The Travels of a Hairy Hermit

Aritik escorts Nilsar from the cottage toward the castle, carrying the copied comparisons and sealed storehouse books. Eiluj remains behind to tend the hearth and Gravam stays with her.

Each uneven step jars Nilsar’s bound left shoulder. The pain stays manageable, but the walk leaves the joint throbbing by the time Aritik leads him into Baron Edric Vale’s chamber.

The baron’s table is cleared for evidence. Baron Edric Vale sits at its head, while Odran Pell stands nearby with a fresh ledger, his quill ready and the sealed books within guarded reach.

Aritik sets down the bundles and breaks the clerk’s outer seal before Odran examines it. Nilsar remains standing beside her, keeping his injured shoulder close and refusing the strain of lifting.

Nilsar lowers himself into a chair beside Aritik and keeps his left shoulder relaxed. The quiet rest eases the joint while the sealed books remain open before the baron.

Records Research links the dates, altered prices, and repeated hooks across the copies and originals. The pattern narrows the likely forger to the clerk who handled Harris leases.

Nilsar waits in the chair beside Aritik, listening as Baron Edric Vale reviews the sealed books. Odran keeps his quill poised, while the chamber’s silence stretches around the evidence.

At last, Merren Vask is brought in: a thin middle-aged man with pale skin, thinning sandy hair, ink-stained fingers, and a brown clerk’s coat fastened to the throat. He avoids the lease records on the table.

Nilsar follows each answer against the dates, prices, and hooks. Records Research keeps the copies aligned, and his sharp attention catches that Merren distinguishes the orders from the hand that issued them.

The testimony gives Nilsar a clear account of the method and the chain of access, but the questioning consumes the remaining afternoon. The sealed instruction still must be found and checked before its writer is known.

Nilsar aligns Merren’s testimony with the sealed books, the altered prices, and the route slips taken from the Scavik wagons. The dates and hooked marks form one continuous trail from Harris leases to the raiders’ approach.

Records Research keeps each original beside its copy while Nilsar compares names, prices, dates, and roads. The repeated Harris access and matching routes make coincidence impossible.

Baron Edric Vale studies the matched documents, then draws a line from the Harris leases to the captured route slips. Odran records the conclusion as evidence connecting the forged accounts to the Scavik incursion.

Nilsar keeps his argument measured, separating the proven falsifications from the question of command. Records Research aligns Merren’s testimony with the leases, route slips, prices, and hooked marks, making the chain of authority plain.

Odran breaks the seal under the baron’s witness. The instruction directs Merren to alter the settlements, preserve the route papers, and report through Lucas Harris’s office, placing the order within Lucas’s authority.

Baron Edric Vale orders the sealed records secured and directs Odran to begin the warrants. Aritik remains to oversee the legal copies, while Nilsar leaves the chamber without lifting anything.

The walk home is slow but uneventful. Nilsar keeps his left arm close to his body, and the shoulder tolerates the journey better than the earlier march, its ache easing as the cottage comes into view.

Eiluj opens the door before he reaches it and guides him toward the hearth. His weapons remain set aside, and he lowers himself carefully into the familiar chair.

Eiluj supports the injured joint and settles a warm cloth beneath it. Outside, the road falls quiet, while inside, Nilsar’s healing continues under his mother’s watch.

After resting through the morning, Nilsar enters the Yarb workshop with his left arm kept close and his right hand free. Gravam has already laid out the day’s lighter work.

Nilsar uses only his right hand to separate sound nails from bent ones, arrange files by size, and tally the small orders on a slate. His Skilled Craftsman’s eye catches flawed edges quickly.

Gravam carries the heavier iron while Nilsar passes him measured nails and marks each completed order. The work remains steady and light, leaving the injured shoulder undisturbed.

By midday, the orders are sorted, the tools are arranged, and the finished nails are counted. Nilsar leaves the workshop having helped Gravam without lifting, bracing, or straining with his left shoulder.

That evening, Nilsar rests beside the hearth while Eiluj warms his shoulder and Gravam handles the household work. The quiet lets the joint settle without strain.

Nilsar follows her instruction, keeping his left arm at rest. By lamplight, Gravam brings him supper and checks the workshop door before joining the family at the hearth.

Near dusk, Aritik returns from the castle with a folded judgment bearing the baron’s seal. She sets it on the table and removes her cloak before speaking.

The family spends the night together, with the judgment secured among Aritik’s papers. Nilsar sleeps beside the hearth, and by dawn his shoulder is noticeably easier, strengthened by rest and careful treatment.

The judgment rests among Aritik’s papers, its seal unbroken and its findings plain. Nilsar remains by the hearth, his healing shoulder supported without strain.

Gravam folds his arms beside the hearth, his deep brown eyes fixed on the judgment. Eiluj checks the warmth of Nilsar’s shoulder, then settles the cloth beneath it again.

Aritik gathers the judgment and returns it to her legal papers. Outside, the road remains quiet; inside, the Yarbs sit together while the baron’s decision moves forward.

Eiluj adjusts the warm cloth beneath Nilsar’s left shoulder and keeps his arm supported. Aritik gathers the judgment, copied records, and the family papers before leaving for the castle.

At the castle, Aritik presents Nilsar’s defense of Anuncagra, the captured wagons, and his testimony before the hearing. The baron hears a family advocate backed by the town defenders he helped rally.

Aritik returns before dusk with the baron’s sealed clearance. She places it beside the judgment, while Eiluj continues the treatment and Nilsar’s shoulder rests undisturbed.