Chapter 2- the writing on the wall

Finally the boardinghouse door swings open and I step inside, scraping off my boots as I enter. I nod to the entertainer who opens it and she blushes and bridals, running her eyes over the smooth planes of my face in appreciation. I give her a wink as I pass her by, leaving a trail of water in my wake, my thick woolen cloak shedding raindrops like a mutt sheds it's fur.

I don't bother to pull out the key to my private room, for I know that it will already be open. Sure enough the other occupant is there when I enter. Devar sits on the only chair in the room, his feet propped up on the edge of the hearth and a crooked smile already plastered on his sharp, half cocked features.

He winks at me, closing one storm grey eye as he watches, waiting for a report. I shut the door tight, locking it and pushing the tattered remains of a cloak, over the crack the runs underneath the door.

"How was your turn at the meeting, everyone behaving alright." He asks, I sigh in answer.

"It's a good thing we take turns at this or I think I'd be going mad." I tell him shaking my head.

"Any new recruits this week?" I ask him. He shakes his head, an irritated look on his face.

"There where four people I bandied about with this week, but not a single one could keep their damn gob shut. How hard is it to maintain a bit of subtlety?" He spits. I laugh at that, remembering that night five years ago when I'd recruited him.

"Do you remember that loyalty test I put you through, after you passed my initial screening?" I ask him, a smirk playing over my lips.

"Of course I do! It was straight cruelty it was." He insists. The memory of Devar's Expression stuck in my mind. It was the way he'd clenched his fists, refusing to give in as the tears that had leaked from beneath the burlap sack I'd thrown over his head.

He was convinced that he'd buggered it up on his very first day and his shoulders had shook in indignation. When I pulled the sack from his head and saw the red rising to rough cut cheeks, I was sure that rogue was going to murder me in my sleep. Instead it was laughter that had poured from that mouth, he'd laughed so hard that he'd cried. He had slung his arm over my shoulder and grinned down at me like a fox. I passed didn't I? He's said, his eye's sparkling in the torchlight. I shake myself free of the memory, returning to the topic at hand.

"The western pods are getting restless, it's getting harder and harder to contain their enthusiasm. If we don't find something for them to do, I fear that they'll either crack, or strike on their own." I tell him with a heavy sigh as I hang up my cloak. I cross the room, a scowl already blooming over my features and sit on the edge of the small straw mattress. Devar studies me for a moment, as if he is checking his response. Finally he gives his own shrug.

"We've lost touch with the firefly, the Fleet-fold inn was burnt to the ground last night and a man was found on the western road with his throat cut." I cuss under my breath.

"Shit, If we don't get eyes on the Verdean region then we are practically asking for the noose. Do you think he's dead?" I say, my short loosely curling hair falling into my eyes.

"That is the likeliest explanation and preferable to being locked in a dungeon and tortured for information." He argues

"He's the fourth to do dark in the last 3 weeks, this isn't a coincidence. Whatever tactic they are using too exposed our agents must be extremely effective. I can understand exposing the others, but Firefly was our best and uncovering him should have been extremely difficult, it makes me wonder what bait they were hanging in front of him? What would force him to move early? ... it had to have been something time sensitive." I deduce, thinking out loud.

"He's not our best agent Rowan, you are." Devar tells me. I glare at him accusingly as he meets my cold blue eyes with unflinching resolve.

"Cut the bullshit Devar, now is not the time for flirting." I insist. He cracks a wily grin and shakes his head at me before once more meeting my eyes.

"It's true and you know I'm not the type to needlessly flatter. I've been in conversation with the cornerstone, we're running out of options. We need to place someone close to the Duke Verdean. They won't be able to blind side us if we have an inside man that's close to the top." I raise my eyebrows, hating to admit that I am already intrigued. Devar has never been one to present any plan, without already having an idea of how to implement it.

"He doesn't visit the local horehouse I presume." Devar shakes his head.

"He doesn't even allow one to operate in his lands, says that they are distasteful and that women are not a thing to be sold." Devar watches me with keen eyes, a sliver of a smirk making its way onto his lips.

"It's a good thing you've passed yourself off as a bard, you're far too pretty a man to be anything else. If you weren't as bloody tall as me I might have questioned it a little more, but us men have our pride you know." I smirk back at him as I kick off my boots, leaning against the headboard and crossing my feet.

