Just like that, the city was rocked, all at once. Senator Mystern and Bran both used their political sway to call an emergency session of the senate, after meeting with a few select people and securing their help and backing, a session of which Eden and company were compelled to both bear witness to and be a witness at. Mystern took the spokesman's stand at the senate hall and started out with a tale of an inspection of the sewer system at the request of Chief Inspector Critner (one of the people Mystern met with and secured help from just before the session) who happily verified Mystern's claim, covertly counting the new bag of gold he had. She was on a tour of the dock-section area of the sewers, she claimed before the senate, to look into a bad smell reported by a certain bar (the signed complaint was on file, of course, attested to by no less than three secretaries who swore it had come across their desks, and when the chief inspector had come to visit, Mystern claimed, the entire staff was missing from the bar! Acting upon a wise feeling that this was above his pay grade, he reached out to Senator Mystern, who was an expert in many magical things, to inspect the sewers that connected to said bar, as the rumors of the sewers' dubious origins were many and varied, but almost unanimously pointed to some magical explanation. Mystern bravely delved into the sewers and found the bar staff and its patrons all dead, seemingly from a thieves' guild hit as a result of not paying for guild protection. What horror! What scandal! The numerous senators were split between frowning in a knowing incredulity and frowning in concern, the latter summed up in the question, "if the guild is now issuing hits and killing groups of people instead of beating up or robbing individuals, how can we feel safe?" and the former wondering if their deals with the guild were voided or not.

"Fear not!" Mystern assured all present: for she happened upon a meeting that the mysterious guildmaster himself was hosting, in a heinous plan to execute a newcomer to the city, a beloved priest-in-training, a renowned gladiator, and two nobles! The sursurration that spread through the senate originated when it was revealed that two nobles had been abducted and were nearly executed; it was unheard of! The previous three mentioned commoners were one thing, a pity and a scandal that the guild would be executing anyone, but it was a step too far, in the senators' eyes, that nobles had been endangered--and for accidentally running afoul of pirates! That was another shock, though to only a fraction of the audience present; there were many that had obviously lined their pockets by the very presence of the Headsman's Joy, whether it be by bribes, contraband, or other sly-gotten gains, and so those in the audience, to a one, wore scowls.

There were objections, bouts of outrage, and accusations from the floor, but the chairman of the senate--a position that held a different person every session via lots cast--demanded quiet on the grounds that Senator Mystern was not proposing anything, but was instead recounting a tale corroborated by multiple individuals with no stain on their record, plus the two lords Leland and Joyautombe. The rabble settled down, but most of the senators had the distinct impression that their pockets were about to be much lighter, and for some strange reason (they didn't doubt it because those kinds of feelings never betrayed them) they felt as if Senator Mystern's pockets were somehow heavier as a result of whatever it was she was getting at.

She came across the meeting and not only freed those captive, not only exacted vengeance on the thieves' guild, not only learned the guildmaster's name and description, but also learned how the guild had managed to stave off capture all these years! Mystern went on to describe the shuttling-rooms system housed in the sewers, and went on to say that now the knowledge of its functionality is free, the watch could lead teams of mages down to unlock and use any combination of knocks to open whichever doors the guild wishes to hide in.

Naturally there were cries of outrage from many of the senators whose bank accounts would suffer without guild bribes, but many witnesses and professionals, including Eden's group, were called up to testify to everything Mystern was saying. Eden watched it all happen, noticing that everything everyone said fell in line with what Senator Mystern was saying, as if they had days to memorize what they were to say. She puzzled with it until it was her time on the stand, where she found that Mystern was using telepathy to relay what she wanted said. Eden went through the motions, and before long, it was all over. The thieves' guild had been displaced; it would be difficult, at best, for them to get back to operating as well as they had previously. The senators, even those that benefited from the guild, almost unanimously, disavowed the guild and authorized task forces to hunt down and round up remaining guildmembers, the senators having been outmaneuvered by Senator Mystern.

***

After the spectacle, Eden and her group were escorted back to Mystern's manor, where she was to receive her payment for her part in Bran's group, which, if she remembered correctly, wasn't promised to be much of anything. She was told that she would be paid from Mystern's own pockets, but not how mauch, and even that was a new development. In fact, now that Eden was thinking of money, she still hadn't gotten any shifts in at the Meadium. She was supposed to make her debut there at some point! Disappointing as it was, she would have to have a conversation with Megan to let her know she wouldn't be able to work there. Especially since Ichabod was in the city; Eden was likely going to leave Valekenport.

