“What are you two scheming about?” asked Ian as he crossed the floor back to the same tables they had all been sitting at the night before. Rori and Nolan sat with their heads together at their table. “You’re up to no good whatever it is.”

  “I’m hurt,” said Nolan with mock sincerity. “For all you know we are planning a celebration in honor of widows and orphans.”

  “Lie,” said Ian.

  “Which part?” asked Wergen, who was eating for breakfast the same stew they had all had for dinner.

  “Both the celebration and the fact that he’s hurt,” said Ian. “Rori, you okay?”

  “Sure. Why do you ask?”

  “Because last night you were so sick with unrequited passion, I thought I might have to hire you a bard to commemorate it for eternity. But I swear today you are positively glowing.”

  “You do have a shine about you,” admitted Baxter. “Not like a light shining kind of shine, but an inner glow kind of thing.”

  “What the crap does that mean?” said Wergen.

  “It means that . . .”

  “Never mind, I want to hear the explanation less than I want to contemplate it.”

  “So, which of you is going with Rori on his morning run?” asked Nolan with a grin.

  Baxter groaned audibly.

  “Sorry, what?” asked Ian.

  “Well, Rori needs to train and two of you have to stay with him at all times. So, which two is it? Actually, how far were you going to run, Rori?”

  “I don’t know. Until I’m tired, I guess.”

  Baxter groaned again.

  “We could just keep you here and not let you run,” said Sean.

  “If Rori was under arrest you could. But he isn’t,” reminded Nolan. “You are assigned to him to be there if something else should happen. Besides having two guards near him at all times he is to be allowed to ‘continue about his normal business.’ At least that is what I remember the magistrate saying. And his ‘normal business’ includes a daily run.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Baxter groaned once more.

  “I’m not running anywhere,” growled Wergen. “I’m short. I’m slow, and I’m older than all of you.”

  “You’re also hung over,” said Ian under his breath.

  “What’s that?” growled Wergen.

  “Nothing. Just agreeing with you.”

  “Where’s Brand? We should make the rookie do it,” said Ian.

  “He’s back on duty this morning. We’d still need a second person and also, he’s hardly a rookie anymore,” said Wergen.

  “There’s no way Baxter would be able to keep up with me,” said Rori.

  “Oh, gods bless you,” said Baxter in obvious relief.

  “Couldn’t you just run around the block as many times as it takes?” asked Sean.

  Rori gave it a moment’s thought and said, “I guess that would work. Does that mean you aren’t running with me?”

  “The four of us will all stand on a different corner. You should be in sight of two of us at all times. How’s that sound?”

  “Fine by me.”

  “Can I sit?” asked Baxter. “Just watching Rori run makes me tired.”

  Ian watched as Rori came into view as he turned the corner where Baxter was sitting on a barrel. The people in the street that had looked in interest the first several times Rori had gone running by, didn’t even raise their heads this time. Someone running down the street usually means a problem, perhaps for them, perhaps for you. A person who continually runs around the same block rapidly becomes uninteresting.

  Rori continued to move up the street to pass by Ian for the eleventh time. Ian was leaning against the railing in front of a store at the next corner Rori would turn down.

  Much like the people in the street, during the first several laps Ian had paid close attention as Rori passed. He’d scanned the faces of the people passing on the street and he’d peered at the rooftops. But there was simply nothing to see. After five laps it has become routine. After nine it had become boring.

  This time as he passed Rori said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in no time.”

  “Very funny,” said Ian as Rori turned away and continued on his path. When he saw him reach the corner where Sean was standing and turn out of sight, Ian turned back slightly to his left, waiting for him to arrive again at Baxter’s corner. Only, he never appeared.

  “Where did he go?” asked Baxter.

  “We were played,” said Ian.

  “But why?” asked Baxter. “He could have snuck out of his room, and we would never have been able to stop him. Why make us go through the whole show of running around the block?”

  “More importantly, how did he do it?” asked Wergen. “I saw him turn the corner by Sean. There were a few people in the street but not so many that I necessarily had to lose sight of him. But then he got near those three workmen walking up the street and he was just gone.”

  “And that’s why he did it this way,” said Sean. “If he snuck out of his room and Dade found out, we would be in more trouble than I care to recount for not taking proper precautions, for not actually watching him at all times and gods knows what else. This way there is nobody to blame but Rori.”

  “And Nolan,” added Ian.

  “Dade’s still going to tear into us,” said Baxter.

  “Maybe, but it won’t be as bad. Also, if we’re lucky, Rori will return before Dade even knows.”

  “Before I know what?” asked Dade stepping through the door from the street.