The contract was plain enough: the guild had been hired to keep the peace at the Solmyra quarries. Tensions between workers and overseers had been simmering for weeks. Pay disputes, long hours, and dangerous conditions on the cliff face. Now both sides were ready to spill blood over a coin. The Guild’s role wasn’t to pick a side. It was to keep violence from breaking loose until the matter could be settled in the hall.
Dust choked the air at the Solmyra quarries. The ring of chisels and hammers echoed like drumbeats, matched only by the angry shouts of men circling around.
On one side stood the quarry workers, clothes stiff with sweat and stone dust. On the other stood overseers in clean vests, coin purses clinking at their belts. The guild squad stood between them, weapons sheathed but visible, and the line that kept fists from turning to chaos.
“You bleed us dry!” a burly worker roared, pointing a cracked hand at the overseers. “Risk our lives on the cliff-face and toss us scraps for pay!”
An overseer answered back, sneering. “Lazy drunkards, half of you! You work slower than oxen. You’re lucky we pay at all.”
The workers pushed, curses rising with the dust at their boots. Garric stepped into the gap, his broad frame forming a wall between the two sides. He drove his spear into the ground with a heavy thud and stood firm.
“Back!”
No one missed the weight of the word.
Under the shadow of his oil-treated hood, Garric’s face was marked with charcoal eye-grease for filtering dusts. Without brows or lashes, his stare was bare and unblinking, almost skeletal. The nearest workers skittered back, unnerved by how he appeared.
“Look at this one!” a jagged-toothed excavator yelled, pointing a finger at him. “The Guild’s sending ghouls now? Can’t tell where the stone ends and your bald skull begins, you freak! You even human, or did they dig you out of a cursed trench?”
Cruel laughter rippled through the laborers. In these lands, a hairless man was often seen as an omen, something touched by rot or ill fate.
Garric didn’t flinch. To him, the words were just more dust in the wind. He had long stopped caring what people saw when they looked at him.
But Lily felt the insult like a physical blow to her own chest. She had never been good at swallowing disrespect. Her hand mirrored her rising temper as she lifted her chin.
“Watch your mouth, bastard!” she said vibrating with lethal intent. “He’s ten times the man you’ll ever be.”
Before she could throw a punch on their faces, a palm landed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Garric looking at her. His expression was calm, accidentally honest in its lack of ego. He didn't speak, but the steady pressure of his hand and the slight, weary shake of his head told her everything: It’s alright. Don't break the line for my sake.
Lily gritted her teeth, forcing her breath to slow, but the workers took her silence for weakness.
A burly man, emboldened by the exchange, shouldered close to the squad. He stared at her up and down with pure vitriol and spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the leather of her boots.
“Mercenary leech,” his upper lip curling back to reveal teeth yellowed by bitterness. “Lazy bitch with a badge. You and the freak should get off our land.”
Lily’s fists curled, the heat flashing through her blood like wildfire. The world narrowed down to the man’s throat. One more word, and she’d bury him so deep in the quarry dust the scribes would never find him.
But a shriek of overstressed metal preceded the fall as a chain gave way. The heavy iron links clattered cracked against the hard-packed ground with a metallic snarl that silenced the crowd. Kellen positioned himself at Lily’s flank.
“You call us leeches again,” he ground out, the chain coiling like a viper around his fist, “and I’ll wrap this around your neck and drag you to work myself! See how much you like when you’re dangling from it!”
The workers flinched, muttering darkly but backing up. The overseers smirked, satisfied.
For a moment, the contract looked ready to fail, guild hunters taking sides.
But Garric interrupted. “Enough. Nobody moves another step. This isn’t for blades or blood. It’s for scribes and coin-counters to settle. You want to fight, do it in the hall, or not at all.”
Most men stopped, but one great slab didn't listen. He let out a roar and his fist aimed at an overseer’s face.
