The stairs spiraled downwards for what seemed like ages. After nearly five minutes of walking down the dimly lit staircase, they finally reached a wooden door. Cyll pushed it open with a single hand, momentarily blinding all of them as warm golden light flooded outwards.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small, ornate room. It was decorated with beautiful tapestries. A finely crafted wooden desk trimmed with gold sat at the far end. Behind it, a rather plain looking man watched them with sharp eyes.

He waved to a set of three plain chairs sitting before the desk and gave them a pointed look. The three sat down. A smile spread across the Broker's face as he sat down behind the table.

“You caused quite a commotion out there,” the Broker said, drumming his fingers on the table.

“Someone tried to kill me,” Cyll replied. He shrugged carelessly and let his gaze sweep around the room.

“Not just you,” the Broker chuckled. He stood and walked over to the tapestry that Cyll was inspecting.

The powerful man ran his fingers across the artwork. It depicted two warriors locked in combat. They had each been created with such detail that it was difficult to remember that they were only two dimensional.

“I see your tastes are refined. This particular piece ran me about fifty thousand gold,” the Broker said. Before Cyll could even react, the Broker shook his head. “And don’t even think about stealing it. You’ll never leave this building alive, much less Bulsen.”

“I wasn’t going to steal it.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Okay, fine. Maybe a little. You get sticky fingers after a few thousand years,” Cyll admitted. He let out a huff and his voice turned serious. “Let’s get back to the killing part. You’re right about someone going after Maya, but I’d like to know how you came about that knowledge.”

“The answer is in the question,” the Broker replied. He smirked at Cyll’s annoyed expression. “I’m the Broker. Knowledge is my business, and there isn’t anything that happens in this city that I don’t know about. In fact, you’ve become a hot topic recently.”

The Broker sat back down and gazed curiously at Maya. She raised an eyebrow and shifted her hat slightly to meet his eyes better.

“Is that so?” Maya asked.

“It is. I’ve had three people come through my sources, all asking information about you. They were all quite influential, too. And that was within the span of just two days.”

“Who was it?” Cyll interrupted him, raising slightly from his chair. Patty and Maya’s hands lowered to their weapons as well.

The Broker scoffed and waved his hand.

“Put your weapons away. You need to learn to think before you act. What if I’d been lying to you? Now I know you’re scared of something,” he chastised them.

The pirates exchanged a glance and slowly lowered back into their seats.

“Much better,” the Broker said. “Now. I won’t be telling you. Information is my buisness after all. I’d hardly have any customers if I gave things away for free, and I don’t think you came here to spend the little money you have on that.”

“So what’s the point of telling us?” Maya asked. She tapped a finger on her chin. “I figure one of the contacts was the Ashwind family.”

The Broker’s eyebrow raised slightly, but he didn’t say anything else.

“Was another one some sort of guild?” Cyll asked. The eyebrow rose further, but the man still made no comment.

“Those two make sense, but what about the third person?” Patty asked.

Nobody responded to that. They all thought for a few moments, but none of them could come up with anyone else who might be interested in their travels.

“Okay, so you won’t tell us who contacted you. But can you tell us what you shared with them?” Maya said.

“Nothing,” the Broker replied. “Yet. I said I would get back to them. You see, I’ve got a slight problem that needs fixing. I can’t go about solving it through my normal methods as I fear my ranks have been infiltrated. However, a group of pirates with nothing to lose and no connection to my foes might be willing to help me.”

“We came here to buy information, not get a job,” Maya said. “You clearly know that we’re being chased, so we can’t afford to waste much time. If you can’t give us the information we need, we’ll just be on our way.”

“Drop your anchor, captain,” the Broker said with a laugh. “I have the information you’re looking for. I’ll give you a tidbit for free – your Life-spark can be replaced. The healer told me all about your problem, so I can guess why you came here.”

Cyll rose from his chair and walked to inspect the tapestry he had been looking at before. The Broker pointedly watched the man as he inspected the artwork.

“I think you should tell us what you want before we go any further,” Cyll said. “You clearly know your stuff, but you aren’t the only information broker in the seas.”

The Broker pulled a drawer in his desk open. He delicately lifted a beautifully carved box about the size of his palm out of it. He placed the box on the desk and opened the lid, revealing its empty innards.

“A noble foolishly had a very expensive ring stolen from me. I know who did it, but he’s got so much power in this city that I can’t do anything about it. He isn’t powerful himself, but his brother is a duke,” the Broker said. His face was taut with anger.

“So you want us to steal the ring back?” Maya asked.

“And do as much damage to his mansion as possible in the process. I want to send a message,” the Broker growled.

“You’re asking a lot,” Cyll said. “We could get killed or tossed in jail for the rest of our life. What are you giving us in return?”

A large grin spread across the Broker’s face.

“I’ll tell you what can replace your captain’s Life-spark and where to find it. As an added bonus, I’ll even tell you about the guild that currently has about fifty members seeking your heads.”