Suddenly another servant appears, "Captain…there are some men outside the gate that wish to meet with you."

"You sure are popular today Captain.", quips Anne.

Ikku, along with Anne and Arlo, go outside and see five men on horseback with weapons outside the gate.

Anne whispers to you, "They look like the rather unsavory type…my kind of people."

The head rider calls out to Ikku, "Does this castle belong to the White Ravens? We heard a young lady by the name of Vera was seen heading in this direction. Have you seen her?"

Arlo shrugs, "Possibly, a lot of people use the main road here. We don't check on everyone that passes."

The head rider continues speaking, "It is important…she is a wanted criminal."

Anne cocks her head, "Wanted criminal huh? Don't they usually have bounties?"

The head rider nods, "Yes, there is a 50 gold piece reward for any information that helps us find her."

Anne looks over atIkku smiling, "Oh…this just got interesting". Arlo has a serious look on his face.

"Why are you looking for her?", Ikku said.

The head rider moves uneasily, "It is a personal matter. My lord wishes her to be returned. It is imperative that I find her…", he suddenly gets quiet and refuses to tell you more details; Ikku get the sense he is under orders not to divulge any more information. Ikku then said, "We have her."

The head rider looks a bit surprised, "You do? Well…why don't you bring her out then?"

Anne answers before Ikku can, "50 gold pieces are too little, she's worth at least 100 Gold pieces."

The header rider looks upset, "Fine…Fine. 100 gold pieces then. Now bring her out."

Anne goes to open the gate, but Arlo stops her and says, "Are we really doing this? She's a client."

Anne shoves Arlo back a little bit, "Says who? We never signed any contract."

"Technically we accepted payment.", Arlo replies.

Anne shakes her head, "No we confiscated goods from a wanted criminal, and we are about to get rewarded for it. Don't mess this up Arlo!"

Anne leaves before Arlo can respond. He looks over at Ikku, "Captain, come on I know we are mercenaries, but we have to keep our word, don't we?"

Before Ikku can respond Anne returns with Vera. She is holding her tight by one of her arms and dragging her toward the gate. Arlo runs down and manages to intercept them.

"Captain, call Arlo off, he is getting all knightly again.", yells Anne. Ikku decides to tell Arlo to stop.

Arlo shakes his head, "This isn't right, you know what these men will do to her after what she saw."

"Damn it Arlo, that could have been one of those easy pay days you were always talking about.", replies Anne.

Arlo suddenly looks solemn, "Look do this for me…and I…and I won't stop you from choosing the next mercenary job."

Anne raises an eyebrow, "Even if involves something unsavory?"

Arlo nods.

"What about Assassination contracts Arlo?", Ikku asked.

Arlo sighs and nods, "Even that Captain…please."

Anne thinks for a moment and discusses it with Ikku.

After some time, ikku and Anne decide he might as well cede to Arlo's request. "Fine", says Anne letting Vera go, "But now we really are in trouble, they are expecting us to bring her out."

Arlo replies, "I think I have an idea, but you're going to have to trust me."

"What's your idea?", Ikku ask.

Arlo grins, "Hopefully something that won't get us killed."

Arlo tells Anne to hide Vera in that secret compartment where she likes to store the good wine. Anne is about to ask Arlo how he knows about that when he tells her to hurry, so she leaves a bit flustered.

He then tells Ikku to go back and keep the bandits busy. He then heads toward the servant’s quarters. Ikku go back and talk to the head rider a bit more, who are beginning to come impatient.

The head rider is about to say something when suddenly he appears with someone covered in a hooded cloak and is dragging that person alongside him.

"Here she is, found her outside begging for food and shelter. Decided to give her a job in the kitchen, never expected she was a wanted criminal.", says Arlo.

The head rider looks at him suspiciously, "Remove the cloak, and let me verify it is her."

Arlo shrugs and takes the hood off cloak.

It is one of the female servants you hired a few weeks ago. She normally has brown hair, but it looks like it has recently been dyed blonde.

The head rider scoffs, "That is not her. Your wasting my time mercenary."

Arlo looks shocked, "What do you mean, she matches your description perfectly…how was I supposed to know you were looking for some other blonde woman?"

Arlo puts the hooded cloak back on her, before they can notice the dye dripping off.

The head rider is rather upset now, "We know she headed this way…if your hiding her…you will regret it."

Arlo feigns being hurt by the head rider's words, "We aren't hiding her Sir, if you don't believe me go look for yourself. We have nothing to hide."

"Very well", replies the head rider. He orders his men to do a throughout search. They come back empty handed.

The head rider is rather upset after the search yields nothing, and is about to leave when Anne yells at him, "Hey what about our reward?"

The head rider looks at her with distain, "That was if you had her, which you didn't."

Anne walks up, with her hand tightly around her sheathed sword, "You just wasted about an hour of our time mister. You should have been more specific about the girl. Give us our gold before this gets ugly."

The header rider is unsure of what to do, "The money was for information leading to her whereabouts…"

Anne nods slowly, "Exactly…and now you know she isn't here." Anne stares him down.

The head rider is unnerved by Anne and throws a bag of gold on the ground, "Here is 50 gold pieces for your time, but if you run into the little thief you best let us know."

"Thief?", whispers Arlo.

