Hunter's Bounty (Veller) (13 page)

“Well, as a matter of fact I wasn’t in Aru.” Kile said as she set Vesper down on the table and took a seat on the armchair by the fireplace. It was nice to sit on something soft for a change.

“This is no joking matter Kile. Hunter’s have come here looking for you.”

“Well they should… I mean I was missing for… a few days.”
She replied, although she wasn’t sure how many days she was actually missing. She tried to figure it out, but it got a little confusing when she was down in the dungeon. Without any windows it was difficult to tell.

“I don’t think they
were looking for you to look for you, I think they were looking for you to arrest you.”

“Arrest me? Arrest me for what?”

“I’m not sure. I think it was for killing a man in Littenbeck.”

“
Littenbeck, I haven’t even been to Littenbeck.”

“All I know is a pair of Hunters came by here three days ago looking for you and they weren’t exactly the kind of people that I would want to be found by. I think they’re watching the house, as well as your room in town. You can’t go back there.”

“I have to go back there. I have to change out of these… clothes. I smell like a dead valrik.”

“Yeah
… you do at that.” Alisa commented as she moved to the window. She peeked out through the side of the curtain. “You can take a bath upstairs and I’ll lend you some of my clothes.”

“No offense Alisa but, we don’t exactly have the same taste in clothing and we’re not exactly the same size.”

“I still have some of my old clothes from when I was younger.” She said as she motioned Kile to the stairs. “My bath is already set up in my room.”

She
wasn’t going to turn down a free bath, no matter how strange her friend was acting. As she got out of the chair, Vesper jumped up on her arm and perched himself back on her shoulder. It would appear that the yarrow wasn’t going to let her out of his sight any time soon. She headed upstairs to Alisa’s bedroom where, sure enough, a bath was already laid out. The water was a bit tepid, which meant Alisa probably already took her bath. Kile set Vesper down on the chair, peeled off the uhyre rags and set them aside, as far away from the water as she could. If it was possible she would have burned them right then and there. Removing the bandages from her feet she slowly stepped into the water and sank down into the tub. It was amazing how a bath could rejuvenate a person.

She was just starting to lather up when Alisa came through the door with a pile of clothing in her arms
, dropping them on the bed, moved to the window, pulling the curtains closed.

“Are we being a little over reactive?” Kile asked.

“Where were you… seriously?”

“Let’s just say I met an old acquaintance and I couldn’t get away.”

She watched Alisa, and could tell that her friend was suddenly filled with doubts and a touch of suspicion.

“Yes, but where were you?” Alisa asked.

“What does it matter where I was, I’m back.” She replied.

“Were you in Littenbeck?”

“I told you, I haven’t been to Littenbeck in nearly four years. Look, if I knew I was going to get interrogated, I would have gone back to my room first.”

Of course that threat wasn’t even possible since Alisa kept
her room keys while she was out on assignments so she wouldn’t have been able to get into her room, but it did make Alisa pause, although it didn’t remove her suspicion.

“Who is this guy in Littenbeck?” Kile asked.

“I don’t know.” Alisa replied as she sat down on the edge of the bed. “Look… when your horse came back without you I waited a day before I sent word to the Guild House. That evening Steele arrived to look Grim over, when he left I figured he was going to go look for you. He came back without you and started asking me questions about a Mr. David Draw, and what we talked about before you left. He told me it was nothing important, but I could tell he was worried about something. About three days ago he came back here again, only this time he’s accompanied by two men dressed in green. I figured they were Hunters. One of them starts asking me questions about you. When was the last time you were in Littenbeck? Did you usually go traveling alone? Did you know some mystic by the name of Emara? I told them that I didn’t really know all that much about you and that you only stabled your horse here. I don’t think they bought it, and I wouldn’t be surprised it they’re watching the house right now.”

“What did they say about Emara?” Kile asked.

“Well, they didn’t really say anything about her, only asked if you knew about her or mentioned her name. I found out later that she had been abducted, and that some man had been assassinated in Littenbeck.”

“Oh come on, you don’t really think they think that I had something to do with it? It’s probably just routine questioning.” Kile said. Although why
would they question her about it in the first place?

Alisa got up from the bed and crossed the room to the dresser where she pulled out a rolled
up parchment.

