\herosection{Three Offenses}{chapters/2026.03.04-ThreeOffenses/image/three-offenses.jpg}

\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropC.png}arven had not spoken to Halric in years.

The quarrel had begun with timber and coin — \\
some small matter of a trade\\
that had gone awry.\\
Halric had shrugged it off.\\
Carven had felt cheated.

From that day forward the two men \\
lived along the same harbor as though\\
separated by an ocean.

Carven told himself \\
some people simply could not be trusted.

And small things kept happening.

One morning Carven arrived at the quay \\
and found his fishing net hanging from\\
a post, rinsed clean and drying in the wind.

He scowled.

He had left the net soaking overnight \\
to loosen the knots.\\
Now it hung stiff\\
in the sun.

Halric must have pulled it out.

Carven muttered to himself \\
the whole morning while he worked.

The following week he found a heavy cargo line untied \\
and retied to a different post.\\
The knot was Halric's work — \\
he recognized the turn of it at once.

Carven felt his jaw tighten.

So now Halric thought his knots were not good enough.

And then, one evening, \\
a lantern appeared near the edge of the quay \\
where Carven often worked after dusk.

Carven stared at it with a sour expression.

A warning, no doubt.\\
A quiet insult.

As though he could not see where he was walking.

That did it.

Carven carried the grievance for two days, \\
letting it simmer and harden \\
until he could bear it no longer.

On the third morning \\
the harbor bustled with its usual noise — \\
ropes creaking, gulls calling, \\
men shouting across the water.

Carven stepped into the open space of the quay.

``Halric,'' he called, \\
loudly enough for all the dockworkers to hear.

``Yes?'' he said, still coiling a rope.

``All you ever do is try to harass and embarrass me.''

Halric blinked in surprise.

``How so?''

Carven spread his hands sharply.

``For example, you dragged my nets \\
out of the water last week.''

Halric answered calmly.

``They had come loose \\
and were scraping barnacles in the low tide.\\
In another hour they would have been ruined.''

A few of the men nearby nodded.

Carven felt heat rise in his face but pressed on.

``And you untied the cargo line I secured.''

One of the dockhands spoke up from behind him.

``That was the night \\
that rush shipment came in for the king.\\
Your crate had to be moved right quick.\\
Halric helped shift it.''

Carven hesitated.

Then he pointed toward the lantern.

``And what about the lantern you hung there? \\
As if I can't see where I'm walking.''

An older fisherman chuckled softly.

``That wasn't about you.\\
Old Brenn ain't seeing so well anymore.\\
Nearly fell off the dock there two nights ago.\\
I mentioned it to Halric.\\
He said he'd do something about it.''

The harbor grew quiet.

Carven stood in the middle of the quay, \\
the words he had prepared, \\
suddenly sand in his mouth.

Halric studied him for a moment — \\
not angrily, not triumphantly, \\
simply with a kind of puzzled patience.

``Honestly,'' he said with a shrug,\\
I wasn't thinking of you at all.''
