HAWK & SABLE | NINE

"THE HEADQUARTERS OF the Royal Treasury," Asteria announced as their entourage paused outside a pleasant looking building. "The offices are inside the Bai Jiang Tower, with a few sprinkled around the rest of the houses in the courtyard."

"Wow," Ronan marvelled mockingly. "It's almost as if you don't need me."

Ronan was much like Rhys. On the job, the two were either stony cold or mockingly sardonic. It could make them difficult to work with from time to time.

Asteria levied him with a glare. He rolled his eyes back. "The lady is correct, of course. This is Bai Bing Gong." He took a few steps forward, pushing open the door slowly, offering a bow as the rest of them walked in. Ciri walked at the back with Danna. Iolanthe had left early in the morning for the mission Irina had assigned her and they hadn't seen her since then. Lady Kuroki stayed behind, citing her need to visit her sister, the Duchess of Shui Xiang as a reason.

"Impressive," Laurence murmured, surveying the courtyard.

Ciri frowned. "Didn't this use to be Ling guifei's palace?"

Asteria grinned. "You got it. We turned the palace of the concubine known for her frivolous, ridiculous spendings into the headquarters of the empire's Royal Treasury. We love our ironies."

Danna snorted. "History doesn't seem to be repeating itself so far. Our coffers are fine, thank god."

Ronan had wandered to the closest door, knocking. A young official opened the door, eyes widening when he saw the group gathered there. A few quiet words with the Iron Wolf and he ran off, probably to fetch his superiors.

Ronan walked back looking annoyed. "I thought they were already informed of this tour."

Asteria waved her hand, as if it was perfectly alright for a future duchess to be kept waiting without refreshments or shelter. "Whatever, they're busy. I'd never bother them unless it was for something important anyways. Like catching an important mole." The last words were whispered. You never knew who was listening. If they were lucky, the traitor they were seeking was within these walls.

Laurence shrugged. "With all the things we've gone through, a few minutes of waiting under the sun is the least we could manage."

Ronan, wise boy he was, chose not to argue, instead standing with the patience and stillness of a guard. It was rather unnerving. Ciri moved towards the decorative ponds, leaning forward slightly to study the flowers there. Laurence raised a brow. "Lotuses. You like them?"

Ciri straightened and shrugged. "They're pretty. I prefer camellias, but it's not the season. Too early, I'm afraid."

He tilted his head, pensive. Danna joined her, and with humour in her voice, said, "They should have planted tangerines."

"To represent gold? I suppose so... though it's not the season for that either, is it? Summer is not a good time to enjoy flowers."

"Summer isn't a good time to enjoy most activities under the sun," Danna said dryly. "It's extremely hot and I didn't bring a fan."

"Perhaps if they'd just come and receive you..." Came Ronan's growl across the courtyard. Ronan who, with his wiccai hearing, could listen into their conversation perfectly.

Asteria was starting to get impatient too. "We've already spent all morning dealing with the court. I'm writing a nice little speech in my head for when the officials come out. Might as well use this chance to establish a bit of a reputation." That would be wholly unnecessary. Anyone who had heard of her parents would already imagine a terrifyingly cool young woman who could never be pleased. That was halfway to describing Asteria Lu already, really.

"You don't need to write it," snickered Danna. "It comes to your head naturally, my lady."

Asteria scowled at her friend, who smiled back pleasantly.

Footsteps neared, and Ciri glanced up. A man in his mid-forties appeared a second later from the doors of the tower, followed by the same young official and a pretty female one with dark brown hair and doe eyes, no older than twenty-five.

At the sight of them, the man in the front hurried his steps, bowing. "My lords and ladies! Terribly sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Asteria's voice was icy cold, any sign of her former cheer vanishing. "I thought we already alerted you to our visit today, Bao xiansheng." Ciri averted her eyes, as if expecting a long scolding. Laurence did much the same. Ronan raised a brow.

Danna, playing her usual role, pulled slightly at Asteria's hand. "Come on. It's not worth getting angry over."

