The Lesker Estate was not located in one of the representative districts of Noxus Prime, for the family did not cover any important positions in the High Command… at least not yet. But Elrik Lesker, who was currently trying to get a foot in various businesses, had displayed enough signs that he was willing to step up the ladder of hierarchy. The district he had chosen was not good by all means, but the estate for sure was classical, and it needed many servants to maintain the clean order Elrik favored so much.
Lux had found that a simple in and out job was not enough to extract the information she needed. Some of her Noxian buyers were willing to pay very well, so she had taken a job in the ever-changing workforce that did their best to belong to a house that might ascend into nobility not too far in the future. As a stereotypical cleaning maid, nobody paid too much attention to her and she had more than one good excuse to move around the house.
One sign this family was not one to prevail: every paranoid noble knew how important trustworthy cleaning personnel was.
House Lesker had taken advantage of the Noxian invasion of Shurima and had obtained control over some ore mines. She considered if she could make out enough weak points, the margin, as well as the contacts good steel brought, for all of that combined could be enough to raise the family's position upwards. On the other hand, should Lux find enough weak points, she could bring at least three middle ranked houses to war with each other. That which attacked itself could not attack her homeland with its full force.
Lux blended into the staff quite well. The work was strenuous, but keeping the studies of Lesker and his wife clean was no popular labor, so it was a job fairly easy to acquire.
The first shadows of doubt rose within her as she heard excited maids gossip about the famous guests their master would be hosting in the next week. General Marcus Du Couteau himself wanted to take a look at the quality of said ore and the steel produced from it. Elrik Lesker had not wasted the opportunity to invite him to dinner. An excellent opportunity for Lux to listen to even more rumors about the family Du Couteau.
What struck the staff as odd was that the General had not announced with how many people he would arrive. What struck Lux as odd was that everybody seemed to know much about Katarina, even more about her famous father, but words about their other family members did not get around. There seemed to be two other daughters, Cassiopeia and Calliope were the names Lux was able to make out. One of them seemed to have vanished in Shurima, while the other one seemed to be more a disgrace than anything else, hidden away from the public eye, possibly already dead. Nobody dared to say so openly, but Lux was able to hear what was not spoken. The Blade's Shadow was a whole different thing, the maids of the underclass knew plenty of rumors about him. The suggestion that he was the General's shadow, filled with life and committed to carrying out his darkest demands, was just one of the more far-fetched rumors. Family Du Couteau had seemingly outdone themselves to shroud their name with mystery and danger. Lux was impressed.
Lux cursed herself. She had chosen another female face as a disguise, and she prayed for General Du Couteau to arrive without his shadow. There was no need to hope that the man she had met a few times already did not excel at his job, one consisting of finding and recognizing people, and Lux did not like having to take chances.
Then the head of staff, a man called Brian, mustered all female maids, Lux included. As his scrunched up face regarded them, scanning faces and bodies alike, Lux cursed herself for not picking an uglier shell. She had known about better chances to get employed with at least half a pretty face, but now it did her no good. She damned her pride. Brian beckoned her a step forward, along with five other maids. "You will be serving the table. Ivenne will instruct you about the evening's demands."
Lux inwardly pursed her lips. She did not like incalculable risks. But maybe she could make something good out of this. She could overhear the talk at the table from that position.
So she bore the lessons about how to serve a table, noting how similar the set of silverware and the order of plates in relation to the different glasses were in Demacia. Interesting to know that a Demacian noble could eat at a Noxian noble's table and not get confused with the cutlery.
The fact that the table decoration was not her biggest problem became clear when she positioned herself in the hallway, in a row with the other servants, to give General Du Couteau an appropriate welcome. As she had been advised, she bowed deeply and lifted her head only after he and his entourage had passed her.
Behind the man at the front, red hair and beard peppered with grey streaks, cut militarily short, walked two other people. One female with long hair, as red as her father's must have been in his youth, was sauntering to the General's right with the grace of a dancer. A male who was clad in a segmented cloak, his face hidden under a purple hood, took light steps despite the steel blades that weighed down his cloak.
Curse her luck, or the lack of it.
The probability that he looked twice at a servant was low. Hopefully, he had not seen their encounters as significant. Lux hated taking chances. Especially when it meant that she had to believe someone else was less attentive, less good at their job than she was.
