Goblin Precinct (Dragon Precinct) by Keith R. A. Decandido

go, and find out if the security system actually works.”
    “You got it, Cap’n,” Dru said. “C’mon, Grovis, let’s go rescue Sir Daddy’s bank.”
    Shooting Dru a nasty look, Grovis followed him and Hawk back out of the castle once again. Daddy wasn’t going to be “Sir” Anything if this kept up.
     

NINE
    TORIN RUBBED HIS TEMPLES WITH THE TIPS OF HIS FINGERS AS HE strode past Fanthral and Danthres, hoping that he could perhaps get far enough ahead of them as they went up Meerka Way that he would be spared their tiresome arguing.
    Unfortunately, it was not to be. Both his partner and the erstwhile general had the characteristic great height and long legs of the elven race, and that meant they could easily pace Torin and his shorter legs.
    So he was subjected to the pair of them going at it for the better part of an hour.
    It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was Danthres’s usual sniping. After a decade, Torin was well used to that.
    But no, this was of a different sort. Danthres was asking about Sorlin with a constancy that bordered on obsession.
    Well, no, that wasn’t entirely fair. When she needed to focus on the case, she did, but for the long walk through the thoroughfares of Cliff’s End, she started pestering him with questions.
    “Did the council just decide to disband? How low had the population fallen, anyhow?”
    “I do not know the specifics,” Fanthral said tightly. “Perhaps you should send a message to someone you knew from there who would be able to inform you of the details. My reasons for being there were purely to seek out—”
    Danthres waved a hand back and forth. “Yes, yes, I know what you were there for, your ridiculous hunt for former elf lords.”
    Tartly, Fanthral said, “It is not ‘ridiculous.’ The Elf Queen was not the sole actor in her tyranny. She could not have wielded the power she did, nor commit the despicable acts she committed, without the support and assistance of the nobility.”
    “Really?” Danthres gave Fanthral the same malicious smile that she gave to people in the interview room when she was about to nail them to the proverbial wall. “Did you not say to Torin earlier today that you were forced to mistreat human prisoners by the Elf Queen and that to do otherwise would be to court punishment of your own?”
    Fanthral shot Torin a glance, which Torin pointedly ignored in his attempt to walk faster. He had nothing to add, and the only reason he didn’t say what Danthres was saying now was because she’d beaten him to it.
    Looking back at Danthres as they passed into Unicorn Precinct, Fanthral said, “I did say that to Lieutenant ban Wyvald , yes.”
    Realizing that he wasn’t going to be able to stay out of it, Torin said, “The conversation was in a public place among three people. I was unaware that its contents were meant to be private.”
    “So,” Danthres asked, “why aren’t you being hauled up before this tribunal or whatever it is?”
    “That is not your concern.” Fanthral started walking even faster, passing Torin by.
    Danthres called after him. “It is if we’re supposed to be hauling ourselves all over the city-state on this pointless quest to find the nonexistent person who killed your elf lord!”
    Fanthral said nothing in response.
    “Leave it alone, Danthres,” Torin said, just as she was about to open her mouth to say something else.
    “Why should I?”
    Torin smiled. “Because constantly antagonizing him is a poor way of getting him to tell you more about Sorlin.”
    She shook her head in disgust. “He doesn’t know any more than he’s telling me. It’s not something he gave a shit about—no ‘proper’ elf ever did give a shit about Sorlin. He only gave a shit because a couple of his stupid elf lords wound up there and died like they should have.”
    “Well, then, why not do as he suggested?”
    She looked down at him curiously. “Do what?”
    “Send a message to a friend from there to see if you can get a