(Continued from The Case of the Three Torches- Part 3)
After sneaking through the dawn-brushed streets of Bree, their anxiety over being caught was somewhat relieved when they made it to the welcoming front door of the Prancing Pony. As she entered the building, Addie kept a tight hold on the bag that she had slipped Phineon’s journals down into and greeted Barliman with a bright smile. The tavern owner was just about to smile back when he spotted the bloodied dog that padded into the room behind the blonde woman.
“You’re not leaving a dog here for me to take care of, Addie.” He sternly told her. “And don’t let Nob see it, he’s already named that plant you brought in.”
Addie only offered him an innocent smile in response as she moved out of the way for Elsa to close the door behind them. The other woman chuckled at Barliman’s words while shutting the door, and then turned to approach the counter. “Give me an empty tankard and an entire keg of ale, Barli; it’s been a long night… ” He raised his bushy brows at her, but didn’t question it.
The tavern was unusually quiet this morning and Addie could sense that all eyes were on them. Ignoring the tension in the air, she looked around the room and smiled brightly at those that she made eye-contact with. Elsa placed a couple of silver coins on the counter to pay for her order and then lifted the keg onto her shoulder to carry with her. She turned back to Addie and grinned. "All set. Where to now?"
Addie looked back to Elsa and her jaw dropped. “Uh… Do you need help carrying that, Miss Elsa?”
Elsa smirked and shook her head. "Lots of practice with this; thanks though, Addie." The brunette finally noticed that she had the attention of the other patrons. "What? Never seen a female order a Keg before?"
Nob hustled past with a bucket of water, but stopped to shake his head at Elsa. "Two in one night...” he muttered to himself, and then went about his business of watering the plant.
Addie sheepishly smiled at Barliman and then quickly motioned for the dog and Elsa to follow her up the stairs.
"And take that plant with you when you leave!" Barliman called after them.
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Drunks and travelers littered the halls and most of the back rooms, but one dining room was empty of any freeloaders sleeping off the night- likely because it did not have a couch to lie on. Elsa entered the room, set the keg down on the table, and then immediately started filling the empty tankard with ale.
Addie’s gaze lingered on the doorway as she entered the room behind Elsa and helped the dog to get comfortable. "Did things seem... odd to you out there, Miss Elsa?"
Elsa sat down in the chair and made herself at home by propping her feet up on the table. She took a large chug of her drink and then responded, "Just a bunch of drunkards who have never seen a woman order a keg before."
Addie gently placed the bag down on the table and took a seat next to Elsa. "I am not so sure that is the reason they were staring.” Her eyes flitted back to the doorway and she listened a moment for the sound of footsteps; hearing nothing, she sighed and forced herself to shrug off the feeling. “We shall hope that was it…"
Elsa chugged back the last of the ale and let out a rather loud burp as she stood to refill the mug. Before sitting back down, she unclipped the dagger from her belt and placed it on the table in front of Addie. “Have you ever seen a dagger like this before, Addie?”
Addie stared at Elsa, mouth agape; it took her a moment to register the question and to even glance down at the dagger after hearing that burp. "Nay,” she finally replied with a shake of her head, “but I do believe that this was given to Mister Phineon as a sign of his affiliation with the Doves. If he had been seen carrying it, it could have been the reason that he was discovered and targeted."
"You think that this dagger is why Phineon was attacked?"
“It very well could be." She pointed to the scabbard that was laced in grey and crimson. "Those are the colors of the Pale Kestrels... And the wing pattern on the cross grip seems to further confirm that. We should probably ask the scout of this to be sure, but it might be best to keep it hidden.”
Elsa nodded and unsheathed the dagger to show Addie the number etched on the blade. “Take a look at this, Addie, the number 675. It likely has some significance, but it could be anything- dagger number 675... a room number somewhere... the total of how many people someone has slept with...numerous options…”
"Why would anyone make note of their lovers on a dagger? And six hundred seventy-five of them?...” She couldn’t seem to fathom that possibility at all. “Even if someone did manage that many partners, it seems awfully inconvenient to have the steel reforged with each new one."
Elsa chuckled, and after taking another chug of her drink, she ran her fingers across the number. "I am no expert in blacksmithing, but the way that the number is forged into the blade, it looks to me that it was added when it blade was first made...not something that was added at a later time."
"An issue number, correct?"
Elsa nodded. “With what we know so far that would seem to make the most logical sense.”
“That’s a lot of assets…”
Content that they had ascertained all the information that they could from the dagger, Elsa sheathed it and slipped it into the bag with Phineon’s journals to conceal it from sight. Addie nodded and reached into the bag to pull out two of journals- one for her, and one for Elsa. "I believe that we shall discover what we need to know in these."
Elsa took the journal and opened it up to skim through it for anything that would catch her eye. A few of the pages were blank, some contained sketches of people and places around Bree, and many others consisted only of numbers. Nothing seemed to stand out until Elsa reached one of the pages toward the back of the book; there was a name on the top of the page in big, bold letters- NARELIN, and underneath there was a tally of changing amounts. On the next page, there were other names that had amounts written next to them as well as brief descriptions.