Ikku get worried that Anne is about to demand the full 100, when she nods and says, "That will do, and takes her hand off her sword."

The riders leave in a hurry.

The gang head back inside the castle. Vera looks quite worried.

Arlo comforts her. "Don't worry. They were looking for you, but we convinced them to leave. They don't know you're here."

She looks relieved.

Anne is rather upset, though. "You made us lose an easy fifty Gold Pieces, Miss. Best add that to any fees we charge for hiding you."

Arlo scowls. "Come on, Anne; we did the right thing, plus you convinced that bandit to give you some Gold."

She looks over at Arlo. "We could have gotten more Gold, and you best remember the promise you made."

Arlo nods reluctantly.

They all sit down around the table and begin to discuss the terms of the protection contract. Anne thinks that Ikku already done enough and should collect the Gold now, but Arlo disagrees.

"How long do you expect us to hide this woman…forever?" asks Anne.

Arlo shakes his head. "No…just long enough to make sure they've stopped looking for her."

Anne sighs. "That could take weeks, maybe even months!"

Vera isn't sure how to respond, and the room suddenly goes quiet.

"We'll honor the contract for one month; after that, we'll drop her off in a faraway village." , Ikku said.

Vera looks worried. "No! That…that won't do. Can't we arrange something else?"

Anne laughs. "Like what?"

Vera thinks for a moment. "Forget about protecting me, just take the five hundred Gold Pieces as payment for training and accepting me as one of your mercenaries. If that doesn't cover the expenses for training, I'll work for you until it's paid off."

Everyone is shocked at her words and goes quiet. The silence is suddenly disturbed by Anne laughing so hard she nearly falls over.

"What? I can be useful," pleads Vera.

Anne has to restrain herself from laughing further. "Do you even know how to fight, lass? Or use a weapon?"

"Well…no, but I'm a quick study," Vera replies.

Anne looks at her seriously. "What if you have to kill someone?"

Vera doesn't know quite what to say and pauses for several moments before responding. "Well, I suspect that maight happen…being a mercenary and all. It isn't something I would look forward to, but I'll do what I have to."

Anne shakes her head. "What you have to, huh? Look at how long it took you to answer that simple question. In that time, I could have sliced your throat three times over."

Anne and Arlo look over at Ikku.

Ikku then said, "Well…we are looking for more manpower, aren't we?"

Anne looks at Ikku, shocked. "Are you really considering this, Captain? What is she going to do…talk people to death?"

Arlo interrupts. "You're the one always saying we need more mercenaries, Anne, but then you complain and turn them down when they ask for large amounts of Gold up front. Not only is Vera not asking for anything up front, she's paying us to let her join."

Anne sighs. "You forgot to mention the fact that she has absolutely no fighting skill whatsoever. At least those dolts we tried to recruit in Willow Dale had fought in a few battles."

Ikku tells Anne, "She could be useful…in her own way."

"Useful in getting us killed, maybe," Anne replies.

Arlo chimes in. "Anne, does this girl look like a mercenary to you?"

Anne shakes her head. "Of course not! And no one else would ever think so, unless they were crazy or blind."

Arlo nods. "Exactly. No one would suspect her. We could use that."

Anne doesn't know what to say and seems a bit confused and angry, a look Arlo is used to seeing and even has a name for…'confangry.'

Arlo continues. "I'm not saying we put her on the front lines…but remember that one time in Ramshorn when the Captain asked you to go into town and investigate discretely?"

Anne nods. "Yeah, so?"

"Well…you weren't very discrete, and you didn't really investigate so much as beat information out of people."

Anne shakes her head. "I got tired of everybody lying to me; I knew they knew where those farmers were hiding."

"Well, Vera would make an excellent spy for us. She doesn't draw much attention, and even if she did, no one would consider her a threat," says Arlo.

Ikku nod. "You make some good points, Arlo."

Anne speaks. "Hey Cap, if you're letting this little lady join, don't blame me if she ends up getting one of us killed because she can't fight."

Ikku look at Anne. "Actually, I will blame you…because you’re the one I want to train her."

Anne looks shocked. Arlo laughs hysterically. Vera doesn't know what to do, so she gives Anne a half-smile.

"This…is…ridiculous," sighs Anne. "But you haven't strayed us wrong yet, Captain…I will do as you say."

Anne grabs a broom, breaks off the end, and hands it to Vera. "Here's your training staff, we'll start tomorrow morning."

Vera takes the makeshift staff and nods.

Anne narrows her eyes. "And don't be late."

Arlo says it's getting late, so he heads off to his quarters. Anne and Vera soon follow suit to their respective bedrooms. Soon, it's just Ikku and Redford, the advisor, who was listening to the entire conversation but didn't reveal himself until now.

"Captain, do you really intend to make that girl a mercenary?" asks Redford.

Ikku answered, "Yes."

"But why?" asks Redford. "You can't really buy what Arlo was saying about her being a good spy…it's obvious he just fancies her."

Ikku responds, "She might surprise you."

"Let’s hope so…because the mercenary life is not an easy one, especially for a young lass. I hope you know what you're doing."

Ikku nod. "I hope so too." Then, Ikku leave and head to bed. Tomorrow should prove to be an interesting day.