***
Allan pondered the matter of getting Captain William the proof he needed over breakfast the following morning. Reading through Damien’s books on spells gave him the answer. One book detailed the enchanting of a “listening stone.” The idea was that a spell was cast into a stone to allow it to “hear” what was said around it. Another spell was cast into the stone so it “remembered” what was said, and a third that allowed the stone to “repeat” what it heard.
Damien wrote that mages would create listening stones to spy on their enemies, and on the enemies of their allies. When it came to the latter, they would create multiple listening stones. Most were enchanted to hear everything, but replaced daily. One, though, would hear only what the mage wanted it to when the first stone “spoke.” That way an ally didn’t have to listen to long conversations about nothing to get the important information.
Allan chose to follow that example. He started by enchanting one stone. That night he found Simon’s shop. He searched for a spot where the stone could be hidden. Once he hid the stone, he returned to his castle.
The next day he enchanted another stone. That night he retrieved the first and installed the second. The following day he enchanted a third stone, and listened to the first. He heard nothing of value, so that night he swapped out the second with the third. The day after that, he heard what he wanted to hear. That night he retrieved the third stone. He spent the morning of the fifth day preparing the stone for the Captain. He returned to the city in the afternoon, and sent a message to Captain William to expect a visitor that night.
When night came, Allan made sure to land on the roof of the Captain’s home with a bit of noise. He lifted off from the roof, and set down in the alley behind the house. He stood and waited for the Captain to come out. Moments later the Captain came out through the back door of his modest home.
“Captain,” Allan called out, as quietly as he could.
The Captain looked in his direction. “It’s you.”
“I made a promise. Now I keep it.” Allan stepped towards the man. He held up the stone in his gloved hand. “I have something for you to hear.”
“Yes?”
Allan stroked a line on the stone. A harsh voice spoke. “Ah, Captain, come for business, have we?”
“Business, aye,” a man said. His voice was higher and smoother than the first. “I think your business is about to get much better.”
“Thomas,” Captain William muttered.
“Been giving some thought to poor Merrick,” the second man said. “I think it would be good if the fellow went to jail.”
“I can’t disagree,” the first man replied.
“However, you’ll need to sit on your boys for a bit. Make the common folk feel a little safer and all.”
“Sure. What about Merrick’s boys?”
“I’ll see if I can’t get a name or two for you.”
“That’s going to be more bellies to fill. Plus the fact that I have to keep my own boys at their place for a week or two.”
“We’re impounding Merrick’s shop. I could arrange for some of the property in the shop, along with some of the coins in his till, to be sent your way.”
“That would be most helpful, Captain.”
“Good. I think that concludes our business for today.”
“Always a pleasure to see you, Captain.”
Allan stroked a second line carved onto the stone. “That should be enough, Captain William.” He handed the stone to the man.
The Captain looked at the stone in his palm for a moment or two. He shook his head. “I thank you, friend, but I can’t play this in Public Court.”
“I didn’t think you could. You could play that to Simon, or to Thomas.”
“I suppose.”
“I knew when I made that listening stone, that you wouldn’t be able to take it to Public Court. But you can play that for one or both of them somewhere else. You can tell them that someone known only as ‘Defender’ heard them talk. This Defender gave you an ancient enchanted stone with their conversation about it.”
“It’s not ancient.”
“No, but they don’t need to know that.”
“I suppose not.”
“They do need to know that there’s a man who knows about them, and knows where to find ancient enchanted objects.”
“Why?”
“Fear. Criminals fear getting caught because they fear punishment. Right now Simon doesn’t fear punishment because Thomas helps him. Thomas doesn’t fear punishment because he’s a Captain of the Guard.”
“Who are they supposed to fear?”
“Me.”
“You? You may know magic, but you’re hardly a fearsome figure.”
“You don’t know who I am, do you?”
“No.”
“That means you don’t know my name, or where I live. You don’t know what my face really looks like without this mask. You can’t be sure you’re even looking at me. After all, I could be casting an illusion spell on me.”
The Captain paused for an instant. “No.”
“That also means they don’t know who I am or what I look like. That means that, if they aren’t punished under the law, I could punish them outside of the law.”
“Be a vigilante? That’s not lawful, either.”
“No, but unless I tell you what I do, you won’t know what I did, will you?”
The Captain let out a laugh. “Indeed not.”
Allan nodded once. “That’s the fear they need, Captain. They need to know that if they don’t confess to their crimes, someone else is going to punish them. Someone you don’t know. Someone they don’t know. Someone with access to magic.”
The Captain echoed Allan’s nod. “Make confessing seem better than trying to get away with their crimes.”
“Just so.”
The Captain looked at the stone again, then at Allan. “Fair enough.”
“Good. Now that I’ve helped you, you need to help me.”
“Help you with what?”
“Help me in two ways. First, you need to make sure everyone knows about how Thomas abused his authority. You need to make sure another guard as corrupt at Thomas doesn’t take his place. The guards should protect all the people, not just their friends, or those who can pay His Lordship’s taxes.”
“How does that help you?”
“If the guards are honest, and protect everyone, I don’t need to do things like enchant listening stones, and casting fire spells to flee from criminals.”
“A fair point, I suppose. What’s the other help you need?”
“I want to know about Conner's Crew.”