Teela was bleary-eyed and groggy, but upon my explanation of why I'd woken her up she began to gather up her belongings with wide eyes and offered no complaint.

  “So what do you think it is?” she whispered as I helped scoop up her boots and clothes, which had been haphazardly strewn across the floor. She was now wearing a very long, patched shift.

  “Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, the shadows moving by themselves… that can’t be anything from this realm, right? It has to be something involving a Fae.”

  She shuddered. “Do you think they’re pacted?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Or maybe there’s a monster… I don’t know, doing something to them? Nearby? Watching them?” I sighed and shook my head as we opened the door to our new room- which was not much larger than the others but did have two narrow beds- and deposited her things in a tidy pile. We then headed to gather up my belongings from the little blue bedroom.

  “Maybe they’re cursed,” she whispered ominously, hefting my knapsack. “Or… salt, Brin, you don’t think… I mean, there was an inn destroyed just a few days from here. And Agnes was at an inn… what if this place is going to be attacked? What if they’re… I don’t know, watching the town, waiting for the right moment to strike? Gods, what if tonight-”

  “Don’t say it,” I pleaded, shivering. I passed a hand over my face and tried not to imagine this charming little town and its happy residents- most of them, at least- being attacked in the dead of night. Teela bit her lip, eyes downcast. “I… I think we should tell the Order about it, at the very least. If something is here… I mean, I don’t think there’s anything else we can do about it, is there?”

  “We could stop by their Watch in the morning,” she suggested, though she didn’t sound optimistic about the prospect. “I guess they… I don’t know, hopefully they won’t start stringing people up just because you saw something off about them. But maybe they’ll be extra cautious, y’know? Keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

  “I hope so.” I also didn’t feel particularly optimistic about the idea, but there truly didn’t seem to be much else we could do. I hefted my boots and cloak and followed her out the door.

  A familiar, dark-haired figure disappeared around the stairwell corner as we emerged. A moment later Renner stepped out of his own room, gear in hand, looking positively dismal.

  “Sorry, Renner. I’m sure there will be plenty of other, uh, beautiful young women for you to… er…” I shifted, not quite sure if I wanted to finish that thought.

  “Take hostage?” Teela supplied helpfully. “Intimidate? Be really rude to?” Her voice trembled with restrained laughter.

  I bit down on my lower lip as he rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. I don’t hear either of you complaining.”

  “Well, if you think about it,” she whispered as we headed down the hallway and into our new lodging, “We would even be here if it wasn’t for you.”

  I winced. “She does have a point.” He blew a sigh and swung his pack down onto the bed nearest the door, mouth twisted downwards unhappily. Does he actually blame himself for this- whatever this even is? Or is he just unhappy because of the interruption to his, er, activities? Something about the deep crease between his brows and the stormy look in his eyes made me fairly certain it was the former. I closed the door, bolted it, and added gently, “The horses were a good idea. I agreed to it. This isn’t your fault.”

  He opened his mouth, looking ready to argue… and then snapped it shut with a little growl. “Right. We sleep in shifts, and the moment dawn breaks we’re getting out of this town.”

  Teela moaned. “Shifts? As in, you two woke me up and now I have to stay up?”

  “I can stay up,” I offered, gesturing for her to take the bed. “Really, I don’t mind.”

  Renner frowned. “For a few hours. Here…” he moved across the room, towards its sole window, and peered up through the smudged glass. I followed suit and he tapped the pane, pointing towards a shadowy, leafless birch tree looming nearby. It stretched up past the roof, but by bending over and looking up at an odd angle I could just make out the very highest boughs. “When the moon crests that top branch, wake me up.” His eyes cut towards Teela. “Then you’ll go last.”

  She groaned and flopped facedown onto the bed.

  I sighed and, since the room had no furniture beside the two beds and a single nightstand between them, simply settled on the floor near the window with my runebook in hand. As I did so, Renner retrieved a small clay jar from his pack and carried it over. He opened the sill, leaned out, and I turned away as the pungent smell of rotting plants stung my nostrils.

  “Stuff’s too salted hard to get,” he grumbled a minute later, after closing the window and the pot. “And that was the last of it.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “What should I do if... I mean, if something happens?”

  He snorted. “Start screaming? That oughta get us up.”

  I swallowed. “Right.” On sudden impulse I stood, moved briskly to the door, and double-checked that the bolt was well-drawn. Then I did the same to the window.

  Renner watched me, brow furrowed, and then reached into his large knapsack. After a moment of rummaging he withdrew a triangular wooden contraption, not longer than my forearm, with wires and gears affixed along its sides. He stared down for a while, as if debating what to do with the object, before turning towards me.

  “You know how to use a crossbow?”

  I blinked. I’d seen the odd Fellbrook Watch member carry one around, but never seen one used. “I… I know how to fire a regular bow.” He sighed again. “Durst taught me,” I added, somewhat defensively. “He said it was more practical for hunting.”

  “You hunt? Alright, so you know how to aim, at least.”

  I fidgeted. “Well… in theory.” Heat crept into my face as he narrowed his eyes and waited expectantly. “He took me once. I shot a rabbit in the leg and the poor thing was so hurt. It was awful. We ended up treating the wound for weeks with some salves Clem helped me put together. Durst helped me build a little cage, and we named it…” I trailed off upon noticing his expression. His lips were pressed together, head slowly shaking back and forth, as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying. I cleared my throat. “We… I didn’t go hunting again after that.”

