Princess of Beasts - Chapter Twenty One (Patreon)

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Chapter Twenty One

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Coaldust soon returned, his tray replaced with a wooden mug that looked almost too big for an urd’thin. Foamy ale dribbled down the sides, which he quickly licked off. He took a big pull, then wiped foam from his muzzle. “Alright. I’m yours, for the next two hours. After that, you’ll have to pay again if you want to keep me any longer.” He lifted the mug. “Hope you don’t mind me having a drink.” 

“Certainly not, Coaldust.” Harliss toasted him with her own glass. “Good choice on the Gryphon Plume.” She flashed him a smile. “Your people charge too much for it, but it’s delicious.” 

“Isn’t it?” Coaldust perked his ears and swished his tail, little gold ribbons fluttering. “Afraid I can’t set the price, though, I assure you, that is the standard charge, and not the Union fee. That said, yeah, it’s about double what we oughta charge for it, but…” He made a show of gazing around the place. “Where the fuck else you gonna get fine whiskey anywhere near the Broken Teeth?” He clicked his teeth, then padded over to stand near a big, wooden column nearby. A lamp in a brass sconce flickered above him, leaving his coppery eyes flecked with fire. “I’ll be here when you need me.” 

Harliss waved him right back over. “Nonsense, Coaldust. You can’t stand around drinking by yourself, waiting to be ordered around.” She patted the table. “Just because we’re paying you doesn’t mean you’re going to be treated like a servant. Come join us.” 

Coaldust tilted his head, lifting a single ear. “Yeah? Alright, sure. Let me get an urd’thin chair.” 

“Oh!” Evlee called after him. “You can sit on my lap instead, if you want.” 

Coaldust turned right back around, laughing. “Hey, it’s your money. If that’s where you want me, that’s where I’ll be.” 

Tormin put his face in his hand. “Really, Evlee? Just let him use a chair.” 

Evlee poked her tongue out at Tormin. “You just don’t want him that close to you.” Then she turned to Coaldust. “Really, though, if you prefer a chair, fetch a chair.” 

“Yes, Coaldust.” Harliss swirled her whiskey in her glass, shooting Evlee a look. “I want to make it clear you’re under no obligation. Sit wherever you’re comfortable.” 

“I appreciate the consideration.” The urd’thin put his drink up on the table, and then delicately hopped up onto Evlee’s lap, slightly sideways to make room for his tail. “But when a lady offers you her lap, you take her lap. Comfy?” 

“So far, yes.” Evlee held her arms out to let him get positioned. “You can lean your head against me, if you want. Where do you wish my arms?”

“Mhm!” Coaldust leaned his head back against her chest, his ears brushing her jaw. “Just tell me if I need to move. You can put your arms anywhere you like, but this is my suggestion.” He reached for her hands, gently grasped them, and pulled them down across his middle till Evlee was holding him, her fingers brushing fur of his exposed belly. “There. How’s that?” 

“Quite nice, actually!” Evlee gave him a playful little hug. “You’re very soft. I hadn’t realized urd’thin fur was so silky.” 

“Thanks!” Coaldust leaned over her arms to fetch his drink. He picked it up, took a pull, and set it back down, all without disrupting Evlee’s gentle hold on him. The ease of the maneuver told Harliss he’d done this countless times before. “Our fur’s way softer than gnoll fur. They’ll argue that with us, of course, but if you ask me, spending a night with an urd’thin is like luxuriating in silks. A night with a gnoll’s like…” He waved his little hand. “Fuckin’ a bristly hairbrush.” 

Tormin gave a single cough, sipping his drink. “Really laying on that upsell to the whole night pretty thick.”

Coaldust swished his tail alongside Evlee’s leg, the little ribbons brushing her. “Just statin’ the facts. How’s that Trouser Tinkler treatin’ ya?” 

Tormin scrunched up his face. “Please don’t call it that.” He took another sip, sighed in satisfaction, and set it down. “It’s delicious, though.” 

“Why do they call it that?” Harliss glanced between Tormin and Coaldust. 

“Cause, it tastes real good, and hits real hard, so it’s easy to overdo it.” Tormin set his glass down. “Which is why I’m only having the one, and taking it very slowly.” 

“Yup!” Coaldust fetched his own ale for another drink. “Got its name cause when it first started showing up in popular pubs, people would have too many, and piss their pants without even realizing it. Or, yanno.” The urd’thin glanced down at himself. “Whatever they had on.” 

Evlee ruffled the urd’thin’s belly fur. “Speaking from experience, are we?” 

“Not that I remember!” The urd’thin chittered laughter. “Name doesn’t work as well when you’re wearing a kilt, anyway.” 

Evlee reached down and felt the material. “Is that what this is called?” 

“Think that’s the human word for it, anyway.” Coaldust scratched one of his ears. “We wear ‘em sometimes cause pants for humans don’t really fit our legs, and it’s easier to get these made than get measured for custom breeches. Plus, they’re comfortable, and I kinda like how it looks.” 

“It is quite striking, actually.” Harliss sipped her whiskey, waving her other hand at him. “As are the ribbons Evlee was so fascinated by.” 

“Thanks!” Coaldust leaned his head back against Evlee’s chest. “I always liked the way blue and gold look against my fur. Most of my clothes are one, or the other, or both.” 

“Good choices.” Evlee reached around him to fetch her own drink. She drank some, then smirked at the urd’thin in her lap. “So how much more would it cost to find out if you’re wearing anything under that?” 

Tormin groaned, and Coaldust laughed. 

