"Do you have an appointment?" a nervous new girl asked from behind an old, mildewed desk. "Miss?" Kaie shoved past her toward the large double doors just a few steps past her station. "You can't go in there!" The Myrian threw one of the door open to reveal the bastard she'd murdered a thousand times on her way over. The plump, white-haired man sitting behind a desk slightly more ornate than his employees started in his seat. "You?" He coughed and looked toward a boy sitting before a nearby fire, who immediately rose at the sight of Kaie with a knife pulled. The Myrian didn't so much as bother to glare in his direction.
The bloodied sack was turned upside down over the loan shark's desk. The head that belonged to Steven dropped like a stone upon its surface. Blood and tissue spilled out upon impact, and the loan shark nearly fell from his chair trying to retreat back from the sight. A gory hole replaced where a face should've been. The woman from the front room shrieked. "Don't recognize your man?" Kaie mocked and slammed the dead man's dagger into the wood beside the head of its master. "That's seven of the men on your pay roll now I've delivered to Dira. Seven in twenty-four bells. How much money do you have in your pockets, you fat petch? You wanted my attention? You wanted me to suffer for walking away from our deal? Now you've got it. A smarter man would've known better than to ever have desired it."
The loan shark swallowed hard, his eyes unable to sever from the nightmarish sight of his favored man's remains. The boy holding a knife by the fire slowly walked forward. One of his foot steps creaked upon the wooden floorboards. Kaie set her jaw. "Want to make it eight?" The boy paused and the loan shark fervidly shook his head, waving the guard-in-training away. "A little bird told me this morning that one of my dead men stabbed your sister. Tell me...does she yet live?" the man began shakily, confidence building with each word. His gaze ripped from the ungodly sight on his desk to look at the focused fury that was the Myrian before him.
Kaie clenched her teeth, a subtle reaction he noticed along with the absence of confirmation of her sister's demise. He smoothed out the front of his old dress suit. "Reputation is everything, my dear Tigress. Once I start letting people walk from agreements with me, I lose all credibility. Without reputation my business cannot operate. You'll never be too troublesome for me to spend my coin on punishing, you see," he began to weave his narrative as he stepped around from his desk fearlessly. Kaie stiffened at his advance. "I've learned something about you now though. Leverage, if you will."
The loan shark stepped past her toward the flames crackling and heating the room. The Myrian furrowed her brow. Her amber eyes followed his wherever he moved. "And what's that?" she inquired skeptically. The loan shark smiled at her before turning back to eye the fire. "Your sister of course. You care far more about her safety than you do any attempt on your life. It's her I'll punish for your sins, Myrian. And yes, I do believe my coin will out last your stamina." Kaie unsheathed her gladius and all but flew to the man. She reached her arm around and pressed her blade to his throat, teeth bared behind him. "Or I could just kill you. Here. Now."
"Then you might as well slit your sister's throat yourself. I so badly wanted Steven to succeed, but in case he failed, I switched my strategy. A little bird of mine is waiting to hear from me by the good doctor's place. If they don't before nightfall, they've been ordered to kill your sweet sister where she sleeps."
Kaie snarled and removed her sword, sheathing it. A fireside chair was swiftly overturned in her fit of frustration. "What the petch do you want from me."
"Only what we originally agreed upon! You'll go back in the Blood Pit and finish the tournament. Move against me or desert again and we'll see who's really more dangerous between you and I." The loan shark turned on his heels, no longer shaken by the violent performance Kaie provided upon entry. "Deal?" The Tigress's lip curled but she nodded her confirmation nonetheless. "Some day you'll die for this."
"Oh, my dear...I really do doubt that."
The bloodied sack was turned upside down over the loan shark's desk. The head that belonged to Steven dropped like a stone upon its surface. Blood and tissue spilled out upon impact, and the loan shark nearly fell from his chair trying to retreat back from the sight. A gory hole replaced where a face should've been. The woman from the front room shrieked. "Don't recognize your man?" Kaie mocked and slammed the dead man's dagger into the wood beside the head of its master. "That's seven of the men on your pay roll now I've delivered to Dira. Seven in twenty-four bells. How much money do you have in your pockets, you fat petch? You wanted my attention? You wanted me to suffer for walking away from our deal? Now you've got it. A smarter man would've known better than to ever have desired it."
The loan shark swallowed hard, his eyes unable to sever from the nightmarish sight of his favored man's remains. The boy holding a knife by the fire slowly walked forward. One of his foot steps creaked upon the wooden floorboards. Kaie set her jaw. "Want to make it eight?" The boy paused and the loan shark fervidly shook his head, waving the guard-in-training away. "A little bird told me this morning that one of my dead men stabbed your sister. Tell me...does she yet live?" the man began shakily, confidence building with each word. His gaze ripped from the ungodly sight on his desk to look at the focused fury that was the Myrian before him.
Kaie clenched her teeth, a subtle reaction he noticed along with the absence of confirmation of her sister's demise. He smoothed out the front of his old dress suit. "Reputation is everything, my dear Tigress. Once I start letting people walk from agreements with me, I lose all credibility. Without reputation my business cannot operate. You'll never be too troublesome for me to spend my coin on punishing, you see," he began to weave his narrative as he stepped around from his desk fearlessly. Kaie stiffened at his advance. "I've learned something about you now though. Leverage, if you will."
The loan shark stepped past her toward the flames crackling and heating the room. The Myrian furrowed her brow. Her amber eyes followed his wherever he moved. "And what's that?" she inquired skeptically. The loan shark smiled at her before turning back to eye the fire. "Your sister of course. You care far more about her safety than you do any attempt on your life. It's her I'll punish for your sins, Myrian. And yes, I do believe my coin will out last your stamina." Kaie unsheathed her gladius and all but flew to the man. She reached her arm around and pressed her blade to his throat, teeth bared behind him. "Or I could just kill you. Here. Now."
"Then you might as well slit your sister's throat yourself. I so badly wanted Steven to succeed, but in case he failed, I switched my strategy. A little bird of mine is waiting to hear from me by the good doctor's place. If they don't before nightfall, they've been ordered to kill your sweet sister where she sleeps."
Kaie snarled and removed her sword, sheathing it. A fireside chair was swiftly overturned in her fit of frustration. "What the petch do you want from me."
"Only what we originally agreed upon! You'll go back in the Blood Pit and finish the tournament. Move against me or desert again and we'll see who's really more dangerous between you and I." The loan shark turned on his heels, no longer shaken by the violent performance Kaie provided upon entry. "Deal?" The Tigress's lip curled but she nodded her confirmation nonetheless. "Some day you'll die for this."
"Oh, my dear...I really do doubt that."