  “Sounds about right,” Teela murmured from her bed. Her voice was quavering with held-back laughter again.

  “Yeah. Yeah, ladyship, that sounds about right.” He shook his head again and stepped forwards, fingers tapping at the wood and gears. “Look, it’s simple enough; bolt goes here, you crank it back with this, trigger is here, bolt shoots out here. Point at what you want to hit.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know that. But why are you… I mean, wouldn’t one of your knives suffice? Durst did teach me how to swing a blade, you know.”

  “Uh-huh, until you hit a squirrel with one?” Teela mumbled from her pillow. Renner’s lips twitched and I huffed.

  “Dagger won’t hurt a Fae, if that’s what shows up. This will.” He reached back into the pack and pulled out several familiar-looking, razor-tipped bolts. They were shorter and a bit thicker than Durst’s arrows, but I would have recognized the silver sheen anywhere.

  “Oh,” I said softly, shivering at the very real thought that there might be something really, truly dangerous lurking nearby. Something cold snaked through my belly.

  “Yeah.” He handed me a bolt and the crossbow. “Alright, load and crank, show me where the trigger is, but don’t shoot.

  My hands were trembling, but I did as he asked. I held the contraption gingerly, pointed straight at the floorboards, as soon as it was ready to fire. The last thing I needed was to accidentally maim one of my companions.

  He nodded. “Not bad. It takes muscle to fire, you’re not gonna do it by accident.” I felt my face grow red. He reached out, unwound the crank, and then returned the inert weapon to me. “Good. If a monster shows up, shoot it and start screaming.”

  “Got it,” I mumbled, returning to my seat beneath the window and setting the crossbow down beside me. I wrung my hands for a long moment and then murmured, “You… you don’t really think anything’s going to happen, right?”

  “I have no idea. If the guy downstairs was planning something, then seeing me up and watching him might have changed his mind.”

  “You don’t think this has to be something to do with Fae?” I frowned, genuinely curious. “But, the shadows… that has to have been some kind of wicked magic. Right?”

  He shrugged. “Probably. But, hey, I’m an optimist; maybe there’s actually nothing going on here beyond normal human crime.” He snorted and draped his belt, with several sheathed daggers affixed to it, across the little nightstand.

  “Crime? What crime could the stablemaster possibly-”

  “Ladyship. You’re pretty, you’re dressed like a wealthy city-dweller, and you’re walking around with doe-eyes and a bag full of gold. I can think of a few reasons some lowlife might choose you as a target.”

  I mulled that over for a moment as he climbed into the empty bed. Then, “You think I’m pretty?”

  Heat bolted up my throat as soon as the words were out. Salt, why did I… what does it matter if he thinks… I am, of course, but Renner’s opinion certainly doesn’t-

  He chuckled and shot me a smirk. “Not that pretty. You’re evil, remember?”

  The comment was made so wryly, so lightheartedly- in comparison to so many of his previously malicious accusations- that a smile blossomed across my face and I let out a peal of laughter. Something fluttered in my stomach.

  Teela sat up and threw her pillow, hitting me directly in the chest. “Hey. Sleep. Now.” She flopped back down, grumbling unintelligibly. I retrieved the pillow for her, then resumed my seat beneath the window. Renner snickered and then lay down with his back to me, facing the door.

  I blew out the candle and spent a moment shivering in the sudden, silent near-darkness. The trickle of moonlight coming in above me was barely enough light to read by… and, upon further thought, I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to have my back to the window in case there was something outside.

  I gathered my things and slid quietly across the floor, then pressed my back against the wall once I had a clear view of both the window and the door.

  This makes sense, right? Now I can see every… I mean, not that anything’s going to happen. Surely nothing’s going to happen. Renner’s probably right; perhaps the stablemaster was hoping to rob me, and he got so upset because Renner was up and about and clearly didn’t trust him. And the shadows… salt, I don’t know. Renner didn’t see anything, and there were other people down in the common room; no one saw anything.

  Is it just me? Is this part of… I don’t know, part of my bargain? Of course, I don’t know why it would be, it’s not as though the… as though he gave me any kind of magic.

  Or… is there something wrong with me? Am I going mad?

  The thought occurred, as it had several times already, that I was simply imagining things. The idea wasn’t entirely far-fetched. Clem had once told me that sometimes people saw awful things and were never quite the same afterwards; as if something in their mind snapped, and couldn’t right itself again. A cold, hollow pit opened beneath my bosom at the idea.

  My thoughts remained maudlin as the moon crept higher. But, beyond Teela’s faint snores and Renner’s heavy breathing, there were no ominous sounds. The inn was quiet and calm, and every nervous glance at the window showed only dark branches and the distant, clouded halo of light from a somber crescent moon.

  Almost time to wake Renner up. And then… and then. I wrapped my arms around my knees and bit back a moan. And then I go to sleep. And gods’ know what I’ll face tonight.

  Would I be hurt? Threatened? Tortured? So far it seemed like he was trying to get what he wanted bloodlessly, but how long would that last?

  My eyes drifted down to the gleaming bundle of sharpened silver nearby. I stared, heart pounding.

  And a short time later, when I gently called Renner’s name and he yawned and mumbled and took my place against the wall, I crawled into bed with a razor-tipped bolt clenched in one hand.