As the sun sank towards the western horizon, a figure wrapped in a cloak climbed to the citadel gates. Stopping just out of sight of the gate guards, she lowered her hood, exposing snow-white hair and scarlet skin. Nervously Katari checked the pocket in which rested the two precious pieces of paper which constituted her only evidence before stepping out of cover and advancing towards the gate.

  Unsurprisingly, she was stopped at the gate. "What is your business here, oni?" one of the guards asked, eyeing her in suspicion.

  "I seek an audience with Princess America Therinsford. I come bearing information of certain cndestine activities which I believe she would wish to know." Katari kept her tone as calm and level as she could, willing her face to remain as impassive as the old iron-faced Cn-Chief.

  The guard, not yet past his twentieth winter in Katari's estimation, looked uncertainly across at his companion. The other, whose graying but well-trimmed beard was clearly visible, took over for the younger. "Give me the information, and I will ensure it reaches her," he said, his neutral tone belying the caution in his eyes and posture.

  Katari shook her head. "I apologize, but I must deliver it personally. The information is of a sensitive nature."

  The older guard carefully evaluated the small oni. "Wait here," he finally told her, and turning, gave some instructions in an undertone to a page who had been standing by, and like most of the humans nearby, openly gawking at her. He immediately hurried off into the citadel grounds, and sensing that she would have to wait, Katari stepped to one side and assumed a neutral stance, ignoring the whispers which her sensitive ears occasionally caught.

  She did not have long to wait, however. Barely five minutes after the page had vanished, a rge human, a Knight judging by his appearance, approached the gate, his eyes immediately locking onto her. Katari stepped forward to meet him as he approached her, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise in response to the strength evident in his eyes and body. "I am told you have information which you will only give to the princess. Why do you believe that she would even be interested in this information?"

  Katari ignored his question for the moment, choosing instead to ask one of her own. "Who are you?"

  "I am Ser Brandis, personal bodyguard to Princess America." Despite his cautious tone, he did not seem as openly hostile as the other guards. Katari even thought she briefly detected genuine curiosity in his evaluating gnce.

  Lowering her voice, she said, "It has to do with the smuggling ring which she has been seeking for some time now."

  Ser Brandis gave her a sharp look. "I see. But no matter how valuable your information, I cannot in good conscience allow you to come before her while armed. Would you be willing to surrender your weapons beforehand?"

  "That is acceptable." With deliberate movements, Katari unbuckled her sword and handed it to the knight. Next she drew her knife and surrendered it as well, handle first. A second hidden bde followed, and after a moment's hesitation, so did a third. Ser Brandis had carefully examined each bde as it had been passed to him before giving it to one of the gate guards, who carried them carefully into the gatehouse.

  "Now I must search you," he told her, almost apologetically.

  Without a word Katari extended her arms and widened her stance. Though Ser Brandis was thorough, he was also quick and his professionalism impressed Katari, who had been half expecting an inappropriate touch or two despite her first assessment of him as an honorable, if guarded, man. Now finished, he turned, and with a simple "Follow me," he strode back through the gates.

  Five minutes ter she was led into an opulent sitting room where two women sat in conversation, which broke off as she entered. One was undoubtedly the princess, but of the other she knew nothing, other than the way she tensed as Katari entered indicated combat experience; the woman's hand falling to her waist as though to grasp the hilt of a bde.

  Ser Brandis spoke. "Your highness, Miss Cree, allow me to present an oni who cims to have information regarding the smuggling ring. She insisted on telling you personally, princess."

  Surprise clear in her eyes, Princess America looked Katari over with open curiosity. "Please, have a seat," she said graciously. "Would you like some tea?"

  Somewhat awkwardly, Katari perched herself on the edge of one of the chaises and shook her head. "No, thank you," she replied, noticing that Ser Brandis had taken up a position immediately behind her where he could forestall any sudden movements on her part if necessary. The other woman was giving Katari a keen look. She had the sudden feeling that this woman was not unfamiliar with oni, but pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she began.

  "Your highness, I am here on behalf of one whose name must remain undisclosed. However, they have a vested interest in dismantling this smuggling ring for one particur reason. An elvish noble has recently been kidnapped and is being -perhaps has already been- smuggled out of the city. This note, in her handwriting, was discovered where she was st known to be." She produced the note in question, sliding it across the low table which separated them into reach of the two other women.

  "What is her name?" the older woman asked, looking up from the little scrap of paper.

  "Lady Safara of House Cidrin," Katari replied, noting the recognition which fshed through Miss Cree's eyes.

