Free Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) by Honor Raconteur Page A

can do for you.”
    After letting out a long breath, Beirly looked back up, his
beard lifted up in a smile. “I’ve misjudged you, Erik Wolfinsky. You are a good
man.”
    Erik blinked at him. Had something he said struck a chord in
the man?
    “Now, finally, I get it. I understand what Siobhan saw when
she looked at you.” Shaking his head at himself, Beirly muttered under his
breath, “It’s borderline magic, those eyes of hers.”
    “Is she truly never wrong?” Erik couldn’t help but ask.
    “Not once since we were children. Boggles my mind how she
does it. Gives me grey hairs sometimes, too.” A twinkle appeared in his eyes.
“Like when she insists on buying former dark guildsmen off a black market slave
train.”
    Erik snorted, seeing the humor in the situation now. “Aye, I
still think she’s crazy for doing that. Even if it’s me she bought.”
    “You set a bad precedent,” Beirly mock complained,
half-seriously. “Since she succeeded with you, now she’ll think she can do it
again.”
    His eyes went wide with horror as his imagination conjured
up future scenarios. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
    “I’m not. I’m dead certain she’ll do this again. It might be
years later, but she will. I’ll bet my beard on it.” Already resigned, Beirly
put his hands against his knees and pushed himself to his feet. “Well,
regardless, the hand fits you well. Now, I suppose I’ll start in on your true
hand.”
    Not about to stop the man, Erik waved him on and headed out.
In the doorway, he paused and turned back to ask, “I haven’t seen Siobhan or
Grae all morning. Where are they?”
    “Oh, them? They left early this morning. Grae spends his
spare time building paths so we can take on more clients. Siobhan decided to
help him today.”
    The blood drained out of Erik’s face as the full meaning of
that sank in. “You mean to tell me that those two are outside of Goldschmidt’s
walls, on their own, building pathways?”
    “Right,” Beirly confirmed, puzzled by Erik’s reaction. “Is
there a problem?”
    “Wind and stars, man, that’s dangerous work to do without
any protection!” Erik felt like swearing, only couldn’t think of any words
strong enough. “Which way? Which way were they going?”
    “Ah?” Beirly looked toward the ceiling as he tried to recall.
“South side. I think Grae wanted to build a path towards Winziane.”
    Now knowing everything he needed to, Erik spun on his heel
and sprinted out of the Hall. The street outside was busy with mid-morning
traffic, so he had to pay attention to avoid running into something or
plastering himself against the side of a wagon. As he ran, a steady stream of
curses ran through his head. Seriously, what were those two thinking?! Being
inside of a city was bad enough, but if true danger broke out, the city guild
enforcers would step in. Outside of the city, there were absolutely no rules or
anyone to turn to for safety.
    Even as he ran, he knew what had happened. Siobhan was
worried about Grae going out on his own, so to safeguard him, she’d gone along.
And true, two were safer than one. But it probably didn’t occur to her to call
Erik, because he was still too new in her life. Out of sheer habit, she took on
the burden of protecting her friend. He was going to have to break this way of
thinking with her, and with Grae, or they’d get themselves into serious trouble
when he wasn’t around.
    It took precious minutes to get out the south gate, and then
another minute for him to find the two. They were several hundred yards out
past the gate, off the beaten highway, kneeling on the ground with their heads
buried in their work. Neither of them paying the slightest bit of attention to their
surroundings.
    They did this regularly?  The idea terrified him.
“Siobhan! Grae!” he called, not slacking his pace.
    Both looked up, Grae having to shield his eyes to see who
approached. Siobhan had her back toward the sun, so saw him and waved in