Page 6 of Garlands and Gauntlets

“Whatever they owe, I’ll cover it,” I say. “How much?”

The woman tentatively touches my hand and I look back at her, finding her eyes wide with surprise. “You don’t have to–”

“It’s fine,” I say, then I look back at the shopkeeper. “So–how much?”

He sizes me up.

“Five gold,” he says.

I blink. Five gold is steep–more than I can afford, if Vaelin is taking me to an information broker. This could mean not getting the info I need…

…but I can’t bring myself to back down. Not with the kid looking at me like that.

Reaching into my pouch, I pull out the coins and press them into the shopkeeper’s outstretched hand.

“There you go,” I mutter. “Five gold.”

He counts the money slowly, savoring it like he’s won a fight. “That will do,” he says. “Thank you for your business.”

I watch him walk away, ensuring that the woman and her son are safe from him and he’s inside–but when I turn around, they’re gone, firewood and all. I blink, looking around for them as Vaelin steps up beside me.

“You know that was probably a scam, right?”

My chest tightens, but I don’t let it get to me. “Maybe,” I admit. “But they needed help. I wasn’t going tonothelp them.”

His lips press into a thin line, and for a moment, I think he’s going to scold me again. Instead, he just lets out a quiet sigh.

“You’re really something, big guy,” he mutters.

I shrug. “It’s what my father would’ve done.”

“The orc one or the human one?”

“Cedric,” I say. “He always said helping someone in need was never a waste. Even if it costs you more than you think.”

He scoffs. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

And yeah, his words aren’t very kind…but his eyes say otherwise. Because he’s smiling at me, appraising me.

“Well, anyway–now that that’s over,” he says. “We should get going. My friend wasn’t there anyway.”

“So where to now?” I ask.

“There’s a wizard on the other side of the market who’ll send a message for me at a discount,” he says. “So…through the market, I guess. You ready for a walk through the snow?”

I shrug. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Vaelin looks at me, his smile dropping. He looks really sad for a second, even guilty–not sure why.

“Gotcha,” he says. “Well…let’s go.”

Chapter four

Vaelin

I’ve seen a lotof ridiculous things in my life, but watching a seven-foot-tall half-orc hand over five whole gold pieces to some scammy shopkeeper might top the list.

Theo didn’t even flinch–just dug into his pockets and handed over a massive chunk of change for two people he’d never met, and would probably never see again.

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