"Are you going to tell me the plan or am I going to have to wait all day." With a sigh he gets up from his perch near the hearth and starts to pace. This habit of his is telling, It means that this is dangerous. He always gets like this when the odds are volatile and the potential for consequences high.

"You are the only one of us that I know that is good with a sword and is trained in stately etiquette. If I had any hope of holding the cover, I would be doing this myself." He says as he runs his hand through his hair in exasperation. "The Duke Verdean is particularly unkind to spies found within his house. He likes to make an example of people who would 'take advantage of his good will.'" He explains, pausing to run his hands through his chestnut colored locks.

"If the resistance needs the Nightshade to take action, then that's what will happen." I tell him, leaning my head back as I wait for him to stop making excuses.

"But I need YOU Rowan and it's a shame you are one and the same!." He exclaims as I shake my head at him.

"Fine then." he adheres, stopping his pacing to sit down next to me. "Duke Verdean is holding a tournament in 3 weeks time. He is seeking young talent for his knight Corp."

"I'm not strong Devar, I lack the muscle to be a true master, even though I am fast and damn adept at escape. But this is a tourney, all the tricks in the world won't pull me through to the end."

"You don't neeeed to make it through the tourney, that's the point!" He exclaims excitedly. "All you need to do is show up. They test for written skills as well as combat prowess, once your in you can use your knowledge and intelligence to get close to the Duke. You have an advantage in that alone, besides you're not giving yourself enough credit. You're a damn vicious fighter, you forget that I've seen you in action."

"Yah and who will I pretend I am, to have such knowledge." I ask him, both eyebrows raised and my arms crossed.

"That's the best part… we can create a double cover. On the surface you will still call yourself Rowan, But you act the part of the runaway son of the poet Godfreed Regus, a minor lord in the southern regions. You need to poorly conceal your identity like any foolish young noble would in that position." I raise my brows, I'd heard of the man before. He is an eccentric which infamously neglects near all his duties in the name of art.

"I suppose that's why it has to be me, I am the only one of this lot with some table manners; not to mention musical talent." I joke before buckling down and getting serious once more. "And what if dear old dad shows up? Or the true son of Godfreed Regus?" I ask, watching as a true smile blooms on Devars face.

"That's the best part!" Devar exclaims as he leans in excitedly. "His name is Mercurio Regus and I've confirmed that he's joined with one of our units down south. Apparently he's barely set eyes on his father in years and has been isolated by his family due to his fathers…. Proclivities. The lad has blue eyes and ruddy brown curls, just like our Nightshade does." He says with a wink. He lifts a hand to rest it on my cheek and I flinch in surprise before forcing myself to relax.

"It isn't like you to be sentimental." I tease, watching as some tangle of emotions fights behind his eyes.

"Only when it comes to you Rowan, you are my first after all." I glare at him.

"Your first What!" I exclaim, grabbing the pillow from behind me and batting him with it.

"My first Rebel leader of course!" He exclaims with a laugh. Trying to wrestle the pillow from my grip, he darts in quick as a snake and pecks me on the corner of my mouth. Surprised, my grip comes free and I go tumbling off the other side of the bed with a crash.

He laughs, clutching at his stomach and wiping at the corners of his eyes. I want to be irritated as I glare up at him, picking myself up off the floor. But as always the smile curls onto my lips. I shake my head, my short red-brown hair a tousled mess. I meet his eyes through loose curls, struck serious.

"I'm hardly a rebel leader, you make it sound as if I'm the top of the food chain; We both know I'm not." I pause for a moment, studying the disquiet in his expression.

"Your the top of my food chain, If you go out in flames, then so will I." He tells me.

"This isn't the last time we meet, you know." I state seriously, he nods compliantly as if trying to placate a child.

"But it could be!" He finally exclaims. Coming around the bed to kneel beside me like a gentlemen helping up a lady. "So therefore you should definitely lay with me!" He argues, I look at him a moment before we both crack smiles. I snort, taking his hand and allowing him to pull me up.

He 'trips' on the flat smooth floor somehow and falls onto the bed, pulling me with him.

I land on top of him, my heart thumping in my chest. His knee raises between my thighs and I squirm, watching the way he bites his lip. I flick him in the forehead, rolling away and smiling down at him.

"Your such a pest, it's no wonder we called you the Rogue."

"And you the Nightshade, beautiful and poisonous." He says smiling up at me with eyes that almost seem lost.