From his seat, Elrik held up two fingers to the barman in a quick gesture. The barman nodded, turned and started to pour.

Sherlot Akela sat next to Elrik at the table, his chin resting on one hand, while the fingers of the other beat an impatient tattoo on the wood surface.

"How long do we wait?", he asked grumpily

They sat in a tavern - the tavern that Elrik's contact in the city had pointed them to - 'The Twist in the Tale'.

The contact - an information vendor by the name of Riri - had been quite reticent, until a payment from Sherlot had jogged his memory. Then he suddenly remembered giving the same name to a highborn lady matching Sesara Vi Swaingriud's description.

So now, here they were.

It was late now, long past evening. It was a middling drinking hole, this place. Serviceable beer, grudging service and a quiet crowd. Most of the patrons huddled at their tables in quiet conversation. A few tavern regulars sat in corners, nursing their drinks.

Elrik silenced the young lord with a glance, before he spoke to in an undertone, "This happens slowly, or it does not happen at all. Patience."

"Tch", Sherlot clicked his tongue irritatedly, but lowered his voice, "Why all this caution? Your contact gave us a name. She's here somewhere in this tavern. I don't understand the need for this intrigue. She's a go-between. She talks to people for a living"

The two stopped speaking, as a barmaid approached, bringing two tall pints of mead to the table. She glanced at the two men as she bent down.

Elrik sat in his street clothes, leaning back in the chair. His clothing was not unlike what a few others in the tavern were wearing - some linens and a mix of leathers. Just a little grubby, just a little well worn.

Sherlot on the other hand stood out like a sore thumb. He was dressed in fine spun cotton that looked too clean and too well kept.

Still, it shouldn't raise any alarm bells, Elrik hoped. More than one noble made his or her way to the seedy part of the city, to rub shoulders with common adventurers.

Elrik thanked the waitress. He waited for her to move on from the table before he spoke.

Elrik sighed, "People in this line of work tend to be careful, my lord, and with good reason. A client with bad judgement or a loud mouth can lose them more than just profit. If we don't look like we know what we're doing, she'll avoid us like the plague"

He glanced across at Sherlot, "You said you wanted my help, my lord. This is not a manor house. Trust me when I say that I know this part of the city better than you"

Sherlot rolled his eyes, but nodded, "Very well. What do we do now? Wait and quietly get word to her?"

Elrik shook his head, "If this Lacaani is any good, she'll find us. Chances are, she's already watching. Drink your drink"

Sherlot examined his pint, leering at the crusted wood of the beer stein. Then he sighed and took a drink.

...

There were a few things Elrik hadn't mentioned to Sherlot.

He hadn't mentioned that he had the same name from another source.

That Captain Moira had given him a lead on the same go-between - Lacaani - in connection to his search for Agrisu.

How did that figure into this?

He hadn't mentioned Baron Arnauk Swaingriud - the uncle of the lady - who'd promised to follow Elrik surreptitiously with a band of house thugs. Or how Elrik had slipped away from his room in the quiet evening, avoiding the attentions of Arnauk's lukring goons, to meet Sherlot here alone and unfollowed.

Elrik wasn't sure what to make of Sherlot yet, or how much to trust him.

A part of him was slowly starting to like this weird little highborn boy, with his unerring insight and his mile-long streak of resentment. Even trust him a little.

[Warning: threat-level high: type volatile-info-hazard]

Another part of him found him very dangerous.

...

The barmaid approached with another pair of drinks, smiling to Elrik.

Sherlot hissed under his breath to Elrik, "Corporal, I beg you not to subject me to more of this swill"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Elrik shushed him and smiled back at the barmaid.

"Gentlemen", The barmaid set down the drinks at their table and gave a curtsy before she set off.

Sherlot waited until she'd walked away before slipping something across the table to to Elrik, "Corpoal, this was under my stein"

It was a note on a slip of parchment in a hasty scrawl

Kitchen

The two of them rose and walked over to the bar.

Elrik nodded to Sherlot and the young lord tossed a few coins to the barman. The barman nodded to them and motioned to the door in the back corner that led to the kitchen.

...

"I'm Lacaani, I heard that you were looking for me"

The kitchen was empty, long since closed, this late in the evening.

In the middle of the kitchen lay a table set out for three. A single candle was the only source of light, throwing long dark shadows everywhere.

Elrik and Sherlot sat across from a mysterious woman. She wore a hood that obscured her features in the dim light. Only a pair of sharp brown eyes shone out at them.

"Tch", Sherlot exhaled sharply, "Lower that ridiculous hood. We've already seen your face. You were in the tavern. At the table by the entrance."

The woman laughed, then complied, taking off the hood, "That was clumsy, I apologize. You are a smart one, Lord Sherlot. How did you know?"

