As she went into Jadesei Syne's office for the second time, Leia didn't know whether to feel encouraged or not by the events of the past day. She was, to be sure, very relieved to see that crackdown on the BIL was accelerating. Thanks to a tip from a family member of a BIL operative, the cell that had conducted the terrorist attack on Lemurya had also been captured. Its leaders were being interrogated and its storehouses had been raided, once again yielding weapons of New Republic manufacture that matched those stolen from the Third Fleet by its regional quartermaster Aston Blake.

Blake's suicide was what unsettled Leia. The investigation team that scoured his apartment had found no personal records that might have told them to who he'd sold the weapons to. One of the captive BIL leaders had said that an independent arms dealer named Pedric Cuf had been delivering supplies, but they still had no clue as to whether this Cuf was working on his own or an agent for someone else.

She laid all of this out as best she could for Syne. The other woman sat at her desk, the Cephalia skyline lit up behind her, nodding sometimes. She gave no comment until Leia made it clear that she'd said everything.

"Thank you for keeping me informed," Syne began. "And thank you for letting my BSA investigators take the lead on this case."

"We're here to preserve Bavinyar's institutions, not undermine them."

Syne nodded, grateful. "The question is where we go from here."

"Has the BSA picked up any more leads on where Aviran Kolin is?"

"None. He seems to have gone to ground well before those rogue cells stages terrorist attacks." Her dark eyebrows drew together. "Several BIL leaders we've captured have insisted that Kolin was not behind the assassination of Pohl-Had-Narr either."

"Do you believe them?"

"I'm not sure what they have to gain by lying. What about this arms dealer, Pedric Cuf?"

"NRI is looking into him. From the initial reports, though, there doesn't seem to be anything to look into. He's not on their list of noted weapons dealers, but the galaxy is full of small-time operations selling guns."

"Do you think he sold the weapons that killed Pohl-Had-Narr?"

"If BSA's guess is right, he was killed with a Republic-made weapon. This Pedric Cuf could have easily sold it, too."

"So does that mean it was another rogue cell that did it?" Leia shook her head. "It doesn't sound like this Kolin was running a tight ship."

"Kolin has always been bigger on zeal than on practical details."

"Did you ever know the man?"

"Only slightly. He's about my age but he grew up with an exile group on the Outer Rim, far away from the war with the Empire. He never fought them."

"What turned him into the zealot he is now?"

"I'm not in the position to say. I only know that he was one of the first human settlers to return to Bavinyar. I believe he came from a relatively prominent farming family whose land was taken by the Cereans. I'm sure that's what started his anger."

Leia settled back in her chair and sighed. She couldn't deny that the story of Bavinyar's human exiles tugged at something inside her. Syne had asked her to image what it would feel like if she had the chance to go back to Alderaan again; just entertaining the thought filled her with an aching longing. She still couldn't imagine what it would be like to return to your long-lost home, only to find that someone else had claimed your house instead. It was one humili-ation piled on another, and she wasn't surprised that some of the exiles let their anger lead to violence.

Unsurprised, but still disappointed. None of that excused terrorism and assassination.

Leia asked, "If your do capture Kolin, do you think it will defuse these tensions? Or will it escalate them?"

"I understand the power of martyrs better than anyone and I don't intend to make Kolin one," Syne said firmly. "I still believe, despite all that's happened, that most humans and Cereans are perfectly willing to live side-by-side. The problem is firebrands like Kolin who make people feel like their backs are against the wall and encourage them to lash out."

"I hope you're right. What about the CPF?"

"Have you made any progress tracking the source of their weapons?"

"If we had, I'd have told you. Our people are still analyzing the recovery data from Intimidator, but there's a lot to go through and most of those computer cores are in bad condition."

"All right," Syne said with a small sigh. "If that's the case, we'll have to wait and hope our public action against the BIL will stay the CPF against and further reprisals."

"And if it doesn't?"

Syne's face was still but Leia could feel her consternation in the Force. "If it doesn't, the very Bavinyari institutions we both want to protect will be in jeopardy."

"I assure you, Prime Minister, I will do everything I can to preserve what Bavinyar has right now."

"I believe you, Princess. I just have the sinking feeling that our fates may be in someone else's hands."

