The woman was tall, but uncomfortably young looking, considering what Cadoc had told me her profession was. That didn’t last. I made a face of disgust at her, and she must have seen it.

She shifted before my eyes as we approached. It looked like paint running, her features becoming less distinct, blending together, and reforming. The rosy cheeks drained color into her reddening lips, the skin around her jaw pulled back, sharpening her face, and her eyes changed from blue to green. As the skin in her face lost the soft look of youth, the skin and fat must have redistributed itself, and her hips widened. She stood taller and with better posture, and a bust developed seemingly from nowhere.

It was just as interesting to see what didn’t change. Her hair didn’t lengthen or shorten at all, and her height was exactly the same.

“’S’pose you're into, like, older women then, yeah?” she said, her voice clashing with her appearance. But she seemed to notice and cleared her throat, and I thought I could see something moving beneath the skin of her neck. “I’m happy to oblige,” she said with a newly matured voice. It was deeply unsettling.

“We are not here for such things, woman,” Cadoc said. “We have a proposal.”

“Cost you extra,” she said, in a rehearsed tone.

I’d seen the technique she had used before, of course, though she didn’t look like a Cho’l. And this was nothing compared to their grotesque transformations. But still, seeing someone change appearances right before your eyes was unsettling. It felt like a bad dream had drifted into the real world.

I supposed she was like me, then, technically. A body mage. Despite the nightmarish quality of it all, I had to admit if was probably more useful than lighting fingernails on fire.

“Honey, if you keep starin’ at me like that, I’ll hafta start chargin’,” the woman said. It seemed like every time she spoke, it was with a different tone of voice, a different accent. Like she was trying them out, one at a time.

Cadoc grunted. “Maybe we should try another one.”

“No,” I said. “It’s fine.” This was the woman furthest away from the others. They were still within eyesight, a shimmering mirage of sirens, but clearly she was unliked, or something. Desperate, we hoped.

She also happened to be the furthest away from the two men we were trying very hard not to run into. The walk over had been nerve-wracking, even though we had seen them far in the distance just before leaving our hideout.

“How old are you, really?” I asked. The woman chuckled.

“That’d ruin the fun, now, wouldn’t it?”

An image came to me. I imagined her going home after a day of work - a night, rather - sinking into bed, and relaxing as her appearance slid back into its original form, revealing a shriveled old woman.

I shuddered.

“Nevermind. I’ve got a job for you. NOT that job, alright. Another job.”

She frowned. “I’m not good at much else, honey.” She spoke with another voice now, seductive and impossible. Impossible because it sounded like three women saying the same words at the same time, but coming from one mouth. I shook myself.

“Nothing to worry about,” I said, both to her and myself. “It’s right in your skillset. Natural extension of the business. Easiest job you’ll ever take.”

“Ah, can’t we do the other thing? Please?” She said. She pouted, and her face drooped like it was melting. I’d never seen a face convey more annoyance and pleading in my life. She was good at her job, I guessed.

But I wasn’t going to let her stop me.

“The job.” I said, firmly. “Are you interested, or not? Because I’m not interested in you, lady.”

Her face changed again. The woman shifted around uncomfortably, eyeing our weapons, no doubt, and, disturbingly, her skin shifted too, bubbling and warping slightly.

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I was uncomfortable too, of course. The woman was intimidating in her own way, and I’d certainly never held a conversation with a “woman of the night” before. Tom wasn’t that kind of guy.

But she was an NPC, I thought, and therefore she was beneath me. I steeled myself.

The woman looked off towards her fellow travelers like she was about to call out to them.

I took out a watch, and held it before her face. That drew her attention back. Her eyes sparkled, perhaps literally, and she almost grabbed it before I pulled my hand back to my side.

“This’ll be the payment. Worth one halfgold, at least. Easy money.”

Cadoc didn’t know how much these women made in a night, but he guessed it wasn’t much. The look on the woman’s face now told us he was right.

She stammered a bit, but finally found the words. “What do I have to do?”

“Two men are going to come down this street,” I explained. “You’ll know it’s them because they’ll be dressed in black, and looking for something. They’ll probably look frustrated.”

“The cowards deserve worse than being frustrated,” Cadoc muttered. The woman started at this.

“I’m not killing anyone!” she said, eyes wider than should have been possible.

“No one is killing anyone,” I said, shooting an angry look at Cadoc. “I want you to talk to them.”

“Talk to them?” She repeated incredulously.

“Get their attention. I don’t have to spell it out, do I? You’re a smart woman. Do your job. Your normal job. But don’t take them off to some motel, or whatever you normally do.” She looked confused at the word motel, I realized, but I continued.

“Get one of them - doesn’t matter which, could be both for all I care - get him all worked up about his job. Tell him you love a guy with power, tell him you wish you could get with someone with sway, someone who does clandestine, secretive stuff. Exciting stuff. Say something about how ‘people think so-and-so has power, but really, it’s the men in the shadows who move the world. The ones who work for the big shots, they’re the real big shots.’ That sort of thing.”