In the half-light of a single candle, the woman had sharp angular features. Striking, in a certain light, and sharp eyes that examined both of them carefully.

Sherlot shrugged and gestured below the table, "Your shoes" he didn’t elaborate.

Then he narrowed his eyes “You know who I am?”

The woman nodded, "Yes. I know who you are. Third son of Duke Akela. Educated in the capital. Uncommonly clever..."

Sherlot's expression slowly stiffened as Lacaani rattled on in her matter-of-fact tone,

"You dreamed of becoming a frostfoot mage since a young age, but you never gained an apprenticeship. You have a nasty habit of cutting yourself with selessi root.. You had a recent falling out with your father when he found out. Now you hope helping him insinuate himself with the watch will keep him from disowning you. How am I doing?"

When Sherlot replied, there was a bitter bite to his tone, and a kind of grudging respect, "Perhaps I'm not as clever as I thought I was.. How did you know all that?"

Lacaani shrugged, "Clever has its place. But I find that simple legwork is much more reliable. Your life, lord Akela, is no well kept secret and I own half the information brokers in this city - including the one who gave you my name. I like to know who I might be working for"

Sherlot smiled ruefully, "Simple legwork. I'll remember that"

Elrik leaned forward, breaking into the conversation, "We're looking for an adventurer. A woman. Slight of build. With a mole on her face, right side". He slid a simple charcoal drawing of Sesara Swaingriud across the table.

The woman's eyes turned to Elrik, "You, I don't have much on.. I'm guessing you're the minder from the watch."

Elrik held her gaze, but said nothing.

Finally, Lacaani broke off and extended a hand to Sherlot, "Money first"

She waited until Sherlot handed over the coins before she spoke,

"She came to me a few months ago. I'd seen her kind before. Too much training, too little experience. She said she was looking to join any expedition that crossed over the river"

Elrik raised an eyebrow, "She wanted to go across the Yitka?"

Lacaani nodded, "More common than you think. A lot of foolish young things come here from across the Imperium looking to enter the wild lands. She wasn't the first; won't be the last. When she first came to me, I didn't have anything - but she kept coming back"

Sherlot tapped the sketch on the table, "And.. did you finally find her such an.. expedition?"

The woman sighed, suddenly deflating, "Look.. I just help clients and mercenaries find each other. I don't want any trouble with the houses - or with the watch or anyone else"

Elrik gently pushed the coin purse on the table to the woman, "We're not here to bring you trouble. Just think of us as clients that you're pointing the right way. Who did you send her to."

Lacaani seemed to take a second to gather herself. Then it felt like she'd come to a decision. She reached into her cloak and drew out a small silver badge. She took another beat, just staring at the thing on the table, before she gently shoved it across the table to Elrik.

"There's a.. a man. He calls himself..", Lacaani ground her teeth, but continued, "It's not his real name.. but he calls himself Ambrose. That silver star badge is the sygil of his house - it's a minor house from the.. from the.. from.."

Lacaani blinked, for a second her sharp eyes seemed to dull, as she stared down at the table, "As I was saying.. you can find.. you can.. can find him to the.. the.. to the east of the city, he has a warehouse where he does business. Shithouse. Wretched place - it's downwind of the tanners. Stinks of dogshit! Stinks!" She made a disgusted face just talking about it.

Suddenly, she shook herself, as if from a reverie and looked up to see Elrik and Sherlot, "Apologies, my lords, what was I saying?"

Sherlot frowned, "You were telling us about this Ambrose"

Lacaani just looked more bewildered, "Who? Who is Ambrose?", then she looked around as if surprised to find herself here, "Why are we back here? This isn't right.."

Sherlot and Elrik looked at each other in alarm.

Elrik reached across the table, to grab the woman's hand, "Have you sent anyone else across the Yitka? Adventurers? Mercenaries?"

But Lacaani just drew back her hand, staring at him in fear and confusion as if she was seeing him for the first time, "Who are you?"

Then the fear and confusion overtook her and she shrieked, "WHO ARE YOU!! WHERE AM I!!", she started to scramble up from the table and back away from the two of them.

Suddenly Elrik noticed that the sounds of the tavern outside had dimmed.

As if the there was no one else in the room outside.

[Wide area anti surveillance system: Alert!]

[Wide area anti surveillance system: Armed men closing in]

[Threat measurement system: Multiple hostiles. Unknown force]

[Threat measurement system: Multiple hostiles. Large Force.]

There was almost no sound from the tavern room outside.. except the muted shuffling of the armed men approaching stealthily.

[Threat measurement system: advisory: rapid covert retreat]

[Threat measurement system: advisory: immediate rapid covert retreat]

[Get out of there]

[Get the fuck out of there. Now]