The scent of ink, smoke, and iron hung heavy in the small room. Papers lay scattered across his desk, like fallen feathers from a bird. Each one marked with names that he owned, numbers that filled his pockets, and debts that were due. The flicker of the lone lantern painted the stone walls in shadow and gold.
Aries Malanor sat behind his desk, the tip of his quill scratching softly against parchment. Even crime lords had to do paperwork, he mused bitterly as he crossed off a name.
Dead.
His sleek panther tail flicked once, sharp, irritated at the man's presence in front of him. His green eyes flicked toward him, his pupils became slits like the edge of a blade.
"What do you want, Mike?" Aries said as he wrote down a name. A name that would disappear from the world soon enough.
Mike Scent audibly gulped; Aries panther-ear flicked in annoyance.
"The marriage between Forrest and Elena is unlikely to go through now," Mike said, a bead of sweat dripped down his temple.
Aries eyes met Mike's, his quill stopping mid-scratch.
"What happened?" Aries said softly. While the shadows moved slightly.
Mike cleared his throat, closing his eyes briefly, then he spoke, "Elena attended a lover's ball with an unknown man named L'amore." Mike said quickly, his body stiffening, as Aries narrowed his eyes.
For a moment, silence stretched in the room, then it was sliced open as if scaple to flesh.
"Go on," Aries said as he leaned back in his chair.
Mike nodded as he continued, "Borris and I attended the ball; we didn't expect her arrival, nor did anyone else. Or the Dalfor's. We guessed this was her answer to the proposal of marriage, which was only announced recently."
Aries studied Mike for a moment, then spoke, "I knew it was unlikely for the marriage to go through, due to her reputation with the previous three. But there's more, isn't there?" Aries asked as he folded his hands neatly in his lap. His tail lashed once, in curiosity, then stilled.
Mike swallowed again as he looked down at his feet, "Borris and I asked around to the people they had spoken to, which was only a few people, but something was off. Off about L'amore, he was a wolf-kin, with black hair, golden eyes, and a mask of gold and black. He moved too… natural, Borris said. L'amore's origins were most likely from here." Mike paused for a moment, his voice wavering, "The Undercity."
Aries wore a thoughtful look as he rolled over the information, but Mike interrupted his thoughts as he continued to speak. "Also, L'amore's story didn't add up, he said he was a scholar, from Lamptin, then a merchant, it seemed too chaotic and purposeful," he added on quickly.
Aries sat there in silence, but he could tell there was something else. "Mike," the man froze at his name being called. "Anything else about this L'amore? Anything you noticed?" he said quietly.
Mike took a deep breath before exhaling. "L'amore and Elena seemed to be natural together, as if they had known each other for years. They danced for a while, most of the ball actually, and they knew every step the other would take before they even took it. She was too relaxed around him, relaxed enough that she even got drunk."
Aries stilled, but only for a moment, as he carefully noted the information down.
Then he stood up slowly, walking to a large circular window that overlooked the Undercity; his gaze lingered on a stone mansion directly beneath an opening in the ceiling.
The Lockvry home.
"Golden eyes?" Aries muttered under his breath.
Mike nodded, "Yes, L'amore had golden eyes."
Golden eyes.
The noble courts had once whispered with fear of eyes that were a brilliant gold. Eyes that smiled while deals unraveled, a glint that could shatter a family. Eyes that watched with quiet delight as men ruined themselves.
Aries' tail stilled.
'So he walks her path,' he thought.
But something bothered him about another detail.
Elena Falmil allowed herself to get drunk in front of a man, a woman who was renowned for foiling her own marriages. A woman who looked down on men who dared to attempt to court her.
'Are they something more?' he continued to think. Then turned around, his voice low.
"Leave."
Mike bowed and hastily left his office, another person taking his place. A lean panther-kin like himself. Her cold blue eyes met his, and they didn't waver at his gaze.
Aries smiled at his lieutenant, "Pan, I have a task for you," he said.
Pan nodded once, staying silent as usual.
"I want you to follow the Heir of the Lockvrys. See what he does and where he goes. If he does something unusual or goes somewhere he doesn't regularly go, note it down. I want to see his patterns." Aries said, his green eyes meeting her unwavering blue.
"Yes, sir," she said quietly, but as she was about to turn, Aries spoke again. "Pan—be careful, he is a shadow mage, and you know the legends about them, and the whispers of his mother."
Pan nodded, then turned and left Aries' office.
He looked back out at the circular window, watching the mansion.