Mystern walked them to the gates and unlocked them, leading the group through the grounds and up to the manor itself, which was a three-story building of white marble, surrounded by enormous Corinthian columns supporting an awning that jutted twenty feet past the roof of the mansion, all the way around in a circle. The building looked like some sort of temple, which would make a bit of sense, what with Mystern being a demigod and all.

The senator strode through the front doors, swinging them wide and leading the group through a parlor and into a sitting area with futons surrounding a giant bowl of royal-purple grapes. The group was instructed to sit down and to come in one at a time to the kitchen for an exit interview. Eden had never heard of such a thing.

Bran went in first and the rest of the group treated themselves to some of the grapes that were present. Eden thought they were really quite good, but they didn't taste like grapes... they tasted like oranges.

"So... are exit interviews a thing, here in Valekenport?" Eden asked, in the process of chewing several grapes at once.

Vorol nodded. "They are in higher circles, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the Senator just wants reassurances that we won't speak about our direct involvement."

"That, and we might be presented with the opportunity to ask her for favors." Sariel said. "I know, personally, I would like for her to write a letter of recommendation to the priest at my temple."

"Oh, yeah, you're the likely candidate to receive training to replace the current priest, aren't you?" Raenaugh asked wile biting a grape in half. "Is it so you'll just have it in the bag? No competition?"

Sariel shook his head. "Not quite. Knowing that the position will be mine takes the pressure off a bit. I can then study for the position because it's something I like, not because I'm afraid someone else will take my place."

"By someone, do you mean that one guy... Declan, was it?" Eden suggested. Sariel looked over at her in surprise.

"Oh, no, I don't think Declan even wants the position. No, I'm in competition with acolytes from other temples. It was announced that Hem-Netjer Hammond would be retiring, and our temple received more applications than I could file."

"...Did-- did you throw them away?" Eden asked.

"No, no, we outsourced and hired a couple temporary secretaries to help us."

"Oh..."

The four chatted away for about half an hour, fully relaxed, now that their assault on the guild was firmly in the past. Bran came back into the room and instructed Eden to go into the kitchen.

"What should I expect?" Eden asked.

"Nothing ominous." Bran said, giving her a reassuring smile. "She'll likely just recap everything with you, give you a reward, and send you on your way. Head on in."

Eden took a deep breath, nodded, and made her way to the kitchen, carefully shutting the door behind her. It was a magnificent kitchen, stocked with herbs, seasonings, and fruit, plus a larder that seemed to be emitting a chill. The countertops were black, marbled with blue. Mystern, herself, was retrieving several bottles of various alcohols from the cabinets, and had two glass coupettes sitting on an island that had a chair on either side of it.

"Have a seat, Eden. I'm breaking out some of the more expensive drinks I have, tonight." Mystern called from across the expansive kitchen. "Are you a whiskey girl? Rum? Vodka, perhaps?"

"Not vodka. I think Vorol will hit me if he finds out I had any vodka." Eden replied with a blush. Mystern chuckled, knowingly. "I want something strong, though, but I still need to get back to my apartment."

"Nonsense!" Mystern declared, as she clinked around in her cabinets, looking for one spirit or another. "You and the others will be spending the night here as my guests. This way I can have my people sweep yours and Bran's favorite haunts. So, something strong, then?"

"Yes. Just pick one and I'll drink it." Eden gestured dismissively as she sat down.

"Absinthe it is." Mystern almost hummed.

"What do you mean 'my favorite haunts'?" Eden asked. "I haven't been in Valekenport that long."

"Well, let's see..." the senator tapped her finger to her mouth as she set a silvery bottle on the island and turned to a hanging basket of fruit. "...there's the Meadium..."

"Been there twice."

"Lord Joyautombe's manor." Mystern grabbed a large grapefruit and a knife.

"I stayed there for a week because I was afraid to go outside. Turns out my fears were well-founded. I've still only been there twice."

"The Golden Corner." Mystern retrieved a plate and two thick cloth napkins and set everything on the island.

"Again, twice." Eden crossed her arms.

"The docks where you met your scaly friend." Mystern's echoey voice stayed level as she rested the grapefruit on the plate and sliced it in half.

"I'm not sure he counts as a friend. Are friends that dangerous? Do you fear that your friends will devour you if it suits them? I've only been there twice, too, by the way."

