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fight. A merchant guard or a mercenary? It was rare
to have mercenaries in Neberan. Merchant guards were more common. There wasn’t
much unusual about the man’s clothes but the sword slung on his back was out of
place. Swords were rare and those that had them wore their swords at their
sides.
    Jorad studied the weapon for as long as he dared. It
looked familiar, even with the hilt wrapped in red cloth. He tried to make the
connection but it didn’t come. He was too focused on trying to make Soret see
reason.
    The man regarded him with cold eyes. A mercenary then.
    “You going to answer my question?” Soret asked. “Or
are you going to continue holding back?”
    “Yeah,” Jorad said. “Sorry, that man just looks
familiar.”
    “He's just some merchant guard. What will you do after
Zecarani?”
     “I'm not sure.” A mercenary in town was rare but not
alarming and the man was alone. How much harm could he cause?
    Soret growled. “Why won’t you tell me?”
    Jorad remembered now, it shouldn’t have taken him so
long to make the connection. Adar’s Radim sword was similar to the one the
mercenary wore. It had been a quick look, it wasn’t wise to show too much
interest in an armed man, but the longer Jorad thought the more certain he
became. The hilt of the man’s sword had been wrapped on purpose to cover the
insignia of his Radim army.
    Adar rarely carried his Radim sword because it was too
distinctive. Jorad walked faster. What was a Radim doing here and why was he
trying to pass himself off as a mercenary? Was he searching for them?
    Jorad felt a chill run through his body.
    The Radim had come for Adar. The last thing they
needed now was to have the Radim tracking them while they were trying to find a
way to fight the Hunwei.
    “Jorad, why are you speeding up?” Soret demanded. They
were almost to her father’s shop and Jorad didn’t have any more time to
convince her. Adar was in danger.
    “I need to find Adar. I’ll tell you everything later.”
    The look on her face showed she didn’t believe him,
but she’d have to wait. Jorad burst into a run once he turned the corner. He
had only seen one Radim soldier, but he was positive that there would be more.
Adar had been one of the best swordsmen in Rarbon and they'd know that it would
take a group to bring him in. Jorad couldn't let that happen.
    Several minutes later Jorad charged into the common room
of the boarding house, his sides heaving as he gasped for breath. Adar wasn’t
there and their room upstairs was empty as well. Jorad scribbled a note and set
it on Adar’s bed. Downstairs he found Mac, the stable boy, laughing with Harri
the cook.
    “Have either of you seen Adar?” Jorad asked, still out
of breath. He was wheezing.
    “Not since he left for old man Koope’s place earlier,”
Mac said. He smelled of manure and had a loose piece of straw in his hair.
Harri's large apron covered her girth and was smeared with flour and grease.
There were several burn marks as well. In Jorad's experience it was rare for a
cook to be slim. “He said something about getting money he was owed. What’s
wrong? You’re covered with sweat! What’s got you so worked up?” Mac edged away
from Harri. They’d been standing to close for just casual conversation. Was
something going on between them? Jorad pushed the thought away. He didn't care.
    He wiped the sweat from his face. He would have
removed his coat if he didn't need it to cover the daggers he kept hidden.
“What’s he doing at the Koope place?”
    “Just told ya,” Mac said.
    Jorad nodded. Mac had just told him, and he took
several breaths and ended up in a fit of coughing.
    “Look,” Harri said, “you need to have a talk with
Adar. He tried to convince me that the Hunwei are planning an attack on
Neberan. He even mentioned he was going to talk to the mayor about it. Has he
lost it? I mean seriously, Hunwei?”
    With a final cough, Jorad was able to breathe a bit
more normally and moved to