“It gets worse.” She said as she handed it to Kile. “These were posted at the Bird and Bay two days ago.”

She didn’t have to unroll it to know what it was. She could tell by the green edging that it was an open bounty. She had seen enough of those posted on the Guild House walls, but she had to see whose face was on it. As she unrolled it, there was a crude image of her staring back at her. It wasn’t a very flattering image and kind of depicted her as some crazed young woman with wild hair. The information that they had was rather vague. Except for her general description they didn’t know anything about her, including her edge. Under the details it only stated that she was wanted for crimes against the Guild, crimes against the Crown, crimes against the community and Crimes against the Tower. That pretty much covered just about anybody that she could have had crimes against. What startled her most was that the price on her head was over double that of Eric Rimes, and he stole from the Guild and burned down half the Academy to get away, not to mention the fact that it took the council nearly six months before they posted an open bounty on him. How had this gotten so far out of control so fast?

“Where were you Kile?” Alisa asked.

“You don’t really think I had anything to do with this?”

“Why would they post a bounty on you so fast, unless they had a reason?”

“Because they want to get rid of me, they wanted to get rid of me from day one. They want to get rid of anyone that stands in the way of changes, and they don’t even realize they’re doing exactly what he wants them to do.”

“Who’s doing this?”

“The sons of Terrabin and some… some madman by the name of Ravenshadow.” She said as she tossed the bounty to the floor. Somehow the bath was less relaxing than it had been a few moments ago. She looked over at Alisa and could still see the doubt in her eyes.

“This.” Kile shouted as she held out her arms, exposing her wrist for Alisa to see. She still had the bruises and cuts not to mention a few burn marks. “This is where I was okay. Shackled to a damn wall for
several days where my only friend was a rat. Not exactly my proudest moment so you can forgive me if I don’t want to talk about it.”

Alisa looked scared as she stared at Kile’s wrists.

“I’m…. I’m Sorry.” She said as she hastily turned to the door. “You’re probably hungry… I’ll… I’ll go find you something to eat.”

She quickly closed the door behind her, leaving Kile alone in the room once again.

-Kile mad?-

Vesper asked as he sat on the edge of the tub.

“No… yes… I don’t know.” She replied.

-Alisa sad. She worried.-

“I know.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have shouted. It’s just… I was so stupid.”

-Kile not stupid.-

“Yes I was. I was stupid to get caught. It was so obvious, I wasn’t paying attention, I wasn’t using my edge the way I should have been. I got careless, and that’s something I can’t afford to do. I survived this time. Who’s to say what will happen the next time… and worst of all, I lost you.”

-Vesper not lost… Vesper here.-

“Yeah, I know.” She smiled. “You’re here now but I didn’t know what happed to you. I was worried about you.”

-Alisa take care of me. Alisa nice.-

“Yes, yes she is.”

-Alisa take care of me, Alisa worry about you.-

“Yeah, okay, rub it in a little more, it’s not like I feel bad enough.” She said as she pulled herself out of the tub and began to dry off.

She sorted through the clothes Alisa had dropped on the bed, even when the woman was younger, she was still bigger th
an Kile, and had a rather bold fashion sense. The best she could find, or at least what she was willing to wear, was a pale green blouse with a little too much lace, a darker green vest with matching scarf and a pair of well warn leather breeches. Alisa also provided her with a pair of knee high leather riding boots, which Kile was reluctant to put on at the moment since her feet were still sore.

“Come on Vesper
. Let’s go see what Alisa found in the kitchen.” She said as she held out her hand for the yarrow to climb on. He ran up her arm and sat on her shoulder.

-Alisa worry about you.-

“Yes Vesper. I will apologize.”

She
took the stairs down to the kitchen where Alisa had set some food on the table. There was an assortment of fruits, breads and vegetable as well as an apple pie, which really didn’t surprise her. She was grateful that Alisa remembered she was a vegetarian. Of course Kile never knew what a vegetarian was until Rick had told her last year, she had just stopped eating meat when she learned that she could communicate with animals. It was just too hard for her to eat something that she could have spoken with.

“Well, you look more presentable.” Alisa said upon seeing her enter the kitchen.

“I guess it’s better than the rags.” Kile replied as she pulled at the lace on the sleeve of the blouse. “Did you always dress like this?”

