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There had been many instances in Jaena's life when emotions were so overwhelming and thoughts so meaningless and fleeting, that expressing them was almost impossible, but she had never known the true meaning of speechlessness. She stared at Maiaqie with eyes as round as the clock several floors above.
"The client is willing to pay a lot of money for this," Maiaqie said, enunciating carefully, as if she wasn't sure if Jaena could understand her. She pushed a bag forward with the end of her blade, and something jingled inside. Jaena hadn't seen the bag before. She'd been distracted by all the weapons. The weapons that killed doubts.
"Down payment," Maiaqie clarified.
"What—" Jaena blinked and shook her head. Down payment for the death of a Shuka? "Is that what happened to the other one? Was that the Guild?"
"No. I don't know who killed Asel."
Jaena's gaze lowered to the bag. Her palms felt clammy, but she still moved forward to grab it from the table, slowly, and untied the string. It fell apart listlessly in her hand, allowing the candlelight to reveal its contents. There were at least twenty gold coins inside. This was a down payment? She met Maiaqie's eyes again. "So this would be our first? Why? What about our policy?"
"Rules can be broken," Maiaqie replied, shrugging. "For the right price."
"How much?"
"A hundred. On top of that." She nodded at the bag.
Jaena felt lightheaded. She could buy a house with that. Maiaqie would take a cut, of course—that was the price one paid for the safety and assurance of having a steady income—but that still left Jaena with enough to buy . . . anything she'd ever wanted. Anything. She wished staring at instruments of death could calm her nerves the way it did Maiaqie. This wasn't enough information. She needed more. She would face Maiaqie's wrath if she had to.
"Tell me everything I need to know," she said.
Maiaqie waved her forward and folded her arms on the table as she sat down. "I wish I could. There isn't much to tell. I know you value information, and normally, I would chastise you for asking, but this time, I must concede."
Jaena breathed out in relief.
"Unfortunately, the client remains anonymous."
"It wouldn't be the first time," Jaena said.
"It wouldn't," Maiaqie agreed. "And they have every right. However, knowing who hired us could help us understand why our target is a member of the Shukanos. I don't need to know what we're risking our name for, but I would prefer it. This is dangerous—not just for you. For all of the Guild."
"Which Shuka do they want us to kill?"
"Rube Saian."
"The twenty-third?"
She nodded.
Jaena leaned back and frowned at the bag in her hands. The reward made sense; the target did not. The Shukanos ruled over the city and all other cities, towns, and villages in the county of Rudla, and they had been for several centuries now. No organization, political or otherwise, was more powerful. If someone was willing to lay down this much to end the life of a Rudlan Shuka, why not someone higher up in the hierarchy? Rube Saian had been at the very bottom before Betar Asel was taken out of commission several days ago. She had very little influence.
The doubts only kept increasing.
"Will you do it?" Maiaqie asked.
"I . . . Is that all you know? Or are you holding something back?"
"I have nothing else."
Jaena sighed. She would be a fool to say no to that kind of money, but there was much on the line. "I will try to find out whatever I can and report back to you."
"Good." Maiaqie tossed another bag on the table. "Those are yours. Use them if you need to. There will be more where it came from."
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Sleep did not come to Jaena that night. The moon had decided to come out of hiding and shone through her window, bright and begging for attention, but that was not why Jaena couldn't close her eyes. Questions were keeping her awake, as they often did when she'd been burdened with another meaningless death.
How was she supposed to get to Rube Saian?
There was no way she could get inside her home or anywhere near her without raising suspicion. The Shukanos had security that rivalled the Guild's; they lived in the better part of town, where houses had fortified locks, personal staff, and guards posted by the door. A world Jaena had never set foot inside of. Guards on their own, she could handle. All of it together? A far cry from a one-man job. If she wanted to learn more about Saian, she would have to find a place she liked to visit—a place with less reliable protection. She would have to stalk the woman . . . Jaena was good at that, at least. Maybe that was the reason why Maiaqie had chosen her.
She liked that better than the alternative.
When darkness slowly started pulling itself from the room, Jaena still hadn't shut a single eye, but she still carried herself out of bed. Her limbs felt heavy with duty as she walked to the window. She didn't bother opening it, looking through the grime on the small panes instead. The tenant above her liked to shower her head in dirty water whenever she caught it sticking out, and she seemed to have a sixth sense for when Jaena needed a breath of fresh air.
The street below was alive and bustling. Most of this neighborhood awoke at the crack of dawn. They had to. There was much to be done. Jaena was one of the few lucky enough to choose her own working hours, and she, naturally, performed the best at night. Darkness was danger to man, but when one shrouded themselves in darkness, they became the danger.
