Anubis paced.

Lio tried to stop her by grabbing her shoulder, but she shook her head and stooped to examine the river bank. Vasco nervously stutter-stepped forward, crossing his arms before awkwardly changing positions. His hands needed something to do to distract him so he took up a terrible old habit of picking at the calluses on his palms.

"I know he's here." Anubis picked up a small knife from the mud, holding it up to the others. It was one of a pair, the other one having been thrown into an Inquisitor back in Dastberg. But it proved that Ketil had been here at one point.

Anubis dropped the knife. "He's been pulled from the river."

Jameson stooped by the carcass of a horse, examining the boot still stuck in the stirrups. "You don't suppose the river could have washed it up farther?"

"No." She looked to him with a sigh. "This is as high as the river will reach, unless it has rained heavily in the past few days—which it hasn't. Also, this knife was buried pretty deep in the mud."

Vasco shrugged in response, "not to mention the fact that there was a net spanning the entirety of the river and the horse was caught in it—judging from the net still wound on its legs—so that means he at least wound up caught in the net and therefore on the shore. But that doesn't solve the question of if he's dead or not, it just means he was here."

"I have interrogated some of the men at the village." Lio knelt beside Anubis, his hand briefly brushing across hers. "They say that two days ago was a festival day. No one was attending their nets, but one man was watching to make sure no thieves stole their catch. No one told me who."

Anubis straightened up, wiping her hands against her thighs and staring out at the river. "Then let's find the one man, yes?"

"And what do we do if Ketil is dead?" Raziel whispered. "What happens to our mission then?"

They were all silent.

"He's not dead," Vasco whispered, picking at a particularly thick callus on his left hand. "He can't be."

"And if he is? He's the only reason we were assigned to this mission, if he dies—" Raziel made a gesture that was a cross between a shrug and exasperated flourish. "What are we going to do? Place Jameson on the throne?"

They all looked to the man who was uncomfortably dragging the toe of his boot through the mud. "I don't think that would be for the best," he whimpered.

Dante glared at Raziel.

"None of us are Polarian, we don't know anything about Polaria, and furthermore..." he trailed off, eyes unfocused. "I don't even have a furthermore! Just look at us! We don't belong here. We shouldn't be here, this is outside of anything we've ever done. Let's just go home."

"No." Vasco's face hardened, barely hiding the small wobble in his voice. "We are not abandoning Ketil and we are not abandoning the riesun back in Rajsend. I don't care if it seems like all is lost, we have not lost everything. We still have this hope that we can change things. Everyone who has died at the hands of the Inquisition, doesn't have to die in vain. We've lost so much to tuck tail and run. Ketil knew that and we can't turn our backs on him! He wouldn't do that to us!"

The others were silent.

Jameson placed his hand on the man's shoulder. Vasco's eyes were watering but he desperately tried to hide it. He wiped his hand over his face quickly, chewing on the inside of his cheek until it drew blood.

"I'm with Vasco," Jameson whispered. "We can't go back. If I go back, I'm dead. Inspector Boucher will find me and kill me and I can't let that happen. And if we go back, what about the Inquisition? What will they do to you?"

Raziel bristled.

"Let's just find this man who knows whether Ketil is dead or alive." Anubis took a deep breath. "We've been searching the river for two days now—this is the best lead we've seen. We should follow it until we find our answers and then we will decide our next steps."

Lio nodded, "this village is small, someone knows something they aren't telling. If Ketil is alive, they'll know who he is and they'll—" he shrugged, "so I don't know what they'll do exactly, but it won't be good."

"They'll alert the Empress somehow..." Vasco nervously stared at his hands, a thin bead of blood marking where he had rubbed and picked at them. "Then what will happen? Aslaug will have him killed, won't she?"

"She'd have him killed for the pleasure of watching him fall," Lio grunted out something else that no one heard or attempted to hear. "The Østberg Line is not well known for mercy. That's assuming he's even alive though."

There was more silence and Raziel let out a long exhale. "Anubis, I have a terrible feeling about this."

