19 Chapter 19 - In Which The Saneless Is Swindled

"So do you mind getting off me?" Judas asked as both Alberta and Lozen continued to stare at the place they had seen the creature. "Hello? Anyone? Come on, people, you didn't have this reaction when you saw me!" He said again right before Alberta started talking "You saw that too, correct?" Lozen answered "But you said he was just insane!"

"No. I assumed he was insane, as you would."

"And no one else noticed that thing? Not one?! It's tantamount to a giant lantern! How did it even get inside without an alarm being raised?!"

Judas tried interjecting while still on his knees "All fascinating questions we can discuss while not here!"

Alberta continued to ignore him however and just said "Unclear. But I believe it's safe to say we should probably get moving. If anything, to get out of here before the crowd starts panicking anymore."

Lozen took a look around at the still alarmed mob that were enveloped within and pulled her hands back from the deadman as she said "No. Not yet. Judas, on your feet and keep an eye on Finch."

"Oh! So now I can get up!?"

"Yes. Now shut up and stay here. I'll be back in a second."

"Fuck yo-" Was all he managed to get out before Lozen swung the rifle over her shoulder and started making her way through the crowd. It was much easier than she expected. Compared to the rioting crowds she was used to, these aristocrats were surprisingly weak and she was able to knock through quite a few of them as she marched through the crowd. They bounced off as they ran into her and collapsed somewhere on the ground as if they were made of cotton. Not that she cared. If anything it made getting to the bottom of the balcony easier since she was essentially walking through a field of grass. Most of them had crowded around the still locked doors and were banging on both of them as if they would start working all of the sudden.

Though, that just left the areas far from the doors relatively light when it came to bodies running around it and gave her a clear view of what she had seen fall from the creature. Laying ontop the marble tiles were the shattered remains of a skeletal hand lay on the ground, the impact from it's fall sending its individual pieces scattering across the floor. There was still a decent pile of rotted bones where the hand had landed and Lozen leaned down right next to her once she was close enough.

It didn't seem unusual in any way. Just an old pile of bones, but she swore it had once been attached to that thing which didn't make much sense to her. Judas has taken more shots than anything she had yet seen and he never lost any part of himself from just a simple shot. So what made this little thing different? Wait. This happened when and only when Sirius fired. It had to be related. Which meant either he too was somehow miraculous or he knew something.

Lozen hummed in curiosity for a moment before scooping up the bone shards and dumped them in her pocket just before a terrible crack rang out through the room. She spun her head around, finding her eyes landing on the front door or at least the empty space that had once held them. The crowd all rushed towards the opening, clogging up their one entrance for a few moments before the shoving and stampeding forced the blockages loose. Little by little, the room emptied out and the growing empty space sent Lozen's mind ablaze.

She rushed her way back towards Judas and grabbed ahold of Alberta's arm before she started following the crowd. "Wow! What're we doing!?" Judas demanded as he started following close behind her and Lozen said to Alberta "Here's the plan. We are going to Sirius and you are going to get us that meeting. I'll handle the rest. Do not tell him anything about Judas. Is that clear."

"Crystal, my dear." Alberta replied before Judas demanded again "Excuse me, but why are we following the crowd of mad men?!"

Lozen answered "Because I don't the only person in here when the guards come and see what the commotion is."

"I do."

"We know, Jebediah." Alberta replied as they all managed to cram their way through the entrance. Lozen kept her hand firmly around the former patrons wrist as she stopped them both in the center of the massive pillar and then started pushing them towards the stairs. Her eyes were locked onto the door she could see in the middle of one of the stairs and after noticing there weren't any guards, she started pushing Alberta up the steps in order to direct her to that ornate door resting in the middle of the stairs.

"Oh hell yeah! We just bargaining in there, gun blazing!? Because if we are, I will not let myself be used like a glorified tripod!!" Judas said as he followed close behind them and grabbed his weapon out from thin air, but Lozen snapped back "Put that away. We're not here to fight."

"That's exactly what we're here to do!"

"Not now it isn't. Number of guards aside, did you see what he did to that creature."

"Okay, can we call him something else besides 'creature'? That just sounds demeaning."

"Who care-Let me guess."

"It's so lazy too. Anything could be a 'creature'. Fucking Beatrice is a creature! How about 'the Shadow'? Oh!! I've got it! The Wraith."

Lozen sighed and Finch asked "Has he been like this the entire time?"

