Free Blood of the Redd Guard - Part One by Dan Decker

lock turn. The door creaked open.
    Kyson stood on the other side holding a lantern, he gave her a huge smile, his blonde hair was cropped short to his head and he wore the clothes of a scribe well. “We figured you wouldn’t show and gave up waiting an hour ago.” He was a tall man that had somehow managed to keep his former soldier physique even though he’d worked for Semal for a number of years since refusing the oaths. Nelion had tried to get him to talk about why he hadn’t taken the oaths but he wasn’t inclined to speak about his time in the army. She didn’t even know which army he’d served in.
    “I’ve been banging on the door long enough that I was afraid it was going to come off its hinges.” Nelion’s annoyance disappeared in the face of his smile so she took off the edge in her tone with a smile of her own.
    “I’d apologize,” Kyson said, his lips spread wider on his face as his smile grew, “but you’re late.”
    “Sorry about that,” Nelion said, glancing at her feet. “My mother was waiting for me and wouldn’t let me pass without a long drawn out conversation.”
    “No worries,” Kyson said, giving her a knowing look. Nelion had mentioned to him that her mother was disappointed that she’d left Korew army. There was something about that smile of his that had made her open up to him, not many people could get her to do that. “You won’t believe how boring this is, it’s much worse than normal.” He smiled at her again. “I’m glad you showed up, I could use the company.”
    “What exactly are we doing?” Nelion repressed a sigh as she followed Kyson into the building and found herself in a small room; she looked around while he locked the door. His lantern cast everything in shadow. Something scuffled somewhere ahead in the dark; it sounded like a rat and made her glad she wasn’t alone. The room was lined with bookshelves that went to the ceiling. The musty smell of old books and leather along with something else she wasn’t able to identify hung heavy in the air. The bookshelf across from the door was full, top to bottom with books. The one to the left had books as well, but interspersed throughout were also a number of small figurines, pottery, and other small curiosities. There were books, scrolls and other items in the one on the right.
    “Just sifting through ledgers like Semal told us about, looking for irregularities.”
    “Irregularities? Of what?”
    “Anything that looks odd or doesn’t add up.” Kyson locked the door. “Semal is convinced that there are codes hidden within the transactions.” He shook his head. “I’m afraid that he’s losing it, so far the only thing I’ve found is a couple of piglets that were purchased and then sold again. The dates don’t match up. The chronological order looked to be correct, but the date when the pigs were sold again is off.” Kyson shrugged. “Semal was excited. It just looked like a mistake to me.”
    “He’s not crazy, but the whole thing does sound odd.” Her eyes focused on the center of the room where there was a round table that had been carved with flowers and leaves. The base of which looked like the paws of a large feline animal and the tabletop rotated between slats of dark and lighter colored wood. There were three leather chairs around it with a fourth pulled over to the wall.
    It looked as though somebody had been standing on the chair to reach a book, a dubious use of the antique chair that looked as if it would fall apart if somebody too heavy were to sit on it. “I love this table!” She studied it as best she could in the shadows, she’d have to come back sometime in the day to get a better look.
    Kyson looked at where she was pointing and shook his head. “Come on, sooner started is sooner done. I’d like to get a few hours of sleep tonight.”
    Mold! she thought as she followed him out of the room. That was the smell she hadn’t been able to identify. The archives smelled moldy.