went to the next thing. “Fei, talk to Lirah’s group and get an exact accounting of what happened. Get me details—what they looked like, what weapons they used, which direction they retreated to, you know the drill. The more information I have, the better.”
Fei nodded and silently went to do as bid.
Let’s see…what else…. “Tran—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he refused in a low rumble.
“Ahhh…” Remembering that Rune’s hearing was unusually good, she instead pointed in his general direction, head cocked in question. Tran nodded sourly. Wolf backed him up with a nod as well, arms crossed over his chest in a stubborn manner. Siobhan blew out a breath. So, neither Tran nor Wolf would let the boy out of their sight, eh? Well, for the time being, that was probably prudent.
“Fine,” she sighed in resignation. “I’ll find a plate of food for him and some better fitting clothes.” The ones that Beirly had handed her hung on the boy so bad it was a wonder his pants stayed up. She also had to figure out where Rune’s weapons had been put. Surely the villagers had kept them instead of just throwing them out. Whether or not she would hand them over immediately would be a matter to decide later.
Finding readily available food for an assassin in a, if not hostile, unwelcoming village proved to be quite the challenge. Siobhan ended up paying more money than she intended, but her grocery shoppers hadn’t returned yet (probably because they faced the same challenges Siobhan had) and she was worried about Rune’s condition. He put up a strong front, but there was no way to disguise the slightly grey color to his skin or the heavy way he moved, as if it took extreme effort on his part. She wanted decent food in him as soon as she could manage it.
When she returned, she found that Rune hadn’t quite escaped Conli yet. Her resident physician was wrapping the younger man’s wrists with a white bandage, issuing instructions to keep it clean as he did so. Rune had that inscrutable expression on his face again, as if he didn’t know how to react to any of this. Maybe he didn’t. Wolf had told her stories, from time to time, about what life in a dark guild was like. It had made her hair stand on end. Worse, she was fairly certain he only told her the milder tales. The darker ones he never spoke of.
She walked through the doorway and put the wicker basket in Rune’s hands. “Eat all of it,” she commanded.
Rune opened the basket and peered at the loaf of bread, wedge of cheese, smoked ham, and apple tart inside. He nearly started drooling. “No problem.”
As Rune enthusiastically dug in, she settled cross-legged next to Conli and asked him, “How’s his condition?”
“Malnourished, dehydrated, and exhausted,” Conli replied promptly, his mouth in a flat, unhappy line. “I could whip these people for how they treated him.”
Rune paused in devouring the ham and gave them an odd look. Around a mouthful, he managed, “I did try ta kill one of their own.”
“They should have executed you for that or bargained with your guild to send you back for a hefty fee,” Conli responded angrily, slamming the rest of the bandages back into his pack. “You don’t starve and neglect people. That’s just cruelty.”
Siobhan agreed with him one hundred percent. She didn’t like how they’d handled Rune either. “His wrists and ankles?”
“Bruised and chafed, but not serious,” Conli assured her. “That said, I don’t think you should send him out today. Or tomorrow. He needs good food, a lot of liquid, and some uninterrupted rest for at least two days before you send him anywhere.”
She understood the sense of his advice as he said it.
Rune, not understanding, protested as he ripped a chunk out of the loaf of bread. “I can go today.”
Siobhan shook her head firmly. “No, Rune. You’re not in the best of shape right now. I don’t send weakened men into potentially dangerous situations. You might be able to go into Sateren and arrange a meeting with a karl without a hitch. Then again, you might be in for quite the fight. We don’t know what will happen. I’m not sending you anywhere until Conli says you’re strong enough.”
He looked between the two of them with expressionless eyes, not saying a word. Siobhan was really beginning to hate that look. “Fine,” he finally capitulated with a shrug. “Yer the guildmaster here.”