"Shut it." Lozen replied as they arrived at the door and Alberta said in only a half mocking, yet also half genuine tone "Oh, you poor thing." She rolled her eyes, raised a foot up, and landed a solid kick right in the center of the door, breaking it open with ease. Whatever the lock had been built out of was clearly made for show not efficiency and shattered like clay, a fact that Lozen didn't like in the slightest. Whenever someone didn't have strong gates, it usually meant they had something to compensate for that weakness. "Watch her." She said as she tossed Alberta over to Judas and then dipped her head through the door frame. The hallway on the other side was about as detailed and ornate as everything else in the manor with golden walls carved into multiple archways like the ribs of a gluttonous, greedy beet and more paintings filling the gaps between them. Smaller chandeliers were hung from the ceiling every so often, but they were all just as painful to look at as before. Judging from how high up they were, they must have been at level with the balcony and yet, there weren't as many guards as she expected.

"Two on the left. Two more approaching on the right." Lozen said as she grabbed Alberta by the arm again and pulled the former patron in front of her. "How well does the staff here know you?" She asked and Finch answered "If you're lucky, I might catch the attention of my ears." Lozen thought about it for a moment, remembered the guards that were approaching and then forced Alberta right in front of the door frame before saying "Then tell them to get us to Sirius. And Judas, stay there and keep quiet." Alberta rolled her head and then leaned towards the frame before calling out "Gentlemen, I feel as if you all have the right to know who you are shooting at. Alberta Finch would like a word with Mr. Cane."

Lozen could hear the footsteps of the guards approaching by the time Alberta said that and then freeze in place as they heard her voice. For a moment, she expected to hear more of them come racing towards them, weapons drawn and ready to do as their employers said, but all they did was call back "You've come at a bar time, Miss Finch. Mister Cane is not in the best mindset as if and he has just survived a very serious attack."

"I am well aware." Finch replied as she glanced at Lozen and Judas "And on that note, I believe I may be able to help."

"Mister Cane could have our heads."

"Not if I don't know your names. So why don't we quit the chatter before one of us let's slip a detail or two they'd rather keep close to the chest?"

The guards fell silent for a moment before saying "Very well, Miss. Are you accompanied?"

Alberta turned to flash a small smile at the two before saying "Yes. Just two of them though. Pay them no mind. They're just a couple of guns I hired outside Austin."

"Alright. Would you like to come out now."

"I'll have the one on my pay grade do that first. You can never be too careful, especially in a mad man's hold."

"Amen to that, madam."

Lozen caught onto to what she was suggesting and said "Judas, get out there."

"Wha...am I the fucking canary!!?"

"And you're also the only one here who can shrug off bullets. Now get out there." Lozen said as she grabbed Judas by the arm and pushed him through the opening. He stumbled out into the hallway and after he wasn't shot up like a prized buck, Lozen walked through the opening with Alberta in tow. Standing to their right, two guards standing side by side were waiting for them with rifles held in her hands and formal wear unusual for guards. Lozen didn't think either of them would catch her attention as she stepped out, but they did just that right before they all started marching down the hallway.

The guns in their hands were of the same make and model as the one in the Wraith...Damnit. That name was catching on. Regardless, the Wraith had carried a rifle identical to the ones the guards wielded. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that and made a mental note of such an odd occurrence before depositing it in the back of her mind.

"This way." One of the guards said before they both turned around and started marching down the hallway with the trio staying right behind them. Lozen glanced around them and much to her surprise, counted only a handful of guards in the entire vicinity. Strange seeing as how they just had a-Oh no. "Ask where the other guards are." Lozen whispered into Alberta's ear and the former patron complied "So tell me. For a place that has just been attracted by a creature I presumably can't talk about...."

The guard answered "I honestly wouldn't know anything about it."

"I thought so. But where are the other guards? Should they not be patrolling the halls?"

"Well, madam, Mister Cane is...a cautious soul. He had pulled most of us to the wing in which he is currently hid.....residing in."

"Hmmm. Seems a bit rash."

"I wouldn't know, madam."

Shit. There had to be dozens of guards in the manor, and Lozen didn't fancy the idea they were all crowded in one spot. So many guns in such little space was never a good sign even if they weren't commanded by an unstable individual. She bit down on her lip as her mind started racing to try and think of some way around that, but with everything else on her plate, such a prospect was impossible. The madman, that creature, and now a thick forest of guards between here and the fortune she desperately needed. More and more problems kept piling up before she could even find a solution to the first and the only reason she didn't cut her ties and just run from this madness was now surrounded by guns. But it was okay. She had everything under control. She had to. Otherwise this was going to end very violently and very bloody.

