Raesinia cast around. Against the wall on her side was an invitingly large wooden box, which was probably intended as a wastepaper basket. She grabbed it and turned it upside down, then looked speculatively at Marcus. The guard had been roughly his height. I’ll have to jump a bit.

Marcus apparently guessed her intention, because he made more frantic hand signals, waving no, no, no. Raesinia bounced once or twice on the balls of her feet, getting ready.

The guard rounded the corner, glancing at the splintered jamb and then looking for the door. That left him facing away from Raesinia, which was precisely what she needed. She leapt at him, box in her hands, and slammed it down over the top of his head. The guard let out a startled squawk and stumbled forward, and Marcus grabbed him by the arm and spun him face-first into the wall, knocking the breath out of him with a whoosh.

Raesinia was right behind him in an instant, pressing her index finger into the small of his back. “Make a noise, and you’ll get it in the kidneys,” she said in her best thug’s voice. She didn’t actually have a knife, but she didn’t think he could tell the difference through his jacket. “Stay quiet and you’ll get out of this. Get his sword belt.”

The guard whimpered but stayed silent. Marcus extracted his belt, set the sword on the floor, and used it to tie the man’s hands behind his back. Raesinia undid his sash, stood on tiptoes to pull the box off his head, and then looped the roll of blue-on-black fabric over his mouth. She tied it tight at the back of his neck, then stepped back to admire her handiwork.

Marcus looked at her and raised his eyebrows. Raesinia went to the stack of ledgers he’d been investigating and picked them up with a grunt. Once she was out of the room, Marcus pulled the broken door shut.

“I can carry those,” he said.

“I’m supposed to be your courier. It’s my job to carry things.” She had to tilt her head back to put her chin on top of the stack and see where she was going.

“So we’re just going to walk out of here?”

“Exactly. Nice and slow. Nothing wrong, nothing to see here.”

“But be ready to run?” Marcus said.

“Of course.”

*   *   *

MARCUS

Marcus never would have believed it, but that was exactly how it went, nice and slow and completely uneventful. He and Raesinia strolled out of Exchange Central with the records, past a dozen Patriot Guards and as many army soldiers, and no one said a thing. Whatever had sent the guard to investigate, it apparently hadn’t called for anything like a general alarm.