The Vaetra Chronicles: Book 01 - Vaetra Unveiled by Daniel R. Marvello Page A

to you."
    "It's a deal. Good luck!" he said with a grin and a wave.
    We brought the corpse over to the infirmary. A healer wearing a long grey smock and white skullcap came out to take a look. He asked Talon and Barek to move the body inside.
    I waited outside and watched the normal afternoon bustle around the Governor's Complex. Guards crossed the courtyard on their various errands. The clang, clang of a smith's hammer rang out from the open doors to the stable and echoed off the front of the Governor's Residence. A young herald skipped down the steps of the residence, ran across the courtyard, and out through the gates to the town beyond, clutching a message tube in his hand.
    I knew better than to think there was any particular urgency to his mission. The heralds were usually older teenage boys who were excited and proud of their chance to serve the Governor. They ran like that everywhere. The Governor encouraged them to treat every task as if it were a matter of life and death. One never knew when it really would be.
    Sulana interrupted my musings. "Well, you've completed your bargain with Raleb. Do you want me to break the news to him? There's no sense you hanging around and wasting more time on this."
    I looked at her closely, thinking maybe she was either goading me or trying to get rid of me, but she seemed sincere. "No, I should tell him myself. That's the least I can do for the amount of money he paid me, especially considering how it turned out."
    She nodded. "I understand. I'll let you go in first and speak to him before I question him. He was apparently the junior partner, so I'm not sure how much I'll get from him anyway."
    "Thanks. I think I'll head over there now," I said, turning my horse toward the prison.
    "We'll catch up to you after we're done here," she said, gesturing toward the open door of the infirmary.
    The guardroom at the prison was occupied by a single guard. The man looked up from his old wooden desk, which was little more than a small table really, as I closed the door behind me. "What can I do for you?" he asked stiffly.
    The man knew me, of course. Most of the guards did. But he was apparently one of the crowd who had never forgiven me for getting myself mixed up in the scandal that had cost me my job. Or maybe he just hadn't liked working under me.
    "I'm here to see the thief you are holding for Agent Delano. He's also a client of mine, and I need to pass on some information."
    "A client?" he asked sharply, "Then perhaps you'd better leave your weapons here." He pointed to an empty weapons rack along the wall next to his desk. "Do you need to enter the cell?"
    "No. I don't need to enter the cell. I just need to talk to him." Relieving me of my weapons was unnecessary, particularly since I didn't need to enter the cell, but there wasn't much point arguing about it with him. I unsheathed my sword and dagger and placed them on the rack.
    "That it?" he asked.
    "Yes," I answered, exasperation evident in my tone.
    For a moment I thought he might frisk me, but he seemed to be satisfied with his control over the situation and grabbed a key from a nail on the wall beside him as he stood. He unlocked the door to the cell block, let me pass, and closed the door behind us. He stayed back at the door and said "third on the left."
    I walked down to Raleb's cell, thankful that the guard had chosen to remain behind. The cells had stone walls and heavy, wooden doors with a foot-square, barred grate in the top half. The grate wouldn't make for the most intimate conversation, but I'd be able to impart what I'd learned.
    Raleb had heard us enter and came over to the door to see what was happening. His eyes lit up when he saw me, but when he saw my expression, his face fell and he looked down at the floor. "It's bad news then."
    "Yes, I'm sorry. We found Donal, but he was wounded in the ambush and didn't make it, in spite of a healer's care."
    Raleb turned away from the door. He seemed to curl in on himself, and