Brennar moved like a dancer, his feet light on the dusty ground. He caught the man’s wrist with a dainty grip. It looked like he was barely touching him, but the man suddenly froze, his face turning pale as he groaned in terrible pain.
"Now, now," Brennar whispered with a playful pout. “We mustn't be so rough. It’s quite un-charming, and you’re making such a mess of your lovely shirt.”
With a ladylike flick of his wrist, he sent the large man stumbling back into the dirt like he weighed nothing at all.
“Rosethorn doesn’t care who it hits, you know. And she does hate getting blood on her ribbons.”
He didn't even look at the man on the ground. Instead, he began to sway his brutal axe back and forth as if it were a light conductor’s baton. With the poise of a snobby princess, he tilted his chin up to the sky, acting like the entire fight had been nothing more than a boring interruption to his day.
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Slowly, grudgingly, the shouts dulled into mutters. Workers pulled back, looking at the graceful hunter with fear. Even the overseers, who had been acting so tough, looked embarrassed and quickly stepped away. The squad held the line until the quarrel simmered out.
From the ridge, Darian signaled to Garric. “T-Tell Holloway, steady work. Held her ground.”
Garric glanced at her. “His words.”
She stayed quiet. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let resentment rule her, not here. Not when she pictured Juliene in her thoughts, his voice, his smiles, the gentleness that always calms her when frustration threatened to take hold.
When the crowd finally dispersed and the squad regrouped, she exhaled slowly, her fists still tingling. She glanced at Kellen, grateful from standing with her earlier. “If I hadn’t held back, I might’ve cracked someone’s skull or snapped a few bones.”
Her squad mate let out a rough chuckle, shaking dust from his chain. “Bones? That’s merciful. I’d rather have ripped their balls off and made them sing soprano.”
A surprised giggle slipped out before she could stop herself. “I like that idea!”
“Next time, we’ll split the work. You break their bones, I take care of the rest.”
Lily felt her own temper mirrored, rather than checked. Brutal, rough-edged humor, but it sat well with her.
Over the next few days, Lily truly became part of the team. During long patrols and quiet nights, she stopped feeling like a stranger and started fitting into their rhythm.
Their captain watched her from a distance, noticing every detail. He saw how the squad looked to her for approval and how they seemed more relaxed around her. She was fitting in too fast, and it was clear his men had already accepted her as one of their own. For the first time, Darian felt the walls he had built around his squad starting to crack, even if he was the only one who hadn't let her in yet.
...
The squad lounged in the guild barracks. Boots were kicked off. Gear was piled in corners. The air carried a mix of leather and dust.
Finn was in the middle of his grand tale, standing now, arms spread wide.
“I swear on the Sun Phoenix itself, the beast was this big!” He stretched his hands so far apart that his crossbow nearly toppled off the bench. “Fangs like swords, eyes glowing red, tail long enough to whip the trees clean down.”
Kellen groaned, running an oiled cloth along the spiked links of his whipchain. “It was a boar, Finn. A scrawny one at that.”
Rowan leaned back in his chair. “Aye, and it nearly ate him ‘cause he tripped over his own bowstrin’.”
The twins burst out laughing, Jaro snorting while Teren wiped at his eyes. “Tell it again, Finn! Maybe next time it breathes fire!”
Finn squared his stance, hands on his hips. “Mock me all you want, you weren’t there. You didn’t see the fury in its eyes. I saved us all.”
“Saved us?” Garric cut in. “You shot the tree behind it.”
That earned another round of snickers and chortles from the squad. Only Brennar covered his mouth with his fingers like a noblewoman hiding soft chuckles.
Before Finn could defend himself further, the door opened.
Lily came inside, a basket hooked on her arm, sweet steam curling into the room.
Finn was the first to respond, gesturing at her like a man calling a witness. “Holloway! Back me up, tell them we’ve seen a beast with fangs like spears and a tail like a whip!”
