The six year old girl stood outside the building, arms crossed, frowning.

"Amaya! Amaya!", the impatient yell of her mother emerged from inside, "Amaya! Come inside! put your brothers to bed!"

"Five more minutes!", the little girl yelled back, and turned to watch the street again, her lower lip stuck out in a pout.

"AMAYA!" the yell came again, louder this time.

"Fine! I'm coming! In just a minute! Argh!", Amaya, yelled back.

She knew she had about a minute left to dawdle, before her mother came herself, in all her wrath.

Amaya took a last look at the street and gave a sulky sigh

She was just about to turn away, when Elrik walked up to the door.

"Uncle Elrik!", The girl's yell was two parts outrage and one part joy, "Did you bring the candies?"

Elrik smiled, reaching into his breastplate to pull out the packet he'd put there. He was glad he remembered to fetch them on the way home.

"Of course!" Then he frowned in mock strictness, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Give it! Give! Give! Give!"

The little girl snatched the packet greedily and rushed off inside without a single backward glance. Elrik could hear her cackling to herself as she skipped inside.

Despite himself, he could feel a smile stealing its way onto his face.

"Thank you"

Elrik looked up to see Auntie Ruiz standing inside.

He shrugged, "Oh, it's nothing. Besides, she's very strict when it comes to deals we've made"

Auntie Ruiz shook her head, "No, I meant that... Well.. my children were born here - raised in this house", she gestured to the district around her, "It's just riverfolk, in these parts, people born and bred by the banks of the Yitka. Most of the people here were born a few miles away from where they'll be dead and burned. They'll never see Seneca, or the capital, or the rest the imperium.. or even the ocean. Most of them don’t even want to leave Kalaghutta"

Elrik raised an eyebrow. Oseka - ocean - it wasn't a word he heard often around these parts. "You've seen it? The ocean?", he asked

Auntie nodded, "A long, long time ago", she stared wistfully at the horizon, or rather, at where the horizon would be if it were not blocked by the tall city walls, “They were travelers, my parents - and I traveled with them. Back then, my World was a lot larger than these walls..”

“the road is no place to raise a child, though", she gave a laugh, "and all things said, I rather like this city”

She smiled at Elrik, and the smile crinkled at the corners of her eyes, “But you.. you are not them. You’re going to see a lot of the world before your time. You have a wanderer’s eyes”

Elrik smiled wryly, ”I’d like to. Perhaps someday”

Auntie Ruiz gestured with her chin, at the interior of the house.

“There’s someone waiting inside for you. In your room.”

…

When he entered his room, Elrik found Captain Terali Moira perched uncomfortably on his bed, her fingers tapping away at her chin.

A second figure was spacing uncomfortably around his room when Erik walked in.

“Captain Moira”, Elrik said, “ I didn’t expect to find you here”

“Corporal, please sit”, Then Captain Moira noted the lack of furniture in the room, “ Or stand, I suppose, this shouldn’t take long”

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“This, Corporal”, she gestured to the older man who’d been pacing about the room, “is Baron Arnauk Swaingriud, uncle to the missing young lady Swaingriud and brother of the Viscount. He has asked to be included in the search for the girl, Sesara”

Eric looked from the captain to the middle aged noble and back to the captain.

The baron was a middle-aged man, stocky, with a square jaw and what seem like a permanent glower.

“My men and I”, He spat out, “Will be with you and that little pissant Sherlot Akela. You won’t hear us, boy, and you won’t see us, but we will be there”

“There”, He turned to the captain, “ I dragged myself to this hovel and we’ve informed your corporal here. Are you satisfied, captain?”

Captain Moira nodded, “I thank you, my Lord”

The baron turned on his heel and strode out of the room, spitting in the corner as he went.

Elrik winced, Auntie Ruiz would not like that

...

For a few seconds, there was silence.

Then Elrik looked to the captain, "Do I need to worry about this?"

