Spencer showed up at his window that night with a bright grin on his face and the demand for Vincent to wear shoes this time. No one should look that excited about sneaking into someone’s office but it was nothing new for Spencer. The familiar thrill shot through Vincent as he climbed from the window and followed him down towards the dock houses again. 

It felt like years since he had done anything remotely like what he did on the road. He was still waiting for the right time to take something from the manor, something that would go unnoticed for a while. There was so much he could take from any of the rooms. Even a single vase would get him enough food for a week if they were from Nuran like he suspected.

They ducked through the back gate, but when they reached Nicholas’s office, they found the candles lit in the room, the man’s shadow cast against the opposite wall. It was late, close to midnight when Spencer stopped by his room to get him to sneak out, but for whatever reason, the advisor was still wide awake. 

They were huddled at the corner of the manor, watching the window in irritation. They could easily wait for Nicholas to leave, but there weren’t any good places to hide where they wouldn’t be caught by the people patrolling. They couldn’t afford to wait any longer than a few minutes and in those few minutes, Nicholas didn’t leave his office. 

Spencer cursed loudly. “We have to try again tomorrow,” he whispered. It was easy to tell that he was infuriated, that he wanted to be in there discovering what he could, but it would have to wait. 

“It’s going to be alright,” Vincent said, for lack of anything else to say and looked over his shoulder at the back gate. They were clear to go, but a part of him longed to wait just a little bit longer. With a sigh, he tugged at the sleeve of Spencer’s shirt. “You’re right, there’s always tomorrow.”

Spencer pulled his arm away and walked back towards the gate, leaving Vincent to hurry after him. This time, there were no guards to almost run into them as they left, but Vincent had to stop it from slamming shut. Spencer was stomping ahead of him, not caring who saw or heard. 

Vincent grabbed him by the shoulder once they reached the dock houses, spinning him around. “Spencer, you need to calm down, we’ll get caught if you’re not careful,” he hissed. He’d never seen such rage on his face before. Usually, Spencer was carefree and joking, someone who couldn’t care less about how his actions affected people, but since they had arrived in New Feridian, he had been genuinely angry more times than Vincent could count. He’d been angrier than Vincent, who had made a habit of his rage over the years. 

He seemed to realise that Vincent was telling the truth, and took a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

Nicholas was treating him like someone from the native tribes, the exact people Spencer had tried to shun, that was what was going on with him, but Vincent didn’t dare say that. “It’s alright. Let’s just get some sleep,” he replied and resisted the urge to pull Spencer along with him. 

Spencer was muttering under his breath as they headed back towards the dock houses and Vincent’s open window, just loud enough for him to hear. Angry hisses about Nicholas, about their situation, about taking the job in the first place that Vincent couldn’t help but agree with. 

“Spencer,” he said, but cut himself off when the other man turned. He had been about to comfort him, to tell him everything was going to be alright, but the words felt false. “Who is Ignatius Bowers to you? Your father?”

It hadn’t been the question he’d wanted to ask in the moment, but it was the only thing to come tumbling out of his mouth. Spencer glared at him, shock on his face. Maybe he’d thought that Vincent hadn’t been able to tell he was lying, but somehow, it had been obvious. “No,” he finally said. “My younger brother.”

“You have a brother?” he asked. There was so much he didn’t know about Spencer and yet, he knew more than anyone else. Part of him was curious and he knew why, but at the same time, all Spencer tended to do was irritate enough that Vincent couldn’t stand to be in his presence. 

“Not that he considers me one,” he answered with a choked laugh. “Father took a wife after I came along, the mistake. I ran away after a few years, didn’t see the point in being the hidden spare. I wasn’t too good at looking after myself though. I was planning on going back until I met you.”

“Me?”

But Spencer didn’t say a word. He gave Vincent a smile that caused heat to spread through his cheeks. Thankfully, in the darkness of the night, Spencer wouldn’t be able to see it. The fact that it was there in the first place was irritating, but it wasn’t the first time. Spencer might be someone he’d rather not spend much time with but he was still attractive. Attractive and very confusing. 