“Always.”

“I feel sorry for you.”

“Hey, I like dressing like this.”

“No one dresses like this if they didn’t have to.”

“I’ll have you know, that was one of my favorite blouses.”

Kile held up her hands which were concealed by the soft green sleeves of the blouse. “Man you had some long arms.” She said as she shook them to get her hands free.

“Please, just because
you're short doesn’t mean everyone is.” Alisa replied. “Now sit down and eat, or you won’t get any pie.”

“Yes mother.” Kile replied, taking a seat at the opposite side of the table.

“Look… Kile… I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“No, you had every right to. With what you just told me I was starting to doubt myself. I shouldn’t have snapped at you the way I did.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. Originally I had planned to speak with Kane, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Why not?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure who I can trust.”

“You can trust me, and you can stay here as long as you need.”

“Thanks Alisa, you don’t know how much that means to me.”

-And me.-

“Oh yeah, and Vesper.”
She added.

“Well, Vesper is welcome anytime.”

“I should probably talk to Grim first.” Kile said as she took a bite of the bread, and then slowly looked up at Alisa who was staring at her. “I mean… I should probably… check… on Grim first.”

“Well, Grim’s fine, although he does seem a bit depressed.” Alisa replied. “So, who is this Emara girl?”

“Emara? She’s a mystic from the Tower. She was the one who helped me escape. She should be at the tower by now. That should at least clear some of this up.”

“Well, what about the rest of it
? What about this man in Littenbeck?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anybody in Littenbeck, well, besides Daniel.”

“And who’s Daniel?”

“Just somebody I went to the Academy with. Last I know he was working at the hospital in Littenbeck.”

“Well, if he worked at the hospital, he should know who this guy is.” Alisa replied “I mean, if he died and all, maybe he was taken to the hospital first.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“What’s not a bad idea?”

“Going to Littenbeck.” Kile replied. “If I go, maybe I can find out who this guy was and why they think I killed him. I can also talk to Emara
. She’ll be able to tell them exactly where I was when all this happened.”

“Are you crazy? You can’t go to Littenbeck. Isn’t that where the Hunter’s Guild is located?”

“Yeah, well, there is that.” Kile replied. “But it just seems like the best place to start.”

“Oh sure, every hunter in the country is looking for you and you’re going to walk in the front door and ask for directions.”

“Okay, I get your point. Maybe there’s another way around it, but I can’t really think about it right now I’m just too tired.”

“You can use the spare room
. It’s the door at the end of the hall.”

Kile excused herself from the table without her pie. Even though she was hungry she was too tired to eat.
She hoped things would look better in the morning.

***~~~***

8

A small paw tapping on her nose finally woke her up. It was not the best way to be woken up in the morning, but it was far better than what she had gotten used to in the dungeon. In fact she thought she was still in the cell until she was able to move her arms to remove the yarrow from her chest.

“This better be good Vesper.” She grumbled.

-Alisa in trouble… Hunters.-

“Hunters? Here?”

Kile threw off her sheets and quickly slipped from the bed. How did they know she was here? How did they find her so fast? Well, they were Hunters after all, and that was what Hunters do.

She should have had more time, a day or two at the most before they came back to the farm searching for her, or at least that was what she thought as she made her way down the hall to Alisa bedroom. The room was empty, but she hadn’t expected to find her friend still in bed. She moved to the window and pulled back the curtain enough for her to see the front yard below. Sure enough Alisa was standing in front of the farm house, speaking with two men.

One of the men she recognized instantly as Certified level three Hunter James Ril’em Steele who was posted to the same Guild house she was. As for the Hunter standing next to him, she had never seen the man before but she didn’t like the way he smelled. He wore a long dark cloak, the hood covering his head, making it nearly impossible to actually see what he looked like from the upstairs window. He was standing in front of Alisa, a step ahead of Steele which meant that this was the Hunter in charge of the investigation, Steele was only there as a courtesy, to represent the Guild House of the town of Coopervill.

