The rest of Tammer’s section were an odd bunch. I’d seen them before, but never this close. One was grizzled with a misshapen nose, his hooded gray eyes watching everything like a crab under a rock. The other was tall and lanky in such a way that I was afraid he would snap his neck anytime he looked around. And the girl, she was neat. Smaller than the other two, but muscular. While the other two were uncertain of me, she was outright suspicious, looking me up and down with narrowed eyes. Her gaze traced each and every one of my tattoos. I bet she was trying to set my head on fire.

  Tammer sat beside me, looking a little embarrassed to be associated with me. Fortunately, I’m not easily offended by humans.

  “How do you know Tammer?” the girl demanded. Leesa, I think her name was.

  “We met briefly in Linford,” I said, stretching back in my camp chair. Competitors were required to camp out near the green prior and during the games. Tammer’s crew had occupied a small plot far away from the competitor’s tent, close to a little well where a cook fire wouldn’t bother anyone else. It was a far walk to the pitch from here, but he was in good company; many of the other competitors had set up nearby, the smells of different meals roasting on the fire mixing in the air.

  “In Linford.”

  “Yep. Just a quick conversation. He was patrolling some shop.”

  The taller man - Terry - glared at me. “Then how do we know aren’t the Abyss?”

  I snorted at the irony. “I didn’t push the statue off the church,” I said, holding a hand over my heart. “I didn’t shoot anyone. That person was not me.”

  “But how do we ?”

  “Do you think I can fly?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “I was talking with Tammer right before you all headed for the gate. I didn’t see what happened exactly, but I ran up in the aftermath. Do you really think I would have had time to talk to your captain, scurry on up to the top of the church with no one seeing me, shoot someone, and then shove that thing into the street?” I was certainly capable of doing all of that, but that didn’t matter right now.

  No one said anything, but they continued to take my measure. I sighed and stretched my toes closer to the fire. “Look, I happened to be in Linford because I made a stop there before coming here for the games. That’s all. I struck up conversation with Tammer because everyone’s been saying that he was guaranteed to win, and I wanted to size him up. Ran into him again early this week - where all of you were, I don’t know - and we grabbed a drink and talked some more, and it turns out that some of our goals align. That’s all.”

  The three of them turned to Tammer, who was still pointedly not looking at me, and gave a small nod.

  “Fine,” the ugly one said. I was almost sure his name was Fug. He turned his wary eyes to me. “What sort of goals?”

  “The rangers,” I said with a shrug. “He wants in, I want in. But it’s going to be more complicated than I thought.”

  Leesa, Terry, and Fug squinted at me, but Tammer looked alarmed. “What do you mean?”

  “Tammer,” Leesa said, raising a hand. “Just a minute.” She leaned forward across the fire so she could see me a bit better. “You say you have information about the rangers. That’s interesting. No one in Alfreyad knows about the rangers, but apparently you do. And if you say you’re Alfreyadan, I’ll eat my lance.”

  “Issa’s an old name from the foothills, Leesa,” I said. It was technically the truth; “Issa” was a word that meant “goddess” from a now-dead language that had its roots in what is now the Stonetall Hills, long before this kingdom was known as Alfreyad or when those hills were owned by any kingdom at all.

  “Liesl.”

  I ignored her. “I’m a bit of an expert at extrapolation,” I said. “Rumors are stories, and stories always have some basis in facts. I spent some of my free time this week asking for stories about the rangers, and no one loves storytime more than excited drunks.” This also wasn’t a lie, though it left out the real source of my information. I spoke to pub patrons this week asking for any sort of story they may have had about the rangers, but that was after I’d found the Linford camp, and it was just to get a baseline on what was common knowledge. “They loved to tell stories about rangers dying for their king and then those kings weeping over their graves, stories about queens giving them handkerchiefs blessed by the One Fire itself. There was at least one tale that a ranger at some point in time had married a princess and became king himself.”

  “Anyway, what I’ve gathered is this - there’s no way we’ll be able to just join the rangers.”

  Terry rolled his eyes at me, Leesa glared harder, and Fug looked at Tammer, who was now fully turned to me and scowling. “That’s what I’ve been telling you all along,” he growled. “You didn’t believe me before?”

  I rummaged through my rucksack and pulled out a long cherry pipe. “I’m not done,” I said, packing a few tobacco leaves. “We’re not going to be able to officially join, but we should be able to request to accompany them on their missions. It’s not exactly what we want on parchment, but it’ll get us what we both want in essence.”

  “And what exactly is it that you want, ” Leesa asked.

