Grey sat motionless, a recently opened letter in her hands. She studied the letter, the quality of the paper was exquisite, finely pressed, trimmed and bleached. The words were painted rather than written, they flowed and looped and gave Grey a pleasant sensation. The letters contents while beautiful were none the less troubling.

  Dear Lady Grey

  We at the Lamp Lighters Corporation have always had an eye for talent. It is with great pride that we can say we have noticed yours. We would like to formally invite you to our establishment to discuss a unique business opportunity that might interest you. We hope you will have time in your busy schedule to pay us a visit on the day following the receipt of this letter. We look forward to meeting with you.

  Warmest Regards

  Lady Isabelle de Lancio

  CEO of LLC

  Grey read the letter three times before she passed it on to Willow, who read it twice before passing it on to Max. Their faces were both surprised at the piece of papers contents.

  “This is genuine.”, assessed Willow. “An honest to truth letter from the boss of the Cartel. This is huge.”

  “Damn right it`s huge. They`re scared, they want a meet so that they can negotiate some kind of step down or failing that an assassination. It`s quite sad really, I honestly expected a little more of a fight from them.”, Max ughed to himself.

  “Wait? So we aren`t going to take this letter seriously? If they mean what they say it could be a way to end this conflict before it gets out of hand.”, Willow suggested.

  “Are you insane? This is the Cartel we are talking about, even if their desire to negotiate was genuine it wouldn’t lead to anything good. We can`t trust them, especially not now. Not when we are so close.”, Max responded sternly.

  “I think you`re being a bit cynical. Maybe we have given them something to think about. Showed them we are done taking their crap. If we have a chance to end the violence of favourable terms we have to take it.”, Willow argued.

  “At the cost of putting Grey at risk? I think not. If they don`t get what they want, what`s stopping them from gutting her there and then? It`s too big a risk.”, Max spat back.

  “I think it`s a risk worth taking.”, Grey finally mustered.

  They both looked at her stunned.

  “Grey, no, you can`t. It`s too risky.”, Max repeated.

  “Every day this conflict continues more people get hurt or die. Are you honestly telling me my life is worth more than everyone else’s? No, we can`t start thinking like that. If I have a chance to prematurely end the violence then I have to take it. Because if I don`t, then I am responsible for all the blood that follows.”, Grey replied, unmoving in her decision.

  Willow took a seat next to Grey and took her hand comfortingly. Max moved about anxiously checking the letter again. He looked at Grey and knew he wouldn`t be able to talk her out of her decision.

  “Fine.”, he finally relented with a deep sigh. “But you aren`t going alone. Me and at least five of the toughest guards I can find are coming with. Letter doesn`t say anything about coming alone.”

  “Okay. We will leave as soon as you can assemble everyone and the temperature rises a bit.”, Grey agreed. “I`m going to leave Whiskers here. Having him look out for you while I`m away will give me some peace of mind.”

  Whiskers wondered over at the sound of his name and looked at Grey curiously.

  “We will be fine love, just promise me you will be careful. If Max is right, you need to come back to us in one piece. I don`t know if I can do this without you.”, Willow wondered out loud, leaning her head on Grey`s shoulder.

  “I`ll do my best. I promise. I`ll be back before you know it.”, Grey reassured her, kissing her on the forehead.

  “Back from where?”, sounded a sleepy Mika, rubbing her eyes zily.

  “Sorry sweetheart, did we wake you?”, Grey rose up and walked over to Mika picking her up and holding her close. “Come let`s get you back to bed. You have work in the morning remember.”

  “Okay. But tell me where you going.”, she mumbled, resting her face against Grey`s chest.

  “Max and I are going to the Great Elevator. I`ll bring you back a souvenir if I can, promise.”, Grey whispered to her.

  [---]

  Come morning, Grey, Max and five of the tougher Grey Guard departed the farm for the Great Elevator. They meandered their way through the lower ring, getting the occasional wave or kind word.

  By the time they made it to the middle ring the Undercity had awoken fully. It was there on the border that they ran into a group of patrolling Enforcers. They made eye contact, the Grey Guard prepared for a confrontation. The Enforcers moved on, clearly they had gotten the message. Nice to know the Cartel could be honest from time to time.

