k_a_webb | The World Walkers: Quiar: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments (part 9, continued) (Reply)

Durai yawned. Normally he’d have been in bed, but after the shift his raccoons had he’d been asked to stay. Hereward wanted, unsurprisingly, to talk to him for longer about what had happened and how the night shift felt about going back out, which meant that Durai needed to wait until Hereward had given the day shift their orders. Leaning back in the chair that Hereward had offered him Durai sipped on his tea. He’d made it with herbs that should keep him awake for a while longer, even though all he wanted to do was sleep.

While Durai sat there, looking at the sun he hadn’t seen in years, he thought of the two raccoons who’d been injured in the scuffle. From what they said it was pure luck that any of the mice had managed to do any damage, but that didn’t stop him from thinking of how he could work to make sure his guards were safe when they were out patrolling. Normally it wasn’t something that would bother him, but as the counterfeiters were still at large, were going to be dangerous if anyone found them, even by accident, he wanted to be certain that no one would be hurt again.

The raccoons Durai worked with had once just been his colleagues. In the years they’d been working together, with very little change, because the night shift wasn’t an enjoyable job, they’d become friends. When he’d seen that two of his friends had been hurt he felt guilty, even though the raccoons had chosen the job and knew the dangers. Really that was the problem with becoming friends with your colleagues, especially as a guard, but he didn’t regret it for a moment. Becoming friends with them had been one of the best choices he made, no matter how much if affected him when they had a difficult job.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Durai,” Hereward said, as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him.

“It’s fine,” Durai replied, as he moved his chair around so he was facing the other side of the desk rather than the door and window. “We both have a job to do, Hereward, and sometimes doing that job means being up later than expected.”

Hereward nodded. Ever since the problem with the counterfeits had begun he’d been staying up later and later, sometimes even going so far as to sleep in the guard house. When Durai looked at Hereward it was easy to see how tired the vulture was, but they were both determined to stop the counterfeiters, and Durai knew in some ways he had the easier job, simply because he was of a lower rank. If something went wrong the mayor went straight to Hereward, which was why he wanted more information about the attack on the night guard.

“You told me the raccoons were set upon by a group of mice.” Hereward sounded as though he couldn’t quite believe it, which was exactly how Durai had felt when he first heard what had happened. “I can’t imagine why mice would have joined with the counterfeiters.”

“Neither can I.” Durai sipped his tea. “It was a group of white mice, who disappeared as soon as they realised they were beaten, and if any of them were injured then they were carried away.”

“No way of knowing if they were locals?”
“The raccoons didn’t recognise any of the mice, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t locals. We live in a huge city and it’s impossible to know everyone who lives here.”

Hereward sighed. “I wish we did, sometimes.” He shrugged. “I might have a chat with Sini and see if she’s heard anything.”

“Sini is a useful source of information.” Durai tapped his fingers on the desk. “If Sini knows then the Moonjumper will know and that’s going to be helpful too, because she’s started really getting to know everyone who works in the market. My guards have even seen her there in the middle of the night, getting to know all of the stallholders she can, and from what I’ve heard the stallholders have really taken to her.”

“Lucille has done good work in the short time she’s been here. Her assistance fund is one of the best things she could possibly have come up with, because it means everyone’s pulling together again to help the people who have been affected by the counterfeits, and it means that some people who might have ended up losing their livelihood has a chance again.”

“Have you tried Annis’ drinks?”

“I have.” Hereward opened a drawer next to him. “I keep a bottle of her herb wine in here for nights when I’m working late.” The bottle was placed on the desk in front of Durai. “Want some?”

Durai glanced at his tea, then at the bottle, and back at his tea before nodding. “I don’t think it’s going to help keep me awake, but after the night I had…” He shook his head. “A small glass of wine will do me good.”

“You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any less guilty.” Durai ran a hand through his fur. “I wish we had a diviner working for us sometimes, so I could know what’s coming next.”

“We both know that seeing the future doesn’t guarantee that it will happen the way it was seen.”

“When Lucille popped in a couple of nights ago she was talking to me about the possibility of trade between the sibling worlds of Kniroch and here, and she told me about the cards that the people of Sterling create. Apparently, in the hands of the right person, they’re really accurate.”

“She talked to me about it as well. I think she was giving us some warning, before anything happens, because she knows we’re the ones who’ll have to deal with any problems.” Hereward smiled. “I like her and I didn’t think I was going to.”

“I like her too.”

“How do your raccoons feel about working tonight?” Hereward asked, as he placed a glass of wine in front of Durai.

“They want to get back out there and see if they can find the mice who attacked them.” Durai sipped the wine, feeling the alcohol hit him in seconds, and that was when he remembered he hadn’t eaten for hours. “I’ll need to get in a couple of replacements, because the two injured guards won’t be able to work again for at least two nights, but we have raccoons in reserve who be happy to take their places.”

“What happened to them?”

“One was hit in the face, although no one’s quite sure how that happened, and was knocked unconcious. He wants to go back out tonight, but the healer told him that he needed to have some time off. The other one was cut with something and it was a deep cut. According to the healer it was possible to see the bone, but she worked her magic that means it won’t take as long to heal. He knows he can’t go back out with that injury, just in case they do get set on again, because his arm won’t work properly until it’s fully healed.”

Hereward nodded. “I’m glad neither of the injuries were anything that won’t heal.”

“So am I, Hereward.” Durai sipped his wine again. “I was so worried about them when I heard what had happened, because all I knew was that two of my guards had been injured, but once I got a report from the healer I realised that we’d been really lucky.” He shook his head. “Things could have been so much worse if the attackers had been bigger than the mice or more experienced.”

“You think they were inexperienced?”

“From what I heard, yes. If I’d been there I would be able to give you a better assessment, but I was with a different group on the other side of Seahorse, and I would suggest you talk to them if you have time, because it will give you a better idea of what happened. Personally, after talking to all the raccoons, the mice simply saw a chance and took it. The counterfeiters probably weren’t planning for the altercation and there’s a chance it might never happen again.”

“That seems unlikely.”

“I agree. I think it’s more likely that the counterfeiters are going to follow the example of the mice and start bringing the fight to us, especially as Lucille has nullified, in some ways, the effects of their charms. They aren’t going to be happy with what’s happened and they’re going to do their best to make sure that all the good that’s been done is going to be undone.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.