“Based on watching him scale the bar,” Harliss said, “I’m guessing he isn’t.” 

“Ding ding ding!” Coaldust thrust his mug towards her. “Point to the Executor!” 

“Ooh, you naughty little mongrel.” Evlee lifted an arm to ruffle his ears. “Though, I suppose that’s probably the norm for the workers here. Alright them, I’ll be extra careful where my hands go, just to be safe.” 

Coaldust only smiled up at her. “You don’t gotta be safe, now. You’re all paid up for two hours.”

Evlee laughed, resting her hand against the urd’thin’s knee, at the edge of his kilt. “Oh, really now?” 

Coaldust only stroked her hand with his. “Mhm. She paid for the time, but that covers just about everything you might wanna do with me.” 

“Good to know.” Evlee stroked his thigh, just a little. “Of course, now is hardly the opportune time, but I may be unable to stop my curious hands from roaming, at least a little, sometime in the next two hours.” 

Coaldust swished his tail, laughing. “Feel free. I sure as hell won’t stop you.” 

“At least not for two hours, right?” Harliss draped an arm over the back of her chair. “Bet when the time’s up you’d leap off her so fast it’d be like someone stuck a hot coal under your ass.” 

“Nah, a lovely lady like this? I’d give her at least ten minutes warning. Maybe even forget that time’s up for a few minutes.” Coaldust took another drink, then set his half-empty mug down. “Course, any more than that, and I gotta charge for another hour.” He glanced around the table, scrunching his muzzle. “Damn, forgot the food menus. I’d get one but…” He snuggled up against Evlee, sighing. “It’s awfully warm and comfortable right here with this fine young woman.” 

“Awww, what a little sweetie.” Evlee gave him a hug. 

“He’s angling for tips.” Harliss laughed, and finished off her whiskey. When Coaldust glanced at her empty glass, ears lifted questioningly, she shook her head. “No, I’m fine for now, thank you. I’ll wait till the others are done. And I’m not hungry at the moment, either. I did have some questions, though, if you’re inclined to answer.” 

“Yeah, shoot!” The urd’thin glanced at her guns. “Er…not literally.” 

“How does your payment situation work?” Harliss rested her elbow over her chair back again. “I paid you twenty, for two hours, and Evlee added five for gratuity. But, how does that work out? How much of that money do you, personally, get? Or are you on a salary here, or what?” She held a hand up. “Don’t answer if it’ll get you in trouble, mind you.” 

“Nah, that won’t get me in trouble, we’re pretty open about it.” He leaned forward, then glanced sideways as if just noticing Evlee’s weaponry. “Oh, wow, you got a lotta knives! Is that your fancy Union killer specialty, blade-work?” He mimed stabbing in the air a few times, laughing, then glanced Harliss’s way. “Sorry, got distracted. So, we get a straight twenty five percent cut of every gold we bring in through the brothel, rounded up. Another twenty five percent goes straight to the boss, and the other fifty percent goes towards paying the rest of the staff and security, buying supplies, general upkeep, expansion, etc. Plus, we get room and board, and we get huge discounts on basically everything.”

Harliss rubbed her chin. “So, out of the twenty I gave you, for two hours, you get five gold.” 

“Yeah, plus the five my new friend here gave me.” Coaldust patted Evlee’s hand. 

“Ten gold for two hours work.” Tormin grunted. “That’s more than the average Union soldier makes.” 

Coaldust stretched his arms out, interlocked his fingers, and cracked his knuckles. “Sure is! Some of your fellow Goldies were in here recently, in fact. Got all drunk and started lamenting about how the Union wasn’t even paying them as much as…what’d they call us? A buncha whore-monsters?” He scrunched his muzzle, drawing his arms back. “I mean, I know what he was going for, but…sounded like something you’d see in a really bad horror-play.” 

“Doesn’t it?” Evlee lifted her arms over her head, crooking her fingers into claws. “Housewives beware, The Whore-Monster is coming…to eat your husband!” 

“Yeah!” Coaldust stretched his arms as well, snarling and baring his fangs. “Whoring soon, at a monstrous theater production near you!” 

Harliss gave a playful, cooing sound. “Aww, Tormin, they’re soul-mates.”

Tormin pursed his lips. “Wonderful.”

Harliss returned her attention to Evlee and the urd’thin. “So, Coaldust, you were saying? Our men were lamenting their poor pay? How many of them frequented this place, anyway?” 

“I dunno, three dozen?” Coaldust wriggled around on Evlee’s lap, inspecting her knives. “Some from all three of those little ships, out there. Most of them only came in for food and a few too many drinks. A couple more spent a lotta time in the brothel.” He glanced back at Harliss. “Wait, am I snitchin’? I don’t wanna get any customers in trouble. Well, maybe the assholes.” 

Harliss quirked a brow. “Assholes?” 

“Yeah, like Mister Whore-Monster. Thinking they’re all better than us, just cause he’s human. Hell, one sheath-lick got tossed out on his ass cause he got so drunk, he started yelling at a gnoll friend of mine, telling her…well, a bunch nasty, racist, stuff about gnolls. So the guards fucked him up a bit, and tossed him out. Literally.” 

Tormin leaned forward. “Was that before, or after the dragon and gryphon attacked those ships?” 

“After.” Coaldust tilted his muzzle. “He’d been in here drinking and muttering to himself before that, but I think that attack tipped it for him. Started acting like it was our fault, and the more he drank the more the uglier it got.” 

“And that three dozen you mentioned.” Tormin idly traced little circles on the table with a forefinger. “How many of them were in here during the attack on our ships?”

