A Flight of Ravens by John Conroe (thriller books to read TXT) 📗

I’m certain you will independently verify.  Good day, Savid DelaCrotia.”

“Good day, Gwen Vancour,” I said, getting a raised eyebrow that I knew her last name.  Then she turned and walked away.  I turned away myself and headed for my team.

Chapter 30

“She’s right,” Soshi said after I relayed Gwen’s information.  “Father Crandall and Mayor Macklin both decided to take employment with Mandrigo.  That little secretary fella was a deep well of information.”

“Was?” I asked.

“Still is.  He’s on ice in the city’s jail,” Soshi said.  “I used the wrong tense.”

“And we think he’ll survive unattended because…” I asked.

“Because there’s a crazy-eyed Drodacian Forester camped out in the same building.  When we left, she was throwing knives at the legs of the jailer’s desk,” Cort said.

“At the legs?” Kassa asked, brows up in disbelief.

“No other challenging targets,” Soshi said with a shrug.  “Not that desk legs are that challenging at three spans.”

“What do you know about the mayor’s betrayal of the kingdom?” I asked.

“Does it matter?  He’s already paid the price,” Soshi said.

“Which Freyla knows, which means that Slinch knows, or will know shortly.  I sent a peregrine to Brona about my meeting with Mayor Macklin so that she won’t be surprised, but I need to back that up with facts.”

“The king gave you free license,” Drew said, frowning.

“But that requires reporting and actionable intelligence.”

Drew, Soshi, and Cort wore almost identical expressions of confusion.  Kassa just watched with a blank face and her arms crossed.  Trell was looking back and forth between us in a manner that I had learned to recognize.

“You best not be writing a song about this little chat,” I said to him before turning to the other three.  “You know Slinch has been aiming for the Shadows, hence all that posturing about Ash.  I can’t afford to give him any more leverage to use against us.  Now, what do we know?”

“Macklin was meeting with Turgeon Collind every other week.  Sometimes he took a ride to Kittwell, sometimes Collind came here.  During the recent altercations, Macklin either had his constables look the other way when the Mandrigo side was winning, or he had them intervene and lock up the Berkette side when it went the other way. For his help, and for passing information to Mandrigo, a monthly payment of one hundred glimmers was dropped off by Mandrigan merchants.  And Father Crandall’s sermons have recently lacked any form of tolerance for our southern neighbors at all.  In fact, Kultin, that little weasel of a secretary, said he was preaching punishment for republic interference in kingdom business.”

“Any solid proof?” I asked.

Soshi reached down by her chair and pulled up a sack that clunked metallically when she dropped it on the table.  “It was dropped off while we were having our little chat with Kultin.”

“Good. Wrap it in silk; we’ll bring it with us.”

I could see Soshi perk up a little at that command.  Wrapping in silk meant that I wanted it readable by eslling talent, which meant Brona’s people.  I could almost see the gears working in her head.

“Cap, if it’s as serious as all that, you should have told us,” Cort said.

“Call it a feeling, Cort.”

“Those feelings have saved my hide more times than I can count,” he said.

“Which is anything over ten,” Soshi said to him.

“Eleven,” he said back with a smirk.  She just snorted.

“Wasn’t it Freyla who warned you about the mayor?” Kassa asked suddenly.

“It was, and she did, vigorously,” I said with a frown.

“You think you were set up to kill the mayor?” she asked.

“I think the mayor’s actions and clumsiness resulted in his death, but also that Freyla knew how he would likely react to the appearance of kingdom agents.”

The meeting room door opened to reveal Jella. “And also, how you would respond to the mayor’s actions,” she said.  Her hearing is ridiculous.

“Last I heard, you were guarding our star witness?” I asked.

She reached out of view and dragged the ex-mayor’s secretary into view.  “I think he should go with us.  We’re already burdened with the other two.  One more can’t hurt.”

“He’s that unpopular?” I asked.

“He was collecting a lot of concerned stares and whispered conversations.”

“Some of which you overheard,” I said.

She nodded.

My decision came fast.  “Alright, we’re out of here today.  Drew, get a wagon and horses.  Cort, supplies for the road to include three guests.  Jella and Soshi, security.  Trell and Kassa, circulate in the Lobster’s common room and watch, listen, and look for any imminent trouble.  Everyone have their gear packed?”

I got nods all around.  “I’ll keep an eye on our three guests while I write up another report to Brona and the king.”

We were on the road an hour later.  I sent two separate reports to Haven, one by royal courier bird and one via a Shadow raptor.  Freyla offered one of hers, but I had several deep cover Shadow agents in Porye that she knew nothing about, and Jella had delivered the message to one before we left.

We moved at a decent pace, but having a wagon with a driver and three prisoners in the party, along with supplies for four or five days of potential travel, kept us well below our normal speed.  We rode in combat formation, spread out and spaced irregularly.  Jella scouted ahead for trouble, her feline partner Yawl travelling somewhere behind us as rear security.

Drew drove the wagon with Soshi sitting beside him, a trio of loaded crossbows concealed close at hand.  With Jella off in the woods around us, I rode point, Kassa and Trell behind me, then the wagon, and then Cort as rear guard.  We never saw the mountain cat, but I could feel her back there. The years I’ve spent with Jella have also been spent with Yawl.  I can usually sense her presence after all that time.

Close to Porye, the roads were busy with the normal traffic of an important port city.  Late afternoon found us many spans down the road.  The Winter Solstice was less than a week