“William was it?” I asked, raising an eye brow at the sight of the man in front of me. He seemed capable given his calm, self-assurance. In the merchant business we called people like him rivers. You can do your darndest to dig a channel for them to move into, but in the end the river choses its own direction.

“Who’s your friend?”

William turned his head to see the beaming face of Celeste. I could almost taste the enthusiasm radiating off her.

“I knew you’d take it! I knew it!” she started some inane conversation and help up the process of marking names.

“Come on, come on, we don’t have all morn’ to… puff around in,” I said.

Celeste shot me a cold look, and I returned it with deadpan boredom. William climbed into the back of the wagon and plonked himself down in a seat. I jotted a question mark next to his last name and turned to the young woman.

“Name?”

“Celeste” she said, pulling herself up and sitting next to William. I grunted something between acceptance and annoyance and turned to the next man literally singing his way towards the wagon. I realised it was going to be one of those days where you seem to attract all the nutters. I shoved the thought aside and affixed my face with a grin. At least sea folk liked to keep things simple.

“Request accept Cap’n, always good to have someone with salt blood in their veins along. And Josette Hawkes” echoed Remedy as she wrote down the knight’s name, “good to have you with us.”

I pushed myself to my feet and weaved between the passengers towards the driver's seat. I couldn't help myself, I stepped onto the driver's seat, then twisted on the spot for some dramatic flair. The rag-tag band of hired goons didn't look like much, but they'd have to do.

“Gentlemen and gentlewomen, we are about to depart for Stormhope. Now, a word of warning. We are most likely dealing with a band of armed robbers or highwaymen that have cut off communication with the town. Once we are on our way you will need to keep an eye out for anyone or anything that might attempt to stop us. We have just shy of a day's ride in front of us. Any questions?”

“What sort of coin are we talking about?” asked Celeste.

I smiled, she was the only one to enquire about money. It would have been the first thing I'd have asked.

“Ten gold per day, plus twenty danger fee. If this turns out to be a some robbers and we can dispatch them on the way, it'll be forty all up. We'll stay the night in Stormhope. Food will be provided,” I added with a smile, “any other questions?”