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Claymore and Dagger (closed)

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Will smiled up at her brightly. "I start training on Monday with a bunch of boys my age. Every day except Sunday from noon to six o'clock." He led Volgern along toward the tailor and tied his lead carefully to the rail outside before they entered.
 
As they entered the tailor's store, Fiona smiled at Will as he told her what his schedule would be now. He would be out a lot, but it was good for him to be productive. He needed someone to teach him right and wrong and Ciaran Ghis was the man that could do that.

"Hello, sir." Fiona murmured as they met the shopkeep. "I'm looking to buy this lad a sturdy pair of boots and a good pair of pants."

She could have made the pants for him, being a seamstress of sorts, but she decided that she was going to treat Will.
 
"Looks like you could use 'em," the tailor chuckled. "C'mere, lad, we'll get yer measurements an' see if we 'ave anything already made yer size."

Thankfully they had some things ready, but the tailor didn't have the right boots in stock, so he sent them down to the cobbler and the man set to work on Will's new boots right away, knowing exactly what rangers needed. It would be a few days, but they'd fit perfectly with room for the young man to grow.
 
Once they went back out to the square, Fiona already had her mind set. She was going to make herself a new dress as well with a bolt of cloth purchased from the vendors. Rice, some vegetables, a loaf of bread, and a chicken that could give them eggs was the last of her purchases that day. She carried them while Will took care of his horse.

When she opened the door to the cabin she felt a sense of accomplishment. She would work hard to make sure that everything she had worked for wouldn't simply waste away into nothing.
 
Will had gotten the go-ahead from Ciaran to stable his horse in the nearby blacksmith's stables, so it didn't take long to return after having fed Volgern. Once he was back, he immediately set to helping Fiona. The house was already furnished and had blankets and such and a few good amenities, so Will prepared the two bedrooms in the house and made a proper blaze in the fireplace to warm the house.
 
"You'll have to feed the chicken every morning if you want her to give us eggs. Fresh water too. I'm making that your job, Will." Fiona murmured as he stoked the fire to give them light and warmth. "For the time being, dinner will be rice and vegetables. Maybe we can get some meet once a week. It's a proper meal that we can't turn down though, right?"
 
"If we get to the market early on Fridays, we'll be able to get more for cheap," Will told her. "Because the Catholics don't buy or eat any on that day, and most people don't go to market early on Fridays because the new stock hasn't come in. But the butchers are always ready really early." He knew this from years of watching the flow and trends of the marketplace and he'd made notes of the number of people who might catch him at any given time of the day, any day of the week.
 
"Will, I think we've finally found a home." Fiona said, giving him a grin as she moved into the kitchen to get the fire going in order to cook them a dinner.
 
The next day was quite the adventure for Will, getting to ride his beloved new steed out to Fiona's camp with her and pick up what little she owned. After dropping everything off, he gladly gave her a ride to the Lunar village. He dropped her off in the main square before taking Volgern to go drink from the river.

Hara Aoli was still the absolute queen of the market, in control of everything despite her gentle disposition. It was that way because people trusted her advice and guidance, so she was all the craftsmen and merchants' caretaker. She was getting a bit older, though, so now her many adopted children were the main cogs to her little restaurant business, and she and her mate Gavros supervised and talked with every customer. Her usual ideal of favors in return for food still stood strong, only broken by those who couldn't spare the time and would pay in trade or silver instead.
 
"Mrs. Aoli?" Fiona asked when she saw the woman in the market place. "David Shanendoah sent me to talk to you. He said that you might be looking for a worker?"
 
The small white wolf's ears perked up at hearing her name, and she turned to Fiona with clear interest. "I've been looking for someone for quite a while." She came to shake Fiona's hand with a smile. "What's your name dear? And how are you at cooking?"
 
"Fiona Blackstone." She said as she shook her hand. "And I can cook with the best of them. I can also sew clothing. I need a job that can pay me at least fifteen silvers a day."
 
"I pay my new workers two an hour, and we operate about sixteen hours a day, shifts of eight hours, every day to feed the workers here. If you ever need a few extra hours, I'm always willing to pay." Hara smiled kindly to her. "I'll give you two weeks to impress me, dear, and then if I decide to keep you, you'll get two and a half per hour. Sound like a deal?"
 
"I think that would work beautifully." Fiona accepted, shaking her hand with a smile. "When would you like me to start?"
 
"The shift change is at one o'clock, so about an hour, then we go until nine. Go get yourself an apron from Anzuul the tailor, and come back and have lunch before you start. I feed my workers free." Hara shooed her off and went back to her work.
 
Fiona was a little stunned that she was starting right away, but she didn't complain as she nodded and went off to the tailor to get her apron. Once that task was accomplished, she saw Will returning and she motioned him over, telling him what was happening.

"Come back this evening to get me. I'll get you a meal." Fiona said as she gave him a smile. "And don't go getting into trouble."
 
"I'm gonna go meet some of the rangers," Will assured her. He had a few coins for a snack in the afternoon, and he went off to meet some of the werefolk rangers and foresters first who were employed both as warriors by the tribe and as soldiers by the Ghis. They patrolled the road between Inverness and the Gol Dun village along with their human comrades.
 
"Be safe." Fiona said as she left him to his day as she went to get her meal before she started.

