Chapter 1.6

Massoud slowed to a walk as he contemplated the road he had just set out on.  The attack by Akane seemed too close to his conversation with Llyr to be a coincidence.  Akane had come out in the open though with her attack of him, even if was in the darkness of an alley.  The gloves were off as the saying went and now he knew where she stood.  She was afraid of him, enough so to try and take him out.  To be sure he would have to be on his guard from now on but the interesting thing here is that Akane had limited her options.  She must take him out and that quickly because she now must fear a retaliation from him at any point in the future.  She was either very confident that she could do so, or an idiot and Massoud thought he knew which.

He laughed out loud as he thought to himself that he would be only too happy to oblige her foolishness and show her who she was dealing with.  Looking up at the sky he judged he would find the person he was looking for, a certain Gwrtheyrn Sarurn, at the Marseryn Tavern.  It was a dark place on the very edge of the city frequented only by thieves and cut throats.  That he could walk into such a place was a given.  That he had to was unfortunate and he hoped that in the near future he would have others to do these missions for him.  Still this was no more than a diversion, and one he could quickly deal with.  Gwrtheyrn was a local member of the thieves guild and skilled in all manner of poisons.  It would cost him more than he would like but the end result would be that Akane would no longer bother him.  

He knew he could trust Gwrtheyrn to be efficient and discrete.  He had already recruited him as a part of his own network.  He knew of the plan that Massoud had just started to execute but only in general details, except for his part which of course he had all the necessary details.  

He was just over half way to the tavern when he saw someone walking briskly directly towards him.  Massoud stopped, discretely checking avenue’s of escape in case this were another attempt on his life.  It was of course unlikely with someone coming directly at him, but what if it was a feint?  Alarm quickly changed to a smile though as Massoud recognized who it was.

~ by ridgewalker on January 3, 2008.