Gasps rang out in the courtyard.

Slack-jawed faces stared at a stunned Reginald while Reed's guards were unmoved.

They were expecting this.

The tension that I felt since our arrival was anticipation. Their eagerness to capture Reginald balanced against his fear of getting caught.

But how did she figure it out?

And when did she get those confessions?

Reed had asked me to hunt down the poisoner because she would draw too much attention, but maybe it was the other way around. I was the distraction, and she was the knife cutting a path to the truth.

I grimaced, shaking my head.

Even now, I was still a pawn.

Reginald's face turned a bright shade of red.

He set his shoulders and grit his teeth.

Don't do it.

"Yes, I did it!"

Idiot.

"Is that what you want to hear?! Y-You and your Sanctifiers think you run the world. I'm tired of your games! I'm tired of your Steeltown Compact—your handpicked crime lords! I'm tired of EVERYTHING!"

Reed passed the papers to her guard, trading the confessions for her club. She lifted it and pressed the tip of one of its black iron spikes against her thumb. A malicious smile spread across her face—a smile I knew all too well.

"Thank you… for confessing."

Reginald's reddened face blanched.

"Wait... You can't mean to..."

She slung her club over her shoulder, walking forward in a slow gait. Reginald turned to Victor, reaching for his hand.

"My Lord, do something!"

Victor recoiled, his face a mask of pain and disgust.

"Reggie... a woman died."

"That wasn't my intention! I wanted to kill the Compact members: Tiny Tom, the Lagos brothers, Lady Kateen! They're the ones who poisoned your father and mother—all your siblings that died in her womb! Why don't you understand?! Why don't you understand what I SACRIFICED?!"

Reed stopped in front of Reginald. Victor turned away, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Don't worry, my Lord. I won't kill him."

The Steward turned to face Reed. He stood straight even as he trembled; a yellow puddle pooled at his feet.

"Are you ready?" Reed asked.

"I-"

CRACK!

Reed's club tore through the cartilage of his left knee. His leg bent to the side, making him collapse at Victor's feet.

"AHH! AHHHHHH!"

CRACK!

The club smashed down on his other knee.

CRACK! CRUNCH! SQUELCH!

Reed rained downward blows on Reginald's legs. Bones snapped. Black iron spikes punctured through clothing and skin. Warm sprays of blood splashed on Reed's and Victor's faces and clothes.

Some servants turned away in horror; others stared with haunted eyes. Reed's guards watched in stony silence. We were among them, broken and numb to violence.

After a few minutes, Reed panted over Reginald's whimpering body.

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She breathed out a deep, satisfied sigh.

"Now our business is done."

She straightened up and surveyed the terrified faces around her. Her eyes settled on the two guards who trailed behind Victor and Reginald. They stood frozen, hands hovering over their weapons.

"I recognize that Reginald had help for his plan, but out of respect to your Lord, I will end the punishment here."

She smiled. Droplets of blood were still running down her face.

"In the future, please behave. Life can always get worse."

She turned to Victor.

"My Lord..."

He opened his eyes, blinking away tears as the man who raised him writhed in pain on the ground.

"My Lord, your hand. I need your leave."

Victor's eyes refocused. He raised a trembling hand, splashed with Reginald's blood. Reed pressed his knuckles against her forehead, making a bloody seal on her fringe of black hair.

"Thank you, my Lord."

She glanced down at the Steward.

"We'll pay for his wheelchair."

Reed turned and walked away, handing off her club to her closest guard.

"Clean this."

"Yes, Special Inquisitor!"

Another guard approached her, passing her the written confessions and a damp rag to wipe off the blood.

"Thank you."

She walked past us to the driver's bench of the wagon. Reed paused and looked over her shoulder.

"Jacob. Ride with me."

Her demand shocked me to my senses. I glanced at Castille, and she glanced at the black-clad guards staring at us.

Refusing was not an option.

