The Nameless Assassins

Captain Clave

Right on schedule, the leviathan hunter fleet returned, unleashing a whirl of festivities all over Doskvol. After attending a welcome banquet at the Lord Governor's stronghold in Whitecrown, the captains dispersed to their own homes to partake of loving family reunions – or shopping expeditions, in the case of Lady Clave.

Ash, Faith, and I had already thoroughly reconnoitered upscale Nightmarket furnishing stores before focusing on a clockmaker with a "Wanted: Seasonal Help" sign in his window, a job I got on the spot. For his part, Ash identified nearby toy and candy stores, then trained the Insect Kids to mimic middle-class children on a holiday outing. As for Faith, she darted from shop window to shop window, gushing over the displays and giving the perfect impression of an air-headed socialite while finding a good vantage point to monitor passersby.

Thus, when Lady Clave sallied forth in her goat-drawn carriage, we were ready.

The week after the leviathan hunter fleet returned to port was always a city-wide holiday. For the middle class and nobility, that was. The dockers had to unload the ships, junior clerks had to process extra paperwork, and storekeepers had to work extra shifts to accommodate all the shoppers. As Doskvol's premier commercial district, Nightmarket was thronged with pedestrians and goat-drawn carriages that fought their way through the crowds.

Outside the clockmaker's shop, I was taking my time polishing the big glass window while keeping an eye out for our target. In the furniture store next door, Faith lounged on a sofa and gesticulated enthusiastically at the proprietor, who gaped at her as if he'd never seen anything like her and had no idea what to do now that he had. (Pretend she didn't exist was the correct response, but obviously not one he'd come to quite yet.) Somewhere in the crowd, Ash was disguised as a panhandler with a crude sign that read, "Plees help the sailors."

A little Severosi boy in a sailor suit broke out of the crowd and sprinted by, nearly crashing into me – Mantis, signaling Captain Clave's arrival. "Sorry, miss!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Careful, young master!" I called as he vanished. Stepping back into the shop, I started polishing the clocks in the window display.

Moments later, down Wood Street processed Captain Clave. Despite the horde on the street, her scowl and her military gait cleared a bubble around her and made it easier for the Insect Kids to track her. Innocent and adorable in their sailor suits, frilly dresses, and giant floppy hair ribbons, our little pack sauntered after the target. Here, they bought little flags from a street vendor; there, they bickered amiably over whether they should get candied mushrooms or mushroom pastries. From time to time, one of them would disappear briefly to report to Ash.

Unfortunately, the captain's instincts told her that she was being tailed, even though her eyes skipped over the Insect Kids every time she scanned the crowd. Suspicious and on edge, she marched into and out of a few furniture stores as if checking them off a list, before she finally settled down enough to buy a new parlor set in the shop across the street. Still scrubbing away furiously at the clocks, I tensed in anticipation.

But when she came out, instead of striding towards me, she turned on her heel and headed for her carriage.

Dropping my rag, I bustled out of the shop and hailed her. "Captain! Captain Clave!"

At my call, she stiffened and spun around, ready to shoot any attackers.

I sank into a wobbly curtsey. "Captain Clave, milady! Begging yer pardon, but we spoke to your housekeeper about what you might like! My master put together a selection that might interest you." It was a bit on the forward side, for sure, but I thought that a half-trained temporary shop girl on the verge of losing a valuable customer might well act forwardly.