She simply shrugged at him. "Vasco, Lio, find the other man and get him to tell us answers. The rest of you, come with me. We will comb this forest and the rest of the village."

Raziel let out a small groan and both Dante and Jameson shot him a poisonous look. Anubis ignored him looking to Lio.

She took his hand. "Find him. Do whatever it takes."

He kissed her cheek, "don't worry, we will find him." He turned to Vasco, "come on, we will go on foot, the village isn't far. I think I know just the man to tell us something."

"You're not going to kill them are you?"

Lio grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward. He made a noise—something between a snort and a laugh. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't kill for fun. But..." he trailed off, "sometimes anger has a way of bringing the worst out in people."

"So that really doesn't answer my question."

"It wasn't meant to. You're just here to make sure no one sticks a knife in my back." He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably at that.

Vasco made a sound, trudging behind him through the snow. "I hate this, I hate this so much."

"What? The snow?"

"No, Lio, I hate the economy—what do you think? Of course it's the snow."

"Don't get snarky with me." Lio released his wrist, staring at the tracks that crisscrossed the land. "It appears we're close."

"What's this place called?"

"Ånjvalla." Lio shook his head, "it's less than half the size of Kantloe and its one attraction is a fish market."

"So you really have scouted this place out, yeah?"

Lio didn't answer, but Vasco knew his mind was racing with the thoughts and possibilities. He looked up as the trail became wider and snow turned into mud and cobblestone. Lio was a hound on the trail of some game creature—that creature being Ketil.

Vasco stuck closer to him as they stepped onto streets lined with small houses and shops. Smells of fish and baked goods and horses all blended together to make him gag. Lio didn't budge, his feet kept moving with an internal compass.

"I will talk, there is no need to reveal that we are Rajsend—that is the last thing we need. Well, that and revealing we are riesun."

Vasco dropped his head, "I believe that Anubis might have made a mistake by putting us together. It is impossible for us to blend in."

Lio let out a hum, ignoring him and stopping outside of a wide building. Music drifted outside, loud voices slurring over the words. Vasco looked up to the sign hanging above the entrance but could not understand a word. Lio grabbed him by the sleeve, jerking him inside.

The smell of fish and mead was thick here, thick enough that Vasco gagged a little. Lio's lips twitched into a smile at that. A few drunk men sat at a table, singing to the woman sitting on the bar while playing some sort of mandolin.

A few looked up to see them, their eyes slipping past Lio and to Vasco with a curious expression. He clung to Lio's side, the older man giving him a look. "Why are you so close to me?"

Vasco backed up a hairsbreadth and Lio shook his head, tucking a strand of blond hair behind his ear. "Follow me." And with that he strode across the tavern floor, head held high and posture immaculate.

He leaned against the bar and a woman gave him a look, muttering in Polarian before looking to Vasco with a sly smile. Lio said something back, his head playfully tilted a little before he whispered softly to her. She smiled again, giving a small head nod to a set of stairs to their left. Lio bowed to her and she said something else that caused his cheeks to turn pink.

He grabbed Vasco, turning towards the staircase. "We don't tell Anubis anything about this, yeah?"

"What was that about?"

"Don't worry about it," he grunted, climbing up the steps to the room at the top. He knocked once, opening before he received a reply.

"Elder Sjei?" Lio said with a small bow.

"Hello, what are you doing here?" The old man said and Lio smiled, shutting the door behind them.

"He speaks our language," Lio said carefully.

The old man closed a book, sitting at a large wooden desk. "There are so many different dialects of Polarian that this is now the unofficial common tongue. How can I help you two?"

"You are over the affairs of the village, yes?"

"Yes, I know the dealings of this place. I am the Elder, in a way."

Lio took a step forward, using his height to his advantage. "Two days ago a fisherman pulled a man from the river. What happened to this man?"

The old man hesitated and Lio seized him by the collar, throwing him against the wall. "Where is he, old man? Don't make me bloody my hands."

"I don't know!"

"Don't lie to me!" His hands tightened in the old man's collar and Vasco started to take a step forward to stop him, but Lio shot him a look. "Where is the man who pulled him from the river?"

