Chapter 2 - Sneaky Spy

After hours of tracking back along the river's edge, doing my best to stay out of sight to avoid any bandits that decided to flee this way, I decided to stop and make camp for the night. It had been a very long day and I was was about ready to drop. I guessed that I was about half way back to Shark Gate.

Finding a nice dry spot, I set out my camp and crawled inside my tent just as the sky opened further. Rain lashing down outside soothed my nerves that were still on edge from the adrenaline that had coursed through my veins through most of the preceding day. I took the time to just lie there, listening to the rhythmic white noise of the falling rain that seemed to come in waves of tiny beats accompanied by the backing of strong gusts of wind. This was the place that I felt most at ease, not this specific place of course, but being on my own amongst nature away from the bustle and expectation of civilised society. Here I cold breathe, let myself ruminate on my situation, on the events of the recent past and slowly recuperate my energy ready for the spectacle of returning to deliver the news of my deeds.

After a while of calm reflection, I decided to see what was in that strong box I had pilfered from Hennion's room. Smashing the lock took very little effort, a quick tap with rock on the end of my dagger that was inserted in to the arm covering of the padlock had it bust open with a satisfying clink. Hennion really didn't pay much for his locks.

Inside I found a few documents. It looked like mostly lists but the writing was a confused. I guessed it was in some sort of code, which apparently thieves and other miscreants are known to use to avoid prying eyes while still being able to amass information. I couldn't make any sense out of it based on a quick look so left it in the box, hopefully Kynan or the Alderman could figure it out or perhaps know someone who could. There was also the seal which Iomhar had asked me to retrieve, it was quite nicely made for a bandit group, looked like they spent a bit of money on them. It should be enough to prove that my contract is complete and allow me to get paid, which I surely needed at that point. Finding nothing else in there, I closed it up and buried it in the bottom of my bag where it would be safe and finished out the night relaxing to the sound of waves of driving rain on the surface of the tent.

Waking the next morning it was immediately obvious that the weather was much better than the previous day. Crawling out of the tent it looked like I had slept until mid morning. After a quick breakfast of rations it was time to head back to Shark Gate. Thankfully the the trip back was quiet and I made it back before evening.

I found Kynan at the Hide and Horn, as I expected to given the time, sitting alone at a table tucked in to the corner of the room. Slapping him on the back as I sat down beside him, I gave Sebastian an up-nod letting him know I wanted a drink.

"How did it go?" Kynan asked, mopping up a slight spill with his sleeve from where I'd slapped him, "didn't take long did it?".
"It went fine" I replied, "Hennion won't be bothering folk any more. Unfortunately I had to kill him, he caught me by surprise in the end, had to make it quick or he would have raised the alarm".
Kynan squinted slightly, "Did you get out clean? Or is there are we going to face trouble when they track you back here?".
Mocking offence I replied "Of course I got out clean, you wound me with your doubt!".
Kynan held up is hands in an apologetic pose, "I'm sorry, of course you got out clean, what could I have been thinking. Of course someone of you vast experience and advanced years would know never to bring trouble back after them". He smirked mirthly, waving his hands to encourage me, "go on then, tell me all about it, what chaos visited those poor bastards?"