-{}-

Iella was frankly very relieved when Asyr's next call came in the middle of the day, when her husband and daughters were all out of the apartment. Wedge had never asked about the call she'd gotten in the middle of the night, and best Iella could tell he'd forgotten all about it, which made her feel relieved and guilty at once. When Asyr had disappeared all those years ago to start a new life in the Bothan underground, Wedge had merely been a friend, and Iella had never imagined that she would one day have to weigh her promise to Asyr against her loyalty to Wedge.

"I tried to call at a better time," Asyr said, and once again her transmission came voice-only, without a holo.

"It's all right," Iella assured her, and began with a summary of everything that had happened in the last few days, including everything Feylis Ardele had told her about tracking down Aston Blake as the leak the NRDF quartermaster's office and Blake's suicide, which according to the coroners had taken place around six hours before Feylis and her husband had found the body.

"And they haven't been able to glean anything from his personal files?" Asyr asked, frustrated.

"I'm afraid not. We know he was receiving payments for every delivery he made disappear, but they've all been from secure bank accounts based on Muunlinst."

"Muunlinst? That's Remnant territory."

"I know. I understand Gavrisom sent a personal request to his Imperial counterpart to get the banks to relinquish the relevant files."

"That's curious, though, using banks based in the Remnant."

"It doesn't sound like something the BIL would have."

"Whoever paid Blake was probably another intermediary. We still don't know if Blake knew who his weapons were going toward."

"If he killed himself, he might have had some idea."

"He also might have done it because he knew Ardele- or somebody else- was getting close to him. Assuming he killed himself at all."

Iella frowned. "The coroners said it looked like a clear case."

"There are always beings out there who know how to fool the police."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"No. That's the frustrating part. There's layers and layers of deception to this. Somebody's trying to pull the strings on Bavinyar, some outside force, and we still have no idea who."

Iella considered, then said, "If Blake was paid by someone with an Imperial bank account, it probably wasn't Fey'lya."

There was a long, long pause over the comm line before Asyr finally said, "We don't know anything for sure. Like I said, there are layers and layers to all this."

"What do you plan to do now, Asyr?"

"I'll stay on Bavinyar for a while longer. My primary contact is pointing me to some people in local security force. They still don't know who killed Pohl-Had-Narr. Multiple BIL cell leaders they've captured all report that neither they nor the BIL leader, Kolin, ordered the killing."

"They would," Iella muttered.

"No. These are the same people who proudly claimed terrorist attacks on three other islands. They're not shy about killing people and at this point they're already in jail, so it's not ilke they'd be hiding from punishment. There's something else going on here. I think if I can find whoever killed Pohl-Had-Narr we can find whoever's been meddling here too."

"You think the person who's been feeding the flames is the same one who set the spark."

"Exactly."

Iella took a deep breath. "Asyr, you're getting deep into some very tricky, very dangerous situations."

"I've been in them before."

Iella knew she had no chance in talking Asyr into playing it safe; in the years since she'd last seen her, the Bothan woman had become cold and determined, without anything left to lose. It saddened her, but she didn't see anything she could do, especially now that Asyr was halfway across the galaxy.

"Just be careful," Iella said finally.

"If I need help, can I count on you?"

"I'll do anything I can."

"Good. I'll be in touch, Iella. Goodbye for now, and thank you for everything."

"Goodbye, Asyr."

As soon as Iella said it, the connection was cut from the other end. Iella stepped away from the comm console and sunk down into the sofa. She looked around her apartment's living room, around the quiet place she and Wedge and their children had made for themselves. Until the past few weeks it had seemed impossibly distant from all the espionage and scheming and conflict that had made up so much of their lives. Now she wondered if it would ever seem that way again.

-{}-

"Unfortunately," said Aryon Ven, "Unless the NRI can retrieve useful data from Aston Blake's personal belongings, we seem to have hit a dead end."

He tried not to show how tense he was as he stood before Harbin Kaice's desk. The BDF general sat there in his full pressed uniform, wounded arm in a white sling across his chest, brows furrowed in constern-ation. Since Kaice belonged to a different organization than the police officer, the general was technically not Ven's superior officer; however, the man's leathered fighting-nek face and martial bearing made him more intimidating than anyone in the BSA, and Ven had not been looking forward to making this report.

Kaice drummed heavy fingers on the tabletop before he asked, "Do you believe the NRI will share with you?"

Ven blinked. "They've been very forthcoming so far."

