Chapter 10 - I Can’t Go For That

Taia’s heels clacked on the stone floor and echoed throughout the castle’s hall as she walked. The only other sound was her own voice as she spoke to herself.

“He can’t have meant Corwin…could he?” The terrifying image of the Demon King’s executioner came to her mind.

“…But he’s only dispatched to deal with those who have…” She gulped.

“Failed.”

She shook her head as she kept walking with purpose.

“No. I’m not going to die here. I just need to complete my mission to find the right kind of mage. But I have no other leads. None! All I know is the man I was told to find was said to have come to this city…”

She thought about all the leads she had followed so far. She even played nice with Witt so she had an excuse to hang around the adventuring guild hall in case her quarry was hiding as an adventurer. But he never mentioned a mage either.

She sighed at herself. “I even blabbed about my mission to find mages to that broker. Sure I didn’t tell him I need mages who can use summoning magic, but I must be desperate if I’m relying on unknowns like him...”

“Nevertheless, it feels like it’s too soon for Corwin to come for my…evaluation…but it wouldn’t matter if I had found what I was ordered to track down.”

Her breathing quickened the more she thought about the man’s impending arrival. Her heart pounded. Chills ran along her body with each passing thought of what could be coming for her.

“If I can’t finish my real mission and track down the right kind of mage, there’s only one option left…”

She turned a corner and bumped into Euryale.

“Ah…oh…ss…sorry Taia.” The green demon sputtered as she moved back expecting Taia to be angry.

Taia was too distracted to really notice what happened.

Euryale can’t find out the envoy coming might be here to punish me for failing in my mission. I’ll have to think of something. Taia thought to herself.

“Euryale. Right. Good. Glad I bumped into you. Didn’t think it would be so literal.” She laughed, but it was hollow and clearly a little forced.

“Can I help you Taia?” The seneschal inquired.

Maybe she can find out when Corwin is coming.

“Do you know anything about the envoy the capital is sending?”

“Envoy?!? What envoy?” Her eyes blinked wide at the question.

What’s a good cover story to tell her?…

“Yeah. I heard the capital is sending someone in response to the recent attack. Maybe to help sort out all the financial problems. Or something. You know I never pay much attention to governance.”

Euryale’s mind whirled. “Financial! Um, right. I guess…that makes sense. Do…do you think whomever it is will be harsh when they come?”

“I’m sure of it.” Taia answered honestly before she realized.

A small “Eep!” escaped from Euryale’s lips.

Right. The idea of financial review may have just been a cover I came up with, but it would impact Euryale wouldn’t it? Maybe I can use that to get some information? If I make it sound especially dire she’ll have no choice but to get all the details of the upcoming visit.

“Listen Eury. How about I lend you a hand?” She leaned in conspiratorially.

“A hand?”

“I’m sure you have all kinds of crazy work because of those fires. And this super important” she dragged out the word “visit is probably only going to make things worse, right?”

“Th…that’s true. I have no idea how I’ll handle…the visit.” Euryale’s mind swirled with questions about how to deal with any impending financial audit.

“So how about I take a load off you? If you can find out when the visitor is coming, which should be easy for you in your position, then you can tell me and I can make sure some extra security is sent to keep it safe.”

“Security?”

“Well, travel is dangerous what with monsters and the occasional bandits. I could do the work to organize a security detail on your behalf. Especially with Xorn so busy too. Last thing we want is another incident to upset the capital, right?”

“Upset…the capital.” She gulped.

“So how about it? Want me to help you out? I just need the itinerary.”

“I suppose that would help. Thank you.”

Euryale’s mind spun as she wondered whether it would be a good thing if the visitor arrived safety. Actually...

“As I think about it more Taia, I think that’s a great help. I’ll be sure to track down that info right away!”

“Wonderful! And don’t worry. I’ll make sure the arrangements are perfect. Everyone will know how tight a ship you run.”

“You…you’re too kind.” She bowed slightly.

“We demons have to stick together! Besides, we need to sort all this stuff out so we can go back to our weekly game of stealing Xorn and Witt’s money!” She laughed at her own joke, though her tone was still a bit wooden.

“Steal money?!” Euryale gasped, momentarily worried about her own circumstances.

“Just a turn of phrase since you and I win so much! Us girls have to stick together.”

She turned to walk away. “Just let me know those travel details as soon as you can!” She waved.

Euryale was still too surprised by the entire conversation and stood still for the next while.

As Taia turned the next corner and was sufficiently far enough from the other demon she returned to talking to herself.

“This is perfect. Euryale will be freaking out worrying about some stupid financial audit that doesn’t matter, maybe doesn’t even exist. But she’ll make sure I find out about when Corwin comes.”

She put her hand to her chin. “I forgot to ask her about the missing library books. But that can wait. There’s something much more pressing.”

A sneer came to her lips. “And that just leaves the trickiest question…”

“And that’s how should I assassinate Corwin to make it look like someone else’s fault…”