Arrows and bolts fly back and forth. In an astounding display of marksmanship... they all miss.
"Answer my damn question you fool. Where. is. Teo."
With that, she drops her longbow and pulls her rapier as she legs it across the room.
"Teo?" Lamm asks, seemingly genuinely confused. That doesn't stop him firing another bolt though. This time, with his target closing he manages a hit, although not to any great effect.
"You mean the last little one I had down here? Short, brown hair? 'e was sharp, that one!"
As the Hummingbird closes in a large alligator surges out of the water, but is unable to get a grip on the slippery wood and the vigilante surges past the snapping jaws.
"Where is he now?" She says, her focus entirely on the man, ensuring she is standing as far away from the water as possible.
Lamm yelps in pain and pulls a dagger, before slashing at the Hummingbird.
"Wouldn't you like to know!" He spits.
Gobble 16/22
"How about you call your lizard off, I'll stop skewering you and then you tell me?"
"As if you'd let me live!" Lamm counters, although the blood pouring from his two wounds are making his sallow face even paler.
"You're choice. I'll find him whether you're dead or alive.
"Screw you!" Lamm says succinctly. He feints towards the Hummingbird and then ducks past her, heading (slowly) towards the doorway!
Unfortunately for him he seems to have forgotten about the alligator. It surges out of the water and takes Gaedren's leg with a single, mighty bite. The old man collapses, screaming as the blood gushes from the mangled stump and the alligator sinks back into the water with its gory prize.
Teo's image flashes before her eyes, as she fears the worst.
Is this what happened to him?
"You owe me an answer!" She asserts, as she leaps forward and pulls Lamm back away from the waters edge before trying to stem the bleeding.
"Tell me where Teo is and I might just save your life."
"Gave him to my son." Lamm wheezes as the Hummingbird tries to tourniquet his leg. "Heh, my boy, took your boy. Enjoy that." He slumps into unconsciousness as his leg continues to spurt out blood in slowly diminishing bursts.
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The Hummingbird presses harder on his wounds out of spite, as she watches the man pass on. "You deserve much worse than this," the vigilante snarls with pure hatred.
After a few moments, allowing the man to bleed out across the floor she unceremoniously kicks his lifeless body into the water.
Just as the body hits the water with an almighty splash leaving a smear of fresh blood on the planks, The Hummingbird hears a very familar voice calling to her. Mum! Mum! Mum, come quickly, I need you!
This has happened before. Right after Teo went missing. The Hummingbird knows he is not there. She knows it he not real. Tears well up in her eyes and she closes her eyes as her heart begins to pound uncontrollably desperately trying to hear the sound of her son's voice again.
"Teo, I love you. I'm coming for you." Adriel mutters to herself.
His voice sounds again, calling faintly Mum, I need you! She hears as tears start streaming down her face and her breath catches in her throat. Mum, come quickly! Finding it difficult to know if these are memories, hallucinations or something else altogether, she allows herself to lose all composure, sobbing uncontrollably, Adriel sinks to the floor, her back to the wall, her hood falling from her head as she holds her head in her hands.
"Teo, I love you. I'm coming for you. Teo, I love you. I will find you." She repeats until she let's it all go.
After five solid minutes of sobbing, Adriel wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath, her expression darkening as she pulls her hood back up, eyes red raw.
Pull yourself together. He needs you now. Let's find out more.
She walks over to Lamm's things and begins to search for anything that may give her a clue taking her time to not miss a thing.
Gaedren's dagger, an obviously fine weapon, fell on the planks when the old man collapsed and Adriel is able to recover it and his crossbow, another fine weapon. A darkwood box sits on one of the tables and proves to be full of shiver - the street drug on which Gaedren built his meager fortune and empire of misery.
The real treasures however are in the tiny room beyond, sectioned off by a sailcloth curtain. The foul-smelling room seems to be a combination bedroom and study. A wooden bed with a lumpy mattress stands against the east wall, while a round table heaped with dirty plates, bread crusts, stained goblets, fruit rinds, and scuttling cockroaches sits nearby. At the foot of the bed sits a large strongbox; a slightly rusted lock secures it and a moldy ledger with pages rippled from moisture sits atop its lid. A sagging dresser filled with moth-eaten clothes well past their glory days is in one corner. What appears to be a wooden hatbox surrounded by a small cloud of flies sits atop this dresser.
