All the patrons in the room stared at the spectacle. The other town soldiers watched with interest, but didn’t attempt to help their colleagues. Probably off duty.

“See you later,” Devlen said as the guards escorted him from the inn.

Janco remained behind. He turned a worried expression my way. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. How about you?” I gestured to his face and neck. Angry welts and scabs striped his skin.

He rubbed his arm. “Lousy whip. Took me by surprise. Knocked my sword right out of my hand.” His eyes, though, gleamed with appreciation. “Nasty weapon. I can’t wait to try it out on Ari.”

Janco’s partner, Ari, was twice as broad. Powerful and smart, Ari wouldn’t be easy to beat.

“Just don’t let him catch the whip. If he grabs it, you’re done.” I righted the mugs on the table and sat.

Plopping into the opposite chair, Janco winced.

“Do you want to go to a healer?” I asked.

He was quick to respond. “No. Absolutely not. I’m fine.” He waved down a server and ordered a meal. Moving with care, he leaned back. “Okay, spill.”

I filled him in on what had happened the past two days.

“You didn’t believe a word he said. Right?” Janco asked.

“Of course. I know better.” I tried to sound convincing, but wondered if the effort was for Janco’s benefit or mine.

“He’s got to have another reason for being here.”

He enjoyed twisting my emotions. Dismissing the thought, I said, “Your turn.”

“That big oaf, Ox, must wrestle bulls. He’s stronger than Ari and he wrapped me so tight in the whip, I couldn’t move a muscle.”

I suppressed a smile. Janco liked to exaggerate. This would be an interesting story.

“After waiting all day for the authorities to arrive, they wouldn’t hear our side of the story. Just carted us down to Robin’s Nest and dumped us in jail.” He shot me a cocky grin. “Local yokels. They did a sloppy search. My lock picks went undetected. But then I was in a quandary.” His grin turned sardonic. “I wished Ari was with me. He’s good with planning. But then again he would have lectured me on getting whupped by a man named Ox. I would have never lived it down.”

He swigged his ale and gazed at the liquid as if considering his near miss. Janco’s mood matched the waves in the sea, constantly up and down.

“A quandary?” I prompted.

“Oh, right.” He perked up. “If I escaped, the authorities would assume I was guilty and send soldiers after me. No big deal, except what to do when I caught up with you and Devlen? I couldn’t have him arrested if I had a posse on my tail. But I didn’t want to waste the night waiting for the town’s guards to confirm my story. I’ve seen what he’s done to you. It about killed me to decide.”

Judging by the time of Janco’s arrival with a team of Sitian soldiers, I figured he must have waited. “You did the right thing.”

He downed his ale and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “There is one problem.”

Oh no. I held my breath.

“In exchange for help to rescue you, I had to promise to escort you to the Citadel.”

I relaxed with relief, but my smile froze. A very un-Janco expression hardened his face. He was serious.

“I don’t go back on my word,” he said.

Bad news. I needed to find Ulrick. My mind raced. “What exactly did you promise?”

“I promised to take you to the Council. They’re frantic for your return.”

“Frantic? You could tell this from a message?”

“Yes. It read frantic.” He crossed his arms. “And considering the torture I thought you were enduring, I wasn’t going to waste time negotiating with them.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

He huffed, not mollified.

“Did you promise them a certain time? Like as soon as you rescued me or just that you would escort me home?”

A slow smile lit his face. “The time was implied. As in the sooner the better. But no. I just said I would bring you to the Council.”

“Then we need to make sure you come with me when I return after we find Ulrick.”

Janco ordered another ale to celebrate. “I like the way you think.”

Locating Ulrick proved to be difficult. The next morning, Janco and I talked to the Tulip Inn’s owner. He remembered Ulrick and Devlen because he had worried they would cause trouble. He thought Ulrick had been in a drunken brawl by the way he leaned on his companion and by the fresh blood on his face.

“They rented a room and I didn’t hear a peep out of them all night. In the morning, they left,” the owner said.

“Together?” I asked.

“Yep.”

Devlen had said they parted company. Another lie. No surprise there. “Do you know where they were going?”

“Nope.”

“Have you seen the big Sandseed since then?”

“Nope.”

I thanked him for his time. We left.

“Now what?” Janco asked.

“Check the other inns. See if he stayed anywhere else. If that doesn’t work, we can ask around town and hope someone has seen him.”

Janco groaned. “This is going to take all day.”

We searched the entire morning and half the afternoon. All to no avail. No one remembered seeing Ulrick or Devlen.

Janco gestured to the row of buildings. “He could have locked him in any one of these houses, and paid someone to care for him. I hate to give up, but I think we’re searching for a raindrop in a storm. I vote we put the screws to Mr. Warper’s pressure points and squeeze the information from him.”