As they walked back to Longtree, Nopsa tried engaging Liina in his different theories of the strange inquisitor, but she had a hard time responding with more than a few words most of the time. A few times, when he got to talking about his emotions, she could talk a a bit more about how she felt, which was a strange mixture of fear, calm and awe. The muddled conversation did not satify him, so after doing any chores they could think of and having some lunch, they decided to take a careful trip to the other warehouse again. In the sunny daylight, it seemed as innocuous and deserted as ever. She was able to come out of her fugue enough to stop him from trying to find a way to the roofs without Janos, and instead guided his thoughts to maybe figuring who might know more about the warehouses in general. After Nopsa thinking it out a bit, they first went to the Shining Mackerel and asked around. All they got, though, were directions to go talk to the storemasters at the harbour, who knew more about the warehouses. Deciding to check at Longtree on the way, they found Janos, returned from the tourneygrounds.
His visit with the ranger had not been quite as successful. Old Will had listened carefully, asked questions in a manner similar to the inquisitor, but hadn't been able to offer much assistance. He said he'd pass their message forward, but couldn't guarantee anything, with so much going on during the coronation. He'd also guessed that Liina's vision, as he called it, would be better handled by the clergy. And he had, of course, told them to be extremely careful. Janos approved how Liina and Nopsa had managed to find a contact at the cathedral, and get something out of them, even if he also had no idea what an librarian-inquisitor could do. Still, without having any better idea where to find the strange cultist leader, they might as well try spying again this evening. If he appeared again, and Liina cold confirm it, they could get a more normal fire-and-hammer inquisitor for tomorrow evening. Liina blanched with the thought, but with both Janos and Nopsa encouraging her, she promised she'd try to swallow her fears and help them.
Before that, however, they had the matter of delivering Ulrika's letter to Filippa and seeing if they could get to talk with her. When they got to Ulrika's lodgings, a servant immediately went to fetch her. With the servants listening, Ulrika enjoined them to take care with her message, and noted that she hoped to see them tomorrow morning again at the latest. As they walked to Filippa's city house – Ulrika had forgotten to give them the location, but Janos had recognized the fact, and Nopsa had managed to get the information out of Elmar – they kept as brisk a pace as they could. There were many people on the streets, making their way to the main square, where the mayor would be swearing fealty to the to-be king, and the citizens were eager to hear the speech afterwards. Along the way, Nopsa pondered that he'd envisioned on the way to Kalaun that he'd be listening to all the speeches, but also admitted that what they were doing now was more important. They got to Filippa's city house without too much trouble, and Nopsa and Liina were able to convince a servant of the importance of the message and that they wouldn't be leaving without having some sort of response or reply. They were guided downstairs to the servant's common room to wait.
Most of the servants seemed friendly if a bit distant, but Nopsa recognized one young man from a neighbouring village. They got to chatting a bit, with Liina soon joining them, trying to make sure Nopsa didn't talk too much about their eerie adventures. He managed to keep topics mostly to the marvels of the big city, though, and bringing up Katrin's name had a few other servants commenting on her as well. A short while later, one of Filippa's court knights came to fetch them.
"Now, you three messengers, I'm here to– Oh!" He talked to the servant Nopsa was fast befriending. "You know this one?"
He nodded. "Sir. I've met him a few times at fairs. Beat him in a pie-eating contest."
"Hmm. Well, these other two?"
"Uhh, can't recall about them. They mentioned coming here with Katrin of Kassburg, the wool merchant."
"All right. Well, you three, come with me." He guided them up one floor, then into a pleasantly furnished room, ordered them with a wave of his hand to stand in a row at one side, and pointed at each in turn. "Now. Liina, Janos, Nopsa, all of Wortbank, right?"
They assented with murmurs and "sir".
"I am somewhat curious about the circumstances, and wish I could ask more, but the baron does not have much time for you, so we must be quick. First, place your purses, bags, table daggers and anything else you are carrying or weapon-like in that basket over there."
They complied, though only Nopsa had the sling and stones aside from the usual knives.
"Good. Now, whomever I'm talking to answers, and only they." The knight quickly fired questions at each, mostly about people in Wortbank, but some also of their trip, Katrin, Baron Filippa and why they wanted to talk to her. To the last ones, they mostly answered merely about concerning events, which seemed to irritate him a bit, but he did not press the point. He called for a servant, told her to watch them, then left to fetch the baron.
A short while later Filippa entered the room, followed by the knight, who dismissed the servant as the trio bowed deep. Filippa looked at each of the three for a short moment, then spoke. The grey in her hair might soften the first impression for those who did not know her, but the three were not surprised about the strictness of her tone. "So, you three have something you prefer not to talk about merely to my knight. Ulrika implied as much, but this had better be important."