The strongbox is filled with a wide selection of treasures, but one item stands out - the brooch is clearly a much finer item than anything else in the chest. Whichever lamb snatched that did a fine job.
The hatbox however is much less pleasant. When the Hummingbird pries off the lid the smell is enough to make her gag, which turns even worse when she sees the decayed, but still recognisable face staring sightlessly back at her - Zellara's!
Behind the hatbox sits a pile of cards - the harrow deck Zellara, or her ghost?, told Adriel about hours before.
The Hummingbird examines the brooch carefully as she recalls the articles shared on the most recent pamphlets on stolen jewelry and pockets the thing carefully.
Reluctantly she grabs the hatbox and all the other trinkets and lugs them back outside and upstairs. Momentarily she leaves the hatbox outside, going back to the group of lost children.
"Now, you are going to take these coins you told me about and buy 3 nice meals tomorrow and each of you are going to get a new set of clothes. I'm going to figure out how to help you all further and I'll be back tomorrow night. Stay here and stay safe unless you have family to go back to. I promise I'll be back in the evening." She pushes the 10gp into the hands of the oldest boy and holds his gaze for a moment before turning away.
"Until tomorrow." She says, as the dark of the nigh envelops her.
--------------
The Hummingbird did not think it wise to go back home with a decapitated head or all of the other trinkets she found so instead she went to the only other place that made sense; the fortune tellers house.
Until this moment, her head had been filled with the thoughts of the children and what to do with them now she had freed them from the cluthces of Lamm. That is until she places the hatbox upon the table in the fortune tellers house and reopens it to examine it further.
"Look, Zellara. Talk to me now." She says, somewhat ironically. "None of this makes any damned sense."
The house is old and tired, worn and obviously cared for but showing signs of neglect from the last few days. If it wasn't in exactly the same place that the Hummingbird went to earlier in the evening she'd say it was somewhere else entirely.
In response to her call a breeze picks up and the harrow cards whirl into the air as a ghostly figure forms. Zellara.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." She says ruefully. "I didn't know Lamm kept trophies like that. Yes, I'm dead. My spirit wouldn't pass on while that foul old cretin still walked the earth. You've given me that peace now. I don't want to leave yet though - not until you've found your boy. I owe you that much. Take my cards, they're all that bind me here now and I'll give you what support I can, whenever I can."
The cards fluttter into the air and then pile themselves neatly into the Hummingbird's hand with the Uprising, her card, face up on top. Just as they do so a peal of bells rings out faintly across the city - the alarm bells in Castle Korvosa. Something is happening! Something dangerous.
"I...thank you, he is still- " Adriel stops abruptly mid-sentence just as the bells begin to ring. "Is this real or another illusion?" She asks cautiously.
This is not my doing. Zellara's voice whispers in Adriel's mind. You should find safety. Now.
Knowing deep down that the other grieving mother is telling the truth, Adriel nods, pulls up her hood and slips outside, taking everything but the hatbox.
Pulling up her hood to anonymise herself, she steps outside to brave the night. Knowing that her home is a considerable distance, The Hummingbird glances around at the street to try and get a read on the situation before cautiously heading around a few streets to find a safe space whether that be a temple, abandoned building or defensible private area in a local park.
The flickering glow of fires is impossible to miss. The frantic clang of
alarm bells sing out in harmony with a multifarious cacophony of screams, the clash of steel on steel, shrieks of terror, and even the periodic detonation of arcane power. A wing of Sable Company hippogriff riders swoops overhead, angling toward Castle Korvosa at a breakneck pace. One of the badly wounded hippogriff mounts rains blood down on the street, splattering the Hummingbird in red before it succumbs and crashes headlong into a statue, taking its rider and itself to a messy, bone-crunching demise. The others in the flight do not pause to check on their fallen ally.
As she emerges from the warren of alleys and small streets into he better built area of the city that lies between her and refuge the chaos grows. Crowds with lit torches and weapons are marching up the street towards the castle. Amid the chaos, the voice of a Korvosan herald cuts through the din: “The king is dead! Long live the queen!” only to be shouted down by ragged cries of “Hang the queen!” or “The usurper must die!” The city has gone mad.