"I introduce General Marcus Du Couteau of the High Command, Blade of Noxus," the newly appointed chamberlain intonated. In fact, he was only appointed for today, soon again he would be Brian, head of staff again, "With his children, Commander Katarina Du Couteau, the Sinister Blade and Talon Du Couteau, the Blade's Shadow."
The idea that he was introduced as a son of the house surprised her. It was a new piece of information, one which did make her situation any better. It was one thing to pick a quarrel with an agent of Family Du Couteau, and a whole different thing to do so with an actual member of said family.
"Head of House Lesker, Elrik of the Kahleek Ore Mines with his wife, Eldana," Brian finished his introduction and took several steps back. The courtly part of Lux's mind started to interpret what arriving with only three people, though they certainly where the elite of the house, meant. It could be everything from a show of peacefulness to one of disregard, depending on the course of the evening.
The host nearly tripped over himself in trying to make everyone feel comfortable and only succeeded in tensing up the atmosphere. When he tried touching General Du Couteau's shoulder, the hand of his Shadow slid to his belt and Eldana, clearly horrified by the lapse, pinched him and took lead in the conversation. It took a long moment for Talon to calm back down, and Lux seemingly was the only one to notice the gaze he and Katarina exchanged. They knew each other well, Lux concluded, well enough to communicate through barely visible shrugs.
The body language was more interesting than the spoken words, but Lux committed every sentence to memory regardless, even the details about different mix ratios of good steel. More interesting was the fact that General Marcus did not talk much, but confined himself to regarding the sample of ore. Katarina was the one who actually held the conversation and asked questions, while Talon's restless eyes swept over the present people while keeping the potential exits in the periphery of his vision. His gaze kept wandering until Elrik handed a sword to General Du Couteau, and Lux was sure he tensed.
Typical for Noxian weaponry, the sword was rather big and intimidating.
The General passed it to his shadow, who inspected the blade, expression hidden by the darkness of his hood. Almost gently, he ran his thumb over the edge of the sword, while Katarina continued talking and Marcus kept observing. A short hiss went through the staff as Talon pulled out another blade and used it to tap against the one he was given. Lux had to tear her eyes away from the careful motions, forcing her concentration back to the conversation.
The sword was handed back to its owner shortly after, the hopeful glance of the host ignored by his three visitors.
The dinner, too, went without any of them mentioning the blade or a potential trading deal. The Du Couteau family orchestrated and controlled their staging well.
Lux was very relieved when the dinner ended and nobody had blown her cover. She had behaved as discreetly as she could have, had not made a single mistake, and had not dropped anything. She had been nothing but unobtrusive.
Unobtrusive and very, very glad when the dinner ended and the guests left the house.
The excitement of the staff subsided slowly and with clearing the table and washing the dishes. The usual calmness returned, at least to the staff. Elrik and his wife retreated to their chambers early, not wanting to be disturbed until the morning.
The feeling of calmness did not reach Lux. Before she did her last round of checking the house and cleaning the studies of Elrik and his wife, she grabbed a package out of her belongings she had bought for an occasion exactly like this. The feeling in her gut would be called paranoia, had it been baseless.
The first rooms to clean and check were normal like they were every evening.
That changed when she entered Eldana's study. The hair on the back of her neck rose, even though she had no physical evidence of something being off. It felt like something was off. Lux continued her routine, this time without looking through the new correspondences like she normally did. If she behaved like a completely normal cleaning maid, it would prove to be paranoia, for there was no sound, no whispering breath, and nothing to hear. The thread of hope that she could be successfully passed for a maid and was left alone rose within her.
She turned to the door with one last look around that might have lingered longer than usual.
Elrik's room was next, and here she was sure that somebody had shuffled through his correspondences. Lux picked up the single paper lying on the floor and sorted it to the other ones. The feeling of uneasiness amplified, but she finished her cleaning round nonetheless. The stupid maid she depicted would surely blame a gust of wind. The light within her welled at her trepidation.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the door slowly swinging close. It felt like something final. Her heart rate picked up.
