The Game

“And what exactly would you have me do, Ausric?” Ariakan asked, glaring at the man in front of him.

“I want her found, milord.”

“I’m sure you do. You should be more careful. She could have stuck a knife between your ribs instead of...” Ariakan trailed off, not bothering to hide his smile.

Krell bowed his head and focused on the floor tiles. When he had not returned to the manor house by noon, Ariakan had dispatched men to find him. They had tracked him to his upstairs room at the Blue Marlin, where he had been found nearly naked and unconscious, a half full bottle of wine on the table beside the bed.

When he had come to, Krell claimed he had gone to the inn with a woman, but he could not recall even one identifying detail about her. Several patrons had verified his story, but none could, or would, offer a description of the girl beyond short and dark haired. Several had seen them go upstairs together. No one had seen the girl leave, which meant she probably took the window.

However, before she did, she left Krell with something to remember her by. Across his chest, she had scrawled a bright blue caricature of the skull and the lily. And across his face, in a neat script that Ariakan was becoming all too familiar with, she had written a limerick which simply could not be repeated in polite company.

Whatever ink she had used, soap and water seemed to be having little effect. It wasn’t magical, but it was... effective.

“Honestly, Ausric, you remember nothing?”

“Nothing, milord.”

Ariakan sighed and turned to the black robed cleric beside him. “You’re certain he’s fit to return to duty?”

“Absolutely, milord. It was most likely a mild sleeping draught, apparently laced with some sort of memory charm.”

“Fine. Take yourself down to the tavern district, Lord Ausric, and organize four extra foot patrols. If you find her, arrest her. Use of an unauthorized magic item, and attempted murder, among other things.”

“Milord, if she had intended to kill me...”

“We have no way of knowing what her intentions were. My judgement stands until we have the girl in custody. Assuming you can remember who she is. You have your orders.”

“Yes, milord.”

“And, Ausric... do be more careful what you bring home with you.”

“Yes milord.”

~ ~ ~

“Absolutely nothing. A bunch of fucking battlefield bullshit. Thank the gods for Plan B,” Rae said, throwing herself onto the low pallet that served as her bed.

Across the room, Tristan and Irybis watched her fume with smug expressions on their faces.

“You can’t win them all, love,” Tristan said, ducking as one of her boots came sailing towards his head.

“I haven’t given up yet. I just have to rethink my strategy.”

“Not dealing with idiots might be a good place to start.”

“I didn’t think... how can a man possibly be so successful when he’s surrounded by morons like that.” Rae shuddered. “I can’t believe I let him get as far as he did, but once he made up his mind, he didn’t really waste a whole lot of time. I’m lucky I even managed to get to his wine.” She wiped her mouth on her hand and grimaced, reaching for a bottle of dwarf spirits leaning against the wall.

“I still think you’re taking too many chances,” Irybis said.

“Life is about taking chances.”

“What would you have done if you hadn’t been able to actually carry out Plan B?”

“I would have ended up badly laid and very embarrassed, but that didn’t happen. He wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But the next one might. No more games, Rae.”

“If it will shut you up, I’ll lay off for a while. I do wish I could have seen his face when he looked in the mirror this morning, though. If he even bothered to look,” she giggled. “Let’s go down to the Dog for a while. Tamlyn’s supposed to be playing there tonight, isn’t he?”

“Is that tonight? I guess it is. Sounds like a plan, then,” Irybis said. “You two head on over. I’ve got some things to take care of first. I’ll catch you in about an hour.”