"What do you mean? He can get us Fire Crystals!"

"We could take down the entire Royal Court with that kind of power!"

"Why wouldn't we take his offer? He seems to want to take down the Court as much as we do and he already knows what we do!"

***** held a hand up and immediately the room went quiet. The men may not agree with her at all times but they knew better to disrespect her.

"I know there are Fire Crystals at stake. I understand the power it would give to the rebellion. However, we can't let our excitement overcome our good judgment. We haven't taken in a member without a reference in over four years. We don’t know who this guy is. No one does. A stranger has come into town, after we raid a merchant train going to the capital, and promises us Fire Crystals. Does that sound strange to anyone?"

She looked around the room and no one but Mornic met her eyes. "I think we should let him in. After," he started hurriedly, seeing *****'s face turn dark. "he proves himself."

"Go on." ***** said crossing her arms. Mornic was her second in command because he has proved his wisdom and strength over and over again. If anyone deserved to be heard out it was him.

"We take a few men, have him guide us to the Fire Crystals in three days, check it out, and, if he is telling the truth, we will bring more men back the night after. If he isn't, and there are no Fire Crystals, we leave him for the wolves."

***** thought for a few minutes. A small smile inched its way on to her face.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around old man," she joked with a light punch to the arm. "But we leave at the first hint of trouble, understood?"

The men nodded eagerly.

"Good. Now go get a few more men from the inner circle. Send someone to fetch Mister Carnie before he gets back to his inn. We leave in three nights."

The men rushed off to do as they were told with huge smiles on their faces. ***** flopped into a plush, well cushioned chair in the back of the room, swinging her legs across one its arm. Mornic gave an exaggerated groan as he sat in the one to her right, earning him a snort.

"So how much do I tell him about tomorrow," he asked.

"Only that he is leading us there, not about going back the next night. He will need to get used to following orders if he is to stay on with us."

Mornic nodded once before they fell into a comfortable silence. A few minutes later, Carnie was ushered into the room.

He cast a quick suspicious glance at ***** before giving his full attention to Mornic. "Thank you! Thank you! You wont regret this I swear! Together we will take down those dirty, no good-"

"Wait," Mornic said and repeated went he went unheard. "Wait."

Carnie quieted down, still with a excited grin on his face.

"You're not in yet. You will lead us to the Fire Crystals tomorrow night. If they're there, you will consider letting you into the group."

"Yes. Yes, of course. A test to see if I'm trustworthy. That makes sense. No problem." He nodded solemnly with a small smile still on his face.

"Good. Come back tonight to drink with us if you wish, the whole gang will be here. Otherwise, we will see you here tomorrow at dusk."

"Very good, sir. I'll see you then. Thank you again for this opportunity!"

As Carnie walked back out, Mornic sagged against his chair with a sigh. "He's got a lot of energy, that one. It’s a bit tiring don’t you think?"

***** grunted in response, her mind on the suspicious look he had given her earlier. "He gave me an odd look earlier, did you catch that?"

"I didn’t. Maybe he fancies the beautiful lady sitting in a very unladylike way." Mornic winked at her as she snorted again. Mornic was the only one, besides Benjie, that could pull something even resembling a laugh from her.

"Yeah I'm sure," she said getting up from the chair and stretching her arms above her head. "If he comes tonight, see if you can get him to identify the drunkard who told him about us. We need to find him as soon as possible and deal with this problem." Her words were a bit colder than usual as she thought of the traitor and left the room.

Later that night, the pub was in full swing. About twenty men were here now but they were not as rowdy. The excitement of their score was still there but the rush that came right after escaping a raid with one's life wasn’t. An hour after the celebrations had begun, ***** noticed Carnie walk in from her usual spot in the corner. He walked in quiet, casually but also seemed to take care not to draw attention to himself. He walked around the room seeming to study the men's faces. When he was about to walk past the dark corner where ***** sat, she spoke.

"Looking for someone," she asked, not getting up from her barstool.

Carnie jumped, glancing around for a few seconds before spotting *****. He smiled sheepishly.

"Mornic, actually. I don’t know anyone here and was hoping to see a familiar face."

"Uh-huh. I see." She got off the barstool, took him by the shoulders and faced him toward the middle of the room. There, the center of attention, was Mornic, drunkenly singing a song about thieves and women. "I'm not sure how you missed him, Mister Carnie," she said quietly into his ear, "are you sure you were looking for him?"