Here in my empire, that you do not remember

Your hands do not toil

Your eyes do not see

Your ears do not listen

Chaos reigns

And your hands cannot toil

And your eyes cannot see

And your ears cannot listen

But I will return, and my crusade will bring order to the land

And through war your hands will toil

And through war your eyes will see

And through war your ears will listen

I shall return

And the world will toil

And the world will see

And the world will listen

And that world will cease to be

My world will remain

Mercer awoke tied to a chair in a small room. In front of him was a table, and a chair was opposite to him. After a few minutes, two guards walked into the room with a young woman. They forced her to sit in the chair across the table from Mercer. The woman's hands were bound, and her face was bloodied and bruised. The woman didn't look at the guards at all. She didn't turn her head when they left the room, and she didn't look up at Courtney either. When her eyes fell on Mercer, her expression eased and her lips curled into a soft smile. Mercer couldn't bring himself to do anything but stare. The woman in front of him was a spitting image of a woman he had once called an ally, but a woman he hadn't seen in thirty years. She had the same long, red hair, and the same red eyes. She had the same face. She had the same body. The same soft smile. It was like a clone. Mercer could see bits of Lissa in Ophelia, and Olivia in Soleil, but this woman was like an exact copy. There were only minor differences to show that this was a different woman, and not a figment of Mercer's imagination. In her eyes was a determination, whereas the woman she resembled so much had a gloom, a sadness in her eyes at times. The woman in front of Mercer also stared intently at him, whereas the woman she reminded Mercer of never really looked right at him. She would always dart her eyes away or become very flustered, and Mercer had always wondered if he'd done something to wrong her without knowing it. On the off chance that this woman in front of him wasn't part of some cruel illusion, Mercer had to speak up.

"C-Cordelia?"

The young woman's smile grew wider, and it seemed like she was trying to be reassuring. She was trying to silently tell him that her injuries weren't bad. "My maternal grandmother, yes."

"Caeldori."

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Chrom. I wish it could be under more favorable circumstances. Tiki has told us so much about you. I suppose you came here to free me?"

"We were looking for you but… we were captured."

Caeldori studied Mercer and slowly nodded her head. "Good job."

"Now isn't this nice." Courtney said as he walked to the table. "Now I'm sure you're wondering why I've brought you both here." Courtney drew an elthunder tome and slammed it on the table. "This is an elthunder tome. It was made by Plegian mages for one purpose. The same purpose all tomes are made for. They ain't made for training. They ain't made for killing beasts. No. Tomes are made for one reason, and for thousands of years they've been made for that reason. They're made to kill people."

"I appreciate the history lesson." Caeldori responded dryly. Courtney put his mask very close to her head, but Caeldori didn't turn to look at him.

"I'd watch what you say, girl. Altman don't need you breathing no more."

"What did you do to her?" Mercer growled. Courtney just laughed.

"I didn't do anything to her. The other inmates must have thought her face was too pretty. They roughed her up and told us she'd been planning some kind of escape. I was told to make an example of her, but that'd be kind of pointless. The inmates don't like her, so they wouldn't be affected by her death. I know someone who would be affected by anything I do to her though, so I thought I'd take her to see him. Now you two are going to play a game."

"What kind of game?" Mercer responded in a menacing tone. Mercer's defiance just made Courtney laugh even harder.

"It's called roulette, but it ain't the kind you'd play in gambling. This game is called Plegian Roulette. It takes a tome and two idiots." Courtney slammed his hand on the elthunder tome. "This is the tome. You're the two idiots. Do you know how tomes work, boy?" Mercer didn't answer. Courtney got uncomfortably close to him. "Only certain pages in a tome will generate magical attacks. Mages can't flip through their tomes in the heat of battle, so they're taught to be able to open the tome right to the page they need. I'm not going to do that though. I'm going to open to a random page, and then I'm going to point my arm at you. If I'm on a page that will generate a magical attack, then you get a lightning bolt in the face. If I'm not, then I'll point my arm at the other person and flip the page. I'll do this until I finally reach a page that generates a magical attack." Courtney opened the tome to the middle of the book and raised his arm at Mercer. "You first."

