City Guardsman
Copyright© 2026 by Ka Hmnd
Chapter 5
I sat beside the salle as Sam began her practice. Our son rested beside me in his basket. Several guards nearby had just finished and were trying to cool down. Lieutenant Belet poked his head out the back door of the guard building and then came out.
He stopped to watch Sam and a very pregnant Mona before shaking his head. “I would tell her to stop until she had the child, but...”
I laughed. “What happened the last time you mentioned that?”
He grinned. “She beat me around the salle until I gave up.”
I smiled and looked at Mona before looking at him. “Did you need me?”
He sighed. “Captain Able wanted to know if you would look at a murder.”
I sighed and reached for the baby’s basket. “We have a job, Sam.”
She laughed as she backed away from Mona. “I was finally getting the better of her.”
Mona grinned. “Just keep thinking that.”
I carried the basket, and Sam quickly stripped the padding off and ran to catch up. “Who’s dead?”
I shrugged as we walked through the guard building. “I don’t know yet. Lieutenant Belet hasn’t told me.”
He chuckled as he walked on my other side. “It was a sailor. He was behind the Laughing Fox.”
I glanced at him. “That’s a long way from the docks.”
He nodded as he held the front door for me. “That was why Captain Able wanted you to investigate.”
We stopped just inside our door for Adelia to come take young William and Sam to grab her scribe things. As we headed towards the Laughing Fox, Peter, Dett, Edward, and then Chris fell in beside us. We met Able at the side of the inn, and he turned to lead the way. “I made sure no one touched anything.”
I stopped everyone and nodded to Dett. He moved forward slowly, and Edward followed after. I waited and then slowly started following. When I caught up, Dett was squatting beside the body. He looked up, “It was quick and clean. They searched him after.”
I looked around, “They?”
He nodded, “At least two.”
I looked around, and Edward came out of the shadows beside two large crates, “They waited back there for him.”
I nodded and glanced at Chris, “Check around the front.”
He started off as Peter headed the other way. I knelt beside the body and glanced up at Sam, “He was struck by a weighted throwing club and then his throat was cut by a short-bladed curved knife.”
I nodded to Dett and Edward, “Start asking questions at the docks. Find out what ship he came off of.”
I stood up as Peter and Chris returned. Chris nodded, “There was a watcher across the street according to the innkeeper.”
I looked at Peter, and he nodded, “A neighbor said a stranger was hanging around and trying to look like he belonged, so that makes four.”
I sighed, “Get a description from both of them and then join Dett and Edward on the dock. Make sure one of you goes to the merchant hall to ask around too.”
I looked down at the body and then turned to walk out to find Captain Able talking to the tavern keeper. He looked at me and finished before turning, “My lord, Kristin?”
I watched the tavern keeper leave and looked back at him. “It’s strange in more ways than one. The clothes and hands suggest a sailor. It wasn’t just a robbery; he went back there to meet someone and was ambushed by at least two men. Two other men acted as lookouts, so that makes four.”
I glanced at Sam as she came to stand beside me. “Four men robbing one sailor is not normal. Killing him just to rob him is not normal.”
Able sighed. “Just what I need.”
I grinned. “Wait until Tess has the baby.”
He grinned. “I’ll make sure I have plenty to do by then.”
Sam snorted. “She’ll just make you watch the baby when you’re off.”
Able frowned. “Spoil sport.”
I laughed and turned towards the street leading to the harbor. “I’ll go speak with the harbor master and see if anything strange has happened on the docks.”
Sam fell in beside me. “I made a quick sketch of his face.”
I nodded. “I’m almost willing to bet he was a smuggler.”
When we reached the harbor master’s office, it was full of sailors. When we walked in, they started making comments about Sam. One made the mistake of reaching out to touch her as we passed. His scream and the slam of his body to the floor had the whole building turning to look. It fell silent, and Sam smiled sweetly. “Next time I break more than your wrist.”
I shook my head and turned back towards the counter to see the older man that was the Harbor Master. “Your ship captains need better training, David.”
