Kael Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Kael moved through the pines parallel to the road, the folded poster in one pocket and the bent compass in the other. By midday he caught the sound of hooves slowing — a lone traveler, dust-stained, eyes flicking to every tree. Kael knew that look. Someone with news to sell, and not enough road left to sell it safely. Word about Valeria was moving today, and Kael was not the only one waiting in the brush to hear it. The traveler turned off at a log tavern set back in the pines. Smoke curled from its chimney. A painted sign swung on iron chains. Kael crept closer and saw the stone set into the path — a slab of granite carved with a circle of knotted lines. The collector's mark. His network had already claimed this stop. Anyone speaking inside spoke into the collector's ear. Kael slipped around to the back wall and found a knot-hole near the kitchen. The traveler was at the bar, voice low. A gold hoop earring rolled on the wood between his fingers. "She dropped it two days east," the man said. "Near the falls. I can lead a buyer there by dusk tomorrow." The tavern keeper nodded once and stepped into the back room. Kael heard a bell ring twice — a signal going out. Kael had no time to bargain. He cut around to the stable, met the traveler as he reached for his reins, and pressed the bent compass into his hand along with a heavy coin. "The buyer behind that bell will bury you in a ditch," Kael said. "Ride west with me now, or ride east alone." The man looked at the coin, looked at the tavern door, and mounted up beside him. They were gone before the second rider arrived. Kael had the earring, the lead, and a witness — but the collector's bell had already rung, and the falls would be crowded by morning.