Artemian stands sentinel at the far end of the alley. Lirika is nowhere to be seen; I can only hope she’s managed to give her pursuers the slip.
As soon as we emerge, Artemian starts toward us. As he passes, he murmurs a faint word to Bren that I don’t quite catch. From then, he stays ahead of us, checking each alley before we turn into it and looking back to Bren only once for directions. Somehow, we avoid all the larger streets and pass only a few people still out this late at night. Bren and his fellow thieves may be relatively new to Lirelei, but their instincts for navigating the backstreets are impeccable.
Their inn is a modest but well-kept establishment, set back from the main thoroughfares. Artemian waits until we’ve reached him before stepping in, keeping the focus of those who