  They made their way through the cobbled streets of the middle ring. They were happy to see how much things had begun to change. More of the Undercities lower residents could afford to frequent the middles markets acquiring quality of life items like furniture and warmer clothes.

  The people of the middle weren`t too bothered either. They were appreciative of the business. As they should be, considering some of them could get away with not having to pay the Cartels taxes anymore.

  The further into the middle ring they went the clearer it became why the Cartel called the meeting with Grey. Change wasn`t just coming, in many ways it was already here. The fear was gone, hope lined the streets and smiles were hard to break. Grey even noticed a few former Enforcers working the streets rather than prowling them.

  Eventually they made it to the upper ring, signalled by the big wall that separated it from the middle ring. Enforcers, dressed in armour and armed with swords, stood guard at one of the gates. They showed a level of discipline Grey was unfamiliar with, they almost seemed polite.

  She presented the letter to them and they checked her party for weapons. The Grey Guard were smart enough to wrap up their prosthetics lest they draw unwanted attention. The armoured Enforcers bowed respectfully and signalled for the gate to be open.

  It opened slowly with a loud creak as wood strained and bent under some unseen force. Grey was curious about the gates mechanisms but quickly her attention was drawn to beyond the gate. They were all ushered inside wordlessly, the gate closing behind them.

  “What in all the hells.”, Max was the first to curse.

  The streets were paved with cy, cut perfectly into little rectangles. They lined the way seamlessly providing a level footed experience no matter where you went. The houses were constructed using stone frames and wooden walls, sanded and painted to a perfect finish. Their windows had real gss in them, pristine and perfect. The upper circle was illuminated brightly with great oil mp posts that burned with four separate fmes.

  Eventually they all gathered their wits about them and began to march on towards the Great Elevator in the not so distant distance.

  Every few feet something new would catch their eye.

  The way the people of the upper circle dressed was one. Fine linens and silks, colourful and well stitched. In styles they never could have dreamed of. There were no markets they soon noticed. Just individual stores that sold individual items. Bakers, tailors, carpenters, it was all so other worldly, to think there were people in the Undercity living so luxuriously.

  Before they knew it they had reached the Great Elevator, by then it had somewhat lost its spectacle. Only somewhat, it still rose high from the ground up and away to the surface with multiple compartments that could each carry a hundred people easy. Surrounding it were rge buildings that hide the mechanisms that allowed it to function. And further surrounding those were buildings Grey guessed correctly to be the headquarters of the Cartel.

  They approached what looked to be an entrance, given away by the armoured Enforcers standing at attention.

  Grey turned to Max.

  “I think this is where we part ways. For now at least.”, Grey assured Max.

  “Yeah. Um be careful. If anything happens tug at my arm strings. I`ll come running.”, he mumbled, only half paying attention. He and the Grey Guard were too busy processing all they saw around them. She couldn`t bme them, even she was having a hard time with it.

  [---]

  Grey was led into a room rger than their house, decorated and furnished to a level of extravagance she couldn`t even imagine. The floors were made from polished wood, smooth, seamless and easy on the feet. The walls were a delicate wash of the purest white dotted with pristinely framed paintings of pces she couldn`t even dream of, the surface presumably. The ceiling too was constructed from polished wood yet it was emboldened by a series of small chandeliers that illuminated the room in such a way it almost hurt one`s eyes. Most impressive of all was a section of wall that gave way to a rge window that looked out over the Undercity. Finally the space was filled very ostentatiously with furniture of the finest make. Marble structures, feather filled and velvet lined cushions and at the head of it all an obsidian table at which sat the presumed head of the Cartel.

  It was a young woman, probably only a few years older than Grey, tanned skin, light blue suit that fit perfectly, long straight blonde hair and red lips. She looked absolutely alien to Grey, all her features in complete contrast to those of the Undercity denizens.

  The woman waved for the guards escorting to leave and the door was closed behind them. Grey stood awkwardly before taking a deep breath and walking forward taking a seat at the table.

  “Welcome, you must be the Lady Grey I have heard so much about. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Isabelle de Lancio owner and administrator of the Lamp Lighters Corporation. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”, she began, with a voice so sweet it made Grey immediately suspicious.

  “I wish I could say I feel the same.”, she responded pinly, caught a little off guard.

