“Are you serious? I’d have assumed you of all people to be against it.” Nyx sat at the bar, Ryle by her side. She had a simple bowl of trail mix in front of her whilst she spoke to Ginny. Ryle held a tankard in his hand, taking a long swig of the ale within it.

“I, of all people, know how capable you are Nyx.” Ginny took away the bowl that Nyx was snacking from. Her eyes widened in annoyance. “And so long as Tor gives Argo the go ahead I think you should go with him.”

“Give those back.”

“You’ve eaten three of these so far, I’m cutting you off.”

“So you honestly think it's worth it? The guy is hardly paying me enough to go on a normal job, this has a changer involved.”

“Oh, no, definitely increase your price. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than eight crowns.”

“Do you think I could increase my price?” Ryle chimed in from the side, his cheeks were lightly flushed, having drunk far too much for this early in the day.

“I think that’s enough for you.” Ginny grabbed the mug and stashed it away.

“But-”

“And to answer your question, likely not. You already agreed to go and from what Nyx here tells me you are being protected by him.” He stared off, abject disappointment plastered on his face. He glanced down before grabbing the book he had retrieved from the ruins by Galad and began to read through the pages. It was hard to understand the foreign language, but the weeks he had been studying it were finally paying off.

“Anyway, back to me though master. So your suggestion is to just bleed him dry?” The ghost of a smile seemed to dance on Nyx’s impassive face. A wide grin split across Ginny’s.

“Who exactly are you intending to bleed dry?” Argo hobbled over from the ladder. It had been well over five hours since he had first gone to speak to the master.

“Gods Argo, what happened to you?” Ryle lifted his face from the page it had been buried within. His face dropped as he saw the bandages which covered Argo’s ruined shirt, the only truly intact piece of clothing he wore was the heavy green cloak slumped over his shoulders. Nyx turned as Ryle finished speaking, the look of confusion on her face instantly changing to worry.

“I’m fine. The Master and I just had a little disagreement.” Nyx leapt from the chair and rushed to Argo’s side. Her pale blue eyes scanned his body.

“Tor always takes it too far.” Ginny chimed in from behind the bar shaking her head lightly.

“Ar?” Nyx’s voice croaked. She lightly prodded the area of his ribs which had been tightly bound in bandages. His eyes widened as he struggled to stifle a wince. “You idiot.” Her face scrunched up. Argo looked down at her, a smile crossing his face for a moment. “Why on earth would you pick a fight with Tor!”

“It’s fine, I’ll be all good by the time I get to the Central province.”

“You can’t possibly be going in that condition? Master, tell him that he can’t go!” She turned around, an expectant look on her face.

“I’ll be fine.” Argo moved towards the bar, wincing as he pulled himself up to a seat. “To think though. You hardly spoke to me the first few days of travel and now you're worried about me. It means a lot, Nyxie.” A smile played on his lips as he emphasised the name that Ginny had called her earlier. He turned to look at Nyx as a violet red blush spread across her face from ear to ear. 

“You ass!” She brought her arm back and punched him hard in the shoulder. “Don’t call me that.”

“Ow, why not? Ginny calls you it.” Her attention quickly turned towards her master.

“So Ar, where are we headed next?” Ryle laid the book he held down on the counter in front of him.

“To pay Knowledge a visit.”

“You mean that Knowledge?” He asked, eyeing the book on the table. The two of them continued to speak, ignoring Nyx’s failing attempts to run Ginny through with a knife.

“Yeah. He’s in the Central province according to my master.” 

“We did kill a bunch of the people working under him, is it smart to go visit him? And what does he have to do with what happened to your parents?”

“You mean the people me and Nyx killed? If I remember right you did a lot of watching in that fight.” A slight laugh escaped Ryle’s mouth, Argo felt hollow at it. How many more people would need to die before he got revenge? Each time he killed someone he felt the tightening of the noose around his neck, he drew closer to the cliff's edge. His master had told him and Cinn once that whoever killed should expect to one day be killed. Those words felt more and more true with each step he took towards his goal. “But no, it’s definitely not smart to go visit him, it is the only choice I see open to me though. In regards to why? I’ll give you the information after we leave.” 

