Logan turned towards Rena and gently cradled her face in his hands.

[Logan] “Listen, we are not abandoning anyone, okay? This is just a tactical retreat. Asha knows how this works. She knows we aren’t willfully abandoning her, okay?. She’ll try to get back to our previous meeting point just like we should be doing. I’m sure Rodrick knows to do this too. I bet no one’s even noticed that Rodrick is part of this. He’s fine,I promise. And you heard captain treason over there, Asha will be fine too.”

[Rena, small voice] “I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right.”

[Logan] “I know, but trust me, yeah? Your heart is in the right place, sweetheart, but you’ve never been in a situation like this. We’ll only endanger ourselves and the people we’re trying to rescue if we stay here for longer than necessary.”

He let go of her face and turned around to look at Finn.

[Logan] “Which is also why it would be a bad idea to wait for you to go get your fancy little notebook.”

[Finn] “Fine. In which inn are you staying?”

[Logan] “Don’t really feel like I should tell you that.”

[Rena] “Didn’t we decide to trust him?”

[Logan] “No. You decided to trust him, I still think he could backstab us at any moment.”

[Finn] “Whatever. Meet me at the edge of the forest outside the plains by nightfall. The road that leads out towards the east.”

[Logan] “You better not try to lure us into a trap, okay buddy? I’m really good at holding grudges for a very long time.”

[Finn] “Why would I try to lure you into a trap if I could just get you arrested right here?”

[Logan] “I don’t know, so you could catch us all at the same time? People have come up with stranger plans.”

[Finn] “Maybe if they’ve got your level of intelligence. I prefer my plans to be well-thought out and make some actual sense.”

[Rena] “Didn’t we determine that we’re running out of time?”

[Logan] “Yes, right, we need to leave. Finn, darling, would you be so kind as to escort us to a side entrance.”

[Finn] “I thought you didn’t trust me.”

[Logan] “Didn’t you hear, we don’t have any time left for quippy banter. The faster you get us safely to an entrance, the quicker you get rid of me.”

[Finn] “Right. There’s a hallway on the floor above us that leads through the cellar and the laundry room to the backside of the archives. It shouldn’t be too heavily guarded, and they won’t question my passage anyway. Once you’re outside these walls, however, you’re on your own. I trust you know how to blend into a crowd and not get caught right away.”

[Logan, smirk] “Of course.”

[Finn] “Good. Let’s go.”

It didn’t take them long to traverse through the cellar and the laundry room to reach the back door that led out of the archives.

[Finn] “You’ll have to continue on your own from here.”

[Rena] “Thank you. I really mean it. I truly hope we’ll manage to meet up this evening. I’m going to make sure we’re keeping our end of the bargain.”

[Finn] “It’s more your loss than mine if you don’t show up.”

[Logan] ”Yes, yes, you’re a big, independent traitor who doesn’t need anyone else to overthrow the government, we’ve got it.”

[Finn] “I definitely don’t need someone like you.”

[Rena] “We should leave. Before someone gets suspicious.”

[Logan] “Right. We’ll see you when the sun sets, sweetcheeks. Let’s go.”

Logan grabbed Rena’s wrist and headed out the door. They stepped out onto a stone pathway that was only wide enough for two carriages to pass before ending in the stone wall that surrounded the archives. To their right, a few workers were unloading wooden crates from a horse-drawn carriage and bringing them into the archives through tall, double doors.

[Logan] “Let’s go this way.”

Logan led her to the left, away from the people. 

[Logan] “We just need to get to the crowd and hurry outside. Blend in with the rest of the visitors. It would be too suspicious if we tried to sneak over the wall or something like that. Most of the guards don’t know what we look like, we should be fine. Just don’t look nervous.”

[Rena, mumble] “That’s easier said than done.”

[Logan] “As long as we don’t run we should be fine.”

[Rena, hissing] “Don’t you think we stick out just a little bit with our dirty clothes?”

[Logan] “Just pretend it’s meant to be like that. Haven’t you noticed how weird some of the people here look? No one cares. People are too self-involved to notice something like that. The worst thing that’ll happen is that someone will think your sense for fashion is horrible.”

[Rena] “Maybe all of this is easy for you after a lifetime of crime, but I’ve never even had to consider these things before this week. When I was back home, I didn’t have a habit of sneaking around and deceiving people, okay?”

[Logan] “You could have stayed home, you know. No one’s forcing you to be here.”