  “Well, right now, a light,” I said, holding out my pipe. No one obliged, so I sighed and started searching my rucksack for matches. “And maybe a bit of at least half-assed hospitality.”

  “Fuck you.”

  This was a lot of fun.

  “” I said, mocking, “I want to do something that matters. As I told Tammer. And helping the rangers do what they do is something that matters.”

  “How quaint.”

  “Sure.”

  “Sounds like bull to me.”

  “I don’t lie,” I said, finally finding a match. “Whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you. But I have goals, and I work for them, and I don’t like to jump into things blindly. So I asked around, made some inferences, and I came to share them with your boy here. If you don’t want it, that’s perfectly fine. I wish you the best of luck.” I moved to gather my things and leave.

  “Wait.”

  Tammer scratched at his braided head. He looked at me, as guarded as he was when we first went to the Rooster. “What do you know?”

  “And what do you want for it?” Fug asked.

  “I don’t want anything for it,” I said. “I thought Tammer and I were friends. An important part of friendship is sharing, because sharing is caring.” I struck the match on my boot. “Like when your friend needs a light for her pipe, a good friend would share.”

  “What do you know, Abel?”

  I winked at Leesa and turned to Tammer, taking a puff on my pipe and blew the smoke in the direction of the other three. “I don’t have all of the specifics,” I said, “but the rangers are only loyal to the king, and I mean fiercely loyal. You’d think they thought he was a god for how they revere him.”

  “That’s not so unusual.”

  I smirked. “They see the king as their One Fire,” I said. “You say that’s not unusual?”

  They all looked at each other. Leesa chewed on the inside of her cheek.

  “I only mention it because a loyalty like that isn’t something that you just swear to,” I said, taking another puff on my pipe. As an immortal being, I’m sure smoking felt differently to me than it did for humans. Instead of merely staying in my chest, it filled my whole being and was warm all over. “That kind of loyalty is built over years and years of dedicated service and some sort of reciprocated relationship. You can’t just to be part of that.”

  Tammer cracked his brown knuckles. “So what do you suggest?”

  “Exactly what I said before. Ask to accompany them.”

  “You think that just saying, ‘Oh, pretty please can I tag along,’ will work with them?” Terry asked, crossing his arms. “If what you said is to be believed, then why would they even let Tammer go with them?”

  “Good question, Terry.”

  “It’s Taryn.”

  “If you insist.”

  I liked Terry and Leesa. They clearly cared for Tammer and wanted to help him in any way they could. They were good people. Fug seemed to be the smartest of all of them, but they were good.

  The four of them stared at me in anticipation. I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “You didn’t answer Taryn’s question,” Fug said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Why would they just allow Tammer to join them? Or you, for that matter?”

  “I know why they’d let me join,” I said, taking a deep pull. “I don’t know why they’d let Tammer, though.”

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  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Leesa was laughing. “All that bluster, and you end it by saying they won’t let him go?”

  “When did I say that?”

  “Just now! Gods, you are just ”

  “Aww, thank you,” I said, beaming at Leesa. “But you need to get your ears checked. I said

  don’t know why they’d let him go along. Tammer’s my friend, but we haven’t known each other that long. I know the reasons he gave me for why he wants to go, but do I think that’s enough to convince the king why he should let you follow his most elite, most secretive agents into the great unknown up against an enemy that yearns for nothing less than the destruction of your entire kingdom? Probably not. But the thing is,” I took one more puff on my pipe, and the little bit of leaf that I put in there turned to ash, “I’m not the one he needs to convince.”

  Tammer nodded. “I need to convince the king.”

  I dumped the remains of my pipe onto the ground. “You need to convince the king.”

  “He should go because it’s his right,” Leesa said, eyeing my ashes with disgust. “He was Gentren’s captain, and Gentren died to this thing. He needs to avenge him.”

  “Vengeance has no place in the Kingsguard,” Tammer said, wringing his fingers. “That won’t work.”

  I shrugged. “I can’t help you brainstorm ideas for a speech,” I said. “You’re smart, Tammer. You’ll find your reason. And when you do, you’ll be able to lay it out for the king, and he will listen.” I was counting on it; if he didn’t convince him, then I was definitely handicapped.

  Fug and Terry shifted in their seats, exchanging uncertain looks. Leesa still stared at me, fingers drumming on the edge of her camp chair. Tammer stared into the flames, pensive. “Is that all you know?” he asked at length.

  “That is my theory,” I said. “But it’s a solid one.”

  “And you haven’t forgotten anything?”

  “I never forget anything.”

  “You forgot my name and Taryn’s name not five minutes ago.”