The demigod took one half of the grapefruit and squeezed juice from it into one of the coupettes; she did the same with the other half of the grapefruit into the opposite coupette.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Mystern replied after a moment of thought. "But you haven't met any of my friends, so you wouldn't know that. Your point is taken, but look at it from the point of view of someone like me or that dragon. We have very few peers, and fewer friends, so our friendships must be thus. For the dragon to bear your presence the way he or she did means that he put you on the level of other beings like him. Did the dragon say why he let you go?"

"Initially he said it was because no one would believe me."

"Ah, he was lonely, then. Dragons get that way. For all their fire--or other elements--and longevity, it seems they are still subject to the emotions of lesser beings."

"I don't feel like I'm a lesser being than a dragon. Just a weaker one."

"An ant doesn't feel lesser than a human, yet I assure you they are." Mystern opened the bottle and poured the absinthe into one of the wrung-out grapefruit rinds and carefully passed it to Eden. "The one you ran into sounds fairly young, from what I can gather. Less than two-hundred years--adult body, teenage mind. Here, drink it from the grapefruit, and when you're done," she started pouring the green-tinted liquid into the coupettes where the juice was, "then drink it from the glass."

"So a younger dragon is mentally on par with adults?" Eden asked incredulously. "If that's the case, I'm better off than dragons." She sipped from the grapefruit and promptly scrunched up her face. It was sour. It was more sour than it had any right being. Absinthe didn't taste like that! Maybe a hint of licorice here and there, but not... whatever this was.

"Don't spit it out!" Mystern cautioned. "This bottle definitely isn't the most expensive, but it runs upwards of three-thousand gold ounces at any market that sells it." Eden promptly choked. "And the thing about dragons isn't their intelligence, it's that their intelligence doesn't stop increasing for hundreds of years. They end up smarter than us."

Eden took a more careful sip from her grapefruit. She still grimaced. "So, how is it that dragons haven't enslaved all of us? Surely that's the next step for superior intelligence. Is it because there are people like you in the world that they haven't?"

The senator gave her an amused look. "There are plenty of dragons out there that would thrash me with minimal contest. But I'll answer your question in two parts. First, there are kingdoms out there with dragon monarchs. But the second part is that no, what you're talking about is more difficult than you would think. Even for dragons. Here's the thing. Dragons instinctively want to grow their hoard, and when they enslave people, they consider people to be part of their hoard. Which means they want the people of their hoard to be well-off, which, more often than not, doesn't work with slaves, as slaves are people, and people cause problems. Slaves either rebel or become useless due to punishment. Rebellion leads to punishment, punishment leads to rebellion, and when it doesn't, there are only so many ways people can be punished before they either become resistant to its influence or break entirely and become only useful for menial labor--moving things from one place or another or harvesting fields, both of which requires constant supervision because when the slaves are in that condition, whether from punishment or lack of education, they will not get things right, and dragons must have perfection. Too much manpower is needed to oversee slaves, and you have to worry about the overseers rebelling or becoming sympathetic to the slaves. Too much can go wrong and when slaves are like that, and a dragon can delegate forever, but will constantly have to worry that those closest to it will turn on it and its workforce might suddenly turn into a weapon with which the dragon can be killed with. No, it's too much trouble for most dragons to enslave races, intelligent as the dragons might be, so they do one of three things, by and large: they work with mortals, they just make golems to do their bidding, or they leave civilization altogether.

"Dragons have a weakness that is entirely self-inflicted," Mystern continued, "and that is that they get lonely. That in and of itself is their end as often as the sword is. Some end it themselves, and some, especially those who leave, go insane, their great intelligence reduced to gibbering streams of consciousness overwrought with memories that they don't block anymore and can't differentiate from reality because they haven't heard any real voices in millennia; they sit on their hoards and are little more than animals by that time."

"Wait, they work with people?"

"Of course. If you want magical items for your hoard, wouldn't it be easiest to pay for someone to make it? Here's a good example for you. A dragon uses gold from its hoard to pay a smith and a wizard to make a master-crafted enchanted sword, and then, when the artifact is made, he leases it to a nearby knight or paladin who is sworn to a monarch or to protect a realm, and then the dragon gives the warrior the location of a nearby dragon, and the warrior sets out to end the nearby threat. The warrior, equipped with this new and powerful weapon, kills the other dragon, and brings both the sword and the hoard back to the dragon of his realm. The dragon increases his hoard, gives the warrior a cut of the treasure, and both the dragon and its allies win without the dragon having to risk its life."

"It would be risking the sword, which equates to part its hoard." Eden countered. "That doesn't sound like something a dragon would do."

