20. Ugly Mug, Ugly Heart

“This is our only good lead,” Excelerate said as he stepped into the guard post. “If we can find out why Evangel wanted this book, we might uncover his next move.”

Kiren had a bad feeling in his stomach, like a cat trying to claw its way out of there.

Without warning, his two worlds had collided.

I was a fool for thinking I could keep them apart.

Excelerate explained his business to Captain Renald. After a snappy salute, the guardsman led him to the cell they were looking for.

Kiren’s heart dropped when he saw Mug, tied to a chair in the middle of his cell. Blood dribbled down his chin and streamed from a cut above his eye. His scarred lip twitched uncontrollably, and he kept his gaze firmly trained on the ground.

A woman circled him, tall and slender. She clipped him over his shoulder with the butt of a tall, silvery spear, drawing an audible crack of bone and muffled groans.

Kiren struggled not to step in.

I’d be no good to Mug if I end up revealing myself, he told himself. He took a deep breath and managed to ward off some of the anger. He had to keep a cool head, or this could go very badly.

The woman turned around. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she laid eyes on the group. She wiped some blood off her spear with a pure white cloth and dropped it. The spear floated in the air. It flipped around and replaced itself in a loop on her back.

She looked to be in her late fifties, with light grey hair pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes were surrounded by fine wrinkles, deepened by her frown. She wore an ankle-length, white dress, simple but cut from fine cloth. She wore a pair of pearls as earrings and shoes with high heels that made her stand almost a hand taller, about the same height as Excelerate.

“Ah,” the woman said after a few seconds of quiet consideration. “Excelerate. I’m happy to see the Guild is not taking this seriously at all, sending a Router.” She shook her head, pursing pale lips.

“I didn’t know you were still in the Guild, Hulda,” Excelerate said. He had the guard captain open the cell and stepped inside. “I see you’re breaking in our witness thoroughly enough.”

Kiren glanced over at Mug. The fence looked up briefly, and his eyes met Kiren’s. He said nothing and looked back down.

“He won’t talk,” Hulda said.

“I don’t think he’ll tell you anything if you knock his brain loose.”

“The book was a fake.”

“Clearly. So?”

“So? We need to find the real one!”

“Why?”

Hulda flashed a pithy smile. “I see. You’re being intentionally juvenile.”

Excelerate tugged at his mask, badly hiding a grin. “Juvenile? Me? Never.”

“I do not have time for your nonsense. I need to find the book. If you do not plan on assisting, please leave me to this.” She turned back to Mug and the fence shrank further into the chair.

“You seem awfully concerned about our business all of a sudden,” Excelerate said. “Couldn’t have something to do with that book belonging to your family, could it?”

“I heard about Evangel,” Hulda said. “An organized Beast infestation inside the walls. It’s unacceptable. I am here to ensure the Guild can stop its spread. I don’t wish to waste any more time on this prisoner than necessary.”

She drew her spear.

Mug flinched.

“Children, meet Hulda Ludenhaas,” Excelerate said, turning to face Kiren and Lace. “An absolute treat to work with—if you count rusty nails and broken glass as a treat.”

“Meaning that I actually get things done,” Hulda said. “Jorge Router seems to take personal offense at such notions.”

Router. One of the five noble houses.

The Guild is turning out to have more and more noble blood. How great.

He couldn’t help a twist of his lip as he regarded his master.

“Bloodhound made me the lead on this job,” Excelerate said. “If you want to stay on, you’ll do things my way. Otherwise, take a walk.”

Hulda snorted, wringing her prim hands. “Bloodhound made you lead?”

“I don’t see why you’re surprised. There are only two A Ranks left in the Lodge. Not counting you, that is.”

She sighed. “Fine. What petty hoops will you make me jump through?”

“None, actually. I want to catch Evangel. The book is a decent lead. Since you seem so invested, I want you to look into it.”

“But…?”

“You’re not going alone. I want assurances that you’ll play it straight with me. One of my apprentices will accompany you on whatever investigations you conduct for this case.”

“What?” Kiren and Lace said in unison.

“Excuse me?” Hulda followed up.

“Unless you’ve all grown hard of hearing, I see no need to repeat myself.” Excelerate spread his arms. “I can be reasonable, you know. I’ll let you pick whichever one you want. Word of warning, though, the black-haired one bites.”

“You’re just going to pass us off on this bitch?” Kiren asked. “You’re really stepping up to this whole ‘responsibility’ thing.”

Excelerate ignored him.

Hulda let out a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers. “I’ll take the girl,” she said. “At least she doesn’t have the manners of a rabid dog.”

Lace looked at the ground in grim silence.

“Excellent! No reason for me to stand around here, then. I’ll go dig up some other leads. No torture while I’m gone, hear me? I’ll have Captain Renald peek in on you.”

He turned to Lace. “Report to me at the end of the day. Everything you’ve seen.”

“Yes, master,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“Oh, and Lace? Don’t mess up like you did during the raid. Letting them down you like that almost got yourself and others killed. I won’t be there to keep an eye on you with this.”

Excelerate didn’t seem to notice Lace’s obvious dismay. Either that, or he didn’t care. He turned and walked out of the cell, snapping his fingers for Kiren to follow.