“Oh, probably at least half of them, maybe more?” Coaldust held his hands up, little gray pawpads on display. “Now, I should mention that it gets real loud in here on rowdy nights.” 

Evlee looked around. “It isn’t rowdy now?” 

“Nah, this is damn near quiet.” Coaldust dropped his hands down. “But nobody could hear what was going on way over in the plaza. By the time anyone realized that ships under our watch were getting trashed, and we sent some guards out, it was too late.” 

Tormin glowered at the little urd’thin. “And I’m sure the delay in assisting our people had nothing to do with the fact they’re Golden Union?” 

Coaldust offered him an all-too-earnest smile, all bared canine teeth and perked ears. “Of course not!” He quickly turned his smile to Evlee. “Say, can I see one of those knives?” 

“Sure!” Evlee reached for one. “Throwing, or melee?” 

“Oh, throwing, please!” Coaldust waggled his fingers in excitement. 

“Evlee!” Tormin growled at her through grit teeth. 

Evlee rolled her eyes. “Oh, shush. What do you think he is, suicidal?” 

As Evlee drew a knife. Harliss set her hand on a pistol, just in case. She knew Evlee was right, and the urd’thin wasn’t likely to try anything. Even a highly trained assassin would have to be a fool with a death with to try and take out a heavily Executor and her bodyguards with only a single knife. But instinct bade her to be prepared, just in case. Despite the Union’s general distaste the world’s more monstrous races, urd’thin and kobolds were both quick, agile, and with proper training, could be exceptionally deadly. One of her closest scrapes in the past involved an entire hit squad of kobolds. And for all she knew, Prav might have half his protection detail posing as his brothel workers. 

Evlee flipped the throwing knife around and between her fingers. Like Harliss’s guns, Evlee’s various blades were all custom forged just for her, balanced to her preferred specifications. Those for throwing were balanced and weighted for precise throws and penetrability ability, while the others were designed for hand-to-hand combat. Those were longer, and as sturdy as they were sharp, meant to deflect other blades as well as inflict their own mortal wounds. Evlee was as good with her blades as she was with her guns, perhaps even better. Were Harliss ever forced to engage Evlee in a knife fight, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d win. Then again, if Harliss was ever forced into a real fight with Evlee, let alone without her guns, something had gone spectacularly wrong.

“So, Coaldust.” Harliss kept her hand on her pistol, though she did not expect to need to use it. “Shall I take your excitement to mean you’ve experience of your own with throwing knives?” 

“Sure do!” His eyes darted back and forth, following Evlee’s increasingly swift and complex maneuvers, the dance of blade around fingers and through the air. “The boss likes it if his workers know how to protect themselves, just in case.” 

Tormin kept his eyes on the urd’thin’s hands, ever watchful. “That helps explain the lack of visible guards upstairs. I’m sure that also helps a brothel stay safe when your prostitutes know how to fight and shoot.”

Evlee came to a sudden, complete stop, presenting the blade’s handle to the urd’thin. “Here you are. It’s probably heavier than what you’re used to, so be careful.”

Coaldust took the knife, hefting it. “Oh, yeah, lots heavier. Longer, too.” He held it up alongside his other hand, comparing it’s length to his shorter fingers. “Look at that bad boy.” He waggled it at Evlee’s hands. “So, with a smaller blade, I can do some of what you were doing, but I better not try it with one this long.”

“No, please don’t.” Harliss idly worked a fingertip around the rim of her empty glass. “I don’t think Prav would be very happy with us if we let you cut your fingers off.” 

The urd’thin chittered, glancing over at her. “It’s funny hearin’ Union people using his name. Though…” He waved the knife at her, causing her fingers to tighten around her pistol. “I guess Executors get paid to know that kinda thing, huh?”

Harliss sharpened her voice. “Please don’t wave knives at me, Coaldust.” 

“Oh…” The urd’thin swallowed, his eyes drifting down to her hand upon her gun. “Right, right. Sorry about that.” 

Harliss made a dismissive gesture. “Forgiven. Speaking of Prav. I asked Deputy Hatha to inform him that we’d like to meet with him. Assuming he did as asked, how long should I expect to wait before one of Prav’s lackeys inevitably comes out to tell us to fuck off?” 

Coaldust flicked his ribbon-festooned tail. “That probably is what’s gonna happen, yeah. Could be anywhere from a few more minutes, to the rest of the day. Though if I had to guess, I’d say within an hour or two from whenever you asked? That’s about how long he usually likes to keep people waiting.”

Harliss chuckled. “I don’t suppose that has to do anything with the two hour minimum you charged us?” 

“Oh, no, definitely not.” Sarcasm dripped from the urd’thin’s voice as he tossed the blade back and forth between his hands. “He’s definitely not looking to sell drinks and sex while people wait to see him. That would never happen. Especially not to uptight Union folks.” He flashed Harliss a grin. “Not that you three seem as uptight as most. Well…” He leaned over to stare at Tormin. “You do. But the Executor, less so, and this one?” He tilted his head back against Evlee. “I’d never guess this one was in the Union.”

Evlee giggled, and shrugged. “Thank you! I’ll take that as a compliment. We can’t all be up stuffy, uptight monster-haters with sticks up our ass.” 

Coaldust chittered laughter. “You know, there’s probably people that pay good money for that last part. But on that note, here’s a question for you.” He pivoted on Evlee’s knees, towards Harliss. “Madam Executor is probably the best one to ask.” 

Harliss inclined her head. “Go ahead.” 

