Sera tugged at her tunic as she stepped into the brothel. There were three things she didn't like about where she was: There were all kinds of people at brothels, everyone had needs, but they also had a high concentration of guaranteed arseholes – and she wasn't thinking about the ones for sale. The second was the people watching her as she walked in, because an elf was always going to draw eyes where a human could waltz right in. And the third…

She just didn't like having to lead the charge on business. Getting the information, using it, sharing it, all of that was golden. Jumping on rooftops and shooting bastards between the eyes? Even better. But Silver-Tongue Sally and Honey-Tongue Holly were busy elsewhere and that left her to make do with a tongue that was copper at best. At talking, anyway, but she wasn't about to go crawling up skirts.

Or at least, she didn't think she was. That assumption was changed as soon as she turned the corner and spotted her informant – a woman with dusky skin and a blue bandana and a pair of tits she could snipe from. And worse, the closer she got, the better the stranger looked. Graceful, like, really graceful, not the practiced kind. And she had gold piercings, on her ears, her lip, and Sera's mind wandered to all the other places they might be…

"Shut it." Sera muttered at her own thoughts. She wasn't going to be like one of those nobs who fell over themselves as soon as a pretty face and an open top was flashed in front of them. They were the easiest to trick, and she was already out of her element.

Sera slipped into the seat opposite the dark-haired woman and rapped her fingers on the desk. What to say first? Right to business seemed like a good idea.

"Hello, stranger." The woman smiled and Sera felt butterflies in her stomach. How could someone just smile and get hotter? Whenever she smiled, she looked like a complete goon. She wanted to punch this woman. "Are you sure you should be sitting there? I'm saving that seat for a Friend." Even her voice was sexy.

"Yeah, that's me." Sera kept tapping her fingers on the table. Focus on the beat, not the boobs. That was her brand new motto. "Do you have the stuff or not?"

"I do, and a name, as well!" The woman was teasing her, she had to be. Trying to fluster her, but it definitely wouldn't work. "It's so much easier to do business when we know each other, don't you think, sweet thing?"

"Just a Friend," Sera said. Her cheeks were living up to the name of Red Jenny, though.

"Not very imaginative here, are they? Carver, Smith, Tanner. It's a wonder this place is filled with Jasmines and Melody, but I suppose it's better than Whore One and Whore Two." The woman peered at Sera, but her eyes were set dead ahead. "Well, you can call me Isabela, Friend. And I do have what you need." Isabela unhooked one of the pouches on her belt and placed it on the table, then opened it to reveal a letter sealed with a noble's mark. She closed it just as quickly, and laid her hand over it.

"Right, good, me too." Sera pulled her own belt off and placed it on the table to the tune of several sovereigns jangling. "Ten sovereigns, just for you."

"Ah, my favorite kind." Isabela grinned. "But if I remember rightly, I asked for something else..."

"Yeah, we didn't we want to do that." Sera said. "Helping out pirates isn't how we do things and it's worth more than ten sovereigns if we did."

"Helping out pirates? How can I be a pirate if I don't have a ship?" Isabela arched an eyebrow at her. "And swapping things isn't exactly helping, is it? It's more like being a messenger."

"Right. And murder isn't murder if you don't think they count as a person." Sera rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough." Isabela nodded. "Perhaps I have something else to offer you, hm?" She asked, as she pushed her arms together. Sera thought the effort to improve her cleavage was utterly unnecessary, but more than welcome. Those things could have smothered her and she'd have died happy. And she smelled so sweet..."

"Urgh..." Sera groaned. "I can't. No. Not as a Friend. It's money or nothing." Sera nodded and smiled, proud of herself for having resisted temptation. Though the glint in Isabela's eyes unsettled her just a touch.

"Very well. I know when I'm beaten." Isabela slid her pouch over to Sera's side of the table, then pulled the coinpouch over to hers. "That's our official business done, isn't it?"

"Seems like it." Sera peeked inside the pouch just to confirm everything was in order, then hooked it onto her belt. It always paid to be careful, especially with rogue rogues.

"Wonderful." Isabela's gaze grew predatory. "Now, I have a personal proposition for you. I need something swapped and I think I've got just the thing to thank you for it..." She leaned forward, giving Sera more than an eyeful.

Sera really, really wanted to resist Isabela's temptation. It only lead to ruin, if she started accepting that particular kind of bribe. But she'd never seen anyone quite like Isabela in Ferelden, and she doubted there were many like her in Rivain, either. And she didn't plan to go to Rivain, so there wasn't a problem there, either.

And besides, she was only human. An elf. Whatever.