Riki moved through the city streets with a practiced ease. She knew this whole city like the back of her hand. From the noble mansions in the city’s center to the forgotten underground slums, she had seen it all.

Riki was currently moving through an alleyway in one of the city's more affluent neighborhoods. As she moved deeper into the alley she came across a door, Meranda’s Antiquities. Riki let out a sigh as she opened the door and entered the small secluded shop.

The shop was tiny but well kept with various old vases and furniture scattered about. There was however, not a single patron in the whole store, which was not surprising given how far down a dark alley you had to go to find it.

Riki walked up to the small elderly lady behind the counter.

“I’m here for an appointment,” Riki said in a flat tone.

The elderly lady looked Riki up and down for a moment before pulling the head of a small gargoyle statue on her desk. There was a light clicking sound then an old bookshelf behind the woman started sliding to the side, revealing a long well-lit hallway.

“He’s been expecting you,” said the old lady in a raspy tone.

Riki ignored her and entered the familiar hallway. There was not a single window to be seen in this hall but it was well lit by magic lamps. The hallway had polished marble flooring and expensive paintings and vases decorating its entire length. The displays were a massive step up from the trash sold in the antique shop she had just passed through.

Reaching out to the shadows Riki could feel that there were 12 people in this building, 13 if you counted the old hag. The person she was here to report to was located in the second room to the right. As she approached the door she hesitated for a moment, she had been dreading this.

This building was a secret hideout of the Black Hand. A group of assassins for lack of a better word, that she had more or less been raised by. Around 20 years ago this group had wanted to spread their influence into the Empire, and to do this they needed human agents. Riki was one such child picked up by this group and trained to be an asset within the Empire.

Riki silently opened the door to see a middle-aged man with long dark hair and a well-trimmed beard sitting behind a desk. He had on small glasses and was currently writing on some parchment. The moment Riki entered the room she could feel an unpleasant suppressive effect wash over her as she lost her connection with the nearby shadows.

“It’s nice of you to finally show up, Fang,” said the man as he looked up from his work.

“I came as soon as-”

“Don’t lie to me,” said the man in a calm tone. “You were ordered to return over six months ago. An order you ignored.”

“I never received such an order,” Riki stated.

“Yes, funny how our information network suddenly couldn’t reach you,” the man said with no amusement in his voice. “Or that the asset we sent out after you mysteriously vanished.”

“The Expanse is a very dangerous place,” Riki replied to the unasked question.

“The only reason you are still alive is that the higher-ups decided that you still have value to us,” the man continued in a stern voice. “But you must become an executive of the Lodge in the next 4 years or you will be, removed.”

Riki had to stop herself from stabbing the man in his face. Even under the suppressive effect of this room, she could likely kill him before he could do anything about it.

Becoming an executive in the next 4 years was possible for her, it was the casual way he talked about her death and the fact that she could do nothing about it that pissed her off. This man was the branch Overseer of Gateway City and she had been taking orders from him for the past 6 years, ever since she had been given her assignment. He was an arrogant condescending asshole, and Riki was determined to kill him one day.

“Now with that out of the way,” the Overseer stated. “Two new assignments have just come in for you.”

“I thought infiltrating the Lodge was my assignment,” Riki replied.

“This, call back of all the hunters has changed things. We have been provided with an opportunity, and we fully intend to take it. Now the first contract is for Queen Lorraine.”

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“You mean, the ruler of Gateway City?” Riki asked already knowing the answer. “I’m good, but even I have my limits. With the current crisis going on, the Mad Queen is unlikely to even leave her estate. I don’t see how I’m supposed to get to her, much less kill her.”

“Don’t worry,” said the Overseer. “You will be playing a supportive role in this contract as we have already called in Ace. She should be contacting you soon. There is a celebration in a few days to the founding of this city that the Mad Queen must attend or she will look weak, and she can’t afford to look weak right now.”

“Understood,” replied Riki. Ace coming to the city was a worrying sign. It would limit what she could get away with.

“The second contract is for someone you know, Desmond,” the Overseer said while closely observing Riki.

Riki quickly had to suppress her reaction. This would explain why they were bringing in someone like Ace for the first contract. They were worried that she might try to rebel against them. Not that she even could. Riki bit back her growing anger.

