The nearest town to Whitefield farm was a couple of hours’ walk to the Forest town of Lightmist Village. Nelson absolutely hated coming here, but he had little choice in the matter. It was the only town close enough for him to buy supplies to feed his pigs, and without his pigs, he couldn’t make ends meet. Inleet had agreed to come with him in order to act as his servant, but the truth was to scout around for any information.

The reason Nelson hated coming here, however, almost overpowered his wish to survive, and she was wheeling towards him with the foulest of looks plastered all over her face. Nelson braced himself for having to deal with her again.

Lynnette…

Her brown hair was cut shorter than he remembered it being. He guessed she had finally had enough of it being in her way all the time, but that was all that had changed about her. The only nice thing he could say was that the mobility chair the Rattus had invented really was a wonderful invention.

As she finally reached him, Nelson put on a smile. The motion was nothing more than an act to keep others from knowing his true feelings about being greeted by the Enerawyn woman. He could see how livid she was with him, so he braced himself for whatever would come this time. He expected her brother wouldn’t be long behind her, though there was no sign of him yet.

“Lynnette, how wonderful to see you still kicking, so to speak,” Nelson greeted her as he always did. It was his way of getting under her skin and she loathed every moment of it. His charming smile did nothing to soothe her rage.

Shooting an icy glare at Nelson, Lynnette hissed, “how many times do I have to tell you to stop coming here?” She looked him up and down with a critical gaze. From what she could tell, he wasn’t carrying any weapons, but that didn’t mean she trusted him not to hide something on his person.

With a flourishing bow, Nelson politely stated, “another few more times to come, it would seem. You know very well that I don’t like this any more than you do, but we all have our parts to play in the game that is life.”

“You are insufferable,” Lynnette muttered under her breath. “Lucky for you, my brother is in the Lightmist forest right now,” she then told Nelson, her eyes narrowing at him. “You best behave yourself, or I will not hesitate to shoot you in the ass with my arrows. If you think I can’t do so, then test it for yourself,” she added, her tone firm but mocking, as if she wanted him to test her patience.

Nelson knew better than to give in to her taunting. She was good with the bow and arrow. He held up his hands innocently and shook his head. “Perish the thought,” he replied and looked towards the market further in. “I just came to pick up some pig feed. I promise I am not here for any troublemaking.”

Lynnette looked him up and down, a look of unbelieving on her face. However, she relented with a heavy sigh. “Fine,” she muttered and rolled herself around. “I’ve got my eye on you, as always. I might not be able to be the King’s bodyguard anymore, but I still protect his people. Remember that.”

As she wheeled away, Nelson gave a dry smile. How could he forget she was loyal to the man who had forced this boring life on him? She made it known every time he visited this out of the way village. Once she was further away, he strolled towards the market and idly visited the stalls. He had very little coin, enough that could only get exactly what he needed.

Slowly, he allowed his feet to guide him near the stalls of apples. He never lingered long enough for anyone to assume he was there to purchase anything and soon his feet drifted him to the next place. With a smile to himself, he nibbled at the apple he had attained. Old habits never died. It was how he had managed to not quite starve to death yet. Of course, it helped that no one had ever caught on that it was him who had taken things.

After taking as long as he could stalling himself at the market, Nelson finally made it to the person he needed to buy the pig feed from. Inleet finally caught up with him and offered him a practised bow of her body.

“My lord, I have finished my tasks. Shall I carry the feed for you?” She asked, her tone as polite as her movements were towards him. Nelson nodded. He was always impressed that she could take on any role she had set her mind on. She and he were similar in that regard.

With a nod, Nelson replied, “please,” he handed the feed to Inleet and then idly left the market. He gave a subtle sweep of the village before looking back at the woman beside him. “You didn’t have any issues with the fiery wheel-woman?” He asked, his voice kept quiet so that no one could overhear him.

“None. She doesn’t think of me in any negative light, though I wouldn’t say she trusts me either,” Inleet replied as she too kept her voice low. She glanced at the large sack on her shoulder and then said, “this isn’t a lot of feed. You are a poor ass noble.”

“Uh-huh,” Nelson mumbled, his eyes rolling. “You won’t want the apple I swiped then?” He questioned, a dopey grin on his face. He pulled out a second apple from his pocket. Then he tossed it in the air, catching it again as it came back down. “I couldn’t swipe more without someone realising, but if you don’t want-”

“Gimme!” Inleet said, using her free hand to snatch the apple mid-throw and bite into it. She then tossed the pig's feed back towards Nelson as soon as they were no longer within anyone’s gaze. She ate the fruit like a demon possessed.

