The Nameless Assassins

Bazso and Mylera's Job

As soon as we crossed the boat bridge and climbed onto the old leviathan hunter, I sensed a change in the atmosphere. Although the Tangletown natives were still keeping a low profile in case the gangs started shooting, the Lampblack and Red Sash guards now formed a joint perimeter instead of patrolling separate parts of the deck. In the mess hall, security stood to attention just as alertly as before, but most of the gang leaders were starting to slump a little. Behind Mylera's back, Xayah rubbed her eyes, and Ardashir, a senior sword master and their third-in-command, squelched a yawn before answering Henner's question. Even Pickett's shoulders had relaxed. Marginally, anyway.

Unlike their lieutenants, Bazso and Mylera hunched over the map, discussing something in low, intense voices. At our entrance, they straightened in unison to face us, resembling nothing so much as a pair of granite statues framing a temple portal. In the manner of a high priestess granting an audience to supplicants, Mylera began, "After long and careful consideration, we have come to an agreement. In order to seal that agreement, we would like to commission you to – "

With his trademark bluntness, Bazso cut in, "We want you to kill Lyssa."

It was an indication of a true détente that none of the Red Sashes even bristled at the interruption. Instead, an undercurrent of excitement swelled in the room.

"Lyssa?" I yelped. "You want us to kill Lyssa?"

"Just to be clear, we're talking about Lyssa, the leader of the Crows, yes?" Ash asked, faking a little frown of confusion.

"Yes," stated Bazso at the same time that Mylera retorted, "Is there any other Lyssa we would hire you to kill?"

"But I thought this was a trap for Isha!" Faith burst out. Her lower lip protruding in a beautiful pout, she wailed piteously, "It's just another score! If I'd known that ahead of time, I could have stayed home and inventoried my ribbon box!"

Xayah and Ardashir, who must have remembered Faith from her brief tenure at the sword academy, gave her distinctly teacherly stares, while Pickett attempted to stab me with her scowl. Control your crewmate, girl, her cold eyes warned. You're responsible for her conduct here. Mylera's and Bazso's faces might as well have been carved from stone.

Stepping forward and just happening to position himself so he blocked Faith, Ash initiated business negotiations. "You want us to kill Lyssa." He drew out the target's name, conveying doubt that they grasped the full magnitude of this commission.

While he set the stage for another epic haggling session, I casually drifted towards the table to survey the map. By now the section containing Crow's Foot and the Docks bristled with red and blue chess tokens, but the biggest change was a thick black line running north-south and dividing the districts in two. The Red Sashes got a little more of the Docks, which made sense given their drug smuggling operations, whereas the Lampblacks got a little more of Crow's Foot, which also made sense given all the brothels and cheap drug dens they had sprinkled across the district.

She is more reasonable than I expected her to be, Bazso had said of Mylera, and I was glad to see the proof.

A throat – Pickett's, of course – cleared noisily. When I raised my head, two pairs of eyes – one brown, one blue – were fixed unwaveringly on me. Neither gang leader, it seemed, wanted me to get too close to the map, in case I "accidentally" knocked over and rearranged some markers to my own advantage. Slightly insulted, I sauntered back a couple steps.

Rather unfairly, in my opinion, no one objected to Faith roving throughout the mess hall, inspecting empty chairs and testing the springiness of their seat cushions.