"You alright?" Judas asked and Lozen shot that down in an instant "What did I say about talking?"

"And what did I say about being a canary?!"

"That you were."

"Noooo, I said I was...damnit!"

Noticing that, one of the guards asked "Madam, about the cloaked one, does he have the plague or something?"

"Oh no. He's simply a bit.....hard on the eyes." Alberta answered, her voice salivating at that remark and Judas lurched forward a tad as if enraged, a reaction Lozen expected all too much. She latched a hand onto his shoulder and whispered to him "Try anything and I'll chop you into pieces, bury you, and then have Beatrice dig you up as a snack." Judas shivered under her grasp and didn't say a word, an utter miracle that Lozen didn't take for granted. "And the savage? Do you really trust him with that many weapons?" The guards asked and Lozen flinched just a bit before Alberta replied "Oh yes. I found him after he had graduated from one of the reform schools. He's never even been with the rest of his kind."

"Really? Then why is he hiding his face?"

"I think you're providing that answer. One look and everyone assumes he's just another one of the savages. He had a hat to complete the look, but lost it somewhere down the line."

"Right, madam." The soldier said before finally shutting up and letting them march on in silence. They turned corner after corner, their path bending in more places than Lozen predicted and making it impossible for her to build an internal map of the place. All of the hallways looked similar and she wouldn't have been surprised if they had gone around in circles a few times, though she suspected that feeling was intentional.

It wasn't for quite a while that they started seeing guards again and it was in the worst possible way they did so. They simply turned a corner and saw a hallway lined on either side with crowds of guards, only allowing a small sliver of empty space that ran down the middle. She felt her fingers twitch as if they were still wrapped around a trigger as she followed their escorts right between the two masses of gunmen. Their eyes drifted over to her only to narrow at her sight, rhr hands on their weapons readjusting their grip. Not a single soul spoke the second they saw her and she could feel each of their eyes trace her as she wandered between them, legions of beasts waiting for her to let her guard down before they pounced. This was a terrible idea.

Keep your head down, she told herself before pulling her gaze to ground in front of her. Don't give them a reason. Don't make them think you're a threat. You're just a brainless goon. Get in, get out, don't make them ask questions. And don't you dare reach for your gun.

"Alright, madam. Here we are." Their guide said as they approached the dead center of the hallway and turned to face a set of doors embedded in the left wall. Between them and the doors were a small collection of guards who were all glaring at them with a mixture of cautious and anger bubbling on the edges of their expressions. "What's going on here?" One of them asked and their guide answered "Miss Finch wants to see the boss."

"Too bad."

Alberta cleared her throat at that, pulling everyone's attention towards her as she stepped forward and said "I'm afraid you don't understand, good sir. I have some information that may prove useful to him given the recent circumstances. Also, I believe there are some more sensitive details he would rather not be revealed. Do you hear that, Sirius!?" She started shouting over the guards. "I have five different men scattered all across this state! If they don't hear from me specifically by noon in two days time, they'll go straight to Iscariot with your little secrets!! So I recommend you let me in and listen to what I have to say!"

Lozen's eyes flung all over the place, trying to see which one of the guards would be the first to fire after that remark. It may have been a lie, but more importantly, it was an obvious one, at least from where she was standing. She kept her hands away from her weapons for the moment, but the urge to grab any of them was building by the second. All she could do was pray the madman inside was as afraid of this Iscariot than he was whatever that creature was. A moment passed where the silence was crisp enough to kill before a single, almost pathetic voice came hammering through the doors "Let her in you idiots!!" The guards stayed frozen in place for a moment before they begrudgingly started parting a path to the door. Their escorts even merged back into the crowd before the trio started towards the doors.

"Alright, darling. I'll be leaving the rest to you." Alberta whisperer before she pushed the doors open and they all stepped inside yet another gigantic, overly furnished room. Lozen was forced to squint once again as light assaulted her eyes and raised a hand up over her head before she managed to start seeing inside. It was larger than even the train car Alberta had taken refuge in and looked as if it cost more than the price on Sirius's head. Instead of gold or paintings covering the walls, there instead rows upon rows of books, the shelves on which were embedded into each of the walls. The floor was just once massive carpet made from more hairs than there were on a dozen packs of wolves and seemed to be woven to resemble a sprawling, yet organized network of vines. A massive round table was placed in center of it all with a fireplace embedded in the wall right behind it and a circle of couches and chairs identical to the ones in Alberta's compartment. There was a tray lying in the center with a kettle full of tea still steaming and some sort of meat that also spewed tiny amount of vapor. An odd amenity, Lozen thought. Someone clearly must have cooked that, but she never remembered seeing any servants other than the guards. Maybe they were talented in other fields? But there were more important matters to think about, so she didn't dwell on such a minute detail for long.

