Chapter 38 – Reasons
SJ flew over to her balcony and entered her bedroom. Yawnee and Lurtew were probably resting in the lounge at this time in the evening, and she didn't want to disturb them. She walked to her tall mirror and looked at herself, changing her dress to fully match the evening lights, her boots adapting to match, deep blues and dark greys. Professional and practical in its appearance.
The sword and scabbard she had taken from Barquin's apartment appeared in her hand, and she pulled the blade from the scabbard. Its blade was well-maintained and highly polished. It was a simple, practical design; identifying it showed no magical properties. Purely a functional weapon.
She placed it on her table. I'll give it to Fas to sell.
Cold water cascaded into her basin as she filled it before splashing her face. As she towelled her face, she again looked at her reflection, calm and composed, hiding the emotions that boiled beneath the surface.
"Ready?" Dave asked.
I suppose. SJ thought with resignation.
The guild based beneath the library only took twenty to thirty minutes to walk to, but she wouldn't be walking. Now that she knew beings had been following her, she would fly. SJ stepped back away from her mirror and closed her eyes. She focused on Liam's training technique. Her breathing, from Mountain's Stillness, was controlled and steady, letting her anger and nerves settle into something she could manage.
Did you trace the stone?
"Yes, it's at the guild. At least she is where she said she was."
The darkness enveloped her miniature form as she flew over the city, ignoring the streets below her, focused on her destination. It didn't take her long before she looked down at the library's entrance. There was no light; the library was long since closed for the evening. SJ flew around to the rear, where she had visited with Fas, landing and growing as she approached, taking a deep breath before entering.
The corridor was in part darkness, two lanterns providing light along its length and silence met her. As she walked down the corridor to where Fas had knocked for Navina, the tightness in her chest increased, and again she paused, calming herself before, with a slightly trembling hand, she reached up and knocked on the door.
Several moments passed, and the air felt as though it was closing in on her as they did, before the hatch was opened and the same face as before appeared, looking out at her.
"You," he said, sneering. "Wait outside, the master will come and see you." Before the hatch was closed again.
SJ stood still for a few moments before turning and leaving again back into the cool night air. The breeze in the inner city was less than in the outer streets, and although the day's rain had left everything damp, it wasn't cold. The stars twinkled in the night sky above as SJ looked upwards, trying to defeat the nerves that churned her stomach.
She didn't hear a sound until Navina spoke to close for comfort. SJ flinched at her voice.
"Let's walk," Navina said.
SJ looked at the guild leader, who wore a black cloak over her clothes; her alabaster skin almost sparkled in the moonlight that now lit the garden to the rear of the library. She followed Navina as she walked further into the garden area, which SJ had never visited. She imagined that on a hot day, it would be the perfect place to sit and read.
Navina took a seat on a stone bench. "Please, sit."
SJ remained standing. "Why were you having me followed?"
A slight smile appeared on Navina's face as her eyes burrowed into SJ. "Direct. No time wasting, just the way I like my conversations. Will you not sit? This may take some time to explain in detail."
"I'm fine standing." SJ didn't want to be any closer to Navina than she already was. A bead of sweat trickled down her back, and her fingers tingled from the nervous tension attempting to burst from her.
"If you wish. I was watching you because I needed to know if you were being watched by anyone else."
"What? Why would someone be watching me?" The answer wasn't what SJ had expected.
"You think I'm the only guild leader with an interest in the demise of the Chief? There are many beings who would seek an opportunity like this if you were successful in elevating their positions, or they discovered what you were doing."
"But how would anyone else even know what I was doing, unless you told them?"
"They wouldn't, but you are of interest to many in the city, not for being an assassin, which I am glad to say has remained exceptionally well hidden since you joined the guild, but for your connection to the Ambassador. Many know you have links, even as an outsider."
The comment took SJ more by surprise than any other. Yes, when she first came to Asterfal to be confirmed as a council member, she encountered problems from resistant parties, but since those were resolved, she had thought that was in her past.
"Never mind, the Chief could be watching you anyway."
"Why would the Chief even be watching me. I have never done anything to her before."
"The same reason others may be watching you. She is aware of you after all, after your debut appearance at the cage fights. You may indeed be someone of interest to her."
Navina knows about that? SJ thought, feeling panic rise in her chest.
"So you had me followed to see if I was being followed?" SJ couldn't fathom what she was hearing.
