Geoffrey sat behind his desk, considering his young pupils. Allana met his gaze fearlessly, jutting her chin out in defiance of his cool indifference. Tenebres couldn’t manage the same level of confidence, but he held his place next to her anyways, supporting his friend.

Finally, Geoffrey sighed. “What am I supposed to do with you two?”

“Tell us the truth, for one,” Allana snapped back immediately.

“The truth is a dangerous thing, Allana. You of all people know that.”

“That doesn’t make it any less valuable,” Tenebres interjected. With how upset Allana was, he knew that if this conversation was going to get anywhere, he needed to keep things on track.

The assassin’s eyes darted to Tenebres, and he tilted his head in acknowledgement of the point. “A fair point. But you must understand. Were Telik to know what I know… it would be dangerous. Even for me.”

Allana’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the words. “Are you saying you still don’t trust me? You really think I’m going to run off to that bastard and just tell him everything?”

Tenebres noticed the way Allana tensed with the claim, taut muscles shifting underneath smooth violet skin, as if she was resisting the urge to spring on him.

Geoffrey pursed his lips. “It’s not that simple, Allana.”

“Yes, Geoffrey, it is.” The girl spat each word like venom as she spoke. “You tell me the truth, the whole truth, right now, or I leave, and you can try to kill Telik by yourself.”

Geoffrey went still in his seat, so still that it startled Tenebres. He wasn’t still the way a person would go when surprised. He was still like a statue, or a corpse. It was easy to forget that Geoffrey, for all of his casual demeanor, was a dangerous man, an Adept, as far above Allana and Tenebres as they were above a helpless child.

Still, Tenebres couldn’t forget Allana’s words in the alley only an hour before, or the way she had looked when she spoke. The vulnerability, the exposed anger and hate that festered in her heart. She really would walk away as she threatened–and Mage damn him if he wouldn’t follow her.

“No more lies,” Tenebres agreed with Allana. “You know everything about us, but we know next to nothing about you. You’ve got to trust us Geoffrey, the way we’ve been trusting you, or we can’t keep doing this.”

There was no emotion on Goeffrey’s face as he considered the words. For all the world, it looked as if he was frozen in time for well over a minute before he finally nodded. “Very well.” His gaze drifted between Tenebres and Allana before he asked, “What do you two know of hags?”

Allana shot to her feet. “No! No, this has nothing to do with Telik, stop dodging the question Geoffrey!”

Tenebres frowned, and reached up to put a hand on Allana’s forearm, just above her tangle of bracelets. “Lana… sit down. Please.”

Allana gave him a look of pure fury, but she listened. Only once she had sat back down, the motion obviously reluctant, did Tenebres turn his attention back to Geoffrey. “They’re outsiders,” the wraith boy answered. “From the Chained World. I know they’re supposed to be some of the worst threats from that world though, even more so than ogres or gnolls. They’re some kind of spellcasters, I think.”

Geoffrey nodded sharply. “All correct, though that’s not what makes them feared. All hags are moderate threats, but they’re weak for that rank. They have some dangerous spells and curses, but one on one, they’re significantly less dangerous than a rampaging ogre or the like. The real danger with hags is their talent for manipulation. They like to move in the background, using agents and minions to enact their agendas. A hag by herself is no great danger–but by the time you’re aware one exists, they tend to be the center of a web of plots and defenses.”

“What does this have to do with Telik?” Allana snapped.

Tenebres took a sudden breath, Geoffrey’s words giving him a missing puzzle piece in his understanding of the situation.

“‘Agents and minions…’” he repeated. “Telik is working for a hag, isn’t he?”

“Not ‘for,’ but ‘with,’” Geoffrey corrected. “From what I can tell, I believe he’s formed a partnership with a binding hag.”

Allana furrowed her eyebrows. “A binding hag?”

“Hags are classified by the types of curses they specialize in. Rot hags have spells of rot and decay, agony hags cause unnatural pain, binding hags bind a weaker being’s will, enslaving them to her wishes.”

Tenebres felt the corner of his lip lift in a small, involuntary snarl. For a moment, he remembered the most helpless moment of his life, bound and carried to his death. “They can violate free will?”

“Just so. It can take a while if the person has significant enough will to resist them, but given enough time, they can take just about anyone of Initiate level or lower.”

While Tenebres was disgusted by the idea, Allana looked significantly worse off, her face so bloodless it had faded to a pale lilac, as if she had been stabbed. “Telik…” she breathed, “He was going to do that to me too, wasn’t he?”

Geoffrey’s face softened, and he nodded. “I suspect so.”

