What felt like hours passed inside the tavern, carried forwards by nothing more than pleasant discourse, ale, and the occasional bet. Although Kalani had no taste for the local brew and seemed to lack whatever insights were necessary to pick out the likely winner of an arm-wrestling match, she more than earned her place by being an excellent conversationalist. The shrewd fox knew precisely when to ask questions, when to change the subject, and perhaps most importantly, when to simply listen and nod at whomever was speaking. Stories were exchanged freely at her table, and even the reticent badger was eventually convinced to share a few entertaining anecdotes from past jobs.
As it turned out, Stiff-Whisker was visiting the city in search of humans, particularly those from the western reaches of Atlygaea who preferred to trade overseas with Akamu and Olahn Korlarin due to their proximity to those kingdoms. The rat was interested in securing a piece of their business for his own government, and expected that many of them would have made the trip deeper inland to deliver wares for the queen's festival. Vidahl, being a very well-traveled merchant in his own right, hinted that he may have known several traders who had done exactly that, but refused to elaborate further without an exchange of names. He seemed particularly interested in meeting Nezumi who dealt in silk after learning how Kalani had come into possession of her dress, and even asked her if she would be willing to model it for an artist to serve as a means of advertisement.
With regret, she and Stiff-Whisker had to share the disappointing news that silk was only exported from the Mirelands as a base material, and rarely at that. The few artisans willing to work it into anything that could be considered fashionable only did so by request, and for individual customers who themselves were Nezumi nearly without exception. Vidahl was predictably upset, but the question of just what he expected to do with such clothes served as a suitable distraction for him to speak about his business. Eventually, that line of questioning turned itself around and he found himself asking the others about their own lines of work. When it became Kalani's turn to answer, however, she hesitated on a seemingly innocuous question.
"You speak to the patriarch himself, yes? What about?"
"I... could not say," she started, shyly glancing elsewhere. "I was only promoted recently, and only then to fill a position left vacant by the previous ambassador's murder. I've never..."
"I heard the Boss came here," Stiff-Whisker interrupted, giving Kalani a pointed look. "You should go talk to him."
She stared back incredulously. "What? He's the most important political figure the Mirelands has known for over a decade! Even if he
were here to entertain diplomats, surely he would wish to speak to the ones who represent the kingdom he's
visiting."
"So talk to him as a person instead," her friend calmly answered. "He's the Grand Boss, you're the first foreign ambassador that anyone in the Mirelands has actually
liked. Besides, if he was here on business, we would either know about it ahead of time or not at all."
"He didn't travel this far to meet strangers like myself," she argued back, looking away again. "Do you truly think he has no
better way to spend his time?"
"I think you should stop making excuses and tell me what the real problem is. You're acting like the same naive girl who came begging to me for passage on a trade ship five years ago."
An indignant scoff came out of Kalani's mouth before she even considered the message in his words, but Stiff-Whisker was right; she was looking for reasons to distract herself from the truth of the matter, which was simply that she felt unprepared to meet Cinder-Fur.
"...I'm sorry," she said to him. "It's simply nervousness, and... there was something I had planned to give to him on our first meeting. A gift which I left at home before visiting the festival."
This time, it was Stiff-Whisker who scoffed. "Didn't know you planned to become his wife," he joked, though his demeanor grew more serious almost immediately. "Since you seem to have lost your
own good judgment somewhere on the way over here, listen carefully - you'll leave a better first impression if you manage to catch him outside of the palace's usual tripe."
"Yes, I know, but without-"
"Quiet." The rat held up a claw to silence her. "The
only thing you need, is either another mug of ale to help you realize how much of a fool you're being, or someone to force you out of here so you have no choice but to wisen up. The Boss won't care if you're empty-handed, so which one is it going to be?"
Kalani remained silent. Stiff-Whisker sighed and pointed to a nearby table, where a wolf and ram sat opposite each other with their arms locked.
"Name and a time, girl, before I hire the badger to carry you out."
It was only a few minutes later that the apprehensive fox found herself standing in the sunlight with another crowd before her. Her parasol and her dignity were fortunately still intact, but the problem of navigating densely populated areas had not been improved since she first escaped it, and her target had only become smaller since. Realistically, she planned to make an honest attempt to find Cinder-Fur but expected to discover that he had left the festival grounds completely, which itself was not an entirely unwelcome prospect.
Still, one could not give up without making an effort first.
Locating the Grand Boss by eye alone would very likely be impossible, but Kalani could take advantage of the fact that he was a highly notable figure among the Nezumi. As she advanced into the crowd, she remained alert not for shapes, colors, or faces, but instead for the chittering sound of rats speaking amongst each other in their native language. Her ears flicked about to catch one conversation and then quickly moved on to the next, only resting briefly on a few key phrases; most of the talk was useless, and there were fewer sources than she had hoped for, but eventually, she did translate something helpful.
