The harska and I met the next morning on the inn’s ground floor. We shared a breakfast of cold meats and dry fruits. Not the best morning I’d shared with them, but at least we were inside. They seemed better rested than I was, happily talking amongst themselves. My head hurt whenever I tried to think about the dream I had last night.

Patches looked over at me, her brow narrowed. “Are you going to be able to do this?” she asked, softly.

I made a dismissive gesture, faking a smile. “Of course! I practiced a bit last night. Everything should go well.”

She seemed to believe me, turning toward Bagheera to continue their conversation. I took a bite of a dried apple slice. It had to work, I thought to myself. Nothing could go wrong.

Louis Korpi’s manor was in the center of town. It seemed to be dwarfed by the other buildings in height, but it made up for it in grandeur. The facade was made of marble, with dark wood used as a highlight. Glass windows looked onto the street from the upper levels. A metal fence with spikes on top surrounded the manor. Green grass and rose bushes inside the fence contrasted against the cobblestone outside.

To gain entrance to the manor, I used the illusion magic I had been practicing to change into an elf noble. I gave myself long blonde hair and a pale complexion. My clothes were fine robes encrusted with sapphires.

Patches and Bagheera were disguised as my children. Due to their size, there weren’t many other disguises I could give them. It was okay though. Having them act like my children was ideal, as they could explore the manor while I talked with the mayor. Once he was distracted, they would sneak Damian and Smokey in through the back. They didn’t need disguises.

We walked to the front entrance, trying to look as uptight as possible. Pretending to be rich wasn’t too hard, all you had to was act better than everyone else. The townsfolk didn’t even give us a passing glance as we walked from the gate to the manor. Starting at the inn would have been ideal for time’s sake, but we had to play the role. No noble would have willingly stayed at the inn. Though I had thought it was nice.

The guards looked us up and down as we approached. They focused on Bagheera, who limped forward on an expensive-looking cane. In reality, it was a stick we found on the ground. He had left his own cane back at the fortress, much to the dismay of the other harska. One of the guards stepped forward, holding out their hand to stop us. I continued to walk on, glaring at the guard as I did.

“Halt!” exclaimed the guard. Both guards were covered head-to-toe in plate armor. We stopped, but I tapped my foot to show my annoyance.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked in a nasal voice. “I have a meeting with the mayor. Show some respect and move.”

“The mayor has no meetings today,” said the other guard.

“How would you know? You’re a lowly peon standing guard on the street. I sent a letter ahead of my arrival organizing a meeting.” This was true, but I was starting to get worried it hadn’t arrived, or that the mayor had discarded it.

The guards exchanged glances. “What is your name?”

“Master Daris of Grey,” I said, puffing my chest. “And these are my children: Caitlyn and Daris. Named after his father, of course.”

“Do you have verification papers?” asked the first guard.

“Of course! Do you take me for a peasant? Daris, hand me my scroll case.” I held out my hand to Bagheera. His eyes widened as he realized we didn’t have verification papers. Bagheera gave me a worried look, before glancing at Patches. Neither of them seemed to know what to do.

But that wasn’t going to stop me. While the guard was looking at Bagheera, I tapped the harska on the back. I had taught both of them a few moves to use in case something went wrong. Understanding the signal, he feigned reaching inside his robe before losing balance. His cane clattered against the stone street. Both guards rushed to help Bagheera up, but Patches was faster. She helped her fake brother while the guards watched nervously.

At that moment, I tore off a piece of my shirt. There wasn’t much time to make it look right, so I hoped they wouldn’t look closely. Running one hand over the piece of cloth, and the other over my eyes caused it to become wet. The brown cloth turned an off-color white. I stuffed it into my pocket, then made a big sign of discovering it.

“There it is,” I said loudly.

The two guards turned back towards me as I pulled the soggy scroll out. Waving it into the wind, it looked like I was drying it off. Instead, I was adding words to the illusion. I held the paper out toward them, but they didn’t touch it. Thankfully, the second guard leaned forward to read it.

“Why is it wet?”

“Young Daris fell into a puddle on the way over here. I had forgotten I put it in my pocket for safekeeping while it dried. He’s very clumsy as you’ve seen.”

Both guards gave each other one final glance before nodding. They opened the gate to the manor and pointed to the door. “Talk to Jesry inside. She’ll lead you to Lord Korpi’s meeting room.”

After a graceful bow, I pushed Patches and Bagheera in front of me. They pretended to be curious about the rose bushes, while I pretended to be angry with them. Altogether, we looked like a family of nobles. I was glad the two harska were performing their roles well, but we weren’t at the end yet. Plenty of things could still go wrong.

