“Am I speaking a foreign language here or what?” she asked the barkeep of the Hook and Line. “You can talk can’t you?”
“When I want to,” the barkeep answered. “Right now I don’t want to. You want information, go to the library. You want to drink, put some coin on the counter.”
StarWind turned to storm out of the Hook and Line and saw a man quickly glance away from her gaze. She was sure she had seen him in both of the previous taverns and she didn’t believe in coincidences. StarWind calmed herself and walked out of the tavern. As soon as she cleared the door, she darted back towards the Bard’s Breath and melded into the shadows. The old man hobbled out of the Hook and Line and looked both ways. He stood tapping his cane for a few moments and then headed for the fourth tavern, the Broken Plank. She watched him enter the building and quickly thought about her options.
She wasn’t getting any information from the barkeeps and someone was following her. This Harac person was obviously known here or everyone she talked to would not be stonewalling her. Maybe the best choice was to grab the old man and find out why he was following her.
As she was reviewing her options, the old man reappeared. He stood for a long time tapping his cane and looking up and down the street. A sailor and a young woman walked past StarWind and glanced in her direction as they strolled. The old man caught their glance and started coming towards StarWind. She thought about slipping down the alley and avoiding him, but she quickly changed her mind. She would not underestimate the man because he was old, but she should be able to take care of herself in any event, so she decided that she would allow him to approach. Perhaps she would find out why he was following her.
The old man walked right up to her. “Why do you search for Harac?” he asked.
“Why are you following me?” StarWind retorted.
“Because you are searching for Harac,” the old man smiled. “Your turn to answer.”
“I wish to talk to him,” StarWind admitted.
“What about?” persisted the old man.
“That is no affair of yours,” she stated. “Do you work for him?”
“I do not work for him,” stated the old man, “but what you want to talk to him about might interest me. What I know about him might also interest you.”
“What kind of game are we playing here?” StarWind inquired. “Is it money you are after? Or something else?”
“It might be that we can help each other,” the old man smiled. “I am not with the government if that is what you are concerned with.”
“What makes you think I am concerned about the government?” asked StarWind, suddenly feeling very unprotected and exposed.
“A number of reasons,” noted the old man. “For one, you left the tavern too quickly when you saw the Imperial Guard.”
StarWind’s mind flashed back to the last tavern where the Imperial Guard had been. The old man had not been in that bar. She was sure of it. “Nobody likes to be around Imperial Guards,” StarWind pushed. “You said a number of reasons, what are the others?”
“I saw you perform in Campanil,” grinned the old man. “I know that you are not with the government or you would not have cleared out of that city so swiftly.”
A slight spasm of fear shot through StarWind as she wondered who this old man was. Her fear eased slightly as she saw Goral come up behind the old man.
“Tell your friend not to hurt me,” the old man said. “Neither of us will get the information we want that way.”
“How did you know?” asked StarWind. “How do you know all of this?”
The old man put his back against the building so Goral was not standing behind him. “Perhaps we should all stop playing games,” the old man suggested. “Let’s go somewhere where we can talk in private. I do not know who you are, but I am sure that you are not working at odds with me and I do think we can help each other. Will you at least try to cooperate?”
StarWind looked at Goral and the giant nodded. “Very well,” she agreed. “Where do you suggest?”
“I have a room above the Bard's Breath,” the old man offered.
StarWind and Goral followed the old man up to his room. He opened the door and let them in and then lit a candle. StarWind drew her sword when she saw the Imperial Guard uniform lying on the bed.
“Relax,” the old man chuckled as he ripped off his beard and threw it on the dresser. “It is just a disguise. That is how I knew you left the last tavern in a hurry.”
“Who in Kaltara’s name are you?” StarWind spat. “I want an answer now.”
“Well you have answered my question,” laughed the old man as he tore off the rest of his disguise and revealed a well-muscled body of not such an old age. “I guess I can answer yours. My name is Fisher and I am a spy.”
StarWind’s face was puzzled. “A spy for whom?” she quizzed. “And what do you mean I answered your question?”
“Please sit, Sakovans,” smiled Fisher. “You should not use Kaltara’s name. The Omungans do not worship him.”
StarWind mentally kicked herself. She knew better, but she had allowed Fisher to confuse her and that was not professional. “Who do you spy for?” she asked again.
“Lord Marak of the Torak Clan,” Fisher answered. “I am trying to find out if and when the Omungans plan to invade Khadora. As I said before, we may be able to help each other.”
“The Omungans are planning to invade Khadora?” StarWind repeated. “This is news to me. We are trying to find out when the Omungans are going to attack us. Perhaps we can help each other.”
“I would not have revealed myself to you if I did not believe we could,” declared Fisher. “My identity is one of the greatest secrets in Khadora. I know of the Sakovans and their plight. Lord Marak would sympathize with you. He seeks to restore Khadora to a fair and honest society as the Sakovans do here. It appears that someone in the government is planning war on both of us. Why should we allow them to pick on us one at a time?”
“How do you know war is coming?” Goral asked.
“We captured an Omungan spy last month,” Fisher stated. “He had maps of the Clans with indicated troop strengths on them. He also had a notebook with detailed information on mountain passes, roads, sea vessels, everything one would need to know before an attack. I was sent to find out what is going on. I just happened to be in Campanil on the way here when you had that altercation. I recognized you when I was portraying the Imperial Guard and decided to switch disguises and follow you.”
“That all makes sense,” StarWind agreed. “You are very good at your craft. I am called StarWind. My companion is Goral. You probably saw the charred fields at Campanil. Someone did that and blamed the Sakovans for it. We believe a man called Harac led it. We are trying to find him now to see who he works for.”
“Harac is dead,” Fisher declared. “He was murdered last night. I normally would not be interested in such local things, but I saw a man last night doing the same thing you were doing tonight. He went to each tavern looking for Harac. When Harac turned up dead this morning, I got interested. I posed as an Imperial Guard to question the otherwise silent barkeeps. They don’t like messing with the Imperial Guard much and I found out that the man who was looking for Harac had done this several times before. If Harac was hired to burn the fields, the trail is effectively dead. The man I saw was wearing a disguise and a poorly done one at that. I do not think we will ever see him again.”