The Dead of Night
Canacean winters have always made this trip difficult. The roads are flanked by forests filled with darkness and all manner of deadly beasts — not even considering the thick blanket of snow smothering the whole damn place. Coin is hard to come by these days, and traversing these roads was well worth the risk.
With a sly smirk, I nudge my companion awake. Without a second thought, she lunged for the hilt at her side. Realizing we weren’t in danger, she sheathed her sword, lowered herself back onto the bench, and glared.
“What?” I said, unable to hide my smile.
She raised an eyebrow, which was more emotion than usual. When I didn’t respond to this wordless message, I laughed, the sound piercing the winter night.
“Safety is no joke, East”, she stated quietly.
I scoffed. “We are in the middle of the Tohir Forest. Anything to be afraid of it is not something we will be able to fight off”
She stared at me with hey icy blue eyes, and after a few seconds let out a groan.
Catching her meaning, my eyes returned to the road. After a while, I turned around and looked into the wagon to counting the chests. It would have been foolish to think that they would have disappeared, but the reasurrence was still refreshing.
But I was getting nervous.
Ataraxis was our destination, and we were getting close to the border — the toughest part of out journey. Fresh off a civil war, the people were fed up, tired, and needed something to keep the edge off. Unfortunately, every major crime family from Eisôdos to the Blackspine had the same idea as my boss. Because of this, the borders were well patrolled and merchants had their goods frequently searched.
I saw the small sign marking the border ahead, and I tensed up. Even Nola looked a bit on edge. There was no way we would get out of a search, and it was too late to turn back.
A light approached and cold fear ran down my spine. The rattle of the carriage was punctuated with the unmistakable sound of men in plate armor. I pulled my hood up and avoided eye contact. If they were soldiers they would let us pass. A wave of relief washed over me as they came close. Their wagon showed the banner of House Lovell, hailing from Varga. I nodded at the driver as he passed, and he returned the gesture. Once they were out of earshot we both relaxed. For once, Nola was the one to break the silence.
“I could’ve taking them, don’t you worry”.
“I bet you could. Vargans can’t even defend their own borders”
She softened, smiling.
“You know I knew a Vargan back in the Isles. When I was in training, he lived on the same street as my master. We often visited him for dinner.”
She paused, soaking in the memory of a simpler time.
“Why did he move that far south?” I asked as we rode on.
“He wanted to go somewhere warm after the war, and had the money to do so”.
I shrugged. “Fair enough”.
I relished the times when Nola opened up.
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East took a deep breath and stumbled up from the table. The crowd let out sounds of protest, but the man ignored it and made his way over to the bar. He ordered a pint of Amber Dustmead, and inspected the barkeep for the first time this evening. He was an elderly man, with grey hair and hard, brown eyes — the face of a man who had run this tavern his whole life. The barkeep wordlessly filled a tankard from the large barrels racked on the wall, and slid it across the bar. East paid as the barman looked him up and down for a second. It looked like he had something to say, but then decided against it.
The smuggler made his way back to the crowd. The Inn at the Crossroads in Athvan was a favorite of his. While it was a small detour from the journey back south, East always stopped in to tell stories and learn of news in the area. The length of the trip meant he wasn’t there frequently enough for it to jeopardize his work, although Nola never thought it was wise.
He sat down and beckoned all of the patrons to gather around once again. Tankards refilled, he began his story again.
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We were not ready for the man who emerged from the woods ahead of us, holding a hooded lantern. Instinct kicked in. I snapped the reins, and the man in the road yelled out. A cart came out of the woods and blocked the road.
“Halt, in the name of Baelon Atarax”
I looked to Nola incredulously. She had the look she gets when assessing a potential battle. I know that she could take these men on, but killing Justices of Augrima in their homeland would lead to the rope. Slowing my cart to a halt, Nola and I climbed down. More men emerged from the woods.
The one with the lamp walked over.
“Good sir, what might you be up to at this hour?”
They were lawmen. Their armor held the Prophet-General’s sigil.
“Your names”, he said walking over to us.
“My name is Easton Harper,” I answered quickly. “This is my companion, Nola.”
He sized us up, and then turned to the cart.
“Well, Easton, why did you try and run on sight of a Justice?”
I responded honestly.
“It was dark, and your lamp is a favorite of highwaymen and bandits. I didn’t know you were Justices until you called out. I was going to be robbed and decided running was the best option.”
He smiled, and sauntered over to the cart. I got a good look at the rest of the men. There were eight in total — a standard group of Justices. I knew one must be the second in command, but couldn’t make out the officer uniform in the dark.
“What are you carrying, Easton?”
“I’m a peddler, good sir. I travel the land selling odds and ends.”
