Keela was sitting on one of the stools in Bertaut’s basement, dirt under her nails and a worried but tired Velka sitting in the corner. The kids had been put to bed in guarded rooms, just in case something could happen. Velka should’ve headed to bed as well but she couldn’t possibly muster an ounce of sleep even if she tried. Bertaut, noticing the tense atmosphere, got up and walked to the exit.

“I’ll let you two have some time to talk, I’ll go check on some paperwork”, he said, closing the door behind him.

The two women sat in silence, neither of them daring to speak up. After a few minutes of awkward pondering, Velka raised a shaky voice.

“So is there anything else I should know? First you can’t read, you have panic attacks with human contact, you are now super good at fighting, it turns out you’re an elf? Like, as much as I trust you and consider you like family, I don’t know what to believe anymore. Is your name even Keela or was that a cover up too?”

“My name is Keela Norra, I am of age, humans would consider me to be 19 or 20 but I’m 62. I learned to read over the past months, roughly so. The man you saw earlier trained me to fight in those same months and… tonight was my fault, I think.”

“Do you want to know about me or do you already know?”

“Your name is Velka Grissi, you’re a demi-human of rabbit variety. You’re 26, 170 cm tall and have been an orphan since you were 7. I know all of this, yes.”

“And why did you hide being an elf?”

“I thought you would reject me, like everyone else before you…”

“I’m your friend Keela. Friends don’t do that.”

“You’d be surprised, even Ethan punched me when he learned.”

The silence caught back on, both of them staring at the ground, the heavy revelations sitting in the air uncomfortably.

“Where did you…” started Velka, hesitantly.

“I buried him in the hills to the north, under a fir, a couple paces out of the city”, replied Keela, not averting her gaze from the ground.

“Do you think you could take me there some day?”

“Sure… When there’s time.”

Velka got up and walked up to Keela, waiting in front of her, arms outstretched, waiting for a hug. Keela gave in, burrowing her face in Velka’s shoulder, finally letting the tears out, hugging her friend tight. Pulling away a few inches, she looked up at Velka.

“I’m going to get you and the kids safe, I swear.”

Velka stared back, tears involuntarily welling up in her eyes again.

“I believe you Keela, I believe you.”

The two of them held each other in silence for a few minutes before hearing the door at the top of the stairs open. They separated a touch awkwardly, Keela wiping the tears on her sleeve. Bertaut appeared in the door frame, adjusting the sleeve on his standard attire.

“Velka should head to bed, it is getting quite late and the two of us have quite of bit of talking to do as well”, he said, looking at Keela in the second part of his statement.

Velka nodded and headed up the stairs, being greeted by a servant who brought her up. Keela grabbed some water from a canteen and washed off her hands, wiping off the dirt on her clothes. After freshening up, she took off the cloak, hung it up on the wall, turning back towards Bertaut.

“Didn’t tell her too much I presume?” he said, pacing about in front of the bookshelves.

“The only thing you weren’t aware of that I told her is my actual age. And before you ask, I’m 62”, she replied, following his movements.

Bertaut let out a noise that could almost be interpreted as a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I would’ve pegged you as older than that.”

“Rude. So what’s the game plan?”

“Well, I healed and interrogated the man you hadn’t murdered. As it turns out, we have similar interests in this affair so helping me will probably bring you some closure.”

“How do they correlate exactly?”

“Well, that man was one of those you had beaten in the alley a few weeks ago. Turns out he’s part of an organisation called The Ivory Razor. These joyous fellow happen to be the ones I need a heist run on.”

“I think I’ve heard the name.”

“Those slippery assholes have tendrils outstretched everywhere in the city, probably even in the royal palace. So I need someone to act as a mole from the inside, possibly running disinformation campaigns and grabbing information not meant to slip out.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“And you have to take their oath and break it. But I hear acting is one of your talents.”

“Cockiness is very unbecoming of you.”

“I thought I’d take a page from your book.”

“Again; rude. But I don’t have a choice with the debt I’ve accrued.”

“Took the words out of my mouth.”

Keela sighed and held the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“For now go get some rest upstairs, you have a room. Tomorrow, we act. No time to waste”, said Bertaut, dismissing her with a wave of the hand.

Keela was greeted by the same servant and went off, getting some well deserved sleep.