Vestin was right about one thing, the money would keep him happy during the winter.

And fed.

The lack of funds was partly due to the skirmishes against the goblins South of Tribute. Fighting goblins requires more soldiers, more soldiers means more expenses.

More expenses means extra tax.

And to add to the extra tax everyone was paying, he knew that the noble was exacting even more tax against him purely because he refused to take a personal interest in killing the goblins himself.

Emmet did not care much for the noble.

Even if he heard a person was killed by them during a raid, he still couldn’t bring himself to become personally involved against the goblins.

And with each death came the feelings of partial responsibility, but helping out the noble in any of his causes would be akin to pulling out his own fingernails.

That being said, the nobles tactics of over taxing him were working, he was broke and getting desperate.

He was pleased to see Vestin though, he had a feeling something was up last night. As he lay in bed, listening to the rain come down hard on the roof, he could feel the presence of change occurring.

Like the one he had before discovering the treachery of the noble.

He had often been told he could see into the future, and there was a degree of truth to it, but it was only by a day or so and it always was a warning of trouble ahead for him personally.

If he was forewarned about the troubles of others, or had vision enough to see further ahead, he might find it of some use.

Even with the foresight, he found he could rarely change the occurrence away.

This in itself left a bitter taste in his mouth. Having a gift to see things coming without the ability to do much to avoid it felt more a curse than anything else.

It often left him feeling helpless, that things were more predetermined than people wanted to believe.

So knowing Vestin was on the way was a good thing, but the foreboding that came with it was not.

As he loaded the horse with his chain mail and leather armour, he was also beginning to think about why he was prepared to sacrifice so much to not defend his own race against marauding goblins yet was prepared to assist an elven stranger.

Elves, it had to be said, were more than happy to turn their back on people all those years ago. And more recently had become more aggressive against anyone wandering even a little into Alra Forest.

Not killing people, but certainly punishment beyond what was considered normal for elves.

And now an elf was inside Tribute.

She wanted assistance to travel through human territory.

And there was the secrecy.

He didn’t need premonitions to tell him something was not right there. But the heavy feeling inside was wide awake and screaming none the less, yet behind the screaming there was something else.

Hope?

He had loaded the horses with the gear.

“This is a good horse” he thought, “Vestin needs to like his one a bit more though”

He walked to the door of the barn to yell out to Vestin to get outside, he was enjoying Gail’s food and company. He always did. But since the sense of urgency was building up in his stomach, he wasn’t going to allow a prolonged stop over this time.

He saw Vestin coming out the back door. As he approached Emmet looked over to his three young children playing in the back fields near the river.

He had said his goodbyes earlier, knowing full well he would be leaving late last night; he took the time in the morning to say his goodbyes. They seemed to accept the absences, and now when he said he was off for a few weeks it seemed to be a normal part of life.

For Emmet, he hated not seeing them, but what could he do? He had to feed them, the animals, and provide for the farm workers.

The funds just were not there, and Vestin had come to save the day with this job and regardless of its nature, the result would be survival through the winter.

When Vestin came in, smiles and a swagger, he pointed to his horse.

Vestin stopped instantly, smile falling away and said, “Oh man, I can’t believe you still have that horse.”

Emmet smiled, knowing the horse was good but, for some reason, it was not overly fond of Vestin. Even with the tension, the horse behaved most of the time, and always when in transit.

“I figure you need to work on your relationship with her, she is a good horse, figure out how to treat her well and maybe she will treat you well”

“If there is trouble, I am jumping off her”

“Then you should be fine considering this job is expecting no trouble”

Vestin mounted the horse, it was a bit tetchy about it but abided.

“I bet you are happy to not have to walk back” Emmet said.

“Mate, I haven’t ridden a horse in since spring, somehow I think my ass would prefer the walk”

As they trotted off the farm they said no more. They went down the road along the tree lined path and towards Tribute. They would be there soon enough, before lunch.

After a short while, once the farm workers and locals were less frequently passing by with their polite hellos, Emmet asked “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“Mate, of course it does, a decade since they turned their back on us against the Sujo, and since then the punishments for intruding on “their” land.” He paused to think before adding “Look, I’m not one for politics, all I know is we are both being screwed for money. This job is paying well and we both know it will be dangerous. But so what? Your “good” noble will never stop his antics against you and while he does you need the extra money. And let me remind you, you still haven’t told me what the hell is up with that.”

“And for now” Emmet said, “it will stay that way”

“Hey, fine with me, like I said, I dislike politics anyway” he paused again. Vestin always tried to think before talking, “The elf, she isn’t normal. Something is up with the elves, I have no idea what, but this elf knows something and I get the feeling she is trying to do something good. I will assist her to get to where she wants, I will escort her back into Alra Forest, and I will also enjoy the spoils of the reward afterwards.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less my friend”

“Emmet, how do you feel about this one?”

He considered the horse’s mane carefully, as if the right answer was hidden within it. “She is trouble for us. But like you, I think we want her kind of trouble, although our reasons are different. There is a need for a shake up around here anyway; maybe the elves want the same thing.”

Vestin nodded his agreement then stated “Politics.” He looked at his old friend and added “Hey, maybe we will pick the right side this time around”. He laughed at his own joke.

Emmet smiled as well, god knows last time they could have picked the better side rather than the winning one.

“Well,” Emmet said, “let’s see if we have learnt anything since then”

“Somehow I think you already have, and this time, like the last, I suppose I will have to stand by your side to protect your frail butt”

“In your present condition, I think I will be better off hiding behind yours” Emmet joked.

Vestin laughed heartedly at his condition. “A few weeks of travel and sword play will remove the excess fat; let’s hope we don’t get too many problems that last more than a few minutes”

Emmet had a feeling they would be lucky to get two days with an elf untroubled. He was considering getting Nadir; you could never have too many swords with political secret agents roaming the land.

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