She leveled him with a flat stare. “The only beast I’ve seen is you, Finn.”
The barracks erupted in a chorus of laughter as he sulked at her. “Holloway, why can’t you be nice to me, just once?”
Without another word, Lily set the basket on the table. The sweet scent of apple and spice spread through the room.
Jaro lifted his nose in the air, sniffing eagerly. “Wait, is that… apple pie?”
“I baked it,” Lily said simply.
She looked around at the rough, dusty faces of the men she had spent the last seven days with. She had completed her first week of probation, and had passed every test without a single slip-up. It felt like a milestone worth marking, and this was her small, quiet way of celebrating with them.
The squad surged forward like starving dogs.
With a theatrical gasp, Finn pressed a hand to his chest. “Holloway, you bake like that, and what choice do I have? I’ll be on one knee before the pie cools.”
Lily deadpanned, already cutting slices. “Try and I’ll break your nose.”
Brennar gave Lily a knowing smile. “Oh, ignore him, Lily dear. He’s far too loud and messy for your taste anyway.”
He accepted his slice as if it were a precious gift, taking a tiny bite. He paused, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Oh, my! This is simply divine,” he hummed in a musical tone. “The crust is so neat, and the flavors are just... charming. Honestly, it’s far more elegant than those greasy things they serve at the taverns. You’d make a real baker quite jealous.”
The twins lunged next. They practically inhaled their portions.
Jaro spoke around a mouthful. “We don’t usually like pies—”
“Meat’s better,” Teren chimed in, already licking crumbs from his fingers.
“But this—” Jaro moaned like a hungry cat. “This is different.”
“The best pie ever,” Teren finished, did the same with pleasure.
Then both grabbed for another slice, nearly toppling the dish.
“Oi!” Kellen cuffed Jaro on the ear. “Leave some for the rest of us!”
Garric sighed and finally took a slice, more to keep the peace than to indulge. “Figures. The first decent thing she brings us, and the brats try to eat it all.”
“You’re just bitter ‘cause you’re slow,” Rowan shot back, foxish laugh slipping from him.
“Better slow than whining over crumbs,” Garric shot back, biting into his slice.
The twins grinned, still fighting over the crust until Kellen smacked their hands away. “You two will be the death of us.”
Hearing them, Lily couldn’t help but laugh too, especially at Rowan’s ridiculous cackle. “Gods, Rowan, you're worse than Finn’s stories.”
That set the squad off again. Rowan cackled more, Jaro wheezed, and Finn almost spat the food from his mouth.
Across the room, Darian stayed in the corner, sitting stiffly and staring off, quiet while everyone else laughed. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, not joining in with the others.
Lily glanced his way, then leaned toward Garric. “Give this slice to Darian too. Make sure he gets it.”
Garric groaned but still brought the plate over.
Darian took it awkwardly. “T-tell her… thanks.” He looked at the floor for a moment before schooling his face again.
When Garric relayed the words back, Lily just nodded. She didn’t mock, not after what she knew of him.
The chaos carried on at the table: Finn swore his story was true, Rowan teased him relentlessly, Brennar quietly enjoying his food, Kellen grumbling as he shoved the twins apart.
Lily slipped her basket back under her arm. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Finn glanced up. “Where are you off to, Holloway?”
“I have other friends too. Not just you boys.”
That earned groans and mock protests.
“Bake more next time!” Jaro shouted, cheeks stuffed full.
“Yes,” Teren agreed, then coughed, half-choking as he tried to talk. “Promise?”
“Only if I’m in the mood,” Lily waved as she left. Outside, Merry waited. The mare snorted as Lily swung into the saddle.
From the barracks doorway, Darian lingered with the untouched pie in his hand, eyes following her until she disappeared down the road. Then he finally took a bite.
For a rare moment, Lily realized she had gained more friends than she ever expected. Companions who made her feel almost at home.
?? Which member of the squad you liked so far?
