“You,” Don snarled, “are doing this on purpose.”

Tibs sighed as he looked up from yet more papers he had to read, more numbers he needed to calculate. He’d needed to focus, so he’d turned off his sense. He suspected the tailor wasn’t paying what he owed, but he had to go through all the justifications for the number of coins he’d sent. There were a lot of numbers and words that claimed to explain everything.

“What am I doing?” he asked, not adding the ‘this time’.

“The Lake Path neighborhood!”

Tibs closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He quickly suffused himself with Purity to deal with the forming headache. He couldn’t handle Don while nursing it. Channeling Water again, he looked at the Corruption sorcerer.

“What about it?”

“I spent a week speaking with them, convincing them to let the guild patrol and days later you go and have your people patrolling those streets.”

Tibs put the satchel on the table and looked through the papers in them. Yet more papers. Just the night before, he’d had a dream where he was drowning in them. He found the report he was looking for and handed it to the sorcerer.

“I gave them the time to catch those thieves,” Tibs said as Don read, his expression darkening. “They aren’t rogues. They’re from a city called Tamariel. They robbed six houses, right under Harry’s guards’ noses.”

“Then, do you have to be fucking blatant about it?” Don threw the page at Tibs, which went fluttering to the side. Don’s exasperation as something not going his way amused Tibs, but he didn’t show it. Now was not the time to make the sorcerer angrier. “You’re rogues. I spent the day having to explain why it was your people there instead of the guild’s.”

Tibs studied Don. The problem they were in was that they both wanted the same thing. For the town to be safe. But Don had made himself the Hero of Kragle Rock, and Tirania had played on his ego to make him the mouthpiece to the guild. Don knew the guild didn’t care about the town, but if he turned against them, his status would suffer. And Don was nothing without his status.

“Have you gotten Harry to get better guards? Some that know how to catch thieves?”

“He’s trying,” Don said through clenched teeth. “But unlike you, who can just do whatever he wants; he has procedures he must follow. He must justify the expenses he incurs. He can’t just get experts from the capital to come and help him until the guild is aware there’s a problem. And because you’re always swooping in and stopping those crooks, they never find out.”

“So you want me to let the people of our town suffer until the guild sees the suffering?”

“That’s not what I said,” Don snapped.

But it was what he’d meant, even if Don wasn’t willing to admit it. What could Tibs give the sorcerer that would both appease him and not endanger their town? It had to be something real, which meant the danger to the townsfolk would be real if the guards couldn’t handle it.

“I’ve heard rumors of a gang setting up somewhere in the Dungeon Side neighborhood. I can give you the likely locations, based on what we’re gathered. If you can get the guards to clear them out, that’ll go some ways to appeasing your… supporters.” His ego was what he felt like saying.

Don narrowed his eyes. “If you think you can play me, Tibs.”

“Don, I’m not the one playing games.” Not the right thing to say, the darkening expression told Tibs. “I’m offering you something to help you. You don’t want to use it. Tell me and I’ll keep my people on it.”

The sorcerer ground his teeth. “What do you have?”

* * * * *

Tibs entered the seconds-story window from the darker side of the house.

Khumdar’s message had been clear about not being seen coming in. He sneaked through the unoccupied bedroom, wondering what the cleric was doing here and why the secrecy.

No, that one he knew why. He experienced the pull toward secrecy anytime he channeled Darkness. He didn’t have the cleric’s need to keep those secrets to himself, but he understood their appeal. Each element came with one need that if left unchecked could become dangerous. Water was to soothe, Purity to work hard, Darkness to create secrecy. Earth was to take his time, and Air was to have a good time. Earth and Air he almost had a complete handle on. Light was about being honest, Corruption selfish and Fire… fire consumed.

Fire was the one element that scared him, so he hadn’t worked on it yet.

He sensed two people below him, on the ground floor. One had Darkness as his element; the other didn’t have any. He took a knife as he descended the steps and held it behind his back.

They were seated in the living room. The one with Darkness wore Khumdar’s essence woven robe, but was seated in the darkest corner. The other was in the light, seated in a kitchen chair, but Tibs couldn’t see her hands, and both were tense.

“It’s safe,” the cleric said, but Tibs continued edging to the side until he could see them properly. She was tied to the chair.

Remaining in shadows, he channeled Darkness. There were a lot of secrets among the two of them. Tibs tried to discern the kind of secrets, the way Khumdar could, or the relationship of those secrets to the two of them, but he wasn’t practiced enough yet. He channeled Water and stepped into the light.

The glare she’d been directing at the cleric turned to worry on seeing Tibs.

“You should tell him,” Khumdar said with a directness Tibs wasn’t used to. “You will feel better for it.” Was he angry?

She went back to glowering at him.

