We were up early the next morning. Our appointment with the guild master was scheduled for shortly after breakfast. We took a quick trip down to the square in front of the guild and visited one of the stalls to eat, before heading back. It was already approaching the time for our meeting when we returned, so we headed straight to the main desk and got in line.

The guild was just as busy as usual and there was quite the queue just to get to the front desk. After several minutes of waiting, we were finally seen. We were met by the same receptionist as when we had first arrived.

“Oh, your hi… Erm, Lillia. Good morning. How can I help you today?” She asked as we reached the desk.

“Good morning. We have an appointment with the guild master. Are they expecting us?” Asked Lillia.

“Hold on one second, let me just check. It’s been so busy this morning I haven’t had a chance to look over the handover notes.” She said flipping through the pages of a notebook in front of her.

“Sure, take your time.”

The receptionist hurriedly flipped through the pages, stopping when she got to today’s notes.

“Yes, she’s expecting to see all of you any moment now. Please follow me.” She said flipping up a section of the desk to let us through.

“Thanks.” Replied Lillia. “Come on everyone, this way.” She said turning back to the rest of us.

The receptionist waited while we all walked in behind the front desk, before closing it after us. Just doing this seemed to have caught the attention of some of the other adventurers that were waiting in line. Once we were through, the receptionist led us out the back into a hallway that was just behind the front desk area. Once there she showed us right to the end and up a flight of stairs. One we reached the landing on the next floor we followed her two doors along, before she stopped and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Asked the voice from inside.

“I’ve brought your guests.” Explained the receptionist.

“Ah good, please show them in.”

The receptionist opened the door and ushered us all inside before taking her leave and heading back downstairs. Inside we were met by a tall and well built grey haired wolfkin woman. I remembered what Lisa had told me back in Dunshelm, and at first glance this appeared to be true of this woman too. She looked as if she had seen her fair share of battles, with traces of scars here and there. I felt a little more at ease to think she also worked her way to this position.

“Ah Lillia, long time no see!” The wolfkin woman said once we were all inside.

She didn’t seem to talk like a noble either.

“Yes, it has been a while, Cynthia.” Replied Lillia.

“Please take a seat all of you.” Cynthia said gesturing to the seats.

The room was laid out with a large desk at the far end that Cynthia was sat behind and there were several chairs laid out in front of it ready for us. My first thought was that this room was her office, but as I took my seat and looked around, I changed my mind. For someone’s office it was too empty, there were no personal effects anywhere. The only ornament in the entire room was a large mirror hanging on one of the side walls. No, if anything this reminded me more of an interview room.

“Well, Lillia, can you introduce everyone for me? I’m afraid that I haven’t met any of the others before despite knowing their names.” Asked Cynthia.

“Of course.”

Lillia made her way through the group introducing each of us in turn to Cynthia. We each greeted her and briefly shook hands as she did so.

“Thanks, Lillia… Now, sorry to have dive right into business when you’ve just got here, but would you be happy to talk me through the report you submitted?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all. Was there anything in particular that you wanted us to discuss?” Asked Lillia.

“No, please just run me through it all from the top.” Cynthia said glancing over at the mirror for a moment.

“Okay.”

 Just as we had planned the night before, we each told Cynthia our part of the story and talked her through most of the events of our quest. Leaving out the parts we thought could be sensitive. As soon as we started talking Cynthia’s mood seemed to change slightly. It was almost as if she was slightly on edge. Every now and then she seemed to glance over at the mirror. In the end, I’d seen her do it so many times that it raised my suspicion. What if this was an interview room and that mirror was two way glass? I decided to check.

I activated “appraisal” on its highest setting and glanced over at the side wall as subtly as possible not to draw attention to myself. There was a room directly next to the one we were sat in and it wasn’t empty. Behind the wall were two figures, there were clearly looking in and listening to everything that was happening inside the room with Cynthia. Once I realised this, I turned my attention to the figures, attempting to see through the masks and find out who was underneath them.

That’s where I reached a problem. I couldn’t penetrate the masks, no matter how hard I tried to concentrate. There seemed to be something that was interfering with my skill. If I had to guess, they were wearing some sort of magical item that kept the wearer’s identity hidden from these sorts of skills. What’s more, when I concentrated on the pair, one of them seemed to become aware of my attention. They turned their gaze directly upon me, at the same time Cynthia shot me a glance. Had they realised I’d noticed them? After that, I didn’t look at either of them directly, and I only checked up from time to time as we continued to report to Cynthia.

Finally, we finished with the report.

“Thank you for taking the time to walk me through the events like that. Are you sure that was everything?” Asked Cynthia.

“Yes, that was everything that happened.” Replied Lillia.

“Good, that was very detailed.” Cynthia said, unconsciously glancing over at the mirror once again.

I followed her gaze just in time to see the two onlookers leave the room. It seemed that they had listened to everything they wanted. Just to make sure I followed their movements as they headed out down the corridor. They had definitely left. At about the same time, Cynthia seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Once she had, she seemed to be much more relaxed.

“Was that all you that you needed from us?” Asked Lillia.

“Yes… But I’d like to talk further with you all. Would you mind?”  

 “No, not at all.”

“Then please follow me.” Cynthia said standing up from her seat.

“We aren’t going to talk in here?” Asked Serin.

“No…” Cynthia replied before walking to the door without saying another word.

We all looked at each other for a moment, the rest of the group not having a clue what was going on. Having seen that we were being watched, I could only guess that Cynthia wanted to move somewhere we wouldn’t be overheard. By now Cynthia had already stepped out into the corridor, so we followed her out. We walked past several doors before finally stopping.

“Please step into my office.” She said as she held the door open.

The rest of the group still looked confused, but did as she asked. This room had much more the feel of a real office. I could tell it was lived in. There were random items dotted around on the desk at the far end, a sideboard with a few different types of alcohol and glasses at the side of the room. Unlike the previous room there was a leather sofa and a couple of armchairs laid out in front of the desk. We each took a seat, while we waited for Cynthia to join us.

She was stood in the doorway looking out in the corridor. Finally, she seemed satisfied there was no one hanging about and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

“That’s better.” She said as she took her seat behind the desk.

She was definitely more relaxed now.

“Is everything okay?” Asked Lillia.

“Yes, everything is fine… Look, I don’t know if all of you picked up on that back there or if was just Theo, but let me apologise.”

“Apologise? I don’t understand.”

“Then maybe Theo can shed some light for you.”

“You mean about the two masked people, that were listening into our conversation. In the room next to where we were sat earlier?” I asked.

“Yes, that. I’m sorry about them, there was nothing I could do about it. They insisted on listening in on our interview, even when I explained to them that two of your party members were princesses. Unfortunately, they hold the kind of sway that can’t be refused.”

“Hold on, we were being spied on?” Asked Altria.

“I’m afraid so.” Replied Cynthia.