“Valkyrie!” The voice called to her as she and Stella stalked back toward the lower levels of the Grey Tower. Valkyrie clenched her teeth, her already taut muscles in her shoulders and back bunched up even further. “Valkyrie!” The voice called again, closer this time.

“What do you want, Astrid?” Valkyrie spun around, crossing her arms over her chest. “As you heard, I’m a bit busy right now.”

“Aww! Are you too busy for your fiancée?” Astrid pouted, her accent placing her as a native of Oskea far to the north across the Sundered Abyss.

“We are nothing,” Valkyrie retorted. “Not anymore.”

“Valkyrie! So serious! So hostile, even to your beloved!” Astrid peered around Valkyrie and wiggled her fingers in a flirty wave toward Stella. “Have you moved on from your Astrid to this little one? I cannot fully blame you. She is quite delicious to look at. How are you, little one?”

“Neither Stella nor I are your concern, Astrid,” Valkyrie growled.

“That was not a denial, you know!” Astrid pointed out playfully. “Are you and my beloved an item, little one?”

“Huh?” Stella seemed surprised. “Valkyrie and I? Well, I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Perhaps the three of us can work out some sort of equivalent exchange?” Stella felt nearly back to her old self, secure in the knowledge she wasn’t in trouble.

“How positively scandalous!” Astrid tittered. “Oh, Val! I like this one! Can we keep her?”

“There is no ‘we’, and I’m not doing this with you, Astrid,” Valkyrie scowled. “Excuse me.” Valkyrie suddenly felt her feet leave the ground and was soon hovering several inches above the floor.

“Now, now, your first inclination is always to bustle off in a huff,” Astrid shook her head as she moved around the suddenly immobile Inquisitor. “It has been too long; do you not think it is time we had a talk?”

“No, Astrid, I do not,” Valkyrie scowled at the woman. “I have important matters to attend to, as you heard, and you are not counted among that list.”

“You do not seem to have much of a choice at the moment, dear Val,” Astrid giggled, hooking a finger and pointing at the floor Valkyrie was no longer bound to.

“Are you sure you want to do this here?” Valkyrie’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“I want to do nothing more than talk! Just talk! We will have time to catch up soon enough, but for now we should discuss strategies!” Astrid seemed nonplussed, her face a mask of mock seriousness.

“Strategies? What are you babbling about?” Valkyrie demanded, though she had a sinking suspicion she knew precisely what Astrid was referring to.

“Well, of course! I shall accompany you to retrieve the Archon’s new konstverk!” Astrid crowed proudly. Valkyrie’s scowl deepened. “What is better than giving me your job to do? Allowing me to accompany you, of course!”

“Why would you bother with this?” Valkyrie sucked her teeth in displeasure, aware of how precarious her position was with the Archon at the moment.

“It has been so long since we have teamed up to lay waste to the Archon’s enemies, älskling,” Astrid pouted, running the tip of her finger down Valkyrie’s chest. “Do you not miss those days of thrills and danger? I surely do.”

“Don’t touch me,” Valkyrie snarled, slapping Astrid’s hand away.

“You know I could get my way,” Astrid grinned, Valkyrie’s arms suddenly jerked upward, held aloft by forces beyond her control. Astrid’s hand moved toward the swell of her breast, one finger slipping under the fabric of her blouse. “Is this not delicious, älskling?” Astrid glanced up flirtatiously to find herself staring into the barrels of twin magical pistols.

“You can’t stop them both and either one will end you,” Valkyrie promised through her jaw clenched with effort.

“As expected of the top Inquisitor!” Astrid chuckled. “Your skill has truly become quite impressive, älskling! It would seem I must up my game if we are to play the way we once did!” Valkyrie dropped to the ground easily as Astrid turned away. “Still, there is no time for play at the moment. It is best we hurry off to prepare for our little game of ‘go fetch’ like the good dogs we are, yes?”

“Take off that stupid hat, I hate it,” Valkyrie demanded as Astrid moved away.

“I love my hat! It is jaunty!” Astrid teased her, flipping her skirt up to expose her bare buttocks. “It lets me be completely dressed even when I’m not dressed at all! I promise you will see everything later, älskling.”

