“Had?”
“He and his knights rode out to fight the beast one evening. Later, all that was found was bits and pieces of armor.”
“Why don’t you just leave?” Royce asked.
Thrace’s head drooped and her shoulders slouched a bit. “Two nights before I left to come here, the beast killed everyone in my family except for me and my father. We weren’t home. My father had worked late in the fields and I went to look for him. I—I accidentally left the door open. Light attracts it. It went right for our house. My brother, Thad, his wife, and their son were all killed.
“Thad—he was the joy of my father’s life. He was the reason we moved to Dahlgren in the first place—so he could become the town’s first cooper.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Now they’re all gone and my father has nothing left but his grief and the beast that brought it. He’ll see it dead, or die himself before the month is out. If I had only closed the door … If I had just checked the latch …”
Her hands covered her face and her slender body quivered. Royce gave Hadrian a stern look, shaking his head very slightly and mouthing the word no.
Hadrian scowled and placed his hand on her shoulder and brushed the hair away from her eyes. “You’re going to ruin all your pretty makeup,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I really don’t want to be such a bother. These aren’t your problems. It is just that my father is all I have left and I can’t bear the thought of losing him too. I can’t reason with him. I asked him to leave, but he won’t listen.”
“I can see your problem, but why us?” Royce asked coldly. “And how does a farmer’s daughter from the frontier know our names and how to find us in Colnora?”
“A crippled man told me. He sent me here. He said you could open the tower.”
“A cripple?”
“Yes. Mr. Haddon told me the beast can’t—”
“Mr. Haddon?” Royce interrupted.
“Uh-huh.”
“This Mr. Haddon … he wouldn’t be missing his hands, would he?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
Royce and Hadrian exchanged glances.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He said the beast can’t be harmed by weapons made by man, but inside Avempartha there is a sword that can kill it.”
“So, a man with no hands told you to find us in Colnora and hire us to get a sword for your father from a tower called Avempartha?” Royce asked.
The girl nodded.
Hadrian looked at his partner. “Don’t tell me … it’s a dwarven tower?”
“No …” Royce replied, “it’s elvish.” He turned away with a thoughtful expression.
Hadrian returned his attention to the girl. He felt awful. It was bad enough that her village was so far away, but now they faced an elven tower. Even if she offered them a hundred gold tenents, he would not be able to convince Royce to take the job. She was so desperate, so in need of help. His stomach knotted as he considered the words he would say next.
“Well,” Hadrian began reluctantly, “the Nidwalden River is several days’ travel over rough ground. We’d need supplies, for what—a six-, seven-day trip? That’s two weeks there and back. We’d need food and grain for the horses. Then you’d have to add in time at the tower. That’s time we could be doing other jobs, so that right there is money lost. Then there is the danger involved. Risk of any kind can bump our price and a mass-murdering phantom-demon-beast that can’t be harmed by weapons has got to be classified as a risk.”
Hadrian looked into her eyes and shook his head. “I hate to say it, and I’m very sorry, but we can’t take—”
“Your money,” Royce abruptly interjected as he spun around. “It’s too much. To take the full twenty-five silver for this job … Ten really seems like more than enough.”
Hadrian raised an eyebrow and stared at his partner but said nothing.
“Ten silver each?” she asked.
“Ah—no,” Hadrian replied, keeping his eyes on Royce. “That would be together. Right? Five each?”
Royce shrugged. “Since I’ll be doing the actual lock picking, I think I should get six, but we can work that out between us. It’s not something she needs to be concerned about.”
“Really?” Thrace asked, looking as if she might explode with happiness.
“Sure,” Royce replied. “After all … we’re not thieves.”