[Rena] “No, I couldn’t have stayed home because it’s gone!”

Rena stopped, her eyes fixed on the ground, her arms wrapped tight around her chest, trying her hardest not to start crying. She pressed her trembling lips together and took in deep, shaky breaths.

[Logan] “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t thinking. Sometimes I-I just say stuff. I’m really, really sorry.”

[Rena] “I’m sorry that I haven’t managed to adjust to this massive shift in my life yet, but none of this is easy for me.”

[Logan] “Yeah, no, I know, I know. I’m really sorry.”

[Rena] “I’m trying my best to keep up with you and trust you but I’ve never done anything like it and I just don’t have the confidence yet that everything will turn out ok. I’m sorry that I’m nervous and I’m sorry that I don’t have the instincts and I’d also rather be back home with my family than sneaking around in some stupid castle looking for some stupid letters and ruining one of the only dresses I have just so that maybe I can find out why everyone I ever loved is suddenly dead.”

[Logan] “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like th..”

[Rena, starting to cry] “And I’m really trying hard to keep it together and to just think about what we have to do to find out what happened but it’s hard and I feel like I’m crumbling and I don’t know what to do and how to keep myself together and I miss them so much and I’m never ever going to see them again even if we find out what happened.”

[Logan, softly] “Shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok, come here, it’s ok. I’m really sorry I said that. I know what you’ve been going through. It should never have happened. It isn’t fair. Sometimes life is way too cruel and there’s no easy way to deal with it.”

[Rena, crying] “ I don’t know what to do.”

[Logan] “I know, I know. It’s ok, you don’t have to have all the answers right now. We’ll figure it out together, yeah? I know there’s nothing we can do that will get your family back. I really wish there was. You know, if this is too much for you, you can just stop, right? You don’t have to go through with this. It isn’t your responsibility to fix it. If you want to take a break to deal with your loss first, that’s fine. You don’t have to force yourself through this if it’s too much. I can get you to Rancor and set you up there if you have nowhere else to go. Kalani and Cas would understand. They’d probably welcome you with open arms. That’s what the camp’s for, after all.”

[Rena, mumble, calmed down] “Thank you.”

[Logan] “Yeah, no problem. Genuinely, if at any moment, you want to stop, just let me know and I’ll drive you straight to the camp. Or somewhere else if you’ve got someone to stay with or if you want to go to a specific place. No judgement at all, yeah? And Rodrick and Asha and I will keep investigating this thing. Well, I can’t guarantee that the others will keep going, but I’m pretty sure they would if you asked them nicely. Rodrick definitely, Asha’s a bit more stubborn. But I promise you that I’ll keep looking into it, yeah? This should have never happened and someone needs to be held responsible for it. And we’ve got a pretty new face joining the team now, so I’m sure we’ll uncover this mystery in no time.”

[Rena, giggle] “Not if it’s just the two of you. If I’m not there to stop you, you’ll probably end up stabbing each other.”

[Logan] “Nah, well, maybe, but I’ll make sure to stab him only after we’ve found out the truth.”

[Rena, giggle, sob] “You’re the worst.”

[Logan] “Our new friend would probably agree with you on that one.”

[Rena] [Shaky breaths] “We should keep going. I don’t want someone to find us here like this.”

[Logan] “We’ll just tell them we’re jilted lovers who’ve just had a nasty fight and needed some privacy.”

[Rena, laughing] “Gross, no, you’re like ten years older than me.”

[Logan] “Great, that can be the reason for our fight. You’ve finally come to your senses that you want to date an attractive, younger person that can actually relate to you on an emotional level.”

[Rena, chuckle] “Stop it. I thought you didn’t want to waste any time.”

[Logan, startled] “Right, our escape! This way!”

Logan took her by the hand and led her around the corner of the building. There was still a crowd in front of the archives, although most people were now heading out instead of in. They walked over to where all of the caravans and carriages were standing, drifting through the crowd until they reached Rodrick’s caravan. No one seemed to be paying much attention to them, but Rena also forced herself to only look forward and keep her eyes from treacherously wandering around, so there was always the chance that someone, somewhere had seen them emerge from behind the castle and found it suspicious.

[Logan] “Ok, do you have a piece of paper?”

[Rena] “No? Except the letters we stole, I guess?”

[Logan] “Hmm, not ideal, but we could just rip a small corner off. Ehm, a pen?”

[Rena] “No. Why would I have a pen with me?”