“What is with all that monster shit?” Coaldust tucked the knife against his arm, likely to avoid looking too threatening. “How come most of the union is so racist and xenophobic? I hear that sorta shit a lot from your people.” He waved his free hand in a little circle, adopting a faux, upper-crust accent. “I daresay, gnolls are filthy monsters! Kobolds are murderous beasts! Va’chaak are hideous lizards! Such vile spawn of evil should not exist.”

Tormin snorted, though whether he took more offense at the accent, or at the concept, Harliss wasn’t sure. “Probably cause not that long ago, those were the only impressions people ever had. Armies of murderous monsters, rampaging and slaughtering and-”

Harliss held her hand up, and Tormin cut himself off. “Coaldust was asking me, Tormin.” 

Coaldust glanced at Tormin. “Yeah, uh, that sorta answer is exactly why I didn’t ask you. You work around here long enough, you get a sense for the ones who’d rather see you wiped out, and…you kinda got that stink about you.” 

Tormin took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh. “Not wiped out.” He went for his drink, then gestured at Coaldust with his glass. “And I don’t have anything against urd’thin. We’ve had those in the Union for ages.” 

“You know, when you call us ‘those’, it kinda sounds like you do got something against us.” Coaldust shrugged, and flipped his scarf over his shoulder dismissively. “S’fine, though, I’m used to it from Union…” He trailed off with his mouth open, amending whatever insulting term he was about to use. “Guests.” Instead, he turned his attention back to Harliss. “So, yeah. All that monster stuff. What’s that all about?” 

Harliss shot Tormin a glare, a silent decree that he keep his damn mouth shut this time. “I don’t know how versed in world history you are, but the short version is, generations ago, the lands that predated the Union were mostly inhabited by humans, and to a lesser extent, urd’thin. They had isolated dragons, and gryphons, clashed with them over lands and conquests and such, but nothing like the southern half of the continent. Same with gnolls and kobolds and so on. Sure, there isolated tribes, but even then they were mostly known for raids, and banditry.” 

“And then that big war, right? The first one?” Coaldust idly swished his tail against Evlee’s leg when she wrapped her arms around him, teasing at his belly fur. “So what, you guys just still hate everyone a thousand years later, or whatever?” 

Harliss chuckled. “Not exactly the way I’d put it, but from your point of view, I suppose so. The first real experiences most of our people had with the non-human races came in the form of a great, conquering army, ravaging our lands. The Empire of the Black Star made the admittedly strategically brilliant decision to build an army out of the very creatures the rest of the continent saw as monsters. And then they unleashed them to conquer that continent, in perhaps the worst mass shedding of blood the world’s ever known. The worst our continent has ever known, anyway. After that, the Empire placed its dragons in charge of its new provinces, and left their army of beasts behind to serve those dragons, and rule those lands. And rule them they did. Cruelly. For hundreds and hundreds of years. Generation, after generation, slaving away for the Empire’s dark army of beasts. Poor, poverty stricken, watching their monstrous rulers grow fat off their labor. And worse.”

Something darker crept into her voice, her face hardening. “Imagine a little girl, watching the va’chaak beat her father into a cripple, just because he didn’t turn enough lettuce that harvest. Or hearing her mother’s screams, after the gnolls dragged her off to some back room, and all she can do is plead with the gods for a chance to stop it.” Spittle flecked her lips, but she took a breath, relaxing. “And that’s how it was, for so much of what’s now the Golden Union. For generations, upon generations, that’s all we ever knew them as. As monsters.” 

Coaldust’s ears stood rigid atop his head, his tail limp. He licked his muzzle, swallowed, and then leaned forward to pick up his mug. After wetting his throat, he bowed his head to the Executor. “I’m sorry, I…I didn’t mean to bring something that personal.”

“Oh, think nothing of it.” Harliss finally lifted her hand from her pistol, waving it to dismiss his fears. “That was just an example, to answer your question.” 

Coaldust gulped again. “If you say so.” 

“I do say so.” Harliss picked up her empty glass, staring into. “Don’t worry, I save my personal stories for special occasions.” She turned the glass over, and a single golden droplet slowly slipped down the glass, then dripped onto the table. “Maybe Prav will even get to hear one!” She thumped the glass back down, then smiled at the urd’thin. “You can give Evlee’s knife a toss, if you want. She won’t mind.” 

“No, go right ahead!” Evlee pointed towards the large, wooden column nearby. “Think you could stick it in there?” 

Coaldust glanced between the two women, his ears splayed in uncertainty. “I could try. You…you sure? I still kinda feel like I ruined the mood, with that question.”

“Oh, Coaldust, please.” Harliss leaned back, propping her boots up on the table. “If anything, you’re the afternoon’s bright spot! If you wanna try out her knife, go right ahead.” 

“Yes, by all means!” Evlee trailed her fingers through his scarf. “While you’re at it, can I try on your scarf? It’s so pretty.” 

“Sure thing.” Coaldust set the knife across his lap, then unwound the golden scarf from his neck, and passed it to Evlee. The thick fur around the urd’thin’s neck was flattened in odd places from the garment, but he quickly fluffed it back up with his fingers. “Got scarf fur.” He picked up the borrowed knife, and hopped off Evlee’s lap. 

Evlee wrapped the scarf around her neck, her hands roaming the golden silk. “Ooh, I love it. How does it look?” 

“Surprisingly good,” Tormin said, looking her over. 

“Agreed.” Harliss locked her fingers behind her head. “The gold goes well with the red of your jacket, and the other gold in your vest.” 