“I thought, I reported that Desmond was an asset to the Black Hand,” Riki replied as she tried to keep a calm exterior. “He will do what I ask him to do.”

“All assets have their price,” stated the Overseer with a firm resolve. “And someone was willing to pay his. This is not up for debate. You have been assigned this contract and we expect it done in a timely manner. Do you understand?”

“I, understand,” Riki forced out after a moment.

Riki had been dreading this meeting after blowing off the organization for the past 6 months. She had expected to be reprimanded, but now they were asking her to kill her lover. They had even called in Ace to ensure she complied. She wasn’t sure if the Black Hand was doing this to punish her, or if it was because Duke Valmesh had paid them a large sum. It was probably a bit of both.

Things were starting to get complicated. She was going to have to move up some of her plans and start taking a few risks if she was going to get out of this web. And she was going to have to do it before Ace got here.

“If there is nothing else, I’ll be leaving,” Riki said as she turned back to the door.

“Riki, don’t forget where your loyalties lie,” said the Overseer with a meaningful glare.

Riki almost lost he temper there and then. It wasn’t loyalty when she had a knife pressed to her neck. She would definitely kill this bastard someday.

Riki walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. The Overseer was definitely suspicious of her. Was this the normal kind of suspicion that comes with ordering someone to kill their lover? Or did he suspect something more?

***

Desmond knocked on the door of a rather large house in the middle of a guarded residential district. It only took him a little over an hour to find Garrick’s home. This whole area was technical on the Winten Campus.

Winten was the largest center of learning within the Empire and was the home of the Academia faction. It was the place with the most advanced magic anywhere in the Empire, and where most mages would start their journey.

Desmond knocked on the door again. There was still no answer from inside. Desmond could see the lights on in one of the upper rooms so someone should be home. Maybe he was just being ignored? Garrick was the anti-social type.

“Hey Garrick, you in there?” Desmond yelled. “I have some important shit to talk to you about!”

After a few moments, Desmond was about ready to give up and start some breaking and entering, when a window on the second floor of the house opened up and Garrick poked his head out.

“Your idea of important is how to cheat at cards,” Garrick said from the window.

“Hey, I always win now,” Desmond replied with a chuckle. “But seriously, this is about what is happening with the Lodge. I have some information that may be of assistance.” Desmond wanted to take his knowledge to the Lodge directly but knew the place would be an absolute mess right now. This was the fastest way he could think of to talk to an actual decision-maker in the city.

“Ok, just give me a minute and I’ll be right down,” Garrick said while closing the window.

After a few moments, Desmond heard what sounded like a person falling down a flight of stairs, followed by numerous curses. After a few more moments a disheveled Garrick opened the door.

“You OK?” asked Desmond.

“Yeah, just come in,” replied Garrick curtly as he moved off into the house. “And be sure to lock the door behind you. I’ve had more visitors in the last few weeks than… Well, then I would have wanted in my whole damn life. I swear, one little attack and everyone just loses their shit.”

Desmond entered the house to find the whole place a total mess. Not with dirt or dust but with clutter. There were books, parchment, beast cores, and artifacts littered on every available surface, and these were just the things Desmond could identify. There was barely enough room to move through the house at all.

“I mean, no one even died,” continued Garrick. “That I know of that is. I would say it was a fabulous retreat. I even got to use that experimental spell I’ve been working on.”

Desmond had to follow a specific path through the junk to go to the drawing-room, which was no better off. From the three different couches, there were exactly two different available seats, and that was only because Garrick just cleared one. On the way over Desmond had looked at the staircase. Each step had things placed on the right side, meaning someone would have to stay to the left to go up or down the stairs, and it looked like there had been an avalanche with stuff collected in a disorderly pile at the bottom.

How did he even receive any visitors like this?

Desmond sat on the newly cleared seat across from Garrick.

“So, what’s this news that so important that you would interrupt my research?”

“Me and Riki were outside the Lodge at the time of the attack,” Desmond stated.

“Sorry to hear that,” Garrick replied. “But Riki’s skilled enough that it shouldn’t have been too big a problem for you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence there,” Desmond said in a joking manner.

Garrick chuckled seeming to finally be in a bit of a better mood. “No problem. So what did you see?”