My heart raced as we walked closer to the entrance. Could I really kill the mayor? Maybe if I knew he was an awful person, but I didn’t. The town was in shambles, but that could have been for any number of reasons. My head ached as I tried to think of a way to complete the mission without killing him, but nothing came to mind. The harska would know if he wasn’t dead, they always completed their mission.

Inside the manor was as nice as the outside. The entrance hall was large, with a red carpet covering most of the wooden floor. Servants were busy dusting the statues and paintings that lined the walls. They didn’t give us more than a passing glance. Still playing my part, I tapped my foot against the carpet, pretending to be annoyed.

I coughed to draw attention to myself. One of the servants, a young woman, approached me. “Can I help you, my lord?

“I was told to talk to Jesry before meeting with the lord of this manor, is that you?”

She shook her head. “Jesry is with the master of the house right now. Shall I bring her down?”

I scoffed. “Yes, yes. Hurry. I don’t like having my time wasted.” Before she could leave, I gestured dismissively toward the disguised harska. “And find somewhere for my children to be entertained.”

“Of course, Lord…”

“Master Daris of Grey.”

She bowed. “Master Daris of Grey. I will be right back. Come along, children.” With a skillful motion that came from years of practice, she tried to sweep both harska in front of her. Avoiding her touch, Bagheera and Patches moved by themselves. If she was shocked by the motion, she didn’t show it. I watched the three move down the hall.

Another servant, I assumed to be Jesry, came forward and showed me to a small waiting room. “We’ve been expecting you, Master Daris,” she said as I stepped past her. “Mayor Korpi will be with you soon. Please, enjoy our refreshments.”

Tea poured from an elegantly painted ceramic tea set was placed on a glass table in the center of the room. Cushioned couches were on either side of the table. I took a seat and sipped tea while I waited. Sitting down, I could feel my knife, tucked into the waist of my pants, push against me. A reminder of what I was here for.

If everything was going according to plan, the disguised harska had snuck away by now. They would be heading to the back to help Damian and Smokey over the fence. I had asked Smokey to stay outside and keep watch, but the others didn’t think it was a good idea. Apparently, he had bad eyesight.

The door to the room opened. I stood up as the mayor, Louis Korpi, entered the room led by Jesry. He wore the latest fashion, with slicked-back grey hair that was starting to recede. His green eyes quickly scanned the room and my attire. Whether he approved or not was unclear.

Jesry bowed and stood off to the side as Louis approached me. I had been worried he would offer his hand for a handshake, so I quickly bowed. His eyebrow arched, but he made no other sign of his confusion.

“Master Daris of Grey! What an honor for you to grace our presence,” he said, mimicking my bow.

“The pleasure is mine, Lord Korpi. I must say, what an excellent estate. It almost outshines this tea.”

He laughed. “That is an import from the empire. Some might say the price for it was too high, but to those I say, have a taste.”

I frowned, looking down at the tea set. “The empire? Maybe I should have held my tongue.”

Louis took a seat across from me, gesturing for me to sit down. “The war is a tragedy, the loss of Grey especially. But imagine my surprise when I heard it had been restored. There must be a story there?”

I shrugged. “What’s there to say that you haven’t heard? A young knight came from the west and restored Grey to its former glory. Even beyond that as far as my wallet is concerned.” All of that was true, though I had only heard of it before I left Xalir. I hoped my meager knowledge would be enough to fool him.

Louis smiled, but it didn’t seem friendly. “Speaking of wallets, you didn’t say what you wanted to trade in your letter, Daris. What could Grey need that its new savior can’t provide?”

I glanced at Jesry and then back to Louis. He frowned but understood the motion. Secret deals and shady dealings were common among nobles. “Jesry, darling, why don’t you wait outside.” Jesry nodded and hurried out of the room.

I took a deep breath. Everything was happening too fast for my liking. Louis Korpi didn’t seem like a bad man, at least at first glance. Did he deserve to die? Were Nia and Greenspring worth it? Could I really kill a man?

Once the door was shut again, he leaned forward eagerly. “She won’t listen through the door. I pay them for the extra privacy.”

I smiled, hiding my anxiety as best I could. “Good, then we can start. I understand Freeriver has been having a problem with the corruption in the north.”

Louis nodded. “The river brings water for crops and the people. Anything that disrupts that balance threatens my profits.”

“I thought the same as you did until that young knight showed me another way. He was able to twist the corruption on the land and increase the harvest of crops.” That was a lie. I hadn’t even known there was corruption until I passed by the river the other day.

“That’s amazing, how was he able to achieve such a feat?”

