Where Bujari jabbered, Zahi simply nodded her assent to the Red Jackal. She always did. The serious, ambitious young Blood Wolf had yet to turn down a job. She wasn't about to start just because the man she was expected to work with was an idiot.
"Wonderful! Glad to have you both on board." Carraway exclaimed once both Wolves had agreed. He was being a touch too bright about it all. A sure sign that whatever he was going to say was not going to be something they would like.
"I won't lie to you, it's a bit of a risky job," Carraway started, getting to the matter at hand and ignoring Bujari's question. "There's an upstart giving us some trouble. Problem is, we don't know where to find him. Pretty impressive, no? None of our Shadows have been able to track his lair, and he doesn't leave it too often. But one of his side-ventures is slave trading. And rumor has it - well, not rumor, our best intelligence - that he inspects all of the 'wares' himself at his compound. Wherever that is. He specializes in, well, let's say 'exotics' and he examines each himself."
Carraway paused a bit awkwardly for his words so far to set in. Zahi just stared. Her expression stayed composed, however. But even she did not particularly like where this was going. Exotics.
"So we need to get someone inside. Someones of course is always better. And what's the most obvious route in? And you two are perfect because, well..." At this point, Carraway gestured to Zahi and Bujari with a wordless waving of his hands.
"What the boss is trying to say," Huxley chimed in helpfully from the background, "is you're both dark."
"Well, foreign," Carrway interjected, clearly trying to make his fumbling sound better. Huxley, of course, was right. "We couldn't use any Serenian citizens. I mean, Bujari, you're from an island from halfway around the world, right? And your foreign manner of speaking. And Akello... well, who knows what you are, but you're quite the interesting looking mongrel, aren't you?" In response, Zahi just stared, expression mostly unchanged, though her eyes might have widened a bit. "You speak Kishahn, right? Use that."
"A little," Zahi finally spoke, vague traces of offense trailing on her words, but not enough for Carraway to pick up on. She hadn't spoken Kishahn since she was a girl!
"Perfect. There's a market tomorrow in the Butcher District. Huxley will take the two of you down there. We'll have to sell you, of course," he said suddenly, as if it hadn't been clear. "But you won't go on the auction block. No worries there. Huxley alreayd has a contact with one of this guy's men. And Hux there is perfect, too; Traveler types, always have their hands in shady business like slave-trading."
"A vicious rumor," Huxley drawled from the shadows. "We're musicians, performers, merchants. That's a nasty stereotype. But keep going, Boss, you're doing great."
"You won't be able to bring any weapons with you, of course. And we aren't entirely sure where you'll end up. But you're both sharp and quick-witted and resourceful, so I have no worries there. You both have my complete faith." He paused a moment. Even for Blood Wolves, this was a crazy job. And they all knew it. Finally, he concluded, "Well, you'll be off tomorrow morning. That Shadow Ulli will brief you on the target and all of what they know," he said in a way that made it clear Carraway didn't have the time for such trivialities.