Framework of the Frontier by Sain Artwell (top ten ebook reader TXT) 📕

Maze as a hidey place. We can say that you ran off and… And you could have a barrel of water to swim in.”

“But. Your fates need not be chained to mine. Dreams know the depths of my gratitude to what you’ve already given me.” Though Rulu smiled, her voice trembled. Her eyes had looked distant since the leviathan, as if resigned to her doom.

It made William uncomfortable.

“Ranger! Hey Ranger!” The shouts were distant and from uphill and up another steep cliff to the outer walls of Nastall. It was Veren — one of the faun brothers from Orien’s party — a professional explorer.

William and Ember began to hurry their clothes back on, while Rulu remained proudly naked. Veren approached, hopping down the slope like a mountain goat. “Hey, sorry for the interruption, but you’ve gotta come up. Rajza’s party is back, Ori sorta slipped that he’s dead and, well, you better get up there.”

“You girls stay here, this is a Ranger matter.” He dressed up and jogged uphill, and into the dungeon where heated sounds of argument were coming from. Seeing the red-faced anger painted on the five members of Rajza’s party, he prepared for the worst.

The elf who had gone to jail with Rajza stepped up, thumping William’s chest. “There he is! Murderer. Fucking killed him on purpose didn’t ya? You got him dead on the first day of draft. You killed him on purpose didn’t you? Didn’t you? Huh? HUH?”

“Der, cool it.” Velma, the troll who had shared their jail-night wiped tears from her eye. “Don’t disgrace the boss.”

“Nah. Der’s right.” The red bearded faun’s nose twitched and bushy brows furrowed, when the glare of his yellow eyes locked on William. “Smells like pretty fucking blatant abuse of power to me.”

“Alright, let’s calm down here.” A cinch of discomfort tightened around William’s chest as he tried to think of how to dissolve the scene. “I admit we were not perfectly prepared for the job, but there were various complicating circumstances.”

“Hah! Complications?” Chains clinked in Nevija’s cell next door. Though the miarii was a bruised mess, the elixir had helped her recover enough to grin. William had chained her to the wall, given her a cheap shawl for warmth and avoided having to try figure out what the fuck to do with her.

“And what’re you in for this time Nevija?” The red-bearded faun asked. “Pinching extra from a shared hoard? Testing magic items on your teammates?”

Nevija chuckled, smirking at William with her kitty eyes. “Oh, nothing big, a simple misunderstanding which I’m hoping to clear up soon, if mister Ranger has a moment to spare.”

“Aren’t you gonna let us get his body?” Der demanded, his face still red.

“Oh, yes, of course…” William unlocked the cell holding Rajza’s now rotted corpse. Fuck, that’s eight days in a cell. Probably should’ve done something with it. Oooof, the smell.

A coo came from next door. “Heeey, pspspsps, mister Rangeeer.”

“You do realize you’ve zero leverage here?” William leaned against Nevija’s bars.

She ducked her lips, looking at her chained wrists, straightening her long claw-like nails as if to casually inspect them. “Is that so? I was there when Rulu knocked him out, you know? I wouldn’t even have to lie that she got away with it because she’s your woman.” Grinning, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Oh, and I know how petty certain people can get with revenge. Not everyone is so understanding of situational complications when they’re looking for someone to blame, someone to extract vengeance from.”

“Bigger fish have made threats on me. I’ll tell them that Rajza was alive until you and Raia came along with the jellyfish lady. Let’s see who’s in trouble then.”

Nevija raised a finger. “A-a-aaa. Hold it there, mister Ranger. Let me warn you. I know some of Rajza’s old party personally. Can you say the same? Think hard on this: Which of us will they trust?”

She was right. If this was going to become a she-said-he-said shouting match, William’s only defense was hoping they saw his honesty. Rajza had once been a deputy, but his party seemed to have a rather casual disrespect for the law. William glanced at Rajza’s old party faffing about his body, weighing his chances. Not good.

He leaned his head in through the bars of Nevija’s cell, lowering his voice. “You tried to get us murdered. Hell, you almost made me that thing’s lunch. And now you expect me to let you out? No.”

“You are. And you will also be waving all my charges. I happen to know that you have no paperwork whatsoever preventing the leviathan from walking right back here with but a word from an eager informant, of which I could have five. Say any of them has even the slightest suspicion that your abomination of a girlfriend had part in it? All it would take for them to get a good night’s sleep is a word. Not to mention the fact that, oh I don’t know, a certain someone may have broken the peace pacts by knowingly sheltering her in the first place. You could be in big trouble mister Ranger. Or, we could both be free.”

“One thing you underestimate is my ability to keep people I care about safe. You’ll rat me out regardless. Raia is being held a hostage isn’t she?”

“She’s dead,” Nevija stated, her sneer flattened.

William leaned back. “Oh…”

“‘Oh’ indeed. Harpies snatched her soon after we recovered from that horror’s magic.”

“So, you’ve a grudge on Rulu.”

A shiver twitched Nevija’s tail. She scowled. “A quietly smoldering one at most. It stings, yes. I’d be glad to see you, her, and the leviathan kill each other and fuck off into the end of realms, but alas, I doubt that is happening anytime soon. Instead, I’m feeling merciful and offering you a chance out, if you let me