I grabbed my teacup and leaned back on the couch. Before responding, I took a sip of the tea. It was good, but it was nothing compared to the tea Beth made back home. Suddenly, I lurched forward, almost dropping the expensive cup. Struggling to breathe, I placed the teacup on the table. Coughing didn’t immediately help, so I made a fist and hit my chest.

Louis tried to stand and help, but I motioned for him to sit back down. “We-went down the—” I started before another coughing fit overtook me. “The wrong t-throat.”

The combination of hitting my chest and coughing seemed to help. After a minute, I was able to speak again. Louis’ face went from concerned to angry as soon as he saw I was okay. My eyes glanced toward the door, where I was sure his servants were waiting. Even through my entire coughing fit, they never entered.

“My dearest apologies, Master Daris. I will speak with the fool who mucked up your tea and have them executed,” said Louis through gritted teeth.

“No need, my friend. The fault is mine.”

“Hardly.” Picking up his teacup, Louis threw it across the room. The golden liquid splattered across the wall, dripping onto the floor. “One of you get in here and make me a new brew,” he yelled.

Silence. It could have been possible that they didn’t hear, or even ignored, my coughing. Maybe they were too far away to hear the ceramic cup shatter, but a direct command from their superior? I imagined such a thing was unheard of in the manor. The momentary flash of confusion on Louis’ face proved that true.

It was that confusion that gave me the opportunity I needed. While he looked toward the door, I pulled out my knife. Even plainly visible to myself in my hand, Louis was unable to see through the illusion. All he would be able to see was my fist.

The truth was, no one was coming to check on the mayor because no one had heard a thing. As a bard, a magician focused on sound, I knew how to get rid of sound. How to keep it from traveling through walls and under doors. Usually, I used an instrument to perform the spell, but all that was required was playing the notes. Coughs at the right pitch and a drum solo played on my chest were enough. Everything went according to plan.

I hadn’t been convinced that Louis Korpi needed to die, but I had no choice. This is for my family. As quickly as I could, I jumped from the couch and stepped onto the table. It bent under my weight but didn’t break. Strong glass, I thought. Louis was too slow to react, all he could do was turn around to meet my eyes.

The blade went into his chest. Blood seeped from the wound as he looked up at me. Confusion, anger, regret, and sadness. His mind tried to grasp what was happening, but it was too late. I felt his hand grasp my arm. In his last moments, I knew what he saw. Master Daris, someone he accepted into his house, became the stranger Norman Benson. A murderer.

His hands first tried to pull out the knife. When that didn’t work, they wrapped around my neck. With the last of his strength, he choked me. I barely noticed, my heart racing too fast as I continued to drive the knife into him. His grip loosened, and his hands fell to the ground. After one final gasp, he was dead.

I pulled the knife out and wiped it on his clothes. Blood continued to dribble out of the wound, pooling around my feet. Breathing became difficult as my vision wavered. Never before had I taken the life of another human, let alone another creature. My stomach rumbled, forcing me to look away. But there was still work to be done.

After taking a deep breath, I picked him up and laid him down on the couch. He was heavier than I expected. Before I could no longer bear looking at him, I hid his body with an illusion. To anyone who entered the room, the couch looked empty. The blood was more difficult to hide as someone could walk past it, so I made it look like spilled tea. Then I made the room smell like roses. But I knew the smell of the body would quickly overpower it. My skill in illusion magic wasn’t great enough to stop that.

Stumbling through the house, I looked for the harska. Servants watched me as I opened doors and called for my companions, but they didn’t say anything. Some of them did hurry to find their master. Watching them leave made me think of the body I left behind. I took another breath and kept moving. If I had a second to think I would never move again.

Behind one of the doors on the ground floor were stairs leading downward. I glanced around, and after seeing no one, stepped into the darkness. The middle of each step was worn down by centuries of people walking on them. I had to hold the wall to keep my balance. Soon I saw torchlight bouncing off the walls. Then I saw the torches themselves, lit in front of a large metal door.

The door was cracked open, revealing I wasn’t alone down there. I could hear something beyond the door, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Having already come this far, I pushed against the door. 

Rot and decay hit my nose before my eyes could adjust to the light. Torches lined the walls, separated by metal cages and doors without handles. Standing at the back of the room were four hunched figures. The shape of their ears betrayed them as harska. If it hadn’t smelled so bad, I would have breathed a sigh of relief.

Once my eyes adjusted I could make out that they were standing around a cage. Unlike the other cages, which were large enough to fit three or four humans, this one could only fit one. I stepped forward to get a better look. Inside was a woman with silver hair dressed in rags. Her body was covered in scars and bruises. One of the harska tried to move toward me but was stopped by their companion.

“Norman,” said Patches, her voice echoing around the room. “This is Lady Iris.”