Kill Clause waited inside a private room at the neutral exchange lodge, dressed in a plain shirt and trousers with no guild crest beneath her name. Only the black [Condemned] marker remained.
The lodge stood beyond Forest Hidden's boundary and outside any academy's direct control. Traders used it for unbound exchanges, temporary party meetings, and deals that did not need an audience. Cassandra had chosen it for the same reason she had asked Katherine to make the purchase.
Kill Clause still had access to ordinary markets. What she needed to avoid was attention. A public Auction House visit followed by an expensive Ranger rebuild would give observers another pattern to study, and she was not ready to connect Kill Clause to Cassandra Selfmore.
The door opened, and Katherine entered as Crimson Halo.
"You asked me to buy you armor," she said. "I bought you armor, a bow, emergency supplies, and several reasons not to disappear without telling us."
