Chapter 6 The Ghost Chef

• The soldiers came at dawn.
• Not one or two this time. A whole squad—eight men, armed and armored, their breath fogging in the cold morning air. They filled the dining room with the smell of leather and sweat and the metallic tang of weapons.
• Captain Darian led them. He was a tall man with a scarred jaw and eyes that missed nothing. I had seen him before, passing through the village on patrol. He had never eaten at the inn.