Page 39 of Shadows of Winter
Frayvar didn’t disagree. The castle moaned loudly as they carried equipment inside.
“Shit,” Milzy said, her gaze drawn to the tower window. With clouds darkening the sky, the red glow was visible. “You think people are going to come here for food and drink?”
“Sure,” Kaylina said. “I’ve altered my vision a bit to add lots of tables and chairs in the courtyard. Maybe some warming tents so we can serve outdoors even in the winter. And for those who are brave, there’s plenty of seating inside.”
Still eyeing the glowing window, Milzy shook her head. When Kaylina returned for another load, the girl asked, “You get hired by the Saybrooks or what?”
“No, this is our own endeavor.” Kaylina pointed to herself and her brother.
“You have the money for all this?”
“We’re getting a good deal on account of the curse. And… our family back home has a successful eating house, so they’re helping out.” Sort of. If Frayvar sent that letter and convinced Grandma it wasn’t a waste of money, they might. At the least, Kaylina thought Grandpa would send honey.
“Are you nobles?”
“Not even close. There’s not much nobility in the Vamorka Islands. Our father was actually, uhm. He always told us he was a buccaneer and not a pirate.” Maybe Kaylina shouldn’t have admitted that, but Dad hadn’t come around since she’d been a little kid. He was probably dead. “Either way, he was the opposite of noble.”
“Oh, yeah? Good.” Milzy nodded toward the closest driver, who gave a single nod back.
What was that about? Kaylina hoped these people didn’t plan to swindle them, the way the supposed land agent had.
“We’ll check you out when you open up,” Milzy said as one of the now-empty wagons rolled away. In a softer voice, she asked, “Do you think you could get any intel on the Saybrooks?”
“Intel?” Kaylina asked.
“Like where their supervisors stay in the city, when the owners will visit their factories, and what the security is like on their warehouses. Anything that could be useful. We’ve learned a bit from doing this and a few other jobs for them, but we always need to know more. You know Old Geezer Saybrook orders his people worked until they’re half-dead, right? Kids too. They don’t get holidays off, and people get injured in his factories all the time, and nothing ever changes. The Saybrooks deserve for a couple of mishaps to happen. All the nobles do.”
For a long moment, Kaylina could do nothing but watch her breaths fog the air. This sounded like the kind of information the rangers wanted, but she didn’t want to be their spy. If she had to pick a side, she wouldn’t pick theirs. With numbness, she realized the mead-making equipment was a bribe.
“What do you think?” Milzy prompted into the silence.
“I don’t know any of that stuff yet, just—” Kaylina almost said that Ghara Saybrook would be staying in her apartment in town, but she caught herself as the voice in the back of her mind cried a warning. What would Vlerion do if cutthroats murdered his childhood friend? Someone who was more than a friend to him? If he found out Kaylina had been responsible…
“Yes?” Milzy asked.
“If I hear anything about our landlord’s operations…” Even that sentence, Kaylina struggled to finish. If she heard things, what would she do? Report to this girl she’d just met? This girl who wanted for mishaps to happen? “Maybe I can share the details,” Kaylina finished softly, sweat dampening her palms.
“Good. People like us gotta stick together.” Milzy thumped her on the shoulder and hopped in the second empty wagon. It drove away after the first, horse hooves clattering on the cobblestones in the quiet night.
“Huh.” Frayvar had come back out with a lantern. “Do you think Targon foresaw that?”
“I don’t know.”
Once the wagons rolled out of sight, Frayvar handed Kaylina a slip of paper and held the lantern up so she could read it.
I trust this will help get your meadery operational in a timely manner. ~T
“T?” Kaylina tried to remember if anyone had mentioned Lord Saybrook’s first name. Would he have signed something so casually though? Something for them?
“I’m guessing Targon,” Frayvar said.
“Oh.” Kaylina lowered the paper, admitting that made sense, that the Saybrook Industry wagons were a front for the rangers. Or maybe Targon had enough sway that he’d made a deal with the senior Saybrook to have the equipment lent to them. Or Vlerion had. That seemed more likely. “This is getting complicated quickly.”
“I noticed.”
Snuffling noises at the side of the castle made them jump. In the shadows of the courtyard, a taybarri stood, snout in the air, nostrils twitching.
Alarm lurched through Kaylina. Was that Vlerion’s mount? Crenoch? If the taybarri was here, Vlerion had to be nearby. What if he’d heard Milzy asking for intel?