Henry laughs inwardly. "Of course. There's no way I'd die fighting one of our rivals – just some transient mage. Another embarrassing failure. Father was right to send me here where I couldn't mess anything important up."

He says some more self-pitying phrases while I stand transfixed… itching. After all, why shouldn't I offer him? I'm killing him anyways. Sure, a burnt face will be suspicious, but I'll just have the Mud Hares dispose of the body.

So why am I hesitating? I want to stop but… why was that again? I've been good, haven't I? It's been weeks since my last sacrifice, and what a week this last one has been. So many little problems and irritants. Why not indulge? Relax a little? If not now, who knows what problems it'll cause later?

I can't even scratch with all these layers of enchanted clothes on. I just ineffectively rub at the spot until there's a dull ache.

"What house are you from?" I ask, some hesitant part of me searching for a reason not to offer him.

He smiles, resigned. "If I said, would spare me?"

"…Probably not," I say walking forward and knocking him off his feet.

"What are you doing?" he asks, confused more than scared, as I apply the runes on his face using the blood siphon dagger. It's not until I recite the offering chant that the terror of understanding enters his face, too late as the dagger pierces his heart a moment later.

The pleasure! It's been too long! Why did I want to stop this?

Nobles are so much better than just amassing peasant souls. Even if the pleasure reaches the same heights, the quality of it hitting all at once is far superior. Maybe if I'm doing this, I should just be more selective – more discerning in my vice. Isn't that the noble way?

I let a few minutes pass just enjoying the sensation before purpose reasserts itself. I stand up from the sitting position against the wall I find myself in and quickly burn off Henry's face. I don't think anyone entered the alley during my reverie, but would I have even noticed?

Needing my new clients to dispose of the bodies I contact the bird I attached to Klar. While I wait, I use my healing spell on my cut brow. It would likely close in about an hour with Henry's boon, but no reason to let Klar see me wounded.

Once it's closed I turn Henry over and dig out my bullet. Besides being expensive, it's evidence too – just in case we lose control of the body.

That done, I cast a largely redundant cleaning spell over myself and equipment and wait for Klar leaning against the wall with my wound facing away from the entrance in case there's still a mark. A few minutes later the bird flies in followed by Klar holding Henry's sword.

"So, you weren't all talk after all," she says, looking at the body.

Yeah," I say as if it should have been obvious. "I see you found the other bodies," I nod to the blade.

She nods. "Yeah, two of his best fighters. I guess we should consider that a bonus."

"Should I consider that an extra service owed then?" I ask, slightly in jest though she does not take it as such.

"You'll have to take that up with Jack," she says, completely indifferent.

"Right… well, let's talk about bodies. There are two more by their headquarters. Which ones will they handle, and which ones will we have to?"

She nods, thoughtfully. "They'll handle the ones at their base, no question. After all, they don't want to invite the guards to their home. The rest are a coin toss. We're still in their territory, but near the edge. They might leave them just to spite us."

I nod. "Then it's best we deal with it. Pay the beastkin for the other two, but handle Henry yourselves. Maybe pay extra for the big one though, he might cause… indigestion." I smile then frown realizing I'm acting giddy. It's better to express a neutral emotion – I don't want them to think I'm unstable. "The poison shouldn't be fatal when eaten," I explain more seriously.

"Right… I don't remember us deciding on how to handle disposal fees," she says, choosing to glance away from me and towards the corpse.

"They're your enemies; you pay."

"…Fair." She shrugs. "You want the sword?" she says, lifting Henry's blade towards me. She seems to feel like she should offer it given my patron status, but clearly doesn't want to.

I glance at the symbols etched on the side. Very minor stuff: just a little self repair and cleaning with a mild edge sharpening and durability. Not worth keeping, hardly worth selling, and likely to bring complications.

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"No," I say, "better if you keep it, or give it to Jack if you want. Sell it if neither of you want it. Your choice."

She grins slightly and I know I've made the correct choice, if just to improve the relationship with my new clients.

"Right…" I say, a bit awkward as I try to think if I'm forgetting something. "Anyways, I'll take my leave. Handle the bodies and I'll be back near sunset to start fulfilling the rest of my part of the deal."

She nods then hesitates. "Look, I still think you're going to screw us over someday, but you've bought your chance. I won't speak against you anymore... for now"

"…I appreciate that, and I won't mention your … indiscretion with the Thrushes to the others," I say and walk quickly away. I still don't know how to feel about her, but if she intends to fall in line then I can put off deciding until I have to.

I exit the section under concealment and guided by divination to try to obscure my traces. Sarith glances up from her seat when I enter the carriage, looks me over for evidence then looks away with a scowl after finding none. "You're back. Did you finish your task?"