Captain Moira pinched the bridge of her nose, “I pride myself ”, she started, “on keeping an ear to the ground. And I hear tremors - from all the way across the Imperium”

She sighed, “The great houses are moving again - here in Kalaghutta. This isn’t just about our piddling city watch anymore either. I’m starting to think that it never was. Something is happening, and I don’t yet know what it is.. yet. This missing viscount’s daughter is part of it, somehow”

Elrik frowned

Captain Moir looked up meeting Elrik’s eyes, “A dozen people go missing in this city every week. I don’t give a single wet shit about some nobleman’s prissy daughter or the lover she ran off with. But I don’t like being drawn into their games, and I don't like losing”

Elrik tilted his head, “What would you like me to do, Captain?“

Captain Moira tapped her knee, “Your orders are the same. Stay close to Duke Akela’s son, let him play watchman to his heart's desire. Keep him out of trouble. Let this baron follow you around if he likes - just pretend he and his thugs don’t exist.”

She got up, straightening her clothes, “I don’t want my watchmen wrapped up in this business for too long. Find this girl, find her fast. Be done with this.”

Captain started walking towards the door, then stopped.

"Oh"

Captain Moira turned, "I just remembered, I heard some word around the watch house.. That you were looking into an adventurer? A leader of some small mercenary band - Agrisu I think the name was?"

Elrik kept his face expressionless, not trusting himself to say anything.

He had been secretly, carefully, looking into Agrisu. Elrik had been trying to find out who had sent that little band of adventurers across the Yitka to the edge of the world - to a cave from where Elrik had emerged.

But Elrik knew for a fact this was not word around the watch house. Indeed, he had gone to some lengths to keep his investigations quiet.

Not quiet enough it seemed - to escape the attentions of Captain Terali Moira.

Capatain Moira watched Elrik's face carefully for several seconds.

Then she drew out a slip of parchment from her side.

"This", she said, as she handed it to Elrik, "is a name and a tavern, here in the city. The name belongs to an agent, a go-between for adventurers. I hear that she is the one to go through to reach this man - Agrisu"

Elrik took the parchment, bowed his head in thanks, "I appreciate it captain"

Captain Moira nodded, "I'm always glad to help one of my own, Corporal, whatever they may be looking into. As I'm sure you know by now - I'm good friend to keep close"

Then she turned and left Elrik's room.

...

Elrik sat down on his bed with a heavy breath

This was turning out to be quite a day.

If Sherlot and this case weren't bad enough - now, it seemed like it was all wrapped up in some deeper game of the great houses.

If history was any indication, that would end badly for almost everyone involved.

Now, he also had this Baron of Swaingriud to worry about, shadowing him and Sherlot about town with a shady band of thugs.

Captain Moira it seemed, was even more formidable than Elrik had suspected.

She had, in one fell swoop, revealed that she knew much more about Elrik's quiet investigations into Agrisu - than he thought anyone knew. And she had given him a lead after months of his own futile search had yielded nothing.

For now - it seemed like the Captain's help was freely given. For now, she was on his side.

Elrik opened the piece of parchment the captain had given him.

There was a name on the piece of parchment that Captain Moira had given him, along with the scrawled name of a bar

Matter of adventurer: Agrisu

See Lacaani - agent-of-work, The Twist in the Tale Tavern -Capt. T. Moira

Elrik's heart skipped a beat.

For a long moment he sat there staring at the piece of parchment in his hand.

Lacaani

Elrik reached into the his armor to take out another note. This one had been hand-delivered to him at his desk in the Morpok lane watch house by Sherlot's butler.

Elrik had already read this note once, but now he felt the need to read it again.

Corporal Elrik,

I have spoken to your contact and made the payment you requested. He says regarding the young lady adventurer we have interest in, the most likely go-between would be a woman by the name of Lacaani. He also says she is most often found in the neighbourhood of Ferriliji Street at a tavern called 'The twist in the tale'.

Yours

Lord Sherlot Akela