“Yeah, looks gorgeous on you.” Coaldust smiled up at her even as he tested the balance of the knife. “A beautiful scarf on a beautiful woman.” 

“Awwww!” Evlee leaned down, cooing at him. “You’re just the sweetest little thing!” She laughed, flourishing the scarf. “Even if you are just angling for another tip.”

“What? Me?” Coaldust put a hand to his chest, his ears flat in faux dismay. “Never!” He pivoted away from her, lifting the knife up over his head, and hurling it at the column with a grunt of effort. It spun through the air and stuck in the wood with a loud thunk, wobbling. “Nice! I nailed it!” 

“You sure did!” Evlee spun the end of the scarf around. “That was a great throw!” 

“Thanks! Coulda been better…I just barely got that rotation far enough around. That thing’s heavy.” Coaldust went to the post, grasped the knife, and started working it out of the wood. 

“You’d refine your throw with practice, I’m sure.” Harliss saluted him with her empty glass, even as she wondered anew if he was just a brothel worker. It was certainly possible, perhaps even likely, that Prav had all his workers trained in various combat skills, just in case. It was also possible that Coaldust’s appearance near their table was more than just a coincidence. “Going to have another go?” 

“Nah, I better quit while I’m ahead.” The knife came free all at once, and Coaldust stumbled back a few paces. “Next time I’d clank it, for sure.” He brought the knife back to Evlee. “Here you go. Thanks for lettin’ me try that.”

“You’re more than welcome.” She replaced the knife, then patted her lap, inviting him to join her again. “That really was a good throw, though, especially considering how unused to handling larger equipment you are.” 

“Oh, you’d be surprised how often I end up handing larger equipment.” Coaldust clambered up onto her left, picking up his mug. “There’s this gnoll who comes by now and then, and…” He drained his ale, then licked his muzzle, pinning his ears. “Wait, you’re talking about knives, right? I knew that.” 

Harliss laughed, rolling her glass around in her hand. “Yes, Coaldust, she meant her knives. Though, if they expect you to handle gnolls, I can see why they teach you how to use those knives in the first place.” She tilted her head. “I can’t help but notice your mug is empty. If you’re going for another, I suppose you could talk me into one, as well.”

“Sure!” Coaldust hopped back down. “Anyone else?” He took Evlee’s glass when she handed it to him, then glanced at Tormin, who shook his head. Harliss passed him coins for the next round, and he scurried off. “Be right back!” 

“He’s so cute!” Evlee leaned towards Harliss. “I wanna keep him!” 

Tormin stared at her, his mouth drawn into a line. “They don’t sell the whores, Evlee.” 

“Well, maybe I could hire him away!” She toyed with the scarf, murmuring to herself. “Make him my personal servant or something.”

“I sincerely doubt you could afford him, Evlee.” Harliss twisted around to watch him scurry up the bar, and collect the drinks from the kobolds. “It sounds like he makes more than enough money, already. And he’s not going to want to move from somewhere he’s accepted, to somewhere he’s going to be sneered at.” 

Evlee rolled her eyes. “That’s easy to deal with. Anyone who sneers at him answers to me.” 

Coaldust soon hurried back. He set the tray up on the table, then plopped himself back down in Evlee’s lap again. “What’d I miss?” 

“Evlee here wants to hire you to be her servant.” Harliss smirked at the other woman.

“Oh yeah?” Coaldust laughed and took a drink of his ale. “I don’t think I’m quite Executor-level material, but I appreciate the thought.” 

“That’s roughly what I tried to tell her.” Harliss sipped her whiskey, savoring it a moment. 

“Oh, I bet I could make it worth his while.” Evlee rested her hands on the urd’thin’s thighs, trailing her fingers through their fur, pushing his kilt up a little in the process. “Maybe just for a week or so, when we’re in the area.” 

Coaldust shivered, and made a happy little chittering sound. “I appreciate the offer, but believe it or not, I’m happy enough where I am. You know, where it’s relatively safe, compared to a warship. But, you keep doing that, and I might give it some thought.” 

“Mhm.” Evlee worked her hands in little circles, resting her chin against his head, just behind his horns. It left her face framed by his horns, and ears. “So, gnolls, hmm? Are they as big as they seem? You know, everywhere else?” 

The urd’thin took another drink of his beer, stroking Evlee’s arm with a free hand. “They’re proportional, yeah. I mean, it varies by the individual. But yeah, they can be pretty impressive.” He laughed, shrugging. “Then again, they’re probably more impressive to an urd’thin than a human?” 

“And just how impressive is an urd’thin?” Evlee giggled, her head still resting against his. 

“You keep teasin’ me like that, you’re gonna find out.” Coaldust laughed with her, sipping his beer. 

Tormin sighed, leaning his head back. “I’m just gonna stare at the ceiling.”

“Come on, Tormin, don’t act like you don’t know what happens in a brothel.” Harliss rolled her eyes. 

“I just didn’t expect Evlee to get involved…” He blinked, then rubbed his face. “Well, maybe with a human.” 

“Oh, I’d take a human!” Evlee lifted her head towards the balcony, where a few more half-clothed people wandered. “I’d take him, or her…or both at once! I’d be half interested in that gnoll, too. Though, I think if I was really going to indulge my curiosity in the locals, I’d go with Hatha.” 

“Oh, yeah, Hatha’s great, he’s real nice.” Coaldust fidgeted a little, adjusting his kilt, then went back to stroking Evlee’s hand. “But he’s not available. He’s security, a Deputy.”

