"Ready your men, we're going east."

"Madam?" Klober raised an eyebrow at Katarina's abrupt command, confused and uncertain about the course, "Are we going to the port?"

"Yes. We're going to Tarlone. Swiftly. I want to be there by nightfall."

The dragoon blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly, "Tarlone? I thought-"

"You know he's lying, as do I," Katarina said simply, "How much, I am unsure. But the man is hiding something."

"I think the Malthorian was here," the officer interjected, hoping he was not speaking out of turn. Klober glanced toward the small squadron of soldiery, making sure they stood ready.

"No doubt," she agreed.

"No, I mean- I think he was in that office," Klober said, drawing a curious glance from the witch, "There were boot prints. The sort a cavalryman would wear. And I must say Amand doesn't seem the type to wear those."

"Good eye," the witch nodded appreciatively, seeming impressed with his observation, "Good eye indeed."

"Should we do anything?"

"No."

Klober hesitated, taken aback by that response, "What if they hired him though?"

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"Perhaps they did. Yet we have no evidence, and I do not fancy the church's outrage should we push the issue without more concrete proof of their involvement," the witch grimaced slightly, pulling her gray greatcoat tighter. "Hubert is already headed north, which Amand does not know. If the man has fled that way, he will be tracked down, and this gives them the element of surprise," she said simply, "Heading west seems unlikely. Donnerau is locked down tighter than the royal vaults."

"But why- Why Tarlone? You said yourself, you do not believe he is there-" the officer stuttered as he tried to make sense of her reasoning, "You said Amand was lying-."

"Because. We are going to Orrin's laboratory," the witch spoke the words as if she had just stated the most obvious course of action, and was now merely explaining it to a child.

"What?" Klober shook his head in confusion, "What laboratory?"

"The one he didn't expect anyone to find," she smirked confidently, "I had Eris follow him once. She's most useful, you know. Very difficult to pick out." She paused and glanced at the dragoons, "Orrin thought he was clever, placing it outside Astana. Hiding it. But- But I know better."

"What does that have to do-"

"With the investigation?"

It was uncanny, the way the woman so easily predicted his thoughts. She chuckled softly, a humorless sound that raised the hairs on Klober's neck, "My esteemed colleague was not killed without reason, dear captain."

"He- he did so much good though," he said, "He saved so many."

"Perhaps, perhaps he did," Katarina nodded in agreement, "But he made enemies. Poked his nose in things he should not have. I fear he poked a little too deep."

For a moment they stood in silence, lost in thought as they considered the task at hand. Absentmindedly, the officer adjusted his belt, trying to imagine just what might have warranted such a violent reaction. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

Deep down, he could feel a queasiness that told him he didn't want to know.

"This Malthorian has only struck once before, and it was with purpose," she continued, casting a final glance about Loseine, "That means whatever it is Orrin was doing, whatever he found. Or whatever he did. It drew this killer's, or more likely his patron's, attention."

"And you think we'll find clues as to who they are? Where they are? There? In his lab?"

"I certainly hope so," the witch sighed, "I would certainly hope so. Perhaps it will lend us clues as to what- who- we are dealing with. But we must move swiftly, before others- carrion feeders arrive."

"And the witch-hunter?"

"For now, time is on our side. We are aware of him," Katarina's eyes flickered with the briefest pulse of the fay power bubbling beneath, the sickly glow a reminder of her inhuman power, "He will not flee. No. He is protecting something special."

Klober gestured for his men to mount, drawing no more than a sidelong glance from the sorceress.

"Slowly, surely, this net will close," the woman said flatly, "We will find him. We will capture him, and he will be brought to justice."