Greg jolts in wide-eyed terror. “The others…?” he trails off as I smile.

“Dead.” I say laconically.

“Dead? Don’t you know what you’ve done? You should have just killed me too. The watch…”

“Relax.” I interrupt with a smile. “I’ve taken care of it. The watch won’t be coming. The bodies, they’re gone.”

“Gone?”

“Well… let’s just say they aren’t in a state that can divined.”

He absentmindedly wipes sweat from his brow then stares at his hand in horror as he realizes how hot it is. “You didn’t…”

“A little bit more thorough than what you’re thinking, but yes, fire was involved. Enough about them though, let’s talk about you. Specifically, this lovely book you wrote and the future you earned from it.”

His expression goes from confusion to fear as he sees the previously hidden ledger in my hand. “How did you get that!?” He half stammers, half yells.

I stare at him drolly. “I am a mage. Divinations are kinda my speciality in fact.” A blink of surprise. “Did you seriously not know?”

A pause, then head shake. “I assumed you were one of the new nobles like your cousin.”

My mind goes back to Emily talking about her parent’s view on magic. It seems to be a recent term, or at least one that hasn’t spread to Caethlon. “Do you mean nobles who focus solely on administration rather than combat readiness? I wouldn’t have associated Alan with that movement.”

“He’s sort of a hybrid. Could almost be said to be ahead of his time. He may be a knight, but he doesn’t use his powers the way he should.”

“I assure you, he’s quite capable in a fight.”

“Yeah, but others don’t see that when they emulate him. They just see the artist dilettante. All his young followers are weak, and you seemed their type.”

“Oh, how so?” This genuinely intrigues and amuses me. Moreover, it’ll be good to know what I did so I can replicate it.

“For one, you came. Your letters too, so eager not to offend, begging further invitations. I figured anyone worth their title would see the trap and stay clear. I never thought you’d see the trap and come anyway. Never thought you’d be the hunter.”

I pause then give an odd smile and sharp exhale that could be mistaken for a laugh. “What? You thought you were the only one willing to hunt? My respect for you is falling more and more.”

He glowers, but not at me. Off to the side, directed at himself. “…Pity, because I rather like you. More than your cousin at least. In fact, I hate him.”

I blink at his frank, unexpected, admissions. “What did he do to you then?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes, it is for nothing that I hate him. We encountered each other by chance, just bumping up against each other’s business interests again and again. Of course, I didn’t resent him for it, it was the game we all played after. Except he didn’t play. I schemed and schemed, trying to come out on top, but despite everything, he won. I had to expand into areas where he wasn’t just to stay in business. Yet did he seize my weakness, bring me to heel? No. It was as if he was saying I am too far beneath him to bother. Instead, he just flaunts his success whenever he can. A horrid combination of seeming high and actual petty mindedness.

“But not you. After one meeting you decided to destroy me. To dominate me. That’s the sort of nobility that made our empire great. Strength, not weakness. The old ways.”

“…I was under the impression you gained your wealth under the new ones,” I ask finally, a bit stunned at his growing enthusiasm.

“More evidence of weakness.” He sneers.

“Right…” I don’t know what to make of him now. I assumed he was just a greedy, prideful merchant, never expecting him to be so vehement about… whatever this is.

“Enough of this preamble,” he says with an almost relish. “You hold the key to my destruction. Name your price.”

“…For starters, I’m taking all the coin on the table.”

“It’s yours. You won, and proved we cheated. I would have let you have it even without the ledger. What else?”

“…A medium gold a week.” He nods, seemingly eager to pay. I almost want to up the amount, but I arrived at it after assessing the ledger and deciding more might jeopardize the long term operation. “Information. You’ll look into things for me from time to time. For starters, tell me about the Talhals.”

He smiles broadly. “Aw, I see the reason for my destruction now. As I was going after Alan through you, so are you going after my patrons through me.”

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I hold my hand up in a wait gesture. “I’m not ‘going after them’. The opposite in fact. I need to know what they want. What they need. Something I might be able to provide.”

“Oh, I see. An interesting choice of patron.” He gives a knowing smile in error.

“Not exactly… but close enough I suppose.”

“You are asking me to betray the confidence of my patrons. Are you willing to take me as a client then?”

Not what I was expecting. If I become his patron, I’ll be obligated to aid him when he’s in need. I would benefit too, at least in theory. I’d be legally allowed to order him to take a set of actions, though I doubt it would enable me to order anything I couldn’t accomplish with the blackmail.

“…You want to become my client after what I did to you?” I finally ask.

“Of course. The Talhals are fine, but you’ve demonstrated that you’re exactly the sort of noble I want to serve.”

Having a client does sound appealing despite the strings with no real benefit. In a way, I’d be becoming a noble in my own right. Strictly speaking, non-nobles may acquire clients, and in fact, I’d be surprised if Greg didn’t have a few himself. But many people feel that a noble without at least one isn’t really a noble. It’s a matter of pride – the noble’s virtuous vice which I’m beginning to acquire.