Liina took the lead. "Simply put, we believe we have stumbled upon a plot against the king. We have contacted both people in the church –" she took the short bit of paper from the inquisitor "– after I had, well, a vision of sorts, and a Royal Ranger, as Janos here was able to eavesdrop on the conspirators." She motioned for him to continue as Filippa took a look at the paper before showing it to her knight as well.
Janos gave a quick recount of the magical ritual and discussions thereafter. He also noted that they believed they knew the identity of Lynx and that the leader, Glove, was a suspected cultist, then giving Liina the chance to speak of what she had felt. Liina described her experience quickly, then fell silent.
Filippa looked at them for a moment before speaking. "This sounds serious, indeed, but lacking in detail to the degree that not much can be done. Or, if there is something to be done, that it is more easily achieved by the others you've talked to. How about you, boy, what is your part in this?" She looked at Nopsa.
"Ah, we're all just friends, since childhood! I noticed B– ah, Lynx, first, the evening before last. And started the whole thing, I guess."
Liina felt the need to defend him. "He's been of great help, even if he hasn't had the luck of collecting evidence."
Filippa nodded. "Well, I thank you three for bringing this to me, even if there isn't much I can do right away. For now, I will keep my eyes and ears open, and send messages to Ulrika if I find something notable that might help you. Keep in touch with her. And, if something extreme should happen, I can contact you at…" She looked at the knight.
"Ah, merchant Katrin had rented the Longtree warehouse, in the Trade district."
"There. Good luck, youngsters of Wortbank." She swept out of the room, though the knight remained.
"Anything else? I do not see a need for a letter to Ulrika at this moment."
"No, thank you. We'll take your leave, sir." He called a servant to escort them to the street.
As they took a largish street around main square to avoid the crowds there, they discussed their options. The sun was descending in the sky, but they'd still have time before dark. Janos wasn't excited about Nopsa joining him on the roof, but allowed that Nopsa could at least try things out. Since Liina had no desire to join them on the rooftops, though, it made more sense for him to stay near to her during their spying, possibly causing a diversion if the leader were to notice her. Nopsa grumbled for a moment, then started pestering Janos for ideas of traps that could be arranged in the alleys. This passed the time well enough back to Longtree, but they immediately had to track their way back to the main square when Alda's servants there told them to go feed themselves on the feast the king was providing there. With their bowls and spoons with them, they jogged back to join the lines at the castle plaza. Nopsa brought up the idea of speeding things up by just buying some food, as there were many sellers on the way with small stalls, carts, or just a blanket on the ground, but neither Liina nor Janos felt like spending the money. Once they got to the main square, they had a stroke of luck, with a new cauldron of soup being brought near them, so they could join right at the start of the forming line. They first soaked some of the steaming broth in the provided bread, blowing furiously at it to cool it, then scarfed down their portions as quickly as they could. After marching back to Longtree to stow their things and grab some rope, there was still enough light for Nopsa to try out climbing to the roof. While he and Janos were testing that, Liina was on the lookout when she saw a southern merchant walk down the street, dragging a cart. She pulled back into the alley, but he never passed it. Carefully creeping back, she looked up the street again, but he was nowhere to be seen. She almost cursed, then thought back – maybe ''enemy on alert'' fit the best? Calling out the signal as silently as she could, a few moments later Janos' face peered over the roof. Once Janos and Nopsa had climbed back down, they decided to take the risk and strolled back. Pausing at the next intersection, Janos could indeed confirm that the freshest tracks to the warehouse were deep footprints and the cart, and by his guess, the cart had also left the warehouse earlier in the day.
"Now what?!" Nopsa hissed. "If that merchant's in the warehouse, they obviously are working with those cloaked plotters!"
Janos nodded. "Almost certainly, since I saw some cart tracks on the first time as well. For what purpose, though?"
"Hmmm… Maybe to make sure that the others can be warned, if they don't actually have permission to use the place? Or maybe he can retrieve packages that the plotters need, and they fetch them from him? Or he might be scouting something for them – or, he's on the lookout, trying to notice if someone's spying like we've done? Or…"
"Nopsa, calm down. You're trying too hard."
"What?"
Liina explained. "There are too many possible explanations, and we don't have enough information. This doesn't really change anything. We still spy this evening, we just have another thing to look out for. I'm kicking myself now for not getting a better look at him, but what's done is done. And at least you now know to be on the lookout for him as well."
Janos looked thoughtful. "You saw him, though? His face and all? Meaning that unlike the people arriving in the dark, he wasn't cloaked or anything."
"Yes. He semed pretty average, all around. Darker skin, bit of a beard, hair on the short side, both shiny black, a bright red vest. What mostly caught my eye was that pulling the cart seemed to be a big effort."
"Did there seem to be a lot of things in it?"
"Maybe some boxes and sacks, colorful ribbons on top?"
"Sounds like a merchant to me," Nopsa interjected, "though I'd wager that it's a disguise of some sort."
