Industry & Intrigue (46 page)

Another of the laws Longhaven
brazenly flaunts
.
But it didn’t bother her as much as the children; at least
the woman were consenting adults. Well, she hoped they were. She
wouldn’t put it past brothel operators in this city to indenture
girls and force them to work under threat.

She also noticed a
large
r
proportion of goblins and orcs compared with Alkos City. The orcs
appeared to be doing physical labor work and the goblins were in
service jobs, waiting at the cafes or delivering messages. Outside
of an Alkos City factory, this was more goblinoids than Fiona had
ever seen, and they still occupied the low-level jobs.

When she had been much younger,
Fiona had often wondered why the goblinoids races came to Alkos,
knowing the discrimination they would endure. Then a friend had
shown her an artist’s impressions of Jaefian cities
and told her what
the average daily wage was. Compared to those drawings, Longhaven
was practically a utopia.

They finally neared the
building where they
would meet their contact. Behind her, Kendrick was panting with
exertion.

That’s what he gets for
bringing so much.
She smiled to herself, knowing she’d been right.

She looked up at the building.
It was five s
tories high, one of the largest on this street. The windows
were all covered in black covers from the inside, though she could
see light from between the cracks in it. A set of large metal doors
at the front were guarded by a tall and dangerous looking
golden-scaled drakon.

“
Let me handle
this
,” she
said.

“
Of course,” Kendrick said from
behind her.

She stepped up to the drakon
and spoke th
e word she had been told to use, “Revenant.”

The drakon stared at her with
its pure red eyes before grunting and asked
, “You have money?”

She pulled
a thick bundle of notes out of
her pocket and showed it to him. He appeared to be satisfied and
nodded. “Go on in.” He pulled open the door and they
entered.

There was
a small corridor with another
door at the end and another drakon guard. A man with a beaming
smile on his face sat behind a counter to the left.

“
Welcome,
welcome
,” he
said. “Please check your oversize bag here,” and he pointed to a
window in the wall where a young girl was standing. Fiona looked
back at Kendrick. He held on to his bag tightly, reluctant to give
it up.

“
Do it
Kendrick
,”
she said, in a tone that didn’t leave room for discussion. It was
his own fault for bringing so much. He scowled and slowly slid the
bag off his back. He marched over to the window and handed it to
the girl. She gave him a ticket in return.

He turned to the man at the counter.
“Everything in that bag best be undisturbed when I get it
back.”

The man kept up
his smile. “Of
course sir. Eldrad’s Casino takes pride in ensuring the
satisfaction of its patrons. You have my word that it will not be
opened and will be returned in the condition which you checked it.”
Kendrick appeared mollified and relaxed, his scowl dissipating. The
drakon guard opened the next door and the two spies walked into the
main floor of the casino.

The room was
huge
, taking
up most of the building. There was no ceiling in the center and
Fiona could see all the way up to the top floor. Every floor was
crowded with patrons. On the main floor were dozens of tables, with
what looked like every card game in the world. The table nearest to
them had a game of Silund Gambit going, but Fiona also saw
Twenty-Five, Figure, Drake Dodge and Western Shot.

Looking up the stairs to
the right, Fiona
could see other, more intricate games on the next floor, involving
machines. Fiona wasn’t big on gambling so she didn’t even know the
names of them. She considered betting money a waste of time and
energy.

The only reason she was here
was to meet their intelligence contact.
She scanned the room. The director
had informed them that the contact would be in the casino’s ground
level. Then she spotted him, a pale elf wearing a garishly, black
suit with an orange tie holding back his long, platinum
hair.

“
There he is
,” she said and pointed.
Kendrick’s eyes followed her finger and he nodded.

Fiona
made her way through the crowds and
past the various card tables. It was difficult and one clumsy
waiter came close to spilling a tray drinks over her. She ducked
out of the way and the drinks missed her, crashing to the floor.
She kept moving, wanting to waste as little time in here as
possible.

She stepped up behind their
contact. He was engrossed i
n a game of Drake Dodge and had a large pile of
chips before him. Before she could introduce herself, he held up
his hand.

Without looking back,
he said, “If you
two will be patient, I will be with you in a moment. As soon as I
win this hand.”

Fiona was getting impatient but
she let
him
continue playing. She saw his cards, he didn’t have much to show.
Only three soldiers, a knight and a warlock. Yet he exuded a
confidence that none of the other players did. The players placed
their bets and to her astonishment the elf put down fifteen hundred
crowns worth of chips.

How could
he throw that much down on a
hand like that? Each of the players were given a new card by the
dealer. They turned them over one at a time. The first man had a
soldier and he cursed, he had lost this round for sure. The next
was a tall woman with olive skin and golden bangles in her head, a
Yarali noble. Her card was a cannon and she smirked. Then came
their contact’s turn. He turned over his card, it was the drake,
the trump card. The remaining players turned over but contributed
nothing substantial.

The elf packed up his chips and left the
game, turning around to greet the two agents. “Tel ja’Essa at your
service,” he said.

She had to admit he was one of
the most handsome elves she had ever seen. His
smooth
,
silver hair was stylishly pulled back into a ponytail and he had
piercing blue eyes.

“
Let me cash these in. Then we
can talk in a private room. Wait here.”

She watched as he headed over to the
cash-in counter and exchanged his chips. The attendant handed over
a lot of notes and Tal pocketed them.

