Brenn only needed a single glance.
"That's no merchant's map."
"I didn't think so."
The old veteran folded it carefully along its worn creases before handing it back.
"Come on."
"To the corporal?"
Brenn shook his head.
"No. Straight to Sergeant Harlan."
Sergeant Harlan was finishing the evening roster when he saw us approaching.
"What now?"
His tone wasn't annoyed.
Just... resigned.
I held out the folded hide.
"I found this in one of the orcs' pouches, Sergeant."
He unfolded it.
His expression changed almost immediately.
He traced one of the charcoal lines with a calloused finger.
"Where'd you get this?"
"One of the twelve."
Harlan looked up.
"The same twelve?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
The sergeant carefully folded the map shut.
"Brenn."
"Aye?"
"Get the lad's sack."
"The whole thing?"
"The whole thing."
He looked at me.
"You've had one profitable day already. Let's see if you can surprise the captain twice."
By the time we reached Captain Caldwell's pavilion, the guards no longer questioned why I was there.
One simply disappeared inside.
A moment later the flap opened.
"Captain says to come in."
I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.
"Sergeant Harlan?" Captain Caldwell said, glancing at me before returning his attention to the sergeant.
Harlan stepped forward and laid the folded hide upon the campaign table.
"Rowan found this among the loot from the orcs he claimed, sir."
"A map?"
"Aye. He brought it—and the rest of his spoils—to me so we could bring them to you."
Caldwell unfolded the hide, his eyes moving quickly over the charcoal markings.
"Is that so?"
He looked back at me.
"And the rest of it?"
I swallowed, suddenly finding my mouth dry.
"Sir... I thought if there was a map in there..."
I shifted the grain sack from one hand to the other.
"...then there might be something else important. If there was, I didn't want to throw it away or sell it by mistake."
Caldwell considered my answer before nodding toward the sack.
“Put it on the table.”
He looked toward the doorway.
“Someone fetch Mage Hodger.
He looked toward the doorway.
"Someone fetch Mage Hodger."
He smiled faintly.
"I have the feeling Rowan has managed to surprise us again."
After what felt like half an hour, the tent flap opened once more.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Captain Caldwell?" Hodger asked as he stepped inside.
He glanced around the pavilion.
His eyes settled on me.
He stopped.
Then blinked.
"...Rowan."
Captain Caldwell couldn't quite suppress a smile.
"He's found a map."
Hodger looked at me.
Then at the captain.
Then back at me.
"...Of course he has."
Hodger stepped farther into the pavilion.
“I assume there was something else.”
Captain Caldwell looked toward me.
"Rowan?"
I shifted the grain sack in my hands.
"Sir... I figured if there was a map in my loot, there might be something else worth looking at."
I rubbed the back of my neck.
"I know I found another ring."
"Another ring?" Hodger asked.
I nodded.
"It was stuck on a finger."
For some reason, saying it out loud made my ears burn.
The older mage's eyebrows climbed.
"A ring... and a finger?"
"Aye, sir."
I offered him the sack.
"I didn't know if the finger mattered, so I brought the whole lot."
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then Hodger slowly accepted the sack.
Hodger peered into the sack before looking back at me.
Hodger accepted the sack and peered inside.
“A ring and a finger?”
“I didn’t know whether the finger mattered.”
“Sensible.”
He carefully lifted out the shriveled finger and examined it.
His expression changed.
"This is not the finger of an orc."
The old mage turned the severed finger over carefully before laying it on the table.
The pavilion fell quiet.
Captain Caldwell stepped closer.
"What is it?"
"Human."
Hodger reached back into the sack.
"Oh..."
He withdrew the silver ring still clinging stubbornly to the shriveled finger.
"...my."
The humor vanished from his face.
"What have we here?"
He laid the finger carefully upon the table before taking up his slender wooden rod.
Again I felt it.
I couldn't explain it, but there was always... something.
The air seemed to grow heavier.
The hairs on my arms prickled.