Asteria's eyes went to her friend, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Whatever. Let's continue with the tour. Lord Archsham? This is Bao xiansheng, the Minister of Finance's trusted assistant."

Between awkward laughter, the man said his greetings. "Lords and ladies, this is our newest official, Wang Tongyun. And this young woman is the Minister's secretary, Miss Ai Jinyao."

"Excellent. Now can we please head inside for the tour?" Asteria's voice showed her impatience loud and clear. She might as well have stomped her foot and threw a tantrum from her tone. The man paled, and quickly muttered apologies as they were led into the tower.

Asteria played such a good brat. Ciri was barely able to hide her smile. Laurence eyed her quizzically, and she shook her head in response. Nothing.

The tour was rather boring. Ciri took note of every official they passed by, and the paintings displayed in the corridors. She wasn't naive enough to believe they'd just have a Hightower painting displayed somewhere here, but it didn't hurt to be careful. The others were doing the same, with the exception of Ronan, who stood with all the carefulness of a guard protecting the crown jewels. If Mr Bao and the other two noticed that they weren't paying their full attention on the tour, nothing was said. Too terrified to, maybe. Not every day a future duchess and a viscount paid visit to this quaint tower. Or anyone else, for the matter. When the emperor wanted to hear reports, the ministers went to him, not the other way around.

Somewhere down the line, the job of introducing everything was passed onto the secretary, who seemed equally, if not even more terrified. Ciri offered smiles and did her best to be encouraging, contrasting Asteria's unimpressed stares and scowling face.

"This is the office for the Minister," Miss Ai was saying. "Mine is down the corridor, of course. This way, my lady."

"Who painted this painting?" Asteria asked, eyeing a western oil portrait besides the door. Clever. She was testing the three, seeing their reactions. It wasn't a Hightower painting, they all knew that.

Miss Ai blinked. "I'm not sure, my lady."

Asteria raised a brow. "Figure it out."

Bao xiansheng and Wang Tongyun's faces betrayed their confusion. Natural to do that. It rang true. Laurence let out a quiet 'huh'. Not these people.

"Lady Asteria is a great lover of art," Danna demurely explained. "She believes it is a waste to hang paintings that no one ever looks at."

"Waste of money and energy," Asteria muttered, playing along. Ronan raised a brow. Ciri wasn't sure how much of their assignment he was told, but he was smart enough to realise they were throwing baits here, hoping someone would bite it. He was intelligent enough not to interfere. Even if he didn't trust Laurence, or even Ciri, Asteria and Danna were loyal to the bone.

"Err, of course," Miss Ai murmured, casting her eyes downwards. "We'll find out who painted that portrait. Would you like to be informed of it, Lady Lu?"

Asteria shrugged. "Send the name to my palace. I like the style."

Miss Ai was visibly perplexed but said nothing except nod. Eccentric seemed to be the newest in a long list of adjectives to describe Lady Asteria Lu, Countess of Zi Yan. In a few days, this incident would be spread all over the court. Asteria didn't care.

"Let's continue the tour," Danna said, hooking her arm with Asteria's. "We have much to do later. We should not dally here for so long."

The relief on the three official's faces over the idea of them leaving soon was almost comical. Ciri stifled down a laugh, and Laurence tilted his head as well, hiding a grin. Ronan rolled his eyes heavenward. That boy would need a few more years of training before being released into the world. But when that happened, she pitied his future prey. The Meliqueans, hopefully. Or perhaps not, as Ciri wasn't sure she wanted war to break out, especially so soon. At least until after she retired, maybe, or she'd be set upon them as well.

Selfish, she was. Could you blame her? If war broke out and they sent her to Melique, she wouldn't be doing court work. She'd be doing her sister's work, attached to armies, running around as messengers, maybe spying on the enemy in the field. Not pleasant work. She was delicate, no matter what everyone else thought. She could rule supreme in the royal courts and haut tons of the world, but put her in a battlefield and she was no more than a novice spy.

