(((
@Elekta Kount /
@Draconian )))
Siro eyed her sister, Sharon, warily. She could always tell now when Sharon was about to do something dangerous. Or terrible. Or both.
They both sat at the outside table, the morning sun partially obscured by clouds. The smell of fresh and cooked meat about them from the butcher's shop. Over the past two months, they'd come here so often that Sharon had gotten to know the butcher and his wife. Bought the most expensive meals they had to offer. She had made a lot of money doing something on that long trip to Cerenis in Serendipity. But she never said what.
Sharon ate her eggs and bacon quickly. Siro had barely touched her own plate.
And Sharon noticed. "What's the matter? Not hungry?"
"Just tell me."
Sharon chewed a bit more slowly. Blinked. Pretended. "Tell you what?"
"What you're going to do today."
Sharon swallowed. Glanced around them. At the people walking up and down the street. It was that face that Siro had come to recognize. The look laden with guilt and tension. As if even strangers knew her darkest secrets. As if they were all accusing her.
Sharon pushed her plate away. Wiped her mouth. Spoke slowly. "I just have a big day today. An important job to do. That's all. Nothing to be worried about."
"You should tell yourself that."
Sharon froze for a second. Siro didn't mean to hurt her sister, but she needed to know.
"What do you want from me?" Sharon said. Almost a whisper.
"The truth. Please."
"Okay..."
"Nana wouldn't tell me what you did in Cerenis."
"Siro..."
"Did you kill someone?"
A moment of dead quiet between them. The people passing on the street. The light commotion of the early morning. The hiss of meat being cooked in the butcher's shop.
Siro eyed her sister with a hard determination. Saw in her eyes that she desperately wanted to lie again. Struggled, knowing she couldn't.
"Yes," Sharon said.
"Why?"
"Because he was an evil man. And he deserved to die for what he did."
"What did he do?"
A brief look of fear. And Sharon shook her head slowly. "I can't tell you that."
Silence stole their voices once more.
Siro looked down to her feet. Dangling just above the ground as she sat. "Are you going to kill someone today?"
"Maybe."
"Why? Why do you have to do this?"
"Because..." Sharon hesitated. "Because sometimes, to do some good in the world, some
real good...you have to do something bad first."
* * * * *
Sharon dropped Siro off at Charles and Merissa's house with Niko. Charles himself was at work in Earnhardt's estate. He had been working almost every day and night in the two months since Mr. Deegan's death in Cerenis. Mr. Winters was almost finished appropriating all of his old rival's territory, but there were still jobs to be done. Charles didn't need Sharon or Jorge today, so the time was right for this.
Sharon followed Merissa to the meeting spot. An inn, named
Reajh's Finest. A normal, unassuming inn on the outside, but built with thick walls to all but obscure and mask sounds and voices within. A traveler could spend the night here and never even know of the illicit meetings and deals that happened in the rooms within. Merissa had used this inn herself back in her days as a full-time thief and operative for Mr. Winters. She knew it well.
It was here that Merissa put out the word on Sharon's behalf. The word of a job:
Clandestine professional wanted. Bodyguard work, perhaps more. Experience versus magic preferred. And it was time to find out if any such professionals answered the call.
They stood beside the front door of
Reajh's Finest. Looked inconspicuous. Watched the people on the street. Waited to see if any of them broke off from the crowd and started for the inn.
"What do you know about him? This...sorcerer?" Sharon asked.
Merissa held a hand over her mouth as she chuckled. "Oh. Strathus? Why, he's a fine gentleman, of course."
"I'd rather you not be facetious right now."
Merissa laid a hand on Sharon's shoulder. "You mustn't be so nervous, Sharon. There's only the slightest probability that he'll incinerate all of us on sight. And I'm feeling lucky today."
Sharon narrowed her eyes. Took in an unsteady breath. She
hated mages. Hated them. But she'd seen something worse in Cerenis. Something she knew she could fight. But in order to do that, to carry out the plan she had come up with, she needed to make a deal with one.
So be it.
"And this sorcerer, Strathus..." Sharon lowered her voice. "Are you sure he can do what I need him to do?"
Merissa smiled. "Well, my dear, that's not for me to say. That's for you to hope for."