Hiding in this identity was of no more use, so Lux sneezed and searched her attire, pulling up a sheet of paper which she violently shook out of the knot it was in, timely with the door falling close. Dropping the illusion of a phlegmatic maid, she pirouetted right in time to dodge the dagger aimed in her direction. The pollen of the Scryer's Bloom stuck to one particularly deep shadow that, now revealed and faintly glowing, jumped at her.
She yanked her shield up with all the force she could muster, just in time for it to clash with the attacking assassin, who was thrown back and collided with the wall. Lux summoned a binding she threw at him, only to see him rolling away from where her light had been aimed to.
The blue glowing pollen stuck to and illuminated a segmented cloak, gleaming off the menacing arm-blade.
"Looks good on you," She chirped and threw a singularity to the ground as another dagger collided with and broke her shining shield. Luckily the switchlights emanated enough light to work with, at least for the moment.
Talon circled the blindingly bright sparkling spot she was standing in, blinking against the light. He indeed did not dare to move into it closer.
"You can't keep this up forever." He growled.
"You hope so?" She chirped, and a low growl answered her, the rumble of a predator closing in on its prey. "Long enough, and strong enough, to take your eyesight with me," She replied lightly, turning with his movements. That would require a perfectly timed flash, one he would be expecting by now.
He indeed stilled his circling and watched her with narrowed eyes. Him not liking the brightness was no surprise.
"What are you doing here?" He hissed.
"What are you doing here?" Lux not-answered.
"I asked first," He pulled his hood deeper into his face.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Lux jibed, still not letting her singularity fade. It felt so unbelievably good to bathe in her own light again.
"Not cleaning the room. You forgot to dust the cupboard in the left corner."
Lux snorted, "I'll take that into consideration for my next round."
Talon took a few steps back. It felt more like a run-up than a retreat, making Lux's senses tingle with alarm. She calculated her thoughts.
"But you are right," She intercepted before he would choose violence as his preferred way out of this situation. "I might have heard that some lesser houses are interested in the trading deal Elrik has forged with Bilgewater. Plus, he gathered every scavenger he could find to send them into war zones. I might have heard terrible rumors about the region around Sai Kahleek: that a terrible, mindless plague named Xer'Sai has made their home right there, which complicates mining to no end," Lux stilled her babbling and waited for her opponent to get what she was implying.
Now it was Talon's turn to snort. But he neither attacked nor threw another dagger, continuing his restless circling around her light.
It might as well be a good sign, Lux figured.
"This information is worth a great amount of money, plus this family is much too low profile to be targeted by you, no need to soil your hands. Do you see a way for me to get this Intel out, sell it to the highest bidder, while you just watch in glee as the little fish down here tear themselves apart?" She asked with a friendly smile. Hopefully, she was right and he was not one to beat around the bush.
"Xer'Sai you say," He sounded deliberating, stepping away from her and the light, to the window. He gave her a last, scrutinizing once-over, paying special attention to her right hand, currently holding the broom, before opening it. A moment later, he was gone.
When no trace of Scryer's bloom pollen reappeared in the next moments, Lux let the singularity fade and took a deep, calming breath.
She allowed herself a moment of standing and gripping her broom. Then she started tidying and cleaning the room, giving the cupboard in the left corner an extra dash of polish.
"What did you find?" They met in the parlor, dimly lit by the fireplace. Talon's gaze flitted over the room, checking it visually for anything unusual.
The bookshelves were at their usual place, lining the room's walls. Katarina stretched out on one sofa, balancing the tip of one dagger on her index finger, mustering him with the half-smirk that seemed to be stuck on her face. Cassiopeia, her scales shimmering in the low light, had draped her enormous body around an armchair in a seemingly impossible matter, while Calliope, the middle daughter of General Marcus Du Couteau, lounged on the thick carpet in front of Marcus's settle, writing off numbers from one book into another. Marcus marked the side he was currently reading and closed his book. So far, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Family Lesker runs shitty background checks of their servants. And tries to sell us used steel from scavengers and pirates, not from an actual mine," Talon explained and started to loosen the straps connecting his favorite blade to his arm.
"You make it sound like this information is connected," Cassiopeia stretched her body lasciviously, rolling on her stomach to watch the scene from her slit pupils like a snake would watch a mouse in a trap.
