XXV. THE FOUR YOUNG MEN
When Captain Stendale and his men investigated the sudden disappearance of Corwyn Jaffe, they discovered the network of tunnels and pirated goods beneath his tavern. Stendale seized most of the treasure on behalf of the city, but Berhilde, the barmaid, persuaded him to declare some of it the tavern’s legal property–which, as the establishment’s sole employee, she stood to inherit. This windfall helped her recover from her grief over Corwyn’s death. Within days she hired her sisters to help run the tavern, which they aptly rechristened the Devil’s Three Sisters. Rumors about Corwyn and his secret tunnels made it more popular than ever; popular it remained for many years. The sisters deserve great credit for their work in that house of mortal joy and mortal woe. They soothed, caressed, cajoled, and scolded; they defended, fought, punished, and pleased.
The night before the adventure in Theoderus’s house, four young men left the Devil’s Three Sisters in a merry mood. The ringleader was Spulmane, an apprentice of Jemel Ganza.
“Look, Berhilde kicked us out. We deserved it. You deserved it, Jakub. I can’t believe you said that to her. But look at this. Do you know what this is?”
“The key to Berhilde’s bedroom,” said Jakub.
“No no no, it’s the key to Lydatha’s bedroom,” said Commerel.
“Haha no, that’s the key to Caris’s bedroom,” said Tenglin. Tenglin was an apprentice too. He was very young and worked for a blacksmith near the gates, far from the beating heart of Melvaunt gossip.
“Big talk, Tenglin, but you’re still a bit of a shrimp,” said Spulmane. “And don’t you know Caris is taken–taken by a Bruil? You could get into real trouble talking that way about a Bruil’s girl. But you’re all wrong. This is the key to the Four Quarters Warehouse. We can keep drinking all night and no one’ll kick us out.”
“Brilliant idea, Spulmane,” said Commerel. “Only I don’t want to drink anyone’s piss, and I can’t think of what else there is.”
“Warehouse, Comm. Warehouse.”
“A warehouse for weapons and armor,” said Commerel.
“Weapons, armor, and ten barrels of Halfling’s Head. Master Ganza’s private stash.”
“Ohhhhh.”
And so they went to the warehouse. Inside, they found barrels of Halfling’s Head, just as Spulmane said they would. Nearby sat a lidless crate. A few pieces wrapped in coarse felt lay inside. Jakub unwrapped the largest–studded leather. “This is nice!” he exclaimed. The others gathered around. Tenglin unwrapped a dagger and began dancing around the room with it, stabbing at invisible enemies. Commrel did the same with a sword. The two oldest thought they’d try on the armor pieces and then spar with the weapons the two youngest were playing with. Instead, all four fell down dead.
