#efrain 008

It was late afternoon when Thalra heard the muffled voice coming from her pocket, and she was tucked away in the back room of a shady bar, sitting across the table from a woman representing the Thieves Guild. One of her eyebrows flicked upwards at the disturbance, as they’d previously been talking about rumors of the Order’s movements. Just like every other time Thalra had asked for information, the Guild had been unable to give her anything concrete. The Order of Shadows was slippery and meticulous, even now when they were in disarray. But the only person who would be using the Sending Stone was Efrain, so Thalra tucked those thoughts away and pulled the stone out to listen to his message. His voice on the other end, sounded nervous, which immediately made her pay closer attention. "Thalra, can you please visit the estate again? I need your help—it’s not an emergency and I’ll provide the wine." Blinking a few times in surprise, Thalra’s brows furrowed, before her eyes went back to the woman across the table from her who was giving her an amused look. “I’ll be over as soon as I’m able, darling,” she replied, hoping that her use of the moniker would tip Efrain off to the type of company she was in.

When the meeting ended an hour and a half later, the streetlamps were brightly lit and glowing softly across the stone roads of Khaggon. It was late, going on at least two hours before midnight, which spurred Thalra on to hurry down the street that would lead her to Efrain’s estate. She passed the gate with ease, and didn’t bother with a disguise. If Efrain needed her help what did pretense matter? For the months she’d known him, Efrain had never asked for help before, which meant something serious was going on. Thalra checked that her crossbow was secure in her bag before she opened the door leading to Efrain’s kitchen without knocking.

“It’s me,” she called before the door was even fully opened. “I’m so sorry it took me so long, there was something I needed to take care of.” Her breath was coming quick and fast, as she’d ran the last few blocks here, but her eyes scanned the kitchen thoroughly, just in case there was some threat lurking in the corners that wasn’t obvious at first glance. When she felt safe in the assumption that Efrain wasn’t actually under attack, her eyes landed on him and the bottle of wine on the kitchen table. The sight o it brought with it a fond warmth. What was odd though, were the two portraits laid out with the bottle of wine. As she shut the door behind her, Thalra frowned. “What’s going on?”