Halit held the meeting in his dining hall. The spacious room and the long dining table carved out of dark wood brimming with the hues of iridescent copper served the occasion better than the Ensi's small study. His manservant had brought everyone gathered around the table a cup of wine and bite to eat, and Oak nursed both with relish.

It had been a long fucking day, and he was hungry.

Geezer lay at his feet, looking mournfully at the piece of bread vanishing into Oak's mouth, one bite at a time. The hellhound whined. "Hush, you glutton." He swallowed the bread down with a gulp of wine. "You have eaten already."

On the way back from the destroyed refugee encampments, Oak had taken a quick detour to the inn and retrieved Geezer, his own weapons, and Ur-Namma's longsword. He had a feeling there was still some knife-work ahead before the night was over and he preferred to do it with a longer blade in hand.

Sadia looked like she was well past tiredness and had crossed onto the side of exhaustion. The little spellsinger sat on Oak's right, intermittently nodding off and twitching back to wakefulness. Clearly, she was not used to working into the small hours of the night.

Ur-Namma on the other hand, was as fresh as ever. The elf sat by Oak's left, peering at the other participants of the meeting with his tireless, curious gaze. By the looks of it, Baskim Kashari, and the Ferhati matriarch, Nadire Ferhati, found him equally interesting.

Not very surprising. Elves were a rare sight in these parts.

The leaders of the feuding clans sat opposite each other with their seconds in command, closer to Halit's end of the table. It looked like both of them had brought the biggest and meanest looking members of their retinue and Oak was proud to say he was taller, broader at the shoulder, and uglier than either of the seconds in question.

It is good to be the best.

Yan of clan Carcani, the man who had tried to ambush Oak, Sadia and Ur-Namma, sat by Halit's side. Compared to everyone else at the table, Yan had a veritable feast in front of him and no one could miss the implications of that, least of all Yan himself. The condemned man had taken one look at the plates of food and the bottle of liquor, sighed and got to eating his fill.

I didn't imagine Yan would impress me, but here we are. The Carcani youngster had not distinguished himself as a warrior, but he had his own brand of courage. Oak had not seen many men so calm and collected on the eve of their death.

"I think it is best we get started. There is much to do and I would prefer to settle the entire matter before dawn," Halit said and steepled his long fingers. "Three days ago, two infants were murdered in cold blood and the crime shook our town to the core. I hired these three to investigate the murders, and they delivered quick results."

"I can hazard a guess, but I want to hear you say it. Who killed my niece's baby girl?" Nadire Ferhati asked, staring straight at Yan. Her voice was colder than a glacier. The matriarch of the Ferhati clan was long in the tooth. Age had bent down her back and her robes hung on her old bones like a funeral shroud. Her wispy gray hair was tied in a tight bun and she had a narrow stiletto sticking out of it.

Oak didn't know what it said about a grandma's personality that she used a knife as a hairpin, but he liked it.

If I ever get to such an advanced age, I aspire to be just as much of a nutcase.

Baskim waited calmly for the Ensi's verdict. From the moment he had stepped inside the dining hall and seen Yan, the Kashari patriarch had visibly relaxed. He had probably feared the worst. If one of his own had been behind the killings, this night might have ended with the death of his clan.

Halit and Nadire would never have believed the killer acted without Baskim's blessing.

"Clan Carcani is responsible for the attack on the nursery," Halit replied. "There is no doubt. Endrit ordered the killing and this very night he tried to have my investigators assassinated to protect his sorry hide."

Nadire looked up towards the Heavens and clenched her wrinkled, veiny hands into fists.

"There are six corpses in the wagon outside, if you want to verify the identities of the attackers. I can also provide a theurgist of your choosing a memory of the events in question." Ur-Namma showed his needle-like teeth. "Our friend Yan here was their leader."

"Maybe later. What I want now is an accounting of this travesty. Tell me everything, boy." Nadire stared daggers at Yan.

To his credit, Yan didn't shy away from the inevitable. For the third time that night, he told his side of the story, starting with the attack on the nursery and ending with the failed ambush. Ur-Namma and Oak added the occasional detail when necessary and answered the few questions Nadire had about their methods.

"We shook the tree to see if anything would drop from the branches and got lucky," Oak summarized. "Sometimes that is all you need."

"Greed, murder, and stupidity." Nadire shook her head in disgust.

"A fitting description of the human condition." Oak shrugged. "So it goes. Ain't nothing new under the sun."

The burly man by Nadire's side grunted and frowned at Oak.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Watch your tongue, northerner." Nadire narrowed her eyes at Oak. "I am glad of your efforts, but do not make light of the death of my flesh and blood."

"Please forgive my friend his crude tongue," Ur-Namma said. "The customs he is used to are uncivilized."

"You can say that again." Sadia yawned and rubbed her tired eyes. "Good in a scrap, not very diplomatic."

You little shits.

Nadire nodded and turned towards Baskim with the intensity of a stalking predator. "Your night has been busier than mine." She looked at his soot stained clothes with a critical eye. "Or a new fashion trend has swept through town without my notice."

"I…overstepped. Let's leave it at that for now." Baskim coughed.

"I must offer an apology of my own. I accused you and yours wrongly." Nadire's wrinkled face twisted into a frown. She looked like she had swallowed a lemon.