For the next hour we discussed the events at Hennion's Hideout, how I infiltrated the place, what tactics I used and ultimately what became of Solana Hennion.
Kynan looked approvingly at me "good, sounds like a fun day. You got proof then? No pay without proof".
"I know, I know" I replied, taking the strongbox out of my bag. "Here, found this should be proof enough" I said, sliding the box across the table.
Kynan briefly looked through the documents with a slight inquisitive look on his face, then picked up the seal.
"Nice bit of iron this" he said, admiring it as he turned it in his hand. "Can't imaging those goons crafting this. I wonder where they got it?".
I shrugged, "no idea. Does it look familiar to you? Seen it's like before?".
he looked in to the distance for a brief moment, appearing to recall something. "I do recall someone mentioning something about some medallion another upstart thug had on him. At the time it was assumed it was just a thing between that group. I'll reach out to the person that retrieved it, see if I can find some more details. I'll also see if I can find someone to figure out these documents".
"You can't read it yourself then?" I asked, slightly unimpressed.
"No, but I know a certain reformed thief that should be able to help out. I do know that a lot of groups have their codes for secretly recording information. Apparently they are usually subtly different from each other, but my contact has seen enough of them over the years to become somewhat of an expert in these matters."
"So, I assume that the seal will suffice as proof of completion?" I asked suggestively.
He knew what I was asking for without actually asking. "Sure, sure. It should suffice. The Alderman already gave me the payment ready for, here you go", he slid a pouch of gold across the table. "Should keep you going for a while eh? Good job on this, nicely done".

I beamed a smile back at him, appreciating the compliment and appreciation for a job well done as well as the pouch of gold, "thanks. So what now? Anything I can do to help figure out what was going on there?".
"Nothing at the moment" he said, " I'll get the documents figured out and look in to the seal. The Alderman hasn't requested any further work from us currently, so I suggest you take some time to rest up, and maybe practice the the art of job wrangling yourself, see if you can keep yourself busy while I look in to these".
We continued to enjoy the rest of the night together before I retired to my room, exhaustion from travelling compounded by a decent night of camaraderie and revelry meant I collapsed on to the bed just as soon as I got in the room.

The next morning after breakfast I decided to head to the market for supplies then I had to figure out my next job. I knew that if I just hung around Seb's place someone would eventually end up requiring some help somewhere, you can always rely on the local inn or tavern to find people in need as drink is often a good distraction from your woes even if not a reliable cure. However, I'd had enough of the petty problems of the locals, they tended not to pay well, and usually ended up with me in a disproportionate amount of trouble for the payment on offer. It was time to look at moving up in the world. Kynan was right, I needed to learn the craft better, I'd not be able to always rely on him being around to funnel work my way.
I decided to dress up and head to the team rooms. The one place in this dump of a town designed to host the fancy folk around here.

Although I never really felt comfortable in the frills and finery of the gentle folk, I did have a dress I could bring out when required. Honestly, I made it look good. In a different life I might have been noble, you know that different life where you start off with a wealthy family, amass wealth off the back of others, and get things handed to you just curry favour, that kind of life. There was no way I would be able to get anything out of them dressed in my usual armour or travelling clothes, let alone the bandit outfit I was sporting yesterday. Donning this other sort of disguise meant switching to an altogether different persona. One with manners and familiar with the trappings of the life I never had. Thankfully I had been standing behind Kynan in fancy rooms being eyed by servants often enough to have picked up a few mannerisms, I was able to pass amongst them so long as I didn't draw too much attention to myself.

After sitting amongst the ladies listening the there mostly entirely inconsequential concerns, I picked up on some trouble one of them were having. Erin Vigo, a successful very wealthy looking leather broker was tired of the tariffs levied upon leather and hides being shipped to or via Daggerhaven. According to her, the Alderman there had become more and more greedy, increasing the tariffs regularly for the past couple of years. She wanted someone to go and renegotiate on her behalf to get them to reduce the tariffs, or come up any other cost free method to agree to a reduction by half. It didn't sound like the most exciting work, but it was exactly the sort of work Kynan had been trying to get me to take more of recently. I managed to persuade her that I was a broker of services, able to supply the right people with the right skillsets at the right time, that no matter what the problem was, we could help. She didn't need to know just yet that the right person just happened to be me. We agreed a pretty decent fee payable upon completion and I promised to get started the next day. She gave me a writ proving that I had authority to negotiate on her behalf, which should come in handy when I get to Daggerhaven.