"No doubt they have." Kaice settled back in his chair.

"General, it's possible that we've uncovered all the links in the chain already. We know this Pedric Cuf figure delivered the weapons and we know Aston Blake was paid to slip them to the BIL. It's a short chain from Coruscant and Bavinyar, but totally possible."

Kaice raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready to stake your career on that supposition?"

"No," Ven admitted. "It's a long way from Coruscant to Bavinyar. It's possible Cuf might have directly received the weapons on the capital and flown them here, but if I were running a smuggling chain I'd like to add a few more links in, to make it harder to trace."

"My thoughts exactly. From what you can tell, does this Pedric Cuf seem like the kind of man to have a secret bank account in Imperial space?"

"Honestly, sir, I have no idea about Pedric Cuf at all, besides his name. Neither does Sham-Vi-Diin."

"Has the Republic requested the Empire hand over the information from the bank account?"

"It's more complicated than that," Ven said. He'd asked the same question to Tresk Im'nel only a few hours ago and repeated the answer as best he could now. "The bank on Muunilinst isn't government-owned. I understand the Chief of State has asked Pellaeon to put pressure on the bank to release that information, but in the end no one can legally make them disclose client information, especially not a foreign government. If the account was based on a Republic planet they could sent it to the courts, but there was no provision in the treaty that would let Coruscant sue an Imperial-based company."

"Probably why they paid out from it in the first place," grunted Kaice. "All right. Very well. I trust that you'll continue the investigation wherever it leads."

"Oh, yes, sir. Most definitely."

"All right. You may go now."

Ven was relieved to leave Kaice's office and relieved to get out of BDF headquarters in general. He was surprised to discover he felt more at home in BSA headquarters amongst all the Cereans than in the defense fleet's human staff.

When he returned, though, he found a Bothan waiting for him, and a Jedi no less. He'd spent a number of hours with Tresk Im'nel over the past few days, which was almost enough to make him forget that he'd never met any Bothans or any Jedi until then.

"Good afternoon, Detective," the Bothan spread his furry paws. "Back from BDF Headquarters?"

"General Kaice requested a briefing," Ven nodded. He wanted into his office and closed the door behind him, giving him privacy to speak with the Jedi. "Do you have any more news from Coruscant?"

"I'm afraid not. Our investigators haven't been able to find any communication or banks records in Blake's personal files."

Ven frowned. "Nothing at all?"

The Bothan shook his head.

"To be honest, Master Im'nel, that sounds a little hard to believe."

"I suspect the same thing, but NRI hasn't found any signs of foul play either."

Ven sighed. "We seem to be at an impasse."

"You may conclude that, but you'd be wrong." Im'nel planted his balled fists on the desktop. "Tell me, Detective, how badly do you want to find Pohl-Had-Narr's killers?"

Ven frowned. "Very badly, of course. It's my job. More than that, I'm a Bavinyari citizen. Someone killed my prime minister. Of course I want o see them brought to justice. Having Blake kill himself half the galaxy away… That's not justice. I can't believe that the end of it."

Im'nel's fur bristled slightly, though Ven had no idea what that meant from a Bothan. The Jedi bore his forward fangs and said, "I was hoping you'd say that. Detective, I hope you won't feel betrayed when I tell you that NRI has additional field agents on Bavinyar besides the ones you've met."

Ven frowned. A part of him felt he should feel betrayed; plenty of Bavinyari, humans and Cereans both, expressed umbrage that the Republic had sent as many people as it had to their world. At the same time, it would have been foolish to expect a massive intelligence organization like the NRI to only limit its involvement to a single hulking Hortek agent.

"Can these agents help us break out of this dead end?" he asked. It felt like the only question that mattered.

Im'nel kept baring his canines; there was a light in his eyes that made Ven wonder whether those teeth marked a Bothan smile. The Jedi said, "I have an agent I would like you to meet. In order to protect her operation I'd like you not to mention this to your co-workers or superiors, not yet."

That was something else that should have given Ven pause; instead he said, "If it helps us solve this case, Master Im'nel, I have no problem with that."

"Excellent." He placed a paw on the detective's shoulder. "I had a feeling I could count on you."

