Shadowguard

The muffled sounds of an argument drifted down the hall. Everna heard Vina, vaguely, and Osain as well. There was a voice she didn't recognize at first, but after a moment, she realized it was Lisette yelling. Cedric's interjection fell on deaf ears, drowned out by two people talking at once.

The door opened further to reveal Wil. He stood on the threshold, glaring down the hall, his upper lip pulled back in disgust. The argument suddenly rose in volume, almost enough for her to make out what they were saying. Then, with a resounding slap, it came to an abrupt halt.

"Do I want to know?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice from wavering.

"Vina being Vina," he said. When he turned to look at her, she swore the icy look in his eyes thawed. "Don't pay her any mind. She's not winning that argument. In fact, I'm almost certain Osain just slapped the shit out of her. If Lisette didn't beat him to it. "

"It's not as if she's wrong," Everna sighed, glancing down at her hands. It didn't matter if she knew they were clean; she still expected to find them covered in blood.

He stepped fully into the room and pushed the door closed behind him. "You're not the first person to come stumbling into Shadowguard with Shroud on their ass."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Look," he pushed off the door and plopped down on the foot of her bed and, "you didn't ask for any of this. It's not because of you, it's because Shroud made you the problem."

Despite herself, she couldn't help but snort. Wil never struck her as gracious, and he certainly wasn't cordial. He was an ass, but aside from a few specific instances, it never felt truly intentional. It seemed less a conscious effort to berate and intimidate, and more of a general lack of social grace.

Leah was right; he didn't understand how to deal with people.

Or, she amended, he was one of those people where what he said and what he meant were two different things. Her brother and mother were much of the same, and once she'd let go of her reservations, she found it much easier to see past the initial acerbity. Wil, she realized, conveyed things best through action.

He had as much tact as a raging bull and he acted as if most things were too much of a hassle, but if he truly didn't care, he wouldn't bother.

Still, he made it all too easy to prod at him.

"So it's not my fault, but I'm the problem?" she asked, a brow raised. "And people say I'm too blunt."

"You get the point."

"No, I don't think I do."

Wil rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter. You look less empty-headed."

"Are you even trying anymore?"

The slight upward pull at the corners of his lips and the half-cocked brow was answer enough. It was an awkward look, a poor attempt to mask his discomfort with sarcasm. He was trying, and fully aware that he wasn't doing as good a job as he hoped.

"It's actually my fault, if it's anyone's," he admitted a few moments later. "You'd still be in Pendel if I hadn't brought you here. Vina forgets that."

"I went along with it," she argued. "I could've stayed home, but I didn't."

"Oh, I'm sure me threatening to slit your throat had nothing to do with that decision."

He wasn’t completely wrong, but she couldn't deny her part in it all. She'd promised to cooperate when the time came, and, instead, she'd tried to worm her way out of it every chance she had. In hindsight, his methods aside, she should be thankful he pushed her into it.

She'd be dead if she'd chosen otherwise. Windmore intended to frame her for Sir Swiftbrook's death; if it hadn't happened then, it would've happened, eventually. Wil only expedited those plans and in doing so, he may have spared her the noose a second time.

After another moment of silence, Wil said, "Your position is nothing new. Shroud's been doing this for centuries. It seems like it's your fault because they're actively pursuing you, but if it wasn't you, it'd be someone else. This isn't the first time they've obliterated an entire settlement to silence one of our informants."

A dry chuckle escaped her lips. "That was slightly better, but I still think you should leave the consoling to Leah."

"Fine, wallow in self-pity," he said, with a dismissive wave. "Cry yourself to sleep, for all I care."

"Ah, there we go," she said, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. "That sounds more like you."

He threw her a sideways look, then shook his head. "Leah would tell you the same thing I'm about to, except with more grace, if she were here."

"And that is?"

"Get over it."

The laughter pealed from her lips before she could stop it. She shouldn't laugh — anyone else in her position would've slapped him for saying something so insensitive — but she couldn't help it. It was so unexpectedly blunt, yet exactly what she'd expect from him.

At least he didn't threaten to punch her if she didn't laugh, as Corden once had.

"I don’t know why you think that's funny," he said, "but I'm serious. What's done is done. Feeling sorry for yourself won't change that. Actually, it's only going to make things worse. Shroud preys on people's guilt."