  "Would this have anything to do with the recent disappearance of Archbishop Levantine?" Ser Brandis' grave voice sounded above her.

  Katari shook her head. "Not directly. I believe the smugglers merely took advantage of the confusion to abduct Lady Cidrin. It is my lo- my patron's belief that this smuggling ring has been operating for some time, and that the reason they have escaped detection for so long is because they are so well coordinated." She resisted the urge to shift in her seat, uncomfortably aware that Miss Cree at least had noticed her slip of tongue.

  "That would match with what little we've been able to discover about them," the princess murmured. "But more importantly, if they've been trafficking people, how have we not heard of any disappearances?"

  Katari heard the slight clink of metal on metal as Ser Brandis shrugged his shoulders. "There are always missing person cases. If they're clever, patient, and cautious, they could limit their abductions such that no one would notice it among the other, more innocent cases."

  "And we shouldn't assume that they're only smuggling people out of the city, either. While it's true that svery is the most common in the Wildnds and even the Empire only pretends to frown on the practice, I've been hearing some disturbing reports about our own nobility, not to mention the merchant consortiums."

  The princess raised startled eyes to her companion, and Ser Brandis asked, "What have you heard?"

  "Nothing solid, yet. But it is beginning to sound rather as though some of our own wealthier citizens have begun keeping sves in secret." Miss Cree fixed the entire party with a sharp look. "Keep this under wraps, mind. If anyone is engaging in such practices, there's no sense in letting them know that we know before we're ready to stop them."

  Everyone, Katari included, nodded. "Good," Miss Cree smiled, satisfied. Then she turned her attention back towards Katari. "Was that all, dear?"

  "No," she replied. "There is also this." Producing the encoded message from her pocket, she pced it on the table. "This is an exact copy of a message found in a dead drop which my patron is almost certain is regurly used by the trafficking ring. I can lead you to the dead drop in question; I am almost certain that they do not realize that its location has been compromised. I can also give you the names of two members of the smuggling ring, one is Grivor Tatum, a rogue here in the city, and the other is Janus Carrow, a priest of Marstolle who lives in the Cathedral."

  The three humans exchanged gnces. "Would the st known location of Lady Cidrin happen to be in the Cathedral as well?" Ser Brandis asked.

  "It is." Katari hesitated, then continued. "I know there is little trust between my kind and yours, but I would be gd to help rescue Lady Cidrin if you would allow it. My patron greatly desires to see her safe and well."

  The humans exchanged another gnce. "Could you give us a moment?" Ser Brandis asked as the two women rose.

  Katari inclined her head, and with a "Thank you," the three humans stepped into the next room, leaving Katari alone. For several seconds she fought with herself as to whether or not she should eavesdrop, her dislike for the duplicity of the action warring with her desire for any advantage in the monumental task of finding and saving Safara, but then as the voice of Princess America came to her ears, she realized that the door had been left slightly ajar and she could hear them all clearly.

  "So what you think? Is she telling the truth?"

  "Yes, I'm almost certain that she is, or at least, that she isn't deliberately misleading us. Oni, besides being very prideful, are usually honorable to a fault. They hold their Code as sacred, and one tenet forbids lying in negotiations, and heavily frowns upon lying in general. Only in very rare circumstances is it tolerated at all. There are bad apples in every bunch, of course, but she isn't one of them. I'm certain of that."

  "What about this patron of hers? She may only mean to help, but the same isn't necessarily true of her patron. I've never heard of an oni submitting to anyone that isn't also an oni, or a Dark-race." Ser Brandis' voice sounded doubtful.

  "I have," Miss Cree answered. "It's very rare, but it has happened before. Under certain circumstances, an oni may consider themselves to owe a debt too great to be paid, so they give their life in repayment. They don't kill themselves, mind, it's more a case of voluntary ensvement. Due to their prideful nature, they usually pick any other avenue of repayment possible, but if there's no other alternative, their honor compels them to follow through. As for her patron, I honestly don't know. I'm leaning towards them being one of the Light-peoples, because why else would they care about an elf being kidnapped? But it's hard to say. It could be a ruse, I suppose. She respects her patron, whoever they are, but there's no guarantee that the reverse is true."

  "True. But why send an oni as an envoy? Not so very long ago she would probably have been killed on sight. I'm surprised that the guards even let her into the city."

  "Most likely she slipped in unnoticed, or maybe her patron pulled some strings. Don't forget that her patron apparently had enough pull to get into the Cathedral and discover that Lady Cidrin was missing, and not long after she went missing in the first pce, since according to her, the traffickers used the confusion around the Saintess' disappearance to make their move."

