That was enough to make Vincent stop in the middle of the path for a second. The Governor, the person who ran the entire province, couldn’t afford to hire her own gardeners. It didn’t make any sense at all, but nothing had since he had been hired. It wasn’t his business to figure it out though. He wasn’t supposed to care.

“Oi, come on!” Spencer called from the doorway of the manor. Pushing the thoughts away, Vincent walked up the small set of stairs and followed the pair into the foyer.

Charlotte took them upstairs this time around and Vincent cursed at himself for expecting something grand once again. She had just said that she didn’t have the money for gardeners, why would she have the money to make her home lavishly decorated? It was the same as the rest of the manor, white painted walls and clear glass windows, the occasional vase of flowers decorating the halls and rooms.

“So, Charlotte, what is it like being the Governor of a place like Morgot?” Spencer asked. It was immediately obvious what his attempts at little jokes and polite conversation had been trying to do. He wanted information. Hadn’t he said back on the road that he was curious about what was happening to the money? Spencer wasn’t the most subtle of people, but he was making it far too obvious.

She shrugged again, one corner of her lips quirked up in a knowing smile. “What is it like being a ranger?” she asked.

“Hard,” he answered without hesitation.

“Well, there’s your answer,” Charlotte said. “It’s hard. I have been attacked, I have a threat looming over my head and while I’m dealing with that, I have to make sure that Morgot is running perfectly well for our Queen in Nuran. It’s… Well, it’s about as difficult as you’d expect it to be.”

That was probably the first time anyone had asked her how she was dealing with it all. As far as he was aware, Charlotte had taken over as Governor only six years ago, when her father had passed away. She probably had a lot to get out in the air, but Vincent couldn’t find it in himself to care about any of her worries, not when she lived in such a place, not when her biggest money troubles were about hiring gardeners and not whether or not she would be able to eat that night.

She disappeared into a room not far from the stairs with the promise that she would return in a few minutes. An awkward silence fell over the hall as the two rangers stood on either side of the door. Vincent had no idea how long they stood there, but questions rang in his mind that he needed to ask Spencer.

He never got a chance to ask them. The door opened again, revealing Charlotte, who was dressed in a similar dress to the one she had just removed, but it was a pale green with far less dirt on the apron. “Come along,” she said. “The meeting is downstairs. I’ve got a bunch of orchard runners and farmers to talk to. I’m just going to hear the same thing I’ve been hearing for months. Not enough food, not enough money. But no one seems to understand that Nuran isn’t helping much anymore, not where there aren’t as many vireen transports.”

The meeting room sat in the hall at the end of the foyer, but Vincent didn’t get to see the inside of it. The second they reached the bland wooden door, they were ordered to stand outside of the room until the meeting was over. The only thing Vincent saw was the scowl Nicholas shot them from behind Charlotte’s shoulder as she closed the door on them.

At least he might finally have the chance to ask Spencer the many questions he had echoing in his mind. He waited for a few minutes after the sound of muffled voices started, before turning to the younger man. “What are you doing?” he asked, hissing it under his breath. “How sneaky do you think you are right now?”

“Not very, but I don’t care about it,” Spencer replied with a shrug. “What are you trying to do, acting so serious? I didn’t think you’d actually like this job.”

For some reason, the words stung. “I don’t. I’m just trying to gain their trust so I can steal from them without being caught,” he replied, hoping they wouldn’t be able to hear him through the door. He was playing a long game, but there were so many things that would get him hundreds of gold pieces when he eventually left, he just had to be patient.

The mocking pout on Spencer’s lips made anger curl in his stomach. “Am I ruining that for you?” he asked, amusement in his eyes.

“Are you taking this seriously at all?” he snapped. They were in the middle of the Governor’s manor, two criminals, and Spencer was acting like it was any other day.

“Of course I am,” Spencer hissed back, rolling his eyes at him. “Not everyone has to stand there and act like the big serious bodyguard. I’m here for gold and vireen, that’s all.”

“Oh, so you’re not trying to figure out what’s going on with the money and the food?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at him. “You told me that was what you were trying to do. I just thought you’d be a bit more discreet about it.”

Spencer shrugged, uncaring. “So what if I am? I thought you weren’t interested in all of that.”

“I’m not, but I don’t want to lose my job. I need this money. So do you, you said so yourself.” Even as he said it, he couldn’t help but disagree with himself. He was a little curious, but only because it was affecting him too. He wasn’t going to go out of his way to find out what was going on. The less he was involved with the Governor, the happier he would be.

“You’re not going to lose your job because of me,” Spencer said in the same uncaring tone. “Let me deal with this. You’ll get your money and I’ll get my answers, simple as that.”

“I didn’t realise you cared so much, Spencer,” he said, letting a tired sigh escape his throat.

The glare Spencer shot him hurt, but he couldn’t figure out why. “Things change, people change. I couldn’t give two shits about the people in the towns, but I am allowed to worry about the country I live in, you know,” he snapped. “Now shut up if you’re so worried about your damn job.”

It was such a sharp contrast to the conversation they’d had the day before, the one that had made a home in Vincent’s dreams, repeating itself over and over again. He had actually angered Spencer, which was hard to do. He should have kept his mouth shut for once instead of letting curiosity get the better of him again.

Instead of speaking again and potentially making things worse, he stayed silent, eyes locked on the white paint on the wall in front of him. It was easier to listen to the muffled discussion behind the door than to listen to his thoughts, which were full of regret that he didn’t want to acknowledge. Like he’d said before, he and Spencer weren’t friends, no matter how well they knew each other, and they never would be.