Today, Jaena was an ordinary woman.
Her dress was simple but elegant, a soft blue with white edges and shapeless enough not to draw too much attention. She also put her russet brown hair in a plait to adopt the demeanor of a hardworking woman. Her skin was too pale to properly sell the lie, but it wouldn't be the first thing people thought of when they saw her, and she wasn't going to stick around to let them question it. It was a long hike to the other side of town. If only she knew which of the ornately decorated houses she'd seen belonged to Rube Saian. She might not be breaking into it anytime soon, but she needed somewhere to start looking.
"Well," she said to the reflection of honey eyes. "You'll never know if you stay here."
After positioning an empty satchel around her chest and dropping a handful of her down payment in a pouch, she left her room. She didn't like to spend any more time in that small, dark, grubby den than necessary. If she found Saian deserving of death, she would buy a more accommodating house.
Her first visit of the day was to the bank. The amount of gold she owned made her nervous. She wasn't scared of robbers, but people were suspicious of average-looking people paying with fortunes. She needed copper. Even silver would do.
The bell by the door announced her arrival, light and cheery as a bird. The short, middle-aged, brown man behind the counter smiled when he noticed her. Despite being subjected to the complaints of a woman about her husband's habit of spending money as soon as it came into his possession, the banker called out, "Good morning, Jaena!"
He never missed.
"Morning, Lon," she replied before getting in line. He would have helped her immediately if she let him, but she didn't think the other customers would appreciate that. Fifteen minutes passed before she reached the counter.
"You're looking radiant as ever," he told her as he put his quill in the pot.
She smiled. "Thank you."
"What can I help you with today?"
"Do you trade diamonds?"
"What kind?"
She placed her pouch on the counter. "Rough."
Lon nodded and took it with him through the door behind him, dragging his left foot. Though barely noticeable, that leg was the reason he worked here now instead of carrying out orders for Maiaqie, but he'd never stopped being loyal to her. Lon Maron and the Guild of Time had an understanding. Every one of Maiaqie's assassins who asked for rough diamonds had no fees to pay. When Maiaqie had brought Jaena to the banker and explained the code, Jaena thought she must be exploiting his familiarity. She'd tried asking for cut diamonds instead, and Lon always handed her back the full exchange with a smile. Then he'd added a note to her pouch.
You earned it, Jaena. Don't waste it.
She'd stopped asking for cut diamonds after that. It was only a formality, after all—Lon never planned to give her any less than what she'd made. She appreciated the sentiment. It wasn't kind. It was fair.
She checked the inside of the pouch as she stepped outside. Instead of five gold coins, she found fifty silver pieces and a note. Good. She had put in a request before she gave it to Lon: Rube Saian's address, if he knew it. He didn't, but he did know the addresses of several other Shukanos. Enough to get her started. She put the pouch in her satchel and started walking.
It took her a day to visit all the addresses.
It took another to find out what the inhabitants looked like.
One more, and she found the location of the Shukanos' conference room. It was a stroke of luck, really. She hadn't known they would be meeting that day, but when she followed the man to the building in question and saw only twenty-three carriages outside instead of twenty-four, she realized why they were meeting. Betar Asel hadn't been replaced yet.
Jaena climbed onto the roof of a nearby building as they filed inside. How easy it would be to take a bow up here and let an arrow loose . . . Easy, but foolish. Too many eyes. Jaena had to bide her time. She had to wait until they came out again, even as her legs started to cramp up and her stomach started to grumble.
She wished Iere was here.
Completing assignments by herself had always seemed like such an achievement, but it wasn't until she was alone for days on end, sitting on roofs and pacing streets, that she realized how lonely it was. She would rather listen to Iere's preaching.
The sun was close to the horizon when the Shukanos finally exited the building. With squinty eyes, Jaena studied every single one of them. She'd never seen Rube Saian with her own eyes, but she'd been described to her by those who had: small stature, curly blonde hair, extravagant clothing, easy to pick out. She wore a hat today, but the ringlets freely spilling out at the front were undeniably blonde.
Jaena climbed down as fast as she could. Just one more little hike. She only needed to know where Saian lived. Then she could go home and eat her belly full. Maybe Iere was free tonight, and maybe Kaier would be there, too. She hoped so. They could all eat together in the bell tower.
She moved from corner to corner until the carriage came to a stop.
In front of a tavern.
Scowling, she muttered under her breath, "I might just kill you for that right now."
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