Five days had passed, and Aris was still no closer to knowing what he should do about both of his meetings with 'Lady Ussi' and Queen Shallahai being in the same place at the same time. Obviously, the two parties shouldn't come face-to face unexpectedly, as that would have messy consequences. Very messy consequences. But as he watched Queen Shallahai's ship, the beautiful three-masted galleon Ocean Breeze, approach the dock he did have an inkling of how to proceed.

As to the Lordship of Cencin, there were some questions he would need to ask of and about Kratos Elmid. if he was unwilling to accept the Lordship of Cencin as a whole, would he instead be willing to be the Mayor of Cencin the city? Which, given that Cencin had no other major holdings, would make him the Grand Mayor of Cencin and a Lord in all but name. Along the same lines, would Aflia want to continue living at the Hokfiin Faalyol house, or even accept the de facto title of Baroness of Hokfiin Faalyol?

But those were questions for the near future. Aris stepped forward as the Ocean Breeze pressed against the fenders of the dock. There was protocol to be followed even though Queen Shallahai had asked for the minimum of fuss and bother. A Queen does not come and go as they please without some announcement, however quiet it may be. Aris had dispensed with the band and the parade, but had made inquiries with his subjects on how her previous arrivals had progressed. It was this reduced protocol that he now followed. The gangplank hit the dock, and Queen Shallahai appeared at its top. Aris took a deep breath and let it out.

"Althiem arriving!" He stepped forward to meet Queen Shallahai at the end of the gangplank.

Queen Shallahai's face lit with a mildly amused grin. "Thank you, Lord Trebor."

"Is there anything my Queen needs? Or are you ready to proceed to the convent?"

"You have it re-built already?"

"No, my Queen. However, it is under construction, and quarters are available there. They may not be up to the standards of your palace or the convent of old, but you did request private neutral ground, and that is the best such location that I can offer."

"In this case, that may be all to the good. I could use a proper retreat, and a little austerity will not go amiss."

"As your majesty wishes."

A small caravan of people, including royal guardsmen and Lord Wavethunder, had assembled themselves as they spoke. With the destination now decided, they set off.

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The next day, Aris took a moment to sort out his thoughts, then knocked on the office door. "Lord Wavethunder, may I have a moment of your time?"

Lord Wavethunder was at his desk. A small music player hummed softly in the corner. "Of course Lord Cencin! I always have time for one of my most successful Agents, retired or otherwise."

"Thank you." Aris carefully shut the door and took a seat. "On the same day that Queen Shallahai's letter arrived, I also received another one from a lady Ussi asking for a clandestine meeting with me on the same day as Queen Shallahai's conference. I know of no Lady by that name, and have reason to believe that lady Ussi is neither human, nor elven. Indeed she may be of the same race responsible for the death of the Ironbark Company, the kidnapping of the Princesses, and the attempted assassination of Queen Shallahai"

Lord Wavethunder sat upright in his chair. "And you agreed to meet this woman? Why?"

Aris tossed Lady Ussi's letter and scale onto the desk. "that is what hard evidence I have. That letter was found beneath my office door on the second floor. As to her claim that she and I, and by extension she and Queen Shallahai, share a common foe... I'm inclined to believe her. To confirm that inclination, I do need to meet her, hear what she has to say."

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Lord thunder examined the scale and letter at length. At last he spoke, "walk me through your reasoning. Why do you believe her claim?"

Aris sat back, "for one, the difference between the attack on the Ironbark Company and the assassination attempt. In particular, the difference in quality of the attacking troops. Ironbark got hit and wiped out inside of fifteen minutes without a scrap of magic being used. The only reason that they lasted that long was the fact that the attackers had to wait for the dead to fall down so that they could get clear shots at the living. I awoke later that same day, and the battlefield had already been picked clean and the animals had begun their work. The attackers in that instance were hardened veterans executing a well-planned ambush.

"The attack on the convent on the other hand, smacks of amateurism. They had just enough troops for the job if they had the element of surprise on their side and everything went according to plan. The first rule of warfare, as any competent soldier knows, is that no plan survives contact with the foe. They should have brought more troops, and had a plan for what to do if they lost the element of surprise and had to besiege the convent. Instead they stormed the place even after their plans fell to pieces. Only the strength of their individual warriors and the disordered command structure of the Queensguard let them come as close to success as they did.

"For another, there is the kidnapping of the princesses. I don't know how many resources that they pooled to make the actual snatch itself, or to transport them to Chedal, but they only had one actual snake-person guarding the princesses. There may have been a second one, to head up the other watch, but I never saw him. That smells of a thin-stretched web of spies using whatever resources are available to hand, not well-trained and well-equipped professionals.

"Combine the two, and it begins to smell of a hardened 'core' network, backed by a dispersed web of agents and cells with much more limited resources. The attack on Ironbark was by a cell from the core network, and probably shot that cell's bolt for some time as they had to pull back under cover and lay low. The Princesses were either passed to one of the dispersed cells, or never got passed back to a core cell, before they were rescued. The attack on the convent was conducted by either one of the larger dispersed cells, or more likely several dispersed cells called up for the occasion, backed by advisers from one of the core cells.

"Overall, I'm inclined to think that this lady Ussi was a middle manager of some sort of one of the dispersed cells who wants out. Why I don't know, but she wouldn't have reached out to me of all people if she knew where I came from."

Lord Wavethunder folded his fingers in contemplation, "Or lady Ussi may be reaching out to you because she knows who you are. As the Agent responsible for saving both the Princesses and Queen Shallahai, your name carries quite a bit more weight then you may think. If she does want to change sides, then you would be a known person to contact, one with enough influence to see that she wasn't simply 'vanished' or killed out of hand. That would be particularly stupid on my part, because it would ensure that there are no more defectors form her faction.

"If lady Ussi is not set on changing sides, then this may be an attempt to get close to you so that she can kill you. Such a trip would be a one-way affair with a dubious chance of success. And given that this letter was found tucked beneath the door of your office, then they would have had no problem hiding an assassin in that same office to ambush you.

"Overall, I'm inclined to think that this lady Ussi does want to swap sides. We'll go ahead with the meeting and scale our 'bribe' to the value of the information that she can give us."

Aris nodded, "that was my plan Lord Wavethunder, but I thought it best to seek official approval, if not actual support, before I went forward with it. I expect the Queesguard will have a fit if they encounter lady Ussi's party unexpectedly. If I make the arrangements for the actual meeting, can you smooth that detail over with them?"

Lord Wavethunder grinned like a child contemplating a candy store, "deal."

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Status Report:

Treasury: 10000 (after a year of living frugally)

Income: +5 gold per day (semi-retired Agent of Althiem)

Equipment: In good condition.

Estates:

* Ikin: Village, Fishing Docks

* Trebor Convent: Under Construction

* Four Empty Holdings (may be improved later)

The Ring: obsidian band with one carbuncle gem and two empty settings

Total Deaths:1