Seating right in the center of the couch, head in his hands even as he still held his weapon, was Cane. He didn't even bother to look up at them as they all filled inside it even when the doors behind them slammed shut. Lozen made sure to set forward before Cane got any other ideas, but she didn't say a word. In her limited experience with these sorts of matters, it was never a good idea to be the first to speak. For some reason, people took offense to it. However, after a solid minute passed by where she waited for Sirius to say a word, the man spat back at them "Well!? Spit out, you whore! I don't have all day!!"

Lozen sighed before saying "Mr. Cane-" However, right before she could start saying anything, Cane's head snapped up, eyes wide with a sudden wave of fear that sent Lozen's survival instincts ablaze. "Who are you?! What is this!!?" He exclaimed as he swung his weapon up and aimed it right at Lozen. She raised her hands in an instant and Alberta answered "Sirius, remember what I said about those five men? If any of us die, you'll have Iscariot to answer to and no amount of men will protect you from him. This one on the other hand, may be able to aid you in that regard, particularly when it comes to that nasty beast you've got hunting you down."

Sirius's expression didn't seem to change that much when he heard that apart from a slight twitch of the eyes at the mention of Iscariot before turning his attention back towards Lozen. He scanned up and down her for a moment before his eyes widened again, this time out of recognition. "You.....you made that shot!" He exclaimed to which Lozen replied "Yes. And seeing as how I saved your life, I believe you owe me at least a moment of your time." Sirius raised an eyebrow at that and then turned back to Lozen before saying "What's a savage doing here?!" Her eye twitched at that before and she spoke up before Alberta could say a word "This savage is the only reason you're still alive at this moment. He also has two working ears and experience when it comes to dealing with these creatures. Experience that from the looks of it, you're lacking." Sirius snapped his attention back towards her before saying "Excuse me! You won't speak until spoken!! Got it, red skin!?"

"You know that creature don't you? As in, you know who it once was." Lozen said, causing Sirius to freeze up. The hand he held his weapon in trembled as if the bone had been broken and his eyes widened even more as they zeroed in on Lozen. His expression was one of both shock and fear, a combination Lozen was all too familiar with. Her guess had been spot on and from the looks of it, was enough to cause some level of psychological distress. She'd have to be careful, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Forgive me. It was just a guess. That creature down there only tries to kill the ones who have wronged it in life and it was aiming for you during that incident, so I assumed you would know who they were." Lozen said as she slid a foot forward, testing the waters to see if Sirius would let her approach. He didn't seem to notice yet, but he still said "And how would you know anything about that!!?" Lozen thought for a moment before replying "The....." She thought for a bit longer, trying to figure out how best to put this before saying "elders of my village often tell tales of the creatures that roam these lands." Her grandmother liked scaring her as a child. What were those old ghost stories again?

"Monsters wearing the skin of beasts, ghouls that hunt for the flesh of humans in the harshest of winters, and deadmen whose desire for revenge is so great, they can come back from the grave for just that." She let her words linger in the air for the moment, praying that this pile of horse shit was going to work. It did bring her comfort to think that if strategy could work on Alberta, it might have some footing when it comes to a man this unstable. Sirius's eyes flickered about for a moment, the internal debate he was having apparent before he lowered his weapon and collapsed back into the couch as he said "Sit. But if you even fucking blink....keep talking."

Lozen let out a small breath she didn't realize she had been holding and seated herself in a chair right in front of Cane. He wasn't looked at her, but neither was his weapon so she took this as a step in the right direction. "Mr. Cane, the creature you saw in your manor is a Chunuxu." She started only for Sirius to interrupt "I don't care about what you savages fucking call that thing!! Tell me how to kill it NOW!!" Lozen paused before saying "Sir, I understand these are distressing times, but this creature is not some common wolf to be hunted down. There are rules and factors of this creature that you need to be aware of if you are to survive. So I implore you to listen to what I have to say."

Sirius fell silent again before saying "Fine! Just get to the point!"

