DoT: A Heartbeat Too Late

"Up there," said the boy Solvin, and the girl beside him nodded. 

"I see 'em--" Bassom cut the sentence off with a curse. "Fucking Mist Eyes? They's working for the fucking Mist Eyes?" He looked at Solvin. "I thought ya said they wasn't part of the Guild."

"They aren't," the girl said sullenly. "I followed them. They're just... I don't know, but not Guild."

"Well, that's Faldor, and he's one of the Mist Eyes. I can't believe..." His eyes narrowed. "'Less the Mist Eyes found 'em just before we did. I gotta get back to Vallista." He turned. 

"We're coming with you," said Solvin.

Bassom stopped. He couldn't really afford to delay, but... "Not this time, Kid. If I survive this, I promise I will make some introductions for you, but there is no way I'm bringing you into the boss's office while I deliver this news."

"Swear by the Twins?" asked the girl. 

"Fine. I swear by the Twins, if I live through this I will make introductions for you. If I don't, well, you've met some people now -- just be careful."

* * * 

"Boss?" called the lizard-folk woman Gazin, who worked as Vallista's secretary. "Bassom's here to see you."

Vallista's skin tingled with anticipation. Finally, a real lead. Even if the group that had hit the woodworker's shop wasn't the same one who'd murdered her father, this was at least a chance for the gang to rebuild some of its honor. And if they were...

She let the cold rage flood through her, then tucked it away as Bassom entered her office.  His expression wasn't the triumphant victory she'd hoped for; he looked torn. "I found 'em, boss." He sighed. "But I think I found 'em too late. Mist Eyes have 'em."

"They what?" Oh, right, that business with their courier, the one that set them at odds with the Red Blades. She calmed herself with a single breath. "Tell me what you know."

"Two of the kids what got run out of Bilk's place was willin' ta talk to me, and they helped me find the kids as was helpin' the targets. That led us back to lower east, and... they're stayin' in a safehouse under the spoke. But that courier, Faldor, he was leadin' 'em off as I got there." Bassom shook his head. "The kids, the ones helpin' me, they says this crew ain't Guild, but... safehouse? Mist Eyes? I dunno. What do I do here?"

Vallista considered that. Bassom wasn't the smartest or the bravest, but he knew when he was in over his head and she was starting to appreciate that. "...You did the right thing," she said, reluctantly. She could wish that he'd found them sooner, but what good would that do? If he had, she might have been able to take them before the Mist Eyes found them. But if they'd been working with the Mist Eyes?

That made no sense, though. The Mist Eyes held Lower City East, and their immediate rivals were the Red Blades in Lower City Southwest -- and maybe the Beggars in Lower City North. Only a bit of their territory overlapped with hers; if they were going to expand into the Middle City, it would make far more sense to move in on the Silverstrings' territory, most of which was directly above them.

She didn't know Cedric Bloodblade, but the man had a reputation as a canny and persuasive leader with good support from his own gang. The Mist Eyes controlled about a quarter of the lower city, as did the Beggars and the Red Blades. The remaining quarter nominally belonged to the Stevedores, but was a patchwork of small, independent communities that mostly had nothing to do with the guild at all.

She needed to know more. If the Mist Eyes took care of this crew for her, well... embarrassing, but as long as it wasn't widely known she could live with that. If they were, for some mad reason, working together...

"I need you to go visit the Mist Eyes," she said. "Don't provoke them, but don't let them turn you away. Tell them you've come to speak to Cedric Bloodblade on my behalf, and insist on speaking to him directly. Tell him I'd like to meet him for dinner, tonight, at the Overlook."

Bassom swallowed, but nodded. "I can do that," he said. "I'll get it done."

"I'm trusting you with this," Vallista told him.