Larian Masters stood in a fork in the road with his hands in his pockets, wondering if his father could still haunt him for leaving his little brother to die. He'd been dead for several years now, and Larian's scant memories from church told him that people's souls eventually crossed over to somewhere else. But he couldn't remember how long that took, and he knew plenty Hidoran and Iandran people who believed their families' spirits could linger for generations, or visit whenever they wanted even after crossing over. Not to mention some of the weird shit he'd seen during Threshart over the years.

Ultimately, he wasn't going to risk it. And, if he was being honest, he wouldn't have left Arty to die even if there was no risk of a parental haunting in retribution. He was still his little brother, and probably the only blood Larian still had. Unless Arty had some unclaimed brat lying around somewhere in Xykesh, which wouldn't surprise Larian in the least.

By the Light, his brother was a fuck up. Case in point, this mess now.

Arty had picked a fight with Xigbar and his other outsider friends. The ones who had burned down their headquarters in Shadefall, fended off multiple guild attempts on their lives, and beaten one of the baddest giant monsters Larian had ever seen. The ones that had evaded and beaten elites more than once. The ones Arty had absolutely no business picking a fight with.

A carriage slowly pulled up the road toward Larian's position. Though he stood alone, he was the furthest thing from it. He had people in position along the road, in the nearby travel station, and even circling the area on the backs of griffons a few hundred feet up. Whatever Xigbar and his friends had been thinking when they asked for this meeting, Larian was the one in charge of it.

The carriage pulled to a stop. Larian didn't recognize the driver, a nondescript, dark haired woman in a butler's uniform. She hopped down from her seat to open one of the doors, and stood deferentially aside to let the passengers out.

Valerie stepped out first, careful to keep her eyes only on Larian. It was more difficult than she expected. Training had all but drilled the need to keep her head on a swivel, and it was even harder not to knowing she was surrounded.

She reminded herself that this was her idea, that they had a plan, and that if this worked, the whole province could benefit. Now was not the time to get cold feet. Even if her heart was pounding in her chest.

She tried to keep her face neutral, projecting the stoic calm Arden always radiated. She imagined herself strong, competent, and in control. Without a mirror, she couldn't be sure if it was a convincing act, but she felt better. That would have to be enough.

Xigbar exited the carriage after her, and Larian's eyes narrowed on seeing him. The animaborn flashed him a fanged smile. The driver shut the door behind them. No one else left the carriage.

From the way the leader of the Pavers examined the two of them, he would notice Xigbar wore neither a sword nor his armband, and Valerie was missing her wristbow. They had come "unarmed." Just like Larian.

"Hey Boss," Xigbar greeted. "How've you been?"

"You have sixty seconds to give me a reason not to have you both killed right now," Larian stated, flat and bored.

Valerie stepped forward. "Because you're smarter than that, and it's not really what you want."

Larian raised an eyebrow. He'd expected to be dealing with Xigbar, and probably hadn't been expecting that as an opening argument. "Really?"

"I've spent enough time around one of you to develop a decent picture," Valerie said. "You're career criminals hiding behind a paper thin disguise of an official civic guild. You want money, respect, and the luxuries that come with them. Fighting us gets you none of that."

"You've killed a lot of my men, stolen from me more than once, and burned down my property," Larian said. "You've already cost me money, and respect. Even if you never do it again, I let that slide, I'm just inviting someone else to do the same thing. Thirty seconds."

At this, Valerie took a deep breath. This was the moment the whole plan hinged on and she had no control over it. She whistled.

In the travel stop just up the road, the windows flashed with golden light. Behind them, Kaleb stood up from the brush that a pair of Pavers had been hiding in, with Xigbar's armband slithering after him in the form of a snake. In a shimmer of red light, List's carriage driver disguise dissolved away, her halberd flashed into her hands, and she sent a slash of red lightning skyward. In the air above, griffons cried in distress.

Larian vanished from sight right in front of them, reappearing in a blink in front of Valerie. She had already drawn her silvered sword, and the blade sprang into form just in time to parry the stab Larian aimed at her throat. Larian froze with his weapon locked with hers, and Xigbar pressing a knife to the small of his back.

A few Pavers along the road emerged from their hiding spot, training Old World crossbows on Kaleb as he faced them down with his shield. List kept her eyes on the sky, halberd crackling with chaotic power as the griffons circled lower, but wary. The golden light from the travel stop's windows faded to a gentle glow.

"You were much better prepared than your brother," Valerie said, her blade still locked with Larian's. Neither of them moved. "But we knew what we were walking into. If you take this fight, you will lose. If you run, and try to come for us later, you will be starting a war. You have a lot of people and money, so maybe you win. But we are very good at what we do. So maybe you don't. Either way, I can promise you, it's going to be very expensive to find out. You don't want that. Neither do we. Instead of fighting, and bleeding each other dry, I think it would be for the best if we agreed to get out of each other's way."

Larian held her gaze for a long moment, searching her. Trying to see how much she believed her own words. That at least, Valerie knew she could deliver.

Larian relented. "What did you have in mind?"

Valerie retracted her silvered blade back into its hilt and stepped back, and Larian's own weapon vanished from his hands without a trace of where it had gone. Around them, their allies relaxed, though still eyeing each other warily.

"You work for the Chosen," Valerie said. "You pay Zaman a percentage of your profits so he'll look the other way on everything else you do, and you do jobs for him specifically when he asks. We want you to stop. Hang him out to dry."

