“Right.” Wolf lengthened his stride and left the store in little more than a blink of an eye.
Siobhan, worried that things might go from bad to worse, followed after him but couldn’t quite keep up as the crowd outside blocked her. She had to use her elbows and sheer brute force to carve a path toward Denney.
Because of that, she missed what happened when Rune first reached Denney. All she knew was that the crowd abruptly shied away from the middle of the street, scattering all directions, and left her a clear view. Wolf had Rune by the arm, his iron right hand blocking the assassin completely from what appeared to be a lethal strike toward one of the drunks. Denney was on her knees, arms over her head, although she was peeking upward. The drunks were flat on their backs nearby, hands also held protectively over their heads, their eyes squeezed tight in fear.
What by the four winds…?!
“Easy, kiō,” Wolf rumbled, his stance as solid as a mountain. “Don’t kill the poor blighters.”
Rune’s head cocked in puzzlement as he looked up at Wolf. “Isn’t that what she wanted me to do?”
“No,” Wolf denied patiently. “We don’t kill people unless we absolutely have to. Breaking bones is one thing, ending lives another.”
Rune slowly extracted his hands, which Wolf allowed without fuss. Seeing her nearby, Rune gave her that same puzzled, uncomprehending frown. “Didn’t you send me out here to take care of the situation?”
Siobhan resisted the urge to go find a flat, hard surface and start banging her head against it. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to find the right words to explain. “Rune, I said help. I meant, go protect Denney and discourage the lack-heads from flirting with her. They’re drunk and mistaken about her profession. That’s not a crime worth losing their lives over.”
Said drunks were nodding vigorously in avid support of this.
She could just tell by Rune’s expression that he still didn’t get it. Was his training really that deeply ingrained, or was she just not explaining it right? Giving up for the moment, she ducked around the men and offered a hand up to Denney.
Conli beat her there, hands frantically checking for any injuries even as he demanded, “Are you alright? I couldn’t see what happened, did these men hurt you before Wolf got here?”
“I’m fine,” Denney assured her uncle, then Siobhan. “Fine. Rune hit those two hard and fast, and I lost my balance too, I was so surprised. But I’m fine. Conli, your packages? Where are they?”
“I dropped them all,” he admitted. Peeking over his shoulder, he said morosely, “I think some of them broke. I heard glass cracking.”
Oh joy of wonders. That meant he’d have to go back to the store to replace things. This was turning into quite the shopping trip. Blowing out her breath, Siobhan started pointing fingers at people. “Wolf, you and Rune go finish the shopping with Sylvie. Then meet us at the herbal store. Conli, Denney, let’s wrap this up and get back to Iron Dragain.”
The faster they left this potential hotbed of trouble, the better.
ӜӜӜ
Siobhan’s punishment for adopting an assassin without thinking it through was having to deal with said assassin and his bad habits. After returning to Iron Dragain the day before, she’d done her best to explain the do’s and don’ts when helping someone out of a sticky situation. She’d also tried to explain that she hadn’t taken Rune away from Vakkiod because she’d wanted an assassin at her beck and call. Rune had assured her he understood, and that he wouldn’t kill people unless necessary, but he’d still looked confused at the end of the conversation.
She could only hope that he would figure it out on his own, as she didn’t know how else to explain.
A full day had passed since their disastrous shopping trip and her worries were only growing. Siobhan had mistakenly believed that if she could just find Lirah and her missing escort, then all would be well. But in truth, their rescue carried a great many troubles with it. Rune just complicated matters more.
She sat outside and looked up at the half moon overhead, her toes just grazing the tip of the pond water. It felt ice cold to her skin, but strangely pleasant, probably because she’d once again been on her feet all day.
A door opened and closed behind her. She smiled as she recognized the heavy tread