“Could you show us?”
I knew this request couldn’t be refused.Nola walked to the back of the cart and hauled two of the heavy chests to the ground. Pulling a key from a pocket inside my coat, I opened both.
He rifled through the chests with his sword, then turned to his men. Without a word, four came over and dumped out the contents of the chest. Then, they produced crowbars and began prying at the bottoms of the chests.
Someone must have tipped them off. Maybe this had worked too many times. I slowly turned to Nola, whose hand was on her sword. We made eye contact, and I shook my head imperceptibly. They would slaughter us if this went to fighting.
Before long, the hidden contents were revealed. In each was a parcel of drugs wrapped in cloth. The leader walked over and inspected each package. It was a man from the darkness who spoke first.
“Boss, this would make us rich. Let’s kill ‘em and take the lot.”
Nola tensed at this, but I knew she would not resort to fighting unless they drew their weapons.
“Shut your mouth, and get in line”.
Another voice, this one different. The second in command.
The leader had not said a word. He wore pensive look.
“I don’t take orders from you,” said the first. “Say it, boss, and I’ll skewer ‘em both”
The leader spoke.
“We will not kill them in cold blood. That is not the way of Justice. We will take them to Dholgurum, and deal with it there. Plus, if the contraband were to be burned at the site of the arrest, no one would bat an eye.”
At this, chuckles rolled out of the darkness.
My boss had contacts in Ataraxis that I could call on, but I would lose this route if I had to be bailed out of the dungeon. We would to find a way to get out of this on our own.
The Justices hitched two horses to the cart blocking the road. Nola and I weren’t searched for weapons, which meant these arrogant bastards thought they could take us. We were forcefully shoved into the back of the lawmen’s wagon, as one of the justices climbed onto our cart.
It was time to do what I do best.
It is never wise to start talking right away. I wanted the lawmen to think they had me, so I put on my best dejected face and kept my eyes on the floor. Dholgurum was at least a day’s ride, so we would need to set up camp at some point. I would have twenty four hours to fix this problem.
“So, you all are Justices of Augrima? How is that job?”
“Shut up”, said the one who had recommended our death.
“I guess small talk is out of the question,” I said sarcastically. I tried a different approach.
“Do you even know what I’m carrying?”
I looked around for reactions but didn’t see any. They didn’t know about southerner drugs, so that will be my advantage.
“I’m carrying a specialty compound — created it myself. It’s a powerful hallucinogenic, but you all must have known that from the label on the parcels . . . right? At least you found the activator, the drug is useless without it”.
A blatant lie, but they were dumb guards. I sounded like an intelligent chemist, but they didn’t know any better.
At this comment, the second in command looked towards his boss driving the carriage. He was nervous they had made a mistake. Good. Now I should let this stew in their minds for another few hours. Patience was my greatest tool.
The long stares of the men in the cart told me all I needed. This payload had turned into a job way above their heads. Contacting a chemist was more work than these men needed. If they couldn’t sell the product quickly they were putting themselves and their jobs at risk.
Before long, we stopped to make camp, and when second in command pulled his boss to the side I knew I had succeeded. After deliberating for a long while, they approached me.
“Tell me how this drug works” the leader said bluntly.
“Well now, seeing as I have got you two interested, let me cut you a deal.”
After a moment, the boss nodded.
“I’ll let you have all the chests, including the drugs. I’ll mark the chests that hold the activator. What you need to do is mix one part the red package with ten parts of the grey. After it’s been mixed, leave it in the open air for a week with ample sunlight. Then, it will be activated.”
I gave them a few moments of confusion, then continued.
“In return, I leave with my empty cart and we never see each other again.”
The boss spoke up without a second thought.
“Deal”.
I shook his hand and he yelled out to his men. They began to take the chests and move them over to their wagon. When they were all loaded up, I had Nola prepare the cart. If they were going to backstab me, I would be ready to run.
I slowly walked over and marked one of the chests at random. Then, I made my way to Nola quickly and we rode off.
We didn’t speak until far out of earshot, at which point I burst out laughing. Even Nola smiled. Leaving the drugs in the sun for a week would ruin the potency by the end. I climbed into the back, handing Nola the reins, and pulled up one of the floorboards. Inside was enough profit to buy a small village. I laughed, turning around to make the long way to Ataraxis. It would be easy enough to sell the drugs in a different city.
We both smiled.
I was good.
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Easton stood on a table and bowed as the patrons cheered. The country of Ataraxis was hated in Athvan, and Easton milked the patrons’ vitriol for all that was worth. He motioned to his warrior companion to meet him in his room. The journey back to the Soundless Sea would be long, but a man has to make due in these times of hardship.
Easton Harper and Nola
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