The Nameless Assassins

Tea with Irimina

Evidently, Irimina deemed our removal of her first impediment sufficiently discreet, because she soon sent a note to the railcar inviting us for another business tea. Since the weather was so "warm" that a heavy cloak might draw attention from the fashionistas of Brightstone, I opted for a day dress with a large crinoline, under which I hid Grandfather and miscellaneous weaponry. The steel hoops themselves functioned as armor. Far from appreciating the armory suspended around my legs, Faith homed in on the wonderful pouffiness of the skirts.

"Where did you get that?" she asked curiously, circling me so she could admire the precise tailoring.

"This old thing?" I answered in a mocking imitation of a society lady. "I've had it forever."

"I hope that one day I will have one too! I mean, just look at that silk – I can tell from the weave alone that it's imported from Iruvia, but the shade of blue is something you only achieve with a dye from a shellfish found only off the coast near Alduara...." She blathered on in that vein for a while, tagging along and blocking my way while Ash and I performed one last sweep of the railcar.

"Don't let the door catch your ruffles on the way out," I snapped.

Nothing daunted, Faith spent the entire trek to Brightstone haranguing us about how to identify lace from different isles. Then, during the short walk from Irimina's front door to the parlor, she lectured us about the best types of fabric to use for settee cushions. "Like that!" she exclaimed, pointing at the ones positioned artfully under our employer. "Lady Irimina has impeccable taste in home furnishings!"

Sure, whatever. In my home, we preferred elaborately carved, un-cushioned redwood furniture, the better for enforcing good posture and alertness.

Languidly rising to a sitting position so we had time to admire her figure, Irimina smiled very faintly at Faith and asked us, "Would you like some tea?"

Ash managed to say, "Yes – " before Faith jumped in.

"Why, there is little I'd love more." She winked suggestively at the lady, who almost tittered.

Once we each had a dainty little cup of tea – an Iruvian blend of reasonable but not spectacular quality – Irimina got down to business. "Do you have any objections to killing an aristocrat?" she inquired conversationally.

Well, no. Why would we?

"That depends!" Faith tilted her head to a side, as if thinking very hard indeed. "Are they cute?"

But for her impeccable manners, Irimina might have spat out her tea. Looking appalled and revolted, she replied flatly, "No."

Faith lounged back in her loveseat. "Well, that's all right, then."

"Who is it?" I asked, trying to steer us back on track.

"Lady Vhetin Kellis, the wife of Lord Kellis. He's one of the leviathan hunter captains." I nodded along, trying to hide my impatience. "She goes to a great deal of parties – all thrown in the name of charitable work, naturally – and attends the theater regularly. Spiregarden Theater here in Brightstone, of course. In short, there is nothing to distinguish her from any other frivolous society lady – except for blackmail."

Ash pursed his lips censoriously. "Blackmail? We can't have that. But if we simply remove her, is there a dead man's switch?"

Irimina shook her head. "I don't know. But she claims she hasn't told her husband."

"We'll deal with it," I promised.

"Parties, charities, and theater," remarked Ash scathingly. "She sounds like a drain on society."