Unfortunately she didn't know who I would need to actually talk to to negotiate a better deal. Apparently her assistant was the one that set up the deal and dealt with contracts. Do these nobles ever really do anything themselves? I resisted the urge to scoff at her inability to function without help and decided to go and seek out her assistant to get more details. Apparently he should be at her warehouse each morning.
Her assistant was initially hesitant to discuss the matter with me, assuming I was not to be trusted with the information regarding his employer, it looked like Erin chose her employees well, however he soon opened up once I showed him the writ, telling me what he know about the situation and why he suspected that the tariffs were growing.

He proceeded to tell me all about the petty rivalry that had been escalating for a couple of years now between Shark Gate and Daggerhaven. Apparently there had been recent rises in tariffs on both sides that were just the latest of many repercussions of what he thought was originally just a simple land dispute. He didn't know what originally started it but he did know, as did most people, that while this was just the latest line in a failure of the two Aldermans to agree a settlement, it was the traders that relied on the routes between the two towns and beyond that were feeling the most severe effects. Yet it was also those same noble trader folk who were overly protective of their own Alderman and couldn't see past their blind loyalty to acknowledge that it might be a failing of both sides and help guide their respective Alderman to reconciliation. He, and most of the employees of the nobles were long tired of the conflict. He didn't like my chances of being able to negotiate with Daggerhaven's Alderman and getting a concession out of her.

This did not bode well. This is exactly the sort of petty bullshit that made me want to steer clear of the political machinations of these pampered fools who seem to have so few concerns in life that they can stubbornly fight their ridiculous causes at the expense of all around them while claiming a valiant struggle deserving of respect. I really wasn't likely to enjoy any of this. Agreeing with Erin's assistant, I decided against heading straight to Daggerhaven, instead catching up with Kynan to see if he could get me in to a meeting with Katrin Ikram, the Alderman of Shark Gate. Perhaps she would be willing to give me more background on the issue and perhaps agree to a concession at least in principle, if I could get a reciprocal arrangement from Daggerhaven.

"Well hang my sword and call me a homesteader!" Kynan exclaimed, "I never thought I'd see the day when you asked for a formal introduction to anybody! What the hell brought this on?".
I proceeded to tell him about my conversation with Erin's assistant, that now I wanted to to see the Alderman to see if I can convince her to agree to a concession.
"Sure, okay, I'll see if I can get you in tomorrow. I am due to meet with her anyway for our weekly catch up, perhaps I can bring you in with me. Might go better if the introduction was made directly with me there."
"Thanks! I really appreciate that Kynan", I meant it too. I was already starting to feel anxious about meeting her. Having him there to help out would definitely help my nerves. "Any advice on how to approach the request?" I asked, eager to learn any advice I can get in these situations.
"Dress up, noble folk don't take kindly to having to be in the presence of shabby or tawdry folk." Kynan offered, stroking his well trimmed beard as he thought for a moment coming up with any more advice. "Kiss ass while you are in there. Like most nobles, flattery and praise will get you surprisingly far. They are a fickle lot."
Noticing my grimace, he tried to placate me, "don't worry too much. While she is a fickle noble like the rest of them, she is definitely one of the better ones. While her conceited attitude often ruffles feathers in polite society, she knows where she came from, and if you're respectful while you tell her hard truths, she will listen."

After leaving Kynan, I headed back to the Hide and Horn for the evening. I was going to need some liquid courage otherwise I would just end up stressing all night about the meeting the next day.

The next morning I met Kynan outside the Alderman's office. Once we were called inside, he introduced us. She was a obviously a proud woman with a high opinion of her own capabilities, but from what I had heard it was warranted. She had improved the lives of most folk since taking the top job, and was liked and respected for it.
Over an hour we talked.
She told me about the feud from her perspective. Apparently it had been simmering away for many years, long before she became Alderman of Shark Gate. Supposedly it all started with a conflict over fishing rights along the river connecting Shark Gate with Daggerhaven through the Brightwoods. It then spilled out in to Shark Gate folk accusing the Daggerhaven hunters of encroaching on their hunting grounds across the Cloudbloom Fens, which in retaliation the Shark Gate miners started excavations in Ambersand north of Daggerhaven. Ever since each side had been accusing the other of successively petty transgressions used to justify repercussions on their neighbours.
I told her about the troubles of the merchants and that I had been asked to get them a better deal.