-{}-

It had been a while since Leonia Tavira had heard from the members of the Cerean Patriotic Front, and she was starting to wonder if that group hadn't gone to ground after its ill-timed attempt to assassinate Jadesei Syne. She'd frankly been hoping that the CPF would stage it own violent retaliation for the recent BIL terrorist attacks and felt disappointed when they didn't materialize.

She was, therefore, very encouraged when her Cerean contact Sar-Ekh-Marr sent an encrypted message requesting more weapons, along with a place and time for pickup.

From a practical standpoint, the CPF were better business partners than the BIL. All the equipment given to them was already stocked aboard Invidious after being salvaged from Intimidator years ago. She did not have to deal with the risk of pilfering material from NRDF stores, nor did she have to pay any treas-onous employees from her secure Muunlist accounts to get them in her possession. Selling to the CPF was simpler and more profitable; the only downside was that Sar-Ekh-Marr was, alas, not nearly as charming a business partner as Pedric Cuf.

When his corvette arrived and docked in Invidious' hangar bay, Tavira once more went down to meet him there, once more with Argriss and Grovlith behind her. The stern, black-bearded Cerean greeted her with a bow more perfunctory than polite and asked, "Is our shipment ready?"

"Of course. Is your ship prepared to receive?"

"It is."

Tavira raised a hand and snapped her fingers, and the crew behind her began to move two hovercarts loaded with weapon crates across the deck.

"You are of course free to inspect the merchandise," she said, "But you won't be leaving until I'm properly paid."

"Don't worry, we honor our agreements," Sar-Ekh-Marr said. She expected him to intercept the crates and begin picking them over before they even got aboard his ship, but instead he kept his eyes on Tavira and said, "I would also like to talk about another possible business arrangement, if we can speak in private."

She raised a black eyebrow. "I'm sure that can be arranged. I wish you'd told me in advance, though."

"Something came up suddenly," Sar-Ekh-Marr said, clearly reluctant to go into any more detail while Argriss and Grovlith were glowering down at him.

"Very well then," Tavira shrugged. "We can speak in my cabin, if you'd like."

"Your cabin will be fine."

Sar-Ekh-Marr signaled to two of his guards, and they followed behind him as Tavira, Grovlith, and Argriss marched down the ship's empty halls for her quarters. They made the journey in awkward, distrustful silence, but when they reached the entrance to her cabin Sar-Ekh-Marr's two guards remained in the hallway with Argriss and Grovlith, where they'd no doubt all eye each other suspiciously while they bosses engaged in conversation.

Once they stepped inside, Tavira gave Sar-Ekh-Marr a moment to stare all around the room and take in the smattering of spoils from twenty years of piracy. Smiling pleasantly, she moved for the liquor cabinet and asked, "Would you like a drink?"

The Cerean blinked, then nodded. "Something small."

"Very well." Tavira turned her back on him long enough to take a bottle of lomin-ale from her cabinet and pour two slim glasses. When she turned around he was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. She couldn't help but be amused; the zealous terrorist was probably unused to the finer things in life, devoted as he was to his foolish cause. Pedric Cuf, terrorist or no, was at least capable of appreciating a little luxury. Tavira found herself rather missing the operative.

Tavira handed Sar-Ekh-Marr a glass and gestured to the sofa across from the holo-projector. "Please, sit down."

As the Cerean took a seat she used her free hand to unzip her jacket all the way. Sar-Ekh-Marr stared for a second at what little was on underneath, then took a sip of lomin-ale.

"I want you to know that I value good business partners," Tavira said as she sat down next to him and crossed one long leg over the other, boot-tip pointed toward him. "I also want you to know that I've estab-lished a very diverse network of them over the years. If there's anything you need, anything at all, I promise I can get it for you."

Sar-Ekh-Marr nodded, still very serious. "We will not win Bavinyar until we've expelled the humans."

"That will be quite a feat. How do you plan to accomplish it?"

"Prime Minister Syne must be removed and the BIL must be destroyed. And once that is done, the New Republic will withdraw all claims to the planet."

"As I said, that will be quite a feat. How?"

"The weapons you've given us will be the first step. We will force Syne to stand down from office."

"If Syne goes it might prompt a martial coup by the BDF, and that will prompt a New Republic intervention. How do you propose to deal with that?"

"We can make the BDF serve us."

Tavira raised an eyebrow, but he explained no more. The BDF warships could never fight off a Republic task force, and they'd certainly never fight to protect a Cerean government, not when most of the crew was human and, Tavira suspected, at least covertly sympathetic with the BIL.

