The scheme almost worked according to plan. With bribes and promises of safety, Kalikus convinced Morrus’ favourite woman of the night, Kyra, to steal a letter or some other defining item from her patron’s things. She had been cooperative so far, and she was that night, too. She dropped Morrus’ signet ring from the window and Kal brought it to Ren at once.
Later, they learned that Morrus had been livid at the misplacement of such an important trinket. He had demanded Kyra stand aside while the room was searched—failing to find it, Morrus had demanded the guards seize her. Kyra, to Kal and Ren’s benefit, kept her mouth closed. Perhaps she did out of fear, or perhaps she secretly loathed the man whose trust she had repetitively betrayed.
Ren had Omma pen a letter from Morrus to the assassin, ordering the elimination of Matriarch Valakono at the village of Squora. He didn’t know the specific date of the treaty meeting, so he had Omma urge expediency in the letter. Then, as quickly as they could, they sealed the letter with wax and pushed the stolen signet ring into it. Morrus’ sigil was a capital M with a sword on either side of it—fitting for the leader of the Militant Creed.
Then, the signet ring was sent back to the Perfumed Palace, where Kal hid it among a servant’s wardrobe. It would be found, in due time, and blame for the assassination would fall to some powermonger patron of the brothel, or to Morrus himself, if he failed to defend himself enough against what he would know to be criminal framing.
Renado and Woodro met with the assassin in a private room at the Water Wader, a seaside den for all manner of crooks. The man, Jiyander, assured them of his expertise, claiming to have succeeded and escaped several high-profile murders in the past—though he gave them no detail of his confidential contracts. Woodro vouched for the man through a number of contacts, some dating back to the golden years of the Family of Sheld. They paid Jiyander with a brass-hinged coffer—nearly half of the money they had made so far in Saanazar. An equal amount would be delivered to Jiyander if he accomplished his mission and returned. Ren promised a bonus for any other information the assassin could obtain—details of the meeting, attendees, and results. Woodro advised the man that they had no idea how many defenders would surround the meeting of such powerful governments.
Jiyander hardly seemed phased. He told them, “I’ll just use a diversion—fire in the village or murdered townsfolk. When the opportunity to eliminate the Matriarch presents itself, I will strike swiftly, from a distance. And then, my infamy will grow tenfold.”
“I hear you,” Woodro muttered. Renado could not help but notice how jealous the man seemed. To Ren, the chance of them speaking with Jiyander again was incredibly slim. Ira might have made a bet like that work, but Ren never could. He hoped only to accomplish one thing—costing his enemies this alliance they were so clearly building on the bones of his kin.
Later, Ren begrudgingly told Ira what they had done. He knew he could no longer keep things from her—the only lies she allowed in their relationship were those that the Tether forced. Ren told her when he couldn’t tell her something, and she understood. In some way, she was fine with it. Her earlier feelings of caution and insecurity had given away to a shared desire of vengeance—news that Roithe may have had involvement with the destruction of Ellakar had struck a cord for her. Though Ira had never been close with her father, she had begun to see things as Ren did…. The secret men and women that controlled the world from the shadows had woven a web of manipulation and death. Ira was glad to be working with Renado’s men toward crushing the spider—or replacing it.