I went to sleep and woke up in a bed for the first time in almost a week. I was able to get a good rest and I did not open my eyes until noon. Stretching my arms out in bed felt pretty good. It was the first time that I actually had a nice dream. Beds changed everything when it came to sleep. I wanted to explore the town more today. I had loot, but I did not have cash. I was going to have to liquidate the assets. Money laundering was important in the life of a criminal. If assets were hot, the authorities could trace them back to you. By exchanging ill-gotten goods for money in legal services made it hard for people to track the money trails. This was a totally different world out here. It should be enough to just sell them and get a good deal for the jewels. Gold could be stored in the bank and get some currency from them. I needed to know how much these types of jewels went for. The centaurs were from wild tribes, but they had to trade at least if they had metal weapons and things. I could see what they would know about trading. If they did not know anything, they could be intimidating guards for me.
Doing my best to negotiate deals would be what I have to do then. I did not work alone. One of my allies was the fixer of the crew. Another was the fence. They were the ones that usually handled this part of a heist. I walked around the inn to the stables to see how the centaurs were doing. Petras had gone into heat at some point last night. Jeran was still in heat as well. What I walked into was Casone behind both of his tribesmen and he was fisting them. Approaching them from behind, he turned his head. "Took you long enough to get here. Seeing you handle Jeran taught us a bit on how to deal with the heats on our own." "How long have you been at it?" I asked him. "I've been at it since Petras went into heat. About 3 hours or so." he snapped. Both Petras and Jeran were holding onto the doors to the stalls. They were moaning and pushing their asses back against him with rougher thrusting motions than with me. Jeran probably knew that I would not be able to handle it. The male horses were very interested in what was going on. They were hard and craning their necks to see.
Eventually, the 2 of them came enough to where they could calm down for the day. This was quickly becoming a cause of concern. I needed to know more about how the centaur heats worked if I was going to have 2 of them as companions. "How long does an average heat last? Now that Petras is going through it, it's only going to be a matter of time before Casone starts." I asked. "About a week when we are our most fertile. It lasts for 3 moons, but this week is when we are the most vulnerable and needy." Casone said. Petras looked at one of the horses still in the stable. "It's embarrassing to admit, but if Casone was not around, we'd probably be tempted to let one of these unintelligent horses breed us." he said. That was pretty bad, but at least Jeran was almost over with his. "Stay away from my horse!" came a shrill cry from the entrance of the stables. We turned our heads to see a young man march up to us. "It's been bad enough knowing that you centaurs were here. Now you are going to be stinking up the place and trying to fuck the horses." he said. He was wearing fancy clothes.
Facing us with a hand over the hilt of the sword attached on his hip, he was glaring at us. I raised my hands and said "Woah! Wait right there, sir. We're just travelers. We won't be here for long. Who are you!?" He narrowed his eyes and said "I'm Sir Anthony Swiftheart. I am accompanying my lord father on our own journey. I will not brook any suspicious behavior from you." This could be a chance to distinguish us and learn more about the world. "We are sorry, but I'm very new to the region. Could you tell us more about your noble lineage, if it would not bother you." the young knight relaxed and lowered his hands to his sides. "Fine then. The Swifthearts are a noble house who rule the lands of this barony of Hereford. My father Lord Jeffery Swiftheart is the baron. Our great-uncle is the count of Erstshire." he began. Apparently, the house well known and respected. However, it was a minor house and they were often ignored. They did not have the favor of the duke nor the king, so it was easy to overlook them. It was a pretty fine choice to make a deal with. I looked at Anthony and smiled.