I couldn't hear the words he whispered, yet I was almost certain he was casting another spell.
Pale light flickered briefly around the ring before fading.
Hodger's eyes narrowed.
"...Interesting."
Captain Caldwell folded his arms.
"Well?"
The mage was silent for several moments.
Finally he looked up.
"I don't know what it is."
The captain frowned.
"But I know what it isn't."
He carefully slipped the ring from the finger without damaging either.
"This isn't an ordinary piece of jewelry."
He looked at me.
"Rowan."
"Sir?"
"I would like to keep these."
He indicated the silver ring, the severed finger... and finally the grain sack itself.
"All of it?" Captain Caldwell asked.
Hodger nodded.
"For a few days."
He looked at me.
"I'll have fair compensation delivered to you in the morning, if you'll trust me."
I swallowed.
A mage...
Was asking my permission.
"Y-yes, sir."
I nodded quickly.
"Of course I trust you."
Hodger smiled faintly.
"Good."
He rested a hand on the sack.
"Curious objects have an unfortunate habit of keeping curious company."
***
Brenn and I returned to our part of the camp.
I was a sack of loot lighter, but Mage Hodger had promised fair compensation.
That seemed fair enough to me.
We had only gone a dozen paces when Brenn chuckled.
“Elias, you’ve got the Dark One’s own luck.”
“How?”
“In one day you’ve spoken to the captain twice, had the chief mage ask permission to take your loot, and made half the command staff remember your name.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t sound lucky.”
“No?”
“If they remember my name, they’ll remember every mistake I make. Worse, whenever there’s a dirty job to be done, whose name do you think they’ll remember?”
Brenn stopped and stared at me.
Then he laughed so loudly that two nearby soldiers looked over.
“By the gods, lad. You’ve worked for a living.”
“Well... yes.”
He clapped me on the shoulder, and we continued toward camp.
I still wasn’t convinced I was lucky.
I was just hungry.
As Brenn and I walked through the fading evening light, I heard shouting somewhere ahead.
"Grab it!"
"Stop the horse!"
I looked up just in time to see a bay mare plunging through the camp, ears flat against its head as it bucked and twisted. Soldiers scattered out of its way while several others ran after it, shouting even louder.
I sighed.
"Finally... something I actually know how to do."
"What?"
I was already moving.
"Everyone back!" I shouted. "You're only frightening her more!"
A few ignored me.
Most didn't.
Perhaps because I'd spent the entire day somehow earning the officers' attention, or perhaps because no one wanted to be trampled.
"Back away!" I called again. "Give her room!"
The horse tossed its head wildly.
Only then did I notice the rider.
A figure clung desperately to the mare's mane, sitting awkwardly with both legs on the same side.
Sidesaddle.
I slowed my pace.
No sudden movements.
Hands low.
Eyes soft.
"Easy now, girl..."
The mare snorted, dancing sideways.
"That's it."
I kept my voice calm.
"Nobody's going to hurt you."
Old Man Marbut's wagon mare had been just as high-strung.
He'd always said frightened horses borrowed fear from the people around them.
So I gave her the opposite.
Calm.
I kept talking as I walked.
"Easy... good girl..."
Step by careful step.
The mare's breathing slowed.
Her ears came forward.
She stopped dancing.
I reached out slowly and gathered the dangling reins into my hand.
"There now."
I stroked her neck.
"Everything's all right."
The rider remained frozen for another heartbeat before carefully sliding from the saddle.
Her boots touched the ground.
She straightened her riding habit before looking at me.
"I should like to thank you."
It was a young woman's voice.
Clear.
Educated.
I finally looked up properly.
She couldn't have been much older than sixteen.
Without thinking, I bowed.
"It was only a frightened horse, my lady."
The words left my mouth before I'd even thought about them.
She had been riding sidesaddle and wore a proper riding habit.
No farmer’s daughter I knew dressed or rode that way.
Whoever she was, her family had money.