, and he fidgets under my stare. Daeva caws, amused.
The man flinches and hands over the crystal without another word. I turn it over in my hands.
“Any thoughts on what this is for?” I look at him, and he squirms, evading my gaze.
“You’re the one with a gift, not me. It’s not the stopper of a decanter and looks too fancy for a tent peg.” He shrugs.
“Anything else?” I ask.
The man shakes his head.
“All of the raids still happen close to the border, and still nothing outside Belarra, right?” I double-check.
“Like I said, nothing changed.” He looks longingly at the bridge point behind him.
I continue to ask my questions, but it soon becomes apparent he has nothing new to tell me. We go our separate ways. The crystal is the only reason I don’t feel this meeting wasted my time and money.