"I don't know!"

Vasco touched his shoulder as Lio threw the old man against the wall again, a small cry of pain echoing through the room. "Wait—he could be telling the—"

Lio didn't give him a chance to finish. He lapsed into thick Polarian, the old man's eyes widening in terror.

"Olve Lykke!" The man said and Lio pushed him back. "His name is Olve Lykke!"

"Where can I find him?"

"On the outskirts of the village! But he's in the market, the second to last stall! You can't miss him!" The old man trembled with fear and Lio laughed.

"You won't kill him?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? If you'd like you both to live, stay silent and in your room, old man. I won't hesitate to return." Lio grabbed Vasco by the shirt sleeve and dragged him away. Vasco's eyes met the old man's and saw fear deep within them.

He was the bad guy now. He was no better than the Inquisition in the eyes of this man.

Lio slammed the door shut, muttering to himself.

"Why did you do that?"

"He's fine, Vasco. I just intimidated him, that's all." Lio briskly sashayed through the tavern below, smiling to the woman at the bar. "He's not hurt."

"You could have killed him! He was an old man!"

"But he's not dead, he's lucky he's not dead." They finally hit the doors and fell into the streets. "Vasco, calm yourself. We got the answer we wanted, didn't we?"

"Lio, I don't like this. It just doesn't feel right."

"Like you'd know anything about that."

Vasco sighed, "actually I would. So just because I worked in a brothel, I have no moral code? Is that it?"

Lio ignored him, pulling him into the fish market. It was unusually silent, but a few men still lingered in their stalls, surrounded by some sort of fish.

"Second to last stall," Vasco whispered as they finally saw the man Elder Sjei spoke of.

Lio marched up to him and the man immediately began to peddle fish. Vasco groaned at the smell.

"Olve Lykke?" Lio said, eyebrow arched.

"Yes?" The man's voice was tinged with a heavy accent and a small hint of a smile. "We have all sorts of f—"

"Elder Sjei wishes to speak with you," Lio interrupted.

The man's smile faded and he nodded, following Lio away from any witnesses—not that the man knew it. Vasco stared at the ground, a creeping feeling of guilt in his gut. He was really going to let Lio loose on this innocent man. None of this was right.

As soon as the tavern came into sight, Lio pushed the man into the narrow alley separating the buildings. The sound of drunken singing would drown out any cries for help. It was a genius plan, really. Lio was intelligent sometimes.

Lio pushed the much larger man against the brick wall. He punched him in the gut, grabbing the knife from his belt and tossing it away. Olve Lykke did nothing but stare, eyes wide. Lio picked up a loose cobblestone.

"Two days ago a man was pulled from your nets. You were the first and possibly last person to see him. Where is he?"

"I don't know."

Lio hefted the paver, "don't push me. I have lost all patience with you. Don't make me lose my temper."

Olve shook his head, "please. Don't I don't know anything. I'm just a fisherman and this is my life. I don't know who you're talking about."

"Where is he?" Anger was beginning to pull at Lio's voice, making him invincible an completely unyielding.

"I don't know!" The man let out a cry of pain as Lio slammed the cobblestone against his face.

"You better remember quickly. What happed now?"

"I pulled him from the river and left him on the bank!"

"Was he alive?!" Another blow to the face.

"I don't know! Please, stop!" The man fell back against the brick of the tavern, blood staining his skin. "I have a family, I have to get to them. Stop! Please!"

"What did you do with him?!" Lio pushed him down, this time sending a kick to his side.

"I left him there! You don't examine bodies pulled from the river on festival days! It's the custom!" He cringed as Lio brought his foot back to deliver another blow.

"Stop!" Vasco grabbed his arm and Lio pushed him away, shoulders dropping as his deed came into focus.

"Oh damn." Lio dropped the cobblestone, taking a breath. "It appears I have overdone it...again."

The man looked up at them with a cry, his face bleeding and marked with cuts. He lifted his hand to his face, curling up.

Lio took a breath, his eyes staring into Vasco's. "He was here, but he's gone now. Let's go."