There were a couple of taverns in Shallow Pit, but only one of them was by the town’s center, to the side of the packed-earth square they had ridden through earlier.

  The patrolling route the town’s guards had given them brought Aien and Ren close to the tavern. Every time they passed by, faces turned to stare at them through the windows. Their white cloaks, wrapped around their bodies to block the worst of the chill, stood out like a sore thumb. Aien wondered if all Armsmaster’s cloaks were as warm as his.

  They had spent the afternoon in a tour of the town. Mayor Boros sent messengers to tell people that the newly arrived Armsmasters would be helping with patrols during their stay. Locen showed them where the main streets lead to, where they needed to turn to reach the nearest wells, the smithy quarter and the market. Finally, Locen took them to the town’s guard watch post.

  Ren was silent as a corpse to his side. Aien had never noticed how light her steps were, but then again this was his first time walking with her in the night. Something told him she could be stealthier if she wanted.

  By the third round covering the alley where one of the Trystans had been gutted, Aien couldn’t deal with the silence anymore.

  “Earlier,” he began, keeping his voice low, “I asked Igbol what Yshnim meant by saying she’s the lowest of the highest and he told me there is a Ninth Bde. Is that true?”

  “Why would he lie?” Ren asked, curt and sharp, without even turning his way.

  Aien sighed. “I’m just trying to have a conversation. When Yshnim said that, I thought I haven’t seen her fight for real yet. Now I’m wondering how good can a Ninth Bde possibly be.”

  “That we haven’t been in a real fight since you joined is a good thing.”

  “I thought that’s what the Armsmasters were supposed to do.”

  Ren finally turned her gaze to Aien. Her features were impassive as she asked, “Then let me ask you this: do you enjoy the killing?”

  In the interval between lifting a foot and setting it down again, Aien remembered the men he had killed for his freedom, then the people who he pretended to be friends with to survive. They had been friends, at least when they were all shackled together. He thought about the dead bodies of Kaye’s parents, warm blood still flowing as he rushed in. Though Aien knew how irrational it was, some corner of his mind expected a shadow to appear from the dark alley to his side. A shadow wearing a jade mask.

  His foot touched the ground.

  “Of course not,” Aien answered, though he thought the question odd coming from Ren.

  All he had heard about her was that she was too eager to hurt, and it showed in her confident but reckless fighting. So far, he had only seen sparring.

  “Yshnim is far above the common Armsmaster,” Ren answered, staring ahead again, “but her task is still to take us to Farhill to start our training. As for the Ninth Bde, his name is Kal Lorac. All I know about him is that he is dangerous and we should stay away from his reach, and that he is supposed to be as lethal as the Founders were. Assuming you know who the Founders were.”

  “I know they were four, that legend has it they were all foreigners who came to Odanas and were so equally matched neither could defeat the other.”

  “That’s pretty much all I know as well. So again, Kal Lorac is said to compare to them.”

  “That’s all?” Aien asked, surprised. He was far from being a schor, but he had heard a half dozen tales about the Founders himself, and had he known someone like this Kal Lorac existed, he would have asked about that as well. “You never asked?”

  Ren shrugged. “I don’t care about legends. Some inches of dirt above the body and you can’t tell them apart from anyone else, except if you bury them with plenty of riches, which I’d say is one way of showing how stupid people can be. If anyone dares waste perfectly usable clothes and jewelry on my dead body, I will kindly ask Irina to spill my soul back into it so that I can beat someone senseless one st time.”

  “I don’t disagree with you, but what about this Kal? A living legend of the Armsmasters, and you’re not even curious?”

  Ren looked up at him but continued pacing forward. “If there is anything I should know, I trust Yshnim to tell me when the time comes. In case you haven’t noticed, she does that a lot.”

  Aien had noticed, but didn’t know what to think of it. Yshnim had continued to be distant since Aien joined, and her attitude didn’t seem to have changed at all now that he had a white cloak of his own. Every now and then, their Fourth Bde reminded them that the serious training would only start when they settled in Farhill. So far, the months spent with the Armsmasters were indistinguishable from everything that happened from Kakinse to Geshin, except maybe for the ck of danger. The ck of Kaye pulling him deeper into that danger.

  Perhaps, he thought, Yshnim won’t treat us any different while we remain Armed Brothers and Sisters.

  Aien saw the figure in the same instant that Ren did, judging from the moment when she caught her step. A shadow moving in the space between houses, ahead of them were the street curved. Not running but walking fast, carrying something.

  It was small. Most likely a child.

  “What the fuck,” Ren whispered, gesturing for Aien to follow as she picked up her pace.

  He followed her into the street, both looking to the left to try and catch the shadow passing by alleyways.