Courtney forced Mercer and Caeldori to play his "game" for almost twenty minutes. Page after page he would point his arm at Mercer, then Caeldori, then Mercer, then Caeldori, over and over, page after page after page. The suspense was the worst part. Mercer wasn't even sure if it was a real tome, but a part of him was still afraid. He was stuck in a horrible state where part of him wanted something to happen just to find out if the tome was real or not, and the rest of him was telling that part of him that he was crazy. Every time Courtney pointed his arm at Mercer, he tensed up in fear. Every time Courtney pointed his arm at Caeldori, Mercer was overwhelmed by an even worse terror that she would be hit. The thought of Caeldori being hurt was unbearable to Mercer. He wasn't sure if it was because she meant so much to Ophelia and Soleil, or because she reminded him so much of Cordelia, or because Ophelia was right and Mercer cared about other people far more than he wanted to admit, but Mercer absolutely could not stand the the thought of her being killed. Caeldori herself was calm throughout everything. She only occasionally darted her eyes towards Courtney. For the most part she looked into Mercer's eyes and gave him a calm expression. Mercer himself was breaking.

"STOP! GODS! STOP IT!"

"That's not how the game works! We're going to keep playing until one of you gets a lightning bolt in the face."

"I know you hate me, Courtney, but please don't hurt her! Whatever you're going to do, just do it to me! Caeldori hasn't done anything to you!"

"Well that's not entirely true. Cordelia Jr. here has killed forty seven Grimleal agents over the past five years. She's quite the angel of death."

Caeldori gave a cheeky smile. "Well I try." Courtney grabbed the back of her head and slammed it on the table.

"That's real funny girl, but I'd watch what I say if I were you. Your name might as well be dirt. I can do anything I want to you. I'm so far above you that I could defecate on you and it would feel as if a divine dragon itself had crapped on you."

Caeldori refused to show any fear. "Well that's… quite the mental image."

"LET HER GO!"

Courtney chuckled. "Oh she'll be a Pegasus Knight shaped splat on the ground when I'm done with her." Courtney got very close to Mercer. "But that's nothing compared to what I'll do to you."

"Enough of this!"

Everyone turned to find a man wearing both robes and armor standing in the doorway, a large glaive in his hand. Mercer didn't know him, but Courtney and Caeldori recognized him as an Inquisitor. "Altman." Courtney snarled. "Nothing better to do than ruin my work?"

"Don't threaten them, Courtney. Aversa needs them alive."

"This is my operation. I'm the Lord Lieutenant of this sector."

"You were, but you couldn't keep Chrom from killing your lieutenants. You lost your power base. You're still useful as a brute, but you have no power anymore. I am in charge of this operation."

Courtney stepped close to Altman and tried to look down on him. "Listen here, you Plegian loitersack. I-"

"First correction, I am Ylissean. Second, I report directly to High Inquisitor Aversa. Do you want to earn her ire? You mean nothing to the emperor, Courtney. He will not stand up to Aversa if she wants your head. Do as I say." Courtney continued to stand menacingly, but he didn't say anything else. Altman nodded to the door. "Now get out." Courtney walked over to Caeldori and slammed her head on the desk again out of spite before departing. Altman sighed and stood over Caeldori and Mercer. He didn't try to intimidate them. He just stood with a very straight posture, as if he were a servant waiting to be acknowledged. He patiently waited for Caeldori to recover before speaking. "Hello, Chrom. My name is Altman. I am an Inquisitor in service to High Inquisitor Aversa. It's my understanding that you two know each other?"

"Oh we know each other." Mercer said dryly.

"She is very interested in seeing you again after all these years. You will be transferred to High Point."

"High Point?"

"The capital of the Grimleal."

"I thought Gangrel set himself up in my family's palace?"

Altman almost smiled. "Yes, but that is not the capital. The true center of the Grimleal is far beyond that pathetic stone blight. A shell of the old world. Anyways, you will be kept here until we can transfer you."

"What about me?" Caeldori asked.

"You'll be kept here for the rest of your natural life."

Caeldori looked back to Mercer. "We'll see."

Mercer could barely contain his growing rage. "Where are Ophelia and Soleil?"

"You mean Prisoner #3291 and Prisoner #3292? They will also be here until the end of their natural lives."

"If you've done anything to harm them-"

A number of heavily armed guards appeared behind Altman. "This exchange is over."

