Chapter 28 — Honor Among Cat-kin

Xyn raised an eyebrow. A job he could only trust to a fellow cat-kin?

Before Xyn could think too deeply about what sort of job would meet that criteria, Master Rethan continued speaking, “The mages have been kidnapping from the dockside part of the city orphans, vagabonds, and pretty much anyone out at night that they can get their hands on. From what your friends reported while you were out of it—about the kidnapped being used for experiments—many of them are likely still alive.”

Master Rethan leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. “My daughter was captured by these scum while investigating the disappearances. I have made several forays into the tunnels below with no luck, and when I’m down there I can’t protect my people up here.”

The cat-kin’s eyes glanced over at Alennil. “Your group has a diviner, so finding my daughter and rescuing the others should be a simple matter. I’ll offer double normal pay, plus a hefty bonus upon Jessi’s safe return. What do you say?”

Xyn was planning to rescue the kidnapped orphans anyway, so getting bonus pay was certainly a welcome development, but the way Master Rethan asked him specifically… “Your daughter, she’s…” Xyn trailed off, not sure how to politely ask the question.

Master Rethan didn’t break eye-contact as he gave a slight but meaningful nod. “Jessi has a poison affinity like myself, so normally I wouldn’t need to worry, but…”

“I understand,” Xyn affirmed, straightening in his chair, and with resolute seriousness, assured his fellow feline, “You can count on me.”

The tension in Master Rethan’s face relaxed. “With the way you went so far to see your companions to safety earlier, I had a suspicion. Seem’s I’ve judged you correctly, Xyn. You have my gratitude.”

Xyn nodded.

The situation was as he suspected. Xyn’s father had raised him and Quen with proper values, and at times like these, families and felines of honor would come to each other’s aid. That’s not to say there weren’t scoundrels without honor, but redressing such unethical behavior was one of the times an adept or master might duel a young disciple with intent to punish or worse—and rightfully so.

Ayla had spent the time while Denathen was arranging things visiting with Nelia. Nelia and Denathen's little girl was just learning her words and was irresistibly adorable. Seeing Nelia's happiness made Ayla think again about her future and motherhood, something her goal of becoming a knight had pushed out of her mind for a long time.

“Ayla, ready?” Denathen inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Clapping her cheeks to refocus on the task at hand, Ayla checked that the skirts, sleeves, and bodice of the dress she had borrowed were in proper order and after taking a deep breath, nodded to her brother to lead on.

When they reached the room that was their destination, a page opened the door and announced them.

“Sir Denathen Ravenhill, and his sister, Lady Ayla Ravenhill, Your Grace.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Averis.” The middle-aged man with close-trimmed facial hair, who was surely Duke Haverin, looked up from working through a pile of reports to motion them closer to the desk. “I’ve heard good things about you, Lady Ayla, and was pleased when young Denathen here offered me the chance to evaluate such a promising young knight with my own eyes.”

The advisor attending the duke made no attempt to hide his annoyance at the duke’s work having been interrupted and glared at Ayla as she dared approach the desk. She circulated aura to buttress her courage and made a proper curtsy to present herself. “Your Grace, if you say such, I can’t help worrying that my brother may have exaggerated my accomplishments.”

“There’s no need for modesty,” the duke scoffed with amusement. “The Ravenhill family has competently managed it’s barony for generations, and its sons and daughters continue to serve with a vigor and distinction sadly lacking from much of the lesser peerage. Now, I hear you have a matter of importance to present to me.”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Ayla reached into a hidden pocket in her draping sleeves, retrieved the meeting notes obtained from the Tower expedition, and held them out for the advisor to hand to the duke.

The advisor looked over the notes with disdain. “What’s this? A poorly summarized proposal?”

“Neville. I can judge the merit for myself,” Duke Haverin reprimanded the gaunt but lavishly-dressed man.

“As Your Grace wishes,” Neville grudgingly responded and passed along the unfolded papers.

The advisor wasn’t wrong to be annoyed, as Ayla had used her connection with her brother to circumvent the normal process. But the matter was urgent, and they couldn’t risk Sarlen being tipped off. Even so, Ayla watched tensely as the duke read over the pages. Requesting this meeting risked much of the political goodwill that she had gained over the past year in addition to the risk of revealing her involvement in the raid on the Tower.