"That being said, we could always use more fire-power," Sar-Ekh-Marr said. "That's why Palt-Ri-Gen, our leader, sent me here to discuss the possibility of hiring your services."

She stared. "Do you mean Invidious?"

He nodded, almost timidly, like he expected her to laugh in his face. She certainly felt like it. The idea of intentionally pitting her old undermanned destroyer against a Republic task force was beyond absurd.

Still, she had enough business sense to hold in her incredulity. As coolly as she could she said, "That's a very tall order. I'm not even sure this one ship would be any good. It shames me to admit this, but Inividious is not the fine fighting ship she once was."

"If the Republic wants to retake Bavinyar by force they can. We need to deter them from even making the attempt."

Apparently Palt-Ri-Gen wasn't a total fool after all. "This is a large gamble. I've been many things, but never a gambler. I should also remind you that the Republic wants this ship. The Republic wants me. If I were to place Invidious at Bavinyar it might make them more inclined to launch and offensive, not less. If you really want to deter intervention, you have to play politics."

Sar-Ekh-Marr's face was hard to read. The BIL and Pedric Cuf knew that the Republic was a mess of internal divisions and had clearly timed Pohl-Had-Narr's assassination to cause maximum chaos. The CPF, it seemed, had yet to learn how to play the game too.

"I won't turn down your offer right now," Tavira said, though he had every intention to do so eventually. "I am, however, willing to aid your cause in any other way I can. Providing, of course, I get proper remuner-ation."

"That won't be a problem," the Cerean said stiffly. "And as it happens, there are other ways Palt-Ri-Gen believes you can help us."

She tilted her head and waited for him to continue.

Sar-Ekh-Marr took another sip of lomin-ale, nearly finishing his glass, and said, "We are in need of information."

"Information is something I can do. Go on."

"We have allies within the Bavinyar Security Agency that have been passing on details about their investigation into the BIL. They've discovered that the terrorists have been using weapons from the New Republic military."

"Oh, my." Tavira had to conceal a smile. "Are you saying the Republic is in league with the human separatists?"

"We're not sure," Sar-Ekh-Marr glowered. "We've also learned the identity of the smuggler who's been shipping those weapons to Bavinyar in the first place."

She stared at him and tried to hold in her shock. He'd been stony and polite so far and if he had any idea that Invidious was also supplying the BIL she would have seen signs of it so far.

She had no weapon on her person. There was a hold-out blaster in the cabinet across the room, and if she had to she could spring for it, but even if she threw her lomin-ale in the Cerean's face he'd still outdraw her.

Leonia Tavira was unaccustomed to feeling trapped.

She licked her lips and said, "Do you want me to try and track down this smuggler?"

"You have contacts in many places, as you said. You have a longer reach than us." He gestured to the room, indicating the whole ship. "If you can find him and capture him, or even kill him to stop the shipments, we would pay you for it."

Him, the Cerean kept saying. Tavira hid her confusion with a smile. "That's a job I'd be perfectly happy to take on. What's the name of this smuggler?"

"A human by the name of Pedric Cuf."

She blinked. "Pedric Cuf? I see. And what do you know about him?"

"Not much. Only that he comes from offworld to deliver the shipments. Apparently he never stays long on Bavinyar."

"I see." She bent her head down and sipped lomin-ale to hide her confusion. The Pedric Cuf that she knew had come to her as a representative of the BIL; he'd even claimed to be one of Aviran Kolin's closest allies. None of his behavior had caused her to question that.

She looked back at Sar-Ekh-Marr. "Tell me, do you know who his contact is in the BIL? Who does he work with?"

"I'm not sure, but apparently multiple captured BIL cell leaders have reported that Pedric Cuf is the man who provides shipments."

"I see. And I don't suppose he's on Bavinyar now?"

Sar-Ekh-Marr frowned. "I suppose he could be, but I doubt it. With the crackdown on the BIL he's probably flown off somewhere else. Like I said, he only comes to Bavinyar for weapon drops."

"I see," she repeated. "Do you have any clue as to what kind of ship he flies?"

"One of the sources said he flies an Action IV freighter."