Jocilyn - Stupid but eager, useless.
Gemma - Clever with a quick eye, good hands, eager for coin.
Heather – Don’t trust her, has a good time, lies.
Britta - Pox...enough said.
While Elsa read through that journal, Addie started with the loose pages that protruded from the one she had in hand- this was the same journal that had Marron’s name written within. There were six papers total and each one contained a brief description as well as a three digit number at the top, all in the 500’s or 600’s. She first checked to make sure that all of the loose papers were in numeric order and then looked to see if there was a page ‘675’, but there wasn’t. Once those things were settled in her mind, she focused on actually reading the information on the pages.
515: Hunter, mid-thirties. Traded in goods between the Lonelands and Bree. Usually seen near the Forsaken Inn, never returned from a supply trade three months past.
545: Brunhilde: cunning and quiet, pleasant to look at. Dual occupations, barmaid during the day, works after hours for Narelin. Assumed to have quit her bar job after a fight broke out and was going to go full time into the other 'occupation', but she never made it home that night.
550: Washwoman, old. Cantankerous and liked the bottle a bit too much. Stumbled away from the bar after a night of drinking six weeks past, never made it home.
590: Local baker, fifty something. Pleasant and buxom, sees local guardsman socially. Last seen four weeks past. He claims he has seen no sign of her, seems honest and upset.
601: Local guard, early twenties. New to the job, but seemed eager. Never reported to his duty at the West gate.
620: Farmer, late twenties... blood in farmhouse, broken glass. (A map was drawn on the back of this page marking a location out near the Horsefields.)
"Someone seems to have been closely watching a number of people from the sound of these descriptions, Addie; and all of these names seem to belong to women."
Addie glanced over to read the pages and her expression turned to one of disgust. "You do not think that he was just some common skirt chaser do you?"
Elsa thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. “Honestly, I am not sure what to think at this point. We have so little to go on and I find it hard to eliminate anything just yet. All options need to be on the table and considered until we have solid clues.” She then glanced over to the papers in Addie’s hands. “Have you found anything of interest?”
Addie nodded and handed the papers over to Elsa. “I believe that these are the six missing assets.”
“Are there any clues as to how they disappeared? Have you found a suspect list?”
Addie’s brow rose in response to Elsa’s question and she picked up the journal to turn to the page where Marron was mentioned. On that page, they both read the following information:
Marron: Middle aged, plump. Unsealed, Deacon of the Silent Rest.
Assassin: Woman, white hair, age undetermined. Gondor? Dale? Carried twin blades.Unmoving?
Addie's eyes widen. "Oh dear... This is not good." She flipped the page to reveal several different sketches, each showing three flames in different arrangements- some were in a line, some were in various triangles, and several were X'ed out.
Elsa looked at the patterns and then asked, "Any idea what it means?"
Addie studied the sketches for a moment before shaking her head. "I know of the various guilds in Angmar- The Unsealed, the Unmoving, the Unkindled, and the Unexpected. The Unsealed, which Marron seems to belong to are known necromancers; it is the same guild that Desad belongs to, the Deacon of the last breath. If Marron is also a Deacon, this is not good news... The Unkindled is what Leon belong to and I wonder if these flames, or torches according to Phineon's last words, have anything to do with that order."
Elsa frowned. “I’m afraid that my knowledge of Angmar is rather lacking. You guys are more knowledgeable about those lands than I am.”
"I only know what I do because of research, Miss Elsa, and it was a tedious task to uncover all of those things… they like to stay well hidden."
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Before Addie could explain anything more, she was interrupted by a commotion out in the hall. She quickly moved to close the books and shoved them back into the bag while Elsa reached for the hilt of her sword. The two glanced toward the doorway and saw a small form fly past the opening followed by a thud and a loud “OOF!”
"Don’t go sneaking about..." A voice blustered out from down the hallway. "Makes people uneasy…” That was enough to make the traumatized hound run for the protection of the nearest corner.
“That looked like Nob!” Addie gasped.
Elsa drew her sword and both women moved to check on the poor hobbit; but before they could reach the doorway, a figure stood in the opening and blocked their way. The person was dressed in the clothes of a wandering minstrel and had a lute strapped across his back; most of his form was hidden by a hooded, patched velvet cloak and one eye was covered with an eye-patch.
Still concerned about her friend, Addie looked past the figure and cried out, "Nob! Are you all right?!"
The mystery man leaned back and looked down at the hobbit. “He seems alright, just got the wind knocked out of him.”
Elsa held her position and Addie glared at the man. "Excuse me, sir, but you can't just go about throwing people!"
He straightened up and smiled at the gutsy blonde. "Oh he'll be fine, those sort are awfully limber.”
Upon finally seeing his face and that eye-patch, Addie’s jaw dropped. "Captain Kraddock?"
“Just a wandering lute player... making my lonely way in the world...”
“Lute players don’t normally pack that kind of a punch,” Nob mumbled as he dusted himself off.
“What did you say, shorty?” Kraddock barked back.
