Trixie was the first to awaken in the morning. The dog shifted on the bed and licked Brivaria’s cheek. The angel wasn’t sleeping but she did have her eyes closed. They opened and Trixie gave a soft bark. Giselle began to stir and Trixie leaned down to lick the tiny deer. The bed shifted around the deer as Brivaria sat up to give her dog a hug. Giselle nosed her way into the hug to get one too and the morning ritual was complete.

  Everyone had slept in and Candice was serving lunch when they came downstairs to the inn common room. The news of the morning was that the so-called Insect Lords had not been caught. The rest of the city had woken up to learn of the attack. Nobles were furious with Count Dancarlo and Baron Sorenson. There would be hell to pay in the coming days and weeks over the fiasco at the party but a lot of people were still alive thanks to her adventuring team and the bravery of many others. The angel counted that as a win.

  “Hey Brivaria, do you still have Mr. Grand’s notebook?” Nyx asked as they ate their first meal of the day. The angel took the book out of her inventory and slid it across the table, carefully avoiding a sticky spot near Kseniya’s second plate. The roast Candice had cooked up was delicious and the lamia was taking full advantage of the discounts inn guests enjoyed on the meals.

  “What are you looking for?” Brivaria asked while Nyx flipped pages.

  “Well, Terrance Grand was a pest exterminator, right? We just fought a bunch of pseudo-insect guys. That has to be related.” Nyx was speaking while turning pages. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she turned the book around.

  “The castle?” Brivaria asked. Giselle leaned over so she could look too though Brivaria wasn’t certain Giselle could even read yet.

  “Yes, the castle and keep. Look at this, he was supposed to work at the castle the week after he disappeared. If I wanted to get into the castle and my class was all about controlling bugs then getting rid of the pest guy and maybe impersonating him would be the way I’d do it,” Nyx said.

  “That is a very interesting idea,” Kseniya said, joining the conversation now that her second plate of roast was a distant memory. “So they do something to Mr. Grand and then what, spend the next month preparing an attack on the castle assuming there just happens to be a party with nobility involved? What do you want to bet that someone gave them advanced notice of the hind’s appearance?”

  “Someone who knew the hind had appeared well before it became public knowledge,” Brivaria replied.

  “We should tell Baron Sorenson or that Gerard guy,” Nyx suggested.

  Everyone agreed but, unfortunately, agreeing it should be done wasn’t the same as doing it. They set off across the city to attempt it but Brivaria quickly learned that getting a hold of the baron in the wake of the attack was nigh impossible. There was a line of people to see the noble’s attendants and based on what Brivaria saw, she doubted their message would reach him.

  They went to the watch barracks next to see if they could get an audience with Watch Captain Hudson or whoever was standing in for the captain between shifts. To her surprise, the captain was in and they got a quick meeting with him too. To her dismay, he looked exactly the way he had the night before but with bloodshot eyes and a slightly more disheveled appearance all around. His beard was presentable but his hair looked as though he’d raked a hand through it one too many times leaving it messy.

  “Thank you for the information. I’ll have my men follow up on those responsible for pest control at the keep. This may be how our mystery men got in. If this leads us to the culprits then the city will owe you its thanks, again. Anything else?” the captain asked. He was polite but it was clear his stamina had run out hours ago and he needed to get some rest.

  “One more thing,” Brivaria said and all eyes went to her. “The things that keep attacking us were traced back to the Decrune family estate and its armory. Could we talk to House Decrune about that? Maybe get a look at their armory to see if it’s been robbed?” Brivaria wasn’t certain what she was angling for but it was the last lead they had.

  “No, civilians are not authorized to act as watch detectives,” the captain replied evenly and Brivaria’s small wings drooped. “But I can task Guardsman Talver with this. If you or one of your team were there, merely to assist him and perhaps provide confirmation that the weapon recovered from your attack matched the noble’s standard blade then that would be acceptable. House Decrune will not like the invasion of privacy but that will be the case regardless of whether you’re there or not.” Brivaria’s spirits lifted with each word the man spoke.

  “Of course. We would be happy to assist Guardsman Talver,” the angel replied with an excited grin. A weary smile tugged at the corners of Watch Captain Hudson’s lips.

  “At least if something happens then he’ll be on the scene, as usual.” The captain let out a tired laugh and the group was asked to wait while Talver was called on. The wait wasn’t long and soon Talver emerged from the captain’s office and walked over to join them.

  “We keep running into each other. At least this time it’s intentional,” he said with a good-natured laugh.

  “Just you then?” Brivaria asked. He nodded.

  “Fancy folks will get alarmed if a whole patrol walks up to their home. One or two city watch is best. Besides, with everything that happened last night I’m lucky to not already be out and about. The captain has almost every man watching for the insect people if not actively patrolling the streets, looking for them.”

  They began walking across the city to the Decrune estate. Where Westlake preferred an opulent, manor-style home with an iron fence, Decrune was just the opposite. There was a large, three-story building that spanned the entirety of the grounds. It looked as though someone had dropped a giant, white brick on the land and then hollowed it out while sculpting the sides to have lots of arches and stone murals. Given what she knew of geomancers on Zlithia, Brivaria wondered if that wasn’t exactly what the baron had done.