[Logan] “I don’t know. We need something to write the note with.”

[Rena] “This was your plan, I thought you had it figured out.”

[Logan] “Ah, shit, ok, ok, it’s fine. I’ll figure something out. Wait here for a second.”

He jogged over to a group of three middle-aged women in big, colourful, fluffy dresses who were standing next to two giant, white draft horses. As Logan came up to them the women turned around, wary at first, but they seemed to warm to him quickly. Rena couldn’t hear what he was saying to them, but she could hear the raucous laughter of the rightmost woman well enough.

She rolled her eyes and turned around, letting her fingers run over the wood of the caravan as she walked to the back of the wagon. She leaned in close to the door, pressing her forehead against the wood.

[Rena, murmur] “Hey Vincent, how are you holding on?”

            [SFX muffled dog noises]

[Rena, murmur] “I’m sure Rodrick will come back soon enough to let you out. I’m sorry we locked you in here for so long. I’ll give you a million pets when we’re back at the inn, ok? [sigh] It’s been a bit of a rough day. We’re technically on the run, but don’t tell anyone, please. I have to confess something. I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into here. Maybe all of this was a mistake. [long sigh] I don’t know. I guess we’re doing the right thing. Someone has to uncover this, might as well be us. But the way ahead seems a bit dangerous and I don’t know if I’m strong enough for it. I really wish I could just go home and hug my parents. I really, really miss them. …. I’ll just have to hug you real tight later.”

            [SFX footsteps approaching]

She pushed herself away from the caravan and turned to her left, expecting Logan to come up to her. As her eyes wandered across the other wagons and the crowd surrounding them, they landed on a spot of bright orange. Behind the wheel of a caravan, sitting in a beam of sunlight, sat a fox, looking at her. The white tip of its tail swayed lazily up and down, but otherwise it didn’t move, not even when people hurried past it. No one else seemed to be bothered by the animal, or they simply hadn’t seen it. Maybe foxes weren’t a rare sight in this city, maybe people had gotten used to seeing them a long time ago, but something felt different to Rena about this one. It might have just been the fact that the fox seemed to be staring at her, but on the other hand, it almost felt to her like she had seen it before, like it was the same one she had seen two nights ago when they had entered the plains. There surely were a hundred of these animals in this city and she knew she hadn’t gotten a good look at the fox two nights ago, so why did it feel so familiar? 

[Logan] “Alright, let’s go.”

Logan came to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the fox. 

[Rena] “Did you… see that?”

She stepped to the side so she could look past Logan but the spot of sunlight where the animal had stood before was now empty. She looked around, trying to glimpse its red fur in the crowd. She even bent down to look underneath the wagons, but it seemed to have vanished.

[Logan] “What?”

[Rena] “There was a fox.”

[Logan] “Yeah, they’re like plagues in bigger cities. I don’t think they fear humans anymore. And people keep throwing all their garbage onto the streets so it’s like a buffet for them.”

[Rena] “Hmm, I don’t know, something felt different about this one.”

[Logan] “Maybe city foxes look different than the forest foxes you’re used to.”

[Rena] “No, it wasn’t anything like that.”

[Logan] “Well, either way, let’s get out of here.”

[Rena] “Did you write the note?”

[Logan] “Yep, and put it near his seat so that he could find it but still hidden enough so that no one else will see it. Not like I put our entire plan on that note or anything, but you can never be too careful.”

[Rena] “Alright then. Bye Vincent.”

            [SFX muffled dog noises]

            [SFX footsteps]

[Rena] “I don’t like it that he’s been locked in there the whole day.”

[Logan] “Probably safer than leaving him at the inn all day. Someone could have just stolen him.”

[Rena] “Who steals someone else’s dog?”

[Logan] “You’d be surprised.”

They navigated their way through the crowd with no major incidents, but Rena only dared look away from the ground in front of her feet when they were already past the last lamp post leading up to the archives and the crowd was starting to disperse into the plains. She dared to glance back quickly, to make sure no one was following them, but they really had managed to escape, even if it didn’t feel right to her.

[Rena, whispering] “Shouldn’t they close the entire building down if they are looking for someone?”

[Logan] “Probably don’t want to inconvenience their esteemed guests.”

[Rena, whisper] “But none of the guards even looked alarmed.”

[Logan] “Yes, and usually the captain of the guard or whoever he is doesn’t help the thieves escape. They probably think they’ll be able to catch us inside the castle without anyone else noticing and I’m sure he told the guards to not mention the incident to anyone to save his reputation.”

