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Esha stomped down the hall, gripping the bound wrists of the maid she and Kal had apprehended with the hand not in the sling. The maid was struggling to keep up with her pace, but Esha couldn't care less. Her companions were laying in the hall and in the garden, surrounded by her own blood and sporting a sizable scorch mark from being struck by lightning, and this one would suffer a similar fate if Viago got his claws in her without Esha there.
Not that Esha particularly cared if the maid lived or not, she made her choice to try and spy on the de Riva household. Whatever their goal was, two of them were dead, and Esha and Kal were unharmed.
She glanced at Kal. His odd ways had actually led to this. If he hadn't been so particular about water, they may not have sussed out the maids until they had made their move. Kal was quietly watching her in turn, looking curious with those big ol red and blue eyes. She'd never seen another elf with black scleras, either…. Had she?
“Is Viago gonna kill her?” His eyes moved to look at the maid, who nearly jumped out of her skin at the question and looked pitifully at Esha.
Esha sighed. “I dunno, Kal. She better pray not.”
The maid wasn't struggling, which was a plus versus her two stupid compatriots. Esha really hadn't meant to snap Vienna's neck, she just moved too fast! Viago wasn't going to blame her for that, right?
She finally stopped in front of Viago's office. It used to be Lorenzo's, when he deigned to stay at the Treviso Estate. But it hadn't really been used frequently until Viago took it over. Letting go of the maid very briefly, and raising her hand, she prepared to knock.
“Come in.”
She froze. She hadn't even struck the door once. Sighing, she opened the door and entered, grabbing and tossing the maid into the rug in front of Viago's large desk, and standing at her legs, ready at a moment's notice were she to run. Kal followed, looking bored but hopeful. Viago didn't even look up from his paperwork for more than a second where he glanced up at her and caught her eye before continuing to scratch away at the paper.
“Caught some rats.” Esha said. “Two of which are now dead.”
That seemed to catch Viago's attention. “Who, when, where, and why. Now.”
This was standard. Esha took a deep breath. “Three maids sent from the main countryside estate. About fifteen minutes ago, on the fifth floor by the east garden-facing balcony. They seem to be spies for Lorenzo's bio kid, Miguel. Why is clear, he's pissed that his daddy's dead, and he clearly blames Kal and not me, given that they infiltrated the ranks of Kal's attendants and not mine. They only got caught out because they didn't know his particulars.”
Viago sighed, then pointed at the green-eyed maid who was shivering like a leaf. “This is the survivor? How did the other two die?”
“We killed them!” Kal said excitedly, apparently done being quiet. Esha stared at him, but didn't say anything to refute him, instead turning to Viago.
“I'm not sure of the other two's names, as I don't recognize them. Vienna's neck was snapped when she tried to make a forceful escape. It was an accident. The other one tried to make a quick escape from the balcony and was struck by Kal, and she plummeted to her death. Body is still in the garden.”
Viago's eyes cringed at the mention of the body. He stood up sharply and glowered at Esha and Kal. “Do you have any idea how much paperwork this creates? You're lucky this happened on the estate and not in public. Servants can be silenced, others not so easily.” He rounded the desk, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling something on it. “The body needs to be taken care of, first and foremost.” He went to the door and opened it, handing the paper to a runner. “And obviously this Miguel business will not stand.”
“Can we kill him?” Kal looked at Esha, then Viago with morbid curiosity. “He tried to hurt us.” The maid looked scared by Kal's blase attitude toward murder. She did not know what she had gotten into.
Esha turned to Kal and knelt slightly so she was eye-level. “This is more complicated than that, Kal. We can't just kill whoever we want. We're Crows, not murderers. We're dignified, refined, and precise.”
“No, Kal's right. Miguel needs to die.” Viago made his way to the window and watched the birds fly past.
“Excuse me?” Esha's head whipped to look at him, surprised. “Miguel isn't a Crow, he's no threat beyond his political stance. He's a fop. No position in the de Rivas. He's got his mother's maiden name, for Maker's sake!”
Viago heaved a burdened sigh. “Kal, go wait in the hall.”
“Not fair!” Kal puffed up. “I wanna be a part of this!”
Both Esha and Viago glared at him. “Kalias de Riva. Hallway. Now.” They both said, in unison. “And take the maid. Don't kill her, just keep an eye on her.” Esha added.
Kal pouted and shuffled from the room, dragging the poor terrified maid and sparing a sad glance at Esha before the door clicked shut.
Viago watched the door for a moment before continuing. “See, that's the issue. Miguel is set on a road to possibly become the new governor of Treviso if he continues on the way he has been. The seat has been empty since…” His eyes met Esha's again and she blushed. Since she killed the last one back when she was recruited. “And the other Governors are looking to finally talk amongst themselves to appoint a new one. Right now they're split. Miguel Facetti has about a third of the votes, Rayan Ivenci has another third. The rest are undecided, which is what is holding everything up at the moment. If Miguel gets that position, he will make things hell for the Crows here.”