Mercer was separated from Caeldori and tied to yet another chair. There he was held still as a man forcibly tattooed him. The tattoo was four numbers in black print. 3293. It was tattooed right beneath his Mark of Naga. Mercer was still screaming from the pain of the jagged needle when the guards ripped him from the chair and threw him into the prison courtyard. There he found Soleil and Ophelia waiting for him. They looked drowsy and barely conscious. They too had identification tattoos on their arms.

"W-what did they do to you?!"

"Oh hey, Mercer." Soleil groaned. "Did you get older and more squint eyed than the last time we saw you?"

"Huh?"

Ophelia rubbed her hand on her face and moaned. "They tortured us, Mercer. That robed man. Alderman, or Oldman, or Ladiesman, or whatever his name was. He made us drink something, then he electrocuted us. Over and over. Then… then he… let's just say he took fluids from us."

"Gods!"

"Are we going to die here?"

"No! No, no." Mercer couldn't bring himself to look confident. He was hurt and tired, and he was really terrified. Being killed by a mob of angry townspeople seemed tame by comparison. "No. We're… we're going to be fine."

Ophelia looked into Mercer's eyes. When he couldn't give her a genuinely reassuring look, she quickly darted her eyes away. Her lip quivered and her breathing became irregular, but then she noticed something behind Mercer. Her face lit up, and she became happier than Mercer had ever seen her. "C-Caeldy?!"

Mercer turned around to see Caeldori, and for the first time since he'd seen her, her stoic look disappeared. Instead a look of pure glee took her. "Phelia!" The two ran up and embraced each other, happily rocking each other back and forth.

"Oh, Caeldori! You're safe! You're saaafe!"

"I missed you so much, Ophelia!" The two looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear. "It's so good to see you!" Caeldori and Ophelia went back to hugging each other for a few seconds before Caeldori noticed Soleil. Caeldori's smile didn't disappear entirely, but her excitement definitely faded. "Soleil." She said in a flat tone.

"Caeldori." The two approached each other, but they made sure there was space between them. "I'm glad to see that you aren't dead."

Caeldori's smile became more obviously feigned. "I'm glad to see your constant pursuit of women and cheap thrills hasn't left you a stuttering wreck."

"... why did we come back for you again?"

"Come back for me? Don't tell me you call this a rescue?"

"Don't tell me a Pegasus Knight needs other people to be her cavalry."

Mercer stepped closer to Ophelia. "Is there… is there something going on here?"

"Oh they butt heads, but they like each other deep down."

Caeldori glanced around. "Actually, I have been working on a plan to escape."

Soleil shook her head. "No! You can't honestly expect us to believe that. Admit it. This time little miss perfect is as helpless as the rest of us."

"Just because my level of planning is beyond your capacity, that doesn't mean that you have to respond with such ignorance. I've been planning an escape since the moment I was taken here."

"Why can't you just admit that you need our help?!"

"You could be as prepared for these kinds of situations as I am if your desire for real discipline was as strong as your desire for anything in a skirt."

"You know what, why don't you just-" Caeldori shoved Soleil to stagger her, and then maneuvered behind her. She wrapped one arm around her neck, and used her other arm to grab Soleil's arm and bend it behind her. Soleil tried to squirm free, but Caeldori held her. "Gah! Let me go you crazy-"

"Ooh. So the mercenary thinks herself an upstart does she? Think you can take me? Have to assert your dominance? Feel good about yourself now?"

"Stop! Aagh! Why is this arousing?!"

Mercer stepped forward, but Ophelia stuck her arm out. "They're just playing! They're fine."

"I take it those two don't always get along."

Ophelia smiled sheepishly. "They're fine."

Soleil struggled harder, but Caeldori only tightened her grip. "This isn't funny!"

"You going to run your mouth, or are you going to let me talk? We don't have unlimited time. Chrom will be transferred to High Point soon."

"I'm sorry I tried to share my opinion." Soleil said sarcastically. "I'm sorry you're such a controlling stick in the mud!"

"That's the best I'll get isn't it?"

"Yeah." Caeldori let Soleil go, and she scurried to Ophelia's side. "Nice to see you too, Caeldori." Soleil muttered. "Thanks for reminding me how nice it was when we thought you were Tunneler food."

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm? I didn't say anything."

Caeldori looked at Mercer. "The injuries on my face? This is all staged. I ordered the prisoners to do it."

"What?"