“Fucking bitch,” Valkyrie muttered as Astrid sashayed toward the stairs.

“Well, she seems fun,” Stella grinned, falling in step with Valkyrie as they followed after.

“She’s not,” Valkyrie promised.

“That menage a trois sounds like fun,” Stella mused.

“Not going to happen.”

“Have you had one before?” Stella pressed.

“We are not having this discussion,” Valkyrie shot her a meaningful glare.

“Maybe a menage a more?”

“I’m done.”

“Ok, we’ll circle back to it later,” Stella shrugged.

“Nothing will be circled back to.”

“We will take your carriage!” Astrid declared excitedly. “I will drive!”

“No. You won’t.”

The trip through the snowy streets of Bastion should have been a quiet one, Valkyrie mused. The carriage prowled nearly silently through the twisting corridors of the giant city, past the buildings crowding in close on either side of the road. The giant factories adjacent to the River District, smoke billowing from the smokestacks towering into the dark and snowy sky, could be seen in the breaks between the buildings. The bustling city had largely put itself to bed beneath the snowy blanket falling from the swollen clouds.

To Valkyrie’s immense displeasure Astrid and Stella had decided they got along quite well and were laughing and talking and giggling the entire trip until her head positively pounded with the headache that had been building for most of the day. Valkyrie tried her best to shut out the noise as she guided the vehicle along its path toward the building in the Hills district housing the main local branch of the Order’s spy services, Vultus.

The carriage turned onto the Royal Highway, the large north to south artery leading through the heart of the city from the Imperial palace to the base of the Shattering Cliffs where the Grey Tower sat. Crossing the Prelate bridge over the Forwin Run the carriage passed into the Central District. Valkyrie ignored the giant Silver Forum rising delicately like a jutting, feminine finger into the sky to the east, keeping her focus on the wide road. Once across the Shorn Bridge they left the Central district and began the climb into the Harlinet Heights.

The manor houses and estates of the nobility lay about the Highway on either side, the lights burning brightly in the gathered gloom like joyous, ostentatious candles in the night. Valkyrie turned off the highway onto a non-descript, tree-lined road and followed it eastward. Finally the carriage rolled through yet another in a sea of placid gates and stopped in front of a relatively simple looking manor house.

“You drive like my grandmother,” Astrid complained as they stepped out of the carriage.

“Your grandmother is dead,” Valkyrie stretched her tensed muscles in the vain hope of relieving some of the stress which had built up since receiving the notification to return to Bastion.

“Exactly,” Astrid pouted. “We could have been here half an hour ago if you had simply let me drive.” Valkyrie ignored her and headed toward the manor doors without a word.

She stopped as a shadow detached itself from beside the door and moved toward her. The woman was a good four inches shorter than Valkyrie and clothed in a dark cape, the hood pulled low over her face. Though she was nearly invisible in the faint light from the lanterns beside the manor’s entrance, Valkyrie immediately recognized her as the head of Vultus, Madeline Stormer. Valkyrie’s frown deepened and her brow furrowed in disapproval. Of all the people she could have sent she had to do it herself. Of course, Valkyrie sighed irritably. Between Astrid and her, they simply allowed her to complete an absolutely shitty day with a pair of absolutely shitty people.

“We’re here- “Valkyrie began before the woman held up her hand, looking up at her with ice blue eyes through her long dark hair from beneath the hood.

“I know,” the woman sighed irritably. “You’re here to wreck 6 months and 3000 Aurei’s worth of intensive work. Thanks for that.” Madeline peered at the other two, rolling her eyes disapprovingly before moving silently to the carriage. She opened the door and rummaged inside for a long moment before closing it once again. “I will be in touch with the whisperer and will coordinate.”

“Thanks,” Valkyrie replied dutifully.

“Don’t bother,” Madeline shook her head with a disheartened sigh. “You’ve put a lot of lives on the line with this little screw up of yours. You can thank me by not fucking it up further. I’ve synced the crystals and will be in touch.” She pressed a paper into Valkyrie’s hand before turning toward the manor.

“Bye, Maddie!” Astrid giggled and waved.

“Yeah, yeah,” the woman growled, disappearing inside. Valkyrie opened the paper. One word was written on it. “Edgemoor.”