# # #

Our caravan rolled out of the Vangrave's manor house in silence; the covered wagon was at the head, with a handful of Reed's guards roaming in the distance as scouts.

The wagon trudged forward at a slow pace, weighed down by hundreds of pounds of gold.

Through the opening of the canvas, I could see Castille and Dugan on horseback. They eyed the gold like a pair of concerned parents. It was fitting. The gold was the fruit of months of labour.

My eyes moved to Reed. Her face was serene as she drove the wagon, her hands loose on the horses' lines. The only trace of her display of violence was the reddish spots on her black uniform that the rag had not wiped clean.

"How did you know?"

"Hmm?"

"That Reginald was the poisoner."

She grinned, keeping her eyes ahead.

"Who says you were my only informant?"

I let out a frustrated sigh.

She was right. It was stupid to assume she would only have one. But who were the others?

The realization hit me like a swing from Reed's club.

I shook my head, my face frozen in a disbelieving smile.

"It was Lira. You were our mutual friend."

"You're sharp. I knew I liked you for a reason. Yes, after I left you in the hall, I stayed at the estate for a few hours to help Lira interrogate the servants."

"Then you knew the truth… This whole time. But… But Van Lagos sent me after Arwen."

"Of course he did. He believed what Lira told him or what I told her to tell him."

My eyes widened, the puzzle pieces falling into place. Reed had been playing me from the start, and I wasn't the only one.

"What do you have on Lira? Is she in debt like me?"

"Spirits no. She's a fanatic. A silly noble girl swept off their feet by a rebellious Dahlgeshi. Personally, I don't get it. I prefer my men tamed."

A noble? That meant she was Landbound.

Reed continued.

"It was easy to convince her to follow my plan. Arwen is the Lagos brothers' main rival, and his pro-miner rhetoric is a threat to my Guild's interests in this region. If she still wanted revenge after I closed the case, she could always cut a deal with Lady Kateen to increase the poison in the Vangrave's food supply."

"You know about the poison?"

She smiled.

"Everyone knows about the poison."

I grabbed my head, trying to make sense of what Reed was saying.

"So, you got confessions from the servants handling the wine, killed all of them to hide the truth, and then created a lie to remove Arwen as a threat to the Sanctifiers."

She raised a correcting finger.

"A threat to free and fair trade. I can respect exploiting the system but not overturning it."

"But Arwen survived. Your plan failed."

She shrugged.

"For now… But defeating Nostrand Del is an excellent consolation prize. Besides, removing Arwen was not a part of my mission. It was … an opportunity. And, in my experience, there are always more where those came from."

I furrowed my brows.

"And how many innocent servants died because of your opportunity?"

"Four. Do you want me to say their names? Will it make you feel better or worse?"

I stared at the woman beside me.

Utility. Misdirection. Ruthlessness.

She had mastered all three.

It made my head spin.

"Why are you telling me this, Reed? To tame me?"

"Jacob! Don't give me ideas."

She let out a short chuckle.

"Like Nostrand, I need you to understand something..."

She turned to me, her eyes hard.

"The Sanctifiers always win. You may have forced me to make a few adjustments to my plans, but everything came out in my favour. The sooner you accept your place at my side, the better your life will be."

I scoffed.

"You're unbelievable."

"Thank you."

"That's not a compliment."

"Oh? It should be. Here, why don't you drive?"

She pushed the lines into my hands, leaning back into the driver's bench with both elbows propped up. I grabbed them before they slipped under the wagon.

It didn't matter how hard Reed pushed. I would never work for the Sanctifiers. I would follow my own path, not her or Sin's. Nothing she said could change that.

"See, you're a natural," Reed said.

I turned away from her, hiding the flush rising on my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, she smiled.

"It's a long way back to Steeltown. Let's enjoy this."

I looked ahead at the desolate wasteland in front of me and felt the wagon full of gold at my back.

Reed was right about one thing.

I should enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted.

Getting the reward money was the easy part.

The hard part would be keeping it.

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