"It's called an investment, Eden. There are risks in investment. But considering the situation of the dragon in the example, the dragon risks more if it doesn't take action at all."

"Now that I'm thinking about it, Senator, the example sounds like what you did with our group." She gave the senator an over-exaggerated eye-brow arch."

Mystern laughed, "I assure you, I'm not a dragon. I did learn that from a dragon, though, here in Valekenport. Maybe you'll meet him at some point."

"There's another dragon in the city?! How many are here? And how is this not common knowledge?" Eden finished the alcohol-soaked fruit and reached for the coupette.

"There's just the one, now that the green one is gone. The one I'm familiar with is called Hyrennicium, and he runs the Valekenport Central Bank. He grows his hoard by interest on loans and investments in businesses. And other things. But it's in his best interest to make sure the city is growing."

"Hold up!" Eden interrupted. "How was a dragon in the same city as a thieves' guild?"

"Simple. He operates through the bank, and the bank operates under Valekenport's laws. If he were to go on a rampage, it would do him more harm than good, as he has a good thing going. Anyway, the largest hoard in Valekenport is not the guildmaster's former vault contents, nor is it the elder Lord Joyautombe's former treasure, but it is instead in the bank's vaults, being sat on by a dragon. Which reminds me, I plan to give you a monetary reward for your role in the fatal blow that struck the thieves' guild."

Eden drank a bit from the coupette, a bit more used to the drink. "You're the one who struck the blow."

"You set off the alarm that informed me of your exact location. All I had to do was teleport in to the button's location and end a threat. Unfortunately I wasn't quite quick enough to kill the guildmaster. I expect he'll be giving me trouble for another few weeks. However, the guild only has so many hiding spots, now. So. You led me to the guild's innermost sanctuary. That is a fatal blow to most secret societies. Give yourself a little credit."

"That's true." Eden jested. "I am pretty great." She took another drink from the coupette.

Mystern continued. "I'll get to the point. I want to persuade you to stay here, in Valekenport." Eden started to protest, but the demigod held her hand up. "Just hear me out. Since Ichabod is in the city--"

"That jerk."

"--yes, quite--it seems that he'll be coming to pick you up and leave the city."

The elf nodded. "That's accurate. He didn't say how long he would leave me here, but that he was coming back to collect me."

"I would rather you stay. I'm prepared to pay you two-thousand ounces of gold, plus a bag of extra-dimensional storage."

Eden's eyes grew large. "Two-thousand coins?" That was... over a hundred pounds of gold, she realized. "Two-thousand if I stay?"

Mystern shook her head. "No, that's what you're getting. Or an equivalent to it. It's ten-thousand ounces if you stay." Eden's head reeled for a moment. She took a large gulp of her drink.

"You really want me to stay." Eden said, weakly. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, I do."

"Senator Mystern... You put me in a compromising position. That's a lot of money you're offering me... and you're a demigod..."

"While I will be upset if you refuse my offer, you don't have to worry about retribution. What you have done, not only for the city, but for me and my career... Eden, I count you as an ally. Maybe not a friend, as I've just said, that sort of thing is difficult for one such as me, but, even if you do leave, I'd still like to see you on occasion; someone who helped me. I'm not going to muscle you into accepting my offer; it's just an offer with no other strings attached." She smiled softly.

Eden nodded, still looking as if she'd taken a bite out of a lemon.

"We have the rest of the conversation to go, so you don't have to give me an answer right now, but I will want one before you leave this kitchen. Now, Bran mentioned that you were concerned with the children in the employ of the thieves' guild?"

Eden brightened up. "Yes, did he tell you my plan for re-homing the children?"

"The very rough idea? Yes, yes, he did. But it is a good idea and I think I'll workshop it and bring it before the senate. My reputation, plus the displacement of the guild's money-bought power, means that I should be able to shove my idea through with very little resistance, if I move quickly. In fact, I have a few paladin and wizard acquaintances here in the city that I could convince to take the children in and work on re-purposing them to do good things. After all, what child doesn't want swords or magic? This is an honor that most family pay hundreds of gold to have the chance to enroll their children in."

"It sounds like you're going to have some angry parents." Eden remarked.

"Maybe so. But right now, the city has a culture that involves predatory crime, hence the thieves' guild. If I want to change the culture, I need to change the people."

"And the people that will be influential tomorrow are the children of today." Eden finished.

"Exactly."

"Good. That's a better outcome that I actually thought I'd get. There is one other thing, though. Unrelated."

"Yes?"

