A/N: First of all words in itallics are Surreal thinking, Surreal is the only one who's thoughts you will get to read until man pops up after which they will be the only characetrs whose thoughts you will have access to (unless I specifically specify otherwise). ANd second of all words in ** are sent thoughts (not an issue now but it will crop up later).
The Contract
Chapter 2
Lord Haledon Geltanor was an oily little man. Dressed in the richest materials available in any market with bunches of white lace at his wrists and throat, he eyed her hungrily despite her own casual attire. He raised his hand to slick back his shiny black hair, even though it was already plastered to his skull with cream. She had to resist the urge to laugh out loud when his lace fell in his face, totally destroying the debonair image he was trying to project. She managed to turn her sneering grin into a lightly seductive smile before his black eyes reappeared from behind the white curtain hanging from his sleeves. He readjusted his jacket as casually as possible for such a fussy little man before addressing her.
"Lady, I was of the impression that women in your line of work would wear more… alluring clothing. Although I admit the rather rumpled tomboy look is surprisingly appealing, it isn't the appearance I normally go for."
"Lord, I was of the impression that the men of your caste wouldn't notice how their employees dressed. Although I admit I'm not surprised that you would want to take out a contract on someone, I am surprised that you could even think I would mix business with business." She bared her teeth in a sharp smile, allowing psychic tendrils of seduction to embrace him as she spoke, taking the edge off of her words and causing his eyes to glaze with need. Stupid fop, I should kill your pansy ass just for the really bad taste in clothes. Latest style or not that outfit makes you look like a greased plucked chicken trimmed in frills.
He stared at her for a minute trying to comprehend her words before his gaze cleared a bit and he cleared his throat before speaking to remind her, "I paid for a night with you Lady."
"You paid for a meeting with one of the best assassins in the business. Most people don't even make it this far. Besides I find that it tends to strain relationships to sleep with someone who I know knows I might be hired to one day kill him. Don't you agree?" She decreased the seductive feel in the air a little before pouring them both a little wine into the raven glass goblets, raising her brow inquiringly. "Of course some people find the danger of such an encounter… exciting," her voice changed, becoming a breathless invitation. Invisible hands stroked Haledon's shoulders; sliding caressingly down his chest, lower, abruptly disappearing before reaching his lap, and more importantly his throbbing organ. He shifted uncomfortably, tried to cover himself with the ends of his short jacket.
"I have to tell you now though, I expect payment for all of my efforts up front. Now we should get our first business out of the way before we can fully appreciate the potential of the second… more pleasurable business we might discuss."
"Oh yes." His eyes were completely clear once more, now that she spoke with a cool professional interest and was no longer even allowing any tendrils loose. "The job. I want to hire you to take care of a little problem for me." Do tell, she thought sardonically picking a steak from the platter and putting it on her plate.
"Such as?" She asked with a mild interest, appearing to focus more on the steak she had ordered for them than in what he was saying, which she actually was since she hadn't eaten all day. She knew better than to go without food since she wore the gray, but she hadn't found the time.
"There is a certain warlord prince whose activities are interfering with a deal I have painstakingly ironed out with an associate of mine. I want this interference removed as I have a vested interest in seeing that everything go strictly as planned." He paused to take a sip of the wine she had poured and dab at his lips with a scented handkerchief. Mother Night! Even his handkerchief is lacy! What a little- She cut her thoughts short abruptly when he continued talking.
"Of course we would like for this little problem to be solved as quickly as possible, but two months from now is the absolute latest that we can risk having alive to interfere."
"Yes, this is all very fascinating, but were you planning on giving me a name? A territory? An occupation? Any kind of description? Any useful information period? I don't particularly care why you want him dead but you do realize that I need to know who it is that I'm supposed to be targeting don't you?"
"Yes of course. However, there's a slight problem." He self-consciously cleared his throat, "You see we don't know who he is or what he looks like."
"You don't know who he is or what he looks like and you expect me to find out who he is and get close enough to kill him in under two months," Surreal stated flatly, making sure she had understood the situation correctly.
"Yes, that's it exactly!" he said pleased that she had taken it so well, completely missing the veiled sarcasm in her unfriendly tone.
"Do you at least know what area general area he's living in?" she asked exasperated.
"Dhemlan." Dhemlan? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Dhemlan one of the few remaining territories that had enough people willing to defy Dorothea enough to not be considered under Hayll's control? And who is your 'business associate', like I can't figure that out.
"50,000 gold marks, 25 of it up front."
"WHAT?! That's outrageous!" the foppish little man excalimed, scandalized at the thought of paring with that much money.
