The Knife of the Black Butcher slept,

Where shadows and secrets were kept.

But the bloodline drew near,

And it woke with a sneer—

For the oath in the steel had not wept.

Goldie Honorhide.

Lady Kiri looked nothing like her brother. He had fair skin, and hers was darker. He had red hair and she had long black hair. She was wearing worn leather, as if she had come in from the wilds, and there was nothing soft about her. She prowled into the room, her eyes flicking around, assessing the dangers. She saw the arrow slits and her eyes flicked over us, judging and assessing.

Once they had assessed the room, her eyes came back to rest on me. I don't know what she saw or was looking for. I had my Void Sensing right out in a sphere, and she didn't appear to have an affinity.

I felt a probing of my mind or status. I slammed Frigid Void as hard as I could, and it stopped. Was it her, or someone else?

The thing that followed her into the room was very similar to her. It was a large black panther, larger than I knew panthers to be. It prowled into the room like its bond.

Felix growled at the panther, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. It looked back at him and hissed. I crouched to pick him up. Lady Kiri did something, and her panther settled down.

The first human guard came and stood behind them with the non-guard. Two more human guards entered and stood by the door. I felt they were all superfluous as Lady Kiri seemed to be the most dangerous person here, maybe excepting the Duke himself.

The guests seated themselves, and the Duke spoke, "Thank you for coming, Lord Leif and Lady Kiri." He indicated to us, "This is the mercenary team that claims to have found the knife. Stand up and introduce yourselves, and remember if you are wasting our time, two duchies will be angry at you."

I looked over to the others. Makara was sitting normally without expression. At least she wasn't smiling. Yoboc and Goldie looked a bit nervous. Kevin just looked excited, as if bursting with questions and finding it hard to hold back.

Yoboc stood up, "Thank you, my Lord Duke, Lord Leif and Lady Kiri. I am Yoboc Snowbuckle, Hunter to Snow Kin and Kin to the Forgemakers of Obalno. I lead this Mercenary team called the Bearded Sheilas. This is Goldie Honourhide, Forrester and Kin to Snow." Goldie stood and gave a short bow. "This is Makara, Mako Shark Mer from Asasaga. Her contract from the Asasaga Mercenary Guild led us to find the knife we think belongs to the Black Butcher." Makara stood and gave everyone a nod. "This is Ivan Medved of Ocova, Bear-kin and his bond Felix. He was instrumental in recovering the knife." I stood and gave everyone a short bow like the others. Finally, this is Kevin Parker of Becov and his bond Kahz. He was not with us when we found the knife." Kevin gave the most courtly bow of all of us. I think we were lucky that this was an informal meeting.

"Thank you," The Duke said, "Perhaps we should see the knife, and then hear your tale."

Yoboc reached into his belt and drew the blacksteel war knife. He presented it in both hands toward the Duke, but the Duke and his guards made no move to retrieve it. Instead, he looked over at Lady Kiri, who got up and prowled forward, leaving the panther behind.

She approached Yoboc and held out her hand for the knife. Yoboc passed it over, and she looked at it closely and turned it over in her hands. Then she said something I didn't understand.

"Nyx?" and she waited. Then shook her head, "No Nyx." I saw Lord Leif relax. She looked at the Duke, "This is definitely the Black Butcher's knife," she said.

"How can you be so sure?" The Duke asked.

"I am sure. I last saw this knife when I was fifteen, and it was in the possession of the Black Butcher."

The Duke looked interested. "You met the Black Butcher and lived?"

Lady Kiri shrugged, "I didn't know she was the Black Butcher then, she was just a cool aunt with a cool knife," she smiled a bit, and her face seemed to light up, "and a cool horse. I learned to ride on that horse."

Kevin couldn't hold back, "You are related to the Black Butcher?" he asked excitedly.

Lady Kiri glanced at Lord Leif before answering, "Not physically, but she and my dad are like brother and sister." She looked at Lord Leif again, and I saw him shrugging. "Leif is my younger half-brother and the heir. It is no secret, but watch what you say. You do not want to cross our mum."

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My Hearing Aid picked up Kevin mumbling, "Duchess Kelda, Fire Affinity."

It seemed to me that Lady Kiri was the one you wouldn't want to cross. She must follow in her mother's footsteps.

"Indeed," said the Duke, "Your mother is a formidable woman." He looked at Yoboc, "The city of Jern would indeed purchase this historic blade from you, and I would hear the tale of how you found it."

"Sorry, Lord Vitja," Kiri interrupted. "Dad is going to want this knife, and it is probable that Aunty B is still around. If she hears it is here, she will come to reclaim it, and she won't ask. You will just find it missing one day, and you will be out of coins and have no knife to show for it. I, however, can pay handsomely for it. Aunty B makes Dad a lot of coins that he never spends, and I have access to his accounts." I could see the Duke was unhappy, but Lady Kiri continued, "I can probably outbid everyone in this part of the country anyway." She looked at Yoboc and then Makara, "I am definitely going to want all the details of how and where you found it, as I am going to go looking."