“So, Coaldust.” Harliss swirled her glass, watching Evlee’s hands work their magic. She knew Evlee was teasing him for more than idle amusement and wicked curiosity. After all, the more distracted the urd’thin was by Evlee’s hands, the less guarded his answers to her questions might be. “Speaking of guests with, shall we say, impressive equipment? I couldn’t help but notice your giant doors out front. What are those for?” She knit her brows. “Gryphons, or something?”

“Yeah, gryphons, and the occasional dragon visitor.” Coaldust shivered as Evlee gently kneaded at his furred thighs. “Gryphons are more common, though, but once in a while a dragon comes to see Prav, or just get drunk, and hire some fun. Honestly, I really like the gryphons. All those feathers are so pretty! I just wanna pet ‘em and hug ‘em.” 

“Most be interesting,” Harliss said. “Seeing all those different creatures.” She sipped at her whiskey. “Ever get anything really exotic?”

“Well…” The urd’thin sipped his beer, eyes half-lidded. “Think we had a swamp dragon, once. Webbed paws and everything. Had a few people from another part of the world, looked kinda like wolves? Not really sure what they were. Didn’t speak much of the local tongue.” 

“Swamp dragons and wolf people?” Harliss took a sip of whiskey, then set her glass down. “No, I don’t think we have those on this continent at all.”

“Oh! One time?” The urd’thin opened his eyes again, a spark of excitement shining in them. “We had some visitors from that dragon empire they say exists on the far continent.” He gave a chittering laugh. “At least they told us that’s where they were from. Couple dragons, couple gryphons. Kinda stand-offish, though.” 

Harliss stole a look at Tormin, who gave her a nearly imperceptible nod, then scoffed aloud. “Dragon Empire? I still can’t believe those hell-spawned monstrosities could ever build an empire.”

“Gryphons helped them, you know.” Evlee shifted herself beneath the urd’thin, draping an arm around his middle, the other still resting on his thigh. “Which still seems so strange to me. I used to think they hated each other.”

“No, Evlee,” Harliss said, circling a finger on her glass. “The Union’s snow gryphon tribe hates dragons, and the dragons hate them, but that’s not the case for all of them.”

The urd’thin perked up, ears swiveled forward, his attention newly refocused on the conversation. “You guys really do have a whole gryphon tribe?”

Harliss smiled, nodding. “We do. The Union has an entire gryphon tribe in its service. You’ve probably seen them here before, with a few of our agents, or working a mission for us. They’re white, like the snow, and with black highlights. They’re quite striking.” 

“Oh, yeah!” The urd’thin bounced on Evlee’s lap. “I have seen a few like that. I knew they worked for the Union, but I didn’t realize that whole tribe works for you.” His bouncing stopped, and he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t your people hate gryphons, too?” 

Tormin picked up for Harliss. “The snow gryphons are different. They’ve always lived in the far northern mountains of the Union. And a century or so ago, our people realized if we were going to have a chance against the Empire and its monsters, we needed some monsters of our own.” 

“Ah, so you made an alliance or something?” Coaldust drank some ale, looking around at everyone. 

“Something like that.” Harliss leaned forward, smiling. “Since you like gryphons, I’d be happy to let you meet mine, sometime.” 

The urd’thin gave a little gasp. “You have some working for you?” 

“She does!” Evlee giggled, squeezing the urd’thin’s thigh to distract him again. “And they’re the bestest boys and goodest girls ever!” 

The urd’thin’s mug shook when he trembled. “That’s sorta cute, though, I dunno how they’d feel about being called that.”

“Oh, they don’t mind Evlee’s eccentricities too much.” Still leaning forward, Harliss lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “They’d even let you pet and hug them!” 

Coaldust smiled, one of his ears splayed in lopsided fashion. “Heh, I would sorta like that. If it’s okay with the gryphons, of course.”

“Of course!” Harliss leaned back in her chair. “I’ll see if I can make that happen for you, then. Say, Coaldust, have you had any of our gryphons in here lately? White ones with black highlights?” 

The urd’thin rubbed his gray muzzle in thought. “I think so, yeah. Last gryphon who stopped by was the one who helped tear up your ships, and this was well before that. So, maybe a month ago? A little longer?”

“Oh?” Harliss sipped her whiskey again to help hide her interest. That almost had to be her quarry. “What did they look? Were they male, or female? Maybe I know them, I’ve worked with most of the snow gryphons assigned to this region at one point or another.” 

“White, like you said. But with black edges to his wings, and his tail. And big. Real big.” Coaldust held his mug as high up as he could, as if indicating height. “Way bigger than most gryphons, but I guess the white ones usually are. And he was male.” A lopsided smirk flashed across his muzzle. “Definitely male.” 

“Sneak a peek, did you?” Harliss laughed, sipping her whisper. 

Evlee giggled, patting the urd’thin’s leg. “Or maybe he paid for Coaldust’s services!”

Coaldust put a hand over his muzzle, his ears flat. He laughed against his palm. “Oh, gods, I wouldn’t even know where to start with a gryphon! It’d be like the size of my leg!” 

Everyone at the table laughed, even Tormin. Through their laughter, Harliss exchanged quick glances with her two bodyguards. A male snow gryphon, with black edged wings. That was absolutely their target. It was a good lead, at least, if not as good as she’d hoped. If their runaway spy was here a month ago, then it was just before he disappeared. 

