Tower Bound (L 1.4, E 1.3)

The name I'm given presses on an angry minor chord within me, but not because it belongs to someone likable. I've killed favorable acquaintances before. I wouldn't even balk if a friend were the target, though my method would be merciful. I'm irked because of the pettiness. Can't take care of your own house, eh? Dremmer must be truly incompetent if he needs to hire a professional for such a low-level bounty. Unless there's more to this that I simply do not know. That has to be it.

I stare at him for eight heartbeats, studying, pondering. Maybe I take the job, maybe I decline...maybe I do something else entirely.

He's telling the truth. He's pissed at Roark and afraid he'll take over the team, so he wants his hands "clean" when he's taken off the board.

My focus swims forward to his facial expressions. I see anger, obviously, but there is a slight dilation in the pupils, his jaw tightens and becomes more square. I think Dremmer is frightened, or at least nervous. About what? Me declining his offer? Or is there more to the laid-back Roark than the family man presents? Finally, I respond. "I'll be careful." I declare. Then I turn away, my back facing him and I head inside.

Edmund,

After Dinero heads into the restaurant, you notice Kestrel glancing toward the entrance to Crystal Court. Litch has arrived. But, you have an invitation to go into noa and talk to Canary.

What do you do?

Litch,

Kestrel meets you at the doors and indicates with her head over to noa, where you see Edmund.

What do you do?

Convenient that both parties I want to talk to are here, I think to myself as I follow Kestrel’s attention to Litch, but I don’t know when I would get another opportunity to talk to Canary and Millions like this.

I follow Dinero into noa.

Just as soon as I enter the building and see the man who was the entire reason for my journey here, he ducks into a well-illuminated and well-guarded dining area. I halt just inside the building's entrance with Kestrel. I don't follow Edmund; I wasn't invited and I won't intrude. Instead, we wait. I put my palm on Kestrel's shoulder and lean in to murmur into her ear. "Dremmer wants to hire us to kill his pal, Roark. Says he cost him a payout." I lift my head to look her in the eye, gauging her response.

Edmund,

Please go here.

My eyebrows lift. I had forgotten about the haul we took from the Rafters. "I left it open-ended. I'd rather kill Dremmer for free than take out Roark for jingle. But neither is worth our time." I lift the hat off of my head and comb my locks back, smoothing them before putting it back in place. "I've half a mind to warn Roark, but the dock hands need to work our their own sh*t. It's not my place to be the judge over another's house."

I glance back over at the restaurant. "I imagine he'll be some time. If we're going to wait, let's at least do it off of our feet." I guide her toward the water falling from infinity to splash on the floor. In a world surrounded by water, only these rich asshats would think a waterfall is soothing.

Kestrel's reminder makes my eyes sting and the back of my throat constrict. I've lost friends, siblings, cousins and children into the care of the Gray Wing. Lost isn't the right term, as we subvert death and reclaim it as an honorable rite. But whereas the departure of an adult is full of both sorrow and joy, the death of a child is always tormenting. Mortality rates are high for the young ones. Infants are hard to care for. That's not what Kestrel is referring to, but I think about the babes that never got the chance to take flight with the Talons.

Mynah and I had a little boy, Ouzel, who drowned in an accident ten years ago. Sandpiper was my other daughter with Kestrel. She almost made it to ten years. She died in the boating accident that also took my mother. At least she was ushered in to the afterlife with a guide. Small comfort. Two other children didn't make it past eighteen months. Disease of some kind stole them.

I take a deep breath and breathe out a deeper sigh. "I don't. He may have not wanted to." I'm reminded that Helix turned down my offer for her to come stay with us. I wonder where she is now? I cut off that query in my mind and continue. "Our way can be too much for some people. Too odd or too dangerous. They don't understand how fragile and empty life outside of a family truly is."

I caress the back of her head gently. "I too worry, Kes. Some wounds take us to the edge of despair and make the jump look more enticing than risking another heartache. Do you...do you ever wish we had tried again...after Plover?"

"Indeed." I smile as she laughs. "You're worth more to me than merely a method for producing more Talons, Kes." Both of you are. "And I didn't mean to suggest those we've lost can be replaced." I sit silently for half a minute, reflecting, before continuing and changing the tone. "Well I'd say it suits me right now." I move my hand from her head down to the back of her neck, pressing firmly and tilting her head up slightly. "But we'll act our age for once and wait until we get back home, eh?"

"As to that," I clear my throat and readjust my seat to a more comfortable position. "I think we may be able to convince another faction to take her out for us. Remember the vision I had earlier of the Shark Eater stealing from us? Well, perhaps we can use that as our leverage. A shield from retaliation by the Sippians. Any one of us is worth six of them, but they do outnumber us." It's not that I'm afraid of losing more Talons in a gang war. We all anticipate dying in battle. To perish in combat is more glorifying than expiring in a bed. But I'm not going to waste the lives of my family either.

"And if they don't go for that - which is possible - then...Well, I'll tie off that loose cord myself."

I'm not upset with her reaction to my half-formed plan. It is not common the Ashen Talons to outsource their prey to others. It simply isn't our way to ask others to do things on our behalf. So why am I thinking about doing so now? Perhaps I've allowed myself to dream of a different sort of life. Maybe I do wish for my children to live to the ripe age of fifty and beyond and to flourish. And it's possible I'm engaging in an unconveyable fantasy.

"Aye, maybe I'll do that instead. Merlin would certainly relish getting revenge." I say, not committing one way or the other. "Hm...I've thought about all of the reasons why not. Sorrow tends to win out in most cases. She was so full of fire, so committed to the Gray Wing, to our family. Executing her felt like punishing her for surviving when others did not."

I swallow and push my tongue into the side of my cheek, oblivious now to Kestrel's dislike of the habit. "Mother and Piper didn't survive, but Harpy did. I thought...maybe the Gray Wing intervened to spare her and..." My voice fades. I look up towards the ceiling, hunting for the source of the waterfall as I collect my thoughts. "It doesn't matter. It was a weak moment. I am permitted one, I suppose. But I cannot afford to have a second."

As you sit with Kestrel and chat, you notice a woman in a dark suit - one of the Crystal Court guards, is making her way toward the two of you. She's armed, but it's in a holster. She's talking into her hand as she approaches.

What do you do?

Before I can respond, I see a moving figure in my peripheral vision. I swivel my head slowly and observe the guard heading over to us. With languid motion, I unwrap my arm from around Kestrel's shoulders and stand up to receive the incoming guard, hands at my sides in an unthreatening posture.