“What?” Not that Nalah thought Laire could say anything to convince her of that.
“The item we need you to retrieve is your mother’s ring.”
The cup shattered on the ground, the sound echoing in her head. “It was in the vault?” She’d never been able to discover why the Guild found the ring so valuable. Every once in a while she asked to study it, but the magic was as confusing to her now as it had when she’d started her training, the last time being a mere three months ago.
Dumbass. Of course it was in the vault. Stupid she hadn’t realized that before. “Are you going to tell me now what’s so special about it?”
Laire shook her head. “Really, you shouldn’t know, because you don’t need that info to find it. Plus if you get captured and tortured, they won’t be able to get any answers from you.” Any emotional maturity Nalah had ascribed to Laire in the kitchen now withered and died on the vine with that little statement. Always a smooth move to mention torture before sending someone on their first mission.
Fallon shook her head, though in the uncomfortable three-second silence that followed, she didn’t gainsay the mage’s words. Fallon’s own emotions were under control again as well, because her voice was neutral when she spoke. “The good news is Beylor doesn’t seem to know what it does. He bought it to have a pretty ring that came from the Guild to put on his latest blonde. It’s a brag piece to him, nothing more, so we hope that means his security won’t be too tight.”
Nalah put aside her own hurt for the moment and made an overture to the swordswoman. There was logic in their conclusions, whether she liked it or not. “I’m not trying to piss you off, Fallon, and I know what you lost. You understand, though, this is hard for me. I left with the intention of being gone forever.”
Fallon drew a deep breath and softened her stance, though her posture was still dominant. “Do you hate this guy? As in, really hate him and what we’re asking is impossible?”
Go straight for the vulnerability, that was Fallon’s way. How to answer that question, though…how to answer. “I don’t.” And damned if that answer didn’t surprise her almost as much as Laire, if the slip of emotion that appeared on Laire’s face was any indication. “But that doesn’t change the pain of what happened. It doesn’t change the fact my brother’s gone.”
As usual, Fallon’s gaze bore the weight of someone who was searching for the soft underbelly. After a few moments, she gave a slight nod. “I sympathize, I do, but you’re not stupid. You see the chain of events. You know the ring’s signature, you don’t have to worry about your abilities not working if we’re right and this is a blackout zone, and you can get into the Underground Tour in such a way that’ll give you the freedom to look for it. Maybe if we had more time we could set people up, but the Tour is already gathering the fighters. We’re pressed.”
“But I’m not Blackguard. I don’t have any thieving or sneaking ability, and I certainly can’t get into a safe. Someone like that would be more useful.”
“Someone like that will be there and will work with you.” As if she heard the protest rising in Nalah’s mind, Fallon pinned her with a stare she usually reserved for fighting orc invasions. “You are the one who will find the ring because he can’t, and he’ll steal the ring and get it out – because you can’t. Both of you are necessary. He’s already there and will meet up with you at the Tour.”
“And the best way to get you to the Tour is the Cage King, and may I say, meow,” Laire supplied, sounding supremely unconcerned about any objections and pushing her long hair over her shoulder. The urge to pull it hit Nalah hard. She resisted, but damn, it was close.
“What if Esh has no interest?” There was the desperation, and damn again, because she really really wanted to get through this conversation without sounding whiny.
Laire made a rude sound, waving her hand in airy fashion. “We saw him at the match. You were running away so you might have missed it, but that boy was interested.”
“It’s been five years.”
“Yeah, but you still have that ass and it’s obvious he’s an ass man.” Laire gave a firm nod before laying down her pronouncement. “I have a sense about these things. Plus that was where his gaze was locked.”
Oh hells no. She was not getting sexually harassed by some damn canary. “What is wrong with you?”
“We’re still figuring that out,” Fallon answered, with the same long-suffering look that Nalah remembered from that first meeting.