  Guardsman Talver, Brivaria, and Trixie approached the home and the angel thought she could see a pair of eyes through one set of shutters tracking them on the street. It was vaguely unsettling and the door opened as Talver raised his fist to knock. The man who stood beyond the doorway was old, the touch of age firmly lightening his hair and wrinkling his face. He wore dark but gentlemanly clothing, vaguely reminding Brivaria of Cordelia’s butler. He looked at the two on the step and then down at the dog. He scowled.

  “We have nothing to do with the recent events at the castle. We know nothing of the attackers nor do we have any comment on the hunt. If your business here concerns either matter, I would ask you to be on your way.” His voice was clipped, brusque, and had a nasally tone that served only to add that extra bit of unpleasantness to the words spoken.

  “Sir, my name is Guardsman Talver. I’m here on Watch Captain Hudson’s orders to search the premises on a matter vital to city security.” To his credit, Talver held the man’s gaze while producing a scroll from a satchel. He offered it to the doorman and it was promptly snatched from the guardsman’s hands, opened, and read. Brivaria could see the old man’s eyes moving as he scanned the parchment. The scowl deepened.

  “Fine. You may come in but the Decrune family will be contacting Baron Sorenson about the conduct of his watch captain. Wipe your shoes before coming in. Do not touch anything. Do not break anything. Keep your arms, legs, and wings well away from anything in the house. We have vases worth more than you will make in a ten-year and you will pay for them if you break them.” His litany almost came to an end with that but then he looked down to Trixie. “And no dogs allowed.”

  Brivaria was taken aback. It had finally happened. They had found someone unpleasant enough to dislike Trixie. The sweet golden looked sad as the man glared at her while speaking. Brivaria knelt down to pet her dog. Honestly, she was somewhat surprised the golden had been allowed into Westlake’s estate and no one had said anything about the dog until now. She took it in stride and scritched the hound on the head.

  “Go back to Giselle and stay with her until we come back,” Brivaria instructed. Trixie gave a happy wuff, licked Brivaria’s cheek, and began padding back down the street toward the waiting adventurers. Just because they weren’t coming inside didn’t mean they were going to be far away. Giselle’s Heart of the Herd skill would let them monitor Brivaria’s status to see if she was okay. They were fully intending to break down the door and charge in if something happened to their team captain.

  “Come inside then follow me,” the man instructed after Trixie padded off. He still hadn’t introduced himself and if the angel had expected an introduction then she would be disappointed as he turned to begin walking down the hall. “Your captain desires that you see the armory. You will see the armory and then you will leave.”

  Yikes, Talver mouthed to Brivaria. The man actually turned to look at them over his shoulder as though he’d heard the unspoken word. Maybe he had, somehow. Both guardsman and adventurer quickly fell into step behind him. He did not move slowly and seemed to be interested in getting this over and done with as soon as possible. They had to step quickly to keep up.

  As they walked through the house, Brivaria came to somewhat understand the man’s reservation at having them marching through it. The house was gorgeous. While the outside looked like a solid slab of stone, the inside was the same wood one found in the rest of Barton but everything seemed almost unnaturally clean. The carpeting beneath their feet was thick, the decorations looked and probably were expensive, and everything had a sort of quiet deliberation as to make the angel thing it was all purposefully positioned to create a kind of ambiance. Brivaria suspected that there was a skill involved in creating exactly the right atmosphere.

  House Decrune was the second largest house in Velk, only being smaller than House Sorenson. She wasn’t certain how the various noble houses stacked up to one another in other ways but she suspected Decrune was likely the wealthiest. This whole house bespoke both money and a willingness to spend it. By all accounts Baron Dryfus Decrune didn’t even visit Barton yet he had this luxurious home sitting ready, fully staffed and perfectly maintained, for the day he did. The angel didn’t fully comprehend that level of wealth compared to where she was.

  The Decrune mansion was split with the front half of the house being the owner’s area and the back being for the servants. The downstairs included drawing and dining rooms. The middle level held a study and gaming room. The top level held the baron’s quarters along with guest rooms. These things she learned from the manservant as he led them to the basement. Even if he did not want them to be there, the need to explain why they were heading to the basement rather than upstairs was strong enough for him to grace them with an explanation. Brivaria thought he was just boasting about his master’s estate.

  The servant took a mana lamp from a hook near the door leading down to the basement and activated it. There were mana lamps in the basement but those weren’t activated daily, it seemed. Brivaria glanced around and frowned as they walked into what looked like a storage space for furniture and other things. This didn’t look much like an armory to her and Brivaria was starting to get a bad feeling about it.

  “Is the armory really down here?” she asked.

  “Yes. House Decrune used to maintain a standing guard at Barton before it ceded control to House Sorenson. When that guard was disbanded, the weapons and armor were reclaimed by the estate. They couldn’t be sold off because they bore the house insignia carved into the blades and the family has not found a use for them since. They are displayed here where they will remain until the house has need of them.” The man finished the explanation with a challenging look at both Talver and Brivaria. The winged girl was skeptical about the situation and wondered if the noble hadn’t simply forgotten they were here.

  The servant produced a key ring and flicked through keys. Finding the key he was looking for, he jammed it in a keyhole set into a large pair of wooden doors. There was a loud click as the lock disengaged. The key ring went back into his coat pocket and he looked at the pair while pushing the door open.

  “Beyond this point is our house armory. Do not take anything. If you steal even a single dagger then…” His words were cut off as a sword emerged from the dark room beyond and stabbed through the man’s chest. He was lifted off his feet and dragged into the room.