Thankfully the traffic seems to be all heading in one direction - Castle Korvosa, so Adriel is able to make her way home without any significant issues, although by the time she gets there it is clear that at least one large building near the castle is in flames - casting the castle itself in a flickering, menacing shadow.
The riots continue unabated for nearly three days. Desperate citizens already stifled by Eodred II’s spendthrift reign—salty dock workers, soot-covered smiths, and all manner of artisans and laborers—roar at the thought of Ileosa taking the throne. Stevedores abandon the seafront wards and caravan guards leave Northgate. Frustrated merchant ships and wagon convoys turn around when they find no one to offload their goods, much less buy them. The movement of food and other staples into the city slows to a trickle, and thousands vie for the last sack of flour or bundle of firewood in the market. Riots erupt throughout the streets. Those who do not rove the streets with cudgel and torch in hand instead lock their doors against the gathering mob. The Bank of Abadar closes its gilded gates, and a contingent of the Coin’s Faithful stand at the ready, armed with crossbows to repel would-be looters. The world-famous (some would argue infamous) institution of learning known as the Acadamae closes its doors as well, shutting students and professors within its walls until order can be restored. In the space of a dozen hours, all of Korvosa’s oppression and anger explode into chaos.
Ill-equipped for this level of civil calamity, the military arm of the city falters, and even the hippogriff-mounted marines of the Sable Company are pushed beyond their limits. The Korvosan Guard does the best it can to quell the riots, yet its members are cut off from each other and forced to operate on their own. Several junior officers, thrust into the harrowing responsibility of command, break under the pressure and abandon their posts, or worse, become part of the problem by attempting to institute martial law.
The city perches on the edge of anarchy.
----------------------------------------------
After three days Adriel's empty cupboards make it clear that there is no recourse left - she will have to venture into the city.
Three days to think about her findings was probably not the healthiest thing for Adriel; she had ruminated every possible theory about how to find Lamm's son as well as what her plans could be with the children she had freed from the clutches of the criminal. It was the third day in which she realised her theories were becoming a little wild and she knew she had to get herself out of her house as well as at least check on the children.
With the Prosperity Bank closed to all, there was no point heading to her day job either, and therefore first heads out in search of food and information. Taking sensible precautions, she wears her rapier in full view, hoping it will act as a deterrent.
Quite sensibly Adriel checks up on the old fishery and finds the children still there, although they have claimed all the better rooms between them and a few curls of smoke still list from where they seem to have burned Lamm's old boat which formed the only way into the basement. They seem reasonably cheerful though and show Adriel the collection of things they've 'found' in the chaos of the last few days.
It's only when she leaves once more that trouble catches up with Adriel. An unwashed and truly putrid man with a long, scraggly beard accosts her two streets from the fishery.
"YOU! I saw you! Harbinger! Death and disease follow in your wake! Death, death to Korvosa! A new age of writhing doom falls upon us all! I have seen it! YOU! You have to die! It's the only way!"
Despite his pronouncement the madman is unarmed and clearly raving, he staggers closer, flailing his arms around but poses no real danger, even to Adriel's... less active persona.
A small crowd gathers to watch the entertainment.
Adriel grabs at his hands and tries to get him off of her without causing him any harm. "Someone help me get him off of me! Please help me!" She calls, hoping someone will help drag the man off of her.
The madman grasps at Adriel but she is just able to slip away from his grasp before a couple of burly sailors step in to grab the doomsayer. They drag him towards the harbor, followed by comments about 'in the drink' and 'give 'im a bath!'
"There, there dearie." A stout woman helps Adriel up. "The Queen really needs to get a handle on things. King Eodred would never have allowed such things to occur. And Seneschal Nikopolis vanishing like that... it's beyond strange isn't it?" She seems to be talking almost for the sake of it. "I've even seen guard lieutenants getting drunk in taverns - at midday, if you can believe it. They should be out doing their jobs! The Royal Arms is a respectable tavern, not a low den for drunks like him!"
She is still talking when a griffon rider swoops overhead and the woman breaks off her chatter to watch.
