Kleidra startled Lavastro by pulling in closer, walking almost shoulder to shoulder. He still said nothing.
They soon reached their destination. An alley pinched between two larger buildings, two stories high and with walls of battered brick rather than rotting wood. Not dissimilar from any of the half dozen passing them by on the walk to it. Save for the presence of a symbol marking its right corner, scorched into the very mortar.
“We’re here.” She said, making way into it. Kleidra nodded as he followed.
Lavastro’s contact waited for them only a dozen yards in. A short man with thinning brown hair tucked behind a flat cap, he wore clothing no different from the workmen Lavastro had passed by the hundred on her way.
He smiled as she approached; pale Unixian skin seeming waxier still in the shade. The expression had surely been intended to put her at ease, yet Lavastro found it made a ghostly imp of the man.
“M’lady.” He said, greeting her with a nod.
“I received word that you had information of great import.” She answered, in no mood to humour his small talk. “Important enough that my dula told me you suggested I appear personally to hear it.”
Lavastro would have done no such thing, were it not for the man’s impeccable record of accuracy in his dealings with the Taikan Empire.
“You have my ear.” She said.
The spy licked his lips, a tremble of the hands and shifting of the feet making soft nerves clear before his voice’s shakiness could even ring out.
“And my payment?” He asked. There was an uncertain edge to his tone, the most appropriate reaction he’d had since she arrived.
“Your payment will be determined based on the information you have to offer.”
Anger filled in the space left by his nervousness. Quickly, smartly, smoothed away.
“With respect, I already gave my price.”
“You have a reputation for reliability, which is why you gained an audience with me at all. If what you have to tell me is considered worthwhile then you know better than most you’ll be rewarded proportionally.”
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He licked his lips again, shifted agitatedly.
“I could take this to others, if you can’t guarantee my price will be met.”
Lavastro saw a spark of defiance in his eyes, recognised the danger it posed. Defiant spies got people killed.
“No, you can’t.” She said. “Because your flawless reputation working with us would hang over you like a stormcloud and likely sign your death warrant the moment it was uncovered by whichever inevitably diligent institution you moved to. That is, of course, if the less genial individuals within the Taikan Empire didn’t take matters into their own hands first.”
The spy paled, terror widening his eyes and wetting his face with beads of perspiration.
“You wouldn’t. I’ve worked loyally with the Taikan Empire for years.”
“And that makes you both useful and consistent. Not the sort of element that needs removal, certainly not one at risk of incurring it by foolishly double crossing the Descendants or House Balfor.”
For a few moments the man said nothing. Mouth working silently, eyes saying more than his tongue as they flickered and jittered in a muted desperation. Finally he lowered his gaze, nodding.
“Alright.” The spy muttered, defeated. Lavastro studied him a moment more until she was confident there was no spine remaining in him.
“Now speak.” She pressed. “What was so vital that you summoned me like a serving girl to hear?”
He acquiesced.
Lavastro listened carefully, then more carefully still. She sharpened her focus and committed every detail to memory, leaving nothing out.
All while fighting off the soul-freezing dread that threatened to overwhelm her at the report’s details.
Several butchers had arrived in Udrebam. None had been violent, all apparently content to remain in taverns and inns peacefully. Identified only because an uncommonly knowledgeable agent spotted their group.
They’d have been no concern were it not for the youngest of them, a teenager, and the apparently loud announcement made to nearby revellers that they had been entered into the Sieve.
It was only the flawless reputation of the spy in question that kept her from dismissing his report entirely.
“That’s it.” He finished, breathing heavily after speaking so quickly for so long. “I know nothing more.”
He eyed her expectantly.
“What was the payment you requested, again?”
“Eight stars.” The man answered quickly. Lavastro nodded.
“I’ll see to it that you receive ten, then.”
She turned without another word, exiting the alley at a quick stride. As she had grown so reluctantly accustomed to, Kleidra followed mechanically in her wake.