Addie sighed and reached out to pull at Kraddock’s cloak to turn his attention from the hobbit. “Perhaps you could play a song for my friend here..." Nob ran when the man turned his focus on Elsa and Addie breathed out a sigh of relief. "This is Miss Elsa-“
Introductions were cut short as Kraddock drew his sword and dropped down into fighting stance. What happened next was a blur; the man was no longer in the doorway, but had lunged toward Elsa with the intention of bringing his sword down on her head.
Elsa narrowly managed to avoid the strike, but it soon became clear to her that it was a distraction as he kicked the edge of the table and sent it flying forward to trap her between it and the wall. The table crashed hard into her stomach, but she gritted her teeth and shoved it to that side so that she could rush forward and close the distance between herself and her attacker.
Addie frantically scrambled to go protect the dog. “What is wrong with you?!” she cried out to Kraddock, both shocked and horrified at what she was witnessing.
Elsa tried to strike Kraddock with a palm strike to the bridge of his nose, but he managed to side-step it. He brought his blade up again and pointed it at her. "Surrender and you will stand fair trial for your crimes, Gerda. Otherwise I will exact high justice here as is my right.”
Elsa took a step back and looked at the man, though she didn’t drop her defensive stance. "Stop you fool. Gerda is my sister. My name is Ellsabeth Belanova of Clapsgate."
"She speaks the truth, Captain Kraddock!" Addie confirmed. "The two are twins, separated at birth from what we've been told. Elsa was almost killed by this Gerda you speak of."
He briefly glanced at Addie. "Are you SURE?"'
“If I was Gerda, do you think you would be alive right now? Stop and think for a minute."
Addie sighed as Elsa spoke and whispered back to her. "Perhaps not the best thing to say…"
Elsa looked at Addie for a moment and then opted to remain quiet so that Addie could speak to the man; and as a sign of good faith toward him, she sheathed her sword.
Addie nodded her thanks to Elsa and then considered her answer to Kraddock's question. "I... admit that I was not there with the others when that discovery was made; however, I can speak for Miss Elsa that she has been nothing but a help to us and has never shown any attempt to harm us."
He calmed somewhat as he processed this possibility. "A sister...a TWIN sister....hmmm...have you seen her naked, Addiela?”
"What?!" Addie appeared to be completely flabbergasted. “Of course I haven't!! Why would you even ask such a question?!”
“Gerda has a brand on her left shoulder, low...she had tried to remove it, but the scar is notable.”
Elsa sighed for a moment before loosening her belt. Addie immediately closed her eyes and even put her hands over the dogs eyes to cover them- clearly wanting nothing to do with checking for any personal scars. Kraddock kept his sword drawn as Elsa removed her shoulder plates and set them down on the table. She then lifted up the top half of her outfit to expose her upper body and allowed for him to inspect her shoulder. No scar was present.
Kraddock nodded and sheathed his sword. "What are the damn odds... Sorry about that, dearie.”
Elsa lowered her top and picked up her shoulder plates to put them back on. After tightening her belt, she glanced over at Addie and laughed a little. "You can open your eyes now, Addie."
Addie still seemed to be thoroughly upset by this whole situation. "Sorry? Really? That's all?"
The other two seemed just fine now. “Are you tracking my sister?” Elsa questioned. “Is she in Bree?”
Kraddock shook his head, “I can't say that I have been tracking her, I viewed finding you here as a happy accident. As for her being in Bree, anything’s possible; she is a slippery one.” He turned his gaze back to Addie. “I am here because things have changed and I was sent to bring you word.”
Addie raised her brow in question. "Oh?"
He nodded. “Lyra found one of her spies, or what was left of her, outside Combe. A pig farmer noticed one of his swine chewing on what looked to be hair.” Addie grimaced, but Elsa didn’t seem to be fazed by the graphic details. “He butchered it,” Kraddock continued, “and found bits of jewelry in its gut that belonged to the spy, a local whore named Brunhilde... And he found this too…” Kraddock held out a small, silver locket of Gondorian make; it was well worn and clearly an heirloom.
Elsa reached forward to take the locket and opened it. Inside there were two ink on ivory portraits that had been painted with great care; both were of young women, likely in their late teens or early twenties at the time it was painted. The portrait on the left was of a woman in Gondorian armor, proudly holding the blade of a sword on her shoulder; and the portrait on the right was of a girl, about the same age as the other, that was wearing a naval jerkin. Written across the two portraits was the saying "Fortune Favor My Girls"
Kraddock sighed. "The Doves figure the whore yanked this off her killer.”
Elsa looked at the pictures for a moment before turning the locket so that Addie could see the images hidden inside. “You might want to see this… I’m pretty sure that the one on the left is Neth.”
Addie raised her brow in question and walked closer to look. Upon seeing the pictures inside the locket, her jaw dropped and she was momentarily stunned into silence.
Seeing her reaction, Kraddock’s jaw clenched. “That’s what I thought…”
Though her face was now ghostly pale, Addie looked back to Kraddock with a fire in her eyes. "Mans..."
(Continued in Part 5)
