The two ash spears remain leveled across the snowy path. Behind them, the canvas-covered wagon creaks while the bound figure coughs beneath its rough blanket.
the red-scarfed rider
Keep her covered. If she serves the clans, she may have followed the captive’s trail.
the second mounted guard
Then bind her beside him and be done. The lord wants no witness wandering back to the bridge.
The captive coughs again, weaker than before. The blanket slips from one shoulder, revealing a bruised wrist bound with a broken leather tie and a strip of coarse red wool.
the second mounted guard
He will not last the northern road. Silence him now, or the wagon will lose half a day carrying a corpse.
the red-scarfed rider
No. He speaks when forced, and the lord’s clerk may still wring a name from him. Shieldmaiden, answer from where you stand.
The rider’s spear stays trained on Aeva, but his gaze flicks toward the captive’s wrist. The matching tie and torn wool place this wagon directly beside the bridge struggle.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the captive from being silenced
“I speak to the red scarfed rider asking if this captive is connected to the man being protected by the nun”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +0)
Aeva
Is this captive connected to the man the nun sheltered at the burned hovel?
the red-scarfed rider
Connected, yes, but not the same man. Your nun sheltered the one who carried the northern clasp. This captive guided us to him and knows why the lord wanted him taken.
The rider’s answer comes too quickly, then his eyes narrow. The second guard shifts his spear, and its shaft strikes Aeva’s forearm before she can step clear.
the second mounted guard
Enough questions. She knows the nun and the clasp. Take her weapons before she gives warning.
the red-scarfed rider
No. Let her keep listening. The captive heard Halvard named, and the nun’s fugitive carried proof of the same bargain.
Pain spreads through Aeva’s forearm where the spear struck, but the confusion clears: two men, one hidden agreement, and the lord’s men guarding both ends of it.
“Are you men with the retainer?”
FAILURE (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
Aeva
Are you men with the retainer?
the red-scarfed rider
Which retainer? The lord’s man who rode from the burned hovel, or the one whose warrant bought this wagon’s road?
The question turns back on Aeva. The red-scarfed rider does not answer plainly, and the second guard lowers his spear only enough to study her face.
the second mounted guard
We bear the lord’s authority. That is all she needs to know. The retainer at the hovel was not our commander.
The rider’s glance toward the wagon gives away more than his words. A leather tube hangs beneath his saddle, sealed with dark red wax and marked by the same lordly device described at the hovel.
the red-scarfed rider
If you seek your brothers, shieldmaiden, stop asking who holds the warrant. Ask why its seal appears on a prisoner taken from the northern road.
The guards keep Aeva covered, but the distinction is now clear: they serve the lord’s separate warrant, not the retainer. The sealed tube offers a way to test their claim.