While she sympathised with their troubles, she was clearly too proud to just give in and back down from the feud. She did however agree to a mutual reduction of tariffs so long as I could get Daggerhaven to reciprocate, however before she would write me a writ, she had some trouble that she wanted my help with.

It's never easy is it.

Apparently her spy in Daggerhaven had intercepted a message from someone in Katrin's council. The message contained information discussed at a council meeting. The spy found it after it was delivered, so was unable to find out who it was. She wants me to investigate her council members to see if I can find evidence of who is behind it.
As much as I dislike the petty machinations of the noble folk, sometimes they do come up with some interesting requests. I actually like the idea of spending a few days sleuthing around these frilly folk, seeing what they get up to. Not only does it satisfy my slight voyeuristic nature, I happen to be quite good at it too.
I told her that I'd be happy to help out, but that she would need to pay my usual rates. As I said it I looked at Kynan and winked, sure I was doing the whole toff meeting well. He looked like he wanted to puke right there on her fancy rug. I guess I wasn't as much of a natural as I thought I was. At the suggestion that I get paid for hard work Katrin smirked slightly, raising a single eye brow and glanced a quick inquisitive look at Kynan. I guess she was used to getting all manner of gifts, but I wasn't in the giving mood. Finally she cocked her head in an assertive nod, making it clear that terms were acceptable, but that she considered it somehow beneath her to actually talk about a fair transaction. I think I still have much to learn in these matters, but still, I was happy to swear a vow to find out which slimy noble was betraying her.

As I left Katrin's office and started to think about what I would need to do to figure out who the traitor was, I began to get a sinking feeling. I hoped I hadn't bitten off more than I could chew on this one. It was going to be difficult to do this. The Prime Council of Shark Gate has five members as it is a simple village council, of which Katrin is the head. There were four people that I needed to vet, yet I couldn't follow them all at the same time. I decided to see if I could reduce the problem by ruling out any of the councillors before having to follow them around.

Based on previous sleuthing jobs, my experience told me that if you wanted to find out about noble's activities, you don't ask the noble. My best bet was to approach their staff as they went about their business. Over the next day I spent time amongst the market and various service offices that the noble's busy little worker bees often had to frequent asking seemingly innocuous questions that served to find out what their employers had been up to recently. I wanted to find out if any of them had been travelling to Daggerhaven or had been unaccounted for any period of time shortly before Katrin's spy had found the note.

After a long boring day of cajoling the employees of the council members, I had managed to rule out two of them. One had been away travelling during the supposed dead drop while the other was suffering a fever for the entire time. As Kynan was one of the remaining two councillors and I wasn't ready to think that he could be the traitor, I decided to spend some time investigating my only remaining suspect.

Khinara Mattick was, according to Katrin, a shrewd diplomat in the making. While she was relatively inexperienced in the wider political sphere, she was eager and cunning enough to be useful to Katrin when she needed someone she could rely on to communicate with outside interests, yet could disavow if it became necessary. She had proven herself on more than one occasion, negotiating deals with other villages and taking meetings that would be unapproachable for the Alderman yet necessary in world where everything wasn't always so simple and to get things done you sometimes has to paint outside the lines. While she had proven herself capable and willing, Katrin was well aware of the high level of ambition that she possessed which meant that should could see, under severe persuasion, Khinara willing to do whatever it took to get ahead. Although she didn't like to consider her being a traitor, she was the only one that she could even consider.

The next morning, after some initial subtle inquiries, I tracked down Khinara just as she was heading in to a warehouse near the market square. It was the sort of place that traders would rent space in temporarily during market, with lots of people coming and going which while it provided cover to enable me to very simply blend in amongst the crowd without bing spotted, it would also afford her plenty of opportunity to avoid being followed if she had any idea that she was being followed.