"Oh, I can believe it. Thank you for helping me up." Adriel says, as she brushes herself off. "The city guard have never had their priorities right, but I don't think something this big can be put down to their failures alone." Shaking her head, Adriel sighs.
"Griphon Riders are probably more useful at this stage, from what I've heard. What happened with the Seneschal anyway? I haven't been able to work out what has been going on, unfortunately - had lots of mouths to feed."
"No idea." The woman says. "He disappeared the night the king died. Some people are saying the Seneschal killed him, but I think it was the Queen. Too young for him and now she's on the throne. A foreigner? Suspicious if you ask me!"
She babbles on a while longer, but doesn't say much of any interest. Adriel is beginning to get tired of being polite when salvation comes in the form of a pair of flying, horned devils! Thankfully neither of them is more than two feet high but the imps, a common sight in Korvosa because of the Academae's requiring a summoning as the final graduation test, seem unrestrained and thoroughly malicious as they dive bomb Adriel and her interlocutor.
Adriel pushes the woman to the floor as she stands and draws her rapier to protect them, however fumbles as she does so and manages to skewer the air.
Adriel's heroics cost her as the imps sting her repeatedly, injecting her full of poison which threatens to turn her muscles to jelly!
Fortunately for Adriel a flight of house drakes, the imps sworn enemies, swoop in to attack the imps in turn! Their magical bites soon turn the tide and the imps flee, pursued by the drakes although one stays to chirrup briefly at Adriel before flying onwards.
The woman is very grateful and insists on splitting her own shopping with Adriel in thanks, providing her with fresh white bread, a small cut of meat and some fresh vegetables.
Fortunately the journey back to the Fishery is uneventful.
Adriel stumbles into the fishery, clutching her side with one hand and the groceries with the other.
She collapses back onto the nearest wooden chair, drops the groceries on the floor and lifts her tunic to peer at the wounds inflicted by the imp and curses as she sees the damage.
Quickly putting her tunic back down, she calls out for the ex-Lamms. "Hey, kids! Anybody about? Im in need of a little assistance if you may?"
Three children, two boys and a girl so dirty that she's indistinguishable from the boys, tumble out of the large room - it seems the kids are keeping the fishery in operation, to judge by the strong smell of fish all three exude.
"Miss!" One of them exclaims. "What happened? You get nobbled? 'Ow can we help"
"Yes, something like that. Do you have any clean cloth and perhaps alcohol? Maybe your old bosses kept some in a liqueor cabinet somewhere?" Adriel asks, whilst gritting her teeth.
As the boys rush around, trying to find the things Adriel asked for, she tries to distract herself.
"So, whats your name?" She asks the young girl. "I see you decided to stick around for a while and....fish?"
"I can look!" One of the boys chirps and hares off, returning a few minutes later with a small bottle of something that smells distinctly alcoholic, if not pleasant, and a reasonably clean rag.
"I'm Lizzie." The girl says with a shy smile. "We all decided to stay. It's a roof and we have a job. We'll get coin this way too." She twirls a lock of dirty hair around her finger. "What about you Miss, Nik said you was looking for your son?"
"Well hello Lizzie, it is nice to meet you. I was looking for my son, you heard right. Did you know him? His name is Teodore, about this tall, mousy brown hair with a large scar on his right hand from when he fell when he was a boy." She says, describing him, holding her hand up to show his height. She seems to casually skip the part of the conversation where she gives her own name.
She thanks the boy, and tends to her wounds hoping to keep them clean from any of the dirt and grime that may have been on the imp's claws.
"Mr Lamm said that Teo had been taken by his son. Is that right?"
Lizzie scrunches up her face. "I remember Teo. He was nice. He vanished though. Nasty Rolf was there that day. He could have taken Teo... I'm sorry miss."
On that cheerful note she waves and heads back to the other room, presumably to keep working on the slurry.
After another day of taking it easy the weakness in Adriel's muscles finally passes and she feels much more in shape to go out and take on the day. The city finally seems to be calming somewhat and the city watch are patrolling once more, so the rioting and looting has died down.
If she is so inclined Adriel could investigate what she heard about the drunken soldier at the Royal Arms, or she could attempt to divest herself of some of the wealth appropriated from Gaedren Lamm and his cronies. The merchants are mostly open now which makes the prospect easier.