[Rena] “It doesn’t seem very efficient.”

[Logan] “Yeah, well. With big institutions like that, appearance is often more important than efficiency.”

[Rena] “That’s just backwards.”

They arrived at the inn and Logan went to get the keys to their rooms from the innkeeper before they headed up to the room Rena and Asha had stayed in the night before.

            [SFX Footsteps & creaking door]

[Logan] “Ok, wait here, I’ll go get us some new clothes.”

[Rena] “Ok.”

            [SFX creaking door]

Rena stood in the room, alone for the first time in what felt like forever, her eyes slowly wandering over the pictures and statues of marbled ducks spread throughout the room. The silence was encroaching on her again even though she could hear the cacophony of human activity from the tavern. She shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. She looked around the room to find something she could do and noticed with relief that there was a wash basin with a fresh pitcher of water in the corner of the room. 

She went over to the basin, filled it with water, and washed her hands. She then tried to rub her face clean, but the grime and dust that had caked itself onto her skin refused to separate from her. She would need a bath to get everything off, especially out of her hair, but she wasn’t sure when she would actually be able to take one next. She went over to the bed and sat down on it with a sigh, closing her eyes and dreaming of letting her body sink into the warm water. Maybe the bath water had even been infused with some herbs, maybe she would even have access to a bar of the really fancy soap made with olive oil that she had seen in Maggie’s soap shop in her home town once. Either way, she knew that the steam coming from the bath would smell heavenly.

            [SFX door opens]

Her eyes flew open and she jumped up, dreading to see who would enter the room.

[Rena] “Asha!”

[Asha] “Good, you’re here.”

[Rena] “How are you? Y-your temple. You’re bleeding! Are you alright?”

[Asha] “It’s nothing.”

            [SFX water splash, face rubbing]

[Rena] “I’m so glad to see that you got out. I was so worried. I wanted to come look for you but Logan said it was best if we got out as quickly as possible.”

[Asha] “He was right.”

[Rena] “I’m really sorry we left you alone. Logan just started running and drag me with him and I tried to get back to you when I saw that you were fighting the guards but he wouldn’t let go of my hand and then we crawled through some shafts in the walls to a different room and, and there we ran into the captain guy who was waiting there all alone for us and he just wanted to talk and he said he was also looking into some stuff and wasn’t happy with the administrator and the Royal Council and he said he’d help us out to find out what happened to Oceansthrow and the other villages and then he helped us escape but honestly we just walked out of the building with absolutely no problems, which I think is a great oversight on their part, and I don’t really trust it, but of course I’m happy that we did get out, and now the captain is going to wait for us near the forest tonight and then he’ll accompany us and hopefully together we can figure out what is going on.”

[Asha] “Why would we work with someone who’s related to nobility?” 

[Rena] “What? How do you know that?”

[Asha] “His face, his clothes, his attitude. Besides, you don’t get a job like that without being related to someone in power.”

[Rena] “Well, I don’t think it really matters. I’ve trusted the rest of you so far, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t trust him.”

[Asha] “It’s your quest, you can do what you want. I’m going back to Rancor in the morning anyhow.”

[Rena] “Oh … ok. … No, of course, I mean, you got what you came for, of course you’re not obligated to stay with us. I’m sure you have other important things to do.”

[Asha] “Yes …. [SFX bed creak] … What exactly did the captain say?”

[Rena] “Ehm, he said he had noticed some weird things going on between the administrator and the Royal Council.”

[Asha] “What weird things?”

[Rena] “I’m not sure, he didn’t mention anything specific. I think he called them irregularities. But he’s got a ledger where he wrote them all down apparently. That’s why he didn’t come back with us right away, cause he wanted to go get that first.” 

[Asha] “Irregularities.”

[Rena] “Yes.”

            [SFX door opens]

[Logan] “Here, catch, brand new dress. Should fit you, probably. Asha! Good to see you got out alive.”

[Asha] “Tragedy that you got out alive.”

[Logan] “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

[Rena] “I was just telling Asha about Finn.”

[Asha] “Finn?”

[Logan] “Yeah, the hot guy with the sword, that’s his name.”

[Asha] “Hot?”

            [SFX bed creak]

[Logan] “Our lovely leader here has decided that he’s part of the team now, apparently.”