"Jake Lockvry, I hope you aren't the fool I think you are, otherwise I might have overestimated you…" Aries said, as a smile cracked his lips.
But then a knock rang out, and Aries' smile fell off as quickly as it appeared as he looked back at the door where Pan reentered.
He raised an eyebrow in question.
"The Selene represented has arrived," she said, her sleek tail lashing once.
His own tail responded, and she nodded as she held the door open and a human walked through.
He was a tall, lanky man who had neatly combed back black hair, with streaks of white. His features were sharp and angular, especially his chin, which was softened by a beard.
He wore a large cloak that draped over his figure, allowing him to hide many things that were necessary to travel in the Undercity.
Aries' green eyes meet the man's brown. "Willis," he greeted.
"Aries," Willis said, returning it.
"Please sit," Aries said, as he gestured to a seat in the corner of his office.
Willis nodded and took the seat, as Aries returned to his.
Silence stretched as the two men studied each other. Aries eyes narrowed, Willis stayed unbothered.
Then the silence was finally broken when Aries sighed. "What does your master want?" he said, swirling his hand in the air.
"He is wondering when the Lockvry's will be dealt with," Willis said, his voice cold.
Aries slowly shook his head, "Right now, we are in a territory dispute, which is only temporary, it's only a step in my plans," he said, leaning back in his chair. "You know our deal, I do all the work, then you give me my reward. After your master takes the throne."
Willis eyes narrowed. "I will ask again, when will the Lockvrys be taken care of?"
Aries let out a long breath through his nose, "You toppers are annoying."
Willis cold stare turned into a glare. Aries let a smirk crack his lips before soothing it.
"I let something leak to that beast, and it seems like he has taken the bait. It won't be long before they bite," Aries said as he raised his hand. "Give a starving beast a bone, and, predictably, they will bite."
Willis' fingers tightened against the arm of his chair. "And if the beast does not bite?"
Aries' smile thinned. "Oh, he will."
"And if he does not?"
Aries' tail swayed once, slow and deliberate. "Then I will simply move the bone closer to his den."
Willis watched him carefully. "You risk much on assumption."
Aries gave a soft hum of amusement. "No. I risk very little." He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his desk. "If Henry Falmil dies. The Lockvrys are blamed. The court grows restless. The Falmils panic." His eyes glinted. "A panicked house makes poor decisions.
"And if he lives?" Willis pressed.
"Then he continues paying us triple for silence and artifacts," Aries replied smoothly. "And the Selenes continue whispering about instability. Either way, someone bleeds.
Willis studied him. "You aim to weaken Falmil."
Aries' gaze sharpened. "I am to weaken certainty."
The golden lantern flame flickered, casting long shadows up the wall that swayed.
"For a century," Aries continued, his voice quiet now, "the noble courts have believed the Undercity reacts. Scrambles. Survives." His lip curled faintly. "Let them believe that little longer."
He stood and walked back toward the circular window, staring down at the Lockvry mansion carved from stone.
"When Henry falls," Aries murmured, "they will think it is vengeance."
His green eyes turned thin like he just seen prey.
"It will be positioning."
Willis' gaze did not waver. "You speak as though every path favors you."
Aries' tail gave a slow, thoughtful sway. "It does."
A flicker of irritation crossed Willis' face. "The heir of Lockvry is not as simple a beast as his father. He may refuse."
Aries chuckled, a slow, deep chuckle as if falling down a hole. "Refusal is a choice. And choices are pressure points."
He moved away from the window, around his desk. His feet were not bound by boots, but were open to let his panther paws breathe as claws clicked against the stone floor. As he loomed over Willis.
"If he kills Henry, the courts recoil. The Falmils fortify. The Lockvrys are feared." His eyes glinted. "Fear isolates."
Willis' eyes narrowed. "And if he hesitates?" he pressed.
"The doubt creeps into his own family," Aries replied smoothly. "A son who will not strike when ordered is a weakness. Weakness invites correction."
Willis studied him in silence.
Aries soon turned and started to pace the room, and the shadows continued to flicker, yet his did not, as if it obeyed. "The boy loves too deeply," he said almost idly. "Men who love are the easiest to guide."
Then he paused and turned to Willis, who continued to watch him.
"All I must do," Aries continued softly, "is decide which fear to feed him. Whether Henry breathes or bleeds," his voice dropping to something colder, "The cities shift exactly where I require it to."
The shadows of the golden lantern light froze. His alone stretched longer, swallowing the light—and Willis with it.
Aries smiled then—not wide, not cruel.
Certain.