After an hour or so of from what I could tell, just chatting to people, Khinara headed out of the warehouse. Keeping at a safe distance I followed her to the village hall where she had an office. As I had been there on more than one occasion meeting with Kynan and more recently Katrin, i felt quite confident that I could pass through without drawing attention to myself.

Behaving like I was just there to catch up with people I knew, I ambled around the common areas of the building, keeping an eye on where they went. I almost lost track of them at one point as I presumed they were heading to their office, however they instead headed to the guard captain's office. As soon as they entered they closed the door behind them, obviously wanting privacy while in there. Not being able to eavesdrop on their conversation from outside the office without drawing unwanted attention I decided to take the opportunity to snoop in Khinara's office to see if I could find any incriminating evidence while they were busy behind closed doors.

As I rounded the corner to her office, I just caught sight of the office door softly closing. I quickly backed behind the corner again while I settled my racing heart. It obviously wasn't Khinara in there and I was pretty sure they didn't share the office with anybody else. I waited a couple of minutes to see if the person that had entered came back out, maybe they were just dropping something off. After what felt like more than enough time for any innocuous reason for someone to be in another persons office, I approached the door. Listening through the door, I could hear what sounded like somebody rifling through papers and drawers in there. Something shady was definitely afoot. Deciding that I wanted to get a good look at this intruder, I grabbed a pile of papers from the adjacent office and pushed the door open with my back, walking backwards in to the room while talking.

"Hi Khinara, I have some documents for you to sign" I called out cheerily as I entered, pretending to be a clerk with business that needed tending to.

"Oh! you're not Khinara. Is she around?" I asked, pretending that it didn't occur to me that something was wrong here. I glanced around the room as if looking for her, though realistically there wasn't anywhere out of sight that somebody could be hiding in a small office like that.

"Oh, err yeah, hi. I was just err, leaving these documents for her too" they said, quickly picking up some documents and putting them back down again, "I was just looking to write her a note, but I guess she will figure it out easily enough. I should be getting back".

As they attempted to nonchalantly walk past me I put the documents I was carrying down and casually bent down and faked picking up the quill that I had found at the warehouse. "Oh, hey, did you drop this?" I asked as they attempted to leave the office. Their eyes widened briefly as they clearly recognised it.
"Um, yeah, thanks. Must've fallen out while I was carrying to documents" they took the quill back as I tried not to smile too much. I was glad to prove that it was the same person that had been following Khinara at the warehouse that was also breaking in to her office (you know, besides me that is).

They bent down over the desk, scribbling a note on a piece of paper that they left on top of the pile of documents.
"Well, have a good day then" I said cheerily, moving out of the way to allow them to pass.
Once they had left the room, I picked up the note, which said succinctly "Khinara, as requested, M". I wondered whether the elegantly scribed 'M' giving the impression of familiarity bore any relation at all to the identity of the intruder.

At this point I decided that I had sufficient evidence to know that while the information appears to have been leaked by Khinara, she was not culpable. Instead it appeared that a bit of espionage was afoot. It was time to bring Khinara in to the investigation, perhaps she could help me figure out who it was.
As I left the office, I just caught sight of the intruder as they were heading down the stairs. They were obviously in a hurry but they managed to blend in well, not raising any suspicion as they descended the stairs. In fact they were so good at blending in, I barely noticed the slight limp that they carried in their left leg, it was subtle like somebody carrying an old wound that never quite healed right.

I headed to guard captain's office, figuring that I could leave a report about seeing the intruder in Khinara's office. When I entered, I saw that Khinara was still there. After I spent 20 minutes reporting my findings so far I was thanked for my efforts so far and advised to let the guards take over from here. Not much chance of that. I made a vow to figure out what was going on, I intended to finish what I started. As it was getting late, Khinara invited me to lunch tomorrow at her house to discuss the events further. Normally I would not be interested in hanging out with a noble, but this seemed just like the sort of thing that Kynan would consider useful hobnobbing with those in positions of power, like just being near them success would find me. I agreed to meet her the next day.