“I think I get the idea,” she replied, but she frowned again. “Are you friends with these men, or what? It’s a weird gift.”

“Just do it, alright. If you do it right, he’ll take you to where his boss lives, to show it off to you. We’re guessing it’s going to be some great big mansion, and he’ll want to impress you. Make him want to impress you. Maybe he’ll ask you to lay down in the front yard with him. I don’t care. Do it, don’t do it, just have him lead you to the boss’ house. Do that, and meet us back here tomorrow night, at this exact spot. Then you get paid.”

“Why?” she asked.

“That’s none of your concern,” Cadoc replied. The woman stayed silent for awhile, thinking.

“I’m not doing it,” she said. “Do you really expect me to follow some stranger in the night, way off from anyone who’d even notice if I’d been murdered or something? Not worth it.”

I sighed, although I had been prepared for this possibility. “What would make it worth it to you?”

She just stared.

“Two watches, then.” I said. “That’s a full gold’s worth.”

“Three.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.” I’ll make more from robbing their boss, anyway. “Three watches if you come back here tomorrow night, and can lead us to the house. Deal?”

“I want one up front.”

“Not a fucking chance,” I said. “You’ll never come back.”

She smiled. “Worth a shot. You’ve got a deal.” We shook hands, and her hand squirmed strangely in my grip. She laughed at my reaction.

-

That part of the plan had worked surprisingly well. The woman - I didn’t bother to ask her name, because who cares, really? - led us right to the place. I would almost have been proud, if I wasn’t so on edge. I was in enemy territory, following a plan I had come up with myself. I couldn’t think of many situations I’d less like to be in.

But there was a certain beauty to the estate in the moonlight. Cadoc, the prostitute and I were looking down on a wide lawn, and even in the dark it looked finely manicured. A stately manor with two wings sat atop a hill, overlooking the property. Behind us, the town could be seen, distantly. Before us, nothing but the estate, and, in the distance, the glittering higher levels of the city, stretching up towards the heavens beyond.

The manor would look exquisite, when it burned.

The fact that this place existed with the walls of Eraztun, and yet felt so secluded, gave the city a sense of scale I hadn’t really comprehended before. It felt more like a walled country than a walled city, and seemed somehow bigger on the inside. Maybe it was.

“Well done, my dear lady, well done,” Cadoc said. He was giving the woman her watches. “Sell these, and use the money to get yourself a daytime job. You are resourceful and brave enough for it.”

The woman was different again from when we had seen her before, unlike both her first, too-young appearance, and her second, older one. We hadn’t recognized her when we first met up at the agreed spot. She was rail-thin - sickly looking, like she was malnourished - except for a chubby face and a massive butt. It looked like every ounce of fat in her entire body had ended up there. The look wasn’t even a little bit attractive, but I supposed that was the kidnapper’s taste. I laughed a little at that, inside.

But she’d clearly been on edge the entire walk, and had barely spoken a word. I didn’t care one bit about that. As long as she gave me what I wanted, the less she said, the better. I had decided, after all, that she clearly had no spark, and so she deserved no more of my thoughts than what I could use her for. The world - worlds - treated me no better.

She swiped the watches when they were offered, as if afraid Cadoc would change his mind, and she immediately made to leave. She muttered angrily, not loudly, but she clearly wanted us to hear. “You assholes didn’t tell me they worked for him.” She said. “I deserve more than three halfgold, that’s for damn sure.” But she didn’t stay to demand more money. She continued, walking quickly back the way we had come.

“Worked for who? Berenguer?” I asked. But she had already disappeared from sight. I almost felt like running after her, demanding she tell us what she meant. It sounded like useful information, if this man we were stealing from was politically important, or famous, or infamous.

But I decided against it. She knew this area better than I did, and I’d never catch up. And it was too late to go back on the plan, whoever the owner was.

I looked at Cadoc, and before I even asked if he knew what the woman meant, he shrugged. “A rich fiend, greedy for more riches. Perhaps we are not the first prizes this Berenguer has kidnapped. Maybe he has a reputation.”

I turned back around, and Cadoc did as well. We were looking at the mansion again.

“Hey Cadoc,” I said. “I was wondering. How can you criticize those men for jumping us, and not giving us a fair fight, when we’re about to rob a man blind? It’s not like we’re about to break in so we can challenge him to a duel. Aren’t we doing the same thing?”

“This is revenge,” he answered. “That was unprovoked. They are completely different.”

“I don’t really see it,” I said.

“Think of war,” he said. “Attacking a civilian from a country you are at peace with, that is cowardice. But once the war is declared, and that civilian takes up arms against you, it is only right to take every means to defeat him. Even more so, if he attacked you first. Ambushing, secrecy, deception - every method you can use. You see the difference now, friend.”

I nodded. “I suppose I do,” I said, with a slight smile. “We are at war, now.”

Cadoc laughed. “So we are.”

We began walking. Our battlefield was waiting.