The tour continued on, everyone oblivious to the growing trouble in her mind. It was headache-inducing, this matter of thinking about the battles to come and the people she'd be spying on. Utterly unpleasant.

No one was more scared than Danna and Io, though, who they wished to send off to Melique undercover. Ciri would rather run through the battlefields. Melique was messier than Sai during its revolution a decade ago.

They had reached the top of the tower, which was used only for the official's breaks and was only sparsely decorated. A coach in the corner, with a few tables, and a stack of papers someone had probably accidentally left here. Laurence stepped forward, all natural-like, his eyes glossing over the pages. They let him, having deduced that the paper probably wasn't containing sensitive, confidential information if it was being left here like this.

Asteria's eyes flickered around, the portrait of boredom. Danna quietly asked pointless questions whose answers she did not care about and would not remember. Maybe somehow they'd strike gold and find something useful. Most probably not.

The tour ended how it began. Awkward, impatient, suffocatingly boring. Ciri was almost thankful to finally go.

A few minutes after leaving, Ronan asked, "Did you find what you need?"

They all shook their heads. They were no closer now to finding their mole than before their visit. It had been utterly pointless. Ciri suppressed her disappointment.

✢

IOLANTHE MI, PROTEGE spy, student of Lady Kuroki, bastard daughter of a former Prince of Sai and a Cheonuang courtesan loitered around the wall of a pretty house and cursed pointlessly in her mind. Irina had made this mission seem interesting, in that way she always did. Instead, this involved her dressing up as one of the children off the streets and watching the noble, blue-blooded Sanchez family spend a perfectly normal, unremarkable day.

She read up on them earlier. Old Vayantean blood, rich as all hell. Running from Melique, hoping to get approved to move to Caershire temporarily. Caershire, the land of refugees. Temporarily stopping in Sai while they got their paperwork all done. Rented this pretty western house near the edge of where the wealthy and important of Sai lived outside of the Scarlet Palace. The lord and lady, his brother and the brother's wife, and their combined five children. Three and two.

Io highly doubted they were spying for Melique. For one, if they were, they were doing a horribly shitty job at it. The two ladies were loud and whiny, constantly complaining. Most of the children were Asteria's age, the youngest a year or two younger than her. The two lords walked around trying to look important but ended up just seeming like they had too much time on their hands.

A few people visited, tittering behind their hands when they left. Former friends, maybe, paying their false sympathies for their flight from Vayante. Io had never understood the nobility, no matter how much time she spent or friends she had who belonged to it. They were your loyal friends until you made one misstep, and then they'd gladly help rip you into pieces.

Savages. Asteria agreed. Danna just rolled her eyes.

Dressed in hemp, Io looked perfectly insignificant. She had smeared a bit of mud on her face for good measure, as if she had just been playing in the dirt with the other children running around. Disguises had to be thorough. And the truth was that Io had been one of those children once.

That was a long time ago. She pushed away the onslaught of memories and focused back on the mission.

The children were playing in the courtyard. The two eldest, cousins, a girl and a boy sat conversing, watching the others with a raised brow. The girl was old enough to debut.

The other three were running around, wrecking havoc, laughing. A joyful bunch compared to their parents. Io stayed still where she was in the foliage and observed as she had been taught.

She was very good at her job. Everyone said so. Behind closed doors, they muttered that she'd become one of the best.

Was she supposed to feel proud?

Clenching her fists, the feeling of nail digging into callused flesh woke her up instantly. Lady Kuroki hadn't taken care in making sure she was kept delicate and dainty like she did with the other girls. Io wasn't an aristocrat. Never would be. She was the bastard daughter of a fucking prince and the strongest woman she'd ever known.

Murdered by the aforementioned prince.

God, her childhood was a cesspool.

Two of the children were nearing. It was the youngest girl and a boy, probably around her age. Dark brown hair, the same intense hazel stare. The boy had sharp cheekbones and a smiling face.

Rake-in-training, she thought to herself. Someday, that boy was going to break hearts. The girl was a perfect little angel, giggling as she ran, muttering some childish nonsense.

You shouldn't think that way. You could have been her, in another life.