“That should teach you a lesson girl.” Ginny stood over Nyx, her arm pressed to her back and her jaw biting into the wooden floor. “Even while rusty I'm twice the fighter you are.” She groaned from the floor, held in place by a haphazard lock. If she fought the hold much her shoulder would dislocate. Ginny took the knife that Nyx had been attacking her with and laid it down on the table.

“Heading to see Knowledge are you? Surprised that Tor is letting ya.”

“He didn’t want to. Got him to relent eventually.”

“That must be quite the story. I’ll make sure to ask him about it later.” Argo smiled. 

Nyx came to her feet, her hair falling down messily around her. She wore a frown, Ginny had handedly beat her in their little skirmish. A strand of hair clung to her forehead, hanging down just in front of her eye towards her mouth, she blew it free. 

“So Nyxie, are you going to come with us?” Anger surged on her face, held for a moment and then faded almost entirely. She returned to the chair she had been sitting on.

“I guess.” She glanced at Argo, a smile returning to her face

“Perfect, we’ll leave first thing in the morning.

“Are you sure you can travel in that condition?” Ginny chimed in from behind the counter.

“I’ll make it work.” He feigned a confident look, in truth he was worried. His injuries were quite considerable, he more than likely wouldn’t be able to ride on horseback. He hoped that Ryle’s knowledge would be able to keep his speed up, but in truth he was unsure. 

“Come to the kitchen. I’ll clean up those cuts on your face.”

“Thanks,” he shot back as he moved around the bar and into the kitchen behind it, leaving Ryle and Nyx to talk amongst themselves. He could see Verin approaching the pair as he passed behind the door, his guard duty more than likely having finished.

“Take a seat there. I’m going to go fetch a needle and some wire.” She walked off and returned a bit later with a needle threaded with simple gut wire. She held his face lightly as she brought the needle close to one of the deep cuts which had been left from his frozen tears.

“She’s changed so much.”

“Who? Nyx?”

“Yeah, she hardly spoke to anyone other than me before she left.”

“Is that not a good thing? Bonds are weaknesses.”

“Yes. And I made sure she knew that. But they are to a degree strength.” Argo winced as she brought the needle a bit too deep into his flesh. “Stay still.”

“I assumed you were the reason she was so withdrawn.”

“I definitely played a role in it, but even before beginning her apprenticeship, she was reserved.”

“Is that why you told her to come with us?”

“In part. The girl has been sheltered her entire life, it’s good for her to see the world. You are making moves against some dangerous people Argo, make sure she is safe. If she gets hurt and you walk out scott-free Tor himself won’t save you from me.”

“Understood. I’ll keep her safe.” He smiled, sparing a glance back at her through the kitchen door. She was arguing with Verin. Ryle sat watching them with a smile on his face. “Why do you care for her so much? She was only your student for a handful of weeks no? She came and was initiated all during my mission to kill the lady of Delva.”

“I have my reasons. Just like I’m sure you have your own reasons for looking at her like that.” He glanced down, his cheeks tinging with red. “Come on Argo, you're not fooling anyone… Well maybe her. But it’s plain to see.”

The soft strum of a lute began. Ryle was playing music. A short few moments rhythmic clapping began. Argo didn’t need to turn his head to see it was Nyx. He knew how often she did this, he had become accustomed to it when Ryle played for them whilst travelling. She really had changed a lot. “Is it really that obvious?” 

“Why else would you fight for her to stay with you lot? She’s good, but there are plenty of other trackers you could get to replace her.”

“I get it, I get it. Now keep going, I don’t have all day.” He winced as she brought the needle back through.

“I’d be done by now if you didn’t keep moving. Stay still.”