"The sanpinsani."

Mystern's face seemed to harden. "The Way of the Caterpillar, yes. What about them?"

"They're not treated very well."

"Are the guards abusing them?"

"...not that I saw..."

"Are they being stolen from? They're one of the few parties the guild doesn't usually mess with."

"Not that I know of."

Mystern paused for a moment, then asked, "So, what's going on?"

"Outside of business, people treat them like second-class citizens." Eden explained. "They wear name tags so people will form an association in their heads that the sanpinsani--"

"The Way of the Caterpillar." Mystern corrected.

"--are, in fact, people. That wasn't a problem in Almaz. If you saw one of the serpent-folk walking the streets, you wouldn't second-guess it--you'd just assume they were going to a temple to worship or something. People. Here... they're still considered monsters?"

"Oh. Is that all?" Mystern looked relieved. Eden gave her a look that could sour milk. "I thought you meant something worse than that. No, that is a social issue. Here in Valekenport, we don't deal with social issues."

"What?" Eden barely got the astonished question out of her mouth before Mystern continued.

"People can treat people how they want, and as long as it doesn't come to violence, it's not a government issue."

"What if people didn't buy sanpinsani merchandise just because they were sanpinsani?"

"You're categorizing them incorrectly, Eden. The ones you are talking about are Way of the Caterpillar, which don't associate themselves with other sanpinsani. They don't do that, because other sanpinsani are monsters, Eden; savages that kill and eat everyone they come across. Leamas raised her sect out of such terrible things--and I am grateful to her for that. She and her sect came to our city after having gained the trust of many merchant caravans. She had already established a reputation of civility and commerce--both things Valekenport as a government recognizes, and so they were admitted inside. They proved themselves to the government, and so they get government protection. Now, they are working on proving themselves to people, so they get people protection. Many of those people have lost loved ones to or fought sanpinsani, so it's understandable that they would not want anything to do with the Way of the Caterpillar."

"It's not right." Eden argued. "Legal or not, it's just not right."

"What would you have the government do, Eden? Force people to buy things with the Way? Force them to socialize?"

"As a start." Eden replied, full summer. "Sometimes people don't like the things they need. It's like medicine."

"That would be tyranny, my dear elf. Also, the concept of forcing people to adhere to social standards that they don't want to hold just isn't a core belief of the senate and it would end in riots. You want to know how to force people to accept the Way of the Caterpillar? Have them do exactly what they are doing: service for the city--and good service at that--that everyone can rely on. The merchandise they produce and the art they make are absolutely peerless, and people see that. They are forced to acknowledge that the jewelry, the food, the clothing, everything that they buy from the sanpinsani are better than those around them. They are above reproach, so the only real reason that someone has to refrain from buying Way of the Caterpillar merchandise is hate, and when people exhibit hate, they discredit themselves to other people.

"Leamas, the leader of the sect, is a very wise person, Eden. I guarantee you that she already took into account the bigoted resistance she'd run into, so she trained her people to be the best. She establishes her people as trustworthy, and so they gain said trust. They don't steal, they don't cheat, hells, they don't even complain. They do pro-bono work on people's homes just to establish themselves as worth people's time and I applaud them for that. I'm happy to defend members of the way. If someone so much as shoves any of Leamas' people, I make the offender disappear."

Eden was silently fuming. But she opened her mouth and spoke, very carefully.

"You speak of law, Senator Mystern, but you unlawfully organized Bran's group to achieve a good end. You did something unlawful to make something good happen. I don't see any reason why you can't, here."

Mystern replied, I used unlawful means to take down an unlawful organization; I'm not going to use unlawful means to force lawful activities to stop." Then she stopped for a moment, sighed, and said, "There's a difference between taking down an organization that preys on people, and telling individuals what they can and cannot do and say. I also feel that, not only will it do more harm than good to force compliance in others' behavior, but economically, I have everything right where I need it. Right now, everyone's having to compete with the Way's merchandise and so overall prices are low, from shops in-town, and the merchant caravans that come into the city to unload goods--they don't get the chance to price-gouge, especially since the thieves' guild is now gone."

Eden froze. There it was. "Wait. You're telling me that you're leveraging a group of people that aren't in the best of circumstances just so you can make your economy the way you want it?"

"It helps the overall populace, so, yes."

Eden could scarcely believe it. The senator didn't even look guilty about it! That solidified Eden's answer; the sanpinsani weren't monsters--the people running this city were.

"I think I'll take the two-thousand ounces, Senator."