But she wasn't, was she? Io hadn't won the genetic lottery. Sure, she was pretty, but what use was that when the only option for her beauty was to follow her mother's path? After her mother's fate...

Io shut her eyes and thanked the gods she didn't believe in for helping her find Lady Kuroki.

"Careful, Martina!" The boy spoke Vayantean, his accent clearly marking out his home country. The Meliqueans and Vayanteans spoke the same language, but with different accents and occasionally different words. Io was fluent in both. She had to be.

"Hurry, Louis! Before the butterfly flies away!" Io watched with equal parts amusement and irritation as Martina Sanchez ran past, chasing some small white insect.

"Martina!" Her brother bellowed, running after her. He ran past her hiding place above the wall in the trees, and then... froze.

And turned to face her, as if he could see her as clear as day.

"Spying is rude, miss." Saian. Extremely fluent, though there was a hint of accent overlaying it all. This was no ordinary boy. "And illegal."

She stayed still, heart pounding, eyes widened. How? How would he have seen her? She had been training to hide from the naked eye since she was five years old, and she was bloody good at it. There was no explanation for why this young lordling could just see through her hiding spot within seconds.

He continued on. "Ignoring me is even ruder. My parents care naught for us and my older siblings are practically blind. You'll be alright."

When she still said nothing, he crouched to pick up a pebble and threw it in her direction. Io, fast as lightning, dodged, but wasn't careful enough to avoid the branches. Letting out a silent curse as a branch cut into her skin, she finally took a nimble step out of the tree, balancing on the stone wall with a wary expression.

Danna said she was part-wraith, part-cat. She was thin and nimble, fast and fluid. She hid that as she watched the boy.

"Hello." His face lightened, a grin spreading over it. A charming grin. She raised a brow at it, playing the disapproving and confused village girl. He didn't flinch or look away like the other children did. He stared right back.

Impressive.

Io tilted her head in acknowledgement, choosing to keep quiet.

He looked amused. "Are you mute?"

"No." Her answer was soft, the opposite of what she usually did.

"Why are you spying on us? I hardly think Martina screaming is that entertaining."

She offered a shrug. "You underestimate the extent of my boredom, then."

Another smile. "Louis Sanchez."

She tilted her head. "I would say pleasure, but that would be a lie."

That made him even happier, for some reason that fully escaped her. She scowled, crossing her arms. "Leave me in peace. I used to play in this garden when no one was living in it."

"So now you watch us from the trees?" He riposted.

She gave a half-shrug that could have meant many things. "The children I usually play with grow tiresome. I seek time alone. Can you blame me? Certainly you'd know, in a house with so many children."

The boy casted a glance behind him, where three of his kinsmen sat and played and chatted. Martina had run off deeper into the gardens, hidden between bushes and trees. "It's smaller than what I am used to, but I grow used to it."

She scoffed loudly now. "Cocky lordlings. You have no idea how lucky you are."

"Do I? Do I not?" There was humour in his voice. This one would laugh at the gallows. It was not an inspiring trait. It spoke of foolish optimism and naivete. Asteria liked to say that she was cynical for one so young. She was not cynical. She was realistic, as anyone who had half the childhood she had must be. "What is your name?"

"It is of no matter to you." She waved her hand. She had been discovered, and loitering around for any longer would simply seem suspicious. She did not want to accidentally trigger a war between Sai and Vayante, that being extremely inconvenient.

His eyebrow quirked upwards. "You're hiding in a tree above my garden walls. I think it matters. You could be a thief."

"If I were a thief, which I am not, I would have turned and ran the moment you saw me," she said flatly, as if she was laying down facts for him to understand. "I have met plenty." Arouse curiosity. That would give him something to think about when he slept that night, instead of wondering who she was. "I bid you farewell now, and pray we never meet again, Mr... You know what? I don't care."

She climbed down the tree trunk she had used to get up on the wall, agile as a spider. Softly, his voice carried over the wall. "Mr Sanchez, mysterious girl. Mr Sanchez. And we will meet again."