"Alright. My people have passed down stories of this creature for quite some time. The Chunuxu always arises whenever a man in this land dies with a great grudge against his killer that surpasses all other, his spirit will arise from the dead and wander the world in search of the one who took his life. They will be unkillable, their weapons will slaughter all they wound with even the slightest scratch, and they will never stop."

"I know!! I know all of this!! Shut up and tell me how to kill it, you simpleton!!"

Lozen paused for a moment before saying "Not yet, sir."

Sirius snapped his eyes back up towards Lozen and spat out without taking a single breath "And what the hell does that mean!!? Why won't you tell me!?! Why not yet!!" He paused again as realization dawned on his face and he said "Jesus! Of course you would be like the rest of those simpletons! What do you want, savage!!?"

Lozen waited again before saying "500,000 dollars."

"Done."

"And I know that's..." She wasn't quite sure she heard that correctly and asked "Excuse me?"

"500,000. Done. I'll write a check or whatever once this is all over."

Lozen's eyes widened at how casually the man brushed off that much money. She expected him to be outraged or at least a little hesitant, but this was just ridiculous and her own realization struck her once she saw how trivial that amount was to him. She should have asked for more. No. Calm down. Don't get greedy. Greed makes you stupid.

"Alright then. And what guarantee do I have that-" Lozen trues forcing out before Sirius said "You don't have a guarantee I'll keep you alive. Take what you'll get, savage."

"Alright then. Now, you're going to have to tell me all that you know about this creature."

"And why's that?"

"Chunuxu are...creatures of habit. In essence, they are the person they were before death and as any decent bounty hunter will tell you, it's best to know as much about your quarry as possible."

Sirius's expression seemed to fall back into shock before his eyes narrowed and he said "I see. And I take it you know this from experience?" Lozen wondered why he asked that for only a second. She was hunting his bounty after all and judging from the expensive security he had, he was well aware of how profitable his head was. If he thought she was a bounty hunter, he might assume she was going after him regardless of if he knew that was true or not.

"I'm afraid not, sir. I've just had a few...encounters with the like. But I have experience with killing men before."

"From where?" He asked as his grip around the weapon tightened.

"With this face, you're bound to run into folks who mean less than well."

"Is that so? What kind of folks?"

"Bandits or the occasional hick who's a little too close to the family if you know what I mean."

Sirius tilted his head for a second and glanced all over her before saying "Alright then. You ever hunted this creature before?"

"No. But I've been told enough to get a good idea. These creatures, even if they can't die, are still human and they still feel pain. So you can still shoot it and force it back. More importantly, you can trap it."

Even she didn't believe that. If you put one of those things in a bear trap, they'd all just be able to wrench their way out. Normal people chewed their way through their own legs all the time, but the Chunuxu didn't have to worry about losing it. Still though, it seemed to be working on Cane. He raised an eyebrow and seemed to settle into his couch before saying "Trap it?"

"Yes, but I'm going to need to know more about it first. What's you're rela-"

"You don't need to know that! It's a goddamn savage!!"

"I know, sir. But another facet of the Chunuxu is that there is always something the killer stole from them. Like a trophy in a way. A trinket, a coin, locket, or ever a body part. If I had it, I might be able to discern some useful information on this creature. Unless, you want-"

"I don't know what you're talking about! Why would a savage have that I would want!?"

Lozen glanced around at the ornate the man had locked himself inside and said "I can agree with you on that, sir. But it's just going to be-"

"Listen here, savage! I am not giving you a damn thing! You have your money, now tell me how to kill it!!"

Lozen froze up at that. It never dawned on her what would be or even if there was a way to kill whatever the hell Judas thought. She merely assumed she would be stuck with the bastard until she killed the last of the ones who murdered him, but now this man was expecting one. How would you even kill what was already killed? Wait, that creature from before. It had been damaged. Actually damaged. The bones in her pocket and the way it had tested proved that. So if it could be damaged, then maybe it could be killed. Maybe.

But fuck if she knew what that was. Hold on. Her eyes narrowed as they fell on the gun in Sirius's grasp. It was the weapon that had shot that creature, removing it's hand permanently. If it could hurt it, then maybe there was a chance it could do more. It wasn't much, but it was more than what she usually had. A corpse horse, an idiot that forgot to die, and never enough ammunition. There was no way she'd be able to stop that thing on her own and she'd take any advantage she could get at the moment.

No way in hell Sirius would let that thing go if he even suspected that. She'd have to keep playing this out. If Judas ever brought this up again, she was going to kill him better than the Reaper ever could. Here goes quite literally everything.