“And Ivenci is any better? They're scummy, unreliable.” Esha countered.
Viago turned and stalked to his desk. He grabbed a set of papers and shuffled through them. “Yes, but they're mainly powerless. They will keep themselves in line if they don't want the leash around their neck to turn into a noose. Miguel has actual contacts, Merchant Prince backing. He's clearly been consolidating power for a while. Therefore, the best course of action is to eliminate him while we can.”
Esha sat down in one of the green armchairs by his desk. “Are you not conflicted at all? This is Lorenzo's kid. Mirena's kid. And you like Mirena. Or rather, you hate her less than the average person. I know Miguel isn't a Crow but this would shake an average person.”
“De Riva's are not average people. Mirena knew that when she married Lorenzo. She knew what being a Crow entailed for Lorenzo. This is why I don't want you to get married to some foolish fop like Lorenzo wanted.”
Letting a mischievous smirk fall over her face, Esha leaned forward. “Got it. I'll marry a handsome roguish man with a heart of gold, who'll sweep me off my feet. Where do those exist in Antiva, I wonder.” She delighted in the expression on Viago's face. It could curdle milk. “No, but I see your point. But Mirena is an issue. I doubt that she will just sit back and let us kill her son.”
“She's got others to succeed the Facetti name. Younger, smarter. And she has the instruments to make more. And if Mirena does not see logic…” He trailed off, but Esha got the point.
She was slightly conflicted about the idea of killing the woman who'd named her, but business was business. “Fine. So Miguel has to go. Who's doing the job?”
“You are obviously invested in this endeavor.” Viago pointed out, rifling through a drawer and pulling out the contract paper. “But the First Talon will not be pleased with any of this. She will most likely insist two agents be sent. But given I don't trust anyone else to handle this, I'm merely sending Kal with you to hopefully get some of this bloodthirst out of his system.”
Esha's eyes widened. “But he's not an official Crow yet!”
“Correct, he'll be shadowing you.”
“It's your fault he's so riled up! If you hadn't grounded him, he wouldn't be so pent up! Why am I being punished for your actions?!” Esha slammed her hand on the desk.
Viago gave her the worst death stare she'd ever experienced. “In case you have forgotten, Eshari.” He crossed his arms. “I am your Grandmaster now. You answer to me. You do not question me, you do not contradict me, you do not take an attitude with me. You will do this, without complaint, unless you want to be grounded as well. Of course…we will have to wait for that to resolve.” He gestured to her arm. “What is the doctor's estimate?”
“Three more weeks…” She stared at the floor, her face red with anger.
“Good. Take the maid to the interrogation room. Giulia will handle getting all the required information out of her, and you should be focusing on healing as fast as possible so we can get this contract underway. I'll send it to the First Talon for review. You are dismissed.”
Esha nodded numbly and turned on a heel, marching to the door and slamming it as she exited. How dare he pull rank with her?? The audacity.
As she exited, she saw Kal and the maid. The maid was whining as she watched Kal make sparks far too close to her face. He looked delighted by the color.
“Kal, stop, you can't kill her.” She rushed over and used her free hand to grip his wrist, stopping the light show.
Kal looked at her with surprisingly innocent eyes. “I was just showing her the different colors!” He said defensively. “I can do like six of them! They're cool, right?” He turned to the maid, who nodded eagerly with fear in her eyes.
Esha facepalmed. “Kal…ugh, Nevermind. Look, Viago is giving me a job, and he wants you to accompany me. Not immediately. Gotta wait for this to heal first.” She flapped her arm in the sling. “But you'll be shadowing me. That means you'll get to help me kill Miguel. But that means being careful. We can't kill willy-nilly. You need to learn to aim your rage, okay?”
He seemed to mull it over for a second, then he pointed to the maid. “Can I at least kill her now?”
The maid scrambled away, whimpering. “You said I'd most likely live if I sold out Miguel!”
“You will! That's why we're taking you to the interrogation room.” Esha soothingly threw a hand up, and walked over to grab her bound hands. “A bit o’ Bitter Truth and a Silence in the Night, and you'll be right as rain. Won't be able to ever talk again, but alive.” She dragged the maid to stand up. “Kal, you're scaring the poor thing. You should go train or something. We have to wait to go after Miguel anyway.”
“Not fair. Don't get to kill anything.”
“You killed a person less than an hour ago, Kal. Just be patient. And stop being a murder-hobo, for Maker's sake.” Esha groaned, then started down the hallway, away from the idiot and toward the lower levels.
“Esha! Does this mean I'm ungrounded?!” Kal called after her.
“Ask Viago!” Esha shouted back, grinning at the prospect of Kal bugging Viago. Unlike her, Kal was not obedient and was much more unpredictable than herself. Viago couldn't get him to kowtow without help. Payback for pulling rank on her.
Oh yes, that would be delicious.