#neele

Neele arrived to discover the scene mostly as they had predicted it would be, as it had been at each Quorum they had attended. They had been to many other Quorums throughout their time as keeper of the Kalmia Sigil, and they had attended many even before their predecessor had passed on his sigil to them. Most of the lords - the ones who'd survived and maintained their guardianship throughout that time - tended to keep to similar spots in their various meeting places, most always with their seconds, if they had one, close by. If the Undercity's denizens were creatures of habit, then those who ruled over them were the most habitual of all.

Neele's arrival increased their number to eight, including Aster and Dagmar. There were fewer and fewer of them nowadays, and even fewer still who bothered to show up to the Quorum. Someone had placed a chair for Diadra at the center of the room, exactly where she'd liked it - a show of benevolence and grandiosity and provocation all at once - and of course it sat empty. The last Neele had heard, she was still in Ala Ghiri for her recovery, still pulling some strings for her Marigold territory but mostly camped out in the back of an arak bar. A quick skim of the room similarly revealed no sign of Elza meandering opposite the door as she so often did - “the better to keep an eye on everyone,” she’d said once.

"Evening, Palm," Neele said to Seax in greeting as they passed her. Anywhere else, they would have greeted her with her name, but speaking the given names of sigil-bearers at a Quorum had always seemed to invite misfortune, and there was more than enough of that going around. "Thanks, by the way, for taking care of the interlopers up by yours."

Seax inclined her head with her usual sly grin. "My pleasure."

Neele took up their own usual spot beside Wilma of the Eulalia Sigil - a woman with whom they rarely interacted outside of the Quorum, but who had proven herself more than once to be a cool head and stalwart presence. Better to stand beside her than Aster and Dagmar, and potentially find themself and their allies surrounded if blades were drawn. "I presume we aren't getting started without Lily," they said.

"He's not coming." The voice was from Haidar of the Stock Sigil, leaning against the furthest wall. Neele had not seen him there at first. In his hand was a scrap of parchment. "He left this," Haidar said. "It says he's preoccupied with other plans for this Quorum, and that he'll meet us at the next."

Neele took the paper and read it themself - a skill their predecessor had insisted they learn, and one that they were grateful for nearly every day. Sure enough, Blackram's message said no more and no less than that.

Melissa, whose given name Neele did not know, let out a snort. "What other plans?"

"Maybe snapping up our storehouses while we're all gathered here like rats in a leaky barrel," quipped Seax.

Dagmar shushed Seax, causing her haughty expression to curdle into one of disdain.

"What else is there for us here, then?" said Haidar. "I've no quarrel with most of you-" He notably did not look in the corner where Anemone lurked in silence. "-but I need assurances from Bl- Lily that he'll keep Marigold's surface routes clear. I've lost my best runners to knives in the dark, possibly worse."

"'Worse'?" Aster echoed.

"Aye, worse. Yunus' girl was there - said she saw revenants."

"Yunus' girl jumps at her own reflection," Melissa shot back.

Haidar turned on him, but Neele stepped forth before the Quorum could dissolve any further into arguments. "Dagmar and I will look into it," they said. Dagmar nodded her assent from nearer to the door. "Revenants does seem to be a likely case. Given the crusader that came out of the canal at this very junction two weeks past."

Most of the others shifted in discomfort at the mention of it - the idea that so many, most of them children, would have died were it not for Marco and his friend. Seax breathed out heavily, still pouting to herself.

"That's it, then?" said Wilma. "Let's disband, then, before the river comes back."

"I've one more item."

It was Anemone, speaking up at last as always; Neele still couldn't place whether it was out of a misplaced desire for theatrics or feeling stifled by the other voices in the room. She let her words hang in the air for a moment longer, then spoke directly to Neele. "Hélène, of the Fiels. A spider in her web."

"I don't do killings," Neele replied at once. Especially not on behalf of lords who can't keep their own in line.

But Anemone shook her head. "You misunderstand me. Hélène has promised half her treasury to anyone who gives her Marco's head."

The proclamation of bounties was nothing new for Quorums, and yet this one sapped all the air out of the room as surely as though the black water had submerged the room all at once. Aster let out an uncomfortable groan and began to massage the bridge of her nose.

"And his friend?" Melissa demanded.

"Which one?"

"You know the one."

Anemone paused, wetting her lips for a moment as she chose her words carefully. "There's no mention of him in the bounty. But I trust we all know what happens if anything befalls him." She pressed on, rather than leave them all lingering on that thought. "The reason I specified is because Hélène wants her dear little protégée back in the web; she's fallen in with Marco of late."

Wilma muttered something that undeniably contained the words "mother like that."

"She's not to be harmed, either," Anemone continued. "I even imagine there'd be a little bonus for anyone who delivers her back to the Profondeurs." She shrugged. "Something to chew on, at least."

Something to chew on, indeed: setting up the murder of a child to drive a boy into Blackram's arms and a girl into a lifetime of misery. Neele could only imagine what their predecessor might have said at the mere thought of it.