As the Crow Falls | ✔

Chapter Four

By the time the two men ahead of Niccola reached Verde's stall, their discussion was exclusive enough to require more subtle eavesdropping. Niccola stopped at the next stall over—she had to buy garlic anyway—and tuned into the debate while she stood in line.

"I'm telling you," said Verde, his voice a bass rumble that carried even through the bustling crowd. "If it's a beast, not a Talak, you're going to want wayfinders on its tail as soon as possible. The Pereiras have done work with diredeer before. Might be tricky, but it can be done."

"You know how my mother feels about taking risks with such high potential for publicity. Taking any wayfinders off the missing-persons search will reflect poorly on the whole intervention as far as she's concerned. And what will happen if it's a beast and they do find it? The inter-realm council prohibits the killing of any beasts from the deep Talakova unless there's confirmation that they've killed."

Verde snorted. "I'd say there's evidence enough."

"Tell that to my mother."

That drew an indistinct grumble from Verde. Niccola nearly missed the vendor's call for her to step up next. The conversation next door hinted that the unknown man had influence in this realm, though exactly what kind, she couldn't tell.

"Madeira's City Guard tried that four years ago," he replied to whatever Verde had said. "It went terribly."

"What are you proposing, then?"

"Are you asking what I would do personally, or how far my handcuffs extend?"

"Then I'm asking what force it would take to break those handcuffs. And what death toll this realm will rack up if they stay unbroken until the bloodbath forces your mother's hand."

Niccola paid for her purchase and drifted closer. The conversation dropped below hearing level, but it had set her mind spinning, trying to puzzle together who the unknown man was and what was going on. By the sound of it, his mother was making calls on the response to the threat in the Talakova. He himself had ideas on how to intervene, but his hands were tied, and he couldn't or wouldn't untie them. Niccola couldn't figure out why.

When the conversation resurfaced again, it had changed.

"The other angle to consider is what response will be the optimal one if this is a rogue Talak we're dealing with," said the unknown man.

Verde frowned harder. "We haven't had outright predation by Talaks in decades. Your grandmother's education campaign on entry rituals made a landslide's difference in forest trespasses. It's why I think it's a beast."

Unable to stay out of the discussion any longer, Niccola stepped into view around the stall. Verde's bushy eyebrows jumped up, and he gave her two fingers of greeting and a smile that didn't displace the wrinkles of concern on his dark forehead. The other man turned as well. Had he detected her presence, or felt his dragon do the same?

"Fair weather to you, Verde," said Niccola, realizing she should make herself known for the person who couldn't see her. "I heard talk of rogue Talaks."

Verde grunted, though fondness creased the corners of his eyes. "'Course you did. Always after the most controversial conversations."

Niccola flashed him a grin for the joke—a half-joke, really. She'd gotten good at filtering market gossip down to its most interesting components, and Verde was usually the first to know about it. He liked her quick reasoning, she admired his steady wisdom, and they got on well.

"I might lend a hand in the controversy, then, if I may," she said. "Given everything I've observed, I'm personally on the side of this being a Talak."

Verde's frown-lines deepened again, but the unknown man straightened up in interest. "What makes you say that?" he said.