Two weeks have worn the city smoke out of David Clarkson’s clothes. Now he sits in a drafty inn by a peat fire, with the countryside hush beyond the shutters and the ledger bundle between him and the woman.
She eases the oilcloth open, not quite touching the pages at first, as if the thing itself might bite. The table creaks under the weight of old sums and older sins.
The Woman at the Window
We have time enough to breathe, at least. The question is where we spend it.
She looks up from the ledgers, tired but steady, her watchful air softened by the firelight. Outside, rain taps a slow rhythm on the inn roof.
The Woman at the Window
If these pages mean what I think, they can still bring down the right men. If not, we have risked a great deal for paper and ink.
David Clarkson
The entries are newer than the binding.
The woman slides one page toward David, leaving the rest guarded beneath her hand. For the first time in days, no one is chasing them.
The Woman at the Window
Read that line with me, if you will. Then tell me what you think it asks of us next.
✓ Quest Accepted
Read the newer line in the ledgers
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what the ledgers ask of them next
“I lean into the firelight to read the line aloud.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
David leans into the firelight and the page catches, the newer ink standing darker than the rest.
David Clarkson
This line is newer than the binding.
The woman’s fingers still on the ledger, she angles it closer and reads with him, her brow tightening at the fresh hand.
The Woman at the Window
A later addition, then. Someone comes back to the books after they are finished.
David traces the line as the peat pops. The words name a tally, a route, and a payment marked for after dusk.
The Woman at the Window
That is not a merchant’s habit. That is a message.
She lets the page rest between them, no longer guarding it alone. Beyond the shutters, rain keeps striking the roof, patient as counting.
The Woman at the Window
If we follow this line, we stop being thieves of paper. We become people who know where it leads.
Quest Complete
Read the newer line in the ledgers
Quest Complete
Determine what the ledgers ask of them next