  “Leesa, don’t be silly. One can’t forget something if one doesn’t bother to remember.”

  Her body tensed, but Fug grabbed her arm and kept her in her seat. I grinned.

  Tammer shot me a look, but didn’t respond.

  I stretched then stood. “Well, it’s been lovely,” I said, grabbing my rucksack, “but I think I’ll head to my own tent now.” I squinted skyward; the stars had shifted all the way past midnight. “I need to get some sleep before the games tomorrow. Any idea how they’ll be running everything? With the number of entrants, it looks like these will go on for weeks if they run them one by one.”

  “I don’t know yet, but they should announce it tomorrow,” Tammer said. “Early, at dawn.”

  “Superb,” I said, stretching high on my toes. I always felt more comfortable in the dark. It was like coming home after a long journey, or being wrapped up in a blanket, or sliding into a warm bathtub. Actually, it was like all three at once. “Good luck, Tammer. Good night, Fug, Terry, and Leesa.”

  I giggled at the sound of Leesa’s outrage as I rounded another tent corner and lost sight of them. I did like them, but much in the same way the cat likes the mouse.

  My camp wasn’t too far away, and once I’d dropped off my rucksack, I shifted into a shadow and slithered out from under the worn canvas. It was strange to me, owning material goods. It was tent, not just one I’d borrowed. I bought my tent, my pipe, and my rucksack from a street vendor that looked as though it had been a long time since he’d seen better days. His wares weren’t nearly as flashy as the other merchants, but they were still a decent quality and I wasn’t one for extravagant things anyway. He nearly cried when I gave him my coin (I’m sure he overcharged me, but I didn’t mind), and I thought that maybe I’d just paid for his family’s meals for the next couple months.

  My bow and quiver were special gifts, given to me by my teachers long ago. It was solid when I took my human form, but thanks to their workings and craft, it was as part of me as the night.

  In my shadow form, I slid back to Tammer’s camp, mostly to hear Liesl complain about me. I wasn’t disappointed. If you asked her, I was a slovenly con artist without a single shred of human decency (of course I didn’t have decency), they shouldn’t listen to me, and it was just a shame I wasn’t doing hand-to-hand because now Tammer had no excuse to squash me flat. Whether or not she meant that metaphorically or literally was up for debate. I cackled to myself and moved on.

  Was this technically spying on the competition? Perhaps. Though I would argue that since I wasn’t keeping tabs on who exactly I was listening to, it didn’t count.

  Most of the competitors were already in their tents asleep. Some tossed and turned in anticipation or nerves, some snored soundly. A handful had pulled their cots out from their tents into the night air to watch the stars. It was a warm, lovely night, and the sky was clear in the new moon. Larger groups that had travelled together were still conversing, either laughing at jokes and stories or joining in a song. All of them, all across the kingdom of Alfreyad, no matter their means or social status, all of them were here for the same thing.

  It was things like that that made me see the wonder in humans, the way Fyra did.

  I continued my way through the camp, and soon I picked up some hushed voices. I made my way towards them, and after a moment, I recognized who they were.

  They had been the other soldiers standing guard with Tammer’s section after the Linford incident. There were about half a dozen of them, most of them men except for their captain, a short, sturdy, angry woman. Though she wasn’t actively angry, the rage roiled under her skin. The dynamic between this section compared to the second was stunning; Tammer was not afraid to lead his troops when needed, but he was their friend. This woman, though, held no such personal fondness for her soldiers. I had no idea why they were out here with her. She must have required them to be here.

  “Don’t you think you should sleep, Captain?” the shortest man said, though he still was over a head taller than his superior. “It’s awfully late.” He stifled a yawn.

  “I don’t take orders from you, Shebin,” she said, not shifting her gaze away from the fire.

  “I’m just saying, you want to be rested for tomorrow, ma’am.”

  “I will be ,” she spat, sparing him a quick sneer. “I need to think.”

  The rest of her section hesitated, then a redheaded one cleared his throat. “About your strategy?”

  “Of sorts.”

  The redheaded man waited, but she didn’t offer anything else. He huffed quietly, not too good at hiding his frustration. “Stae,” he said, “we are still your friends. Just because you’ve been promoted, that doesn’t change.”

  “I’m your commanding officer, Bern,” the woman, Stae, said. She continued to stare into the flames.

  “Not right now, you aren’t,” Bern pressed on. “You’re on leave until the games are over, and we’re off duty. We can be your friends now.”

  Stae mulled it over for a few moments, then she met Bern’s eyes. They were the eyes of a man who was irritated with his captain, but missed his friend. He gave her a small encouraging smile.

