The trail had grown cold.

Morphiel hated to admit it, but there was nothing else for it. Of course he had told the Staves and those two Paladins (Faith and Grace Szalik, he thought their names were) about the camp in Laszlofi's county, but the Staves could not go there, and by the time Szalik got out there, the camp had been cleaned. Count Laszlofi had been courteous and helpful to them, but his assurances that he was making his own investigation pretty much halted theirs.

And so the missing children slipped their grasp.

Morphiel sat at his dining room table, staring at a map of his county.

It was nearly useless. The town of Linden marked the middle, with a road coming in and a road going out. A tributary to the river flowed into it and out of it. East of the road, farmland. West, a forest, with his manor in the middle of it. There were no other features, except for the haphazard marks Morphiel had made on it, x's to demark specific sites he had visited, lines to denote patrol paths he had taken. There was nothing. Steuben's gang must have scattered, because they were nowhere to be found. Even the Mongrelmen Goblins had moved their "camp" further in away from the border with Laszlofi. No sign of his missing woodsmen, no sign of children, no sign of the orange-haired Hobgoblins or their strange dark patrons.

Had they gotten what they wanted? Were they done?

Now there was a dilemma. If they were done, Morphiel had failed in his duty. But if they weren't, more children were going to suffer the same fate as the Miller's daughter.

A knock at his front door. Morphiel glanced that way suspiciously, but rose to answer. He belted on his cobalt dagger, glamoured himself, and opened the door.

On his front stoop stood Agent Szalik, both of them. Faith bowed. "M'Lord. May we have a moment of your time?"

Morphiel glanced behind them, then pushed the door open further, ushering them in. "Could I offer you some vodka? Something to eat?"

"No thank you." Faith led Grace into the dining room, the latter of the two of them pulling a map out of her pack. She started to unroll it, but they both stopped when they saw the map on his table.

Morphiel scooped it up with an efficient folding motion. "What can I do for you?"

Grace hesitated for a moment, then unrolled her own map. Were it not for the different locations for the x's and the different lines for paths, it would have looked identical to his. "M'Lord, we've covered as much teritory as we can inside your county." She looked up to Morphiel. "We both know where the problem is, and we both know that Laszlofi isn't really taking this seriously. I hate to speak ill of one of your peers, but he's hindering our investigation."

Morphiel began to pace. "Alexa Laszlofi has always been an intractable man. What is it exactly you would like me to do?"

Faith answered, "Can you convince him to let us assist in his investigation?"

Morphiel sat down, gesturing for them to do the same. "It won't get you what you want. He'll smile, pretend to acquiesce, but he'll divert you and distract you at every opportunity. I've learned that Laszlofi's first concern is that he determines what secrets escape his borders and what do not. I don't wish to speculate, but he wears the Veil around his neck."

"I noticed that too." Faith glanced at Grace, then back to Morphiel. "M'Lord, we need help. Any help you could give us would be something."

"So do I," Morphiel said, gravely, "But I don't know what I can offer. I've been on patrol myself. I've found nothing."

"M'Lord," Grace studied him, "Why do you go on patrol yourself? Why don't you have a militia?"

Morphiel sighed. "Who would you put in it? You've met my citizens. There's not much out here--"

"There are mercenaries."

"Mercenaries can't be trusted. They care only about the money. If you don't have people who believe in what they're doing, you won't get anywhere."

Faith gestured around her at an invisible hypothetical crowd. "M'Lord, have you talked to your people? It's their children disappearing. They believe in this. If you led them, they would follow. This is what we do in Brownstone. We'd be happy to help."

Morphiel rubbed his eyes. "I don't doubt their hearts, I doubt their abilities. And anyway, what are you suggesting? That I have my citizens take up arms against Laszlofi's rangers?"

Grace looked desperate. "Well we have to do something!"

"And I'm trying to determine what that something is!" Morphiel shrugged. "I feel your frustration. I truly do. I want this business solved and I want order restored to my county. You don't know Laszlofi as well as I do, and I assure you, he is a situation that must be handled delicately or you won't get any results you like."

Grace started to speak, but Faith put a hand on her arm. Faith said, "Thank you, M'Lord. Will you let us know if you think of anything else you can tell us?"

Morphiel watched her carefully. An instinct at the back of his mind reminded him that she had been the most etiquette-conscious of the pair. They were right, he hated to admit it. There was only one place to get answers, but how long could Morphiel go into Laszlofi's county undetected? Surely longer than these two. But then, maybe what was needed was guts. This was the pair who had ventured into his woods alone when the Staves had warned them away.

And Grace was not a bad tracker. Maybe audacity would be on their side.

He decided to take a leap.

"Because of the balance of power in Rendru," he said, looking right at her, "I can't give you any official help." He said the last two words a little slower, a little more carefully. "And I can't recommend anyone to violate the sovereign territory of another lord. I'm not lucky enough to have any intrepid souls who have done so to bring me information. I'm sure there are some fools out there with the proper skills to do so, but I am not that person, and I don't know anyone who is." He glanced at Grace meaningfully. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

Grace shook her head. "M'Lord--"

Faith stopped her again, with a nod to Moprhiel. "I see. Thank you, M'Lord. We'll do the best we can."

Morphiel nodded. "If there's any other help I can be, please let me know." He rose from his seat, and Faith rose with him. Grace followed just a little behind. He led them to the front door, seeing them out.

He shut the door, leaning back against it, and silently praying to the Crysanthemum Mother for their success. Their feckless temerity might just be what saved the day.

---

Once safely off the grounds, Grace shook her head. "I don't understand it. He seemed so genuinely concerned."

"He was." Faith grinned. "He told us what we need to do." She looked at her sister.

It took a moment, but Grace caught up. She smiled.

They both said in unison, "We're going west."