With the last few days behind her, Adriel knows she needs to return to normality somewhat. Before anything, she returns to her workplace to ensure she still has her part-time job.
In the afternoon, Adriel realises she should probably return the trinket she found to the Royal Household but is unsure if the turmoil that they are in would make it possible. Either way, perhaps the reward is still out for the item and she could do with the money.
Heading towards the castle, Adriel tries to find a guard at the gates to explain her situation.
Castle Korvosa’s long shadow looms over the city as a terrifying testament to the power of whatever mighty overlord ruled this land thousands of years ago. A magnificent achievement of architecture, the castle walls and spires rise high into the sky above. The entire structure looms even higher because of its ancient foundation—a Thassilonian monument in the shape of an immense flat-topped pyramid. Although one corner of this impressive foundation has fallen into ruin, the additions built onto the sides by eager and talented Korvosan masons have created one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Varisia.
Due to the recent unrest the castle is locked up tightly and Adriel is challenged almost before she sets foot on the final ramp to the castle gates. Her explanation gains little sympathy until she produces the queen's broach at which point the guard sargeant summons her captain. After a hushed conversation Adriel is escorted into the castle proper by three armed guards, having first left her rapier in the guardhouse.
Entering the castle proper she is greeted by a tall, stern-looking woman dressed in magnificent full plate armor—the queen’s handmaiden, bodyguard, and closest companion: Sabina Merrinstern, who nods briefly to her.
"Greetings. They tell me you’ve something that belongs to the queen. Is this correct?” Adriel's production of the broach makes the taller woman smile and she waves the guards away. "I think this woman is trustworthy, don't you? Her actions show honor."
She leads Adriel into the castle, hung with lavish tapestries and showing ornaments and weapons that would probably feed all of Lamm's lambs for a year. The pair pauses just before a pair of large wooden doors and Sabrina turns to Adriel.
"How would you like to be announced to the Queen?" She asks, a spark of mischief in her eyes. "She has a sense of humor, there's no need to worry."
"Miss Moonflower. I simply have found this broach whilst I was volunteering my time to a good cause and thought I would return it here, as I believe you had been looking for some royal jewellery." Adriel says simply, a little nervous she talks a little too fast, but she was about to meet the new ruler. "I didn't realise I would be seeing the Queen directly, I am simply here to return her household's lost property."
"The Queen declared that she wanted to meet the person who returned her broach in person." Sabina replies with a grin. "Get ready!"
She pushes the door open and declares in a loud voice, "Miss Moonflower, to see her Majesty."
Queen Ileosa sits upon the Crimson Throne. She is a vision of beauty despite the black mourning dress and veil she wears in honor of her husband’s death. A small silver coffer sits in her lap. The throne room itself—an open area with a vaulted ceiling, stained-glass windows of past kings and queens looking down from the eastern wall, and crimson tapestries hanging along the others—is pristine but strangely empty. An immense fireplace offers additional light and heat to the hall, and a silk carpet provides a gently arching path to the throne’s base. Sabina takes the brooch from Adriel, hands it over to her queen with a flourish, and then takes up a position at the throne’s left side as Ileosa turns her attention to Adriel.
After a searching, silent examination she speaks.
"This brooch was stolen from me some time ago—I had not expected to see it again, truth be told. And yet, here on my darkest day, you come before me with kindness. The return of this brooch is much more than an honorable deed. It is inspiration. It is hope."
“I love Korvosa, as my husband did before me. His death has shocked the city as it has me, but I will not see his legacy destroyed in death, and I shall not see my city torn apart. All Korvosa stands at the precipice of a disaster wrought by her citizens—these riots cannot continue. You have already done my heart a great service in returning this precious heirloom to me on this dark day, and you shall be rewarded. You have my thanks Miss Moonflower. Now, I need to retire to my chambers—my grief has drained me. Again, I thank you for the kindness you have shown me, and I hope your days of serving the crown are only just beginning.”
She gestures slightly and Sabina steps forward to take the coffer from her queen and offer it to Adriel as the monarch departs in a swirl of black skirts. The coffer proves to contain twelve gold ingots, stamped with the royal seal of Korvosa.
