Kaddie followed her abruptly excited and oblivious companions, taking her time as she navigated the stairs. This was the real reason they had met up with Glen. Something had been discovered in the northern section of Terohas, a few days after Torrell had opened the tunnel in the ruins and she knew he’d been itching to escape his chores and see what it was.

  Two long passageways and a lengthy stair climb brought them back up to the surface streets. It was still snowing but the flakes were now intermittent and the sky had taken on a lighter hue. The surrounding chill made her scar prickle and she was glad of her new eye patch. She turned this way and that, looking for something familiar, and realized she had never ventured into this part of the city before.

  High walls lay on either side of tight alleys and narrow streets. Houses bore six, sometimes seven storeys. Water churned at the base of every dwelling before disappearing into the grates below. The noise as it fell from above was intrusive, loud enough that it stopped her from hearing her companions’ conversation.

  Rather than huddle closer and shout pointlessly over the noise, she remained a few steps behind and attempted to soak up her surroundings. There were few people on these dour, narrow streets, and those she did see were quick to frown. A standard response to anyone they didn’t know? Or were they reacting to her face? The latter suggestion tore at her composure. Instinctively, she met each frown with a defiant glare.

  Torrell paused, enabling her to catch up. “Friendly lot, aren’t they?”

  “What’s their problem?”

  He shrugged. “Averse to strangers for some reason.”

  Kaddie raised her head. In this particular alley the sky was barely visible. Peeking through the crush of walls and rooftops, not one flake of snow had survived its fall to the cobbles below. She became aware of another noise mingling with the robust gurgle of water. “What’s that clattering noise?”

  “Weaving looms.” Torrell pointed above their heads. “Water drives the wheels, which in turn drives the looms.”

  “Can we take a look?”

  “Let’s see what Glen has to show us, first.”

  Their companion was some ways ahead, half way up a flight of tall, roughly-chiseled steps and they had to run in order to catch up. Once again, Kaddie lagged behind, on this occasion because the stairway was narrow, steep and disorienting. She was also winded, despite her climbing practice.

  Torrell retraced his steps and held out his hand. “Sorry,” he said. “I keep forgetting.”

  In other circumstances she would have toughed it out and scolded him for assuming she was a weakling, but on this occasion she meekly took his hand and allowed him to pull her up the remaining steps. Having had a knife poked into one’s eye was proving a humbling experience in more ways than one.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Snow was falling thickly at the top and a number of surprises awaited them. Beyond a shallow wall lay a deep, circular pit, its sides lined with perfectly cut stones. Leaning over the wall as far as she dared, Kaddie couldn’t see the bottom.

  Torrell and Glen began an excited discussion, and while she waited to get a word in, her eyes alighted on a group of men standing at the opposite side of the yawning chasm.

  “Don’t you see?” Torrell said, when he noticed she wasn’t paying attention. “It wasn’t there before.”

  Kaddie smiled without humor. “Well, if you think that’s odd, take a look over there and tell me who you see.”

  Torrell stared across the span of the pit, and at that moment, from the pit’s other side, Poisoner Robles raised his hat, gave them a barely perceptible nod, before resuming a conversation with two men Kaddie didn’t recognize.

  “Maiden’s elbow, it’s Robles,” Torrell told Glen. To Kaddie he said, “What’s he doing here?”

  “I’ve stopped thinking when it comes to him.” It was a whopping lie. What was he doing here? Having declared they were no longer under threat after Arben Theed’s visit to the dispensary, Robles had been leaving the house on his own, more so than usual. Even Elspeth and Marla had remarked at his disappearances, and as she stared across the chasm she wondered what he was up to. “Is this the only pit?” she asked.

  “There are three more that we know of,” Torrell said.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been busy.”

  “Well, I wasn’t allowed to be at your bedside all the time, so I had to do something.” And as Glen smirked at the implied sarcasm, “We’re building a map,” he continued. “One of the pits outside the city walls dropped two houses and a herd of goats.”

  Kaddie looked horrified. “Was anyone killed?”

  “I don’t think so, except for the goats.”

  “And what if something like this opened up beneath the dispensary?”

  “I think it would have happened by now.” He seemed a little too sure of himself and Kaddie shook her head.

  She risked another glance into the pit, where fat flakes of snow were being swallowed whole. At its upper lip she saw faint designs etched into the stone. More of the strange glyphs, she assumed.

  Robles and his companions were concluding their business and their employer was now waving.

  “I think he wants us to return home.”

  Torrell in particular appeared reluctant, and as they descended the steps to street level, he and Glen discussed the possible site of more dark holes in the ground.

  “You can bet Theed has his men on it,” Glen said. “Where do you think they’ll find the next one?”

  Torrell grinned. “I have a theory.”

  “Like what?”

  “They’re part of a circle, one that cuts outside the city walls. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  Kaddie barely listened as they made their way home. Instead, she worried over the sight of her grandfather. If he and Torrell were utterly distracted by all this nonsense, then it would be up to her, Elspeth and Marla to keep things running at the dispensary. As far as she was concerned, there would be no more adventures, no more strange discoveries. There was a business to run, after all.

  She offered Glen another thank you for the eye patch before they parted ways. The snow had stopped falling, it was growing extremely cold, and it was dark by the time they reached the dispensary.

  A warm fire greeted them in the kitchen. Kaddie’s mind was full of plans for the following day, the day after that, and so on. Therefore, it took her a moment to notice that Marla and Elspeth were sitting at one of the tables and had been joined by her grandfather, who had managed to beat them home.

  “At last,” he announced. “The dawdlers arrive.”

  Marla was smiling. “I like the eye patch. It suits you.”

  “She looks like a pirate,” Robles grumbled.

  “Ignore him,” Elspeth said. “You look fine.”

  Her grandfather clapped his hands. “Very well, coats off, quickly, we have things to discuss.” He appeared uncharacteristically on edge.