"Here's the crossbow," Jylania said, "I brought the bolts too."

  Nela took the crossbow, quickly looking it over. Not that she needed to, as it should still be in good condition. Jylania was not the type to do something clumsy like drop it on the way. It was honestly the opposite of how Nela had been at that age. Morgivel's patient teaching had taught Nela more than just healing spells.

  "What even is that?" Senby asked.

  "Never seen one before?" Nela knew the answer the moment she asked. Senby was no soldier, and ashabti likely wouldn't be allowed to even touch any weapons. None of the few guards she'd seen here had been carrying crossbows either, now that she thought about it. Maybe a question for Ronny, or possibly Takhat.

  "No," Senby said, "Swords and spears I understand, but that looks like it would break if you hit someone with it."

  "Are you..." Nela trailed off at Senby's widening grin. She scowled, wondering why Takhat didn't just take the young man with her. He was clearly suffering from boredom, and Nela couldn't cure that.

  "So, it shoots arrows or such?" Senby, deciding to let the joke drop, stepped closer to look at the crossbow.

  "Bolts," Jylania said insistently.

  Senby ignored the girl. "How'd you learn to use it?"

  "Pointed it at people and shot until I was good at it." Nela knew she was being rude, but she didn't want to have to explain about serving in the army. With those knights around, there might not even be the time. They could show up here at any moment.

  "Did someone stick a needle in your arse?" Senby grumbled, then turned away.

  Setting the crossbow down, Nela reminded herself there had been a time when she would've reacted the same way. She didn't miss being a child, but there were just some days she wanted the world to stop and give her a moment to breathe. Time for herself, time for Ronny, time to just enjoy life. If only it worked like that.

  Hard for her to complain, though, since she'd basically gotten everyone taken care for the afternoon. In the evening she'd have to hand out herbs again and check on everyone. The usual stuff, making sure they'd eaten, if they needed fresh blankets, the usual routine. In the meantime, though, Nela had just about as much to do as Senby did.

  She had been too hard on him. "Sorry. Just...worried about things."

  "Those men?" Senby looked over his shoulder. "Don't see why you'd be concerned about them."

  "I don't know their orders," Nela stated, "Believe me, I've seen knights ordered to do some some nasty shit."

  "Knights?" Senby asked.

  Nela resisted the urge to slap herself. At least she'd made that mistake without Takhat around. "The red tabards are what the royal knights of Hyarch wear. I've seen a few." Including Ronny, who had worn it more times than she could count. A detail Senby didn't need to know.

  Senby took a step back. "Then why are they-"

  "You there!"

  Nela spun to see the pair of knights standing in the doorway. A pair of bearded men, looking around Ronny's age, and every bit as imposing in their full armor and tabards as she remembered. Aether's blood, of all the times for her luck to turn to shit...

  "You're the healer here?" the one in front asked. Neither had their weapon drawn, but Nela knew better than to take that for granted. In the time it would take to get to her crossbow and load it, they'd easily run her through.

  "That's me." Maybe it wouldn't end up a fight. If it did...all she could do was hope she could get them with the sleep spell.

  "Little young to be a healer, don't you think?" the second knight remarked.

  "If I had a piker every time I heard that, I wouldn't be here," Nela retorted. Let them think she was older than she appeared. If it had worked on Jisry, it could work now.

  Both men laughed. "Suppose you would get that a lot. Anyway, we're here to let you know our commander, Phadros Aleran, is taking charge. You'll answer to him while we're here."

  Nela wasn't all that surprised. "How long will that be?"

  "Until we complete our mission here. Should take only a couple of hexdays."

  "I don't know," the other man said, "With that talk about those creatures..."

  "Probably just kobolds." That knight sounded pretty dismissive.

  "That would be nice." Nela might as well give them at least that much of a warning. "Kobolds don't have venom in their bites though, and there's people resting in the back who got bit."

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  The two knights exchanged looks. "Really then. Suppose we'll need to be careful."

  "Where's Captain Takhat?" Senby's question left Nela gritting her teeth. Couldn't just shut up for a while, could he?

  "Being questioned by the commander. What, are you her son or something?"

  Senby stared at the man, at a loss for words. Alright, maybe he could shut up. But Nela doubted it would last.

  "If there's nothing else, I have patients to see to," she said, "So if you two don't mind, I'd like to get back to work." A lie, yes, but a needed one to get them out of here.

  "Fine, but you'll need to hand over those weapons." The knight pointed with each hand at the crossbow and Senby's spear, the latter leaning against a table in a back corner of the room.

  Nela hesitated, not sure she wanted to surrender it. While it wasn't doing her much good now, having it later might be necessary. And yet...she knew what would happen if she didn't give it up. Without knowing where Ugotlas was, and the others not here, that was a fight Nela had no chance of winning.

  "It's my spear," Senby insisted, backing up while reaching for it.

  The two knights drew their swords and advanced on Senby, faces suddenly emotionless.

  It seemed the choice was made for her. Nela was over there in an instant, reaching up and finding the gap just above one of the gauntlets. "Doroneroi," she said, and the man dropped to the floor, sword clattering all too loudly as it landed.