He grinned. “My lord Kristin, welcome.”
I nodded. “We had a killing last night that might be one of yours.”
His eyebrow rose as he looked around the room. “No one has said anything about anyone missing.”
I looked at Sam as she opened her pad and flipped to the sketch. The harbor master frowned and then looked around. “Anyone know him?”
The captains came forward and looked, and one tapped the sketch. “I’ve seen him, my lord. Down toward the private docks.”
I looked at the harbor master, and he nodded reluctantly. “Maybe one of the courier ship captains will recognize him.”
I sighed as she put the sketch away. “Pass the word that we are asking around, would you?”
He grinned. “Since your young miss has been so nice, I’m sure word will make the rounds.”
Everyone snickered except the man Sam had thrown. She grinned. “He shouldn’t feel bad. I threw my father just the other day.”
They laughed, and we turned towards the door. I stopped after the door closed behind us. “Something isn’t right, Sam. The harbor master knew him.”
She glanced from me to the door behind us. “Maybe it’s time for a city inspection of his books?”
I snorted as I headed towards the private docks. “Which set?”
Sam laughed as she fell in step. “We could ask those northern merchant captains to help find the right set.”
I grinned and turned to stop at the old sailor sitting on a crate next to the gate into the private dock. I nodded to Sam, who he was staring at, and she held out the sketch. “Do you know which ship this man came from?”
He grinned and glanced down. His grin froze, and he looked up at me. “Never seen...”
I shook my head. “Listen close, old timer. If you try to tell me you don’t know him or what ship he came from, I will put you in the stocks before having you whipped out of the city. Now, his name and what ship did he come from?”
He swallowed and looked around. “The duke will have my head.”
I smiled. “I’m his Kristin.”
He nodded and looked around again. “There be a ship that comes in from Tellerman. It offloads during the night, and everything is taken into the city by the crew. They be protected from the normal customs. It’s the last ship on the dock.”
I nodded and glanced back as Peter, Chris, Dett, and Edward walked up. Peter grinned. “Still ahead of us.”
I smiled and nodded to the dock. “We take the last ship. Everyone gets detained.”
I looked at the old sailor and fished out a gold piece. “Go find a guard and tell him the Kristin wants two squads with restraints.”
He grinned as he caught the coin. “Don’t be easy on them, my lord. They be an ugly lot.”
Peter laughed as he started down the dock with Chris. “They be an ugly lot indeed.”
Sam and I followed after Dett and Edward. The two men on deck saw us coming, and one disappeared as the other moved to block the plank leading onto the ship. Peter barely slowed as he slugged the man blocking our way. The man flew back and crumpled as several men began crowding onto the deck.
A large man in a brightly colored uniform appeared as we spread out. “What is the meaning of this! We are The Duke’s men...”
His eye fell on me, and his face paled. “Killed them!”
Peter lashed out and knocked two over the side while Chris seemed to slide right past them only to have them collapse behind him. Dett and Edward were neat and precise. Dett blocked and Edward struck them down. The man that made the mistake of reaching for Sam screamed as she brushed his arm aside and grabbed his privates.
I pulled two daggers and moved forward. I stabbed through one man’s wrist and kicked another in the knee, breaking it. The fight didn’t last long before the rest of the crew was hastily backing away. The captain had disappeared below and I moved through the hatch to follow. I kicked open his small cabin door and stepped in as he spun from a small chest of gold.
He looked around in desperation as I walked closer. Finally he gasped, “I have protection!”
I slugged him and grabbed him as he fell. I spun him and yanked his hands behind his back. “You aren’t protected from me.”
I slammed him into the wall. “Who are you working for?”
He didn’t say anything so I turned him and shoved him out the door and then up onto the deck. The men still alive were being tied up and I shoved him towards Peter. “If we don’t get answers, start hanging them.”
The captain stiffened. “YOU CAN’T!”
Peter laughed. “Want to bet your life?”
Sam kicked one man that looked like he wanted to say something. “Do you have something you want to say?”
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