Allana, still stricken, abruptly bowed her head, her brows knit together and eyes screwed shut. Tenebres shifted in place, uncertain of how to comfort the girl. As close as they had become, Allana was still thoroughly a mystery to the boy, but at the very least he knew she wouldn’t appreciate the tears on her cheeks being acknowledged.

Finally, Allana managed to croak, “Why? What was he waiting for? Why bother sending me to you?”

Geoffrey and Tenebres exchanged surprised looks, and Tenebres’s admiration for his friend grew. He knew the pain she was facing intimately. He still woke up in cold sweats every few nights, phantom memories of ropes still chafing his wrists. Kellen had robbed him of his autonomy just as much as Telik planned to do to Allana. Even if the specifics were different, and he could only respect Allana having the emotional strength to think straight through the pain she was no doubt feeling. Tenebres had fled the cult’s caverns rather than face the truth of what his gift had wrought.

Unsure what else to do, he reached over and laid a hand on Allana's forearm. He didn’t grab her, he didn’t try to hug her, he didn’t speak. He simply tried to remind her of his presence, to offer her the simple reassurance of his company.

“We can wait before we continue…” Geoffrey tried to offer.

Allana cut him off with a firm shake of her head, finally looking up with a bleary, red-eyed glare. “No. I want to know everything.”

“Alright,” Geoffrey looked troubled, but continued. “It’s a matter of free will. Once the hag had bound you, your actions wouldn’t have truly been your own anymore.”

“I get that,” Allana growled.

Tenebres inhaled sharply, understanding what Geoffrey implied. “No, you don’t, Lana.” She turned the glare on him, but he forced through. “Think about it. Once your free will had been compromised, your acts wouldn’t be your own. The Rogue wouldn’t recognize them. He needed you to reach Initiate and receive your gift of the assassin so you could be what he wanted before the hag bound you.”

“Exactly right,” Geoffrey nodded. “Unfortunately, that’s why I’ve been avoiding this explanation. I’ve never encountered one of these binding hags before so…”

“So you didn’t know if I was actually in control this whole time.” Allana’s voice was tight, but Tenebres could feel the heat lurking behind it, her pain turning on itself and stoking the flames of her anger once more, like a hateful serpent consuming its own tail.

“I didn’t think it likely, but for all I knew, this hag could’ve bound you to forget about her existence and act normally until you heard someone confess suspicions just like these.”

Tenebres hummed thoughtfully. “I notice all of these suspicions are past tense now.”

One corner of Geoffrey’s mouth lifted in a small, sad smile. “Quite. While I’ve never fought a binding hag, I received word from someone who has. It’s my understanding that anyone so affected would automatically and instinctively deny the accusations I just made. They’d claim it couldn’t affect them, try to allay my suspicions. Even confronted with the truth, they’d deny it. While I’m sorry to hurt you the way I did, your reaction was genuine enough that I am confident that you haven’t been bound already.”

“Why did you wait then!?” Allana shouted, jumping up from her seat to slam her palms flat on the solid wood of Geoffrey’s writing desk. He blinked, but Allana didn’t give him the chance to respond. “You could’ve told me any time, to see how I reacted, and gotten these fears of yours out of the way!”

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Tenebres flinched at the violent reaction, snatching his hand back as Allana vented her pent up rage on Geoffrey. Gently, he tried to explain, “Because then he would’ve needed to kill you. If you moved against him…”

“Not just that,” Geoffrey admitted. “From what I’ve been told, that sort of mind control is extremely damaging. Being confronted with it could cause irreparable damage to your psyche, maybe even drive you insane. That was why I’ve been driving your training the way I have. My hope was to wait until you reached Initiate with your gift of poison–that would tell me that your actions are your own, and let me be more open.” He spread his hands, the gesture helpless.

Allana abruptly flushed. “Then I forced your hand, and made you…”

Geoffrey pursed his lips and nodded.

She sat back in her seat, and Tenebres tried to conceal a smile at the familiar face of her embarrassment. Allana was quick to anger, and just as quick to cool off and regret the things she did while upset, but he knew that her heart was in the right place. Usually. “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t think…”

“You had no way to know, of course. I fear I’ve developed a habit of keeping secrets, one I find hard to break. I did want to tell you, please believe that. The time simply wasn’t right.”

Tenebres cleared his throat, looking between the two assassins. Knowing neither would flinch before the other, he offered, “If you don’t mind, I could use a little break before we keep talking. Get some fresh air.”

Geoffrey’s grin grew, and he nodded. “Sounds like just the thing. Perhaps we move to the lounge before we continue?”