"You're expecting me to waste my time tracking someone down, there's the opportunity cost of however many weeks that I go without doing my regular work. That's the 25,000. 5, 000 is my basic fee just for accepting. Then there's the price of any equipment, props, food, clothing, disguises, etcetera that I might need to kill him in such a manner that it can't be linked back to me, and subsequently you. That's 10, 000 there. 10,000 to drop out of site for a bit afterward. Altogether 50,000 gold marks. Trust me darling with a setup like you've just described you're getting a good deal. Most of my colleagues wouldn't be confident enough in their own abilities to even agree to attempt it, let alone attempt to do so within 2 months. And let's look at what it will cost you to have all your plans ruined at this point."
"You have a point. However I'm sure you can come down to a more reasonable price?" He dabbed at his lips again.
"Yes I do have a point and no I can't come down to a price you deem reasonable. I'm the one who's going to be risking my ass in a territory not controlled by Hayll, meaning the Queen's keep a tighter control on their people and strangers are paid closer attention to. Sugar this will apply especially to me since I'm also a well known whore."
"Then perhaps I should take my offer somewhere else," he said frowning at the black haired beauty sitting in front of him, appearing uncaring that he was insulting her skills with his suggestion.
In fact she just shrugged and smiled at him before drawling, "And who, pray tell, are you going to get to do it once word gets around that I can't do it? Really sugar, I'm the best there is, with the sole exception of one man in the entire realm."
"Oh and who's that?" the Lord Haledon asked. He hadn't heard of anyone else that was better.
"His skills aren't for hire sugar," she laughed lightly, "And he's even more… selective in choosing his victims than I am." He appeared to consider her words for a bit. She saw it in his widening eyes when he finally realized just whom it was she was referring to.
"Very well, 25,000 gold marks in advance," he agreed reluctantly, "the rest on delivery. But," he paused to allow his eyes to openly roam over her generously curved figure, "I also get the night I paid for."
Greedy fool. But this will give me a chance to figure out what this is really all about. Dhemlan isn't in Hayll's shadow true, but I wonder how much this has to do with remedying that? And if I don't like it… well I'll have gained 25,000 gold marks for nothing now won't I have? She placed her knife and fork down on her plate and stood up slowly, the laces on her shirt conveniently loosening, allowing her billowy-sleeved shirt to slip down her shoulders a bit giving him a tantalizing view of skin. Slavering baboon. "Well my Lord Geltanor, it looks like we have us a deal," she purred throatily.
A/N: You might check out Raksha'a fics, not just her DJT fic but her DBZ one as well. And of course there's the lighter, and (sadly enough) slightly true Dark Fools that you might like if you find all of the Dark Jewels stories are getting a bit heavy or angsty for you. It's the only one listed under humor under Dark Jewels, a really easy to find one k? Lol.
Another A/N: Since this question has cropped up a couple of times Lucivar actually will be making an appearance later, but he really won't be in it long. Sorry, but I'm writing this one sprecifically because once Raksha'a sis asked for anyone to write a Surreal fic and the story just kind of started writing itself in my head and I had to get it out or go madly insane!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Thanks for Reviews*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lady Grimms: Glad you like Surreal since she's going to be one of the only characters whose thoughts you have complete access to. With the sole exception of the someone 'random and sexy'. Thanks for the review!
Grimsister: Again thanks for your useless but interesting advice on a title. Lol, I'm not sure what I would do without you threatening my cat and other belongings to make up for the monotony of my life! I'm sure you'll like his personality, I'm telling you he does actually have one, it's just he's a male so he's hard to play when I have easier characters to manage. Easier characters to manage... with our group, that doesn't sound quite right does it? o_O I'm going to shut up now.
Starlight: Lucivar will be making an appearance later on. It wouldn't be a very long one, but it'll be a kind of important one if that is any consolation. Also I will make an extra effort to make his visit very memorable when he does.Thanks for the review though.
Elektra: After the Invisible Ring, but not much. There are necessarily a few Terreillian territories not yet under Dorothea's thumb in my story. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you think my Surreal is a lot like the her in the series. Let's just hope I've continued keeping her in character in this one, huh? Thanks again.
Jasmine Shinga: Sorry you had to wait so long, I usually try for a chapter or so a day, but this isn't my main fic so it only gets updated when I'm not working on my other one. Hope you liked it.
Raksha:Yes it's pre QoD and no I don't use hypnotic waves. *Good ideeeaaa though, Oh Lucivar, come here my precious baby. How would you like to help mommy build a machine that creates hypnotic waves to help attract readers, and then you can use it to overwhelm the world and crush it under your iron paw. What do you say my widdle baby? Lol!* No seriously though, thanks for the reviews Dark sisters and the winds blow pleasant visions your way. (again, don't ask O_O)