“This is what’s been keeping you busy?” Tibs sat in the old seat. The room felt lived in, with a painting of an older man and woman on the wall that hung crooked. A dirty plate was on the side table by the couch. There was a sense the occupants had arrived recently. A lack of clutter Tibs was used to in homes that were lived in for a while.

“One of them.” Khumdar smiled. “Kragle Rock grows ever larger, and so do the secrets contained within it. I now suspect I will never be able to get to our teammate’s secrets.”

“Do we have any left?” He watched her. The casual conversation wasn’t causing her to relax.

“It is a sad fact of this world that we always keep secrets.” The cleric was silent for a few seconds, and that caused her to be more worried. “Often, even from ourselves.”

“And what are her secrets?” Tibs asked, and fear entered her eyes.

“I have worked out two of them. She has many more, but those two were enough for me to decide the two of you should meet. The first one is that she works for Sebastian.”

“I don’t know who that is,” she stated.

Tibs sighed. “Everyone knows who Sebastian is. You can’t be in this town and not have heard of the Siege.”

It made sense. Within days, Serba had been approached by one of her father’s agents. By now, Sebastian had to have many spies in the town. Some wouldn’t even know he was who the information they reported eventually went to. Coins could get someone anything they wanted if they had enough.

“Of course. I know that.” She was fighting her fear. “But I don’t know him the way he’s saying. I work at the Tipped Tankard. I’m a server and I do some of the cooking. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

The Tankard was a tavern a few streets away from the inn that had been part of the town since the early days. Tibs had visited it, but nothing about it stuck in his memory.

“She indeed does work there,” Khumdar said.

Tibs nodded. There had been no glow when she spoke. How he saw lies was more precise when he channeled Light. He could get a sense of how they lied, but he couldn’t do this now after she’d seen his blue eyes. Or even before. She knew who he was.

Could he stand behind her so she wouldn’t see his eyes? Would Light let him be threatening unless he meant it? He didn’t know. He lacked practice with that element.

Not that he wanted to play games. Puzzles were one thing. Playing games was something else.

“What’s her second secret?”

“She is here to watch you, specifically,” the cleric answered.

“That’s ridiculous,” she replied. “Why would I watch him? Whoever he is.”

Tibs sighed. He didn’t need the glow escaping her mouth to know she lied. Jackal had warned him Sebastian would look for ways to hurt Tibs when he came back.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long,” she lied.

“She arrived within days of the attendants reestablishing transport,” Khumdar said.

She glared at him. She wasn’t good at hiding how she felt.

“And what did she find out?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “I’m too busy working.”

“I can not give you the details,” the cleric said. “But she is at the inn every day. She is playing at wooing Russel. She has not approached you, but she has seen the work you do at our table.”

Then she didn’t know the details regarding the security of the town, but Sebastian had to have someone else on that. He’d have to check with Serba regarding anyone suspicious within Harry’s people.

“How interested in her is Russel?”

“In that aspect, she is rather gifted. I am afraid that Kroseph’s brother is rather smitten with her.”

That wasn’t going to be fun to deal with.

“Can you sense anything about the secrets she has? I have no idea how I’m supposed to question her.”

Khumdar shook his head. “Unfortunately, I have not been able to recreate what I did within the dungeon.” He paused, then smiled. “And I am uncertain I want to. There is an enjoyment at having to work at obtaining that meaning.”

“What did you tell Sebastian?”

“I don’t know him,” she repeated, and again her mouth glowed.

“There are three convicts I am aware of,” the cleric said, “without the needed morals to stop them from ensuring she answers your questions.

Now she was scared again.

Tibs shook his head. “I’m not having anyone tortured. There are spies in Kragle Rock. That’s enough knowledge for now.” He studied her. “But I don’t know what to do about her.”

“I suspect the dungeon would not find it amiss for someone to wander in during the night. I am certain that between the two of us, we can handle the guards and the door.”

“You can’t do that,” she yelled. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“We aren’t feeding her to the dungeon.” Maybe Tibs would have considered it, back when he thought Sto only existed to eat them. But he wasn’t getting his friend to kill someone simply because they were giving Tibs trouble.

He’d have asked Sto to get rid of Don first.

“Then, I am uncertain of what we can do.”

Tibs didn’t like the only option he saw. “We send her back and make sure she can’t return. We’ll do that with anyone you uncover. Maybe you can have some of the other Runners with Darkness as their element help you. Put them at the platform so they can feel when those kinds of secrets arrive?”

Khumdar nodded. “I can see to that within the hour.”

Tibs had no idea if Khumdar could actually do it, and he realized it didn’t matter. If she reported they had something in place to catch them before they could do any damage, it might cause Sebastian to stop wasting time sending people.

Right. Or he’d just find a different way and Tibs would still have to deal with spies.