  They found it soon enough, but kept their distance. At one moment the figure seemed unsure, staring in two opposite directions before turning to pass by an alley that Aien figured was too narrow for them to go straight through with what they were carrying.

  “Can you see what they’re carrying?” Aien whispered to Ren.

  She shook her head, then approached the corner of a house, head peaking to the side to watch the street. The shadow walked through the street seemingly unbothered, and Aien finally managed to make it out. A rod over its shoulders with two buckets hanging on each end.

  “Do you remember the path to the well?”

  Aien shook his head. The nearest wells to the inn had been pointed out to them, but it was hard to even recognize which street they were on with the dark. That it hadn’t been a full day since they arrived in Shallow Pit made things harder.

  “Let’s just follow it then. And let me do the talking.”

  Ren left her pce of hiding, resuming her normal walk now.

  Just a kid, no reason to feel unsure about it, Aien told himself, then followed Ren.

  As expected, whoever it was that they were chasing led then right to the well. A patch of dirt with a considerable rise led to it, perhaps to make it easy to spot from the street. Ren and Aien stopped walking, watching as the child hanged a bucket in the hook and turned the lever to send it down.

  Only when they took the first bucket out and turned to lower it to the ground did the child see them standing.

  The young girl froze in pce.

  Ren raised her hands.

  “It’s fine,” she said, her voice sweeter than Aien had ever heard, “sorry for startling you.” Ren lowered herself to a sitting position, gesturing for the girl to approach. “Can you come closer? I won’t hurt you. I’m just worried.”

  “Father tells me to not speak with strangers,” the girl said, her voice a wavy, frightened thing.

  “We’re not strangers,” Ren said, lifting the end of her cloak for the girl to see, “we’re Armsmasters. Surely you’ve heard of us?”

  “I ha-have…” still holding the bucket in her arms, the girl looked to both sides as if looking for a way out.

  “You can put that down if it’s heavy,” Ren suggested and the girl did it. “If you’ve heard of us, then you know that we help people. I’m here to help. My name’s Ren, and the tall friend behind me is Aien. Say hi, Aien.”

  He went along with it. “Hi, I’m Aien. It’s as Ren said. We saw a young girl coming to fill buckets of water and decided to help her carry them back.”

  “Can you tell us your name?” Ren asked.

  “Li,” the girl answered, “Am I in trouble?”

  Ren ughed a little. “Not at all.”

  “If I don’t come back soon I’m going to be in trouble. I forgot to fill the tub and just two buckets isn’t enough.”

  They went silent at hearing that. Li’s ck of reaction meant that Ren managed to keep the scowl away from her face.

  “Then let us help you with that,” Ren said, standing up. “Can we approach?”

  Nodding, Li moved to the side. Aien followed Ren to the well, and understood from Ren’s proximity to Li that she expected him to do it as she spoke with the girl. Aien turned the wheel, hearing the creaking rope as the bucket went down.

  “Is this the closest well to your house?” Ren asked.

  “Yes, but it’s a little far. It’s easier if I take two buckets. They’re heavier but it takes longer if I bring one at a time, so it’s better to endure the pain, that’s what…” Li’s voice trailed off.

  “That’s what?” Ren prodded.

  “That’s what… I… no… I will get in trouble.”

  “You’re not in trouble, but you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Do you often come to the well this te?”

  “Not this te, no, but I forgot to fill the tub so… so dad sent me here to grab water.”

  Aien finished pulling the second bucket out, filled almost to the top. As he lowered it to the ground, he noticed there were three buckets, one of which was always by the well so people didn’t need to bring their own if all they wanted was a drink. He decided to fill that one as well. He might need it.

  “That one’s not mine, sir…”

  “Aien,” Ren repeated his name, “but you don’t have to worry about it. We’ll bring it here on our way back. No getting in trouble that way.”

  Li didn’t seem to want to say anything after that, clearly uncomfortable with what she had already said. Aien felt he understood why.

  His eyes met with Ren’s for a moment. A fsh of recognition there, sharing an understanding without saying a word.

  When Aien finished filling the third bucket up, Ren raised a hand towards the dirt path they had come from.

  “Can you take us to your home? We’ll carry these for you.”

  Ren picked up one of the buckets, leaving Aien with the other two. They were far from being too heavy for him.

  Dragging her feet at first, as if unsure of what Ren wanted, Li very slowly moved away.

  Aien followed Li, staring at her hair. Bck and short for a girl, but not particurly short, though it didn’t even touch her shoulders. She didn’t look that different from how he had, once.

  When they reached the streets, the three were walking side by side. Their pace dragged to keep the water from spilling and somehow Ren seemed to always have something to say, keeping the girl talking. Aien couldn’t have done that even if he wasn’t busy trying to stop himself from remembering shattered fragments of thoughts that still cut.

