THE FORTUNIST

48. Rayton

“It is illegal to use cryfix magic without having an Albenarum certificate.”

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By now, Anarella would be a fugitive but in the territory of Dropp, nobody seems to give a fuck. It is just as Rayton had hoped, the houses would prefer to settle the cryfixes chaos as quietly as possible.

Dropp is a military stronghold, congested by soldiers in the queen's army who carry about varieties of soldier issued weapons. None of them ever abused their powers, still it is rightful to fear them. Rayton had been worried. He thought they would be outnumbered. Anarella only wanted food. They ended up in a noisy tavern and Anarella had told him through a full mouth that she came her all the time.

"Do you always eat this much?" Rayton didn't mind her appetite, just the fact that when the time to fight came, she might throw up.

"I can sneak out without paying. Why waste that kind of opportunity? Besides I like to think I made this place what it is. The new Chivaryz."

Rayton plays around with his food. "I never imagined Chivaryz would sell his restaurant, to anybody, much less you."

"He didn't know me. I don't think he even remembered me. But you're right, Chivaryz would not have sold his precious moneymaker. Chivaryz didn't really treat Thwein well. He loved his son but if he ever found the boy imperfect, he took it out on Thwein. Does that make you feel bad?"

"A little. She's no longer in Albeny, is she?"

Anarella shakes her head. "Jedan, she wrote me a snazzy letter of recommendation. It was how I was able to get the place on a mortgage contract after it went bankrupt."

"What happened to Chivaryz, then?"

"He mixed in with the wrong sort. Gambling and armed robbery. The moment he died, his family was no longer safe. It made me think of you, you know. Watching him die. I liked to think you'd gloat."

Rayton smiles wryly. After Chivaryz had caught him and accused him of raping Thwein, he hated him even after Anarella had come to break him out of prison. He hated Cailis. As revenge, he put in a bad word for Cailis residents through one of his tutors in Albenarum. And for the whole year, students from Cailis were scorched by the fire of academic bad luck. They'd still probably be wondering what they had done wrong.

"So, you got older. No new girl?"

"There used to, but I think I scared her off for good. What about you, no new boy?"

"There was never one but the boy who tried, Albenarum graduate. He's a captain now in the City's Watch. He didn't want me to be a bounty hunter. I think the truth is that he hated I would be more well off than him even when I didn't have his qualifications."

"Thornton? Those ads."

Anarella smiles. "You're pretty quick. Yes, that had Thornton's fingerprints all over it. He's not going to be getting anything from me now. Here, I have something for you."

Rayton stares at the jacque stone amulet Anarella had just tossed him, surprised. "I used this to pay for my food."

"It's too much," Anarella snapped. "Where'd you get an authentic jacque Stone amulet anyway? They're supposed to be expensive and rare."

Rayton opens his mouth and closes it. How is he supposed to tell her that his brother had come into that restaurant after him and Meda would be awaiting him to… He shudders and hopes Lay had the means to pay.

"I'd like to play my field of truth now. You promised me two questions. Waitress, four mugs of dark beer."

"Should you…? Is it wise?"