Harliss had held out hope that the gryphon might be hiding out here. If Prav was harboring him, surely she could have convinced him to give the bird up. Or, if he’d transited the Broken Teeth on his way to the sea, she’d know which way to head next. But if he hadn’t been back in over a month, that changed things. It was certainly possible he’d just flown through the Teeth at night, avoided leaving any kind of trail at all, hoping for nothing more than escape. Right now, that seemed like the best case scenario. Given what she’d read in that gryphon’s file, it also seemed like the least likely. No, there was something else that suddenly seemed all too possible. If the gryphon had returned home, received his final orders, and then vanished, without ever returning here again? It was dangerously likely he’d decided to seek refuge somewhere else nearby. 

With The Cataclysm. 

“So, did he hire someone else then?” Evlee picked up the conversation, giving Harliss a moment to mull things over. “Oh, that naughty boy!” 

“No, no, nothing like that.” The urd’thin took another swallow of his ale, then set the glass back down, and wiped his muzzle with the back of a black furred hand. “I kinda get the feeling they’re not really supposed to indulge that way. They’re usually way more disciplined than the other gryphons we get, but…we have had one or two of those white ones hire services, now and then.” 

Harliss chuckled, shrugging. “Their handlers would likely be furious, but I won’t tell on them. You said the one with the black-edged wings didn’t, though?”

“Nah, he just bought drinks, and food, and more drinks. I saw him in the tavern here for a few nights in a row. Boss tried to sell him company, of course, but he always seemed preoccupied.” Coaldust idly caressed Evlee’s arms, draped across him. “Think he was on a mission, or something? He was asking about some of our other guests, kinda like you’re doing, actually.” A smile twitched at his muzzle. “He…lost, or something?” 

Harliss tilted her head. “Or something.” 

“Ah.” Coaldust gave a little nod. “I don’t like snitchin’ on guests who don’t cause trouble, but…I kinda feel like it’s in my own best interests to do so.”

“The more helpful you are, the bigger tip you’re going to get.” Harliss patted the coin purse tucked under her jacket, right next to one of her pistols. “What guests was he asking about?” 

Coaldust licked his nose. “Some other gryphons, actually. Those ones from the dragon empire, I mentioned. Asked about the dragons, too, but mostly the gryphons.” 

Harliss tapped a finger against the table, wondering what Alakor was up too. Some of the investigations and work his commanders had him doing the last few years might have inadvertently exposed him to dangerous knowledge. Or, they might have simply planted the seed of defection. If a snow gryphon really wished to flee the Union, they could cross the sea. She wasn’t sure they could fly far enough themselves, but find a pirate vessel willing to take them, and they’d have their pick of several powerful nations to attempt to lose themselves in, or defect to. 

“I don’t suppose you happened to overhear any of his specific conversations, did you?” Harliss gestured towards his ears. “Your people do have notoriously good hearing.” 

“It’s because they have such big, adorable ears!” Evlee lifted her arms to trace her fingers across the edges of the urd’thin’s ears. 

“I may have heard a thing or two.” Coaldust’s white-tipped ears twitched under the attention.

Harliss gazed around the room. On a closer inspection, she noticed there were urd’thin servers and brothel workers spread around room in nearly even proportions, their ears constantly swiveling from person to person. “I’m sure Prav never considered that your people can go relatively unnoticed compared to the gnolls and va’chaak, or that you all might accidentally overhear all sorts of important tidbits as you wander.” 

Coaldust gave a mock gasp, his maw hanging open. “What?” He put a hand to his chest. “No, never!”

Tormin leaned over towards him, his voice low, and ever so slightly menacing. “Just like I’m sure he’d never expect you to report back on whatever confidential conversation you might have with an Executor, and her officers.” 

Coaldust swallowed, holding up his hands. “Hey, we’re all friends here, right? I’d never betray that confidence…” He reached for his mug, took a swallow, then offered them all a smile. “At least, not in a way that might get me shot in the head tomorrow.” 

Harliss laughed, slapping her hand against the table. “That’s not bad, Coaldust, not bad. But don’t worry, I like you. I wouldn’t shoot you. Might rough you up a little if I really felt betrayed, but only a few bruises in especially tender places.” She picked her up glass, gazing at the faintly golden liquid sloshing inside. “Realistically though, I fully expect Prav to quiz anyone who talks with us. You’re free to tell him everything we talked about. Hell, I’ll probably tell him myself. I’ve got questions for him too, after all.” She sipped her Gryphon Plume, savoring the hints of butterscotch and warming toffee, finishing with a trace of spice. “This really is damn good.” She set the glass back down, fixing her attention on the urd’thin. “Alright then, Mister Big Ears. Spill it. You said my ‘lost’ gryphon was conversing about foreign birds and dragons? What, specifically, was he inquiring about?”

“I didn’t get all the specifics, mind you.” Coaldust worked his mug back and forth between his hands, a hint of nervousness slinking into his voice. “But, first was asking about them in a general sense, first. Sounded disappointed he’d missed them. Then the next night, after he had a few drinks, it got kinda weird. See, those foreign dragons and gryphons said some strange stuff too, and your bird started asking about it.”

Harliss sat back, scowling. So far, none of the pieces were quite lining up the way she expected them too. “Strange, how?”

Coaldust scratched at the base of his horns. “Strange like…a cult, I guess? One of the dragons claimed to talk to the stars, or some weird shit like that. And one of the gryphons…” He trailed off, scrunching his muzzle. “What did he say?” He drummed his fingers against his mug, then his eyes lit up and his ears perked. “Oh, sun feather, that was it. They said they were servants of the sun feather, or something like that. And that was what your gryphon was asking about, that sun feather bit. Asking what they’d said about it, how they phrased it, that kinda thing. If we knew where they went after they left here.” Coaldust glanced around at everyone, as the other three all remained silent. He licked his nose. “Honestly, I just thought he was investigating some kind of cult or something.” 

