The Iron Teeth

Honor Among Thieves 3

The next two weeks went by in a blur of chores but ended in a bang when the wagons and Herad finally arrived.

It was a cool overcast day and it had rained lightly on and off that morning. Blacknail was glad he had his cape. He didn't mind being cold or wet, but he hated being cold and wet at the same time. He shivered and snuggled into the thick fur on the inside of his clothes for warmth.

"Finally! They sure are late," one of the men who had stayed at the camp with Saeter and Blacknail said.

Several of the camp's occupants had come out to see the wagons arrive, including Saeter.

"I'm not surprised they're behind schedule. It's still too early in the year for the road to be completely dry. Getting those wagons along must have been tough. We're lucky it just started raining this morning," another replied.

"Maybe we will get paid before winter now," the first one joked, which caused a few of the other men to chuckle humorously.

After a few minutes, when nothing more exciting than a bunch of wet and dirty men trudging across a muddy road with some rickety wagons appeared the watchers started wandering off.

Saeter however headed over to the wagons and as usual Blacknail followed him.

They passed dozens of miserable looking outlaws in soaked leather and furs as they trudged down the muddy road. A few of them gave Saeter and his goblin hostile or curious glances but most of them seemed far too tired to care about what was going on around them.

Saeter headed for the back of the train of wagons. There, Herad was supervising the removal of goods from a broken wagon.

The wooden wagon lay on an angle at the side of the road. One of the front wheels had popped completely off leaving a broken wooden axle exposed.

Under their leader's watchful eyes several men were removing goods from the damaged wagon and either tying them to the horse that had been untied from the wagon or carrying them down the road by hand.

Herad looked furious and only a few moments away from violence, but then again she almost always did. Saeter stopped several feet from Herad but within her sight and waited patiently. Blacknail hid behind him, trying not to attract Herad's attention.

After a few moments Herad turned her scowl their way. She was dressed in her usual dark leather armor which was decorated with an assortment of blades. Her cloak's hood was pulled up to protect her from the rain and water dripped down it.

"You'd better have a nice bonfire going and my shelter ready when I get to camp. I didn't send you ahead so you could slack off," she told Saeter as she turned to face him.

"I do, as well as some hot deer stew," Saeter replied seemingly unconcerned.

"You'll make someone a wonderful wife someday," Herad remarked bitingly.

"I fear I'm well past the marriageable age," he answered deadpan.

Herad smiled darkly at him in response. She was clearly amused.

"That's what I like about you Saeter. You walk the fine line between never arguing with me and not always agreeing with me either," she told him.

"How's our status?" she continued seriously after a brief pause.

"Camp is set up. We have food, fire, and some lean-to set up for the men. The old farmhouse has been patched up for you," Saeter reported.

"The roads?" she asked.

"Scouts haven't seen anything on the road ahead. I've had riders down onto the main road to Riverdown and they haven't seen anything unusual either. No sign of any patrols or traps. Not that the patrols ever leave the main roads anyway. I'm more worried about some other band of brigands getting wind of our haul. I haven't seen any sign of that though. The messengers you sent to the city to meet your contacts are away and have probably gotten there by now," he reported.