He returned and
said
, “This
way.” He led them up to the third floor and down a long corridor
with fancy wooden doors. He stopped at one, produced a key and
opened it, ushering them inside. Once they were in, he locked it
again and bid them to take seat. The chairs had soft velvet
cushions and Fiona relaxed into one, Kendrick sitting next to
her.

The elf
sat in a chair opposite.
“Refreshments?” he asked.

“
No thank you
,” replied Fiona. “Let’s get
right to business.”

“
As you wish
,” he said. “I must admit, I
was surprised to be contacted by Director Talmach about this. My
duties are normally more low key. But he told me two of his agents
needed help reaching the Arm of Assassins, so here I am. Even if it
is a suicidal idea.”

“
What exactly are your duties
Mr. ja’Essa?” asked Fiona.
She had read his file, but wanted to hear his
interpretation.

“
I’m a contracted
financial operative
for Imperial Intelligence. I provide you spies with all of the
funding that allows you to have your weapons and fancy
devices.”

“
By cheating
in illegal casinos?” She held
up the card she had stolen from him. The same drake that he had won
the game with.

He smiled. “You have fast hands Agent
Badenoch. Yes, by cheating casinos out of their money. I target the
illegal ones because they’re the ones avoiding taxes. I like to
think of myself as their taxing agent. Do you have a problem with
that?”

“
No
,” she said. “But I can’t imagine the
life expectancy of a cheat in this city is long.”

He laughed. “I like you Agent
Badenoch. Yes, you’re right normally
cheats around here don’t last long. But
I’m an expert, I know what I’m doing. As for the two of you, well
it’s obvious to anyone that you’re not from Longhaven and it will
be even more obvious to anyone connected to the Arm. Which is why
you need me.”

Fiona was starting to get
irritated by his arrogant attitude, but she kept herself
professional. “Exactly. So where does the master cheat suggest we
start?”
she
asked.

“
This will not be an easy task.
Others have tried to get close to the Arm before. Longhaven even
had a watch captain that tried once. He paid for it with his life
and the lives of his entire family.
”

Fiona looked over at Kendrick
and th
en
looked Tal in the eyes. “We’re Imperial Intelligence, nothing we do
is easy. Where do we start?”

Tal smiled again and
nodded.
“We
start with the House of Blades.”

Chapter 45

Cassandra groaned as Reese
poke
d her
with his elbow. She had asked him to make sure she didn’t fall
asleep, but it was still damn annoying.

“
Sorry
,” he said, “but you looked like you
were about to sleep again”

“
Thanks
,” she replied. She was starting to
regret drinking last night.

“
P
rofessor Xerin said we’ll be arriving
soon,” he said.

By Cassandra’s reckoning that
meant it was slightly after lunch time, since they had left at
half
-past
seven this morning. She looked out the window and could see the
tall peaks of the Copper Mountains in the distance. The Crean
Valley was situated in a valley within the mountain
range.

She still had a long
carriage
ride to look forward to once they arrived in the town,
although Professor Xerin had assured them it was comfortable
enough. She also mentioned she would help pass the time by talking
to them about the valley and answering questions they
had.

As she l
ooked back at Reese, she saw
concern evident in his eyes. “What?” she asked, knowing he wanted
to say something.

“
What do you want me to say? You
lost someone you loved, you can’t just get over it like
that
.” He
clicked his fingers.

She was surprised at his change
in attitude. He had
been berating her to stop all of her drinking and go and
see a counselor, but then suddenly he had backed off. Right around
the time of the assassination on campus.

She had seen little of him
outside of class in the preceding weeks and today
he was distracted.
She also noticed he had a hand gripped on his bag, as if he were
afraid someone would try to grab it.

“
Who are you and what have you
done with Reese?”
she asked, teasing him. He gave her a scrutinizing look
then looked down as if trying to collect his thoughts. Before he
could say anything, a whistle sounded and the train began to
slow.

Cassandra looked out at
the town of Crean.
It was a collection of modern wooden buildings centered around the
train station. Looming behind the town were the Copper Mountains,
she could see the burnished brown tops of the peaks that gave them
their name.

A knock on
the door of the compartment
grabbed their attention. It was Professor Xerin.

The drakon looked at them
carefully. “This is our stop.” She then carried on, knocking on
a
ll of the
compartments with the other students.

Cassandra and Reese
gathered up their
bags and left the compartment. They exited the train and stepped
down to the platform. Professor Xerin was standing there with a few
students and the rest soon followed.

The drakon had them assemble
then addressed them.
“Zoology 110 students, this is Mr. Nitark,” she
said, introducing a man standing at the edge of the platform. “He
will be transporting us the rest of the way to Crean Valley. In
less than two hours we will soon be standing in one of the greatest
zoological sites in the world.”

The thin man next to her then
spoke. “
My
flare-rock carriage is out on the street. It’s big enough for the
lot o’ you. If you need to eat, drink or shit, best go now. Once I
starts up, it don’t stop till we reach the valley.”

“
You heard
him
,” said
Xerin. “You have twenty minutes in the town, then we leave. Meet at
his carriage. Do not be late, unless you feel like spending the
night here instead of the valley.”

T
he students began to wander off into the
town, either to explore or eat. Cassandra put her bag on a seat and
sat down. She wasn’t in the mood to look around. She was focused on
reaching the valley. Reese sat down next to her, pulled out an old
looking book and started reading.