I didn't tell Caroline any of that. If she knew how much danger I was in, she'd plaster herself to my side and not let me out of her sight until she'd ripped my enemy apart.
Caroline grimaced. "I only know a little. They're some seriously badass dudes."
"I heard they were mercenaries and assassins."
She paused in the act of taking a drink of her beer and set it down. "Yes and no. Most of them are refugees from a fallen court."
I sat forward.
Seeing my interest, Caroline nodded. "The ones most hear about are those who've made a name for themselves. The assassins and mercenaries."
I was willing to bet Don fell into one of those two categories, possibly both.
"Tell me about this fallen court," I said.
It sounded interesting.
Caroline leaned back in her chair. "There's not much I can tell. I haven't really studied their history and what I've heard is mostly second hand, nothing I can trace back to a trusted source."
"Tell me anyway."
Some gossip was better than nothing. I knew Caroline. She'd hem and haw, throw caveat after caveat, unless a fact was cited in at least three places. I needed an idea of what I was up against, not to write a PhD dissertation that I'd later have to defend in a group of my peers.
Caroline's nose wrinkled. I'd forgotten how much she disliked guesses and innuendo.
"Please, this could help me," I pleaded.
Caroline set her beer down. "You've heard of the Summer Lands, right?"
"Yeah, that's what they call their realm."
Caroline nodded. "There are several more realms beyond that, though most rarely hear of them. From what I gather there used to be one such realm that housed a powerful court. Stories disagree about its name, but most have some derivation of night or monster in it. Something happened to the king of that realm. When he fell, so did the realm. A few of his people ported out in time, but the rest perished. Those who survived have been wanderers ever since."
"When did this happen?"
Caroline finished taking a swig of her beer. "Eons ago. I've no idea the actual time frame for any of this."
"Why not settle somewhere?"
Caroline shrugged. "No one wanted them. From what I can tell, the denizens of that realm were uber powerful. There are many courts in the Summerlands, but the strongest of their Kings declared the Scattered criminals."
"And all the rest took their cues from him," I guessed.
"Pretty much."
So, I had a bunch of angry refugees who had been without a home for what was probably centuries after me. That was just swell.
I looked up to find Caroline studying me.
"I'm surprised you encountered them. Not many have." She lifted her beer to her lips. "At least not and lived to tell about it."
She snickered at my flat expression.
"You're hilarious," I told her.
"One last thing—all of the Scattered carry a mark on them in the form of a raven or crow—I'm not sure how to tell which, those birds look alike to me."
My stomach dropped as she set her forearm on the table, pointing to a spot between the wrist and elbow. The same spot where I had a pair of black birds.
