“You know he has no reason to accept whatever you’re going to offer, right?” Svanda said as they filed out from the house and stepped onto the street. It had only been around twenty minutes since Alan had left them stewing over his ‘deal’, but despite their meeting Reina now seemed buoyant. It was a mood that left the rest of them walking a fine line, however, stuck between asking her what the plan was and ruining her mood if they decided that it wasn’t any good. Raining on her parade was the last thing that any of them wanted to do right now, especially as there wasn’t anyone else around to be the target of her subsequent frustration.

“He’ll accept,” Reina said as she spearheaded the group that set off down the road. Everyone bar Saela followed behind her, and the fact that Reina hadn’t dragged her out of bed said quite a lot about her optimism. Missing the earlier meeting was excusable as Alan had suddenly dragged it forward, but not being ready at the planned time was something that she usually wouldn’t let slide.

“What’s the rush then?” Trim asked as she looked out towards the sun, the golden disk steadily ascending upwards. It was still low enough to be considered morning, but the cold edge that hung around like cobwebs from the previous night had already dissipated. Nina had ditched her jacket, while most of the others wore casual collections of shorts and shirts. Not formal and certainly not combat ready, but that hadn’t stopped them carrying a few pistols either. Evidence that they had shifted gears now, Nina thought. Ormain wouldn’t be coming for them right away as it would be stumbling in blind, but it wasn’t hard to see that they were alert.

“There’s no rush, we’re eating first,” Reina said as though it were obvious, scanning the street as they walked. A few more people were around now, easing into the day as they spared the group a disinterested glance before going about whatever they had been doing before. Nina preferred it that way as attracting attention was never something that she had felt comfortable with, but despite her thoughts she found that she was attracting one person’s attention after all.

“Where did you eat?” Reina asked her.

“Up there, the green sign,” she replied while pointing to the restaurant that had sheltered her both yesterday and this morning. She didn’t particularly like the fact that she was revealing her hideout to the entire group, but at the same time she knew that they would probably be leaving soon. The extra business would just have to be her way to say thanks. If she was wrong and Reina decided to dig in, she’d just have to find somewhere new. A problem for a future Nina.

“Any good?”

“…Yeah.”

“Good enough for me then,” Reina said with a smile as she steered the group over, pushing her way through the door and strolling inside as though she owned the place. Nina squeezed in behind Svanda to see that the place was still empty, while the woman at the counter raised an eyebrow when she saw her.

Forgetting to pay when you storm out probably does that.

“Ah, sorry I-”

“He paid,” the woman said before running an eye over the remaining members of the group. “Sit anywhere, is coffee alright?”

“Wine,” Reina said as she walked over to the largest table which sat in the centre of the room, pulling a chair out before turning back in pause. “For me at least.”

“Make it two,” Svanda said with a chuckle before joining her. The rest of the group didn’t feel the same, however, forcing awkward smiles when the woman took a second glance at the clock with a frown. Coffee was ordered for the rest of them, while Nina hadn’t even sat down before Reina rattled off a series of dishes from the menu.

Oozing confidence yet again.

“He’s going to accept because it’s perfect,” the woman in question said as she swirled her glass around, briefly admiring the red liquid which was only a shade or two darker than her hair. “Alan’s a miser. All business people like him are. The secret is just working out how to make use out of that.”

“I still don’t see how not buying anything from him is going to work out in his favour,” Trim said.

“Are you going to pay him to go and waste Ormain?” Jade asked. “They wouldn’t see it coming. Hello and then bang.”

Aline stifled a chuckle while Svanda frowned. It was a legitimate question when Nina thought about it, but it didn’t sit comfortably with her either. She had no solid understanding of what was considered acceptable on Areinis from either a legal or moral perspective, but then again it wasn’t like she was operating on the right side of the law to begin with. Hired guns, feasible or not, would be expensive though. It also wasn’t hard for Nina to have her own conclusions about whether Reina would ever fork out for that kind of thing when they didn’t need to.

