heart soar with relief. He was all right. He was alive.
“Bran! Bran!”
Bran looked up, and his face fell. “Arren?” He got up, ignoring his friends, and hurried toward him. “Arren, good gods, what happened to yeh?”
Arren grabbed his arm. “Bran, are you all right? Has anything happened? Where’s Flell? And Gern? Are they safe?”
“I’m fine,” said Bran. “I ain’t seen Flell, but I would hear if somethin’d happened to her. Arren, where’ve yeh been? I’ve been lookin’ for yeh here every night—what’s wrong with yer neck?”
Arren glanced around quickly. “I can’t say here. Come on.”
The two of them left the tavern. Outside, Bran said, “Look, Arren, I dunno if yeh’ve heard about it yet, but—”
“What?” said Arren. “What is it?”
“Gern’s dead,” Bran said in a low voice.
Arren went cold. “What? How? When?”
“It was an accident,” said Bran. “He got caught up in another fight at the Arena and fell down a row of seats. Broke his neck.”
“Oh no.”
“I know,” said Bran. “His mum was distraught. Poor kid—”
“This wasn’t an accident,” said Arren. “They got him. Oh gods, I’ve—I’ve killed him. They found out.”
“Who did?” said Bran.
“I told you!” Arren hissed. “There’s people watching me. We’re all in danger. Bran, for gods’ sakes, where’s Flell? Has something happened to her?”
“She’s fine,” said Bran. “Arren, calm down—”
“No!” Arren half-shouted. “I can’t! It’s my fault, don’t you see? Gern died because I told him—Bran, you’ve got to get out of here. Go into hiding somewhere, before they kill you, too. I’ve got to warn Flell!” He turned and started to run away.
Bran dashed after him and pulled him up sharp. “Arren! Stop!”
Arren tried to break free. “Let go!”
“Arren,” Bran said sharply, “stop it. Yer babbling. There’s no-one after yeh.”
“Yes, there is. Bran, are you stupid? Look at me! D’you think this was an accident?”
“Arren, I—after what yeh told me, I got a couple of mates on street duty to follow yeh. They kept an eye on yer house; they was tailin’ you for a couple of days. They never saw nothin’.”
“You think I’m losing my mind, do you?” said Arren.
“No, Arren, I just think yer scared of somethin’ ain’t real.”
“So, I’m mad,” said Arren. “Is that it?” He reached up to his neck and started to unwrap the strip of blanket. It fell away and the collar gleamed dully in the torchlight. “Does this look like something that isn’t real?”
Bran’s eyes widened. “Gryphus, that’s not a—”
“It’s a slave collar,” said Arren.
“But how—”
“Someone broke into my house,” said Arren, hastily covering it up again. “They’ve wrecked everything. They stole everything I owned, and when I got home they attacked me. I’ve got broken ribs and I think there’s a crack in my skull. And when I woke up, I found they’d put this on me, and I can’t get it off.”
“But Arren, why didn’t yeh—”
“I can’t,” said Arren. “They’ll come back and kill me. I can’t let anyone see me wearing this, they’ll—I don’t know what to do, Bran.”
“Well, yeh can’t keep that thing on,” said Bran. “There ain’t—oh my gods, you’re bleedin’. We’ve got to find a blacksmith to take it off.”
“I can’t afford it,” said Arren. “They took all my money.”
“I’ll pay,” Bran said firmly. “C’mon.” He took Arren by the arm and dragged him off.
As they walked rapidly toward the part of the market district where the craftspeople lived, Bran asked questions, speaking in a quick, clipped voice, as he would to any other crime victim. “When did it happen?”
“A week or so ago.”
“Who were they? Did yeh get a good look at ’em?”
“No, it was dark. I didn’t see their faces. There were about six of them, I think. They didn’t talk much.”
“So, they got in through a window?”
“Yes, one of the back ones. They must have climbed onto the balcony; one of the back windows was broken.”
“And they beat yeh up?”
“Yes.”
“So, once yeh were down they put the collar on and then left yeh.”
“Yes. One of them hit me in the head afterwards—knocked me out. I didn’t wake up until the next morning.”
“And yeh ain’t told anyone else about it?”
“No. I couldn’t even leave the house.”
“Well, I’m gonna find out,” said Bran. “I’m gonna find those sons of bitches and get them thrown into the Arena. And after that yer going to tell me who threatened yeh, and I’m gonna to tell Lord Rannagon about it.”
“But—”
“Shut up. Yeh wanna wait until yeh get yourself killed? Well, I ain’t lettin’ yeh. I already lost one of my mates; I ain’t