[Rena] “Ehm, Asha just mentioned that she’s going to go back to the city of Rancor tomorrow.”

[Logan] “Oh come on, you’re abandoning us already? I thought we were building a bond here. Like brothers in arms, fighting together to overthrow the government. Isn’t that what we all want?”

[Rena] “That seems a bit extreme.”

[Logan] “Ok, ok, fighting together to find out what happened to the countless lives that were lost to tragedies that should have never happened and that the Royal Council and the rest of the nobility might be potentially trying to cover up.”

[Asha] “I’ll come to the meeting point with you. See what that guy is all about. I can’t guarantee anything beyond that.”

[Logan] “The curiosity is winning, isn’t it? You’ll stay with us, you’ll see.”

            [SFX door creaks]

[Rena] “Rodrick!” 

            [SFX quick footsteps, dog noises]

[Rena] “Hi, Vincent! Oh, I’m so glad to see you. What happened? How did you get out?”

[Rodrick] “Good, good, good. You’re all here. How wonderful. Well, I just walked out, didn’t I? I was just talking with the charming young woman and suddenly the door bursts open and some guards barged into the room and tell us to leave, so of course I complied with the order and followed the young woman outside, and then we heard shouting and banging from the other side of the door. I didn’t know what was going on and I have to say I was quite worried, especially since I didn’t know for certain that you were all in the room or if some of you were still wandering through the archives. Of course I had already glimpsed Asha enter earlier, and I was certain Logan had found his way in somehow, but I hadn’t seen him so I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain. But what a surprise it was when I saw the unconscious guards outside the room!”

[Logan] “Wait, Asha, did you just beat them up.”

[Asha] “Had to get into the room somehow, and I was tired of arguing with people to get what I wanted.”

[Rena] “Sounds a bit drastic, don’t you think?”

[Asha] “I’m sure the rest of you found noble and earnest ways to get access to the letters.”

[Rodrick] “Well, never mind that. We all had our tricks to enter that room. So I was standing outside the door with the young clerk and I was wondering if I should get back inside and try to help out, but I am not the youngest anymore and I didn’t have any of my equipment with me, so I had to accept the fact that I would not be of great help to anyone. I deeply apologise for that, I hope none of you are mad at me for it. The young clerk told me it was protocol for her to get back to her desk and escort any visitors to the entrance hall if something like this happened, but I managed to convince her to let me stay there so I could wait for Rena to come out of the room. Officially, she had never been assigned to our case anyway. And then after a while Asha burst out and we had our little adventure to find a way out of the archives for her, didn’t we?”

[Asha] “It sure was an adventure.”

[Logan] “Did you find the note? The one on the caravan?”

[Rodrick] “Yes, yes, I found the note, although whoever wrote it needs to learn how our lovely script actually works. It was barely legible.”

[Rena, under breath] “Logan wrote it.”

[Logan] “But you did manage to read it, that’s literally all that matters.”

[Rodrick] “Did you all manage to get what you were looking for?”

[Rena] “I think so.”

[Logan] “We even managed to get a new ally.”

[Rodrick] “Oh, how so?”

[Asha] “They are fraternising with the enemy now.”

[Rodrick] “The enemy?”

[Rena] “We don’t know if he’s an enemy to us or not. You shouldn’t be this quick to judge people.”

[Rodrick] “Who are we talking about?”

[Logan] “You probably saw him storm in with the guards. Blond, kinda short, blue coat blue eyes, perpetually looks like he wants to strangle you for how stupid you are.”

[Rodrick] “And who is he?”

[Rena] “His name’s Finn. I’m pretty sure he works with the guards at the archives and he mentioned that he found some irregularities in some information about the administrator and the Royal Council.”

[Rodrick] “But who is he exactly?”

[Rena] “Ehm, I don’t know. But I don’t exactly know who the rest of you are either.”

[Rodrick] “You’ve got a point there. And he wants to help us?”

[Rena] “Yes.”

[Rodrick] “Well, I say the more the merrier.”

[Asha] “The more, the higher the chance of being betrayed.”

[Logan] “You’re always so gloomy. Lighten up. Look at it this way, if he tries to betray us you are legally allowed to strangle him.”

[Rena] “Legally?”

[Asha] “Hmm, yeah, if I look at it that way, maybe this isn’t a complete clusterfuck.”

[Logan] “So it’s settled then! We’re all joining forces to uncover this mystery and kick the Royal Council’s ass!”

---