His entrance didn't go unnoticed, as two women, relatively pretty looking, with their heart shaped, clean faces and golden hair, turned around frowning. They were lying on a bed, on either side of a brown haired, sharp chinned young man, who screamed 'pretty boy' from a mile away. The 'pretty boy,' who had been in the middle of trying to kiss one of the women didn't even flinch at the intrusion. Instead, he smiled brightly at Val, while still strumming his harp. “Ah, if it isn't my good fellow, Val. Come to hear my new sonnet, have you? Arnes and Glacina here were the inspirations, you know.”
Val stiffly smiled at the two women, who were glaring daggers a him, while he politely ignored the fact that they had their hands down Devin's pants. Val had always wondered if the man liking bragging unconsciously or was just that confident about himself. Either way, dealing with him always left Val feeling drained. “No... Sorry... Ah... I got business to talk to you 'bout.” Standing uncomfortably, Val ignored the fact that Devin had turned to whispering in the women's ears, even as they giggled.
Devin turned back to Val, smiling. “Business, my young friend. Ah yes, that which keeps food on the table, wine in my glass, clothes...” Val drowned out the drivel, wondering if other bards out there had the tendency to go on some poetic splurge, whenever it caught their fancy. It was on the reasons why Val had hesitated coming here, since it usually took forever to get his point across to mister dandy, who liked to drag things out most likely for his amusement and to play his part well. Usually, Val had just been the messenger for others, including Bernice, but this time around, he was going to be the 'employer,' as crazy as that sounded.
“Ah.... Devin, I don't have much time.” Trying to sound as patient as possible, Val interrupted the bard, who was loosing track of what he had been saying as his attention went back to gazing at one of the women. A couple more vicious female stares at Val followed before Devin finally seemed to get back on track with the conversation.
“Now, now ladies, my young friend here means no harm. Why don' you two go powder your delicate noses, and when I'm done here, we can find something sweet to entertain ourselves with.” Val really didn't want to know what the bard meant by that, but the two women reluctantly removed themselves from the bed, twittering. He would have even been convinced they were 'ladies' in the true sense of the word, if it wasn't for the deep scowls they directed at him as they brushed past him and out the door, slowly but firmly closing it behind themselves.
“You must forgive them Val. We rarely do have a peaceful morning, you know. Now then, business you say, and said in such a direct manner as well.” The bard was busy wiping his harp with a cloth he had grabbed from somewhere, making Val wonder if he had trouble staying still.
“Yes... It's a little different. The request is from me, and not no one else.” That got the bard's attention, who stopped and stared at Val, almost wonderingly.
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“Val... It almost galls me to say this, but you must know that my services are much in demand and are costly to boot. I cannot freely...” Stroking his chin almost contemplatively, Devin seemed draw out his words.
However Val cut to the chase. “It's one gold Tal for you to get people talking about it in both high and low places. It's gotta happen within the next few days.” There was silence in the room almost immediately, and Val watched something trigger and the bard's face go through from suave, to surprised, to greedy, and finally back to suave. It was probably one of the few times Val had seen Devin's real face hidden underneath his 'pretty boy' exterior. The real bard was as devious as the best gang boss in the city and definitely even more intelligent, since he had survive as a one man show. Val knew of at least a dozen city wide rumors that had started, because of this 'pretty boy' causing chaos the streets.
The scary part was that everything Devin had done was relatively low key: just a few obscure stories told in the city square, a few ballads sung in taverns, and a few meaningful hours spent with the right women with loud mouths and powerful husbands. The next thing you knew, everyone 'knew' that the day watch sergeant of the city guards for the merchant district liked 'animal husbandry.' The poor, thieving bastard had quit within a week of when the rumors had started and was found hanging in his home soon after. This 'power,' if it could be called that, was why very few people messed with Devin on the streets.
“You know Val, that's too soon....”
“Two Tals, with one now and the other by the end of the week.” Val's immediate retort cut the bard's haggling off. Almost two months worth of living expenses, was something very few if any could laugh off in the city.
Devin's face had gone from nonchalant to serious, with his eyes narrowed. “This smells of trouble, Val, but I've never been one to shy away from trouble, per say. So, two gold Tals. One now, and the other in three days. And I can walk away from the deal if things go south.” Val chewed on his lips, carefully watching the bard, who had gone back to fiddling with his harp. After a moment of worrying, he pulled a gold Tal out of some rags wrapped around his left wrist, handing it over to the man, who calmly accepted it without asking why a 'street rat' would have so much money.
A short while and a half truthful story later, he was on the streets again, wondering if his semi-truthful story of missing 'street rats,' being beaten up, and slave dealing gang bosses was convincing enough. He had left out the part about the bloody bones and the slaughterhouse, not wanting the bard to back out, but Val hoped that these rumors got spread to some of the right people, especially those in the Temple of Gayena. As 'righteous' as they were, he knew they would at least investigate the rumors if the right people began pestering them.
It was a wild shot in the dark, but he thought of it as just another protective umbrella if anything. He still had no clue if he was still on the 'death list,' as he thought of it, but the gut feeling of danger still had not disappeared. More than that, if the Bone Crushers were involved, then the anger he felt at possibly being betrayed required payback. As weak as he was, he had no choice but to borrow some other person's hand to do the dirty work.
Rounding the corner into an empty street, just out of the red light district, Val ran into somebody and cursed himself for losing awareness of his surroundings as focused as he was in his own thoughts. Looking up, he was about to apologize, when he heard a snarling voice. “Well lookee here boys. What 'ave we found...” The pockmarked, square faced older teen, who then yanked Val up by his tunic, was someone on the list people Val had been dreading about running into.
“Ribus...”