Sabina allows Adriel a few moments to appreciate her reward before steering her back out of the throne room.
"You've done a fine deed today Miss Moonflower." The bodyguard says, "Thank you. Excuse us Ma'am." She adds, as another woman with military short hair and a fine suit of leather armor almost walks into them.
"No harm done Sabina." The woman replies, having pulled up short at the last possible second. "My fault, I'm getting tired these days. You escorting petitioners now? I'll walk her out to the guard post, you should get back to her Majesty."
The new woman is clearly someone of authority because Sabina merely nods, sketches a salute and then turns back the way she came. The new woman, meanwhile, falls into step with Adriel.
"Cressida Kroft." She introduces herself. "So you're the one who found her majesties broach. The city guard swore up and down it would never be found, and yet here you are." Her smile is open and seems genuine. "Would you come back to the Citadel with me? I'd like to talk with you a little more if you don't mind."
Adriel is swept away by meeting the Queen, who was very charming and it uplifted her to see such gratitude. She barely gets a word in edgeways before the Queen retires and she meets Cressida.
"Nice to meet you Field Marshal, I have heard of your impressive feat. I would happily accompany you to the Citadel to talk further, however I do not know anymore of this brooch Im afraid."
"It's not that exactly." Cressida admits, easing herself into a chair with a bone-deep sigh. "You’ve been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear itself apart like this. The guard needs every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you. If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as an agent of the Guard. You will, of course, be well compensated for these services, and as an agent of the Guard you will have access to our resources.” She smiles. "I'd like to think that we could do a lot of good in the city, if we just knew where it needed to be done."
"An Agent of the Guard." Adriel says, stiffening at the unexpected proposition thinking back to how little they supported her in her initial time of strife.
"I doubt you are aware, however I used to work for the Town Guard a while ago. I chose to leave." She says, halting for a moment shifting her weight from one foot to another.
"I am all for supporting the City, as I agree there is a lot that needs fixing but I think working for the guard does not necessarily allow one to do that."
"What kind of work are you thinking of? What are your goals with doing good in this City?" Adriel questions for a moment, then grimaces slightly when she realises she has sounded as if she was interrogating Cressida Kroft. "Not that you need to answer of course" She adds, hastily.
Kroft smirks as Adriel hastily retracts her questions. "No, don't worry. I appreciate plain speaking. If we had more of that then maybe we wouldn't be in this position." She sighs again. "Korvosa’s got enough troubles as it is without my own guards losing their way. Unfortunately some, more than some really, have deserted their posts, more concerned about friends and family than the city. I can understand that, but a few of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain. My particular problem is a man called Verik Vancaskerkin. He was a Watch Sergeant and he's still got the gift of leadership. He's not just a lone deserter, he’s convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa is going to ruin the city. Whether she does or doesn’t isn’t the point right now. We’ve got a city-wide crisis on our hands, and I need all of my guards working with me to see us through. A deserter is worse than a lost resource—it’s an infection. I can’t afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I’d rather not expose any of them to him anyway, since I don’t want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession. The problem is that killing him outright doesn't help me either - then he's a martyr." She sighs again.
"What I need is impartial, skilled talent. Talent from outside the Guard. Someone like you. Vancaskerkin and his followers have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—a place once called ‘All the World’s Meat.’ I need you there. Reconnaissance only. I'll understand if you have to defend yourself but I really want Vancaskerkin alive so if you can give me an accurate picture of his hideout and his men then I'll organise a small team to take him in. If you can I also need to know why Verik deserted in the first place — if there’s more to it than simple personal politics"
Kroft pushes a flyer over the table to you. "Five hundred gold for Vancaskerkin alive and any information about why he turned. On top of that you'd be getting a dangerous man off the streets. So, are you interested?" She pauses with one hand still on the flyer. "Consider it a trial run, for both of us. I can find out just how good you are in action, and you can decide if having the Guard at your back is worthwhile."
The Field Marshal stands and offers Adriel her hand. "Deal?"
Adriel nods, she can see why this woman is certainly no politician, but very much appreciates her style. It feels good to know the feeling is mutual.