"Could be. Well, I think we need to get back to Longtree soon, at least for a short while. If we get to doing the chores now, we should be able to manage before it gets too dark. Janos, see if you can figure out a way for one of us to be able to see this street at least most of the time while we're carrying that water."
Though he did his best, Janos couldn't quite manage a situation where they could keep a continual watch. He did, however, suggest that they first did whatever other chores they could, leaving the water last, since the conspirators had previously always arrived after dark. They saw nothing, though, and quickly gathered their gear from their nook. At least this time they didn't have to resort to using the hatch, since everyone was staying up late with the festivities that were happening all around the city. After sincerely promising Alda's servant that they wouldn't stay up too late or drink too much, they moved to spying on the warehouse. After arranging a few simple traps in their alleys – boards balanced so that they'd easily fall down, trash piles to make a noise when stepped on, ropes to pull taut that could trip someone approaching or trying to pursue them – they were ready to take their positions. Once again, Janos climbed to the roof, with Nopsa choosing a spot at the end of that alley, and Liina taking the same spot she and Nopsa had been in previously. Thus she and Nopsa could see the other's position and at least hope to react if something happened to the other. They settled down for the wait.
Waiting always was hard for Nopsa, so he tried to pass the time looking around slowly, both around the corner towards the harbour as well as back in the alley, and even up towards the roofs at times. He managed to catch Liina doing the same once, but only because he knew exactly where she was. With their excellent hiding places in the shadows, huddling between piles of junk, he was feeling quite secure, if somewhat bored with so few passers-by. Thus, he was quite shocked when someone whispered beside him.
"Nopsa, right?"
Strangling a scream, he turned as fast as he dared towards the sound, on the other side of the alley. The head of youngish man seemed to appear from the wall and float down as he took of his hood and crouched.
"Old Will told about you three. Quite good hiding places, we actually had to look for a moment. And Janos dared the roof again."
Nopsa whispered back. "I would've gone if he let me. And those ranger cloaks are totally unfair."
"Heh. I still had to pass that pile of refuse and those planks on my own. Now, since you're still here, I'm assuming they haven't appeared yet?"
"No, nothing. Well, we saw a southern merchant who we think is in the warehouse, but that was before it got dark."
"Hmm. Did you see him?"
"No, it was Liina."
"Well, I'll go talk to her. If nothing is happening tonight, as it seems, we'll have to just leave you to it. Good luck." As he pulled his hood back on and rose up, he once again nearly melded into his surroundings, but now that Nopsa had seen him, he could follow as the indistinct shadow made his way back down the alley, carefully sidestepping their traps. He turned back to watch at Liina, and was able to catch her starting at the moment that the ranger surprised her. After that, though, there was nothing until a short while later she settled down again. Now what?
Since Liina was willing to wait, Nopsa decided to play the same game, but before long, he heard some scrabbling behind him and saw Janos descending. He took down the rope, then sneaked over to Nopsa to whisper.
"So, decided to wait after having a talk with the other ranger?"
"It wasn't much of a talk. Apparently yours told you more."
"Seems so. I think we should go to Liina and compare what each of us learned."
They carefully walked around to her, Janos dismantling the traps in Nopsa's alley but for now leaving the ones guarding her. After withdrawing a bit from her spot, only Janos had much anything new to tell.
"So, my ranger told that his companion would be talking to you two, then crawled around on the other roofs to get a better look inside the warehouse. He didn't get a look at the southern merchant, but did see part of the cart and some light, probably from a lamp. Without any of the conspirators to try to identify, they couldn't stay to wait. Nor did they feel it worth the risk to try to catch and interrogate whoever the person inside is. Now, we have a decision to make. Wait and hope they come later, or go get some sleep?"
"Ah, crap. I feel like might as well go enjoy the festivities if they're not coming."
"Nopsa! We need to be responsible and try to figure this out."
"I agree with figuring things out, but if there's no one coming, it won't help much."
"Ugh. Janos?"
"I'd vote for going to sleep. Maybe I can get up early enough to see if anything is happening here, or at least be better rested for whatever tomorrow might bring."
"Mmh, I certainly don't want to stay here alone, whether they're coming or not, so I'll agree with you. Nopsa, I feel we can't force you to come to sleep if you really want to stay up, but I wish we could be sure you'll be careful."
"You'd let me go alone into the city at night?"
"I hope you'd find someone from Longtree to spend your time with, but it's one of the three nights of the festivities. Even though I think it would be better to just get to sleep, I don't think we can really deny you this."
"Aww… thanks. I mean, thank you. That really means something to me. Let's get back to Longtree. I'll see if I can find someone there to join me for a bit of fun out in the city."
When they got back, Nopsa found out that everyone who was going to leave had already left, but also that Elmar had only gone to the Mackerel, so Nopsa decided to join him there. Although they got quickly to bed, Liina had trouble catching sleep. Nopsa seemed to return reasonably soon, at least considering that a few others were also able to rouse her, stumbling in later. Finally, she drifted to deeper sleep.