Khumdar stood. “I will escort you back where you entered.” Tibs followed the cleric up the stairs and to the bedroom he’d entered by. “How will you afford the attendants’ fees to send her and others away?”

“Jackal knows one of them,” Tibs replied, not overly happy about the situation. “Hopefully, we can work something out.” The one thing this idea had going for it was that the Attendants didn’t work for the guild. “It’s not like we’re set up to hold prisoners. If I ask Harry, he’s going to use that as an excuse to force his guards to take over more of the town.”

“Sebastian will not believe what she tells him. The information I have gathered on Sebastian marks him as a man who has accumulated knowledge about essence. And I can not simply tell others who share my element how to do what I do. I am not like them.”

Tibs shrugged. “Maybe Darkness is one element he doesn’t know much about. We aren’t losing anything doing this. Can you find other spies the same way you found her?”

Khumdar shook his head after a few seconds of consideration. “I was capable of sensing her because of how focused her attention was on you, how much she did not want you to notice her. And because she was within the inn, I was close by while she was there. Those I things, I expect Sebastian will ensure against if he sends someone to replace her. That is why you should not send her back.”

“And I can’t keep her here. And no, I’m not murdering her just because she works for Sebastian. That’s something he’d do.” He watched the cleric. The man was older, more aware of the world. Would he… “do you want to handle sending her back yourself?”

Khumdar’s smile was small. Then he shook his head. “I will not kill her behind your back, Tibs. You would not be able to trust that I told you I have not done it since you are aware of how Darkness lets me step around Light’s abilities. You would grow to mistrust me, and I do not wish to sacrifice that trust. I will advise you on how I believe you should proceed, but I will follow your instructions.”

Tibs nodded. “Then keep looking for the spies and I’ll work on something to send them away.” Hopefully.

* * * * *

The man with the golden eyes had an… oddness to him Tibs didn’t remember from the previous time he’s seen him. When they’d left for Mountain Sea that first time and Jackal had used a favor with him to get Kroseph to come, despite how expensive it was to normally travel that way.

The best way Tibs could describe the difference was that he didn’t seem to look at what his eyes were aimed at, but at something… beyond it, of as if he didn’t see it in the same position as it was. The man was at least Epsilon, like anyone who could leave the employ of the guild, if they paid what they owed, or had it paid for them. It meant that while he looked of an age matching Jackal; he had to be older, and could be much older.

Tibs didn’t know that worked, but he’d interacted with enough guild people to know that as their essence became more concentrated, time had less of an effect on them. That left Tibs wondering how long he’d look like a kid, and if that was a good thing or bad.

“Free transportation?” the man asked distractedly. “For the people you want?”

“Not free,” Jackal corrected. “We’ll owe you favors. You know I’m good for them. And not for coming and going; just to send them away. And passing the word they aren’t allowed back.”

“The extent of your influence hasn’t been the same since your father tried to take over the town,” the man said, eyes still sort of fixed on Tibs.

“Then I’ll just have to work harder. I’m still good for it.”

“Are you?” The man raised a hand to silence Jackal.

“I don’t know what you’ll ask,” Tibs replied. “So I don’t know how hard it’ll be to do. But Jackal’s going to help with it, so it’ll happen.”

The man’s smile was fleeting. “I appreciate honesty over false promises, no matter how well-meant they are. One owed favor per person you have me send away. What is their destination?”

“Can you send them back to where they came from?” Tibs asked.

“Doubtful. Those are not kept track of here, and sending a request for the information from the scribe will cause delays and complications I don’t think you want.”

“They’ll be from Ardiel,” Jackal said. “My father won’t bother hiring outside his city just for spying on us.”

So that was where Jackal was from. “Send them wherever they want to go, so long as it’s not going to cause you troubles.”

The man nodded, turned and, with a golden shimmer, disappeared in the middle of the step.

Tibs leaned back in the chair and breathed easier. He hadn’t expected this to be so stressful. He kept expecting Harry to kick the door down and throw him in a cell. He didn’t think he was breaking rules, but Harry wasn’t going to like this.

Jackal slapped his shoulder. “Congratulation on your first successful…” he frowned, “no, there was the one with the merchants, then getting the conscripts to be part of the security, how many of the armor smiths have you worked out deals for repairs now?” he grinned. “You’re turning into quite the expert at this.”

“They others weren’t this stressful.”

“Working with strangers will do that the first few times. Yarton’s a good sort.” He paused. “Well, he probably still is. He’s not as… focused as before. But he’s one of those you and Don saved. I think that’s why he didn’t press as hard as he could have. That or, you know.”

Tibs nodded. Carina had told him how adventurers with Void essence tended to change as they became more powerful. How they experienced the world and time differently.

He smiled. “So long as this is the worst I have to deal with. I might be able to get used to this.”