Reluctantly, he did as he was told, sparing a glance back at Mug.

The old fence kept his face neutral, but he had a mischievous spark in his eye.

He hadn’t been broken just yet.

*****

Excelerate’s admonition smarted. Lace clenched her teeth tightly, balling her fists as she tried to remain composed.

He’s a Router, too. A noble. Why am I not surprised he didn’t tell us that?

The Routers were the noble family tasked by the Queen to maintain most of the empire’s roadways, along with the so-called Runner Network, which let news and vital information travel across the empire far faster than would otherwise be possible, all due to the Router family Power.

Excelerate had never made any attempt to conceal the fact that she and Kiren were nothing more than pawns to him, but she had hoped…

Hoped what? That he’d be your wise, kindly teacher? Your friend? Your new father, even?

Pathetic.

The white-clad Hero slowly paced in front of the prisoner, letting her spear trail across his chest, hard enough to leave white lines along his collarbone.

“Tell me everything you know, wretch, or things will get markedly worse for you,” Hulda said.

The ugly man grinned through bloodied teeth. “I heard what your superior said. You’re not allowed to torture me. Do your worst, Hero. I’ll take my chances.”

Hulda let the silence drag on. Her movements were austere and controlled, but the twitch in her hand suggested that she was losing her temper.

“I can still set you up with a nice long stay at Wailing Hill,” she said. “They don’t spare the whip in there. Would you like to spend the rest of your life in the cold? In the dark? No one for comfort? I can have that arranged if you don’t cooperate.”

The man hacked up bloody phlegm and spat on the floor, narrowly missing Hulda’s pristine shoes.

How she kept them that way walking through the city streets was anyone’s guess.

“Like I said. I’ll take my chances,” he said.

Hulda took a second to compose herself. She drew in a deep breath and let it back out.

“I see. You would have your friend share the same fate, then?”

“What friend?”

“One of your compatriots survived the skirmish. He is being treated inside the Lodge’s House of Healing. Taking up precious resources. If you choose not to be forthcoming with me, that privilege may cease. He will die without our care.”

The man shrugged. “His problem, not mine. All the guys knew the risks before signing up.”

He leaned back in the chair, wood creaking. All traces of fear were gone from his scarred face. “Unless you’re planning to kill me, please leave. You’re messing up my view. I was having a great time watching the fungus grow.”

Hulda placed the tip of her spear against the man’s stubbly throat.

“I may just heed that first suggestion, seeing how exceedingly unhelpful you are.”

“Master,” Lace said, taking a step forward. “Don’t. Please. Or I will have to inform Excelerate.”

Not like he would really care. He probably only told her to stop to spite her.

She doesn’t need to know that, though.

Hulda hesitated.

“Ahem,” came a voice from behind.

Both Lace and Hulda turned around. Captain Renald was standing in the corridor, a hand on the pommel of his sword.

“I’ve got orders. Not to mention human decency. I’ll not have you nick another hair on his head.”

Hulda hissed and let her spear replace itself on her back.

“We’re done here,” she said.

With that, she walked out of the room.

Lace glanced back at the Villain.

He gave her a grateful nod.

It made her stomach churn. No one deserved to die like an animal, but that didn’t make him any less of a remorseless criminal. He had been dealing with a Beast.

She followed Hulda out of the jail.

“Was there really a survivor?” she asked.

“Of course not,” Hulda snapped. “He called my bluff.”

“Oh. Then… what’s the next move?”

“The Slog is deserving of a visit. We’ll find someone who knows this man. Someone who’ll squeal.”

*****

“Who the hell was that?” Kiren asked as they walked back into the Lodge’s courtyard.

“One of the most powerful people in Goldbrand,” Excelerate muttered. “Fighting prowess, political power, money. She’s got it all. And she’s bad news.”

“Why? Finally found someone more reckless with human life than yourself?”

“Hulda Ludenhaas is a Hero, but only technically speaking. She hasn’t done any actual Hero work in years.”

“Why’s she allowed in the Guild, then?”

Excelerate shrugged. “She’s an A Rank. They’re hard to come by, and we all know it. Any Guild chapter would bend themselves over backward for an extra A Rank, even if there’s only a fraction of a chance that they actually show up on the scene.”

“Ah. I see. You’re not the only cunt at the top, then.”

“Indeed. Hulda has a family with the throughput of a small kingdom to run, though, as the unofficial matriarch of the Ludenhaas family. If she’s here doing grunt work like the rest of us mortals…” He shook his head. “There’s something more at play. That book is the key to something. I just don’t know what.”

“Okay, so what do we do about it? Find the book before her? See what’s going on with it?”

Kiren was eager to let this job slip by. The sooner they could find the book, the sooner everyone in the Slog would be out of harm’s way.

He couldn’t get the sight of Mug’s bloody face out of his mind.

“We’re doing nothing,” Excelerate said with a yawn. “We’ll let Hulda run herself ragged finding clues. Lace will report back, and we act on whatever she finds. We’ll swipe the book right from under her nose.”

“Okay… So in the meantime?”

Excelerate walked towards the Guild Hall.

“I’m going to take a nap. You should, too. You still haven’t fully recovered from that fight.”

Kiren gaped as Excelerate walked away.

Goddamn Heroes.