Instead of following him to his room like he had the last time, Spencer walked off when they reached the dormitory building. There was a part of Vincent that wanted to follow him and make sure that he was going to be alright, but then he was reminded of all the times they fought, of Spencer stealing from him before he was offered the job. He could sit there on his own and suffer. Vincent might be kinder than he ever was, but he wasn’t going to go and look after someone who didn’t care about him.

That was what was going through his mind as he drifted off to sleep, but there was still a voice in the back of his mind that asked if Spencer was going to be alright. He hated that voice. They weren’t supposed to be friends, they hated each other, they always had. Things couldn’t change just because they were working together on whatever was going on in the Governor’s manor. 

When he awoke the next morning, he vowed to at least check on Spencer and make sure he wasn’t doing something he’d regret. Spencer wasn’t always the easiest to find. Vincent had no idea where his room was and wasn’t about to ask anyone milling about the place. He checked the communal kitchen but he wasn’t there, nor was he outside smoking a pipe. 

He gave up after that and settled down to eat breakfast. Henricks came by to give him his post for the day and while part of him had hoped that he would be able to watch over the Governor again, he was more than relieved when he was given gate duty. After smoking a quick pipe, the effect of the vireen from Nicholas’s office having finally worn off, he headed for the manor. 

He stood with Mira again but for once she was quiet, focused on doing her job, much to his relief. She didn’t try to ask him about the day before, probably not seeing much point. He didn’t think he could deal with someone who talked too much, not after years of Spencer’s constant rambling and teasing. But at the same time, the silence was unnerving. 

For the first couple of hours, it was uneventful. A few guards walked through to get to their shifts, none of them Spencer, and a horse-drawn cart with a shipment of food had to be led to the back door of the kitchens. Other than that, there was nothing to see. But at least it gave him a chance to watch over the city for a while. 

Not that there was much to see of it from the manor. Most of Ilsania was flat land and so all he saw were the same wood and brick buildings blending into each other. In the distance, people wandered the streets, but none headed up the dirt road towards the manor. Despite it being the home of the person who ran the entire province, it felt secretive and empty, closed off from the rest of the city. 

Footsteps in the garden made him stand at attention. At first, he thought it was the Governor, but they were far too heavy to be her. “Mister Mortimer,” a gruff voice said behind him. Nicholas stood there, his arms crossed over his chest. “Governor Thompson has requested your presence.”

Another guard stood behind him, ready to take Vincent’s place. With a sigh, he nodded and followed the advisor, nervousness pooling in his stomach. They didn’t head towards the manor, but over to the stables, where a group of guards stood talking and laughing. A familiar face stood among the pack, a bright grin pulling at his lips. 

Despite the vireen in their systems, none of them noticed Nicholas until he cleared his throat. All of them froze and spun towards their boss, sheepish expressions on the faces of the younger ones. Spencer caught sight of Vincent behind him and waved, looking a lot happier than he had the night before. It only confused Vincent more. How had he stopped Spencer from going back to his family? When they’d met, he’d been sick with the flu, then he’d stolen from him and ran away.  

“Mister Bowers, with me,” Nicholas said. “The rest of you, get back to work.”

The grin on Spencer’s face dropped as they walked into the manor, but Vincent didn’t reassure him. It shouldn’t be possible, but there was always the potential that they had figured out about the two of them sneaking around. Even with Spencer’s anger, they had been careful to not be spotted by anyone. 

Charlotte sat at her desk when they entered her office on the second floor, two other guards in the room with her. She smiled at them but looked just as tired as she had the day before. Without saying a word, she gestured for them to sit in the two chairs in front of her desk, which only made the sinking feeling in Vincent’s stomach worse. 

“Sorry to call you here out of the blue, boys,” she said, her hands clasped together on the desk. “But I have a new job for you. I’m supposed to head out towards some of the southern towns to personally check on some of our projects and I wanted to request that the two of you become part of the guard while we’re there.”

“Why us?” Vincent asked, briefly glancing at Nicholas, who looked less than pleased with the news. 

“Most of my guards were raised in New Feridian, they don’t have much experience with the other towns. You do,” Charlotte explained. 