"It's part of my plan. I thought the Grimleal were catching on to me, so I had the prisoners beat me and make it seem like I was trying to start a riot to throw them off."

"But they actually beat you?!"

"Well yeah. It had to be convincing."

Mercer looked to Ophelia to make sure she was hearing what he was hearing, but she wasn't surprised. She just shrugged. "Caeldori always did come up with strange plans, but they've gotten us out of problems before."

"I made it seem like the other prisoners turned on me, but they're actually waiting for my signal."

"You honestly expect us to believe you got the other prisoners here to work for you?!" Soleil said in exasperation. Caeldori just whistled and nodded to something behind her. A few seconds later, a very large man weighing more than Caeldori and Soleil put together walked behind Soleil and just stood there. He leaned right over her head, and Soleil's skin turned a few shades lighter as she slowly turned to look at him.

"The Bonesaw doesn't like how you've been talking to the boss woman!"

"Err… I… well… Caeldori?!"

Caeldori chuckled. "That's enough, Bonesaw. Our alpha priority assets have arrived. It's time to begin."

"You mean-"

"Yes. Do it."

Bonesaw gave a thuggish smile. "Bonesaw is rea-ddyyyyy!"

Bonesaw full on sprinted towards a nearby guard. The guard took a few sideways glances at him, but he didn't fully turn his attention to him until he was almost on top of the guard. The prison guard frantically reached for his tome, but he couldn't draw it before Bonesaw seized his arm and threw him overhead. The guard slowly tried to crawl away, but Bonesaw grabbed his legs. "Hey freakshow! You're going nowhere!" Bonesaw dragged the guard towards the prison walls. The nearby prisoners didn't seem to support Bonesaw's actions, but they didn't leave either. When three other guards finally came to stop Bonesaw, they just ran by the other prisoners. As soon as they did, they immediately formed a mob and surrounded the guards. Before they could properly react, the prisoners descended on the prison guards with small, makeshift weapons they had created from all manner of seemingly innocent tools. Almost a dozen of them savagely struck at the guards in any way they could, and the others all chanted. "ASCEND FROM DARKNESS!"

"ASCEND FROM DARKNESS!" Caeldori roared back. Mercer did a double take from her to the prisoners.

"What-how-gah-what?!"

"I really did organize the other prisoners, Mercer. This is our chance. We are leaving."

"This is insane! They'll kill us! We have no weapons!"

"Really? Tell me if you see any other guards?"

Sure enough there weren't any other guards besides the unfortunate ones stationed in the courtyard. At this point the prisoners were running around and screaming at the top of their lungs, but no guards responded. "Where… what?!"

"The guards control the prisoners here by giving them some kind of sedative. They gave them to me, but I never took any of them. I kept them until I had a few dozen of them. When that Inqusitor, Altman, was torturing me, I was able to briefly glance some of his records. I knew when the Grimleal would try to bring you here, so last night I broke all of my pills and put the powder inside into a bag. I had that smuggled into the well the guards use for water. Eight in ten guards should be in a very deep sleep right about now. We just have to deal with the rest."

Mercer and Ophelia looked at each other in shock.

"How could you possibly-" They both said in unison. Caeldori cut them off.

"We really don't have time. We need to secure the lockup where they keep our possessions. We'll need our weapons and armor when we leave, and I'm sure they've taken Chrom's Falchion."

"How are we going to get out of here? Are you going to get your Pegasus somehow?"

For a brief moment, Caeldori looked very pained. She steeled herself and tried her best not to show any weakness in front of her allies, but Mercer could tell that the Grimleal had gotten to her. "No. She's… she's gone. When I was taken… they… they butchered her… right in front of me."

"Oh, Caeldy."

Caeldori shook her head. "It's fine. We need to move quickly. If the remaining guards figure out where we're going, they could still lock it down."

Meanwhile in one of the guard towers, Inquisitor Altman looked down in paralyzed shock after the violence in the courtyard finally became too much for him to drown out. Behind him, Tharja's spectre ascended from the floor and got uncomfortably close to Altman. "You realize that if Cordelia's clone escapes, we'll never complete Project: Xenologue?"

Altman shot her a bitter glare. "Why don't you make yourself useful and find Courtney. Tell him to get his rosy ass in gear and contain this! Tell him to mobilize the Reavers!"