  "She also knew about the Saintess already, and that's been kept very quiet," the princess chimed in. "Did you see that she wasn't at all surprised when you mentioned it? But why an oni?" There was a moment's silence, then a sharp intake of breath. "Wait, what if her patron is the wolf-monster that I had a run-in with a couple days ago?"

  "It's possible, I suppose, but there's not really any evidence for it. And why would a Dark-race care about Lady Cidrin? I'd expect the wolf-creature to side with the smugglers, not against them," Miss Cree replied.

  "Yes, you're probably right. I just thought that it expined why he'd want to stay anonymous so badly, and why he'd send an oni. Maybe an oni is as close to a Light-race as he can send. You know, he might not have any people better suited."

  "Well, we could always ask her all of this directly," the older woman said, her voice colored with dry amusement. "The worst she's likely to do is say she can't answer."

  "Wouldn't that be rude?"

  "No, in fact, I expect she would appreciate our forthrightness. She's certainly put herself out on a limb here, it'd be the least we could do to meet her halfway. Oni don't py games the way humans do. They're usually more interested in getting things done than always trying to get the best possible deal for themselves."

  "If only we could pick up that habit," Ser Brandis commented dryly.

  Princess America giggled. "It'd make things a lot simpler, huh?"

  "What about this coded message of hers? I can't make heads or tails of it, how about you, Flint?"

  "It's not a code I'm familiar with, I'm afraid. As for the handwriting, it's bold and defined. Whoever wrote this down was sure of themselves."

  "Oh, right, she did mention that it was a copy, didn't she? Why not bring the original? -Oh wait, the original would have been left at the dead drop to avoid arousing suspicion, wouldn't it?" the princess realized.

  "Precisely." Katari could hear the smile in Ser Brandis' voice. "And a good thing, too. That dead drop could very well turn out to be instrumental in unraveling this organization."

  "So then, what do you both think? Should we include her in our pns from now on?" Miss Cree asked.

  "You're the oni expert here. Do you believe she isn't a double agent and doesn't have any ulterior motives? I'd say it's your call, unless the princess objects."

  "I don't have a problem with it. She seems trustworthy enough to me, at least for now. What about you, Miss Cassia?"

  There was a moment's silence as Miss Cree hesitated, obviously thinking. "I'd say yes, conditionally. It's not so much that I'm concerned about her, it's more her patron that worries me, since there's so much we don't know about them, and what little we do know seems to contradict quite a lot. There's a question none of us have even asked yet, and that's how did this mystery person even find out that America here is hunting for the smuggling ring? You've been going about it fairly quietly."

  "Yes, this mystery person certainly seems to know a lot about what's happening in this city. You don't suppose it could be the Saintess?"

  "I doubt that," Ser Brandis replied. "She would never tolerate an oni; she hates all Dark-races on principle. I assume she has had poor experiences with them in the past."

  "Someone else in the Cathedral, then?"

  "Again, I doubt it. The same obstacle arises; if they were a part of the Vigil or the Cathedral staff, it would make much more sense to send a human as a messenger. It is extremely unlikely that an oni would be tolerated in any capacity there. The Vigil in particur is almost fanatical in their desire to wipe out all Dark-races."

  Before the princess could reply, Miss Cree brought the conversation to a close by saying, "Alright, we can continue specuting some other time, we've kept our visitor waiting long enough. Come, let's go."

  As the three humans filed back into the room, Katari tried to act as though she had not heard their conversation, but a knowing look in Miss Cree's eyes gave her a sudden suspicion. Had she deliberately left the door open, knowing how sensitive oni ears were? If so, why? But she did not have much time to ponder. The two women took their former seats, but Ser Brandis remained standing, this time behind the princess' chair.

  Miss Cree spoke first. "Are you Beholden, dear?" she asked in a gentle voice.

  Katari fought to keep her gaze level and her face impassive. "Y-Yes, I am."

  "Can you tell us to whom?"

  "I apologize, but no, I cannot."

  "But you respect your master." It was a statement, not a question.

  Katari nodded. "Yes, I do."

  "May I ask why?"

  Katari fixed Miss Cree with a searching gaze, attempting to discern her purpose in asking such a question. "My lord has proven himself brave and honorable, a leader worthy of the best I can give him," she eventually replied. "Even were I not bound by the oni Code, still I would..." She faltered, unable to finish her sentence as she felt her cheeks grow hot. But Miss Cree looked satisfied, and Katari wondered if perhaps the sharp-eyed woman knew what she begun to say.

