Servilia let out a soft sigh as she signed off on the final report of day. With a small squeak she lifted her arms over her head until she felt a series of satisfying cracks go through her back and she slumped over slightly in her chair. There was nothing quite as satisfying as the day's end.

The sun already hung low in the sky and barely any light was able to break through the clouds and drift in through the windows. It was getting darker earlier every day. Soon they would need to start up the furnace to heat the guildhall. Yet another expense Servilia would have to account for. Though, perhaps with some of the guild member's newfound magic she could find a way to offset the cost. But that would require hiring teachers of some kind, and allocating money for the destructive accidents that would no doubt occur during the learning process. Then, of course, those members would likely demand compensation for the service, and if they didn't then the Mistress would want them to be paid anyways. The logistics were enough to make her head spin. She would deal with that train of thought later on.

Sometimes it felt like she never got a break.

"Busy, busy, busy. But it's always good to be busy. Money in money out," she muttered softly to herself as she picked up the reports and slid them into the appropriate file. Her head lifted up as the guild doors opened and a hooded figure stepped over the threshold. Servilia immediately put on a polite smile and waved the newcomer over.

"Hello, welcome to the Sleeping Dragon Guild. My name is Servilia, how may I be of assistance?" Servilia rose up as the hooded figure stopped in front of her desk. She held out her hand.

Avril reached up and pulled the hood away from her head, her bangs falling over her patched eye. She met Servilia's hand with a firm shake. "I've been told if I have a package that I need delivered this is the place to come."

Servilia smiled. "We have a number of extremely qualified couriers. If you could please tell me what exactly you want delivered, and to where?"

Avril reached into her pocket and pulled out a small envelope. "I need this delivered to Vinth."

"I see," Servilia said. "Considering that Vinth is not far from here I assume that discretion is preferred? Otherwise I would recommend the Posters handle this. It would be much cheaper, by quite a considerable margin. Of course, it will be much slower."

Avril shook her head. "No. This must be delivered by hand and it cannot be entrusted to the Posters."

"I see. May I also assume the contents of the package are to remain undisclosed, then?"

"Yes."

"Very well. If that is the case then we can only verify the delivery of the package and not the contents. Is that acceptable?"

Avril hesitated, but only for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

Servilia picked up her notepad and jotted down a few quick lines. "Wonderful, if that is the case then I can accept payment now, in full, and assign a courier to deliver the package immediately. Now if you want it delivered in a single day, I can arrange that, but there will be an expedition fee."

"Actually, I was given a preference for the courier my lady wishes to use.”

"Oh?" Servilia's pen hesitated and she looked up.

"Yes. His name is Cross. An associate of my lady highly recommended him and she only wishes to use him."

Though she was curious as to which customer had given the recommendation Servilia knew better than to ask any further questions on the matter. "Regrettably, Cross is currently not available and I cannot say for certain when he will be back. If you wish I could recommend another courier, I assure you they are all up to the task. Alternatively, I can place the package in our vault until Cross's return or you can come back at a later date."

Annoyance flashed across Avril's features before she could catch herself. Clearing her throat, she held out the envelope before pulling it back an inch. "I trust your vault is secure?"

"We have one of, if not the best, Cracker in the Kingdom employed at this guild. He has personally guaranteed its security," said Servilia, suppressing a small smile as a rather endearing memory of Banksy rose to the surface of her mind. He had been horrified when he had finally been shown the guild's vault. It had taken him less than ten minutes to have the door open and had spent the next three months dissembling and putting it back together with so many upgrades and improvements that Servilia finally had to cut off his funding lest the safe become more valuable than the contents it held.

"Very well," Avril handed over the envelope and produced a small bag of coins as well. She placed the bag on the desk. "This should suffice, yes?"

Servilia picked up the bag peered at the silver inside. The silver coins were a mix of Dumas and Gorin currency. She weighed the bag in her hand. "Yes. This payment shall remain in the vault along with the package. If you would please fill this out." Servilia produced a form and waited as Avril quickly jotted down the relevant information. "At any time before delivery you wish to cancel your request please, do not hesitate to visit and you will be given a full refund. Once our courier has begun, however, you will not be able to receive a refund, nor will we be able to return the package to you, only to the given recipient. I trust you understand?"

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"Yes. Thank you for your time." Avril gave a single nod before turning on her heel and exiting the guild. As she stepped into the coming night, she took in a deep breath of the chilly night air and dropped her hand to the comforting grip of the pistol hidden across her lower back.

Soon.

Pulling the hood over her head she made her way to where Moon was waiting, his breath coming out in great bursts of steam against the cold night air. Avril patted him gently on the nose.