Her laughter subsided, and she pursed her lips. "Are you implying they burnt the village down to convince me to surrender?"

"It's one of several possibilities. Osain suspected it was a trap. It was too convenient not to be, but the information at stake was too important to overlook on the off chance that it was legitimate."

"Osain... Before we left, Osain told me whatever happened would happen for a reason," she muttered.

Wil sighed. "Osain has an uncanny ability to know what's going to happen before it does. I don't know if it's his sources or something else, but he's never wrong."

"Then why send me?"

"Best guess? He figured that was the best option. It was probably either send you to them or let them come here. At least with Vina and Lisette, who don't — or didn't, in Lisette's case — trust you, you'd be under constant supervision. Here, there's too many secluded areas where someone could've cornered you and no one would notice until it was too late."

"And without a badge, no way to get to me if something were to happen," she said.

Wil stared at her for a moment. "Yeah, actually. That... was the main concern. How did you come to that conclusion?"

It was Everna's turn to shrug. "Lisette told me how the badges work. And considering what you just told me, there's no other way to ensure I'd be both under surveillance and in a position where someone could get to me within seconds if need be."

Still, that did not explain Osain's cryptic warning. If what Wil said was true, he had to have known they would've run into Shroud. Unless he was referring to the delay, which, now that she thought of it, may have saved their lives. Had they not spent the night in the cavern, they might have been in Windhollow when Shroud launched their assault.

Had he sent them when he did, knowing that would happen?

"Wait," Everna said. "That implies Shroud knows where the safe house is."

"Oh, they do," Wil said. "They have for years, but Osain deals with the slags. Aside from Leah and I, Osain's the only one here who poses a threat, and even Shroud would think twice about trying to cross blades with the three of us, let alone just Osain."

"He's that strong?"

Wil laughed. "Anyone who knows anything about Shadowguard knows picking a fight with Osain is a death sentence. That's why we kept you here. The agents in Windhollow probably tried to take advantage of his absence. It worked to their disadvantage. We know the name of who's likely the Taskmaster in charge of the operation."

Again, that sickly feeling in her gut returned. Osain had mentioned the threat she posed to Shroud was so great that even the lower ranks knew of it, though she still couldn't understand what made her so dangerous to them. What was it about her that sent a literal death cult into a frenzied panic? It had to be something significant to justify the chaos they wrought in their attempt to kill her. Or capture her.

She wasn't even sure what they wanted with her anymore.

Not unless she wasn't the target, but a convenient means to get to the real one. The agent's actions didn't match with what the others had said of Shroud's methods. If only those directly involved with the plan knew what their part entailed, why would the agent let the name slip?

"How certain are you that Windhollow was a trap?" she asked.

"About as certain as Osain," he said. "Why?"

"A trap for who?" she pressed. "For me? Or for Osain?"

Wil fell silent once more. Then he sighed. "I didn't come in here to talk about this. It's probably the last thing you want to discuss."

"Actually, it helps," she admitted. "Which I know makes no sense, but it's like doing a puzzle. And I think I just needed to get some of it off my chest. Until a couple of days ago, you and Leah were the only two who'd give me the time of day."

She wouldn't deny it'd be nice to talk about something else for once, but it was the easiest topic, and Everna had never been good at instigating a conversation simply for the sake of talking. What else would she talk about? The weather? Vina's terrible fashion sense?

"I feel like I'm doing something productive rather than crying into my pillow like a little bitch," she continued. "You're right. I need to get over it. Pull on the big girl panties and start trying to figure this out instead of letting everyone else do it for me."

Wil laughed. Genuinely laughed. It was a strange sound that tugged at something deep within her chest. She'd heard the odd snort and the occasional chuckle, but never anything close to real laughter.

"What?" she couldn't help but ask. What had she said that was so amusing?

"I can't tell if you're still in shock or just weird," he admitted. "Though, it is weird how well you're handling this entire situation. Most people would've lost their minds by now."

"Yes, well, I just cried into my pillow and gave myself a bigger headache, so I don't think that will help me at all. What else can I do?"

"Actually, I think it's time I took teaching you to fight a little more seriously, and I hear Cedric owes you a magic lesson for not letting his sister get eaten by a cavernbrute.”