II.

Once Grimaud had taken a moment to calm down, and invited Louise and Rider inside properly, Louise set about acquainting him with all the details of the past few days, especially those she had been forced to withhold from the letter she had sent.

About halfway through Louise's retelling Grimaud had gotten up to make some coffee for the three of them. The water had just finished boiling as Louise had finished, and Grimaud was adding it to a pour-over filter as he questioned her. "So you have several allies now it would seem. So at least there is some good news."

"I don't know if these alliances count as a positive turn, Monsieur." Louise replied.

"Why not? I would think having more people working with you and fewer of them as your enemies would make things considerably easier." Grimaud handed Louise her beverage with a quizzical look.

"There can only be one winner." Rider said as Grimaud handed him a mug. "Ultimately all other participants are competition. The old adage I believe is: Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies."

"Even if it seems they are helping us now, they will eventually have to turn toward their own causes. That is the truth of the Grail War as much as of the rest of the world." Louise had a far away look on her face, and had either of the other two present cared to divine, it would not have been hard to know she was thinking of Camille as she spoke.

Before Grimaud could try to assuage Louise's worries, the young mage's phone started ringing. Louise pulled it out and, though she expected it might be, was none too thrilled to see the call was from the Juge's office.

"I think it would be best for me to take this call. Excuse me messieurs." Louise answered the phone as she got up and headed to the upstairs apartment that served as her room. "Yes, hello?"

"Good morning Madame Saint-Hermine. Considering you never returned my last call I was beginning to get worried about you. Though I guess you have already showed a predisposition to ignoring my particular station and the kind of work I have to do." Maria Badeaux opened the conversation with her usual air of exasperation.

"I apologize, Madame Juge, my phone showed no such missed call, perhaps there was a connection issue." Louise would have loved to spend some time leading the Juge around, but she was still recovering from her injuries and as a result her energy reserves were still low.

"Perhaps." Maria always hated excuses that everyone knew were bullshit but in a profession like hers were incredibly difficult to actually call out. "Well I'm glad I caught you this time. I trust you actually have that address for me today."

"Of course, Madame." Louise had taken note of the address of Ali's accommodations, and had no trouble reciting it to the Juge. "I would like to preface though that I have numerous meetings and negotiations coming up in the next several days and will regularly be out. If you need to visit please contact me first so I can be sure I am available to you."

While Maria was perturbed by the last bit, considering how difficult Louise had been to contact so far, she let it go. There were far more pressing things for them to discuss right now. "Oh good, that puts you far enough north that I'm a little less worried."

"Worried, Madame?"

"Oh, well I guess you don't follow the news that much, must be an age thing. There was another attack much like the one you and your sister endured. Happened real close to the public entrance to the Catacombs. But your new accommodations are on the north side of the Seine, which puts you quite far from the attack. I'm actually relieved to have your new address and know you're nowhere near the attack location. Like I said, I was worried for a minute." The bait had been set, now Louise just had to take it.

"I trust that none of the other survivors from the first attack were involved." Louise was still unable to admit she didn't know where Camille was, but nevertheless wanted to make sure her sister was okay.

"I checked in with the other witnesses already, your sister included. Nobody from the first attack was involved. So while that's good news that none of you were being targeted, it gets more complicated now trying to figure on the motive."

The sense of relief that Camille was still safe mixed with a feeling of apprehension about the nature of the attacks within Louise. She was sure that whatever was happening was definitely attached to the Grail War, and Maria had just unknowingly given Louise a clue towards figuring it out.

"Rest assured, Madame Juge, that I will be sure to take care when I am traveling. I was hoping to explore the Ossuary while in Paris, but I suppose it would be best to avoid that area for the time being."

"Yes, Madame Saint-Hermine I think that would be best. I'll be in touch if anything else comes up." Maria hung the phone up abruptly before Louise could respond with her own farewell. She had clearly taken the conversation exactly the way Maria's contact had anticipated she would. Now all the Juge had to do was hang around the proper neighborhood, wait for Louise to inevitably show up, and see how events unfolded from there.

Louise headed back downstairs to where she had left Grimaud and Rider waiting. Rider looked up from his coffee and cut short whatever Grimaud had been saying. "Seemed a little long for dismissing the bothersome Juge."

"I did that, yes. But I also got something better." Louise had a smug smile on her face as she put her jacket back on.

"Oho? And what would that be?" Rider liked when his Master had that confident glimmer in her eye. It meant she was ready to move forward. Continuing the fight was going to be the best way to stop Louise from sinking into a malaise about their loss.

"She gave me some information I believe we can use. She may have even accidentally found the base of operations for one of our enemies."

"We could only be so lucky." Rider downed the last of his coffee and hopped up from the sofa to follow Louise outside.

"So just like that, you return a torn up mess, and now you're right back into the street to go chasing after more danger?" Grimaud had a visibly worried look on his face, incapable as he was of masking his concern for Louise.

"Please be calm Monsieur, I have no intention of pursuing this particular lead right this moment." Louise tried to counsel her anxious friend as much as she could. Rider looked disappointed that they weren't in fact hastening straight to the fight. "I'm simply stepping out to procure a few materials and provisions." Grimaud's features lightened slightly at this revelation. "I will be heading out tonight to investigate our new lead." Grimaud's emotions turned immediately back to unease, and his face fell again.

"You really are dedicated to this. Very well, I won't try to stop you. I'll simply make sure things are prepared for your safe return once more."

Louise and Grimaud exchanged warm looks as Rider closed the door behind them.

The room Mordaunt had rented wasn't supposed to have roof access, but what he was supposed to do had rarely been a concern of his. What did concern him was that the rooftop afforded him a perfect view of both Ali's terrace and the entrance to the Hotel Mandarin Oriental. Mordaunt had watched as Louise left Ali's company. He had caught every detail possible of how she had exited the hotel, the painful straightforwardness of it both irritated and reassured him. Ali's bounded field was powerful, but the incredibly public location it was built on did provide some weaknesses that could be exploited, and Louise had just proved what some of those were. The assassin had to admit that the man with the walking stick who had visited the first time had illustrated the same openings, but Mordaunt preferred having something exhibited as a constant before assuming such a thing.

Assassin had of course insisted on following Louise, but Mordaunt had seen her sub par performance during the fight with Rosa plainly enough, and considered Ali the more viable threat to focus their current resources on.

"Besides." The usually taciturn Master said to his Servant. "She will be imperative to our getting in here. When we do, she's all yours. In fact, I'm counting on that. There is some information about the young lady I think you will need when you confront her."

"Oh my, Master." Assassin made no attempt to mask her aroused excitement, one hand running her long sharpened nails around her own throat, the other holding her masque to her dark painted lips as she nibbled its corner. "You're going to spoil me. I'm beginning to think you do actually know how to please a woman." Assassin gave a haughty laugh, amused and delighted as she was by her Master's promise.