to escape.
“We caught the scum that did it,” he said. “They didn’t even try and hide or deny it.”
Laurel asked if they had solid black eyes. The man nodded and answered, “Until they died. They entered the city under the guise of being blind. Those who escorted them are still somewhere in the city and ready to cause more trouble. We’ll deal with them when the time comes. Doesn’t really matter – we don’t have enough ships to use the piers anyway.”
“How much to get us out of the city?” Laurel went straight to the point.
The man laughed and scratched his bristly beard before responding, “Orsa won’t miss a handful of useless nobles. Shiftla is better off without them and they are better off without some of their coins. You ladies, on the other hand, would be missed and I would have a most difficult time explaining your whereabouts.”
“We could always tell him about the nobles,” Laurel said, clearly not above using a threat.
Smythe laughed deeply. “You have spirit, young lady. I think I will like you! As for our good captain, he has too much on his table right now. I suppose this would upset him, but he needs me more than I need him. Who else would put the beggars and paupers on his city walls where real soldiers should be and keep them from turning on him?”
“Why do you stay?” Laurel asked.
“A good question. Shiftla is my city.”
Kayleigh listened to the way he spoke possessively of the town and came to a realization. “You’re not a soldier are you?”
“Oh no! I am the Taskmaster, dear. As I go, so goes Shiftla.”
The others were confused by his response, but Kayleigh wasn’t. Many towns she’d lived in had a powerful merchant family that ruled with an iron fist. In Helden it was Rebekah Morganstern’s father, by virtue of owning most of the fishing vessels. In Laurent, larger than Helden but much smaller than here, it was a one-handed, ruthless man known as Claw. Smythe probably had men like those two working for him. He was both above and below them at the same time – a true crime lord.
“What can you do for us, sir?” Kayleigh asked, hoping to sound respectful and drawing on memories of how her mother had dealt with Claw and Morganstern. Brenda Reese made it look effortless, but Kayleigh now knew that it was anything but.
Laurel sent a questioning glance in her direction and Kayleigh hoped her friend wasn’t feeling slighted. Whitaker nodded her approval ever so slightly.
“For now, I can do very little. I can give you food and a place to rest. My compound is near. We shall go there shortly.”
“Then we thank you for the kindness you offer us,” Kayleigh answered for them and they waited for the man to finish giving his instructions to the work crews.
Kayleigh did her best to make Rheysurrah understand the situation as they moved through the nervous streets of the city and approached Smythe’s opulent compound, but the streets were now packed with people attempting to go about their daily routine amidst the flood of refugees aimlessly wandering the roads in search of something that they may never find.
She was reluctant to admit it, but she thought Majherri would require much less explanation. Her former unicorn was more experienced and had a better understanding of human nature. Shiftla was a pile of smoldering firewood waiting to burst into flame.
With a heavy dose of sarcasm, the young sorceress mused, “The rest of the riders, except maybe Laurel, don’t have a very good grasp on the situation either.”
Smythe had his own walls and the men manning them were far from ill-equipped peasants.
Of course a man like Smythe can’t run. His power is here. Take him away from it and he has to start all over again.
Winding their way through the unruly crowd was a different experience altogether. She was a unicorn rider. In the villages they’d stopped in on the trip when Kayleigh was recruited, they were welcomed with great fanfare. Riding into
“We caught the scum that did it,” he said. “They didn’t even try and hide or deny it.”
Laurel asked if they had solid black eyes. The man nodded and answered, “Until they died. They entered the city under the guise of being blind. Those who escorted them are still somewhere in the city and ready to cause more trouble. We’ll deal with them when the time comes. Doesn’t really matter – we don’t have enough ships to use the piers anyway.”
“How much to get us out of the city?” Laurel went straight to the point.
The man laughed and scratched his bristly beard before responding, “Orsa won’t miss a handful of useless nobles. Shiftla is better off without them and they are better off without some of their coins. You ladies, on the other hand, would be missed and I would have a most difficult time explaining your whereabouts.”
“We could always tell him about the nobles,” Laurel said, clearly not above using a threat.
Smythe laughed deeply. “You have spirit, young lady. I think I will like you! As for our good captain, he has too much on his table right now. I suppose this would upset him, but he needs me more than I need him. Who else would put the beggars and paupers on his city walls where real soldiers should be and keep them from turning on him?”
“Why do you stay?” Laurel asked.
“A good question. Shiftla is my city.”
Kayleigh listened to the way he spoke possessively of the town and came to a realization. “You’re not a soldier are you?”
“Oh no! I am the Taskmaster, dear. As I go, so goes Shiftla.”
The others were confused by his response, but Kayleigh wasn’t. Many towns she’d lived in had a powerful merchant family that ruled with an iron fist. In Helden it was Rebekah Morganstern’s father, by virtue of owning most of the fishing vessels. In Laurent, larger than Helden but much smaller than here, it was a one-handed, ruthless man known as Claw. Smythe probably had men like those two working for him. He was both above and below them at the same time – a true crime lord.
“What can you do for us, sir?” Kayleigh asked, hoping to sound respectful and drawing on memories of how her mother had dealt with Claw and Morganstern. Brenda Reese made it look effortless, but Kayleigh now knew that it was anything but.
Laurel sent a questioning glance in her direction and Kayleigh hoped her friend wasn’t feeling slighted. Whitaker nodded her approval ever so slightly.
“For now, I can do very little. I can give you food and a place to rest. My compound is near. We shall go there shortly.”
“Then we thank you for the kindness you offer us,” Kayleigh answered for them and they waited for the man to finish giving his instructions to the work crews.
Kayleigh did her best to make Rheysurrah understand the situation as they moved through the nervous streets of the city and approached Smythe’s opulent compound, but the streets were now packed with people attempting to go about their daily routine amidst the flood of refugees aimlessly wandering the roads in search of something that they may never find.
She was reluctant to admit it, but she thought Majherri would require much less explanation. Her former unicorn was more experienced and had a better understanding of human nature. Shiftla was a pile of smoldering firewood waiting to burst into flame.
With a heavy dose of sarcasm, the young sorceress mused, “The rest of the riders, except maybe Laurel, don’t have a very good grasp on the situation either.”
Smythe had his own walls and the men manning them were far from ill-equipped peasants.
Of course a man like Smythe can’t run. His power is here. Take him away from it and he has to start all over again.
Winding their way through the unruly crowd was a different experience altogether. She was a unicorn rider. In the villages they’d stopped in on the trip when Kayleigh was recruited, they were welcomed with great fanfare. Riding into
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