The next day, after a quick breakfast of smoked fish and strong coffee at the bar, I headed to Khinara's house. It was an impressive large house sitting atop a bluff overlooking the village. As I approached the front door I noticed the ostentatious religious icons adorning the porch and gaudy statue in the front garden, quite ironic considering her god's reputation for asceticism, isn't it always the way.

I was led to a very lavishly decorated room with various weird shaped sitting chairs and sofas that I'd never seen anything like. The walls were covered in wood panelling which was then covered in paintings withe thick frames and gold leaf decoration. Damn, just how rich was Khinara? I felt really out of place, my but barely touching the fancy sofa that I was gestured to sit on for fear of messing it up in some way.
Eventually Khinara entered, apologising profusely for keeping me waiting while she was finishing off some documents in her office. While she was very well spoken and well mannered, she also came across as very polite and somehow managed to make me feel at home where I was clearly out of place. I could immediately see why she was a such a good diplomat, that ability to appease anybody from any walk of life was an impressive talent that I was convinced you couldn't learn.

We talked for an hour or so, going over again the details from the previous day, musing over who might have had enough access to her documents, why somebody in Daggerhaven might have wanted the information, and who might have the tenacity to provide that information to them. At the end of our discussions neither of us had strong ideas of who might have been responsible. She suggested that I might want to see if I could pick up the trail of the spy at the other end, in Daggerhaven. While I wasn't particularly looking to head that way, it wasn't such a bad idea, perhaps I could meet up with Katrin's spy over there and see if we can catch them delivering more information. I asked Khinara to set up a fake meeting and send documents to Katrin inviting her which could hopefully be intercepted by the spy. At that point, she beckoned her assistant to discuss the preparations and all hell broke loose.

Her assistant entered the room and moved straight towards Khinara seeking instruction. She didn't notice me as I was sitting with my back to the door, but as she passed me, I noticed her. And her slight limp. And the bright quill that she held aloft the paper on the board she was ready to scribe with.
"Nice quill", I said calmly, "you wouldn't want to loose that, I imagine it is quite rare".
She stopped still half way through a step. She clearly recognised my voice, slowly turned her head to face me as her eyes widened in shock for brief moment, before she regained her composure. Spinning on her heel, she said "well, you are persistent aren't you."
Khinara looked perplexed, not at all realising what was happening in her fancy room or the potential danger her and her very fancy furniture might be in.

Giving her no warning at all I launched myself at her, quickly leaping up from the very fancy sofa I was sitting on, unsheathing my dagger from where it was strategically hidden below the skirt of my dress strapped to my thigh.

Quicker than I could imagine, she swerved her body out of my way, parrying my dagger with a knife that I didn't even see her produce. Spinning around, grabbing me as she did so, she used my momentum against me and sent me flying on to the very fancy chair that sat off to the side of the area that we were sitting in.
Khinara screamed and dived for cover behind a very expensive looking table. "What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled, cowering behind the table, seeming incapable of moving further to safety due to the abject terror she was feeling.

"She is the person I saw in your office, She is the spy!", I yelled after a swift flip back on to my feet.
I took cover behind the chair, hoping to bide my time until she provided an opening.

The sudden look of rage on her face as she lunged towards the chair made me realise I had goaded her in to a mistake. She jumped too high trying to make sure that she cleared the chair. As she arced over me I quickly jumped up to meet her, colliding with her in mid air I wrapped my arms and legs around her, my dagger held to her throat in a mortal threat.

As we landed in heap on the floor her eyes widened. She realised the predicament she was in. For a moment she tensed as if about to spring in to further action, but it abated quickly as it dawned on her that she had no way out. She relaxed, dropped her knife and put her hands up, hands spread wide showing that she was surrendering.

