Elina

What was his name again?

Roseflower? Rosetree? Something like that.

Anyways.

Let's see what this church is hiding. What needs so much guarding.

I changed out of Simon Withstone's clothes and put on Rosetree's armor. The quality of the leather and the sturdiness of his sword were of higher caliber. He said he was an Officer. Is that a high rank? It must be. Since he is in charge here.

I stepped out of the office. I didn't get very far.

Someone stopped me. One of the guards from outside. Just stood there, looking at the door, looking at me.

"Officer Rosewood, is everything alright?" he asked.

Ah, Rosewood. That was his name.

I said, "Everything is fine."

The man didn't look convinced.

"Where is the city guard who came with you? Did something happen? I heard a noise coming from your office."

How annoying. Should I kill him? I glanced left and right. Not a good place. Too many corners, too many unknown factors.

I said, "I dealt with him. Return to your post, soldier."

He stepped to attention, saluted and walked off.

Heh-heh~ I'm starting to like these people. With the right face and words, it was so easy to order them around. And they obeyed. Almost like magic.

I waited until he was out of sight. Then I moved.

Down the stairs, to the ground floor. Doors and corridors here and there. Closed my eyes and listened. For the sound only witches can hear.

"Where are you?" I whispered.

A moment later, a reply came. Bouncing off the stone walls, echoing infinitely.

"Here, oh great witch. We are here."

That tells me nothing. It's like saying rain comes from above.

"Where in the building are you?"

"We don't know...they blindfolded us when they captured us..." The voice stopped. Then: "There are no windows here. We must be underground."

Underground...

Finding the staircase to the basement wasn't difficult. Just find a way down. But there were more guards stationed. One at the top of the staircase, one at the bottom.

I nodded. They saluted.

Told them they could take a break. That they deserved it. Have a meal at the King's Lodge. Highly recommended.

They said they couldn't afford.

I told them they could take a break anyway. I'd stand guard in their place. The least I could do as their superior.

They looked at me like I had gone insane. Then they took me up on my offer.

Watched them go up the stairs. The chattering voices filled with excitement. A night out in town. Finally.

More stairs. But there were no lights. Just a wall of darkness, stretching down the steps.

I turned my eyes to silver. Walked down the stairs.

And then I saw it. Saw them.

Glowing eyes looking at me. Dozens. Gold and green and red.

I smiled.

--------------------

SALEM: I'm not stupid. I knew she had something planned. But I let her go. Because there was nothing I could've done about it. If she wanted to run away, she could've simply kill me.

Which meant that since I was still alive, she likely intended to return.

But there was another reason.

I had something planned. Somewhere I needed to be. And I had to go there without her following me.

So I pretended to sleep. I was good at it. I felt her silver eyes on me, the gentle glow in the dark. Felt her long hair brush against my face. Her womanly scent enveloped me. I stayed still. She seemed happy enough with my performance.

I listened to her open the door, go down the stairs, out of the inn. Onto the streets. Then she waited. Maybe she expected me to do something. But I nothing. Then I heard her leather boots walk along the muddy main road. The sounds faded. She was gone.

I got up. Took the same steps she did.

Larose was an important town. Not just for merchants and travelers. But for other kinds of people as well. Like spies and intelligence traders. Arms dealers and mercenaries. And witches hunters too.

Larose was the first large town outside of Merkelborough. Which meant that for people outside Merkelborough, Larose is the first place to find the rumors and information from the provincial capital. Which meant that whatever Julia Abernathy told Elina, I'd find here.

There's a tavern where witch hunters gather in Larose. The owner called it the Jolly Tavern. Which might have been a morbid attempt at humor. Witch hunters were for the most part a glum group of professionals. Because nobody grows up saying they want to kill witches for a living. Nobody does this because they want to. We're all here because we have to. We all have different reasons. But one way or another we ended up here. Which was why nobody at the Jolly Tavern was actually jolly.

I entered and found a room of depression. My kind of place.

But something was odd.

Every table was full. Which was a rare thing to see because witch hunters never stayed in one place for too long. Time was money.