“Something like that.” Harliss took a slow breath, scowling. “The Servants of the Sun-Feather. She paused, uncertain how best to describe it, or even if she should. 

“It’s damn gryphon blasphemy.” Tormin slapped the table hard enough to rattle all the glasses and his shotgun. “Some myth about some golden gryphon, they claim met some gryphon god, and is…” 

Tormin trailed off, but Harliss knew what he was about to say. Going to set them all free. Harliss still wasn’t sure where the myth started, but the idea had infected a few of the snow gryphons, over the years. Several had escaped, and several more had to be put down, lest their delusional sickness infect the rest. 

Harliss picked up for Tormin. “It’s an old gryphon myth the Church of the Golden Union considers to be high blasphemy. As such, it’s the sort of thing we get dispatched to investigate, now and then. If the gryphons from over the seas talk about it, I guess we know where it came from. It’s not a good thing for our gryphons to get in their heads, though, as the Church does not look kindly on blasphemy.”

“Yeah, that does sound like the sorta thing you get your bits in a twist over.” Coaldust scratched his muzzle. “Maybe your lost gryphon was trying to hunt them down, or meet with them? You’d know better than I.”

Harliss shook her head, scowling. “It would fall under some of his mission purviews, yes, though not recently.” The truth behind the gryphons and their myths were far more complicated than the urd’thin needed to know. Harliss did not share the Union’s view of their blasphemies, either. Then again, she supposed there were some things even the Union didn’t need to know. “Did you catch anything else, unusual? From either the foreign birds or the snow gryphon? Anything that sticks out in your mind as especially strange?” 

The urd’thin flicked his tail, murmuring to himself. He took a drink of beer, licked his nose, then took another. “The sun. They were talking about the sun. You ever hear those stupid rumors, about how the sun’s not as bright as it once was?” 

Harliss nodded once. “I think everyone’s heard the folk tales, yes.” 

“Well, they were talking about those stories, I think. Only…” Coaldust scowled, a few sharp teeth exposed. “They didn’t really sound like they thought the were stories. I kinda thought maybe that was the crazy apocalyptic idea their cult was built around, being called ‘sun-feather’, and all that. Seems like cults always get built around some kind of apocalypse, right?” 

The Executor offered a cold smile, while the others remained silent. “That they do. Go on.” 

“I guess that’s about it.” Coaldust peered into his nearly empty mug. “I didn’t think much of it, at the time. Not like they’re the only crazies, or cultists we get down here. Hell, we had this one human, one time? Tried to tell us there was some kind of…of ship, I guess, hidden under all the roiling ice clouds, in the Boiling Emptiness.” 

“A ship?” Harliss arched a brow, her smile growing into one of bemusement. “There’s probably many crashed ships down there.” 

“Yeah, but not like that. This idiot?” Coaldust punctuated it by thrusting his mug over the table. “He told us it was a ship that used to sail to other worlds! Tried to tell us, the Empire was looking for it, before your Union conquered ‘em.” He shook his head, his ears splayed. “He wasn’t even that drunk when he was telling us, either.” 

All at once, Harliss’s blood went cold. The urd’thin wasn’t as far from the truth as he thought. Then again, maybe those gryphons weren’t, either. She downed the last of her whiskey, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, forcing herself to maintain a carefully constructed mask of disinterest. 

Tormin grunted, folding his arms. “Sounds like a looney who musta fried his brain with something.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Coaldust followed Harliss’s lead, finishing his beer. He set the mug on the table, and settled back against Evlee. “Course, I thought that about those gryphons and their whole dying sun thing, too, till that white bird started asking about it.”

Harliss was happy to let them dismiss the rumors as the ravings of some drug-addled madman. For now, she seized the chance to redirect the conversation back towards her runaway spy. “Oh? The snow gryphon was asking about the sun, as well?” 

“A little bit.” Coaldust resumed stroking Evlee’s arms as she teased his fur. “Mostly about that gryphon cult, and what they’d said about it. Asking if they talked about a dying sun, if we heard them say anything specific about it, that kind of thing.”

Harliss rubbed her chin, unable to stop a hint of dismay creeping across her features. She was starting to get the feeling this gryphon knew far more than he should have. She’d read some of his files. For a snow gryphon, spies like him had unusually high access levels to secretive information. Just what he might have learned, she could not say, but this certainly indicated he might be looking for more than just an escape. Then again, if he was asking about the Servants of the Sun-Feather, and about the dying sun, even defection might not be his end game. Was it possible he somehow knew what else was hidden within the-

“Hey! Union bitch!” 

An angry, hateful shout ripped through the tavern’s cacophonous din like a bullet through flesh. Tormin and Evlee had guns in their hands in a flash, and silence fell across the gathered crowd like a smothering blanket. Harliss, meanwhile, made a point not to draw. If someone was going to shoot her in the back, they’d have already done it. Instead, she completely ignored whoever was shooting at her, and held out her glass towards the urd’thin. 

“Coaldust, another drink, if you please.” She waggled the glass. “Quickly now.” 

“Yes, Coaldust.” Evlee set one pistol down on the table to unwind his scarf, then drape it over his shoulder. “I think it’s time to get down, now.” 

“Right.” Coaldust gathered up his scarf, hopped down, scurried off, pausing to snatch the Executor’s glass.

Harliss gently caught his arm as he passed, lowering his voice. “Careful now, Coaldust. I’ve a feeling things are about to get exciting.”