“Do you really think he’d put his own skin on the line?” Svanda asked. “You think too much of him.”

“Go and distract him then,” Jade pressed. “Or pay him to sell them the wrong information or something.”

“His reputation is just as valuable to him as his own skin is. He’s never going to sell misinformation, not for any price that we can afford. Why don’t you just skip the theories and listen to Reina’s idea?”

As if on cue, the food that Reina ordered at what had seemed like random began to pour out from the kitchen, an array of dishes that Nina had never seen before soon sitting in the centre of the table. I hadn’t escaped her that Reina took it as a welcome distraction to revealing her plan, but the attention was short-lived as Svanda sighed after loading up her plate.

“So, what’s the idea then?” she asked with a tinge of seriousness as she dropped her cutlery onto the plate. “I don’t want to be going into this conversation blind, and I don’t think anyone else here does either. This isn’t going to be a game Reina. Losing twice in a row wouldn’t have sat well with a bunch of SuTSU prissies like that, and don’t forget that that they’re a man down either. This has gone way past having a chat outside the restaurant or risking it up close and personal. They’re going to be out for blood, and they’re good at it too. If you mess this up, someone’s going to die.”

Even if she hadn’t wanted to kill the mood, she did a good job of it. It was needed though, and it served as a sobering statement that dragged Nina back to reality. Areinis, she realised, was deceptive. Warm summer evenings over the beach and a glass of wine in your hand were ultimately just veneer over a poorly policed mess of islands which she ultimately knew very little about. This wasn’t a holiday. Alan had already been a great example of how everyone would take a piece from you if they could, even if you were supposed to be on the same side. Reina had said herself during their brief conversation about Saela; people would have no hesitation to step on you if they could use you to climb even one rung higher.

It was true that she hadn’t had it easy, far from it considering the lasting damage that Rucille had done to her. Despite that, there was also a little part of her that wanted to take a breather now that the hurdle had been cleared. The next hurdle, unfortunately, wasn’t going to wait for her and stopping for even a second could be fatal. Never before had the pistol which was jammed into her belt felt so heavy, but it also served as a reminder of the reason she had bought it in the first place. It was heavy, not like one of the toys that Jade or Saela were waving around, and for once she needed to treat it for what it was.

“If you’re not confident, we’re all happy to delay,” Trim said softly. “I know that putting on a brave face is what you’re good at, but if it’s too much of a risk to go for it then let’s not. Don’t worry about our pay or losing the jobs either. We can always piece a reputation back together, but you can’t bring someone back from the dead.”

“Can you not start raising flags?” Jade asked. “If you raise any more I’m going to quit right here and live out my life as a fisherwoman. Sorry Reina, but Aline’s coming too.”

“The only thing we’re going to be fishing for is a deal with Alan to get us out of here,” Reina said. “But you’re right, everyone deserves to know, besides Saela I guess if she doesn’t want to get out of bed. It’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster from here on though, because I don’t plan on staying on Terminus for very long. It’s going to be short and sharp – Terminus, Caecus, Skywall, and then back home. We know now that Ormain was just stabbing in the dark before with the wanted posters, so we should be safe if we can make it back.”

Nina hid a frown. She knew it was unrealistic but stopping on Caecus for even a moment was something that she had been hoping for. It was true that her attachment was a liability as Ormain was aware of it, but it still couldn’t stop her from wishing that Reina would be a little sympathetic to her cause. She needed an anchor in her life now that everything had gone out the window, and just knowing that her home was real and out there would be enough. A strong enough pinch on the cheek so that she could fully focus on looking forward instead of dwelling on what was behind her would be more than welcome.

There was still time for an extended stay on Caecus to become possible, she reminded herself. Ormain could be dealt with somehow between now and then, as could Rucille. Every plate was a new challenge, but before getting to the next one she still had another massive hurdle to overcome.

“So, what’s the plan then?” she asked.