  “I must say, you`re not half as imposing as my reports made you out to be. Then again, big things can come in small packages and there is not greater strength than to be under estimated.”, Isabelle continued. She rose up from the desk and walked across the room to a small table with a decanter and gsses. She poured herself a gss, “Could I interest you in some Whiskey?”

  “No thank you, I`m not one for alcohol.”, Grey replied, remaining guarded.

  “That`s what they all say until they start. I shall respect your wish however.”, She walked back over to the desk and took her seat taking a pyful sip from the gss.

  “If it`s all the same to you Isabelle I think we should get to the point of why I am here.”, Grey decided, her unease driving her to the point.

  “Cut to the chase, I like that, I respect that. Never was one for much preamble. Very well I would like to offer you the chance to join the Lamp Lighters Corporation. Over the generations we have grown and expanded into markets beyond mp oil, such as mining and protection. We never could quite get a foot into the agricultural sector however, a shame. But with you at our side, I believe we would have control of all the UnderCities major industries. You and I could rule this town, queens of industry with the capital to reach further. The surface perhaps, have you ever seen the sun? Of course you haven`t, but you could, with my help.”, Isabelle proposed enthusiastically.

  “You want me to join you?”, Grey responded shocked. “Never! I`m not here to shake hands with the devil. I`m here to negotiate an end to your Cartel. To bring an end to the oppression you force upon the people of the Undercity.”

  “What are you talking about, oppression? The Lamp Lighter Corporation is an ethically run business. Everything we do is above board.”, Isabelle rose from her seat and walked over to the gss window looking over the Undercity. “Look, I understand your drive, we are a lot alike in that way. I had to work hard to get where I am at such a young age. Just think how far we could go together, there is nothing we couldn`t accomplish.”

  “Whatever we achieved would be done at the expense and exploitation of the Undercity and its people. Their blood, sweat and tears.”, Grey replied coldly.

  “That`s just life, nature of a market economy. If you want something you need to work hard for it.”, Isabelle added dismissively. “Some people just ck a good work ethic.”

  “You`re so disconnected from it all. You don`t see the pain and suffering you are causing. People risk their lives just so they can eat, they give their bodies so that their kids don`t have to starve, just for them to grow up and become a part of the cycle. It needs to end.”, Grey challenged defiantly.

  “I think you`re over exaggerating. Now then, I take it from your firm stance that you are rejecting my offer of a merger.”, Isabelle enquired.

  “Yes, I reject it. Not just your offer but this system.”, Grey decred, her arms outstretch at the unnecessary wealth all around her.

  An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room as both woman sat firm staring each other down.

  “Your daughter`s name is Mika right, little Dwarf girl?”, Isabelle asked, the temperature in the room dropping. “I`m told she is a real smart kid, has a lot of potential. You must be very proud of her.”

  “I am.”, Grey replied, her blood had gone cold.

  “I don`t know how you do it, being a mother that is. Children are just so fragile especially at that young age. It would be a tragedy if something happened to her.”, Isabelle remarked, locking her eyes with Grey`s. The darkness of the room contrasting against her white sinister visage.

  “Are you threatening my child?”, Grey asked, wanting to hear the words come out of her bitch mouth pinly.

  “Threatening a child? I would never do such a thing. I am simply pointing out that the Undercity is a dangerous pce for children. I wouldn`t worry, little Mika has you to protect her, you, Willow and Max. Such a happy little family you have made yourself.”, Isabelle commented, staring at Grey with cold dead eyes.

  “I was wondering when I would get to see your true colours. When I would stop talking to Isabelle of the Lamp Lighters Corporation and start talking to Isabelle of the Cartel.”, Grey snapped back, resisting the urge to strike out. To summon Max and the Grey Guard and burn this whole pce to the ground along with everyone in it.

  Isabelle noted Grey`s change in demeanour. She finished off the gss of whiskey in one gulp.

  “I`m done with you. You will not see reason so I guess it is up to the market to decide the victor. Given my experience in these things my money is on me.”, Isabelle wondered aloud.

  Grey rose from her seat and started to make for the door.

  “Hold your loved ones close Lady Grey, you never know how much more time you will have with them.”, Isabelle muttered before the doors closed.