Talon picked the blade from his arm and abutted it against the wall. "I recognized a spy in their ranks. Getting and verifying this information was easy." He murmured, already dreading the reaction he would draw for that piece of information.
"How do you know a spy?" Calliope piped up from down below, interrupting her calculations.
"Met her at former assignments," Talon kept his voice steady, but the attention of the whole room shifted to him. He shuffled on his feet uneasily, gaze flickering to the windows. Even Marcus blinked in surprise.
Then, the three women started to talk all at once. "Assignments as in plural?" — "Is that Scryer's Bloom pollen all over you?" — "Is she alive?"
The last question stilled the others, and four people looked at him expectantly.
"Ahm…" Talon did not really know how to act on the sudden interest in his person. But the place against the wall did not feel right for his arm-blade anymore, so he picked it up again. "I think so?" He answered, fidgeting with his blade.
Katarina's upper body shut up from her slouching position. "You left a witness?" She hissed as blood shot to her cheeks.
Talon rechecked the position of his other blades, just in case Katarina's temper would act up. "She didn't make it easy for me and wasn't my objective, so I left her be, yeah." He justified his actions, sauntering to the table and the filled bowl on its top.
"I'm more interested in information regarding the steel. Save your interrogation for later, okay?" Marcus intervened as Calliope picked up her pen again, her attention turning to her beloved numbers. Katarina and Cassiopeia were not as easily distracted, but they at least shut their mouths.
Talon was relieved. "The ore mine is worthless, for some strange, gigantic predators live close by and make the area uninhabitable. They seem to prey on everything that moves. Locals won't work at the mines, that's why Lesker wants our men working there. When the beasts are half as strong as the rumors, we will suffer many casualties—and the Shuriman traders I talked to all confirmed their existence as well as their strength. The steel we were shown was recycled." He repeated what he had been able to gather.
Marcus stroke over his well-trimmed, short beard. "You have a solution for this situation?"
Talon nodded sharply, "The spy who figured this out will sell said information to other, lesser houses. We can let them weed themselves out." He placed his arm-blade next to the sofa he usually occupied. Another glance revealed Katarina's sparkling eyes, which was not always a good sign. This was definitely a better place for his arm-blade, close by and in reach.
A glimmer Talon could not quite place appeared in Marcus's eyes. He did not feel well about all this attention on him. Not well at all.
"Is there a reason you left a witness?" Marcus asked, much calmer than his daughters.
Talon pulled at his hood, lips thinning to a line. It had been his carelessness, after all, there was no beating around the bush. "First I underestimated her, and today I wanted information, so I couldn't stab her in surprise."
"Since when does that stop you?" Katarina taunted.
Calliope kicked her, which resulted in a dagger embedding itself between Calliope's head and Marcus' leg. "Do we have to pull every word out of your mouth?" Calliope asked, pulling the dagger out and throwing it back to Katarina. "I want to know everything, so spit it out."
Talon lifted his chin and summarized in short words what had happened, from the first meeting in a dark alley to the magic she surrounded herself with.
"My little brother got his first flower," Calliope summarized.
"An expensive one," Cassiopeia butted in.
"Get her by surprise!" Katarina barked, having jumped off her sofa.
"You need a valuable net of informants, Katarina." Marcus scolded lightly, which made her face redden even more.
"I'm older than you," Talon pointed out.
"Probably," Calliope smiled, ignoring the raging Katarina.
Talon followed suit, cracking his own small smile, "Most likely."
"That doesn't sound so much like a net as it does one single girl who tries to act important," Katarina hissed, slumping down at Marcus's stare.
"Time will tell," Marcus tried to appease all sides. "Talon will make sure of her demise as soon as she evolves into a threat."
Talon nodded confirmingly. He did not quite understand why there was a need to voice as much.
Cassiopeia decided to add another aspect to the discussion, "Right now we can look if another noble house wants to take the trading deal, maybe we'll weaken the forces of another family." She pointed out, her forked tongue darting out to test the air.
Marcus nodded with a pleased expression, "That is my girl." Cassiopeia smiled at the praise.
For the conversation seemed to be over, Talon took off his bladed cloak, grasped a bar of marzipan and melted into his position on the couch.