"Yes, let's consider it a trial run for the both of us. However, I'd like you to keep this between you and me for now."
Adriel reaches out her hand as if to shake, but knowing she changed the deal slightly, holds back for Cressida to agree before finalising.
"Agreed." Kroft says decisively, shaking Adriel's hand firmly. "I won't keep you any longer, I'm sure you've got things and people to get back to."
Adriel is at the door when the Field Marshal speaks again.
"Oh, Miss Moonshine? This is a short trial run. You have forty eight hours."
It seems the Field Marshal is sneakier than anyone gives her credit for.
Adriel flashes an amused grin back towards the Field Marshall and then leaves, quickly and quietly, doing her best to go unnoticed by those around her.
Adriel needs a game plan so hails a carriage back home to piece her thoughts together.
This whole situation was certainly an impossible conundrum.
On the one hand, Adriel would do best to use her former position on the guard to try and complete reconnaissance the old-fashioned way - as a spy.That would work well as she could go in as herself, Cressida would be nonethe wiser to her her night time activities, and all would be well.
But none of that sounded like Adriel Moonflower. What is really needed here is The Hummingbird.
The Hummingbird who has had the experiences of the last few months on her missions to uncover leads on her Teo's wherasboouts. The Hummingbird who managed to put down Lamm and his gang. The problem is that the Hummingbird can be messy.
Eventually Adriel decides to go under the canopy of the night in the company of The Hummingbird. Kroft never need know if she keeps to the shadows for reconnaisance only
Before preparing for that, Adriel takes some time in the afternoon to try to find the owner of the Butchers shop and ask a few questions...
A little asking around tells Adriel that the last owner of All the World's Meat was arrested for tax evasion and has never been seen again, not an uncommon fate for people who disappear into the dungeons beneath Castle Korvosa. His loss seems to have been unlamented.
Vancaskerkin and his men, on the other hand, seem to be quite popular. The food situation in Northgate, and in Old Korvosa (the large island just off the main city itself) is tight, to say the least and the 'Cow Hammer Boys' as the group apparently calls itself offer free meat - which has endeared them to most of the populace locally.
Further probing also turns up an interesting fact - the Cow Hammer Boys moonlight as mercenaries. Asking for 'the night's special cuts' is the agreed upon signal that a job is being offered.
The shop itself is at 22 Stirge Street and even by late afternoon when Adriel goes, there is still a queue of people, hoping for some of the last fresh meat of the day.
Adriel joins the lengthy queue and tries to fit in with the crowd. She stands on her tip-toes and peers down the line, trying to ascertain how long it is. "Terrible business this." She says to the person in front of her. "We're clearly all in the wrong business eh, if we only got into the food trade ourselves, we'd be rich right about now!"
She watches the men serving the meat carefully, and tries to listen out to those around her.
The queue moves quickly and almost entirely in silence, as someone who has experienced hunger herself Adriel can practically taste the desperation and as a man can be seen in the window pulling down the few remaining pieces of meat groans can be heard from further back in the line.
"That's all we got!" The voice comes from the front of the shop, perhaps five people away. "Ye can come back termorra! Now we gotta shut up shop. Off wiv ya!"
The line breaks up with quiet moans of disappointment and soon Adriel is the only one left. A scrawny looking man in slightly too big chainmail sticks his head out and catches sight of her.
"Wot you doin' ere?" He asks, sticking a finger in his ear. "Didn' ya hear me? We're outta meat!"
"Oh, Im sorry, I just wondered if I was lucky enough to catch any of the night's special cuts." Adriel replies, not breaking eye contact with the man.
The man grunts and glances over his shoulder before beckoning Adriel in and shutting the door behind her.
"Fifty gold per person." He says immediately. "Upfront. Don't worry, we do good work. You won't have any problems from them again once we're done. Just need a description and a place to find 'em."
The only other figure in the room is a large, bald man whose eyebrows are so large and busy that they merge into one above his nose. He's behind the counter and running his hand down the flat of a cleaver with a little bit too much joy in his eyes.
"Fifty gold? Thats a bit steep if Im telling you exactly where to find them don't you think?" Adriel questions, bargaining with the man.
"I heard on the grapvine that Vancaskerkin is the best. Could I request him for the job?"