to do, at first. I mean, I never expected that sort of danger here.”
Neither had Siobhan, or she would have taken precautions.
“I was a little too late in using force to get them to leave me alone, and they thought I was playing hard to get, so they cornered me. It was at that point that Rune appeared from thin air—” she glanced at Rune, head cocked in question.
“Ceili’n, actually,” he corrected.
“Oh, is that where you were? I just knew you were suddenly there, between me and them. Rune hit them hard and fast and told me to run for it. I went straight to Conli, hoping to send help back to Rune, as I wasn’t sure he could handle three men at once.”
Rune snorted. Obviously, he hadn’t been worried about that.
“But by the time that I could get to him,” Conli picked up the thread of the story smoothly, “Sylvie, Wolf, Fei and Siobhan were already there and Siobhan was reaming the men for daring to attack Rune. Since those three were obviously hurt, I went immediately back for my bag so I could patch them up. Besides, I was afraid of leaving Denney alone again, after what had just happened.”
Denney gave Siobhan an odd look. “Didn’t you tell me that he told you what happened?”
Siobhan glared at Rune. He couldn’t quite meet her eyes. “I thought he had, anyway.”
“Rune, I don’t blame the victim for trouble, y’know?” Siobhan responded in exasperation. “I realize it might not seem like that, because I’m constantly yelling at Wolf and Tran when trouble breaks out, but that’s because they’re usually the ones that start things. When Sylvie or Denney are in trouble, I know good and well they didn’t start it, so I’m not going to be harsh with them. You don’t have to protect them from me.”
Denney blinked at her, then turned to Rune with wide eyes. “You covered for me?”
Rune stared at the floor and muttered something unintelligible.
Rubbing her eyes with both hands, Siobhan blew out a long breath. “So, in other words, it’s not just Rune we need to look out for, but Denney as well? Rain and drought, but this is ridiculous. I’ll speak with Jarnsmor again, but for now, no one goes anywhere alone. Do you hear me? None of you.”
Everyone gave her nods or voiced some sort of assent.
She smiled grimly. The next fool that decided one of her own was easy prey wouldn’t live long enough to regret it. But for now, she needed to say something else. Stepping forward, she ruffled the back of Rune’s hair with an affectionate toss. “You did good, kid.”
Rune glanced at her from the corner of his eye with that almost-smile she was beginning to love. He openly basked in the praise.
Her eyes took in Conli and Denney as she repeated, “You did good.” If she had known all that Rune was doing behind the scenes, she’d have put together a reward for him herself, but having it come unsolicited from Conli and Denney meant the world to him. Perhaps it was best that she hadn’t known anything until now.
They both gave her understanding smiles.
Beirly cleared his throat and offered, “Rune, why don’t me and you put those marks on your things? Now that you have ‘em, let’s put ‘em to use.”
Rune nodded his head in agreement, pleased with the suggestion.
“There’s assassins after our assassin.”
Siobhan blinked and stared at Fei. She’d been in the middle of finishing preparations for tomorrow, but he apparently wanted her attention, so she dropped everything in her hands and turned toward the door. “I assume you’re talking about the nightly attacks from Silent Order? The ones that you’ve been helping Rune deal with?”
Fei cocked his head slightly. “I was not aware that you knew of them.”
“Oh, I know more than you think I do.” Not much more, though. “I would have thought they’d given up, though, as they’ve not been the least bit successful so far.”
“They are far from giving up,” Fei denied with a grim shake of the head. “In fact, the numbers they send increase every night. It has now reached the point that it is…difficult for only I and Rune-xian to deal with them.”
Difficult? When Fei said ‘difficult,’ he meant ‘impossible.’ She was almost afraid to ask. “How many are you expecting to show up tonight?”
He thought about that for a moment before offering, “Twenty or so?”
“Twenty?!” she spluttered. “Great wind and stars, man, how