"Yeah… Take me to Greg." I consider asking if she knew about Henry, but decide it'll be best not to talk about what I did. She'll likely guess once she hears about Henry's death, but no reason to confirm it for her. I trust Greg's judgement in involving her, but only so far.

I'm silent when Greg greets me and wait until we enter his office to ask. "Did you know Henry was a noble?"

His face takes on an expression of shock. "No, I um, no my lord."

I scrutinize his expression. I don't sense deceit but if he is trying to manoeuvre me, he would certainly have acquired boons since our last meeting. But why would he lie? I know he was genuine when he asked to be my client, and I can't think of a cause for a change of heart so soon. Besides, there's no way for him to know that my senses would be suddenly enhanced beyond even what I had before. So, I doubt he'd be able to acquire anything that could overcome Henry's boon.

Even if he did though, I don't see why he wouldn't have told me. It's entirely possible I would have killed Henry even had I known.

"Do you know which house, my lord?" he asks, shaking slightly.

I shake no. "Just that they're rivals with Nylerhal and Vynhal."

He thinks a moment then perks up. "Ah, it must be Thinhal. I'm sorry my lord, I should have guessed. I knew they had a son who disappeared from public sight after constant underperformance around the same time Henry took over the Thrushes. I should have made the connection, I'm sorry."

"Tell me about them."

"What do you want to know?"

"How big are they, and what resources might they use tracking me down?"

"They're… I'd say on the edge between a small and medium sized house. They're known more for their knights than mages, though they do have access to a few."

"Will they send those mages to investigate Henry's death?"

"Don't you have ways of hiding from other mages?"

"I do, but some information is harder to conceal than others. I did my best to direct any divinations to the Mud Hares first, but if they look harder then they'll likely discover that another noble killed him among other things – more if they look harder."

"Well," he smiles, "I don't think they'll look too hard. After all, he was a bit of an embarrassment, and his death certainly wasn't unexpected in that place."

"Will they take revenge against the Mud Hares then?" I ask.

"…Not directly. The most they'd likely do is fund another gang to attack for them. After all, they can't exactly send their house guards to enforce imperial law in another section."

"Can't they just send one of their knights?"

"They could, but that would be frowned upon."

"Frowned upon?" I say, not convinced.

He smiles. "Well, let's just say that taking territory in the low security sections is a sort of game some nobles play. The Thinhals were pushing the rules by sending a page in secret. Suffice it to say that the Empress does not want her knights fighting each other, and will come down hard should conflicts reach that far. As such, any act of escalation from the usual typically causes alliances to form against the perpetrator."

"What about my intervention then? Isn't that an escalation?"

He shakes his head. "Of sorts, but not really. You were just a counterbalance. It would be bad if you started killing entire gangs by yourself, but killing a page is fine. In fact, it would be good if word got out about Henry being a noble. The other noble backed gangs would probably try to defend the Mud Hares from retaliation to punish the Thinhals for pushing the rules."

"But you didn't know I was balancing out a noble," I point out.

"Yes, but no one would have investigated his death at all if he weren't a noble."

I feel like there's more to worry about, but I can't think of what exactly, at least not from Henry. "…Part of my agreement with the Mud Hares was that I would protect them from enemies they can't handle. How many stagnate pages and mediocre mages do you think I can kill before the other nobles catch on? How many do you think I'll have to kill to keep my clients alive?"

He shrugs reassuringly. "Not as many as you're worrying. Self-empowered are rare in the slums, and only the least talented of them stay there. Besides, you're hardly the first noble to have to personally protect their clients. So long as you limit your intervention to protecting your gang from other self-empowered you should be fine. In fact, once it's known that a mage is protecting them, I expect your gang to have a rather peaceful time. After all, no noble backed gang would attack them lightly for fear of causing escalations."

I can't refute his assurances, but I'm still uneasy. Largely it's because I should have thought about all this beforehand. I did a little, but I should have done more. I felt rushed. I told myself I needed to act fast, as it wouldn't be feasible to do this on a school day, and the gang might not exist next weekend. This is true, but maybe I wanted to do it before I could realize why I wanted to – why Greg wanted me to.

I speak. "Is that really what you wanted for me in there though? Just hold on peacefully to a gang with steady profits like a merchant would?" I emphasize 'merchant' with disdain.

He goes still, looking inward. "…No," he finally says, "I suppose not."

I nod in understanding of both of us. Killing a noble wasn't a mistake, it was the goal for both of us. He really didn't know about Henry, but we both knew that's where it was going to end up – he was just more conscious of it. He prompted me for his vicarious satisfaction, and I did as he suggested for my own pleasure – and Anar's.

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