The brown haired mercenary sat uncomfortably in the front room as the Elf who had introduced himself as Parderyn moved around him with the closed log book. Two sets of footfalls- one whispering light, and another comparatively heavy- thudded across the wood boards of the place, and the mercenary turned his attentions up from the Elf to what seemed to him like a mismatched couple- a rose eyed, clay scaled Dragonborn man and a dark eyed, fair skinned Human woman. The Human seemed to be nearly skipping along next to her plodding Dragonborn counterpart, who at first glance looked to be the simpler minded of the two. The mercenary managed- barely- to keep his surprise out of his face when the Dragonborn began to speak clear, unaccented Common.
"Welcome, gentlemen," he began in an even tone. "Bann, I believe we have something- or rather, someone of yours, whom we are happy to return. At this moment, most of our mercenaries are taking breakfast, and I thought it not robbery to have her simply share."
"Thank you- Yulian, wasn't it?" Bann replied simply. "This is Kronmyr, and this Mordren; may we make the acquaintance of your ladyfriend?"
"My partner," Yulian corrected. "She is Dortana- and she has a copy of the letter I sent, if it's needed?"
"It's not; I have the original," the green eyed mage piped up, pulling a letter with a broken wax seal from his linen robes. "And I'm glad you've gotten to business so smartly. If you'll have your seats, I have questions for you concerning it."
Parderyn, who had briefly disappeared into the rooms beyond the stairwell, returned with three more chairs- and Silveredge, who trailed behind him with downcast eyes. The silver haired Shadar-kai immediately made her way toward Mordren and knelt in front of him, with her gaze pinned firmly to the floor.
"And I have questions for you about that," Yulian noted with some poorly disguised disgust as he took one of the chairs. At his words, the room seemed to warm up a few degrees.
"Careful," Dortana whispered, looking every bit like a weary life partner as she spoke.
"I have a right to express my concern," Yulian charged, warming the room still more. "I don't think I've seen her lift her eyes or heard her speak a word since she came out of the prisons, and why she so delicately places herself down, like some servile beast, in front of a man who was nowhere nearby when she first came from there is absolutely-"
"Your concern is duly noted," Bann cut in decisively, not wanting to see where any conversation about Silveredge's carriage might tend, "but it's not warranted. I have no questions about how you manage or train your people; I would greatly appreciate the same courtesy from you."
"Yuli," the Human female warned, just as the Dragonborn was about to speak again.
The Dragonborn offered a mere grunt of compliance, crossing his arms discontentedly over his chest, but the tip of his tail twitched. Kronmyr took the moment to notice how strong the creature's upper body was, while Bann raised his eyebrows at the clear interpersonal power struggle.
I suppose that's the trouble with having your wife for a business partner, he thought smugly, valiantly fighting to keep his amusement to himself.
"Now then, my first question: do you realize that the Sunfire Mercenaries have no intention of becoming some strange branch of the Coalwater Mercenaries, correct?" Mordren asked, his gaze flitting from Yulian to Dortana.
"Of course," Dortana said warmly.
"You'll note that no such offer was made," Yulian supplied brusquely. "Our alliance is temporary, and even during its process, there will be no confusion about who belongs to you all, and who works for us."
"Speaking of who works for you," Bann interjected, "there had been some- interesting conversation, shall we say- that made its way to my ears about the relationship between Rasha and Mishka- or rather, Silveredge and Mi'ishaen. Now, there were some pains taken to get Silveredge into our fold, but I wonder if it wasn't some kind of elaborate ruse by one of your operatives."
"The Tiefling came right to us after whatever 'pains' you took, and clearly intended Silveredge, whom we only knew as Rasha, at the time, to remain with her," Yulian agreed bitterly. "But there was no ruse on our end. This girl left us the very same day that she-"
"At the end of the day," Mordren interrupted sharply, "you propose that we will have Silveredge and a cleaner reputation, but you will have lost a very capable operative. Why are you so amenable to offering her up like a sacrificial lamb?"
Yulian raised the hardened scale that stood in where an eyebrow on a Human would be. "You must be joking."
