Swamped

"Just checking a huntch," you say. You keep the mispronunciation subtle, but the knight seems to pick up on it.

"Squib Squad's actually been stayin' outta trouble the last couple of days," he says, not directly addressing it. "Don't know why, but there's been some weird stuff going on with them lately. First Squib got knocked out when he was on guard duty, then the next morning, one of the squad, guy named Clancy, just up and quit the knights entirely."

Now that's interesting, combined with what you already heard. Grey thought that this group had an arrangement with Ash. So what if Ash asked them to do something so dirty it gave their departing member a crisis of conscience? Or perhaps he'd been having a few of those, but on that night, Squib was in no shape to talk him out of it?

Of course, you might be sensationalizing things a bit there. Although... if Ash's requests really are that bad, it could also explain why the squad seems to be lying low. He wouldn't want to risk them getting caught, and possibly pointing a finger back at him, until he was securely in command.

You suddenly remember that when you got in, another knight left in your carriage. Damn! That must have been Clancy. A shame, he could have told you so many interesting things.

"Squib Squad gets in a lot of trouble, then?"

"I'd rather not talk about it while they're around. What's taking the medic so long, anyways? I know they just changed shifts, but it shouldn't take this long to start seeing people, right?"

"Maybe it just feels longer because of the company you're keeping."

"I guess," he shrugs. "Say, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Mark Conchway, been here about six months."

"Tom Sixth. I've been off on leave for about eight months. No wonder we haven't met before."

"There are worse ways to meet someone, I suppose," Mark says. You can tell he's thinking of someone specific - but that particular piece of gossip will have to wait, you may be on the cusp of something big.

Squib and the other knight are still whispering. Doesn't look like they're coming to any sort of agreement, but then they stop. And now Squib's coming your way.

Mark backs away a bit. You suppose you can't blame him.

"Hey, you," Squib says.

"Are you Squib?" you ask. "That was the impression I was getting."

"That's right. And I'm the one asking the questions here. What's this I hear about you being able to afford steak?"

"I do a good job of saving up my pay," you explain. "Got about two or three weeks' worth that I could dip into to treat myself, not that it does me much good out here in the swamp. Not on me right now, of course, because what's the point in lugging it around?"

"Well, y'know," Squib says, not at all subtly. "You could always toss a few coins at a fellow knight as payment for a favor. I'm sure they'd find a way to use the extra money when they go on leave."

Well. This tells you a lot about what sort of people Squib Squad are, but it doesn't confirm Grey's suspicions about Ash.

Maybe following this trail a little further can help you out in that regard.

"And what sort of favors might you be willing to offer?" you ask.

"Who, me? Oh, I was just mullin' over the idea. I mean, if you'd like to talk later, after we're done here, well, that's no problem, we can meet someplace quiet. But I can't promise nothin' until I know I ain't gonna be too sick."

"Well, it can't be a problem to talk out here while we're both waiting, can it?" you say as innocently as possible. "You're not suggesting anything that would get us in trouble, are you?"

"Oh, nah, nah," Squib says, very unconvincingly. "It's just that I'm too worried, y'know? Ain't been able to sleep properly. Hopin' it's nothin' too serious. Hard to focus on things."

You're not sure what he's here for, but after the way he said that, you're quite sure it isn't insomnia.

You wonder if you should try to get anything more out of him now. It might be better to take him up on his offer for a meeting and see what you can learn at that point.