She was nervous, but she was a hard worker and she needed this to work out. Nothing in her life had worked out to that point, but she had made a promise to her grandfather that one day she would make something of herself. Someone had to bring honor to the Blackstone name and she was the only one left. Her father had been a drunk failure. Her mother had been much the same. She refused to go down that path.
 
Will began his training with gusto that first day, even if he came home sore and slow. He made a habit of taking Fiona to the Gol Dun village early before he went to training, and picking her up again when he was done as it took him til nine o'clock to reach the village with Volgern after training.

Things were going so well the morning that Fiona was dropped off in the Lunar village to hear rumors that there had been a slew of murders at Inverness Keep, and several wounded. Among the dead were only guards and a maid, but among the wounded were Brogan and Rhodan Ghis. The man responsible had been killed by a perfect bolt to the back of the neck from Samuel Ghis' crossbow. And that man had been none other than Morgan Kerrigan. A journal had been found on his person listing accomplices that had helped him get into the keep and get weapons with the intention to kill the heir of Inverness by order of the hidden resistance still standing in Wick and Norway. The point was entirely about revenge and political upheaval in order to help in the struggle to put a resistance leader in charge of Wick and take it back from the Dunland family. No word had yet come from Wick, but there were rumors that there had been an attempt on King Cahal's wife's own life too.
 
To hear the news that Morgan had been involved on an attack at Inverness keep had Fiona worried. Since she had been the one to turn him in, she knew that Samuel Ghis might come looking for her. She had no idea of what his intentions had been that morning that she turned him in for the reward and the pardon that she got. It did look suspicious, though. She would do her best to make sure that Will's name stayed out of everything. His future was looking hopeful.

At the keep, the Ghis family had closed its ranks. Brogan and Rho were healing, but everyone had been effected. Ashelin was afraid to leave her father's side, scared that he might pass away if she weren't with him. Heather was withdrawn and quiet, a little more vicious towards those that tried to help her. She was frightened by what had happened, unsure of what was going on until someone had told her. The only person that she could be calm with was her grandfather.

She was curled up against his side in the library, her stuffed black kitten that he had given her when she was little under one arm and the blanket that Kitty had made her with she was sick wrapped around her. If she thought hard enough, she could still smell her Gran on the blanket and it gave her comfort. Kate, Sam, and Julia were talking about what had happened, struggling to come up with a plan.

"Fiona Blackstone has been mentioned." Kate said in a soft voice. "She knew Morgan well. It was said that she owed Morgan a debt."
 
Sam was absolutely fuming after all that had happened. Brogan had only just gotten back to normal after a hard winter, and now he was bedridden again. Rho had only suffered a slash across his back after a brave guard had tackled Morgan just in time to stop Morgan from stabbing Rho. That guard had been killed and was being buried with honors like the other poor men. Rho was still hard at work, but he was just as angry about what had happened.

Sam looked up as Kate mentioned Fiona, and it was clear that name struck a nerve. "Goddammit, I knew it." He'd suspected there was more to Morgan being turned in than had been said, but he hadn't quite expected Fiona to be so terrible as to help a master assassin get close to the royal family. Sam rose from his seat immediately. "I'll drag 'er back by the neck if I have to."
 
"Samuel, calm down." Julia said softly as she watched her son stand in fury. "You don't know her story. Don't assume that she had a hand in any of this. Did she seem that she was part of this plot when she turned Morgan in?"
 
"They were familiar with each other, some run-in in th'past where 'e helped her. She said she caught 'im unaware on 'er way to 'er camp, an' 'e came quietly. I don' believe that for a second, Ma. Kerrigan made a plan with 'er. He didn' fight at all when she brought 'im in. They 'ad an understanding." Sam was unwilling to back down.

Kell approached them then, Morgan's journal in hand. "He may be right... Kerrigan mentions a plan with Blackstone several times in this book... The earliest mention is two months ago, intending to ask her help. He doesn't say exactly what he asked her, but... it would be best to bring Miss Blackstone in for questioning." He laid the journal before Julia.
 
Julia read what Kell put before her, letting out a small sigh as she was encouraged to bring in the woman. She didn't want to sully the innocent name of a young girl, especially one that had only recently been trying to get back on her feet. Glancing up at Kell and Sam, she knew that the only thing to do would be to send the both of them and have them work together.

"You can question her, but remember that we do not know just how she is involved in this." Julia said softly, glancing towards Sam. "Kell, please go with him."
 
Kell nodded and followed Sam quietly on his way out. Even Kell missed the woman who'd left shortly before them.

In the Lunar village, things had calmed down at Hara Aoli's little restaurant after the lunch rush, and only a small trickle of people came in now and then, mostly in small groups of friends or coworkers. It was just as Fiona started her shift that a woman of seemingly Greek origin came to Hara and spoke with her with a charming smile and a kind voice.

"Fiona, dear," Hara called before Fiona could get started. "You have a visitor. It sounds important." Fiona had never seen the woman before, but she looked like a good enough sort and was dressed in hunter's garb with a foreign seal on her vest.

"Miss Blackstone, could I speak to you in private?" She asked kindly. "It's about your grandfather's will. It's been found." No will had ever been found before, and it was true that her grandfather had traded in Greece often until sickness sent him home to Scotland. Perhaps that was why a Greek woman knew of it.
 
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