“Resource harvesting… kidnappings… ongoing bloodline experiments… recruitments from among the nobility-” The duke’s muttering abruptly stopped, and he looked up sharply. “The royal justicars have been dispatched to investigate an attack on the Tower. I must ask you how you acquired these, Lady Ayla.”

There was an edge of command to the duke’s query that warned her that she was on dangerous ground. “Your Grace, I have successfully infiltrated a foreign organization that is currently investigating cult activity involved in the revival of the land god Xogg`Shriloth.”

Both of the duke’s eyebrows rose, and the advisor was staring at her slack-faced, clearly having misunderstood the dangerous significance of the documents he had been handed.

“And what is the name of this organization?” the duke pressed.

Ayla hesitated then answered, “The Cartographer's Society.”

“Averis, Emy. Leave us. Close the door and wait outside. You are forbidden from speaking of this matter,” Duke Haverin suddenly ordered. The young page and the servant girl tending the duke's tea looked up in surprise at having been addressed, and once the pair had hurried out of the room, Duke Haverin continued, "Lady Ayla, you should not speak of such matters without proper precautions. Denathen, if you would.”

Ayla's brother formed a mandala in front of his hand before the spell expanded to fill the room in a way similar to Yillian's secrecy gem. It was only thanks to recent improvements in her aura and magic-sensing that Ayla was able to notice even that much. She really hoped that Master Valence would have some training in mind that would help her improve further once the current crisis was resolved.

“If you really have infiltrated the Cartographer's Society, then you should know that they have eyes and ears everywhere. They particularly tend to recruit maids and the like. Though it's not unheard of for even advisors and family to be targeted,” the duke rebuked her and added, “Am I wrong?”

Ayla shook her head as she produced her badge showing her membership in the Society and handed it over to Neville. “You're not wrong, but the actual information gathering is fairly limited in manpower from what I've witnessed, though the members do have surprising abilities. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of the extent of operations in Haverin City. The rest of my team went to the guild office to begin investigating the kidnappings while I was sent to handle my assigned task of preventing the ice mage from being recruited.”

“The ice mage being my son, Sarlen,” the duke sighed out, and Neville's head snapped to the duke before snapping back to Ayla with his eyebrows raised.

A wry expression tugged at the corner of Ayla's mouth. The duke's advisor mustn't have seen that page of the meeting notes.

“Yes, that is correct.” Ayla nodded. “The Society's information is that the cultists will be moving quickly to complete your son's recruitment. There's a chance we can catch the mage sent to meet with him.”

“It's a dangerous game you are playing, Lady Ayla,” the duke warned and let his eyes fall to the notes with his son's name listed. “I'm quite alarmed that foreign agents are freely engaging in operations within my city. But, your family's loyalty has never been in question, and I doubt you'd risk your brother's honor by involving him in a dishonorable and potentially treasonous scheme. Tell me what you've learned about these cultists and what course of action you and the Cartographer's Society seek from me.”

The tavern that was the cover for the Haverin City branch of the Cartographer’s Society had been an interesting experience for Xyn. He’d read about such places and had to admit to being curious, but the crass reality of dockside humans drowning the remainder of their day in drink at the hands of busty serving females while musicians belted out obscene tunes had still been a shock.

The overpowering smells and raucous noise were an unrelenting assault on his senses, but when Master Rethan was discreetly introducing him to the other Society members present, he realized the setting was likely intentional, as discerning the contents of other conversations was difficult even for his sensitive ears.

Master Rethan had assigned Xyn and his companions two local members to serve as guides and help with the assault. Hoss and Klode. Hoss looked like an unremarkable brute, but the hairless muscled human was remarkably silent and had a way of going unnoticed even with his large size for a human. Klode was a pale dark-haired human in dark clothes with a dark cloak. Even the guy’s many knives were dark. Shadows embraced Klode like kin whenever they were near, but the Society Journeyman gave off a different feel from Ayla’s family. Seeing such unusual auras and techniques was fascinating to Xyn, and he observed them greedily.

The pair led Xyn and his companions through the winding alleys to a cobblestone retaining wall at the riverside. Stone stairs led down to a platform adjacent a tunnel leading into the wall and under the city. The smells that Xyn allowed to pass through his aura weren’t pleasant.

A quick glance at the sky showed that evening was rapidly approaching. They would need to hurry. Fighting vampires at night seemed like it would be disadvantageous at best.