“If you are related to them then you should know what I told them, no?” Braydon wanted to know what response was going to be. He was mainly asking this to make sure that it was still the same people that had come to meet him. If there was another group after the same thing then it would only get more complex.

“That you would have their heads as spies if they stayed a moment longer?” Not exactly what Braydon had said but definitely what he had implied. At the very least, he was certain that the man before him had some relation to the Serheshi merchants that came to annoy him.

“And what makes you think that I would treat you any differently after how much I was annoyed by your compatriots?” Braydon was curious. Normally, the kind of threat he had made would dissuade people from trying to talk to him about the same topic again. Apparently this was not the case with whomever was looking for a young redhead far from home.

“You are not in a wartime situation and I doubt that the King would treat suspicious foreigners in such a harsh manner now.” He just shrugged, blasé about the threat that had just been levelled against him.

“But that does not mean that I have no power. Are you not afraid that I will do something personally?” Braydon wanted to push a bit further, to see if he could ruffle the feathers of a man who had so far been completely unperturbed by his threats so far.

“If you were going to, then you would have already.” That was true. It was not like anybody was going to stick up for someone from so far away, nor care considering that most people would at best have a recollection of the name of the place he was from. 

“Considering that I presume you know me, are you not going to offer a name then?” Braydon had long since noted that whilst most of the merchants had given their name at the door, this man had somehow managed to avoid most of his personal information.

“And you believe that a spy would give a real name? You can call me John Doe.” The man replied, apparently finding such an inconsistency in Braydon’s questions slightly amusing. And with the name he was just told, Braydon had the distinct feeling that he was being mocked.

“Well then John, are you just going to rehash the questions that the Serheshi before you asked?” If that was the case, Braydon had half a mind to show him the door before the conversation truly started. Though, based on the fact that the same people had sent another person, they were at least going to try a few different questions.

“No, I would like to make more progress than that. Though I do think that they were right to guess that you were not telling them everything that you knew.” John replied. Braydon was slightly glad that there did not need to be a several hour useless discussion before his actual agenda was revealed. But that only made him more wary of saying anything unnecessary. At the very least he had caught the attention of whomever was looking for someone that suspiciously resembled Mireille.

“And you think that I would admit that if it were true?” Braydon wanted to know more about the people that he was dealing with, but that did not mean that he was going to roll over and answer all of their questions.

“Likely not. But you do have a redhead under your protection no? One that fits the description of the person we are looking for. After all, if the Serheshi were worth anything, they did at least see such a person.” Unsurprisingly, he latched onto the most useful piece of information that the annoying duo had managed to get when visiting Cliforge. Braydon was not about to deny that, lest he drew even more attention from an unknown group of people.

“Indeed I do. Yet everything that I told the pair was also true.” Braydon was more than fine with playing with words. He had indeed told them that no such person had ‘passed through’ his lands. That did not mean that they had not stayed. Mireille was still there.

“You and I both know that only saying true things can be very deceiving. What I want to know is if their suspicions were right.” John was not going to play the word game that Braydon had wanted to. Braydon suspected that the former knew it would be as fruitless as he was trying to make it.

“But how am I to know what they suspect if they do not tell me?” Braydon was not going to give up that easily.

“They suspect the person we are looking for is exactly the one under your protection.” The fake merchant laid out clearly what they both knew that he was asking. Almost a breath of fresh air for Braydon after the past few hours.

“And what would I gain by confirming or denying that? What would you even want from the person that you are looking for. Considering the effort that you put into searching for someone in another continent, I doubt that they want to be found.” This was the part that concerned Braydon the most, and he doubted that he was going to get an honest answer straight away. Rarely would anybody put so much effort into finding somebody unless they had done something that the person looking truly hated.

“She is a person of great importance to the person that sent us to search for her.” That was a none answer if ever Braydon had heard one. Of course the person that they were looking for was important to the people searching, otherwise they would not be looking in the first place.

“You and I both know that only saying true things can be very deceiving. Nor did you answer my question.” Braydon threw his words right back at him. If this John Doe wanted to get anything more out of Braydon, he would have to open up a bit more than that.

“I could only tell you that if I knew that the woman we are looking for is indeed in your hands. Suspicions can only get us so far.” They could both see that they were reaching an impasse. Telling the other person more than was necessary would likely not benefit either side. If Braydon knew what he could get from them, then he would likely milk them for all they were worth without giving anything in return. If Braydon let them anywhere near Mireille, it would only draw more unwanted attention from a potentially dangerous group.

“Then I presume that I will be seeing more of you.” Braydon wanted to sigh at this but he knew that this could be something important.

“I thought that you are busy for the next few days?” John had at least looked into Braydon a little bit before coming to see him.

“And I thought that you guys were more tenacious than that.” He stood up and raised his arm in the direction of the door. At least for the moment Braydon did not want to discuss things any further.

Darkwood

Hi Hi. 

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