  “Alright, fine,” she sighed, relenting. “I’m pretty confident I can beat pretty much anyone in swordsmanship. I was watching a few people train this week, and no one really stood out to me.”

  “Even Captain Tammer? Word around town is he’s the favorite.”

  Stae spat to the side. “Especially Tammer,” she said. “Gods, what a stuck-up. He doesn’t go around and it, but you can tell just by looking at him that he thinks he’s so great. Being a Kingsguard was never a struggle because he was so and and wow! what a prodigy with a sword! Everyone knows that the captainship was just handed to him. He hasn’t had to fight for anything.”

  She picked up a poker and stabbed at the coals, a curtain of sparks exploding into the sky. “Did I get the same luxury? No. Everyone always thought I was too small, too weak, too short. Our captain retired just as the second’s did, but did they just pick one of us to take it? Even though I’d been with the guard two years longer than any of you, and three years longer than Farmersson? No - they - did - not.” She accentuated her last words with stabs of the poker.

  “No, we had to interview, and fight, and we were worthy. And not just us in the tenth, no, they asked in the full sections if they wanted the job. I had to claw my way through twenty people, and Tammer just gets it, no questions asked. It’s ”

  She screamed that last bit, and nearby competitors hissed at her to quiet down.

  She took a few deep breaths while Shebin gingerly removed the poker from her grip. “So yeah, Arom, I think I can take Captain Tammer.”

  “Is he who you’ve been thinking about?” Bern asked, taking the poker Shebin handed to him and getting it further away from Stae.

  “Yes. For the grapple competition, specifically.”

  “You’re a lot faster than he is. That’ll be your advantage.”

  “I know that, but being fast without a plan of attack is no better than a fly bothering the frog,” she said. Without the poker, she resorted to cracking her knuckles. “I’m thinking about where to land my punches to bring him down.”

  “Well, just keep in mind that actively trying to break bones is against the rules,” Bern said.

  “But if you make it look like an accident, well, whoops,” Arom, a pale, fish-like man said.

  “Anyone know if he has any old injuries? Bum knee, creaky hip?”

  “I don’t think so. Man’s built like a brick wall. With a name like Farmersson, he better be.”

  “Well, I mean,” said the final man, one who hadn’t spoken yet. He had dark, black hair that looked like it had been dragged through butter. He chuckled to himself. “He is a . He’s got at least one weakness.”

  “Groin shots are illegal, Swollop,” Bern said, rolling his eyes.

  “Again, if you make it look like an accident,” Swollop said, shrugging, “whoops.”

  “I don’t need to stoop so low,” Stae said. “If I’m going to do that, it’s out of spite, not out of necessity.”

  “Alright then,” Swollop said, shrugging. “So what do you intend to do?”

  “Even if he’s the picture of health, knees are weak on anyone,” Stae said, slowly miming a jab as she played a scenario in her mind. “Duck low, punch on the side, he goes down.”

  “Not an automatic victory, though,” Bern interjected. “His arms are still free, and a knee can be wrapped and braced.”

  “It brings him down, which puts him at my height,” she said, starting another set. “Close enough anyway. He swings,” she threw a wide punch, “I duck under, engage his shoulder,” she brought her arm around, as if locking around Tammer’s arm, “go for the throw,” she twisted her hips where she sat, “pop.”

  “Arm’s out of the socket.”

  “Arm’s out of the socket,” she said, nodding.

  “Again, not an ending blow.”

  “It’d cripple him for the swordsmanship competition, if it takes place after,” Stae said. “And I’d gain a lot of points.”

  “But do you think it’s enough to win?”

  She worked her jaw as she thought. “Maybe I shove him to the ground, just for good measure.”

  Her section laughed, and she refocused on them. Her mouth twitched in what must have been an attempt at a smile.

  I withdrew in the direction of my tent. Tammer was smarter than she gave him credit for, but all the same, what a scary person. I hoped Tammer wouldn’t have to face her on the bracket.

  I coiled in my tent, allowing my form to relax into a viscous mass; anyone looking into my tent now would only see a pitch void. There was little more I could gain at this time of night, but the peace and quiet settled my thoughts. I never needed to sleep as the humans did, but instead I entered a state of meditation that helped me attune with my domain - the vastness of space, the crisp night, the soft caress of shadows.

  There was no moon, but the stars peeked through my black dome, winking and quivering with the joy of being afire. I watched them for a time, and a little part of me felt like I was with my sister again.

  The stars drifted in their orbits, and in the distance - though far closer than they should have been - I heard the cold cry of wolves.