THE FORTUNIST

39. Rayton

“Every cryfix— except the royal cryfixes, the ninth cryfix and the coveted Salem cryfix— is halved. One part is kept with the Albenian Bureau and the other with its major house.”

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After the assassin had succeeded in snatching the Winter Solstice while Anarella was distracted, the duo had realised that they were lost.

Rayton knows Anarella blames him for recklessly running off. He had had to beg the fuming mute woman for her trust. With his super hearing, he could find them a way back to civilization, but he wasn't telling her that. He had a lot of questions for her, questions the assassin had refused to answer. But one big question looms above all else in his mind and it isn't for her, it is for himself.

Cryfix magic does not work in the Tai. He hadn't even realised that his enhanced hearing was still intact until the smug assassin had pointed it out to him.

"We're here," they break through the last of the foliages and sneak out of sight of officers from the City's Watch who guard the Tai. Soon they are in the heart of Cailis' busy market. There is a look in Anarella's eyes as if she can hardly believe it, as if she was certain a few moments ago that they would surely perish in the Tai, their death unavenged. She is also puzzled obviously. She wants to ask him how he was able to track a way out, something even her as a bounty hunter had despaired in doing. "Good fortunes," he says lightly.

"I need to eat," she shoots pass him.

Rayton smiles in relief. They are the first words she has said in three days. He changes his uniform for commoner clothes knowing soldiers would be searching for him with the conception of him being a deserter. They refresh themselves in a motel and when it is time for food, Anarella eats with frenzied relish. In the forest, they had both survived on her ration of beef jerky, chips and a jug of water.

The Dropp Seal wasn't the only thing Anarella took from him that day, conniving thief that she is. All his money is now hers. Thankfully, he had buried most of his stash and everything Anarella had found on him was just worth a few thousand gold and silver Albs— enough for her to think him well to do, and nothing more.

"How do you know he's going for Xri's Blade next?" Rayton asks while Anarella is settling their bill.

"Not here," she warns through her teeth, "Let's go." They burst out into the busy streets. "Eyes front. That motherfucker has three days on us so I'm going to need you to be fast or stay back…"

"I'm coming with you."

"I was hoping you would say that. He's already probably stolen the cryfix by now if we're unlucky but if we're lucky, we are stealing it without thinking."

"That's a crime," Rayton cannot help but say.

"Do you have the stomach for this or not?" She is irritated he can tell but he can also tell that she knows what his answer would be. He had rushed off without her back in the Tai to pursue the assassin after all. He is committed. "Since you are a soldier, I hope I don't have to school you about how the cryfixes work."

He is a prince. He knows how the cryfixes work! He however plays along with Anarella's perception of him. "For fear of exploitation, most of the cryfixes were halved. One part in the Bureau the other part in its major house territory."

"Good," Anarella sounds impressed, "Xri's Blade takes the form of a dagger. The hilt is with the Bureau but the blade's somewhere in Xri. Would you know the blade if you see it?"

Rayton remembers every intimate detail of Xri's Blade. From its jacque stone carved hilt to its jewel spotted blade.

"There's a problem though, I'm not sure where…"