The Spymaster

The assassin answered all questions Ekliptik had, which was really nice of her. As long as she continued talking, they didn't feel the need to test the potion, and they got the feeling she was telling the truth. Perhaps they were being naive, but they felt like she was just a sadistic person. She made sure to do what she could to ensure her victory, but now that the tables were turned, she was just a coward. Kinda pathetic. Listening to her voice was exhausting.

She was a part of a gang of the local cutthroats that called themselves the Coterie. The name was far too fancy for them, in their opinion. Somebody was trying to copy the Mletaks. She got hired by some guy whose description they easily recognized - it was Khamil's majordomo. She signed a written contract in two copies with the man, who used the seal of Khamil's noble house. Her copy was currently hidden in her shack, and it was customary that the contracts get destroyed after the job is done and the criminal gets paid. Until then, they served as an implicit blackmail so that neither side tries to play the other. Aight, good. If a seal was used in place of a signature, this will be definite proof that majordomo wasn't acting behind his boss' back.

The reason why she poisoned Rosamund and his people was because the three of them were all her targets. Khamil specifically requested that she spiked the tea. When she learned that there were also three dangerous pirates in the manor, she decided to poison them too to be sure they wouldn't interrupt. Ekliptik shuddered. If Teo hadn't noticed the poison, they wouldn't have been able to save Rosamund. They wouldn't have saved him if he was the only one poisoned, either.

They left him completely defenseless.

She brought up Khamil on her own, without them asking anything about him. If they find the contract in her house and in Khamil's manor, she's telling the truth, they decided. If she wasn't, this exercise in being nice will have to end. Rosamund knew how to be scary with words alone, but they simply didn't have enough charisma for it.

"Aight. Lord Governor's gonna need her alive later, so don't kill her or let her escape," they ordered, putting the potion back into their pocket. "If anything you said's a lie, I'm coming back wi' this, and we'll see wha' happens. I'm off to that twat's manor, one of you go find her contract. If anything goes wrong, Nita's having our heads."
"Aye, Master."

It was time for a proper infiltration. They couldn't afford mistakes or cause any suspicion. Before leaving, they quickly dyed their hair black with a simple mixture, just how their predecessor showed them. The dye will fade away completely in perhaps a day, but until then, they won't attract unwanted attention. They left their hat in their hideout and pulled up their hood before running through the woods again.

It was going to be a long night, but this was fine. They already had planned to give Khamil a little visit, so this was going to be something like two birds and one dagger.

They wondered if Rosamund was going to hang that assassin. A normal governor would, but he already left four - five? Maybe more? - people live even after they'd attempted to kill him. But after all that, he banished those guards from the city. Also not an execution, but that was still a punishment. Normally, they would think that a man that averse to killing was a coward, but when they first met, Rosamund threw his gun away while facing an armed person in disguise. That wasn't something a weak man would do. A weak man would've tried to pull the trigger.

They started to get a feeling for him. He was so brave he didn't need to kill the people who wronged him. He only allowed people who were of use to him to stay. He had plans for those three pirates, but the guards were worthless to him. And they were honestly lucky that Ekliptik was so low on people, otherwise they'd have handled them on the outskirts. Or maybe not. It would've depended on Nita's orders.

In either case, the conclusion was simple. To stay by Rosamund's side, they had to be useful.

They could do that.


Vice Admiral's manor was as fancy and as easy to sneak into as any other. There was a small door on the garden grounds that led into the basements, and lo and behold, it was unlocked. What shock and surprise. They sneaked in and dressed up into a maid's outfit that was carefully left hidden just for them. They had perhaps three more hours until dawn, meaning they had to find the documents and leave without a trace in a very short time. Best be gone in an hour or less. If anyone's an early riser, they will be screwed.

They made their way upstairs in total silence. It would be less suspicious if a maid walked around with a candle, so they lit one up and made their way to Khamil's office, which was also left unlocked. What a surprise. They sneaked in and started searching through the papers.

Khamil was an idiot, that much was clear to them from the interviews Rosamund had with his people. That would mean that he likely didn't yet destroy all the evidence. After all, Lord Governor was supposed to die tonight, so who would then investigate a case of embezzlement and incompetence? The contract also had to be somewhere among his papers...

Nothing.

Very well. They put everything back where it was, perfect to a fault, before they started searching the walls and the floor. He must've had a strongbox built in here somewhere. They checked the table, too. No false bottoms, no hidden compartments. It had to be in the walls, then. Just as they were about to remove a painting off the wall, the floor creaked strangely under them.

Found it.

They moved the small round table with a potted plant that was hiding the compartment built into the floor. What an obvious idiot. The papers were all in there, including letters to the Duchess Almukantarat. They took everything before putting things back to their place and sneaking off to the servants' quarters. They entered a room where two people were sleeping, and locked the door behind them before waking them up. They sat up in silence and awaited further orders, while Ekliptik flipped through and picked out the relevant documents.

Duchess Almukantarat was too powerful to be brought down by these letters. If she claims these are falsified, it will bring all the documents into question, and they couldn't allow it. Khamil had to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Nobody would question evidence of embezzlement and an actual murder attempt, though. Not while they had a witness with them. So, Duchess' letters were coming with them, and the rest had to be hidden away. Within the manor, that was important, but not somewhere where Khamil could find and destroy everything. They gave the documents to their people with quiet instructions, before sneaking out again, this time heading for Khamil's bedchambers.

They left the candle in the hallway and sneaked into the room in total silence. They waited for a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Soon enough, they could make out the silhouettes of furniture, and they proceeded towards the bed, slowly and carefully.

Khamil was quietly snoring.

Murder was off the table. He was Rosamund's enemy, and they won't deny him his revenge. Leaving a knife in his pillow was also not happening. They couldn't allow any evidence of them coming here be left behind, otherwise this twat would have grounds for claiming this was all planted. They couldn't do that, no matter how much they wanted to scare the man as much as he scared Rosamund.

However, there was a little something only they could do. An eye for an eye of sorts. Gleefully grinning in the darkness, they approached the glass of water on his nightstand. They took out a small paper package from beneath their apron and poured the powder into the glass. Khamil stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake up. Quickly and silently, they left the room and headed for the basement again.

This should buy them quite some time before the grand finale.

They will leave the rest to Lord Secretary, even though they deeply disliked the frightening man. Before the night was over, they managed to make their way to their hideout, where they confirmed that everything that the assassin told them was true. The sky was already gray by the time they returned to the Governor's manor, completely exhausted. They made their way to the doctor and mercilessly woke up Lord Secretary, making sure they were quiet enough that the others could rest. Especially Rosamund.

This was a relay race, and they were about to hand the baton over to the only man that could finish it.