"I'm assuming Xigbar told you all that," Larian said. "He should have also told you that Zaman also pays us. We're an official guild with civic duties to fulfill. That means funding from the Chosen. Funding that dries up if we stop playing nice with him."

"The Pavers haven't actually maintained the roads in Lochmire in decades," Valerie said. "It's why the Songs didn't fund you at all, and why you helped get rid of them. That money's basically a protection payment so you don't steal from him along with everyone else."

"Money makes the world go round," Larian said. "You're asking me to break a very stable cycle of income of my guild in exchange for . . . what? You not being a problem for me? That sounds dangerously like you trying to shake me down. And if that's what this is, I don't care how expensive it'll be to kill you. No one shakes me down."

"Not a shakedown," Valerie said. "A buyout."

She looked back to Kaleb and List, and they took the cue. Going to the back door of the carriage, Kaleb pulled out a massive chest the size of his upper body, and carried it forward on his shoulder like it was a sack of flour. He set it down in front of Larian, and threw it open. Inside were stacks on stacks of scales, rows of gems, half a dozen statuettes made of precious materials.

Behind him, List dragged out a bound and gagged Arthur Masters, and ushered him forward with a few meaningful gestures of her halberd. On seeing his brother, Larian twitched.

Valerie continued. "You know we're gunning for Zaman. In four months, either we'll be dead, or he won't be the Chosen anymore. We hit you this time because we want to hurt his wallet, not yours. Leave us alone, and pull your support for him until he's gone or the time's up, whichever comes first. In exchange, you can have back everything we took today, including your brother and everyone else we didn't kill. We won't make any more trouble for you, and, if we win, we can promise you a seat at the table to negotiate with the new Chosen, if you want it."

"If you win?"

Valerie shrugged. "If we lose, we're probably dead, and you get what you wanted without having to lift a finger. You lose four months of Zaman's funding and he gets mad at you, but that money might be gone for good soon anyway, and he'll be too busy with us to target you any time soon. You have a chance to stay out of the expensive fighting, back the winning side, and profit. We both can win here. Or, you can hold a grudge, and we can waste each other's time and money fighting."

Larian looked from her, to his people, to List and Kaleb. Arthur growled something through his gag, casting murderous looks at the outsiders and disbelieving ones at his fellow Pavers. Finally, he looked to Xigbar.

"You found yourself an interesting new owner, Xig," Larian said. "I think I like her."

List got a dangerous look in her eye, but Valerie stopped her with a subtle outstretch of her hand. "Do we have a deal?" she asked, the picture of stone cold calm.

Larian nodded. "I think we do. You've got guts, outsider. If the rebel thing doesn't work out, you've got a spot in the guild."

"I'm fine where I am," Valerie said. "Yes or no?"

"Four months," Larian said. "Zaman sinks or swims on his own. After that, we'll reevaluate our little bargain."

Valerie nodded. "In that case, the carriage is all yours. We'll be on our way."

The travel stop's doors opened, and Arden strolled out to rejoin the others as unperturbed as ever. Through the door, they could just make out half a dozen bodies scattered on the floor in various states of consciousness. The five outsiders regrouped, and with a last nod of acknowledgement, walked away.

Larian would have them followed, though he gave the effort even odds of success or failure. The outsiders truly were a force to be reckoned with. He almost felt sorry for Zaman.

Arthur must have worked his gag free, because his swearing became more coherent.

"You're letting them go?! Fucking end them! They disrespected us! They—"

"Arty. Shut up."

After shaking the Pavers that tailed them, the outsiders returned to the Scaled Maiden to celebrate the victory, and debrief Samira Shen on the slight change in plans. Valerie had been worried they might have overstepped, or promised more than Shen would want, but when Arden gave the report, the head woman seemed utterly delighted.

Tonight, a traveling bard List was particularly fond of was playing, and Valerie had expected to see the hellborn ogling him from her usual front row seat. But instead, she saw her sister at the bar, smiling and laughing…with Kaleb.

Their interactions had been smoothing out ever since they'd gone off that cliff together, Valerie had noticed what she was fairly certain was List flirting with him during sparring and on missions. But List flirted all the time, and Valerie thought it had just been a sign of her growing more comfortable with Kaleb. Now though, seeing her ignore her old crush for him, Valerie wondered.

Something to look into later. Tonight, she had something else on her mind. And that something was currently sneaking for the backdoor of the Maiden, probably to find some trouble to get into.

Valerie intercepted Xigbar before he could leave, and he did his best to look like he hadn't been sneaking off, folding his hands behind his back and whistling.

"Valerie. What's up?" he asked.

"You did good today," Valerie said. "You provided helpful information, contributed to the group, and even backed me up when I was in danger."

"All in a day's work," Xigbar said with a smirk. "See? I can play nice when I want to."

Valerie frowned. The compliment had been premeditated to make him feel comfortable, but his ego really could be insufferable. It made what she had to say next that much harder.

"I need your help."

Xigbar got a look of genuine surprise in his face, and his stance relaxed. His snakelike eyes darted over to List, Valerie's usual confidant, and the question was obvious. Why me?

"You're good at finding things," Valerie said. "Not just information, but literal things, right? Especially things that might be hard to find?"

"That's basically what I did for a living before you guys stepped in."

Valerie nodded. She did trust List more than anyone else, and if the hellborn knew what Valerie was doing, she'd be in full support of it. But she needed someone with contacts all over the province, who had a knack for acquiring things, and who could keep quiet about it. If she was going to defy a priest, she needed a thief.

"I need you to find me all the information you can about Absence powers."