Allana looked between the two suspiciously, but the red-rimmed eyes she was trying to glare through gave away her own relief at being given an excuse for some time to collect herself.

#

By the time Allana rejoined them in the lounge, Tenebres had finished explaining the results of their hunt through the dockside to Geoffrey. The boy looked up at her entry, but didn’t acknowledge the time she had needed to collect herself with anything besides a soft smile.

“Another outsider… interesting…” Geoffrey mused as Allana took her seat.

“Unfortunately it’s a dead end from there. We know the outsider corpse was stolen, but that’s all.”

“We can talk about it later,” Allana cut in. “I still have questions about Telik. You’re not getting out of them that easily.”

Geoffrey shook his head. “Easily, no. I just risked all of our lives and your sanity to give you the explanation you wanted, Allana. That’s not enough for you?”

“No,” Allana said flatly.

“Fine, fine.” As Geoffrey replied, he opened one of the numerous carafes that dotted his lounge and study alike. Rather than the traditional golden and amber liquors he normally drank, this one had a mild green cast to it that made Tenebres think of the verdigris that would coat exposed copper. The master assassin poured a glass for himself, then, after confirmation, a second for Allana. He paused, offering a pour to Tenebres, but the Novice shook his head.

“I’d rather be able to remember all of this.”

“Good,” Allana announced as she grabbed her glass. “You can explain it to me again in the morning.”

Tenebres rolled his eyes, but he grinned all the same. After the ups and downs of the night, it was good to see the girl joking again. Tenebres felt the tight knot that had at some point replaced his heart loosen a little bit.

“Alright,” Geoffrey said as he sat back with his glass. “Go ahead, let’s get this done with.”

“Alright, first. Why haven’t you killed Telik yet?”

“So it’s that easy, is it?” Geoffrey asked, amused.

“For you? Yes, it is, I don’t get it. Telik’s an Adept, and that scares everyone in Lowrun, but so are you. I’ve seen you both fight, and I know you’re better than Telik, by a long shot.”

Geoffrey took a moment to sip his drink while he mused on his answer. Allana took the chance to do the same, and Tenebres watched the way she blinked in surprise at the taste. “What is this?”

“Chillmint brandy,” Geoffrey answered absently.

“You should show me where to get a bottle.”

“It may be a little beyond your means, Allana.”

“Who said I was planning to buy it?”

Geoffrey’s shoulders shook with a small huff of laughter. “Well. There is that, I suppose. Very well then, Telik. What are his gifts?”

Tenebres frowned and kept silent. He was the only one in the room who didn’t know Telik. Familiar with the man only through Allana’s stories, he knew Telik was some sort of crime lord, one of the most feared in Lowrun, but little else.

Allana arched an eyebrow. “Are you saying you don’t know? Because I don’t buy it.”

“Of course I know. I’m asking you.”

Allana narrowed her eyes. “I know he came up as a smuggler, that’s how he made his money early on. He paired the canny senses of the gift of the merchant with the gift of the thief. That means simple but effective combat abilities, just enough to keep him alive if he got caught up in something dangerous without help.”

“That’s two,” Tenebres pointed out, curious. “If he’s an Adept, he’d have a third.”

Allana pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I guess… I always assumed he just had some blessing from the Rogue archetype. Some supporting gift, like a criminal version of the gift of the merchant, because he only ever fights with his outlaw abilities.”

“But you don’t know what his third is?” Geoffrey asked.

Allana glared at him. “No, I don’t. Enough with the tutor act, what is it?”

“You’ll remember I mentioned the forbidden archetypes when our friend here first joined us.”

Teneberes nodded, remembering the two dark archetypes he had mentioned. “The Tyrant and the Blood-soaked.”

“Good.” Geoffrey nodded his approval at Tenebres, and took another sip of his drink. “Telik is one of those rare few that managed to make it on my list twice over. Working with an outsider would’ve gotten him on my blacklist by itself, but he has possession of a forbidden gift as well–the gift of affluence.”

“Affluence?” Tenebres asked, incredulous. “Sounds more like a gift from the Noble than anything evil.”

“I certainly don’t need a gift to tell you Telik’s a rich git,” Allana said with a snort. “He’s got more money than half the merchants up on the hilltops.”

“Just so,” Geoffrey acknowledged. “And few things are more corrupting to a man than wealth.”

Teneberes snorted a little, and he and Allana shared a look around the assassin’s lavishly appointed lounge.