  He’d been abandoned at half of Li’s age. Worst thing was, between the horrible parents, to the orphanage, then to the people who though they could be his parents to fill the void inside them only to send him back to that damned house in a week, Aien still couldn’t say that Li wasn’t lucky, horrible as that was.

  Aien remained quiet the whole way through. Some thoughts were better kept to himself.

  Through the dark streets and alleys of Shallow Pit they went, seeing only a handful of candle lights from inside some houses, until they stopped by a two-story house.

  Li approached the door. Aien turned at noticing Ren staring at him from the corner of his eyes. They nodded at one another. A flick of Ren’s head told him he should go first.

  When Li opened the door, someone moved inside, lit by a candle resting on a table. A man’s face stared at them, thick all around with curly hair and beard that framed his face.

  The irritation on his face sted a moment as he noticed Li wasn’t alone, thick brows furrowing in confusion.

  “Who is this man, Li?” he asked.

  “Aien Bashek,” he answered before Li could, entering the house with a bucket on each hand. “We brought your water.”

  The man’s scowl deepened as Ren walked in, closing the door behind her.

  “Li, show him the way,” the man said.

  “I’ll do it,” Ren said, taking a bucket from Aien’s arms and gesturing for Li to take the other.

  Li stared at them for a moment after taking it. The girl wasn’t young enough to fail to notice something was happening, even if she might not understand what.

  “And go up to your room after you’re finished. It’s te,” the man had to insist for Li to move. Ren followed the girl away.

  Aien waited for the steps to grow distant. For a few moments, he managed to ask himself what he was doing. Yshnim would not like it, if she found out that they had left the patrol route for this.

  Then he stepped towards the man, who stood up. Aien was tall for his age, but there were still taller men out there. This was one of them. Half a head taller, and much broader in the arms.

  Aien didn’t slow down, but he stopped at a safe distance.

  “What is your name? I gave you mine.”

  “Cromer.” He spoke too fast.

  Scared? Or irritated?

  “Cromer, do you often send your daughter alone into town at night to do things you can’t be bothered with?”

  “The girl has her duties and I make them clear. I work to keep us fed, and when I arrive home I expect to have hot water prepared for a bath. I’ve heard of you Armsmasters arriving just today. Who do you think you are to tell me how to raise—”

  Cromer shut his mouth the instant Aien took another step closer. Though he had to look up slightly to stare the man in the eyes, this man wasn’t stupid enough to forget who had the sword.

  Disappointment swelled up within Aien. He hadn’t simply been expecting to be pushed back, but wanting it. It didn’t matter that he was physically weaker. That would only make the humiliation deeper to Cromer, he was sure.

  “I arrived today and I know a man was murdered in this town not long ago. The streets might be safe for someone like you, but you never know when someone can be after a child. People like that are good at hiding in pin sight. Three buckets won’t fill a tub, so you were expecting her to go there how many times? Don’t bother with answering. Next time she forgets, I want you to pick your water up yourself. If you’re too tired, then just go to sleep feeling a little less in power. Are we understood?”

  Aien braced himself for a smack that never came. Instead, Cromer continued to stare at him, their faces almost touching.

  “I asked you a question.”

  “I understand,” Cromer answered, his voice wavery as if the words themselves were humiliating.

  “And if you think you can go back to doing whatever you want to after we leave this town, think again. We Armsmasters know each other. Some white cloaks have to pass by here every now and then, don’t they? From now on, they will check up on you. Remember this as well: all it takes for us to go into hiding is to remove the cloak. That way, we look like any other man.”

  Ren isn’t back yet, Aien realized.

  Unmoving, Aien gestured with his eyes. Cromer sat down on his chair again. Ren came out of the corridor in the same moment, the timing too coincidental for her to not have been listening him.

  Ren followed Aien towards the door, giving Cromer a hard stare until they left.

  As she closed the door behind Aien, she whispered, “I would’ve been harsher. I would have hurt him and went on about the other ways in which I could hurt him if we weren’t alone.”

  They stepped towards the streets again. Aien hoped Ren remembered the way back towards their patrol route, because he hadn’t been paying attention.

  “No, if it had turned into a fight that would only create problems for Li. She’d have to take care of her father and they live alone. We don’t know if anyone could take care of her.”

  “I never said we should kill him.”

  “I wasn’t talking about that. She’s probably still at that age where she thinks she owes her father something simply for being her father.”

  “Still, you should have at least hurt him a little. You take something and you threaten to take something more important if it happens again. Even if you don’t pn on doing it, the fear is often enough. And if you’re not willing to, you can just ask me to do it. I’ve seen it work wonders.”

  Aien opened his mouth to ask Ren about that, but she reminded him their shift was almost over.

  “It’s faster this way and we’re running te.”