Pentarch stood in the Toad’s office and waited for the loathsome little creature to acknowledge him. He stood at attention, and he kept his face and posture impassive to betray no signs of his impatience.
The Toad made marks on his parchment for several more seconds before giving him the simple order, “Report.” There was no change in his demeanor, and he continued his scribblings without looking up.
“The Lady Veronique – or Virgil, as she introduced herself to me when we met – has arrived.”
“She made it all the way?”
“She made it all the way here on her own, and lost consciousness soon after I brought her inside.”
“She required no undue assistance from you along the way?”
Pentarch ignored the implication and answered honestly. “No.”
“Good. We’re glad to have things back on track after Von Richlau’s unexpected involvement.” Pentarch strongly suspected that it was the Toad himself who alerted the undead Landgrave Von Richlau of Vero’s coming before her arrival, or one of his minions. “If he had killed her and taken the relic, or if she had given it to him, the consequences would have been disastrous. The Curia have asked me to commend you for your work bringing the artifact back to us safely- even considering its condition.”
“I’m honored.”
The Toad finally looked up at him. Perhaps trying to tell if he was being disingenuous or not. He appeared disappointed by the lack of insubordination and turned back to his parchment. “No loose ends left in Burgorod?”
Pentarch was certain there were truth-saying spells in the room. He spoke carefully to tell as little as possible without being caught in a lie. “The elderly maester she contracted to give her directions is still there, but it would raise too much suspicion to eliminate him. It’s doubtful she told him anything compromising, and he’s already on the verge of death as it is.” He avoided mentioning the drunkard Ramiro entirely.
“Hmm, very well.” The Toad sounded disappointed. “Now that she's here we need to decide what to do with her. You’ve studied the girl, spied on her, spoken to her… the Curia want to hear the impression you’ve formed.” He seemed to be making it clear by his tone that it was the Curia alone which was interested, and that he himself cared not a whit.
“She can read and knows the most common dialects of Imperial, but shows definite signs of a struggle with anything besides Velian. That, and her bumpkin accent, suggests she was raised in rural Velois. She seems to lose the accent though when she wears women’s clothes, because I didn’t hear it when she was in Whitegate. It becomes more northern and refined. But not like at their capital, more like the Fer-Mark to my ear.”
The Toad made a sneer, but Pentarch continued untroubled.
“She became apprenticed to Aquinas, an independent slayer we considered not worth recruiting, but I don’t know how they met. He was a soldier and taught her how to fight and keep herself in condition passably well. But if it were not for the relic, they both would have died a long time ago. As it was, Aquinas was killed by a loup garou somewhere between five and ten years ago. Although no one who knows the full tale of exactly how or when is willing to say any more than that. She’s operated on her own since then.”
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“Why was her teacher judged unfit for recruitment?”
“Excellent physical abilities in his youth, and good survival skills- which he seems to have passed on to his apprentice. But he was illiterate, and showed poor natural aptitude for occult science. He was also judged unfit of character by the man sent to scout him. They were stricter about matters of honor in those days.”
The Toad looked ready to respond at once, before he saw that Pentarch had paused to wait for him.
At length, he declined Pentarch’s invitation. “Yes? Are you pausing for the profound moral lesson you’ve dealt to sink in? Go on with your report, master slayer.”
“She’s clever, but not nearly so clever as she thinks. She’s very determined, but that also makes her willful. Anti-social by disposition, but skilled at manipulating others. I suppose it was the Marquis who helped her develop that trait.”
“Do you consider that observation salient at the moment?”
“I suppose not.” He began again, “It was the Marquis de Fer who gave her the noble title of Dame, when she spent half a year as his mistress. Every report I’ve heard says that she knows how to behave in a courtly setting without embarrassing herself better than most slayers. And I do consider that a salient observation.”
“She’s politically compromised her neutrality, is that what you mean?”
Pentarch smiled. He was sure the Toad wanted her dead; Pentarch also knew that he himself wanted her alive. Time would tell which one of them would be on the winning side in the end. In the present, he refused to allow himself to be baited.
He continued as though he had not been interrupted. “She has a strong natural aptitude for working magic, although she’s had no formal training in a university. I don’t know where she learned the occult sciences, or the full extent of her knowledge. Her master knew next to nothing. What he did know was so rife with superstition it may have done her more harm than good. Even self-taught, it was plain to me that she’s more skilled than any apprentice we have at the fortress now. And more so than some of our trained slayers. She's traveled extensively in the south, in the Republic, Lusitan, and the Oasis Cities. Places our Order hasn't reached out to in decades, more than a generation.”
“Shall I interpret this as a request for her to be placed under your command?” The Toad asked the question like he was offering a favor.
“If that is what the Curia wishes. I believe she would be a valuable agent- after some further training. It wouldn’t take more than-”
“-Noted. Is there anything else?”
“I observed her when she destroyed a coven of vampyres in Whitegate, and she did a fine job of it. She passed all the tests we set for her. She even destroyed that old leech Von Richlau in Burgorod along the way, despite him being forewarned. One thing I wouldn’t know if she possessed until I saw her in person was adaptability, and I believe she has it in abundance.”
“Is that all?”
“It’s my recommendation that we finish her training and list her on our rolls with the rank of journeyman. And, she may be the only one able to work with the relic in its current condition. That’s all I have left to say.
“Understood.” The Toad waved him away. “You’re dismissed.”
Pentarch turned on his heel and left.
Before he was through the door, the Toad added, “Be sure you keep an eye on her. It seems the Lady Veronique is something of a locus for… ill fortune. And we all want her hale and healthy, isn’t that right?”
Pentarch closed the door behind him. The other side believed they were in a place of advantage; he was sure of that.
It was all well enough. Pentarch could not say for certain that they had not amassed the superior force, but the fog of war could never be completely cleared until the battle was fully joined.
The Lady Veronique would be awake soon, and then the next battle could begin in earnest.