Bann put his face in both hands, feeling himself unable to express his frustration.
"And so you what?" Kronmyr said defiantly, watching Niku pant wearily in his crate. "You don't agree with him?"
The mercenary almost brought both fists down to the table, but stopped himself and merely rested his hands down with a heavy sigh instead. "No, Myr, no I don't."
"They deserved it," the dark Elf shrugged, turning over his bruised shoulder to look at the Human behind him. "In the old days, if the matron gave someone an assignment only to-"
"You haven't been under- or on top of- a matron in years, Kronmyr," Bann interrupted, tapping the table with the palms of his hands.
" 'Years,' he says!" Kronmyr laughed, coming up from his hunch over the back of the chair for a few moments. "You Humans are far too forgetful and impatient to be as short-lived as you all are."
"Both assignments, failing," Bann said pointedly, holding his hands still and boring into the dark Elf's back with his glare. "Your trainees, getting cut in the street by some faceless wall climber. My trainees, getting abducted in place of the cargo they were supposed to bring. And the front's getting stifled- nobody else has put in any animal orders, so I convinced Howler not to let his bitches breed. No one's asking for food either, but I can't just tell him not to hunt. What worries me is that Coalwater isn't moving either. The sooner we can get the Shadar-kai to-"
"Complain to Mordy, not me," Kronmyr shrugged, putting his arms on top of the back of the chair and resting his chin on them again. "I had to switch weapons on her eight times, but my double scimitar charge is forcing that range issue to change."
Bann stopped himself from sighing again. "Mordy's practically constantly doing that magic tether thing, only the girl specializes at abjuration- fancy term for protection spells-"
"I told him." Kronmyr looked over his shoulder again, just far enough for Bann to see one half of his face. "Rasha's docile, but she's definitely not stupid. By now, she's knows exactly how to politely ignore him."
Bann offered a frustrated grunt in response as he sat back away from the circular table and crossed his arms over his chest. "You could have been more specific. I don't know what you mean by 'politely ignore,' since she does everything he says. He tells her to go somewhere, she goes. 'Learn this spell,' and it's in her head practically before he finishes the sentence. Menial housework, alchemy- even a bit of sewing, apparently- you name it, she'll do it. No questions. He stopped short of telling her to give herself to him, but I think he's about ready to try that."
"I'd like to see him try it," the dark Elf scoffed as he put his chin back on his arms. Niku, as if to agree, gave a disgusted snort.
"The man has a wife now," Bann argued with a half-hearted shrug. "We were at the wedding."
"But his woman won't screw him; everyone knows it," Kronmyr spat back. "He's as packed up as a castle cannon. If he told Rasha to relieve him- which she'd do without a second thought- his wife would probably be intensely grateful. It wouldn't do a thing to Rasha; she's used to being used. The reason Mordy can't secure her full compliance is that in order to get it, he'd have to do something he can't do."
"Specifics!" Bann groaned at last, allowing his head to fall back over the back of the chair so that he stared at the ceiling.
"You want specifics?" Kronmyr shot, picking up the chair and turning it around so that he could face Bann straight on. "Fine. Tell me the last time you talked to Mordren without feeling like a piece in a game."
Bann lifted his head and stared at Kronmyr, one eyebrow raised.
"Mordy is normally able to pull or push or bend anyone any which way, but Rasha is already used to doing exactly what she is asked to do for whomever commands her. She's so pliable that I can guarantee that Mordy can't tell how successful he either is or isn't right now. And if we aren't careful, she will turn on us when her soul tells her to."
"How did you discover this?" Bann finally managed, his mouth dry.
"It was in her fighting," Kronmyr nodded slowly, leaning down so that he was hugging the top of his chair. "There was this- this moment- the first time I charged at her and she actually changed the reach of her weapon to suit in time to catch me. I realized- I was fighting her, but she wasn't fighting me. I was just standing in, as good to her as the nearest practice dummy."
"I fail to understand how you gained the insight you just gave me, based on that story alone," Bann replied. "Anything you're leaving out?"
"No," the dark Elf laughed wearily, shaking his head. "That's it. That's her curse. You think you want her, right? But you don't just want her. You want her to want you, and she just... doesn't. She doesn't actually want anything. Maybe she can't, I don't know, but that is what is killing us all. The unreachable nature of her- to see her so beautiful in mind and spirit, and yet so... indescribably empty. Not like an empty vase, no- like a... a ghost... a shadow, rather. The most beautiful shadow you've ever seen. You long to- I don't know- fill her out, make her real, solid, touchable, carnal. Nature abhors a vacuum, I'm told by most mages. She proves it."