“…I don’t think that stealing a client from the Talhals would aid my goals,” I say after much hesitation. I want to accept, but not if it hinders getting the orb, to say nothing about the uncertainty about how this entire conversation is going.

“On the contrary, it’ll aid you greatly, assuming your goal is to get in with them.” He pauses in question, prompting me to nod. “In which case, I’ll be legally obligated to declare my change in patrons to them. When I do so I’ll request dual clientage, which they will likely accept given my frequent services. Thus, I won’t be stolen at all, and they’ll be intrigued by the youth that their client evidently holds in such high regard as to jeopardize their relationship. Naturally they’ll want to talk and come to an agreement to ensure that my services are preserved. Whatever you want from them will be much easier to get if that’s the initial interaction.”

He's making sense, which worries me. This eagerness to come under me after our conflict is inherently suspicious but there’s no sign of deceit in his manner. I could simply be overconfident in my ability to read him, but if he’s that good at lying then he wouldn’t have needed to cheat to win at cards.

“All right.” I say, feeling like I’ll regret this, but also regret not doing it. “I agree to become your patron… tentative to it not causing excessive strain with the Talhals. Now, tell me about them.”

“Of course!” His smile turns giddy. “The Talhals are presently in a period of expansion, which means they’re vulnerable and are making enemies. They might become a major house soon, if they survive. Each of the big three political factions have recently granted them favours in hopes of aligning them. This has aided them, but also comes with danger. If they join one side, then they become the enemies of the other two. But they can’t keep playing coy either because eventually all three might turn against them. So, the biggest thing they need is a way to safely reach a permanent outcome. Either remain stably neutral, or join a side without retaliation.”

I nod along as he explains, but get annoyed when he ends with vagueness. “That’s well and good, but I don’t see how I might achieve that.”

He smiles patiently. “True. There are, however, some smaller scaled issues that you might be able to help with. For one, a lot of their expansions have been in the far west. They’re vulnerable there and so are looking for alliances amongst the local nobles which your territory may be ideal for.”

Convenient, yet dangerous. We’ve only had one exchange of communication from my ‘parents’ since I got here, and that was just sending them a letter saying I’d arrived safely (by which they should have understood that Tanyth had found an operative after all, and the plan is underway) and a response letter acknowledging mine. I have no idea what their plans in the region are. It’s possible that committing to an alliance on their behalf might seriously jeopardize their operations. Not to mention the possibility that the Talhals might come and visit their new allies.

“It’s a possibility,” I say in a weighing tone to hide my nervousness. “What else is there?

“Well,” his smile takes an ironic tone, “they’re having troubles with a number of smaller players too. Nobles that used to be their equals or stubborn potential clients. Let’s just say you could do unto them as you have done unto me.”

Meaning do their dirty work for them. Not ideal since that would be more of a master/servant relationship. Though perhaps if I can align enough clients to me through legitimate means then I can negotiate to lend their services.

“Send me a list of these enemies and potential clients and what you know about them, plus any other details you think might be useful. I’ll decide what to do with the information. Get it to me before the entrance ceremony next week.”

“Excellent, happy to be of service… Now, I hate to ask, but I do need that ledger to run my business here.”

“I’ll give it back if they agree to the dual patronage and after you officially become my client. Otherwise, I’ll let you copy bits of it when you make your weekly payments.” It’d be useless to blackmail after he becomes my client, since anything that would implicate him would indirectly implicate me too as his patron. Not in a sense that I’d be arrested for his crimes, but it would cause unwanted attention.

He shrugs. “Reasonable. I suppose I can make do without it until then.”

“Good. I’m going then. You’ll probably want to stick around for a while to make sure nothing starts smoking. Some of the stones were still glowing the last I checked.” I turn and leave before he can respond.

I feel jubilant on the way home. That went unreasonably well. Not only did I deal with an annoyance, but gained sacrifices while I was at it. A very profitable night.

On the way back I go by a series of canals to dispose of the little balls left over from the cleansing spell – cracking the exterior open on the railing so it’ll dissolve in the water. Only when the last one is out of my pocket do I truly feel I’ve gotten away with everything.

The house is silent when I get back. A sudden anxiety strikes me at the thought of encountering Alan on the way in. He’ll be able to tell that I’m suddenly more enhanced than normal. Even a servant might be able to tell with this many sacrifices worth of boons to my strength. So, I cast concealment and sneak up.

The door is locked, and I don’t have a key. There was never a need to give me one since a servant is always on hand to let me in. There was however a time when a servant locked me on the roof by accident, and I had to open the window by slipping a knife in to lift the latch. Not very secure, but useful.

I easily climb up the side and slip in, feeling strange as I do. It’s hardly the first time I’ve snuck through a top story window, but I feel like I shouldn’t do it here. I almost feel ashamed. That I’m breaking a sort of trust, or denying something I agreed to without realizing. But what I cannot place.

I ignore the feeling, quickly going to bed and smother the distress away with the feathered pillow – not even bothering to bathe before bed.