"What he should explain," Dortana smiled tightly, "is that Mi'ishaen led Silveredge over here, changed their names, and attempted to make us all complicit in her own personal scheme, the details of which we are now dependent upon the Purple Dragons to learn. Worse, when she was caught, she tried to drag us into her business again when she walked herself to the Dragons and at once claimed that she was our operative. There are no criminals here; we intended to expel her as soon as we were notified of her actions. If you discovered such a spectacularly shameless, slave-owning con-artist, would you not be glad to rid yourself of her? The fact that she can be usefully disposed of is a bonus, not a problem."
"And what she should explain was that burned tart was also an abusive bit of baggage- you see that scar on her head? The handiwork of those hell-forged horns. If she were hung tomorrow, I'd be right under the gallows," Yulian snorted. "I almost crushed her windpipe with my own two hands- that fork tongued, demon cuckolded bitch."
Kronmyr stole a glance at Mordren, who gave a small shrug.
"That's all- very understandable," Bann agreed, looking over at Mordren for a moment himself. "We have no further questions about it. Now, what do you intend to do about Howler?"
"More blame shifting," Dortana smiled, "which works even better, when the target is already dead."
"First of all, Garimond probably isn't aware that the noble raising the hue and cry about your disobeying a direct order could only have found out about it by being in cahoots with Cormyr's national enemies," Yulian noted. "We can't pretend that the killing didn't happen, but aside from a few Semmite spies, Parderyn is the only witness to Garett's involvement in it."
"And I will testify that Fhionne was part of Illance's scheme," Parderyn piped up at once. "Garrett may be faulted for not bringing her to the Pillars, but it can be said that such was his rage that the moon and his beast blood got the better of him, wholly overtaking the former Purple Dragon who would have wanted justice done more cleanly."
"And you think that story would hold up at the Pillars?" Mordren snickered, looking at the Elf himself instead of addressing the Human that spoke. "You do realize you'll be testifying in front of War Wizards, correct?"
"You've been lying to the War Wizards, and indeed the entirety of the Dragons, by omission for years," Parderyn smiled grimly. "This is a lie so tiny, it'll blend right in with the truth. Let me do this for you, and Garimond will shush any doubters himself. If you leave this matter unanswered, however, he will be the very arm of Illance against you, not even knowing that he is thus opening the door to all the wickedness that man has allowed to seep in. Fire Knives, Zhentarim, and their ilk- it'll take years to root them all out, and you know it. We are the two strongest mercenary companies in this city, yet do you think either one of us can do it alone?"
The entire gathering sat in silence, looking at each other for nearly two entire minutes.
"Gentlemen, let us retire," Bann frowned, rising. "My lady Dortana, sirs Yulian and Parderyn, I will write my mind and send it you in no more than one day."
Kronmyr and Mordren looked at each other nearly comically, then also stood. On the other side of the circle, Yulian and Parderyn stood first, then Yulian offered Dortana his hand.
"I pray you, sirs, think well of our offers," Dortana offered. "As different from you all as we may be, Yulian and I were born here, and Parderyn has lived here so long that the dust of the place has settled into his bones. Therefore, I entreat you, not as a rival mercenary, but on behalf of all of us, as brothers and sisters of this land, let us break the ill-forged chains that were put upon you by the same loyalty that was once so boasted among the Dragons. There is no guile, or angling, or any kind of greed in that."
"My lady's leave," Bann said graciously, with a slight bow. Kronmyr, more out of habit than anything else, also bowed slightly, then moved around Bann toward the door. Mordren, who offered no such kindness, simply wafted around the dark Elf and left in front of him. Bann turned slightly and reguarded Dortana again as if to apologize for his manners, then took his own exit. Silveredge waited patiently for all the men to pass her before she rose, then quickly left without a word. Parderyn moved to close the door behind them, then turned and leaned his back on it.
"She's got it," Shiv breathed quietly, not wanting to put to much faith in the possibility that the entire Sunfire leadership team had truly walked away without stopping to spy at the door.
"I never saw her take it," Cypher commented, surprised.
"She's good," the Elf replied. "I almost didn't feel it. And besides, everyone was busy watching the tired married couple 'fight.' You guys are pretty good at that."
The Dragonborn nodded and turned back toward his office under the steps, only to be stopped by Cypher's voice.
"What about Mishka? How are we getting her out of there?"
Greyscale shook his head. "We aren't."
Cypher blinked, looked at Shiv, then took a half-step toward her partner. "So Dark just- just expected us to-"
"I had the same question, and I don't like the answer. But Dark has been right about these two ladies so far... so... we wait."
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