“Rude,” Nelson scoffed playfully as he slung the sack over his shoulder. “So, did you learn anything interesting?” He then asked, knowing there was no one within earshot of them. The path from Lightmist village and Whitefield’s farmhouse was open and practically barren. Life thrived there, but to him, it may as well have been a lifeless wasteland.

Inleet shrugged a little. “They are wary of you, but nothing stands out beyond the usual stuff,” she commented offhandedly. “However, some men mentioned a new face in the tavern the other night. It might be worth checking that out. Though it could be nothing at all.”

Nelson mulled it over for a moment before he nodded slowly. “This place is rather far out of the way. No one comes here often. It is one reason I targeted it before,” he said, his voice full of unspoken thoughts. Was this new face someone scouting the town out? What if they related to his late father somehow? He had to inspect them, though not so obvious.

“Maybe Atraas and I should visit the tavern tonight for a night out,” Nelson suggested with a thin smile. “It would be too strange for the three of us to go alone without Esta too, so I want you to stay home with her. Though I’ll have to swipe some coin off someone later, there is no way she will allow me the coin,” he continued. The last of his words were filled with annoyance.

It hardly mattered in the long run. He was skilled at what he did. That was why the Crown trusted him with this task. Well, as much as they dared to trust him. Looking at the farmhouse as it came into view, Nelson hoped to the Goddess’ that he had finally gained some luck on this mission of his. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand being bored out of his mind like this!

“I’m sure he will enjoy it. He has been getting just as antsy as you’ve been. I’m surprised no one has come to speak with you yet,” Inleet replied as she tossed the cork of the apple to the ground. She then rested her hands behind her head in a lazy pose as she sky-gazed as she walked.

Nelson had to agree. Either they didn’t care about the debt, which he doubted, or they were nervous about his presence being there. There may have been other reasons, but he couldn’t think of anything else for the moment. The Crown ordered to stay at the farm and would send help whenever it could be done, with no one knowing it.

Nelson expected these two were the aid, but it hadn’t done a lot to aid him. At least not yet. Thinking more about the situation, Nelson wondered if the Crown knew more than they were letting on. Though perhaps they couldn’t act on the information they had gathered due to lack of evidence, or because of some other reasons?

Stepping through the door to the farmhouse, Nelson put the pig feed down in the kitchen. He spotted his sister in the living room. She was currently reading one book from her parents’ collection. She glanced up at Nelson briefly, then looked back to her book.

He hesitated before deciding to leave her alone for the moment. He would speak with Atraas first, then let her know that the two of them were going to have a guys’ night out. Not that he was afraid of the woman, but he didn’t quite fancy an argument as soon as he got in.

Atraas was upstairs in the spare room that he shared with his sister. They had changed the old study to fit the twin’s needs.

Knocking the door, Nelson leaned against the doorframe and tilted his head up in greeting to the malruthiia man. “So, fancy a drink in the village tonight?” He asked, his voice quiet so that his sister did not overhear him.

The malruthiia lifted his head off of his bed from where he had been napping and peered at Nelson for a moment. He clicked on easily enough and kept his voice low as he replied, “of course.” He paused and then asked, “do we get our hopes up, this time?”

Nelson shrugged in reply. “No idea yet… but it’s a start, even if it turns out to be a false alarm,” he replied. He glanced behind himself, making sure his sister hadn’t tried to sneak up behind him to eavesdrop. He then looked back at Atraas. “I hope this is something. I’m bored out of my mind.”

Chuckling, Atraas nodded in agreement. “All I do is sleep, clean, tend to pigs… did I mention sleep?” He huffed hard and made a quiet sound of complaint. “I hate this. Are we sure we’re not just being mocked?”

“Positive,” Nelson replied and closed his eyes. The King wouldn’t mock him like this, not over a serious matter. Besides, he was the bait. There would have been no point in any of this had there not been a very good chance that someone would take the bait.

“Then let your sister know,” Atraas suggested, his gaze lingering on Nelson with a squint.

Nelson quickly interrupted as he corrected the other man, “step-sister. We’re not blood-related at all.” He always made sure people were aware of this fact. He had no family and had no plans to continue his own bloodline. There was no point in even thinking of wanting such a happy family outcome. He probably wouldn’t live long enough to even hope for it.