The group managed to force their way into the lockup. Mercer and Ophelia found their personal weapons, and everyone took approximations of the normal attire of their respective classes. When they reached the courtyard again, they saw prisoners running towards them. Caeldori briefly hoped that they were arming themselves, but it soon became clear that they were running from a group of Grimleal soldiers. These soldiers looked very little like the prison guards. They wore a few pieces of pitch black plate armor, and leather and fur covered the rest of them. Their weapons all looked like hunting tools. Instead of spears, they had jagged weapons that resembled harpoons. Instead of swords, they had weapons that looked designed to help flay and butcher animals. The soldiers also had short bows slung on their backs, and some even looked like they had small tubular weapons like the ones Theresa had used on their hips. Finally, they all wore masks similar to the one worn by their leader, who stood in front of them.

"So you did this, Caeldori? I have to say, I underestimated you. You'd a made a good Reaver. 'Course, I hear they have good brainwashing programs back in High Point. It might not be too late."

Mercer's face twisted in a grimace. "I'm going to make sure you stay down this time, Courtney."

"Aww, so you do think about me. I sure think about you. I stay up late remembering what it was like when my face was still pretty, before you came into my home and mutilated me without provocation!"

"You murdered a man and his daughter in cold blood! He was still just a damn kid!"

Courtney made exaggerated crying motions with his left hand and the gauntlet attached to his right arm. "Oh no! Whatever will the world do without another twenty something man?! They're a gold piece a dozen! I could go down to the slave markets and buy one if I swung that way."

"You're going to pay for what you've done to this land, Courtney."

Courtney chuckled and turned to his soldiers. "Reavers! Kill the bitches! I get the old one."

The Reavers immediately let fly a hail of projectiles onto the three girls. Mercer tried to defend them, but Courtney singled him out and immediately drove him back. Mercer was unprepared for the ferocity of the offensive, and he was driven back so quickly that he lost sight of the girls and Courtney's soldiers. Courtney had apparently learned from his last fight with Mercer. He didn't attack with his tome. Instead he kept his gauntlet equipped and dual wielded his levin sword in his other hand. Courtney would take wide slashes with his levin sword, and then quickly jab at Mercer with his gauntlet. Mercer couldn't ignore the levin sword, but he couldn't figure out how to defend himself against it in such a way that he wasn't open to quick strikes from the gauntlet. Furthermore Mercer's knee was still giving him problems. He couldn't end the fight quickly, and he grew weaker with every hit Courtney landed on him, and with every step he put on his bad knee.

"Come on, Mercer! Do better than that! What would your daughter say?!"

Mercer closed his eyes and tried to block out Courtney's words. Courtney's taunting had been too much for him the first time they fought, and he didn't think he was in the right state of mind to resist it with everything that had happened. "Don't talk about her!"

"If Lucina had lived, what should we have done with her? Slave or Reaver? Personally I would say Reaver, but I don't know. If we gave her as a gift to Gangrel, I'd bet she'd make palace visits much more entertaining."

"Don't speak her name!"

"And didn't you have a son or something? Wasn't he some kind of pacifist? I would have loved to have personally brainwashed him into becoming a Reaver."

"Shut up!"

"Seriously though, the Grimleal tell stories about how ferocious your daughter was as a warrior. She was motivated by a desire to live up to the legacy of her beloved father. How do you think she felt when she realized that she was stronger than you could ever be? How do you think she felt when she realized that you were too weak to protect her? How do you think she felt when the Shepherds fell, and she realized that her idol broke her?"

"SHUT UP!"

Mercer took wild slashes at Courtney, but each time he left himself open and Courtney quickly jabbed him with his gauntlet. "Why do you hang around these new girls? Are they her replacements? Tell you what. One of them is going to be my personal entertainer. One of them is going to be a Reaver. One of them is going to be dog food. Take your pick!"

"AAAARRRRGHH!" Mercer threw himself at Courtney in a blind rage, but Courtney punished him severely for it. He managed a hit on Mercer's shoulder with his levin sword and then landed a solid punch to his face. When Mercer staggered backwards, Courtney kicked him in his bad knee. Mercer went down screaming, and tears involuntarily rolled down his cheeks. He wasn't sure that anything had ever hurt him that much. Mercer screamed in agony for several seconds, and Courtney didn't attack him. He just stood and admired his handiwork. "Please." Mercer whimpered. "Please don't hurt them. Do anything you want to me, but please don't hurt them."

