If one were to ask, Bernard would say that he was used to being the predator, not the prey. Certainly, it was a more comfortable existence. But in the weeks that followed, he felt very much like prey; he could hardly ever relax, even as things were going well around him back in Lenoran.

The biggest surprise for Bernard was how poorly Richard had reacted to the murder of Jez. Maybe it was the potential loss of a huge revenue stream, maybe it was the embarrassment of having her killed under his watch in an area under his protection, or it could have even been the pressure that Ben was undoubtedly placing on him to figure out what happened.

Whatever the underlying cause was, Richard was like a hound tracking a fox, and just as relentless. Huge chunks of the Marknosan organization were mobilized to investigate, to interrogate, to bribe and to torture their way to information about Jez’s death. No one was safe.

Luckily there was virtually anyone who could both recognize Bernard and would know that he had been anywhere near the scene of the crime, so part of him knew that he shouldn’t need to be so worried. But he just couldn’t let it go, knowing that he was more exposed and at risk than he had been at any point since arriving back in Juldania.

While much of the Marknosan family was searching for Jez’s murderer, they weren’t all involved in the search. After all, they had a lot of different areas that they were involved in and needed to keep moving; gaining territory and a hold over people was hard, and they couldn’t afford to let their grip become any more tenuous due to inattention.

One of the teams that was still “on normal duty,” one could say, was the one that was handling expansion in the very direction of the Lenoran Union. Bernard knew that he was a rich target, being well-organized, prosperous, and a bit mysterious. If Richard felt that it stood a chance of becoming a power player, he’d have to try to get it under his thumb as quickly as possible.

As such, it wasn’t long before Bernard got reports of the first attempts being made against his citizens, with a goal of introducing protection schemes and controlling transport of goods. Nothing had stuck so far, but Bernard knew that Richard couldn’t afford to back down, either.

Expansion is almost always a good thing, after all – and certainly, once a group becomes large enough, constant expansion is essential to keeping the financial engine turning. At the same time, Richard obviously had to replace his lost revenue from the shutdown of the opiate operation; not only had Jez kept many of the secrets of production away from Richard and his team, but the total raid and near-destruction of the production facility in the night after her death was a massive barrier towards re-establishing normal operations any time soon.

One had to add to that, Bernard knew, that even if Richard had the supply, that demand was drying up. Bernard’s idea about treating addiction as a social issue and bringing in specialists to help with treatment was still in its early execution, but it was definitely working for the majority of people – those that really wanted to get better.

The Lenoran Union would never be a good target for Richard, either, as people owned so little personally; it was hard to get people to pay cash they didn’t have. This was, of course, part of the genius of Bernard’s arrangement; he provided people with everything that they needed, but the cost for doing so was that the people had no choice but to trust him to do so.

Bernard was eager to understand the effectiveness of the treatment program, as well as the cost. He knew that it would take a lot of experimentation to get right, and that many of the people who were getting better wouldn’t be able to do much of value for an extended period of time in their recovery. Some might never be truly productive contributors again, and he couldn’t exactly just throw them out.

So, he was expecting the cost to be high. Bernard’s only hope was that it wouldn’t be so high that he had to decrease another service or find a way to centralize more of the income. However, Bernard’s hope faded and concern grew the more and more he read out of the treasury reports.

It was curious – not only the treatment facility and management, but several of the other programs, were running at a higher-than-expected cost. Bernard was no financial wizard, but he could compare reports easily enough, and something was amiss.

The cost of goods wasn’t appreciably more than expected, and there hadn’t been any meaningful changes in external costs. So whatever was driving up the spending, it was something internal, which meant it should be well within his control.

This kind of irregularity was exactly the kind of stress that Bernard didn’t need right now, but at the same time, thinking about it gave him a problem to solve; that was more productive than sitting around worried. Bernard started digging into his financial reports, making notes about things that seemed odd to him.

Looking back over the past six months, he realized that the amount of materials recorded as being consumed in construction was far outpacing what would have been needed for the actual construction being performed. Were they becoming that much less efficient? But that wasn’t all. Administration costs were up, as was money spent on repairs and maintenance for the town distillery. That didn’t make any sense at all, as that distillery was new!

The suspicious changes kept piling up. Before long, Bernard had a small pile of questions; it seemed like virtually every department had some cost sprawl. It was possible that trusted people inside each department were skimming some money off the top; however, that didn’t make a lot of sense, because they had such little use for money, given the centralized services and goods provided to everyone.

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Only a person who was looking to leave would be needing money; all of Bernard’s cabinet and department heads were fully sold on the importance of the Lenoran Union, and Bernard didn’t find it likely that they’d all turn to embezzlement at the same time. There had to be a better explanation.

On the other hand, there was one department for which costs were unquestionable – absolute perfection, without anything at all to investigate. It stuck out like a sore thumb; was it possible, Bernard wondered, that only this department was clean? Or was it more likely that only this department was dirty, and was stealing money from everywhere else to keep the focus away?

