Julia
So far not many men had come into the dining room and the ones that were eating were not to my taste. I needed someone who was malleable and none of these looked the type. Most of them were war veterans and would be difficult to bend to my will without a lot of work. I sighed. So far all my plans were flowing down the river and I hated to thwarted in any way. I was just about ready to leave when a man walked through the door. He was young looking and well built. He wasn't classically handsome, but not bad looking either. He was well dressed and best of all, he was alone. He glanced over at me and blushed when I smiled at him. Oh yes, he would be perfect.
I stood up and walked over to his table. He had picked up a menu and was using it as a shield. I laughed inside. This was going even better than I thought. I sat down at his table and smiled at him. He blushed furiously and swallowed convulsively and I rather thought he might break out into a sweat. In my sweetest voice I asked him his name. He told me still blushing to the roots of his hair. My eyes sparkled with anticipation as I told him my name. I began to ask him questions, smiling demurely all the time. Men usually don't know that they are being pumped for information, but this young one was very guarded in his responses. He didn't elaborate or try to impress me at all.
I guessed he must either be painfully shy or had some secret he supposed must be kept. Well I cared not for any of his secrets and shy men are easily manipulated. I tried to draw him out with murmurs of interest but that got me nowhere. A waitress came over and interrupted my attempts to illicit information. Inside I gritted my teeth. How dare she! Mordrath finally asked me if I had eaten and I replied that I had not. He ordered dinner and indicated I should as well. I smiled at him again and he blushed.
I finally decided I was going to have to make small talk to keep up the conversation. I told him a story about my having lost a valuable trinket. I said that I had heard that there was an assassin who took private jobs and was good at finding lost things. "But I cannot seem to find him," I sighed. "It is difficult to get around here as a human." I gave him my most helpless look. He shifted uncomfortably. "I wonder if you could help me? I am afraid to ask any of these others. They look so fierce and battle weary that I am afraid they might hurt me or dismiss me out of hand."
I reached out and gently touched his hand. He blushed and turned away to glance around the room. I leaned back. He was not acting like I thought he would and this was puzzling. Before I could give it any more thought, he turned back to me and asked, "What's this assassin's name?" "Madrion," I murmured. At that name he jerked back as if he had been slapped. His face hardened and he drew in a hissed breath. He got up abruptly and went over to the bar. There was some muted conversation of which I could hear very little, then he came back to me.
I cocked my head at him and smiled timidly. He hadn't lost that hardened look on his face and for the first time in my life, I thought I might have just misjudged a man. He said, "He's not living in Pernon at the moment. His house was burned down, so he is staying in Pandemonium." He shrugged. "That's why you can't find him." "Oh dear, how terrible. But what am I going to do?" Inside I was fuming. Six weeks wasted in this crappy little village. Humans can't go to Pandemonium unless they can convince the shugos to take them on an airship and the trip would be expensive. Damn! Somehow I was going to have to convince this daeva to go to Pandemonium for me. Just then our food arrived and I had no further chance to talk. He ate quickly then stood up. "I'll see what I can do about contacting him for you." And with that he walked out paying the waitress on the way.
I was left sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I wanted to run after him and claw his eyes out for leaving me sitting here like an idiot. But that would create a scene and I must not be delayed in my purpose any longer. So I sat there and watched him stride off towards the inn. I was so focused on him that it took me a few moments to realize one of my guards was trying to get my attention. I gave up the pretense of eating and threw my fork down on the plate and left. I met the guard outside.
He was watching Mordrath walk off. "What is it!?" I snapped at him. He nodded towards Mordrath. Looks like the commander sent help. I glared at him in disbelief. He saw my look and looked down. I hissed, "do you know him?!" "I've seen him a couple of times doing prisoner transports. He's based out of Halabana." I ground my teeth. I could have sworn he was a daeva. Just what I didn't need was more interference. Well, I was going to have to dispose of him, but first I might just get some use out of him. "Keep an eye on him and don't let him catch you at it! If he's one of us, he'll be good at surveillance." I stalked off to my room to think about this new wrinkle.
To be continued…