Walk of Shame

Aron received many disapproving stares as he left Heather's home early in the morning. He knew how it looked, a man leaving the house of a young woman in hastily dressed attire just as the sun was rising in the sky, the morning after his wife disappeared. But he didn't have time to argue with the people looking at him. Let them think he was a scoundrel and a cheater, he had already lost many hours, first by searching the valley road, and then being hypnotized into a trance for most of the night by the succubus. The Demon now had a massive head start, and if Aron wanted any hope of catching up to them, he had to leave immediately.

He was in such a hurry through the town that he almost bumped into Samuel, assistant to the town guild. The young man couldn't conceal his surprise at seeing Aron.

"Mr. Steelside! You're still here?"

"Yes, but I shouldn't be, if you'll excuse me." Aron tried to walk around him, but Samuel energetically cut off his path.

"No, sir, you misunderstand, last night I went to give you a message, but you weren't at your house," Samuel quickly explained. "Where did you sleep last night anyway? No, that's not important, what's important is that a man came to the guild last night. Gave us quite a shock too, when he walked in, freezing and naked, without even a handkerchief to his name."

"Get to the point, Samuel," Aron grumbled. His wife was waiting, but he needed to hear this message.

"Sorry 'bout that. But it really was a surprise to see someone come to the guild hall like that. None of us really knew whether to believe him or not. Said all of his clothes were stolen, and his horse. Seemed like a bit of a joke really. Thought he might be drunk, but there wasn't any **** on his breath. Wanted to put out a contract on what stole his clothes. To make sure it was on the up and up, we asked around and apparently he has a reputation as a trouble maker. Some nephew of Count Arnaud de Choiseul over in Teem, who finally had enough of him and-"

"Samuel," Aron interrupted again. "I can't take the contract, I have to go find my wife."

"This is about your wife. Didn't I say that? Or no, wait, I didn't, that's right. Well, the guy who took his clothes was supposedly big and red, just like your demon, wouldn't you say? And he had a young woman with him, naked as the day she was born." Samuel smiled brightly. "Sounds like your wife, we thought."

Aron could have swung for Samuel, for not just telling him outright. But he suppressed that urge, and opted for getting more information. He did, however, grab the young messenger and shake him rather roughly.

"Where was he coming from? East or West?" Aron demanded. "Did he see which way they went?"

"We never asked," Samuel admitted with a thoughtful finger to his chin, and pondering the matter long and hard despite Aron's urgency. "When we learned about him, we declined to take the contract. But Guild Mistress thought you'd want to know the information. But if he was coming from Teem where his uncle is, that'd be East, sir."

Samuel was right, Aron realized. The road to Teem led East out of town. Unfortunately, the succubus had told him to go west to Stralia. Teem was closer but any wrong decision would mean losing days, not just hours. There was no reason to trust the word of a demon's thrall, but if this nephew of the Count was also known for stirring up trouble, then either one might be a lie. And so, even with more information, he was still faced with a difficult choice that might be the difference of rescuing his wife and never seeing her again.