  Funny how she remembered that detail about the royal knight outfits, even after all this time.

  "What in Aether...to me!" The other knight, yelling out, started to turn to face Nela.

  Senby picked that moment to thrust with his spear. The point bounced off, not even drawing so much of a flinch from the knight. Senby clearly didn't have the strength to break through, and didn't have the skill or sense to aim where the armor wasn't.

  Nela stepped backward, just in time to avoid the sword swing. While the knight looked worried, he wasn't panicking. Bad for her, since he would probably keep his guard up. She'd have to lure out another swing of the blade first before closing in.

  The knight took another step forward...only for Senby to bring the spear around in front of him, pulling back. "Now!" Senby called out, holding the suddenly flailing knight in a tight grip against himself.

  Nela was pretty sure spears weren't supposed to be used that way, but she wasn't complaining. Dashing forward, avoiding the blade waving wildly in the air, she brought one hand to the knight's face. "Doroneroi." The knight fell limp, forcing Senby into a short stumble before he was able to lower the sleeping man down.

  "Shit," Nela muttered, trying to think of what to do next.

  "Thank the heavens Takhat showed me that trick," Senby said, breathing heavily. "Good for...restraining people."

  "Too bad she didn't teach you when to not start a fight." Nela looked over to check for Jylania. The girl had picked up the crossbow again and retreated to the doorway to the back of the tavern, looking a bit pale. At least someone here had some sense...because at this point, Nela wasn't sure she had any.

  Right, think carefully. The man had called for help, which meant more of the knights were close. They'd be here any moment, and they'd be ready for a fight. This tavern had no back exit, so they could easily be trapped inside. The good thing about that, though, was that it should be easy to keep them out.

  "Make a barricade," Nela said.

  "What?" Senby asked.

  "Make a barricade!" Nela gestured at the doorway leading outside. "Help me drag some tables over! Quick!"

  Senby stared a bit longer, then moved over to the nearest table. Taking position on the other side, Nela and Senby both lifted it up. It wasn't all that heavy, which probably explained why these ones hadn't been used to wall off the streets outside.

  They hadn't even taken two steps when another pair of knights marched into the room, blades ready. Nela immediately released her grip on the table. Shit! What was she supposed to do now that-

  A pair of glowing blades flew from outside and cut the knights down.

  Nela blinked, confused. Who was...wait, she knew that spell, and who used it. For the Witch of Wrath to pick now to show her face...Nela really didn't know what to think. So many questions, bouncing back and forth in her thoughts.

  "These knights are fools, aren't they?" The Witch of Wrath entered the room, sounding more like someone spreading gossip than the terrifying thaumaturge that she was. "They think they have real power and prestige, all while marching around like puppets on royal strings. Such a pity they have to die before they learn."

  "What are you doing back here?" Nela managed to say.

  "Besides killing fools?" The Witch of Wrath's cheer faded as her floating swords did too, signaling the spell's end. "Got into a fight with some of those creatures roaming this town yesterday, and was separated from your friends. Went back to look for them, and they weren't there. For all I know, they've fled town." Floire paused. "Or died."

  Nela wasn't about to bite at that one. "So, do you know what the knights are doing here?"

  "Do you?" the Witch of Wrath asked in turn.

  "If I did, I wouldn't ask." Nela wasn't in the mood to play this game.

  "So you really don't know the truth about your so-called friends, then?" The Witch of Wrath's smile returned, this time humorless. "You're in for a surprise."

  "Can't be worse than what I've seen," Nela said. Clearly assuming they didn't trust each other with details like Edeline being a member of the old royal family...she was starting to get the impression that the Witch of Wrath had never had a friend in her life. Nela hoped she never ended up being that much of a miserable arse.

  "Are you going to deal with the other knights or what?" Senby interrupted, thumping the shaft end of his spear on the floor.

  As much as Nela wished he'd keep quiet, he had a point. "We'll need to find where they took the captain."

  "Don't know where that is, but it probably isn't pleasant." Floire glanced towards the doorway outside. "Saw more of them rounding up the guards here. Disarming them, marching them off. Not the sort of thing that makes me think they're going to treat her to a round of drinks."

  Worse than she'd thought then. Without weapons, those men wouldn't be much help in a fight, and that was if they'd even agree to. No, if they wanted to get them on their side, they'd need to get Takhat first to rally them.

  Which easily led to Nela's next question. "Have you seen Ugotlas?" Between the Witch of Wrath and the sphinx, their combined spells should easily deal with the knights.

  "Not a sign of the cat." Not unexpected, but not good either. Having to depend entirely on the Witch of Wrath's skill and power for a battle wasn't ideal. Better than having to rely on Jylania or Senby to back her up, though.

  On that matter... "Jylania, go hide in one of the back rooms." If this was going to be a fight, the knights would be coming for them, so the girl should be safe here. Nela wanted to tell Senby to also hide, but at a glance she could tell he'd just refuse.

  "Right," Jylania said, immediately dashing for the back rooms.

  "So then," Nela said, taking a deep breath. Aether, she couldn't belief she was actually doing this. "Let's go find where the captain is."

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