Eclipse

Chapter 7

A dark-haired man stood beside the paddock when Reid came trotting out of the forest.

"Reid!"

"Afternoon, Rodney," greeted Reid as he dismounted. He led his horse to the barn and Rodney followed.

"I see you've been busy," Rodney said, nodding towards the saddlebags on Reid's horse.

"Yes, Hayden told us about a caravan heading for Clariel and one of the guards got very antsy when we started going through his stuff." Reid handed the saddlebag to Rodney.

"Why?" asked Rodney and took the bags.

"Don't know. Haven't looked yet. With Alaska missing, I took it on myself to spread some of the wealth, as she calls it."

A servant came and took Reid's horse away.

"What do you mean Alaska's missing?"

"She went to do a job for Hayden and she hasn't been seen since."

The two men walked towards the house set beneath the trees. It was a two story stone house with a small balcony on the first floor. Snow covered the thatch roof and window sills but the balcony was cleared.

"Why would she do something for Hayden? I thought she hated him." Rodney opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Reid.

"So did I. But he must have convinced her to trust him or something. She went to Laventhrope."

"The castle? That girl of yours truly is something. Why didn't you go with her?" Rodney took a seat next to the fireplace.

"She just told us she's going and left. Didn't give us any chance to object or anything. One minute she was drinking with us in the tavern and the next she's headed to the castle. You don't think she got caught?" Reid took the seat opposite Rodney.

"I doubt it. She's one of the best thieves I've seen. She's probably with her sister."

Reid stared into the flames and sighed, "No, she's not. I was at the Healing House yesterday but no one has seen her."

Rodney looked at Reid staring in the flames. The flickering light gave his face a sinister look.

"Is it because Alaska isn't back yet, or because she got to go to Castle Laventhorpe and you didn't?" asked Rodney.

"Why is everyone thinking that?" asked Reid, exasperated.

"Perhaps you should ask yourself if you really are as difficult to read as you think," snapped Rodney and rose, "Stay as long as you want. I'll take a look at the contents of the saddlebags and let you know if there's anything of value in it."

Reid didn't look up as Rodney took the bags up stairs. Instead he stared into the flames and traced his scar. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

Upstairs, Rodney dumped the contents of the bags on his desk. A few gold coins rolled of and fell on the floor. There was a tear in the money bag. Other items fell on top of each other before rolling on the desk. What caught his attention was a sealed letter with the mark of the king's advisor. Rodney quickly scanned through the rest of the items but didn't find anything that could connect the guard with Lord Lucien. He opened the letter and began to read. His face turned form interested to grave after a minute. He fell into his chair and stared out in front of him in bewilderment.

"What's with the face?" came a voice from across the room.

"Seems like our dear friend, Lucien, has upped his game," Rodney looked up and smiled when he saw Hayden.