"Khinara, get some rope!" I yelled.
"Rope? what for?" She asked, panic still etched in her voice.
"To tie her up until the guards can arrive, what else would it be for?" I asked incredulously. It's like these noble folk can't comprehend handling anything outside their cozy lives.
"oh, yes, that's a good idea" she said, finally getting up from behind the table. "Oh gosh, rope, where would I find rope?" she asked hurriedly, looking around as if she expected to find some conveniently around her. "I'll ask my assistant ... " she trailed off as she remembered that it was her assistant we were trying to secure.
"Khinara!" I yelled, "snap out of it and get a bloody move on!".
That seemed to do the trick. She recoiled slightly as being physically slapped. I got the impression that she tended to not get talked to like that most days.
"Right. Yes. On it!" she chirped and headed out of the room to find something to secure her assistant with.

As I momentarily moved my eyes from her to the door as Khinara left the room, the spy acted in a surprising burst of strength. Lifting her legs and pushing off of the wall, she thrust herself backwards, pushing back away from the dagger at her neck, nocked me off balance and quickly rolled backwards over her shoulder to crouch in a combative pose like a coiled spring waiting to launch.

I got back to my feet, brandishing my dagger. Flipping it round with the blade running along my forearm, I crouched low, preparing for her attack.

She made a few tame attempts to grab me. Knowing that she was out equipped at this point, she was clearly looking to see if she could grapple me. I calmly batted her attempts away, biding my time to strike.

She was good. Clearly she was trained in martial combat. It wasn't going to be as simple as I first expected. I decided it was time to play dirty.

I grabbed a hand full of soil from the potted plant that sat on the table that Khinara had been using for cover and threw it in her face, hoping to blind her.

She'd obviously seen that trick before, covering her eyes, then casting a look at me as if pitying a pathetic attempt.
"Really? Is that all you've got?" she goaded.

"Nope" I replied as I hurled one of my puff bulbs at her. There is more than one way to gain the upper hand. Just wish I didn't have to waste one of my bulbs, but given her capability, it felt warranted.

With the spores clouding all around her, she didn't see it coming as I again reached to the potted plant on the table. Instead of trying to blind her again, I grabbed the whole pot, rushed at her and smashed the whole pot on the side of her face. There was a sickening thud as the vase collided with her temple and shattered. She instantly crumpled to floor unconscious.

At that point, Khinara came back in to the room brandishing a a silk scarf. "Will this do?" she asked before noticing the utter mess that had erupted since she'd left. She blinked hard. "Oh, gosh! What happened? I thought she was subdued?".
"Yeah, sorry about that" I replied, "and sorry about the mess, she got loose. Had to sort her out, but hey, she is definitely subdued now.".
Her face paled as she saw that the vase had been destroyed. "Oh my vase! Was that really necessary?".
"Kinda was, yeah" I shrugged. "Unless you wanted her to get away?" I said. Nodding at the scarf I asked "is that all you could find? that wouldn't hold someone. Good job I took her out myself I guess."

After handing off the spy to the guards, I headed to Katrin's office to let her know that the job was done and collect my reward. Khinara was still a little hysterical as I left, insisting that she had no part of her assistant's treachery, that she had been an unwitting accomplice to leaking information to Daggerhaven. She was still desperately trying to persuade me as I left, telling her that while I believed her, it wasn't for me to tell her that everything was alright, however I would put in a good word for her to Katrin. I suppressed a gleeful snigger as I headed out, liking that I not only made her squirm but also likely bought myself some good will in her estimation going forward. I could get used to dealing with nobles.

Back at Katrin's office I told her about the investigation, that it was an unintentional leak on Khinara's behalf and that Daggerhaven had a spy in her staff. She admired their tenacity especially as Khinara's assistant had been with her for over two years at this point. There would be a wider investigation to ascertain whether she had been an active spy all along or whether it was a recent development. Ultimately my part was done. I received payment for services rendered, and writ of service from Katrin to negotiate trading rates between Shark Gate and Daggerhaven on her behalf.