A Job Offer

Having arrived back near dinner we settled into the main hall for a meal. I found myself being the odd one out, as other members of the Rainbow Blades came by to talk or join the table. Part way through their guild leader, Fritha, joined us and officially invited Fulvia to join them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kalfr looking expectantly but when no announcement came for him, he turned sullen.

I used their celebration of a new member to slip away. Yngvarr stopped me before I got too far to hand me 9 gold and 23 silver, my payment for the B ranked delivery quest. Then I saw Raginhard off to the side of the hall. He gave me a letter from Svanhildr and let me know he had a lead on a lightning catalyst for me. It was going to take a few days and would cost 10 gold. I handed over the amount and told him to let me know.

Back in my room I opened the letter. Lariss had woken up the day after I left. Her memory loss was contained to our time in the forest but was pretty severe. Svanhidlr told her the story that we had agreed on. It sounded familiar to her but she couldn't recall any of the details. She was planning to come back to Torinheim as soon as she could to meet with me. Based on what Svanhildr wrote, that could be in the next few days.

That night I went to the park near the Union. In the area where I carved the cross into the rock, I started practicing the Lydos Lineage. Both moons were nearly full, one waning, one waxing. After a few hours I stopped and was about to return home when a woman stepped out of the shadows. I saw wisps of darkness coming off of her telling me that she had a Cloaking spell going.

"Sorry I didn't want to interrupt your training. My name's Thelora." She said.

She was wearing a white blouse with thin padded armor underneath and a dark grey cloak. When she lowered the hood I saw she had an olive complexion and short dirty blonde hair. As I looked at her face a warmth spread through my forehead. I didn't know if this was going to be a good thing or just more trouble. Thus far Raginhard was the only one who I shared a spirit mark with that I didn't have a complicated relationship with.

"My name's Wilmaer." I said.

"I know." She gave me a mysterious smile.

"Well then, is there something I can do for you?" I asked.

"My employer has a business proposition for you. If you'd like to come with me." She said.

"You want me to follow a stranger who already knows who I am, in the dead of night, to meet someone that wants to personally hire me for a job, rather than go through the Union. Exactly why would I do that?" The list of people that might be after me kept growing. There was my father, the Hall of Assassins, the Bandit Queen, the Night Mistress, and now possibly the Azure Shadow.

Before responding she looked at my sword that still glowed with my Lydos aura and crackled with lightning. "The two of you have a mutual enemy. A man named Aki was under orders to kidnap you and bring you to a woman you know as Wassa. My employer would like to damage some of her interests."

As she was talking I rotated my psychic mote and used it to try and gain an insight to what she was saying. This was my first time using the spell and from what I could tell she wasn't being deceptive. Though she could just be really good at lying.

"Lead the way." For the second time I was following a woman that I shared a spiritual mark with into an unknown situation just because we shared the mark. This was going to bite me in the ass one day.

She led me to the southern part of the city, to an inn called the Spotted Pig. Its exterior was run down and there were a few beggars sleeping near the door. Inside was better kept but still in worse shape than most places I've stayed in recently. There were a few customers drinking by themselves in the main room. In the back were high dividers blocking off a half dozen tables by themselves.

Thelora led me to one of the corner tables behind some of the dividers. There I found a lone woman with long black hair wearing a low cut black and burgundy dress. She was sipping a glass of wine and gave me a seductive smile as I sat down. In the opening to the table Thelora stood guard with her back to us.

"I'm glad you came, Wilmaer. I had hoped you'd be here sooner but you left the city before I could arrange a meeting." She said.

"Turns out a lot of people want my attention. Since you already know my name, what should I call you?" I said.

"You can call me Skadi." She said.

"And what can I do for you Skadi?" I asked.

"Right to the point, I like it. At first I wondered why Wassa was so interested in you but after having Thelora follow you for a while, I see you're a capable man. One who could benefit from a relationship with me." She said.

"How about you just get to what you want for those benefits?" I said.

"If you can keep a secret I'll let you in on some interesting events going on in the shadows of the north. You see, the Bandit Queen has decided to retire. Before that she wants to name a competent successor. Until a few months ago our mutual acquaintance Wassa was the clear front runner. Then wouldn't you know it, she failed on what should have been an easy job. When I enquired why she failed I got an interesting answer. Care to take a guess on what that was?" She said.

"Would I be the answer?" I said.

"Correct, she seemed to blame you and others agreed. It was such a blunder that the Bandit Queen became unsure if she was the right woman for the job." She said.

"Let me guess, now that it isn't a sure thing that she'll take over, you want the job."

"Also correct." She said.

"I hate to disappoint you but I was only a small player in those events." I said.

"You rejected her offer, killed one of her lieutenants, and forced her to retreat. After that you survived an assassination attempt, cleared the sewers by yourself, aided in the cleansing of the Forest of Gosigronn, and most recently participated in the clearing of a myvarg nest. All within a few months. Even if you're a small player in these events, you have the potential to do more. And I want to take advantage of that potential." She said.

"You seem very knowledgeable about my life." The fact that she wasn't mentioning anything about my life before I came north gave me hope that she didn't know any of my past.

"Like I said, Thelora has been following you recently. I needed to know how useful you would be to me." She said.

"I might be useful to you, but you haven't let me know how you'd be useful to me." I said.

She smiled and reached across the table to brush against my hand. "Of course I plan to compensate you. Not only do I plan to pay you for your work, this will make sure that Wassa won't be bothering you in the future. On top of that I can keep your location secret from the Hall of Assassins. I'm not sure why they're after you, but I'm sure you'd prefer they didn't know you're in Torinheim.

"There's also the issue with the Night Mistress. She doesn't seem to be aware of your involvement in her recent troubles. Or that you're the new play thing to one of her favorite pets. It would be interesting to see who gets to you first." She had both a carrot and stick ready for me. Also, if she was telling the truth, Floriana wasn't the Night Mistress but she did work for her.

"What exactly does this job involve?" I asked.

"There are three parts to it. Two will directly relate to Wassa and the third will help take care of the other candidate. We can get to the specifics right before the missions. You can understand, trust needs to be earned." She said.

"I won't do anything illegal." I said.

"Oh Spirits be, I wouldn't dream of asking you to do something illegal. In fact, each of these tasks will prevent illegal activity in the future." She said.

"Turning you in could also prevent future illegal activity. I'm sure the Duchess' people could get some useful information from you." I said.

"I suppose you could try to do that but do you really think that will change anything? The Bandit Queen's organization has survived for decades because they are good at hiding. No, I can tell you're interested in my offer. You know it would be in your self interest to have the next Bandit Queen as your friend." She wasn't wrong.

"I have two requests to start out. First, I have a companion that will be joining me." I said.

"Is it the elf archer or the mage?" She said.

"The archer." I said.

"That should be fine if you can guarantee she'll be able to keep quiet about all this." She said.

"My second request, I want the first part of my payment in the form of a catalyst of a psychic mote. Paid before we begin." I said.

She silently thought over this request. "That might be a little difficult to accomplish before the first task, it's time sensitive."

"Then I guess you should work fast." I said.

"I'll do my best to get it before the first task and if not I'll have it before the second one." She said.

"When does the first task need to be done?" I asked.

"You'd need to leave Torinheim in three days. Thelora will meet you at the eastern gate on the morning of the third day." She said.

"You're not coming?" I asked.

"I have other matters that need my attention." She said.

After that I left with Thelora escorting me back to the Union.