  "What's your name, dear? Just your given name is fine, no need to give your cn name if you don't feel comfortable doing so, but we can't keep calling you 'oni' if we're going to be working together."

  "My name is Katari. So then...?"

  "A pleasure to meet you, Katari. And yes, we gratefully accept your assistance in hunting down and dismantling this trafficking ring. If you have no weapons, we would be happy to furnish you with some."

  Katari fought to keep her relief and jubition from appearing on her face. "I have weapons. I surrendered them at the gate."

  Miss Cree's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really? This must be very important to you."

  Katari nodded, but the princess cocked her head to one side in confusion. "I don't understand. What's so surprising about that?"

  Miss Cree turned towards her. "It's so surprising because willingly allowing yourself to be disarmed for any reason is a big no-no in oni culture. It's rather as if I asked you to attend an ambassadorial party naked. It's just not done, so the fact that she was willing to go to such lengths tells us that she's very serious about this."

  The princess blushed at the mental picture her companion's words had conjured but turned to view Katari with a new respect. "Why do you care so much? Is it because of your master?"

  Shaking her head, Katari replied, "The example set by my lord has shamed any half-hearted efforts, but he did not order me to go to such lengths. I chose to do so myself."

  "Why?" This time it was Ser Brandis who replied, his face as inscrutable as ever but his tone hinting at honest curiosity.

  Katari hesitated. "Is it not enough that I should not want an innocent woman to have to suffer the cruelties of svery to the scum of Ruyanei?"

  "That can't be all, though," the princess objected.

  "Now, now, if she doesn't want to share all her innermost thoughts and desires with us, we've hardly got a right to compin," Miss Cree interjected, a small smile on her face. "We barely know each other, after all."

  Katari gave the older woman a grateful look. "It is nothing that would harm you or yours," she said. "Maybe once we know one another better I may feel that I can share the whole of my reasons."

  Princess America bowed her head apologetically. "I'm sorry for prying," she said. "Whatever your reasons, I'm grateful that you came to us with this information, and also that you want to help. I'm not exaggerating when I say that even just this message, encoded or not, is by far the best lead we've gotten since we learned about the smuggling ring to begin with, let alone everything else you've given us." She lifted the message from the small table. Looking back up at Ser Brandis, she asked, "Do you know anyone trustworthy that might be able to decipher the code?"

  "Possibly." He looked across at Miss Cree. "Do you think we could persuade Jack to come out of retirement to work on this, Cassia?"

  Miss Cree's lips twitched in a smile. "Hardly. He might consent to tackling it on his own time, but there's no way he'll give up his retirement for anything less than a world-ending threat. But sending it to him isn't a bad idea. Even if he can't break it, he'll probably know someone who can."

  "We'll do that, then, and in the meantime we'll see if we can't find this rogue -Grivor Tatum, you said his name was?- and keep an eye on his movements as well as the priest. We'll be exceptionally cautious, of course. The st thing we want to do is tip them off."

  "But what about Safa- I mean, Lady Cidrin?" Katari interrupted, noticing that the princess nodded in agreement as she spoke.

  "I'm sorry," Ser Brandis said, "but currently the only way that I know of to track her down is by capturing the traffickers based in this city and forcing them to tell us where they sent her. If I knew a better way, I would use it, believe me."

  Katari subsided, recognizing and hating the truth of his words. Just then they were interrupted by the entrance of a guard who held her weapons carefully in his hands.

  "Ah, good. Your weapons. I apologize for taking them from you, but I had to be cautious," Ser Brandis motioned the guard to approach and he id the weapons gently on the low table.

  Katari recimed her weapons with an audible sigh of relief, feeling much more secure with her sword once more hanging at her side.

  Ser Brandis spoke again. "It's getting te. Do you need to report back to your master?"

  She hesitated again, wondering whether she should tell them her lord was not currently avaible, but deciding not to, at least for now, she said, "Yes, I should report back. Shall I return again tomorrow?"

  "Yes, please. We can go into more detail on what you know and what we pn to do. We would be grateful if your master could provide any more resources, but if not, that's alright as well."

  Katari thought of Kira and Chellise, knowing that they would both be eager to help in any way possible, but even though the humans had been surprisingly accepting of her, would their tolerance extend to demons, even ones as retively harmless as succubi? She decided not to mention anything for the present, only saying, "Understood. I will pass it on." Stepping to the door, she paused and looked back at the three humans. "Thank you, for giving me a chance."

  TheBestofSome