When the train ca to a stop, our hour long tedious journey finally ended. I stood up and walked over to Lucienne, who was reading what looked like so kind of manual. She rose to her feet in front of and turned toward the door, but I imdiately blocked her path.
Lucienne looked at with surprised eyes. "What’s going on?"
Keeping my expression calm, I stepped closer. "If you intend to follow after we get off, there are a few rules you need to accept."
Her brows drew together slightly, but she did not step back. As the tallic hiss of the train doors echoed around us, the crowd inside the carriage slowly began to thin. People hurriedly gathered their belongings, and the cold air from the station seeped inside.
"Rules?" she asked, her tone cautious rather than shocked.
I smiled. People often misread smiles, and I enjoyed turning that to my advantage. "Yes. Rules that will simply teach you how to behave."
Lucienne crossed her arms over her chest. She closed the book in her hand and slipped it into her bag. The gesture made it clear she was taking this seriously. "I’m listening."
"One," I said quietly. "You do not ask questions in public. If there is sothing you are curious about, you wait for the right mont. And when I tell you to be quiet, you stay quiet."
"Two," I continued. "When I say stop, you stop. You do not question why."
Her lips parted. She looked as if she wanted to say sothing, but she held herself back.
"Three." I t her eyes directly. "If I tell you to run, you run. You do not look back."
The carriage was nearly empty now. The doors were fully open, and the sounds from outside beca clearer. Lucienne remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly took a breath.
"And if I don’t follow these rules?"
Her question hung in the air. The murmur of the platform blended with the screech of tal wheels and the sharp sound of whistles, forming a strange backdrop.
Without taking my eyes off her, I answered. "Then our paths part here, and they will never cross again."
After my words, a brief but heavy silence settled between us. I had not issued a threat. My voice had not risen, and there was no hardness on my face. But that was precisely why what I said sounded threatening.
Lucienne did not avert her gaze. For a mont, I could feel that she was genuinely stopping to decide. People like her usually tried to buy ti by talking. She chose silence instead.
"Are we going to do sothing dangerous?" she asked.
"Maybe," I said. "But probably not."
The answer did not satisfy her. I had not expected it to.
Lucienne narrowed her eyes slightly. "That... is an evasive answer."
"No," I corrected calmly. "It’s an honest one."
The train car was now completely empty. We needed to move before the attendant’s impatient stare fell on us. I took a step toward the door, then stopped. Deliberately. I wanted to test her reflexes.
Lucienne hesitated for a mont, then ca to stand beside . She neither moved ahead nor lagged behind. The right distance. I liked that she had done it instinctively. I hoped it would continue that way throughout the day and that we would not have any trouble.
Cold air cut across my face as we stepped out. The station was more crowded than I had expected. People were not just in a hurry, they looked tense. Lucienne tried not to look around, but I noticed the movent of her eyes. She was curious, wondering where I was taking her.
"Why don’t you want to follow you?" she asked in a low voice. This ti, she was not breaking the rules. Her question was swallowed by the noise of the crowd.
"Because," I said after a brief pause, "working alone is always safer."
As we neared the station exit, I saw dozens of carriages waiting along the road. Since we were quite far from the city center, we could get there either by carriage or by buying horses. Walking was also possible, but it would be a waste of ti. Besides, my destination was not the city center anyway.
Half an hour later
After a short negotiation, I paid a modest sum and got off the carriage in a neglected grove so distance from the city. Lucienne followed quietly, like a duckling trailing after its mother.
As the carriage moved away, the sound of its wheels quickly faded into the trees. All that remained of its path were mud and crushed leaves. The area was quiet, but that did not an it was safe. On the contrary, places like this were often chosen precisely because they were out of sight.
Lucienne stopped a few steps behind . She was trying not to look around, but this ti it was clear that she was alert rather than rely curious.
"This place," she said at last, "is pretty far from the city."
"Yes," I replied.
The grove was irregular. There was no path, no sign placed by human hands. But I knew where to step. Not footprints guided , but their absence. Unbroken branches. Grass that had not been crushed.
We walked in silence for a while. Lucienne began to mimic my steps. She kept the sa distance, neither too close nor too far behind. She was not just listening to the rules. She was applying them.
"Why did we co here?" she asked.
I did not stop. "To pick sothing up."
"What?"
This ti, I stopped. Abruptly. Lucienne stopped as well. Her breathing quickened slightly, but she did not move from her spot.
"Wait here," I said, making sure she stayed put before I turned away. After stopping at the entrance of a cave, I turned back to her. "No matter what happens, do not follow . And I suggest you draw your sword. There may be goblins around here."
Lucienne’s hand slid instinctively to her skirt. She drew the short sword strapped to her thigh, giving an unintended view of her full calves in the process. When she gripped the hilt, I noticed the tension in her fingers. Not fear, but uncertainty. The difference mattered.
"Goblins?" she whispered. She was controlling her voice, but her eyes were fixed on the darkness of the cave.
"Low level," I repeated. "But that doesn’t make them harmless. If anything happens, shout. I will probably co to save you."
"Probably?!"
"Don’t be a coward. You’re the strongest person after among those sponsored by Baroness Catherinne."
Lucienne shot a sharp look, but she did not raise her voice. Panicking would gain nothing at this point, and she knew it. She held the sword with both hands and spread her feet slightly. Her stance was not perfect, but it was not random either.
"If I shout, will you really co?" she asked.
"Depends on the situation," I said. "But most likely, yes."
The answer did not reassure her. But it did not make her retreat either. That was enough.
I turned back to the cave entrance.
The mouth of the cave was narrow and low. A heavy sll drifted out, damp, moldy, and reminiscent of old blood. The scent of a place that had not been used for a long ti, but had not been completely abandoned either. Before entering, I paused, knelt down, and examined the ground. There were claw marks. Irregular, hastily left. At least two different sizes.
I crouched and looked closer to the ground. There were drag marks. Sothing had been moved recently. Not small, and not light.
From my belt, I took out a small marker stone I had retrieved from the castle’s cache and placed it at an inconspicuous spot near the cave entrance. If soone entered, I would know. Then I stood up and moved inside.
I did not hear Lucienne’s footsteps behind . Good. She was doing as she was told.
After a few steps, the cave widened. The ceiling lowered, and the walls were rough. There were no torch marks, but symbols had been carved into the stone. Not goblin work. Older, more deliberate.
A deep growl echoed from within. Then another. Two of them. Maybe three.
I advanced silently, and the mont I turned the corner, I saw them. Two goblins. Frail, their bones almost visible beneath their skin. One of the goblins lifted its head. Our eyes t. There was a mont of silence. Then it scread.
In the next instant, I rely moved my hands slightly, and the goblin’s head fell to the ground, cleanly severed from its body.
"Hmm. This ability is even more... perfect than I expected."
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