"Precisely. Barquin is a loyal guild member after all, and an excellent tracker. He would have spotted if someone else was following you. And if the Chief had taken an interest in you, I wanted to know."
"He wasn't that good a tracker, if I spotted him so easily."
"Easily. He has been tracing your movements of every visit for months," Navina smiled, it wasn't friendly.
SJ's mind worked through the implications of being watched, working back through what she had been doing on her previous visits. Several guild quests had been completed alongside her regular visits to the tower.
"And has he noticed anything?"
"No. Not that he has observed. Which is either very good news or concerning if others have been tracking you and he hasn't noticed."
"Why didn't you just tell me what you were doing?"
"What would you have done if I had? Would you have accepted being watched?"
"No, but that's not the point. You could have just warned me about your concerns."
"I need you to behave normally, not under false pretences, which they very well may. As I say, nothing has been recorded so far. If I had told you, you would likely have acted differently, even not realising you were, which would have been an immediate alert if someone else had been watching you."
"Well, I know now, so how do you think I will behave?"
Navina let out a low laugh. "Paranoid, I expect."
The comment infuriated SJ.
"That makes sense," Dave said quietly.
I hate that it makes sense.
"However, I didn't expect you to spot Barquin. He's followed marks for decades without detection. I have to admit I'm impressed."
"I'm not," SJ mumbled.
"I owe you an apology. It was a necessary precaution from my perspective, and I can understand that it feels like I have violated our trust."
What trust? SJ thought, not verbalising her response. The apology had taken her by surprise.
"You confronted him without killing him, which showed restraint, control and intelligence. Many in your position would have struck first and asked questions later. It's an unfortunate habit of many in our profession. You, though, aren't normal in any standard circles of assassins."
"I'm not sure if that's actually a compliment."
"Take it as you wish," Navina shrugged. "The quest I have given you is extremely dangerous, yes, it has direct links to your continuing growth, but I also believe you require to understand the factors in play."
"I think I'm already starting to get an idea."
"The Chief has been a thorn in the city's side for years, as you are aware. She's careful, exceedingly intelligent, and absolutely ruthless. She will not hesitate in an instant to dispose of anything she perceives as a threat, and her henchmen can be quite formidable. They hold unbound loyalty to her. She's also heavily connected politically in ways which make her untouchable even from the chancellor."
"How can she be outside of the chancellor's reach?"
"The capital."
The two-word reply hung heavily in the air. "The capital? Why would they support the Chief and her actions?"
"It's obvious really, they may appear friendly on the surface, but underneath their exterior, the capital fears all cities which hold power. Politicians are fickle, and one can soon fall into disfavour. Asterfal has grown exponentially over the centuries, its only limiting factor now being its geography. Although at great expense, the city could expand beyond its current boundaries if it so wished to. It's a threat that the capital will always maintain, by ensuring that within every major city's walls, elements of uncertainty remain."
"But they deployed the master here?"
"Yes, they did. That was strategic. It ensured that Asterfal will always be under their power, unless he were removed, which I can't ever imagine any being doing."
"Who raised the contract on her then?"
"I can't tell you that. But I can tell you that whoever wants her dead had both the resources to pay our highest rates and the motivation to ensure that the job gets completed. This quest is not timed; it is just to be concluded by whatever means necessary."
"So, why give it to me then, if it's so valuable?"
"I have already told you, you are one of the few assassins in the guild with the capability and intelligence required to resolve the problem. You're also a Legionnaire, which gives you further advantages that many assassins don't have. There is a natural reward for your success; you have handled complex situations and have a wide network of contacts in Asterfal at the highest levels. But most importantly..." Navina leaned forward slightly. "You're expendable."
SJ stared back; the temperature felt like it had fallen by ten degrees.
"If you fail, or are caught, I can claim no knowledge. You're still relatively new to Asterfal and still don't know enough about the guild's operations; even if you were caught and tortured, you wouldn't be able to implicate us in anything."
SJ shook her head. "At least you were honest, this time."
"The guild is a business and will always take precedence. You're a guild asset, a quite valuable one, but still an asset, and at times assets are given up for greater benefits. I have been trying to prevent this, though, which is why you were being watched."
I feel like a prime steak hung up in a butcher's shop.
"Are you going to tell me what this all actually involves?"