That sounded very much like the Pedric Cuf she knew; very much, yet not at all. She took her last drink of lomin-ale and said with a smile, "I promise I will look into this Pedric Cuf for you. If I can, I'll capture him for you myself."

"Thank you," Sar-Ekh-Marr bowed his head. "If you can capture him for us, and learn where he's getting those weapons, we will make it worth your while."

It took another two hours for the Cerean to lead their cargo, review it, and finally pay for it. Tavira spent most of that time silently running through all manner of option in her head, and when their corvette finally dropped out of Invidious' hangar and jumped to hyperspace, she immediately made her way up to the command deck and placed a call on Pedric Cuf's encrypted personal channel.

A part of her was expecting him not to answer at all, but after a minute-and-a-half wait, he finally did. His pale blue holo-image projected to life before her and said, "It's always a pleasure to see you, Admiral Tavira but I have to say I'm surprised by the call."

"There's no reason to be alarmed," she smiled sweetly. "I wanted to check on your safety."

"Really? That's very charming," Pedric smiled back. "However, I'm sure you have another reason."

"No, your safety is my concern right now. As you know, I have sources in the New Republic intelligence machine. They've slipped me some information that the BSA has been sharing with them."

"Go on."

"They've named you, Pedric. The Republic has appointed agents with your capture being their primary goal."

"Me? In what capacity?"

"I'm not privy to that. I only know that you've been marked as a special target, along with Kolin." She paused and tried to read his holographic face, but all she saw was mild concern. "You and Kolin aren't together now, are you?"

"No," he shook his head, "We've split up at the moment."

"That's good. Are you still on Bavinyar?"

"I'm safe," he insisted.

"On Bavinyar?"

"Yes. Why? Are you offering a place of refuge?"

How kind of him to offer the idea. "I might offer one, for a price."

Pedric snorted. "Mercenary to the last, aren't you, Admiral?"

"Of course. But you should remember that the Republic has wanted me for the better part of twenty years. If I am safe on Invidious, so are you."

"And your offer… Does it count for other BIL leaders as well?"

That was an interesting offer and she wasn't sure what to make of it, other than that Sarr-Ekh-Marr would be pleased. "It will affect my fee, but yes."

"All right. I'll consider that. But for now, I have a duty here. All of us do."

"I understand. For what it's worth, Pedric, good luck. You sound as though you'll need it."

"Thank you, Admiral Tavira. Is that all?"

"For now, yes."

"All right. We will speak again, I hope."

"I hope so as well. Goodbye, Pedric."

She turned off the holo and for a long moment stood in silence on the bridge. She heard Osvkarek clear his throat behind her and spun back on the Trandoshan.

"Captain," she said, "Can we trace the other end of that call?"

"Of course." Oskvarek moved over to the comm console. "It says the receiver was located on Bavinyar."

"And you're certain?"

"Yes. It's possible he was using a relay to transmit his stream to a second location, all the data we received did come from Bavinyar."

Tavira scowled and began to pace the bridge. Oskvarek asked, "What is it, Admiral?"

"I'm not sure yet. That's the problem."

It was always possible the CPF simply got bad information about Pedric Cuf, but she doubted that. She realized now that she'd been foolish, taking Pedric's word that he was on Kolin's right-hand when he might have been running an independent job. He might have simply been inserting himself as another middle chain in the supply link for the sake of profit, but if that was all, he'd have no reason to be on Bavinyar right now. He'd certainly have no reason to stay on Bavinyar even after Tavira warned him the Republic was after him, not after she'd offered him shelter.

Assuming he was on Bavinyar. Assuming he trusted Tavira to give him shelter.

Right now, assumptions were all Tavira had to go on.

"It's too much Captain," she muttered. "Too much we don't know."

The Trandoshan, who knew nothing of her conver-sation with Sar-Ekh-Marr, was even more confused. "What should we do now?"

"For now?" She stopped pacing. "We wait. And hope Pedric Cuf needs our help."

That was the best option, she thought. If Pedric Cuf came aboard she'd find out what game he was really running, even if she had to use torture, and in the end she'd probably hand his corpse over to the Cereans for whatever fee should could wrangle from them. She'd always liked the man; she'd found him charming and attractive and intelligent and admirably ruthless. She saw now that she'd let her guard down, and for that alone, Pedric deserved whatever ugly fate she could give him.

As for Oskvarek, he didn't understand any of it, but he nodded anyway.