Alisa had said that Steele brought two Hunters to visit the last time, and it didn’t take
her long to find the second man. He was standing in the shadows of the stables, concealed in a long dark green cloak, similar to the one his partner wore, and holding what was unmistakably a crossbow, cocked and loaded. This was the standard two man apprehension formation she had learned about it in Master Adams tactics and logistics class back at the academy, but she never thought it would be aimed at her. If she managed to overpower the first Hunter at the door, an unlikely scenario, the second hunter was well within his rights to shoot her. They had not come to ask questions this time, they had come to arrest someone, and she was sure she knew who that someone was.

She started to move away from the window when something else caught her eye, something she could easily identify, it was one of her Lann. The same Lann that Guild Master Lathery gave her the year she graduated from the academy and it was being held by Steele. She had assumed that they had been taken from her by the
uhyre when she was captured, but if that was the case, how did the Hunters have it in their possession. There was only one way to find out, and that was to ask them.

Returning
to her room she quickly got dressed, putting the light green frilly blouse on the she had chosen last night as well as the darker green vest and matching scarf. The boots were about a size too big for her, but at least her feet weren’t as sore as they were last night. Vesper climbed onto her shoulders as she headed for the stairs. She had thought about setting the yarrow down, but she had a feeling that things were going to get bad fast and she might not have a chance to come back for him.

She entered the kitchen and grabbed the only weapon she could find, somebody’s walking stick that was leaning up against the door. It wasn’t very lethal, but she had no intention of killing anyone, especially not another hunter. She opened the kitchen door and stepped out
onto the porch, standing in the shadow of the awning.

“That is not how we do things Kevin.”

That was Steele’s voice, she knew that voice anywhere. He tried to hit on her the first time he saw her in the Guild House.

“She is harboring a criminal.”
The Hunter, now known as Kevin, replied.

“We don’t know that.”

“I know that, and if she does not step aside, I will have no other choice but to take action.” 

“Then you better take action because I have no intention of moving, I am not letting some over opinionated popinjay set one foot in my house.” Alisa shouted.

“I don’t think you realize who you are addressing ma’am.”

“I know exactly who I’m addressing
. Some egotistical blowhard who, for some reason thinks that just because he has a piece of paper signed by some man I don’t give a damn about can circumvent my rights. I am a citizen of the province of Denal, and of the Kingdom of Aru, and unless that little piece of paper that you’re so fond of waving around has either his Lordship’s name on it or that of the King, I don’t acknowledge it or you, so you can please leave.”

“Not without the fugitive.”  The Hunter shouted as he took a step forward.

It was probably more for intimidation purposes rather than an actually confrontational act. Most people were usually unsettled by the appearance of a Hunter on their doorstep, but Alisa wasn’t backing down as she stood her ground, her arms folded across her chest.

“It would appear that you leave me with no
other choice.” The Hunter said calmly as his hand casually dropped to his sword. This was another intimidation tactic, even the way he kept his voice level, never raising it, never showing anger. This Hunter was doing everything by the book, word for word.

“I can’t let you do that.” Steele said as he took a step forward, placing himself between the Hunter and Alisa.

“What do you think you’re doing Steele?”

“I am a Hunter assigned to the Guild House of Coopervill and therefore the citizens of this town are under my protection.”

“You better think very carefully about what you do next.”

“I have.” Steele replied, and his hands fell to the pummel of his own sword.

The man with the crossbow stepped from the shadows of the barn.

“I can have you shot.” Kevin said in that same calm voice.

“You could. I am sure there are members of the council who could spin it in their favor, but that doesn’t mean what you’re doing is right.”

“You know as well as I that the apprehension of Kile Veller is our top priority, and we will do anything we have to, to bring her in. We will not have a traitor in our ranks.”

“Does this ‘we’ you refer to include the Hunter’s Guild, or just the Son’s of Terrabin?” Kile called out from the front door of the farmhouse as she slowly descended the steps, concealing the walking stick behind her back. She could see the situation was getting ugly and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to get hurt because of her.

The cloaked Hunter turned toward her, and although she couldn’t see his eyes from beneath his hood, she could see his lips as they curled into a smile. Of course he would be smiling, he had just caught the most wanted criminal in all of Aru, or at least he thought he had.

“So, I’m impressed, you decided to show yourself after all.”

“I would have been
down sooner, but you arrived so early, I wasn’t dressed. Don’t you know that you have to give a girl time get ready before you come to pick her up?”  She said as she walked slowly across the grounds, adjusting her grip on the walking stick. She was only going to get one chance at this.