"Howler proves it," Bann corrected as he unfolded his right arm and rested his chin on his knuckles. "He is the closest to nature of any of us."
"And Mordy," Kronmyr interjected sharply, "is the farthest, are you getting my point now?"
Bann rubbed at his chin for a few moments, deep in thought. Silence reigned until he asked, "But then, shouldn't he want her the most?"
"We would probably be able to tell that, Bann, if he ever let his own emotions show. But that, to him, is weakness. We are just as clueless about him as we are about her, because that's how he's always been."
"It's never been a liability before," Bann breathed, beginning to understand Kronmyr's point.
The dark Elf took a few seconds of thought himself before continuing. "It's not too late to can it with the Semmites, Bann."
"Howler," the Human replied, shaking his head.
"If he ever found out-"
"You found out."
"Apparently a half century topside will teach even a Drow what the Human idea of loyalty is," Kronmyr laughed bitterly.
"But not what trust is?" Bann shot back immediately, sitting farther forward in his chair again.
"I have always trusted you not to tell me anything you think I shouldn't know, and you should always trust me to find out anyway," Kronmyr reasoned. "It's not worth it, Bann. Let the man talk himself onto a noose."
But the Human shook his head. "If it were his word against ours, maybe we'd have a chance. But now we have a witness and two dead bodies. We can't go back."
"We can't go back, but we don't have to go any farther forward," Kronmyr urged. "Put a stop to it. We register a missing persons report for the two mercs- leave that part to me, I'm a professional liar. The witness, put Mordy on her. He can even bring his project along with him, that might actually help, seeing as the creature's female. Bring the remaining forces back out of the borderlands, discontinue trades, have them bury all the Semmite coin- or better yet, tie it off to some animal and set the thing on fire, let it go where it goes. The man is implicated by his own hand- he wrote every order we ever-"
Bann looked up to figure out why Kronmyr had broken off, and found that he was staring, dumbfounded, at the doorway. It took nearly an entire minute for the Human mercenary to decide to look at what had so profoundly shocked a dark Elf who could claim more than 100 years of existence.
"My lords will pardon me, I hope, if their handmaiden interrupts their conversation to bring them news?"
Silveredge stood, apparently calmly, in the doorway. Niku sniffed the air, but made no other movements. To all outside appearances, the two didn't even notice each other.
Next to the Shadar-kai, tied hands to feet like a Purple Dragon would bind a dangerous criminal, lay a young woman in battered street clothes. She- apparently some form of Elf- sported two black eyes, a bloody nose, mercilessly sliced arms, and swelling in her right ankle as well as her left shoulder. Kronmyr was just going to comment on Silveredge's work when he and Bann both noticed the tattoo on the woman's neck. The Drow held his place on his chair, but the Human rose to come closer to the sight.
"As I worked with my lord Mordren in his study, I noticed this young woman watching us. With my lord's leave, I walked out upon his balcony to speak with her, and she attacked us both. My lord was struck in ways he is not used to, I believe, and fell before her. I spared her life, hoping that she would speak to me. She will not, so I wondered if perhaps my lords would have better ability to reason with her."
"Mordren should be telling us this, not you; you reacted too slowly to defend him, so any harm come to him is your fault. Go make sure he isn't hurt," Kronmyr commanded immediately. "Check every inch of his body personally. Come find me, tell me exactly what's wrong with him and where, immediately."
"My lord is kind," Silveredge said as she curtsied. She turned and walked out of the doorway easily, the slack of her chain swaying behind her as she moved.
Bann hardly noticed the conversation at all. As Silveredge moved away from the doorway and down toward the main level of the building, he squatted to take an even closer look at the panting girl's tattoo.
"Fire Knives," he muttered, almost to himself, as he quickly rose. "The man has Fire Knives on us."
"I somehow doubt that they're the only ones," Kronmyr frowned. "Or even the good ones- this is probably just a warning."
Bann sat back down in his chair and planted his elbows on the table, folding his hands and resting his chin on his thumbs.
"I imagine your whip hasn't seen a lot of use these days," he finally said after quite a long silence.
"Hasn't seen much more blood than mine," Kronmyr replied, interested.
Bann didn't move an inch, but the dark Elf knew the rest of their conversation would have to wait.
"The Shadar-kai went through a lot of trouble, from the looks of it, to spare this spy," the Human breathed quietly, looking over at the Fire Knife operative with a genuine smile. "What do you say we 'reason with her'? Make her restraint worth it?"
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