There was quiet in the room for quite a while. Kre wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one, but even he could read the room and judge that he wouldn’t be the one to break the silence. To ensure that, he stopped polishing the blades, afraid of making a noise that would cause everyone to stare at him instead of each other.
What saved them all from a long, painful contest of wills was a soft knock at the door. Virryn opened it to allow Grivallt to enter. Kre blinked his eyes slowly and looked around the room. He hadn’t even noticed that the elder Ylveryan had been missing this entire time.
‘It made sense though,’ Kre thought. ‘He wouldn’t want to be seen with us given what we’re planning.’
“Master.” Grivallt’s voice was different than before. Milder. Meeker, even. Kre respected the older Ylveryan even more now knowing the double life he must have been maintaining all this time. “The market will be opening soon, and one of the clients in particular is eager to collect their funds and be away from here.”
The Master waved a hand dismissively. “We apparently don’t need to hide anything from our champion here. He knows all about our secret business.”
Grivallt kept his eyes downcast and his mouth closed, as was expected of him, but Kre figured he was the only one to spot the small flinch he made because he had been the only one watching him closely.
“You,” the Master said, gesturing at his partner, “go deal with the hunters. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Master, I… uh…” The other man stammered and stuttered as he looked around the room as if looking for someone to help him. “You know how those… things make me…”
He trailed off as the Master turned, raised his hand, and gave him a withering look. No words were said, but apparently none were needed. The other man shrank in his chair and adopted the same meek look that Grivallt wore.
“Our ‘friends’ are excellent at what they do. We will profit very well from their work and so we want to keep them happy. You… need to keep them happy for just a short bit of time until I get there. If I have to sacrifice you to them to keep them happy, I’ll do it. It’s not like I have a shortage of potential business partners here.”
He gave Beleg a sideways glance with narrowed eyes before turning back to his companion. “Go. Now. And they had better be in a great mood when I arrive.”
The other man took his cue gratefully and nearly leapt from the table to get away from the situation at hand. Grivallt bowed and escorted the man out of the room.
He then turned to Virryn, who had been hiding herself away in a corner of the room as if trying to be invisible. “Take the boy and get him some cake or something. Just leave us for now.”
Virryn motioned to Kre and the young man carefully set down the sword he had been working on and moved quickly towards her. As they left the room, Kre could hear the Master say in a flat, almost threatening tone, “Now, we can finally get down to business.”