"
-that the Boss?"
"
Where?"
Yes, she thought to herself.
Where?Without hesitating, Kalani hurried towards the speakers' direction. With so many people in the way, however, it took several seconds to even catch a glimpse of the Nezumi who were talking, and their conversation had moved on to other topics by the time she was close enough to reliably watch them. Cinder-Fur was not visible from where they stood. She listened again.
"
-find anything good?"
"
Yes. I'll show you later. For now, let's-"
Useless. Another one."
-any interesting news from back home?"
Another."
-does it, Boss? Hah! Those titles of yours must be heavy."
Her ears shot up. Her head turned. The conversation was distant and difficult to make out, but if she had heard it correctly, someone was addressing the patriarch in person. Anticipating a response which did not come, she almost thought she had lost the rats' voices altogether, until she realized that one had started laughing; an old, rasping chuckle, but one easily overlooked amidst the sounds of so much merriment. Their chat resumed in time, and she followed it as best she could. It seemed to be about war, or... concerns over a potential war, in any case.
"
...Boss, you sneaky bastard. Your diplomat’s right over there, look!"
What?Through a brief opening in the crowd, Kalani could see an old Nezumi pointing directly at her. He was unmistakably the one she had been following, though it seemed that he had somehow caught her first. True to her expectations, next to him stood another rat who could only have been the Grand Boss, sporting a coat of orange fur and hefting a massive pitch-black axe over one shoulder. She locked eyes with the latter for a fleeting moment before the space in-between them was filled with people, and he was gone by the time she could find a way through.
For a few seconds, the ambassador stood on the ground where the two rats had last been found, her mind swimming with questions. How did they know she was looking for them, and why were they speaking about her? It was reasonable to assume that Cinder-Fur could identify her even though they had never met, but why would he hide in the crowd? Was she being avoided? If so, why did he even allow himself to be seen?
...And where was he going?
Whether it was out of curiosity, stubbornness, or an unwelcome obligation to Stiff-Whisker, she hesitated to simply abandon the thought and leave the Boss to his business. He and the other rat had stopped speaking, but she still had a direction to move in and the knowledge that they were close, even if she could not see them. Just as well, they seemed to be leaving the festival grounds to enter the streets, which tended to be less busy but more restrictive. It was just barely enough of a tool for her to guess at their destination, and although she could hear no mention of the patriarch or his companion from the surrounding gossip, there was nowhere else they would be certain to visit sooner or later. She hurried to the landing as quickly as her dress would allow.
The scene which Kalani arrived upon was not quite what she had been expecting. Cinder-Fur was there, but his companion was not, and he appeared to be speaking to one of the Akamu guards on behalf of a black rat that looked ready to kill at least one of them on a moment's notice. His complaints were largely ignored by both parties, but the guards departed shortly afterwards, leaving only the Grand Boss, the black rat, and two spectators who were likely part of his entourage behind. The black rat did not seem content to abandon his argument even after the other side had left, however.
"Akamu have laws for
rooves!" he shouted, turning his attention towards Cinder-Fur. "Stupid! Should have ladders for rooves instead! Why else build them like this?"
"Yes, well, Akamu are mountain people," the old rat calmly replied. "Unlike Sky-Piercers and their love of high places, perhaps they do not like to climb. You should take a tip from an old Flint-Sickle - do not sacrifice subtlety for speed."
"
Easy to say when you're the one who puts himself in danger and then sends me off to deliver messages!" he hissed back, reverting to the rats' native language likely without even realizing it.
"
And yet I got here without being bothered by the guards because you couldn't help but be noticed," Cinder responded plainly. "
Having to be rude and further the perception that no one from the swamp is anything but incapable of diplomacy. This was a chance to make a first impression, Dusk-Walker. You will do better next time. That isn't an option."
The rat growled, but did not retaliate. Instead, he bitterly sauntered over to one of the silk moths in the clearing and mounted it. Only after he was on the insect's back did he seem to acknowledge Kalani approaching, but the look she received nearly had her reaching for her rapier on instinct alone. Cinder-Fur, fortunately, was more welcoming. He looked pleased, as if he had been expecting her.
"Cinder-Fur, yes?" She tried not to make eye contact - most Nezumi were unsettled by her albinism enough without further encouragement. "I am Kalani Ostra Ya'Sima Solak Iz'Sigal, Olahn Korlarin's newest ambassador to your kingdom. It is... a great honor to meet you."
It didn't show on her face, and she desperately hoped that it was likewise absent from her body language, but she almost felt nervous enough to collapse on the spot.