"It's quite simple, sir. If you want to catch a wolf, you better bring some bait. That gun you have, it's the weapon you used to kill the Chunuxu originally, correct?" She asked, praying to whatever God or spirit or God bear or whatever that this was going to work. Sirius's eyes widened again and darted down to the weapon in his hands, silence falling between them for another moment. Lozen resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief at that. Silence never meant someone was innocent and was usually reserved for trying to figure out how someone else knew a bit of sensitive information.

Without needing more confirmation, she continued "I thought so. Have you ever wondered how this creature was able to hound you down across the state?" Another moment of silence told her that yet another guess wasn't unfounded. "You shouldn't have done that. A Chunuxu is drawn to the weapon that originally killed them. You've always kept that on your person, I assume?" She couldn't think of a reason this paranoid psychopath wouldn't keep a weapon on his person all the time and his expression and silence again provided her right. "The creature may be immortal, but it is still human on some level. All I need to do is lure it into a trap, something that will immobilize it long enough to put it in chains, a pit or cave-in will do, and then I will perform the necessary rites in order to return that beast to the grave."

"Rites!? What rites?!"

Hell if Lozen knew, but it sounded vague enough in her head to make some form of emotional sense. Besides, it was better than shooting at it until something started working. She kept a straight face and replied "It's the only way to put a Chunuxu to rest. My people have passed the procedure down through the generations."

"Then that is what you'll tell me!"

"I'm afraid that's going to be my little bit of insurance, Mr. Cane. I keep the rites a secret so you won't be able to take care of a savage like me ahead of time. Here is how this is going to work."

"You don't say anything about how this is going to work."

"Seeing as how I am the only one here with the experience necessary to kill an otherwise unstoppable monster, one that has you head in its sights, I beg to differ."

She waited for Cane to sink back into his seat in defeat before continuing "Now then, this is what is going to happen. You're going to give me that weapon as well as both permission and access to your manor so I can lay my trap. In the meantime, since you're not going to tell me anything about this monsters, you'll stay here where the amount of guards will at least make a decent alarm if something goes wrong. I'll immobilize the creature, you'll pay me, and I'll take it away to have the rites performed on it. Then, with a little luck, we'll never see each other again. Does this sound fair?"

Lozen honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing coming out of her own mouth. She sounded even more insane than the madman considering she had both threatened him and pulled a majority of what she said straight out of her ass. Did she honestly think this was going to work?! All he needed to do was express just the slightest bit of doubt and she was dead. The only hope she could think of was that he was desperate enough to both believe her, a "savage", and give her the opportunity to do possibly the dumbest thing she had ever done.

There was no way in the nine rings of hell this was going to work.

Sirius snorted before tossing his weapon over towards Lozen and after it landed in her lap, he said "Fine! Just take it and go before that thing tries to come back!" She let her hand start drifting down to her revolver and perked her ears up to prepare for the sound of the guard breaking down the doors....Wait. What!?

"Pardon?" Lozen asked, her voice not suppressing her bewilderment in the slightest as the rest of her petrified to the spot and her mind protested what her ears had heard. Even Alberta cut in and said "Yes. Are certain, Sirius?" Sirius sneered at both of them and said "What do you mean?! You heard my offer, now go do you damn jobs!!!" Lozen stared at him for a moment before doing the same to the weapon now resting in her legs and tried remembering if she actually ingested something toxic.

How could it be like this?! Spin a small story and even madmen will dance to it!? She had assumed Alberta was a fluke, dumb luck, a Hail Mary they had the fortune of working, but now it had worked twice! Was that really all it took!? If she wandered up to any random nobleman this whole time and made up some story about snake oil, would he just give her that much money?!! Were people really this.....stop it. If it works, it works. She had more important things to do than questioning sanity.

Lozen snatched the weapon up from her lap before standing up and marching back to the door she had come from as she said "Very well, sir."

She honestly didn't believe it. A part of her didn't want to. If this was really all it took, then what was she doing her hunting people down in the first place? Though, as she made her way to the door, she had to admit there was this certain lightness after hearing those words. Even with Sirius at it, her back didn't prickle in the expectation of being shot or stabbed and even those doors didn't seem so alarming even with all the gunmen on the other side of them. Was this what it felt like to be a colonizer? Wandering around without having to worry about proving your innocence or harmlessness with every step you took?

No. Shut it. Stay focused. You just made a promise and if you kept it, you'd never have to hunt another criminal again. The village would eat for days. She convinced the madman she could kill a corpse. Now all that was left to do was figure out how. Or even if.