"Apology accepted. I imagine in your shoes I might have responded similarly." Baskim slapped his big belly and let out a burp. "We should have dinner after the dust has settled, you and I. The feud between our clans has become a weakness. It drags us down. Not to put the cart before the horse, but both of us have a lot of nieces and nephews of marrying age. A wedding can do wonders to heal old wounds."

"Hmm. We will talk later." Nadire pulled the stiletto out of her bun and pointed it at Halit. "The future can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I want blood. Vengeance, Halit. Vengeance for my Klea's baby."

"Nadire is right. I too, want my pound of flesh," Baskim poured more wine into his cup. "This was a flagrant attempt to drive the two of us into war."

Both burly seconds let out a low grunt, signaling their desire for bloodshed. Oak felt the childish need to let out an even lower grunt of his own, but he stifled the impulse.

"You will find no argument from me, friends. I asked you to gather your forces for a reason," Halit replied, fingering the cuffs of his sleeves. "Endrit and his clan must pay for their transgressions."

"Then we are all in agreement!" Baskim beat the table with his fist. "Let's go and get the bastard!"

Oak considered the pros and cons of joining in on the action. There would be risk involved. Though he doubted any of the members of the Carcani clan were his equal in battle, anyone could get lucky and battles were chaotic places.

He who draws steel in anger must abandon any delusions of certainty. There is no telling where the bodies might fall and who will be left standing.

On the other hand, an opportunity to gobble up more souls for his infernal engine was a prospect too tantalizing to ignore. The choice was simple.

"Halit. I would be willing to fight tonight if you throw an appropriate bonus my way." Oak pulled out his cleaver and laid it on the table. "My handiwork speaks for itself."

"It does," Halit replied. "I will pay your fee."

Killing for the sake of coin and personal power wasn't very heroic, but Oak was no hero. At least the cause was halfway righteous this time around.

"So, it's settled. We march on the Carcani manor, northerner in tow." Nadire pointed her stiletto at Yan. Her mouth was a thin line, and she clenched her jaw tight. "But first, that boy needs to lose his head."

"I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but for what it's worth, I am sorry," Yan said. His face was pale, but he did not cower in the face of Nadire's icy glare. "What we did was shameful."

"One of my men will swing the sword." Halit lifted his hand to stave off Nadire's complaints. "We have had enough barbarism for one night and Yan has been co-operative. He has earned a swift death."

"Count your lucky stars, boy." Nadire tapped the blade of her stiletto with one of her long fingernails. "If I was twenty years younger, I would carve you up myself."

***

In Oak's experience, executions were either terribly sad or riotous to the point of wicked ecstasy, with nothing in between.

Yan's execution was a somber affair.

The clouds had cleared, and the moon bathed the town of Kesh with its cold light. Ferhati and Kashari warriors mingled in the square and, from Oak's limited perspective, puzzled disappointment was the best way to describe the overall mood among the fighting men. Yan was apparently well-liked among his peers and multiple people had approached him to exchange words before time ran out.

Yan told them all he was guilty. His words sparked anger among the Ferhati, but to Oak's surprise, they pointed much of it towards Endrit. It was strange. Maybe these men understood the weight of a clan patriarch's orders better than he did.

Zef had taken the task of performing the execution upon himself. "It has to be me," Zef had said. "I have done it before. One of the others might fuck it up."

They watched from the sidelines as Halit and Zef walked up to Yan's kneeling form. It was time.

Ur-Namma had his hood up. The elf stood still as a statue, cloak wrapped around his robes to shield him from the cool night air. Sadia stood between Oak and Ur-Namma, biting her lip. Geezer sat between Oak's legs, pawing at his boots.

"Is it weird I feel bad for him? Even though he is guilty?" Sadia asked. The girl trembled and pulled Oak's spare cloak tighter around her shoulders.

"No. Just means your heart is not made of stone," Oak replied. "You don't need to watch."

Sadia nodded, but kept her eyes glued to Yan's kneeling form.

Halit stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back, and the crowd quieted down.

"Three days ago, following the orders of his patriarch, Yan of clan Carcani destroyed the wards of the town nursery. With the help of Mirela of clan Carcani, he murdered two innocent babies." Halit's gaze traveled along ranks of his audience. "Yan has admitted his guilt. The sentence is death, by beheading."

Halit turned towards Yan. "Do you have any last words?"

Yan lifted his gaze from the ground and nodded. "I ask nothing for myself. My plea concerns others. The Carcani manor and the surrounding buildings house plenty of innocents. Children. Men and women who had nothing to do with any of this. I know you can't spare anyone who picks up a blade, but I beg of you; show mercy. Do not saddle the blameless with my deeds."

Yan closed his eyes and leaned forward, exposing his neck.

"Well said, boy. Well said." Halit cleared his throat. "Zef, if you would."

Zef stepped next to Yan, two handed scimitar in hand. The veteran lifted the blade and swung. He made a clean cut. Yan's head tumbled to the ground and his body slumped forward, spewing blood from the stump of his neck.

Geezer howled. A shiver passed through the crowd, like a wave crossing a calm pond in the darkest hour of the night.

So long, son of Carcani. We will meet again down below, I am sure.

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