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

his shoulders heaved once. Then he straightened and took a few deep breaths. "Well, you earned your payment," he said hoarsely, and wiped his nose with a loud sniff. He turned back to me, his watery eyes giving testimony to his grief.
    "Are you sure?" I asked gently. "It barely took a day and you paid me enough for two weeks."
    He glared at me and said "Yeah, I'm sure. What would I do with the money in here anyway?" he waved his arms around and looked at the walls of his cell. Then he calmed again. "Sorry...it's not your fault. You did what I asked, so you earned the money."
    I moved closer to the door and spoke more quietly so the guard would be less likely to overhear. "He was more than just your partner wasn't he?" I asked Raleb.
    Raleb sighed and looked at me through the grate with watery eyes. "Yes, he was. My parents died from an illness when I was little. Donal took me in off the streets and shared his home. I'd have probably been found dead in an alley somewhere if not for him."
    "So he was like a father to you," I concluded.
    Raleb nodded and looked down. "He may not have set the best example, but he was all I had."
    The guard was leaning against the door with his arms folded, watching our exchange. Then he heard noises coming from the guard room and opened the cell block door to see what was going on. He turned back to me and said, "You done? I have more people waiting." The implication was that he wasn't going to leave me in the cell block alone, which was fine. I didn't have anything more to tell Raleb.
    "I need to go. I'm sorry about what happened to Donal and I hope things get better for you," I said.
    "Yeah, sure. Thanks," he mumbled. I turned and walked back toward the guard.
    Back in the guard room, Sulana and her shadow Daven had arrived. As I buckled my sword belt and stowed my dagger, Sulana came over to me. "How'd he take it?" she asked.
    "Not well. The two of them were close," I said.
    "Well, they chose a dangerous line of work. It was bound to catch up with them eventually," she said a little defensively.
    I nodded back at her. "If they had just handed over the ring instead of running, you probably wouldn't even have detained them."
    "Probably not," she affirmed.
    I wasn't sure what else to say. This was probably the last time I'd see Sulana, but I couldn't think of a good way to say goodbye. The silence stretched between us.
    Daven looked back and forth between us a couple of times and then spoke up. "Are we leaving the thief here after questioning? Or do you plan to take him with us?"
    I took Daven's words as my cue to leave. They had a job to do, and mine was done. "Well, it was good working with you," I said lamely and held my hand out to Daven with a smile.
    He smiled back at me and shook my hand. "You too."
    I turned to Sulana and looked deeply into the blue eyes I was certain would haunt my thoughts for some time to come. "Good luck with your mission," I said, and held my hand out to her as well.
    She shook my hand slowly. "Thanks for your help. And good luck with the inn and your Raven Company work."
    We stopped shaking hands, but left them clasped together for a moment. We slowly let them drop apart. "Thanks," I said, and turned to go.
    I opened the door to the courtyard and stopped. I half-turned back to them. "If you are ever in the area again, please come by the inn and look me up." My glance included both of them, but I think Daven knew who I was really inviting.
    Sulana just nodded. Daven stepped a little closer to Sulana, waved at me, and said, "Okay, bye."

Chapter 7

    S ulana watched Jaylan leave the room and close the door behind him. She wished he would reconsider the idea of exploring his skills with sorcery. It seemed like such a waste for him to let them lie dormant. There were so few sorcerers as it was. She shook her head with a reminder to herself that it was his decision to make.
    Sulana turned to the prison guard. "We're here to question the thief we captured yesterday."
    The