"Aww. I'll make sure to tell them you cared." Courtney drove his levin sword into Mercer's stomach and activated it, electrocuting him from the inside. Mercer couldn't even control his body enough to scream. He violently shook and convulsed, and even after Courtney withdrew his sword he still spasmed uncontrollably. He didn't even bleed from his wound. The sheer heat had fused it closed, and steam began to rise from Mercer as burn marks appeared on his skin. Courtney chuckled. "Oh I'd love to do this until you were as crispy as I am, but I have a rebellion to put down, so I have to make this quick. Come on." Courtney grabbed Mercer by the neck and dragged him through the courtyard, ignoring the growing battle between prisoners and Reavers. He took Mercer through the prison walls and onto a landing platform for wyverns. He tossed Mercer to the ledge, so that he could see the long drop down the almost vertical cliff side of the mountain the prison had been built on. "It's time for you to join the rest of your inbred family in extinction. Now you and your sister will have experience with long falls."

Before Courtney could throw Mercer over the ledge, he turned at the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Caeldori, Ophelia, and Soleil were charging at him. Their clothes were torn, and blood was splattered on them in such a way that it couldn't have been theirs. They had no fear in their eyes, and for a moment a shiver went down Courtney's spine. "Together!" Caeldori roared.

"Right!" Ophelia and Soleil responded. Soleil took the shield off of her arm and threw it like a discus at Courtney. It hit him in the head, and staggered him long enough for Ophelia to unleash an icy gale from her personal tome. Ophelia remembered that Courtney had too much resistance to be injured, so instead of attacking his whole body, she focused on his hand. The more concentrated attack managed to freeze Courtney's hand, and he was in too much pain to prevent Caeldori from dashing to his side. She stabbed him in the knee with her spear, and Soleil came to his other side and slashed the side of his abdomen with her sword. Ophelia hit him with one last blast from his tome, and then Caeldori and Soleil immediately shoulder tackled him backwards. Courtney staggered and went over the cliff himself, screaming as he plummeted into the apathetic forest below. The three girls stood over the ledge and caught their breaths before turning to Mercer.

Mercer had a mix of blood and drool pouring from his mouth, and he still twitched occasionally. The girls crowded around him, and Caeldori felt his pulse on his neck. She almost immediately withdrew her hand in terror. "Gods! His pulse is irregular!"

"He needs help." Ophelia said. She turned to Mercer and placed her hand on his cheek. "Stay with me, Chrom. Stay with me!"

"Do you have anything?!" Soleil screamed to Caeldori. Caeldori looked down at her outfit, which consisted of loose pieces of plate armor over her prison rags.

"Does it look like I have any pockets? Where would I get the medicine? They gave us sedatives, not medicine. We need to get him out of here."

"We don't have anywhere to go!" Ophelia responded. "He was kicked out of his home."

Caeldori thought briefly. "Then we'll have to take him to my mentor. The woman who taught me to be a Pegasus Knight."

"But-"

"I know we're supposed to keep her hidden, but we have no other options. She can help him, and she knows him. She used to go on and on about him."

The three girls looked back to Mercer. Ophelia leaned over him. "It's going to be okay, Chrom. Stay with us. Please don't leave us!"

Caeldori gently pushed her away. "We're going to take you to our ally. She's a friend. You know her. She can help you. Just… do us all a favor and don't die."

Mercer responded by violently spitting up blood and blacking out.

One Week Later

A middle aged man stood over a workbench and tinkered with an arquebus as an assistant walked over to him. The man pulled up his goggles, exposing is graying orange hair, and wiped the sweat off his forehead before turning to face the young woman. "What is it now? I told you I needed time to maintain my weapons. Firearms don't treat you well if you don't treat them well."

"It's urgent, sir."

The man rolled his eyes and went back to servicing his arquebus. "Yeah, yeah. Someone wants revenge for someone I killed way back when. Must be a Thursday."

"Actually it's a job offer."

"Then what's so damn urgent about it?"

"I just didn't know how you'd respond to it. It's from the Grimleal."

"I don't work with them anymore. Not after last time."

"I know, but they're offering quintuple what they paid last time. 250,000 gold."

The man froze. "So who did they want killed?"