Spencer hummed, leaning back in his seat. “Vince and I spent most of our time in the western towns, not the southern ones,” he said. 

“Isn’t that close enough?” Nicholas snapped, glaring at them. For the person who had suggested hiring them in the first place, he didn’t want them anywhere near him. It wasn’t hard to tell why. They were supposed to be spares and yet, they were spending quite a bit of time at the Governor’s side. “You can’t exactly refuse.”

“No, but I’m allowed to question,” Spencer said, raising an eyebrow at Nicholas tauntingly. 

At least they hadn’t been caught, but leaving New Feridian meant that it would be a long time before they would be able to sneak into Nicholas’s office again. He pursed his lips, his fingers clutching tightly to the arms rests. There was nothing he could do about it, but it meant Spencer could possibly learn more from Charlotte while they were away. They both could. 

“The only issue is that there are quite a few native tribes near the towns we will be going to,” Charlotte said, her kind smile dropping into a frown. “Nicholas has told me that there have been quite a few attacks on these towns by these tribes and that there might be more while we are there. You will have to be prepared for that.”

“Of course, ma’am-” Vincent started. 

“Charlotte.”

“Of course, Charlotte.”

Nicholas cleared his throat again, his arms still crossed over his chest. “It should also be noted that the other guards will be keeping an eye on you. This is not an opportunity to try to run off, you have a duty to Governor Thompson now, stick to it,” he said. 

“Trust me,” Spencer said with a scoff. “If we wanted to run off, we would have by now.”

That wasn’t going to help them at all, but neither of their bosses appeared to look too deeply into the words. “We leave tomorrow morning. I’m sorry it’s such short notice, I had only thought to bring you along this morning,” Charlotte told them, leaning back in her seat. “We will be gone for a few weeks at least, so be prepared. You’ll still be given gold and vireen at the usual time.”

He hadn’t even gotten his first payment of gold, but he wasn’t going to say anything yet. As for the vireen, after what had happened in Nicholas’s office, he still had enough to last him a few more days. He hadn’t been smoking as much as he should have either in the hopes that he would be able to save up a little for when he was going to leave. 

“You’ve got the rest of the day off to pack your things and get ready,” Nicholas told them, tapping his foot against the hardwood floor. “I expect to see you both at the manor gate at sunrise tomorrow, understand?”

They were dismissed before either of them could give a word of confirmation, shuffled out the door with the excuse of important affairs to go over with Charlotte. Vincent found that he didn’t care too much, he just wanted to get out and get ready. It would be good to leave New Feridian for a while, even if he had only been there for a week, but he was worried about what that would mean for Spencer and the rock in Nicholas’s desk drawer. 

They walked down the stairs and out of the manor together in silence, despite Vincent’s longing to say something. As the hot spring air hit his face, he turned towards Spencer. “You seem to be doing better,” he said. 

The moment Spencer grinned at him, he regretted speaking. “I’m always better with you around, Vincent, didn’t you know?” he asked, looking far too proud of himself. 

“If that was the case, you wouldn’t have acted the way you did last night,” he replied. He wasn’t in the mood for Spencer’s stupid quips. 

The other man sighed, glancing down at the tulips around them. “I’m not one of them,” he mumbled. 

“I know.” Vincent thought back to their conversation the day they arrived at the manor. “You know it’s not an issue for me. I’ll rob you any day, mask or no mask.”

That, at least, made him laugh. “As long as there’s one person who doesn’t care. I’m going to go pack. I’ll see you later, Vince,” he said and started down the path to the gate. He stopped after a few steps and turned back, a sad smile on his face. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Vincent muttered as Spencer walked away. Things had changed between them since they’d arrived in the city and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. They usually didn’t have such conversations unless they were drunk, when it could be passed off as the drink getting to them.  

He needed a distraction for an hour or so, then he could try and figure out what they were going to do while they were with the Governor. He still wanted to learn what exactly he had found in the drawer the other night, but that wasn’t going to be possible for a long time. It was as if Nicholas had somehow known, even though it wasn’t possible.