I heard a big sigh from Lord Leif, "Really, Kiri?"

She turned to her half-brother with a huge grin, "Of course. That is probably why Mum sent us here anyway. She is getting all mystical and prophetic in her old age. It is possible Aunty B is in trouble. Nyx is not in the knife, but she might come to find it."

"From the stories I have heard, your Aunty B is always in trouble," Lord Leif said.

"True," Lady Kiri said.

The Duke asked, "Who is Nyx?"

Lady Kiri looked at him, "It is not very well known, but it is not a big secret either, but Nyx is a Shadow Elemental who bonded with Black, as Aunty B calls herself."

This was obviously news to the Duke. I glanced at Kevin, and he was wide-eyed and open-mouthed at all these revelations. I imagine he was going to be digging in the Lore Society later and probably updating their records.

Lady Kiri looked at Makara, "You want to tell us about this contract?"

Makara said, "I picked up the contract in Asasaga with my partner Nick. Bjarne was the name he went by, and he was a Mer, Blue Shark stock. He had many other names, such as Billy T, James Silver, and Billy the Kid, which were the ones we found. The Chelonian School put out the contract after he was involved in the raid against them, but there was an earlier contract by the Kingdom of Eight, after a royal theft there from one of their princesses."

"Where is this Bjarne? Do you know?" Kiri asked.

"He is shark bait," Makara said, "Ivan and I killed him. He killed my partner Nick, and I collected the bounty the other day."

"A pity I couldn't question him, but understandable," Kiri said.

I had the feeling the blue bastard was lucky he was dead.

Makara described what the Blue Bastard had on him and what other things we found in the cache. She examined the bone knives and Kevin's Lightsteel sword and knife.

"And the other item in the cache you are avoiding telling me about?" Kiri asked. She obviously had some sort of investigative skill.

"It is a contract item for the Chelonian School," Makara said. "Confidential."

"You are a long way from where you found the cache," Lady Kiri said. "Are you going to deliver it back to the Chelonian School?"

Makara and Yoboc exchanged a look. I am glad I have been left out of this. Yoboc chose to answer, "They are sending a delegation here to collect."

Lady Kiri said, "I might stick around and meet them. This raid on their School definitely sounds like something Aunty B would have a hand in. Her knife being found with other items from the raid is definitely suspicious." She pointed at Kevin, "I suspect that the sword and knife are also connected. Don't get attached to them as the owner probably wants them back."

She looked at us, "Here is my offer for the knife. A Cargonite each for the four finders," She looked at the Duke, "Are you going to top that?" The Duke just shook his head.

I looked at Yoboc and Goldie, and they were standing there, stunned. Then I looked, and so was Makara. I knew it was a lot. Coins went from Copper, Silver, and then to Gold. Then it was Platinum and then Cargonite. I know that several platinum coins were enough to buy a house in Becov, so I guess this was several houses, or a bigger house?

"So is it a deal?" she asked us.

Yoboc nodded dumbly. I think he is stunned. Goldie didn't hesitate to agree, nor did Makara, so I agreed.

"Great," Kiri said. I will meet you at the Kirghiz Treasury House tomorrow at noon, and I will transfer the coin to you. I am going to want to sit down and get more details, particularly from the two of you who were inside the cache. How about we have you around for dinner, say in four days' time?" She looked at Lord Leif when she said that.

Lord Leif shrugged, "The house is there to be used. I should be there to take a report back to Mum, but I won't be staying here for months," he said.

"Done then," Lady Kiri said. "I will see you all tomorrow, and we will let Duke Vitja get back to his work."

The Duke responded with a low growl that orcs do. I had no idea what it meant, but Lady Kiri must have, as she responded in Orchish to him. I saw Lord Leif wince, but the Duke nodded and stood. We all stood with him.

"Michel, will see you out," the Duke said. I heard him mutter, "At least it was not a complete waste of time."

We followed Michel, the doorman, out, and I saw Lady Kiri and Lord Leif exit the door they entered. Before we got too far apart, I took a heavy sniff to cement their smells in my memory. Lady Kiri saw me do that and winked at me.

If she were related to the Black Butcher, then she would have some top stealth skills, as well as the panther that I had to look out for.

Yoboc and Makara couldn't contain their excitement about so much coin when we got out. Even Goldie was smiling. Kevin felt a bit left out, and I didn't know how much the coin was worth. I had no interest in buying a property. What would I do with it?

I went out to the bar to celebrate with them, and then guided them home afterwards. Dwarves!

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