Bree, Present Day
The Spotless Note (an ironic name, to those who knew the tavern’s internal dealings) smelled of spilled ale and old grease. Lane grimaced and brushed off her coat, wishing she’d worn something a bit less nice to the shady tavern. Her contact sat in his usual place, sandy brown hair and deceptively youthful face looking almost too innocent for such a seedy den.
“Maxim, good t’ see ye!” She slid into the seat across from him and took a sip of ale. At least, thanks to her trade in part, the ale here was spectacular.
“And you, Miss Lane.” He leaned forward. “Listen, I’ve a lead on a sale for that statue you’ve got, but it might be a bit. But say, you were with those caravans a while back, right?”
“I was.”
“Well, there’s a lady there as is looking for a bounty on some lass. A runaway servant, maybe, but she’s vindictive. Alive or dead, 50 gold for alive and half that if dead.”
He slid a folded paper across the table and Lane unfolded it. The sketch was rough, but the face was one she had seen recently -- a younger Dunlending girl. Her lips tightened but she schooled her features into a neutral expression.
“Tell me more about th’ lady? I’m interested, an’ I’d take it as a favor if ye didn’t spread this to other contacts.” Lane palmed a few gold coins to him. Bribes went further than favors.
He grinned slyly, and promised as she asked.
She’d have to find and warn the lass. No good could come of turning in an innocent seeming girl who’d had a rough life.
_____
A week or two later, Lane returned to Bree from another meeting up north. A few crates of interest had made it to the docks upriver and she’d had to supervise the offloading and payment of suppliers.
Knowing your stuff about chicken feed could come in handy when a dockhand noticed all the crates. She grinned to herself at the thought as she pushed open the creaking door to the Note.
The interior was as dingy as ever, but in one corner a group of fellows had a rousing song going in drunken key.
“Alfonzo, two of the good ale, please!” She grinned at the barkeep as he poured her a glass of her favorite Dwarven ale, and a second that would be for Maxim when he arrived.
He grinned back, a missing tooth leaving a gap in the lopsided smile. “I swear, ye buy enough of this t’ lose th’ profit off selling it!”
“Ah, but it’s the pleasure o’ your business I keep coming for!”
He chuckled and went back to wiping the counter with a dingy rag as a burly fellow sidled up and gave her a once-over.
“Can I help ye?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
He leaned in close enough for her to smell the onion and pipeweed on his breath as he handed her a piece of paper. “Have ya seen this feller around? Might be some good money innit, and a girlie like you might have a good chance of gettin’ close.”
The face on the paper was clearer than the other bounty she’d seen recently, but similarly familiar. What was it with the caravans and people getting into trouble with unsavory folk?
With a practiced nonchalance, she crumpled it and tossed it back at him. “Sod off, I’m not a bounty hunter, nor a ‘girlie’.”
The barkeep looked over with a sharp laugh. “Ye’d better listen t’ her, an’ don’t go botherin’ my best customer, ye hear?”
Pipeweed Breath grumbled and trudged off. Frowning over the interaction, Lane made her way over to her usual table and waited for Maxim.
When he arrived, the young man excitedly slid her a quite heavy pouch. “The old fellow might be an eccentric -- you shoulda seen the library he had! -- but he paid well for the statue and was near giddy even for the highest price I said! Didn’t even try to bargain!”
“Ye’ve got a good nose for th’ best buyers!” She slid him the ale. “That’s why I keep ye on, y’know. Grey said ye were promising back then, and he always did prove right.”
He took a swig and closed his eyes for a moment in enjoyment. “Ah, you spoil me.”
They drank in companionable silence for a few moments, serenaded by the crackling fire and the few drunk men still standing.
After a bit, Maxim set down his mug suddenly as if just remembering something. “Hey, you were keen on that other bounty, right? Coupla weeks ago?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes?”
“Well, there might be another around.” He passed her a piece of paper matching the one the fellow with bad breath had shown her. “Don’t know who he is but he’s got the look of a foreigner and I figured you might be interested.”
“I’ll look into it. Ye know I don’t really deal in such things, but bounties can get in th’ way o’ business and I’d like t’ figure out what’s afoot here.”
He nodded. “Figured you might. Gotta make sure they don’t get too nosy or close to the business of more upstanding people like us.”
She gave him a lopsided grin and he returned it. “Exactly.”
Eventually the drinks were drained and they went out again into the cool night air.
There was a bit of time before any shipments were due, and the quiet scholar being sought by unsavory men seemed a curious sort of thing to look into while she waited.