"I'm sorry for leaving you out in the cold for so long," she said softly as she produced a treat for him. Moon quickly chomped it down before nuzzling Avril gently with the side of his head. She smiled and climbed onto his back. With the barest hint of direction, the horse settled into a brisk pace, returning them to the inn that Avril had purchased a room at earlier. After making sure Moon would be comfortable for the night in the stable, Avril retired to her room. It was too late to make her report and she would have to wait until morning, but she could do that. After all, she had been waiting for so long, she could manage for just a bit longer.

But only a bit.

"I'm so close," Avril whispered as she fell on the bed. She drew her pistol and pointed it towards the ceiling, her thumb slowly cocking the hammer back.

A single shot.

That's all it would take.

A single shot and she would change the entire course of history.

It was almost comical, how much power the weapon in her hand held. How much was at stake. If she hadn't heard it from the Queen's mouth, she would never have believed such a wild fantasy.

But it wasn't a fantasy.

It was the truth.

And it was her duty to put an end to it.

"I will not fail you," Avril said as her arm fell to her side and her eyes closed. "I swear it, my Queen."

xXx

Cross turned up his collar against the growing cold of the night and turned back to the look at the manor. He could feel the phoenix stone weighing heavily in his pocket. With a soft sigh he reached down and pressed his hand against the stone.

"Report?" Lexi's voice echoed in his head.

"I…" Cross sighed and shook his head. "I got kicked out."

"You got kicked out."

"Yes."

"From the manor?"

"Yes."

"You are not in the manor?"

"No."

"Romeo and Banksy are in the manor?"

"Yes."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"But you are not?"

"No."

"Because you got kicked out?"

"Yes."

Lexi went silent. Cross shifted his weight from one foot to the other and waited. He waited so long that for a moment he thought the stone might have run out of magic power before he heard Lexi suck in an irritated breath.

"How did you manage to get kicked out if even Romeo didn't?" Lexi said. "What could you possibly have done?"

Cross shook his head "I'm not exactly sure, honestly."

"What happened?"

Cross quickly relayed the events leading up to his dismissal. There wasn’t much to tell.

"Do you have any theories?" Lexi asked as soon as he was finished.

Cross began to pace back and forth, his eyes flicking to the manor. "Not entirely sure. But she's using… maybe magic. It was really hard to concentrate when I was around her. Maybe there was something mixed with the firewood?

"Another succubus?"

"I don't think so. Not the same feeling," said Cross with a small shake of his head. He was fairly confident after the incident with Eliza and so much time spent with Lara, he would be able to spot a succubus in a heartbeat. "There is definitely something about her though."

"Do you think she's dangerous?"

"Maybe. It's hard to tell," Cross frowned. "But Romeo and Banksy need to be careful either way."

"Understood. I'll relay the information to them. It would be best if they could somehow manage to keep from getting separated, but it sounds like that isn't going to be an option."

"Which one are you more worried about?"

"Both. Both are equally worrying, for completely opposite reasons."

"They'll find a way to get through it," Cross said with more confidence than he felt. He knew exactly what Lexi was worried about. There was almost an absolute guarantee that Romeo would do something foolish in front of the Widow Black. Whether she found that to be endearing or egregious was impossible to tell.

As for Banksy… he would either clam up as soon as the Widow Black talked to him, or he would completely bail out before she even had the chance. Talking to women had never been his strong suit. Sometimes it still amazed Cross that Banksy was able to get out a full sentence around Servilia.

That wasn't even mentioning the fact that Romeo and Banksy could be getting into a fight at this very moment that would lead to their expulsion from the manor. Or that very real possibility that Romeo would find a reason to set fire to the manor with nothing more than a very flimsy reason that only he would fully understand.

"Should I stick around here?" Cross said as he began to run through all the scenarios that could possibly happen. Most of them were bad. He peered from side to side. He actually hadn't seen a guard since he had been kicked out. It wouldn't be that difficult for him to sneak in again. "I could probably get back inside and find a place to hide out. This place is big enough."

"No. It's not worth the risk.”

"Alright, I'll start heading back."

"Actually, you're going back to the guild.

Cross blinked. "The guild?"

"Yes, Servilia just sent a message. A client has asked for you, personally."

Cross frowned. "You're kicking me off the job?"

"Well," said Lexi, and Cross heard the hint of a smirk in her voice, "you can either head back to the guild and take the job request, or you can spend a few days in this hotel room. With Makina. Paying for everything. The choice is, of course, yours to make."

Cross's frown turned to a smile. "Got it. Thanks Boss. Keep me updated and good luck."

"I will.”

Cross released the stone and gave the manor one last look before shaking his head. "Right, then."