The Jackal woman looks around nervously.
"The Wind family?" She repeats Renald's question. "I don't know much, other than the fact that they run, like, the entire city."
"Even though it's inside the tower, Denzen is still a territorial city of Ardent, is it not?" Renald tries to pry out more information. "So, how does a bounty hunter family get control over an entire city?"
"Hahaha!" The woman laughs, "You two ain't from round here, are ya? Everyone knows that the Wind family built this city. Can't no Ardenian, especially one from outside the tower, control this city. Only a Wind can, and right now that's Hawk."
"Whose Hawk?" I remember hearing the name when the bounty hunter took Glimmer.
"Hawk Wind, the King of bounty hunters." The Woman looks down at her feet. "He's the head of the Wind family and is by far the most accomplished bounty hunter in the whole tower. I'm surprised you don't know this already."
"He's not from here originally, though. The tower, I mean." Renald says, stating more than asking.
"Well, no, not exactly." The woman scratches the fur on her cheeks with her paw. "Hawk is from Vertalara. I don't know too much about his personal life, though. Nobody does really, unless they made it into The Inner Circle."
"What's that? The Inner Circle?" I'm bouncing on the balls of my feet in anticipation.
"Wow. Just wow..." She looks between me and Renald, mouth agape in shock. "You guys don't know anything. Like... nothing at all."
"That's why we're talking to you." I can tell Renald's losing his patience, even with the top half of his face being covered. "So like my friend asked, what is The Inner Circle?"
"You guys have seen the city from the outside, right?"
"Yeah." I remember looking down at the city from the tree.
"Good, so you've seen the four Rings then?" The woman's head snaps over to me.
"You're talking about the different floors of the city?" I think back.
"They are more than just floors." The woman's facial expression grows dark. "The Rings separate the weak from the strong."
"What do you mean?" Renald starts fiddling with the hilt of his saber.
"You probably already know this…" The woman looks between Renald and me. "...Maybe you don't, but everyone in Denzen, bounty hunter or otherwise, is required to train for a few years while we're kids. Then we have to take a test to determine our capabilities. They rank us on a scale of one to four, and our Rank decides what Rings of the city we have access to, what jobs we can get, what food and clothes we have access to, among other things."
"All that gets decided with one test?" I clench my jaw.
"More importantly, how does the Inner Circle tie into all of this?" Renald doesn't seem fazed.
"The Inner Circle is the fourth Ring of the city." The woman's eyes dart around the room. "Only the best of the best have access to it, and all of them are loyal to the Wind family, Hawk's lackeys. I'm not too sure, but I've heard rumors that some of them have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years."
"Well, thank you for the information, miss…" Renald stands up from his place on the bed and sticks his hand out towards the woman. "...uh, I didn't catch your name."
"I'm Brownspot, but my friends just call me Spots." She shakes his hand and heads towards the door.
"One more question before you go." Renald says as she opens it. "What Ring are we in now?"
"Really?" Spot bursts into laughter. "We're in the third Ring, Inner City. You guys didn't know that?"
"We're…" Renald looks at me, then at Spot. "...from out of town."
"Sure, sure, I get it." Spot raises her eyebrows. "We get plenty of your type round here. Just try not to destroy my place, will ya?"
"Will do." Renald nods and Spot heads back into the hallway, away from our little room.
Renald shuts the door and locks it, then walks over to the window and draws the curtains. Due to my night vision, the room doesn't go completely dark. Instead, it's as if a gray veil is pulled over my eyes. Renald walks over to the bed, avoiding everything along the way as if he can see it clearly, and sits down.
"Do you want to take a bath?" He asks me, flipping his hood off his head, "I know it's not a shower, but at least you can get cleaned up."
"Oh, yeah." I take my own off. "I had honestly forgotten about that, after hearing what Spot had to say."
"Haha, yeah. I guess anybody would." Renald laughs. "I'm going to sleep for a few minutes. Wake me when you're done."
I nod, but Renald is already sleeping. I hadn't thought about it until now, but he must be exhausted. I walk into the bathroom and turn on the water to the bathtub, which sputters a few times before kicking on. I take my cloak, armor, and clothes off, placing them in the corner of the bathroom. My eyes glance at the mirror, drawing my gaze to several scars embedded in my fur. I run my fingers over each of them, remembering my days training as a Wardog. Those days were hell, but it was the life I chose. I couldn't imagine being forced into it.
I turn the water off and get into the bath. I spend a good 10 minutes scrubbing myself with some soap before I finally wash my fur out. Even still, the stale scent of sewage remains. I draw myself with a towel and throw my clothes back on. When I open the door to the bathroom, Renald is already awake, stretching his legs in the middle of the room.
"Hey." He looks up at me and smiles. "You smell good."
"Shut up." I stomp over to the bed and lie down, making sure to face away from him.
"What?" He asks. "I meant it as a compliment."
I can feel my face turning red. Why does he always have to be like this? I don't get it. One minute he's ruthless and cunning, then the next minute he's kind and gentle.
"Ren?" I sit up, still facing towards the wall, away from Renald. "Were you always like this? Before we met, I mean?"
He doesn't say anything. I feel stupid. Why do I even care?
"I don't…" I whip around to look him in the eyes, only to see him looking away from me. "... understand the question."
"Ugh!" I can't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "Just forget it! I'm going to sleep!"
I grab the blanket and throw it over myself, flipping back to face the wall again and slamming my eyes shut. That'll be the last time I ever try to ask Renald about something personal.