Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 3: Adrian

Marigold, to his surprise, offered to accompany him to the surface.

"I haven't been topside in a little while," she explained, as they rode the service elevator. It was the closet transport from the Boss' headquarters, fronted as a bar known as the Derelect Inspector.

"I suppose the boss keeps you busy," Adrian remarked, trying to make conversation. Talking made being around Stenman's chief lieutenant easier.

Marigold gave him an appraising look, and smirked. "I suppose this is the part where you probe for the real reason I'm coming with you on this trip," she said, using his own phrasing to mock him. "Shall we do each other the courtesy of honest talk, boy?"

"I suppose so. Can I know why you're accompanying me?" Adrian asked, careful to be as polite as he could manage.

"It can't hurt. Xavier's worried about you. He wants an update from someone who won't just tell him 'it's fine'," Marigold explained.

"That makes sense," Adrian said.

"Of course it does. Xavier would have you thrown in an incinerator if he thought you were going to sell him out. And he'd send someone else if you just needed help making arrangements," Marigold said.

"So, are you thinking about making a run for the surface?" She asked.

The question made Adrian's heart stop.

He nearly stammered out a rapid denial, but his own fear held him in check for just a moment. Just long enough for him to nod.

He fully expected to see Marigold's eyes start to blaze and fire to erupt from her fingertips. Her response, a soft smile, was another shock.

"Testing your honesty. Of course you're thinking of escaping right now, Keates," Marigold said. "You wouldn't be worth the esteem Xavier holds you in, if you weren't considering it."

Adrian waited, mutely, for her to speak again.

"So what have you thought about? You know Xavier's powerful. How have you imagined your escape going?" Marigold asked.

"Poorly," Adrian admitted. He sighed, and decided to explain. "Xavier's reach is long, and the life of a single Undercity rat isn't expensive to squish. I don't have the contacts to hide, and I don't have the resources to develop those contacts. Even if I tried to change that, the boss might suspect I'm trying to make a move on him, especially if I'm collecting favours without any returns."

Marigold listened with an expression that told Adrian absolutely nothing.

"So if I ran, I'd have to run into the arms of an agency that would take me in, despite my criminal history. An agency strong enough to work against Xavier's influence," Adrian finished.

Marigold nodded. "The Orderlies?" she asked.

The Orderlies didn't operate in the Undercity, much as they and Parliament might wish to be able to police the mines and its people.

Adrian shook his head, emphatically. "Never that. The boss has been good to me. I couldn't try to take what I know to them."

Marigold smiled again. "Good."

To Adrian's relief, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened with a soft hiss.

"That was a test? Just that?" Adrian asked, as Marigold started walking down the hall. Dozens of eyes watched them carefully, from various parts of the hall that surrounded the elevator.

"Of course someone needed to assess you. You know enough to hurt his position. You've done enough to be worth the bribes that kept your sister in a hospice bed in Central. That's not small stuff, Keates. It's the kind of stuff I make sure doesn't burn him."