Even to a layman, that explanation made more sense. Frustratingly for Bernard, the evidence also lined up with a particular person who had both motivation and opportunity. He was becoming rapidly certain that Peter was stealing from him.

Now that wouldn’t do – not at all. Bernard was hesitant to bring in others to investigate, because of Peter’s importance to the cause and popularity with the people. But he knew that it was probably true; Peter had always been motivated by money, and wasn’t smart enough to be able to cover his tracks completely. The real question was, what would Bernard do about it?

Bernard was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on his door; a man was here to see him, his aide said, and he was an outsider. This shook Bernard into a state of alertness immediately – there was a lot he wasn’t ready for, yet.

Would it be a governmental representative? One of Richard’s people? A leader from another town looking for assistance? Maybe even someone looking into the murder of Jez and Stephan? His aide didn’t know the man’s origins, or his business; he wouldn’t say much other than that he was waiting to speak to Bernard at his earliest convenience.

Taking a deep breath, Bernard stood from his desk and showed the man in. The stranger introduced himself as “Gunter” and the two exchanged brief pleasantries.

“So, Gunter, I’m afraid that you have me at a disadvantage.” Bernard began, after both he and Gunter had sat down. “You seem to know more about me than I do about you, since you sought me out. What can I help you with today?”

“Straight to the point – I like it.” Gunter replied. “I’m here today because my associates and I have been impressed at your rapid rise. We’re eager to get to know you better and establish a good working relationship. We like to think ourselves as good partners, which is why we’ve been so successful.”

Gunter continued, “We have, like yourself, established a small collective of like-minded individuals, and are part of many communities. We help secure borders and transportation, keep out riff-raff or other undesirables, and maintain order. A growing population like yours would benefit from our services, I’m sure that you’ll agree.”

Bernard leaned back in his chair. “I see. At this point in time, we haven’t found ourselves in any need for such services, but I do thank you for your interest.”

Gunter smiled a thin, predatory smile. “Of course, of course, I understand. The thing is, in our history, we have found that our timing happens to be particularly good. You see, almost immediately after we begin discussions with a community such as yours, it seems as if all sorts of trouble starts – a coincidence, I’m sure, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. After all, our services do become more expensive to start when there’s already chaos. Getting us in early is always the smartest play.”

“Now your community, Bernard, is a tricky one for us. You could almost be described as having set up your own government in opposition to the crown; that’s dangerous water indeed. Your borders are poorly secured or patrolled, and you don’t have much in the way of defenses. This is the risk. We wouldn’t want to see it exploited, would we? For a reasonable fee, the Marknosan family is willing to help you out. But I wouldn’t wait long, if I were you. Better if we make a deal today.”

“Ah,” Bernard replied, “the Marknosans. Yes, I believe perhaps I’ve heard of your organization. You do have a reputation, it’s true. However, I can honestly tell you that I have no intention of letting you get your hooks into Lenoran, or our people. No intention at all. In fact…” and at this Bernard stood, “I’m afraid that I’ve got a particularly busy afternoon. So while I appreciate your visit, Gunter, I’ll have to cut it short. I’m sorry to say that I doubt we’ll meet again. “

Gunter’s eyes flashed in anger; he clearly wasn’t used to hearing someone reject him. As a high-ranking member of the Marknosan family, Gunter wielded considerable power, and wouldn’t hesitate to use it to crush someone who wouldn’t bend the knee. He left, telling Bernard that he had made a terrible mistake, and that he was certain that (despite Bernard’s protestations otherwise) they would speak again soon, when Bernard was ready to be more reasonable.

While Bernard was happy to see the man gone, he also recognized he had just been placed in a nearly unwinnable position. If he let the Marknosans in, he’d be giving up everything he had. But if he rejected them, they would likely work to take him down. He didn’t want to flee again, and there was no way that he could win in an open war.

What Bernard didn’t realize, however, was exactly how unsettling his refusal of Gunter had really been. The Marknosan name carried a lot of weight in this part of Juldania, and they really didn’t consider anyone to be in a position to say no to them anymore. It was enough of an oddity for the news to climb the chain of command quickly.

Richard wasn’t about to let someone reject him or keep him out. That just wasn’t the way that it worked. For this Bernard character to throw out his representative so blatantly, he must have some ace up his sleeve there in Lenoran. But what could it be? Beyond being incensed at the refusal, Richard was concerned. Between the loss of revenue, the growing unrest within his organization, the cost and stress associated with trying to find Jez’s murderer, and now this…Richard was about to lose his mind.

He decided to handle this situation directly. In Richard’s mind, if Bernard wouldn’t play ball, no problem; he could be swiftly eliminated and replaced with someone who was more agreeable. He wouldn’t even have to hide it. Better to establish a bit of fear from the outset. And if they really did have some secret strength, or hidden partner that Gunter had missed, Richard knew it would be better for him to find out about as quickly as possible.

It would be good for him to get into some direct action anyway, Richard reasoned. His men needed to see some of his strong leadership during this time of crisis, and he was more than happy to make an example out of these Lenorans. Richard told Gunter to prepare for him, and the head of the crime family proceeded to make his way to Lenoran.