Geoffrey noted their looks with a smirk of his own. “Ah, but I simply have fine tastes. The accumulation of wealth for little but its own purpose… now that is the sort of endeavor that drives men to dark deeds. Telik makes his wealth on the back of human suffering. Crime, theft, and drugs are just the surface. I suspect much of Lowrun’s sad state is at least partially due to Telik’s practices. A man like that… the Tyrant couldn’t wish for a better adherent.”

“Why does a gift like that keep you from going after him though?” Allana asked, confusion evident in her tone. “You said it yourself. If anything, it makes him even more of a target to you.”

Tenebres hadn’t noticed Allana drinking in the midst of his interest in Geoffrey’s explanation, but as she spoke, he noticed the thickness in her words. Her glass was nearly empty, while Geoffrey had barely touched his own drink.

“It does, but it also complicates things. The gift of affluence is a problematic one. It allows him to use his obscene wealth in combat–by expending gold, he can strengthen his abilities, boost his attributes, Rogue knows what else. You’re right that I’m more than Telik’s equal in skill, but so long as he has gold to spend, the gift of affluence more than closes the gap. Until I figure out that gift’s weaknesses, I can’t take him to battle with any real confidence.”

“But-”

“No.” This time it was Geoffrey’s turn to be firm. “No, I will not discuss what I’ve figured out so far, or what my plans are, or what I know about Telik’s limits. I’ve told you all you’ve asked, Allana, but I need to draw a line somewhere.”

“Why not? Why is this where there needs to be a line?”

“Because,” Teneberes pointed out, “he knows as well as I do that if you decided that you knew enough, you’d attack Telik without waiting for us to help.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Allana insisted hotly.

“Truly?” Geoffrey asked, with an eyebrow arched. “Tell me, why would I believe that you’d restrain yourself with Telik any better than you did with Algus?”

Allana blinked in surprise. “I-”

“Ruined my operation, Allana. I know I let it slide, but don’t think I’ve forgotten. Perhaps, if we had the chance to reconnoiter the chandler properly, we wouldn’t be up against the wall now, chasing stories in a desperate attempt to track down the outsider giving out these necromantic gifts.”

Allana flushed. “Well, maybe if you told me what was going on in the first place, I wouldn’t have felt the need to do it myself!”

Tenebres winced as the heat returned to Allana’s voice, more intense than ever now that she had alcohol fueling her emotions. The tension that had briefly abated circulated through the air once more, and Tenebres felt his chest start to tighten up again.

Geoffrey frowned, but betrayed no other reaction to the accusation. “Perhaps. But now we’ll never know.” He put his glass down, perhaps with a little more force than was needed. “That will be enough for tonight. I’ll follow up on the lead you two found. Take the next few days off, and I’ll send for you when it’s time for a move I trust you to make properly.”

Allana’s eyes opened wide, and Tenebres reached over quickly, resting a hand on her arm without being so bold as to grab her. Still, she turned her anger on him, and it took all he had to not wince in the face of it.

“Enough, Lana. Let’s go,” he pleaded. His charm boon told him the words weren’t right as soon as he said them, helping him notice the way her shoulders squared, her body language becoming ever more rigid and defensive, without giving him the right words to make things better.

“Fine.” Allana jerked her arm away from him and slammed her empty glass down on the table as she stood, before stalking out of the room without another word, anger wrapped around her like a cloak.

Tenebres gave Geoffrey a helpless look, and ran to join her. “Your pay is by the door,” Geoffrey called after him, his voice soft and, Tenebres thought, tinged with regret.

Allana was already outside by the time Tenebres made it to the front hall. He grabbed the two purses and ran out the door after her.

He had to run nearly a block to catch up with her determined, angry, strides. “Allana!” He called with a gasp. “Where are you going? Our apartment isn’t this way.”

She didn’t bother to turn around as she answered. “I’m not going back to my apartment. I told you, I’ve got a date tonight.” Her words were as rigid with anger as her posture, and Tenebres faltered.

Something in the pit of his stomach twisted, and he asked. “Seriously? We need to talk about what just happened!”

“Maybe you do.” She didn’t stop walking.

“Lana!”

“It’s Allana, Tenebres. I never said you could call me that.”

Tenebres swallowed thickly. He had teased her for always using his fake name, but he’d give anything to hear her call him Seo again.

“Fine, Allana. Please, look, just come back to the apartment with me so we can talk!”

Allana replied with a sharp gesture with one hand that made her feelings clear. Then her figure blurred and vanished into the deep shadows around them, as if she had never been there, and Tenebres was left alone on the street, wondering what he was supposed to do now.

END OF PART TWO