Navina was quiet for several moments before responding. "This quest is more complex than any assassination alone. If you are successful in defeating the Chief, I don't even know what level of problems it may cause.” She paused, looking at the stars. “The network is vast, and her removal could unpick the city's very tapestry. We know she has overall control of half the city's streets, but that's just the surface stuff. Politics, commerce, you name it, could be affected."
"That's reassuring," SJ replied dryly.
"She sounds as though she almost cares," Dave said sarcastically.
"I'm not saying any of this to reassure you. The quest you have accepted is possibly the most dangerous I have ever assigned. You need to be smart, creative and if necessary, willing to walk away."
"Walk away? You mean fail the quest?"
"Failure could mean that you would have to leave Asterfal and your life behind you." Navina stared at SJ, her gaze not faltering.
"I beg your pardon?"
"If you failed at the quest, do you think you could really remain here in Asterfal, while holding an item bound to the Chief?"
SJ hadn't even thought of the issue surrounding the earrings during the conversation, and the thought of never being able to use them filled her with dread, but also resolve. She couldn't fail; it wasn't an option, and she now knew that Navina knew it too.
"I'm guessing you still have the communication stone Barquin had?"
"I do."
"Keep it then, it will give you a means to contact me directly if necessary."
"Why would I need to contact you?"
"When you succeed." Navina smiled; it was genuine.
"She really believes you have a chance," Dave said, himself surprised.
"Can I ask you a question?" SJ asked.
"You may."
"I saw your ability at the bank," SJ, not wishing to use the word blood in the sentence. "Why don't you handle this yourself, or even direct it to Carlito?"
"As I already explained, this may be directed through the guild, but deniability is something I hold over anything else, and Carlito is too valuable an asset to be implicated directly if things go wrong."
SJ's stomach churned at the comment, after her recent discussion with Fas about playing as a presumed dead being to draw the Chief out.
"Anything else?" SJ asked.
"No. Now that you are more aware of your circumstances, you will hopefully be a little more cautious when acting as a thief."
The comment felt like a knife being stabbed into her back. She had stolen the earrings from the Chief on a whim without even considering the wider implications of doing so at that moment in time.
Navina stood, not saying another word, as she appeared to float across the ground back towards the guild's entrance. SJ just watched her go, not moving.
The breeze filtered through the trees, stirring her cloak and making her shudder. She shrank again and took off, heading back home, as she tried to contemplate Navina's words.
"Well, that was rather interesting," Dave said after a while.
Which part?
"The part where she almost showed she cared, in her cold, calculating way."
I didn't feel any care in her words.
"If she didn't feel the smallest bit of concern, she wouldn't have mentioned what failure would actually mean. It's obvious she doesn't want you to fail, though I don't believe everything she just said. I still think she has much more to gain from this than she is letting on."
I'm sure she does. If the Chief's assassination does cause things to unravel, I bet she will jump at the opportunities it may create.
"I'm sure she will."
As SJ approached her home, the lights were off. Yawnee and Lurtew must have turned in. That wasn't a bad thing, as SJ wasn't sure she really wanted to talk to anyone at the moment. After the previous late night, she felt drained.
She flew down to her balcony before entering, and then, in an unusual process, secured both the front and rear balcony doors.
I'm tired of not knowing who to trust. I had hoped Navina trusted me, but even after tonight's conversation, I don't believe she does. I was being followed because I'm a useful expendable asset.
"Spies, assassins, guilds and secrets. Everything has a price tag; any successful guild will use power and influence as currency."
I need sleep. SJ thought as she began stripping off before climbing under the sheets. She lay back in her bed, her head sinking into her soft pillows, her body felt heavy as she stared at the ceiling. The enchantments she had paid for were now not just an expense but a calling to support her in the challenges ahead. She had spent a fortune ensuring that her gear was upgraded as best she could under the circumstances and knew, subconsciously, that the drive to do so had been due to this quest.
Somewhere out there, the Chief was running her operations, probably still searching for the stolen earrings.
Dave?
"Yeah?"
Do you think we can do this?
There was a substantially longer pause than usual. "Honestly? I don't know. This isn't normal. Yet, knowing what you have been through already and your stubborn resolve, I believe you will. You always surprise me."
The response wasn't the reassurance that SJ had hoped for, but it was honest, which SJ appreciated more than false confidence.
As her eyes closed, she attempted to quieten her mind enough to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day, a fresh start, and the real work would begin. She would see Fas in the morning and plan their next steps.
"Night, SJ," Dave whispered as she drifted to sleep.
