Chương 4: Chapter 3: The Watch

They moved before any more doubt could take hold, parting ways only long enough to give the night room to breathe. An hour later, they reconvened, Jack had enough time to change and equip himself properly, and for Seraphine to meet with Harris once more and ensure nothing in the arrangement had shifted. If time had not been a factor, Jack might have refused the request outright. He would have asked more questions. Pressed harder at the edges.

Taken the situation apart piece by piece until it either held together or revealed where it didn't. But time was a factor. Before they parted ways with Harris, he provided three things. The first was a clean ledger. Every entry inside it was accurate, every total precise. If anyone bothered to fact-check its contents, they would find nothing amiss. Shipping totals matched manifests. Legitimate expenses were balanced where they should. What it lacked mattered as much as what it contained.

The second was the location of the warehouse where the stolen merchandise was being stored, along with a rendezvous point near the docks for the handoff once the exchange was complete. The third was half their payment, delivered without ceremony. Harris had already been carrying more than enough coin to cover it, which made Jack suspect he had expected a negotiation the entire time. They didn't linger, time was of the essence and their preparations had taken long enough. Jack dressed for work, not the city.

Dark, utilitarian layers beneath a fitted leather chest piece. Black leg wraps and padded boots muted his steps against stone. A short arming sword rested at his side, simple, dangerous, well cared for. He left his bow behind, hoping the night wouldn't ask for that kind of distance. Aldric wore padded armor cut well enough to pass for evening attire on a man who valued style but understood the Dock Ward. He carried no visible weapons, though Jack doubted that meant much.

The cane in his hand looked sturdy enough to discourage curiosity. Seraphine chose a dress that moved easily, cinched at the waist by a thick leather belt that protected her midsection without advertising itself. A cropped coat softened the lines of her frame, and when she shifted, Jack caught the faint glint of a rondel hidden beneath it. They entered the Dock Ward by its narrower streets, where lantern light pooled unevenly, and the air smelled of brine and old rope.

As they approached the street nearest to the warehouse, Jack saw them. Two members of the City Watch crossed the road ahead, lantern swinging between them as they angled into the trio's path. Seraphine didn't hesitate as she stepped half a pace forward, posture loosening, expression brightening as if the night had decided to be kind.

"Evening," she said pleasantly.

"Beautiful night for a walk, isn't it?" The nearer guard's eyes swept over them.

"Dock Ward's quiet."

"That's why we're enjoying it," Seraphine replied, smiling.

"My beau and I were heading toward the bay. He insists the air helps him think." She gestured lightly toward Aldric. Aldric inclined his head, cane tapping once against the stone.

"And him?" the second guard asked, eyes sliding to Jack. Seraphine didn't look back.

"My bodyguard," she said easily.

"Greyhaven can be… enthusiastic after dark." Jack gave nothing away. He didn't need to. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The first guard studied Aldric more closely.

"Hold on," he said.

"You look familiar." Aldric's expression stayed polite.

"I walk a great deal,""No," the guard insisted, squinting.

"You're—" Seraphine laughed softly, warm and unforced, and stepped closer as if the recognition delighted her.

"You're right," she said.

"We do stand out, don't we?" Her fingers brushed both guards' forearms, brief, casual. A brief shimmer released from her hands. Hidden from the guards by their proximity and her contact. That's when Jack felt it, it wasn't a surge or a powerful current. It was a gentle pressure, like a thought nudged aside and replaced with something easier to hold. The guard blinked at her contact. Seraphine's tone stayed light, approving.

"You stopped us. Asked your questions. Did exactly what you should." The second guard nodded, already easing back into routine.

"Enjoy your walk." Seraphine didn't let them simply leave. She weaved her arms through theirs.

"Oh, come on," she said, turning with them as if they'd all been friends a moment ago.

"If you're doing rounds, anyway, walk with me a bit. You can tell me where the bay smells least like fish this time of night." The nearer guard laughed despite himself, and the two of them went with her, lantern light drifting away as her voice carried them down the street. Jack didn't move until they were gone. Aldric exhaled slowly, tension finally easing from his shoulders.

"What the hell was that?" Jack asked.

"Magic," Aldric said quietly." They'll remember stopping someone. They'll even remember feeling satisfied about it." Jack's eyes stayed on the warehouse ahead.

"Just not who."

"No," Aldric agreed.

"Or why?" They moved again, boots soft against stone as they drifted to the side of the street.

"You were recognized," Jack said after a moment. Aldric nodded once.

"I would have been. Eventually."

"City Watch," Jack assumed as he didn't have the demeanor of a criminal.

"Yes." Aldric's mouth tightened faintly.

"A long time ago." They paused in the shadow of stacked crates, where lantern light thinned and sound softened.

"I was good at it," Aldric continued.

"Or at least thorough. I asked the questions others skipped. Noticed patterns." Jack glanced at him.

"That didn't make me popular," Aldric said.

"Especially when I was told, more than once, to look the other way."

"And you didn't," Jack said.

"I tried," Aldric admitted.

"Longer than I should have. But eventually the lines they wanted me to cross stopped being… flexible."

"So you left."

"I was encouraged to," Aldric said dryly.

"Turns out refusing corruption makes people uncomfortable when they rely on it." Jack considered that.

"And now?" Aldric adjusted his grip on the cane.

"Now I work for myself. I choose my problems."

"But you still have lines."

"Yes," Aldric said without hesitation.

"I won't sell people out to save myself. I won't protect systems that chew through the powerless to stay comfortable. And I won't pretend ignorance is the same thing as innocence." Jack nodded once.

"That's why she trusts you." Aldric smiled faintly.

"That's why I trust her, she knows people, knows how they tick. And yes, Seraphine can be selfish at times. She often looks out for herself first. But once she commits to something, she follows through. And when she decides you're a friend… there's no one more willing to help you. She also respects boundaries. She'd never rope me into something that would cross one of my lines." Ahead, Seraphine's laughter drifted back, soft, unforced, before fading as she turned another corner with the guards.

The street belonged to them again. Jack shifted his stance, eyes returning to the warehouse door.

"And her display back there?" Aldric was quiet for a moment, eyes still on the fog where Seraphine had disappeared. When he spoke again, his voice dropped, not secretive, just careful, as if the words themselves deserved restraint.

"She is one of the very rare few who can grasp magic," he said.

"They say one in a thousand can glimpse the fabric that governs the world and fewer still ever learn how to reach out and touch it." He shifted his grip on the cane, thumb tracing a worn mark in the wood.

"They learned quickly that she would never be truly powerful. Not in the way institutions measure such things. She couldn't impose her will outright. Couldn't force reality to bend just because she wanted it." A pause. Not regret. Assessment.

"They tried to train her for court. For song and dance. For influence dressed up as spectacle." Aldric shook his head once, faintly, almost amused.

"But that wasn't who she was," he said.

"So, she left." He glanced at Jack then, as if checking that he was still listening, not because he doubted him, but because the next part mattered.

"She already understood how people listened. What it means they lean in to a conversation. Body language and control. When to sow doubt or soften it into comfort. When a thought stopped feeling placed and started feeling like it had always been their own." The fog shifted. Somewhere distant, water moved against stone.

"And it turns out," Aldric finished quietly, "her kind of magic was far more dangerous than anyone expected." Moments later, Seraphine emerged from the fog, calm and unhurried, as if she'd done nothing more than admire the water. She glanced at both of them, then toward the deeper streets.

"Come on," she said softly, "Our walk isn't over."